Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2038?~55
Docket # 21,729
BIDET FOR A WATER CLOSET
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to a bidet for a water closet
or toilet including a shower arm which can be moved between a
resting position and a working position and which is connected to
the water mains via a water heater, the arrangement including an
actuating device with which the shower water and the movement of
the shower arm can be controlled.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A bidet of this type has become known, e.g., from Swiss
publication CH-A- 621,378. This has a telescopic shower arm which
can be extended into the working position by actuating a valve with
water pressure. The intensity of the shower water stream
discharged from the nozzle of the shower arm can be regulated by
means of the screw of a control valve, which screw is arranged on
the nozzle head. It is especially disadvantageous in this bidet
~038855
that the shower water jet cannot be regulated during showering, and
that the shower arm is expensive and tends to require frequent
repairs because of the necessary packings.
SUMMARY AND OBJ ECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a
bidet of the above-described type, which avoids these disadvantages
and is nevertheless reliable in operation and can be accommodated
in a hollow projection of a toilet seat.
According to the invention, a bidet for a water closet or
toilet is provided with a shower arm which can be moved between a
resting position and a working position. The shower arm is
connected to the water mains via a water heater. An actuating
device is provided for controlling the movement of the shower arm
and for controlling the shower water supply. The actuating device
includes a water distributer which connects a hydraulic drive, for
movement of the shower arm, and the water heater to the water mains
in a controllable manner.
In the bidet according to the present invention, the cold
water fed in from the water mains is fed by the water distributor
~0 to a hydraulic drive for the shower arm, on one hand, and to the
water heater, and thus indirectly to the shower arm. Both
connections are controllable. The water distributor thus assumes
several functions and permits a highly compact design of the bidet
to be achieved. The hydraulic drive makes it possible to move the
shower arm mechanically from the outside. Thus, the shower arm
X038~3
can be designed as a simple tube.
According to a variant of the present invention, a servo valve
is arranged between the water inlet and a control valve. The servo
valve arranged on the water mains inlet reduces the water hammer
caused by the water flowing in and the noise. The very weak force
needed for actuation is also advantageous.
Further advantageous characteristics will become apparent from
the description that follows.
One embodiment of the present invention will be explained
below in greater detail on the basis of the drawings.
The various features of novelty which characterize the
invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed
to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better
understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and
specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the
accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred
embodiment of the invention is illustrated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ~HE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:
Figure 1 is a sectional view of a water distributor and a
hydraulic drive, as well as schematic representations of actuating
members, a water heater, and a shower arm;
Figure 2 is a view of the water distributor;
Figures 3 and 4 are views of a slide; and
Figure 5 is a view of a control cam.
X0~8~5 S
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF T~E PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
According to Figure 1, the bidet has a shower arm 41, which
has at its front end a nozzle 43, which is arranged at the edge of
a toilet bowl 49. The shower arm 41 can be moved with a hydraulic
drive 33 and a lever drive mechanism 40 in a guide 42 in its
longitudinal direction between an extended working position and a
retracted resting position. The water being discharged in the
upward direction from the nozzle 43 in the working position is fed
via an inlet 11 of a water distributor 1 into a water heater 44,
from which the heated water is again fed into the shower arm 41
via a hose 46. The water heater 44 is preferably a boiler, but it
may also be an instantaneous water heater. The components of the
bidet are accommodated in a tubular plastic housing consisting of
a bottom part 32 and a top part 29. The bidet is arranged
1~ preferably in a hollow projection of the seat part of a toilet seat
assembly.
To extend the shower arm 41 into the working position, a
push-button 23, which is shown here only schematically and is
connected via an electrical line 28 to the water distributor 1, is
~0 actuated. A servo valve 16 is opened via an electromagnetic pilot
valve 36, and the servo valve 6 will thus permit free passage from
the water inlet 11 to the pressure chamber 24 of the drive 33. The
water flowing into the pressure chamber 24 moves a piston 25 in a
cylinder housing 48 to the right in the view shown in Figure 1.
~5 A piston rod 26 connected to the piston 25 is connected to a lever
203~3~355
drive mechanism 40, which deflects the movement of the piston rod
by 90, so that the shower arm 41 will be moved at right angles to
the direction of movement of the piston rod 26 into the toilet bowl
49.
If the shower arm 41 is in the working position, the shower
water being discharged from the nozzle 43 is regulated by means of
a knob 22 arranged on the outside of the housing 29, 32. On
turning the knob 22, a slide 3 in a cylindrical opening 8 of the
housing 2 is displaced via a control cam 20. In Figure 1, the
slide 3 covers, together with a shutoff part 6 made in one piece
with it, an outlet 27, which is shown by dash-dotted lines in
Figure 1, and leads upward into a hose 45, as is apparent from
Figure 2. The hose 4S is connected to the water heater 44 via a
known pipe interrupter 47. The control cam 20 is mounted in a
recess 30 of the housing parts 29 and 32, and has on the inside a
control cam 21 in the form of an Archimedes' screw. On turning
the control cam 20, a cam 5 of the slide 3 slides along the control
cam 21 in a self-locking manner, as a result of which the slide 3,
guided longitudinally displaceably in the opening 8, will be
displaced. The opening 8 is sealed off to the outside in a
water-tight manner with a packing ring 31. To release the outlet
27, the slide is moved downward as in Figure 1 by turning the knob
22. If the servo valve 16 is closed, only the pressure chamber 24
of the drive 33 communicates with the pipe interrupter 47 via the
hose 45. When the shower arm 41 has been extended, the piston 25
will move to the left in Figure 1 under the effect of a compression
Z03885S
spring 52, and the water present in the pressure chamber 24 will
be ejected via the pipe interrupter 47. However, if the servo
valve 16 is opened, the inlet 11 is connected to the pressure
chamber 24 via passages 10, 7 and 9, as well as to the water heater
44 via the passages 10 and 7, the outlet 27, and the hose 45.
Thus, when the shower arm 41 is extended, cold water flows into the
water heater 44, and warm water is fed to the shower arm 41 and
conse~quently to the nozzle 43 via the hose 46 as a consequence of
the displacement of water. The intensity of the shower jet can be
regulated by displacing the slide 3 and consequently by variably
covering the outlet 27.
The servo valve 16 remains open only as long as the
push-button 23 is depressed. When the push-button 23 is released,
the servo valve 16 will close. If the outlet 27 is open, the
admission of cold water to the water heater 44 is interrupted due
to the closure of the servo valve 16, and the piston 25 moves to
the left in Figure 1, because the water in the pressure chamber 24
is ejected by the pipe interrupter 47 under the effect of the
spring 52. The shower water is thus interrupted, and the shower
;~n arm 41 returns into the resting position. However, if the outlet
27 is closed while the servo valve 16 is closed, the shower arm 41
remains in the working position. Consequently, the outlet 27 must
be opened by turning the knob 22 in order for it the shower arm to
return into the resting position.
The servo valve 16, shown in Figure 1, is known in itself.
This has a rubber diaphragm 13 and a disk-shaped shutoff member
2038~
14. The diaphra~m 13 and the shutoff member 14 subdivide the
interior space of the housing 2 into a chamber 12 and a chamber
19, which communicate with each other via holes 37. The pilot
valve 36 has a shutoff member 38, which can be moved into a
magnetic coil -- to the right in Figure 1 -- against the effect of
a spring 18 by actuating the push-button 23, as a result of which
the magnet coil will be energized. Thus, a passage 15 is opened
in Figure 1, as a result of which water will flow from the chamber
19 through the passage 15 and into the passage 10, and the shutoff
member 14 will be lifted off from a valve seat 53. The servo valve
16 is closed, by interrupting the current flowing to the magnetic
coil, so that the shutoff member 38 is moved to the left in Figure
1 under the effect of the spring 18, as a result of which the
passage 15 will again be closed. The shutoff member 14 will then
move toward the valve seat 53 and thus close the servo valve 16.
The mode of operation of the valve 16 is known in itself.
The slide 3 is shown in greater detail in Figures 3 and 4.
Essential is the channel 7, which extends in the longitudinal
direction of the shutoff member 6 and opens freely on the end face
at the front end of the shutoff member 6. The channel 7 ensures
that regardless of the position of the slide 3, the passage 10 is
in connection with the pressure chamber 24 of the drive 33. The
shower arm 41 can thus be extended at any time by actuating the
servo valve 16, regardless of the position of the slide 3.
While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown
and described in detail to illustrate the application of the
Z038~355
principles of the invention, it will be understood that the
invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such
principles.
