Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2I8I286
Handle on or for a hand-held shower attachment
The invention concerns a handle on or for a hand-held shower
attachment, exhibiting a hollow shaft which expands from an
inlet end with a connection for a male thread coupler to an
outlet end with a sprinkler head, in which handle is provided
a shut-off valve.
Patent specification DE-A-3700927 reveals a hand-held shower
attachment with a long handle, which ends in a sprinkler
head, arranged at which is a rotary knob exhibiting two
rotational positions, one of which enables the outlet
sprinkler head to communicate with the hollow interior of the
shaft and the other rotational position of which shuts off
the outlet.
Patent specification EP-A-0656503 reveals a dishwashing
sprinkler with a straight, cylindrical shaft, fixed to which
is a coaxial sprinkler head with an interposed shut-off valve
which may be opened by means of a pivot-mounted lever.
A hand-held shower attachment is revealed by patent
specification EP-A-06S9490, exhibiting a handle with a
sprinkler head, in which sprinkler head is arranged a control
valve which can be operated by a finger button. The valve in
this case does not shut off the water flow passage but rather
enables selection between a central outlet and an outer ring
of nozzles surrounding said central outlet.
For the physically disabled, who are frequently unable fully
to control their body movements, operation of these known
hand-held shower attachments is problematical. The physically
disabled person must hold the handle of the shower attachment
- 2 - 2i812~6
in one hand, and operate the actuation element of the shut-
off valve of the hand-held shower attachment with the other
hand, moving it in a specific direction.
The hand-held shower attachment according to EP-A-0656503 is
particularly unsuitable for this purpose because the pivot-
mounted lever constantly has to be held down with one hand
against a spring load, while the sprinkler head itself is
held at the handle with the other hand. The physically
disabled person must, therefore, keep both hands on the
shower attachment, a requirement which makes the handling of
the shower attachment exceptionally impractical, irrespective
of the fact that there is also a danger of injury because the
fingers of the hand clasping the handle may become located
under the pivot-mounted lever so that they may be caught when
the pivot-mounted lever is pressed down. The state of the art
according to DE-A-3700927 mentioned at the beginning requires
of the physically disabled person that he or she holds the
handle of the shower attachment with one hand and then, with
the fingers of the other hand, grips the rotary knob at the
end and turns it to the open position. These sequential,
controlled movements are, however, often beyond the
capabilities of the physically disabled.
The object of the invention is to provide a hand-held shower
attachment or a handle for such a shower attachment so that
the hand-held shower attachment can be operated with ease by
disabled persons.
This problem is solved by the characteristic features of
Claims 1 and 2.
According to Claim 1, the handle is a constituent component
of the shaft of the hand-held shower attachment, and
according to Claim 2, the handle is an accessory which can be
screwed onto conventional hand-held shower attachments.
- 3 ~ 2181 2 8~
The axial shiftability of a control slider or spool in a
cylindrical sleeve is known from patent specification EP-A-
0607479. However, this constitutes a change-over valve for
switching the pressure water supply between two
actuators/consumers. The water connections are arranged at
right angles to the axial direction of the control spool. The
control spool is moved back and forth mechanically by a
rocker arm. This change-over valve exhibits no axially
displaceable handle sleeve and is therefore likewise not
suitable for the creation of a handle for a hand-held shower
attachment.
The essential advantage of the invention lies in the fact
that the physically disabled person can hold the hand-held
shower attachment at the handle sleeve and can activate the
shower attachment by pushing it against the bath tub or his
body without needing to use his other hand. This causes the
handle sleeve to be moved relative to the shaft and the shut-
off valve to be opened. The hand-held shower attachment
according to the invention with its innovative handle thus
facilitates one-handed operation.
According to a further development of the invention, the
handle sleeve exhibits at both ends a large-area annular
flange. The section of the handle sleeve between the flanges
is provided with alternating annular ridges and annular
valleys, so creating a surface with a longitudinally
corrugated contour similar to that encountered in turned
parts. The outside diameter of the annular flanges is
substantially larger than that of the handle section located
between them. These two annular flanges provide a positioning
aid for the physically disabled person who may find it
difficult to grip the handle of the hand-held shower
attachment at the right position. The annular flanges also
enable the handle sleeve to be shifted, for example, with the
fist or the wrist if the physically disabled person is unable
to move his fingers.
218128~
The invention is described in more detail on the basis of the
drawing which represents an embodiment.
The single figure shows a cross-sectional view of a handle
with shut-off valve, fixed to a hand-held shower attachment.
A hand-held shower attachment 10 consists of a hollow shaft
12 exhibiting at the inlet end a male threaded section 14,
and at the outlet end a sprinkler head 16. Such a hand-held
shower attachment 10 is widely available commercially and can
be connected to a shower hose 18 by means of a threaded
sleeve 20.
According to the invention, the hand-held shower attachment
is connected to a handle 22 which features a tubular
element 24 with a coupling sleeve 26, the latter exhibiting a
female thread which fits the male thread of the sprinkler
connection 14. The tubular element 24 features two coaxial
blind holes 28, 30 which end at a transverse wall 32 and
communicate at a point adjacent to this transverse wall with
respective transverse holes 34, 36 which open at the outer
surface of the tubular element 24.
The tubular element 24 has a circular cylindrical external
surface on which a handle sleeve 38 is axially shiftable, of
which the throughbore diameter corresponds to the outside
diameter of the surface of the tubular element 24. Recessed
into this throughbore are two annular grooves 40, 42. Three
0-rings 44, 46, 48 seal the two annular grooves 40, 42
against the tubular element 24. Annular groove 40 has a
larger axial length than annular groove 42, and extends in
the open position of the shut-off valve across both groups of
transverse holes 34, 36. This open position is defined by the
handle sleeve 38 being located at the rear radial surface of
coupling sleeve 26. The figure shows the handle sleeve in its
shut-off position, in which it is located against a threaded
sleeve 50 which is screwed onto a threaded section at the
inlet end of the tubular element 24. This threaded sleeve 50
- ~ 5 ~ 2181286
carries at its end an externally threaded section
corresponding to that of the hand-held shower attachment 10.
This enables the connecting hose to be joined to the inlet
end of the handle 22 by means of a screwed sleeve 20. Apart
from the three 0-rings, the handle 22 thus consists of only
three components, namely the tubular element 24, the handle
sleeve 38 and the threaded sleeve 50.
The handle sleeve 38 has two large-area end flanges 52, 54 at
its end faces, and an interposed handle section 56 with a
corrugated contour. All the components of the handle 22,
apart from the transverse holes 34, 36, are bodies generated
by revolution.
The two 0-rings 44, 46 would suffice to perform the shut-off
function of the shut-off valve. The third 0-ring 48 prevents
pressure water from escaping between the handle sleeve 38 and
the tubular element 24 when the handle sleeve 38 is axially
shifted. A ventilation or drainage line can be connected to
the second, narrower annular groove 42 in order to remove
water from the hand-held shower attachment 10.
The handle 22 may, in an alternative embodiment, be formed
integral with the hand-held shower attachment 10 as a single-
piece construction, wherein the screwed connections 14 and 26
would be eliminated and the tubular element 24 would
constitute a single-piece extension of the shaft 12.
