Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02508094 2005-06-03
VACUUM BREAKER
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001 ] The present invention relates to a vacuum breaker for plumbing
fixtures, and
particularly to a vacuum breaker having a check plugger, and the check plugger
automatically falls down by gravity in an event of pressure drop in the clean
water
supply to provide a back flow protection for the plumbing fixtures.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Plumbing codes typically require back flow protection when a plumbing
outlet
is likely to be adjacent contaminated water. Vacuum breakers provide the back
flow
protection for plumbing fixtures especially fixtures such as pull out sprayers
for
kitchen sinks and hand held showers for bathroom use. The vacuum breakers
prevent
the sprayers and showers from drawing contaminated water into the clean water
supply in an event of pressure drop in the clean water supply. When water
supply is
suddenly stopped, the event of pressure drop of water occurs in the pipe of
the
plumbing fixtures. If the sprayers or the showers are simultaneously adjacent
contaminated water, the contaminated water may be sucked into the pipe through
the
sprayers or showers without the back flow protection, and then pollutes the
clean
water supply.
[0003] To overcome the above problem, many of the plumbing fixtures are
equipped
with the conventional vacuum breakers to provide the back flow protection.
[0004] A conventional vacuum breaker includes a check plugger and a resilient
member, such as a resilient plate or a compression spring and is mounted in a
plumbing fixture, such as a tap faucet. The check plugger is movably disposed
in an
air intake of the tap. The air intake communicates simultaneously with the
atmosphere and the inside of the tap.
[0005] The resilient member is disposed in the tap with an end abutting
against the
check plugger to force the check plugger outward. In a normal operation state,
the
resilient member provides a resilient force to push the check plugger to close
the air
intake thereby preventing water from discharging out of the tap through the
air intake.
When the event of pressure drop in the water supply is occurred, the
atmosphere
pushes the check plugger inward to open the air intake because of pressure
difference.
CA 02508094 2005-06-03
The movement of the check plugger compresses simultaneously the resilient
member.
Thus, air can enter the inside of the tap faucet through the air intake to
break the
vacuum state in the tap to provide the back flow protection.
[0006] However, since the check plugger needs to compress initially the
resilient
member to open the air intake, the vacuum breaker needs an initial pressure to
move
the check plugger. The atmosphere outside the tap needs to overcome the
initial
pressure and then to move the spring-loaded check plugger. Therefore, the
resilient
member should be made in a precise manner to accommodate with the atmosphere,
which is complicated and high cost. Furthermore, the resilient member is
positioned
at a moist condition, which affects unfavorably the operation of the resilient
member
to control opening or closing of the air intake. Therefore, the conventional
vacuum
breaker cannot provide a reliable back flow protection for the plumbing
fixture. The
contaminated water may still be sucked into the plumbing fixtures and pollutes
the
clean water supply.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum
breaker
which has a check plugger to control outside air entering a plumbing fixture,
and the
check plugger will automatically fall down by gravity in an event of pressure
drop.
[0008] To achieve the above object, a vacuum breaker of in accordance with the
present invention includes a hollow bushing with an end in fluid communication
with
the atmosphere and the other end in fluid communication with at least one
water
outlet, a check plugger moveably disposed in the bushing, and a sealing sleeve
disposed in the bushing adjacent to the upper end of the check plugger. The
check
plugger is mounted in a vertical manner and will automatically fall down by
gravity
when an event of water pressure drop is occurred. Therefore, the vacuum
breaker
provides a reliable back flow protection for plumbing fixture. Moreover, the
structure
of the vacuum breaker is simple and inexpensive for assembly and manufacture.
[0009] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention
will be
drawn from the following detailed embodiment of the present invention with the
drawings.
2
CA 02508094 2005-06-03
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a vacuum breaker in
accordance
with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the vacuum breaker
is
mounted in a water diverter;
[0011] Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the water diverter in Fig. 1;
[0012] Fig. 3 is an operational, sectional view of the water diverter in Fig.
1, when
the vacuum breaker is operated responding to an event of pressure drop; and
[0013] Fig. 4 is an enlarged, sectional and operational view of the vacuum
breaker in
Fig. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0014] Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a vacuum breaker 1 in accordance with a
preferred
embodiment of the present invention is disposed at a water diverter connected
to a
water supply and a shower tap. The vacuum breaker 1 in accordance with the
present
invention may also be mounted in a plumbing fixture for kitchen sinks or in a
shower
tap. The water diverter includes a pipe connector 2. The pipe connector 2 has
a first
water outlet 21 and a second water outlet 22 that are respectively connected
to a hand
held device such as a showerhead and a spout of the shower tap.
[0015] The diverter valve further includes a housing 6 and a central shaft 3
disposed
in the housing 6. The housing 6 is connected with the pipe connector 2. The
central
shaft 3 is partially held in and by the pipe connector 2 and is hollow with
two end
openings. One of the end openings of the central shaft 3 is connected with a
bushing
11, and the other end opening is connected with a check valve 5. The bushing
11 is
connected with a handle shaft 4. The handle shaft 4 can switch water flow to
exit the
2S diverter valve through either the first water outlet 21 or the second water
outlet 22
and can be coupled to a tap handle. The central shaft 3 has multiple through
holes 30.
The through holes 30 are defined in fluid communication with the water outlets
21,
22. The handle shaft 4 has a plurality of air intakes 41 defined outside the
housing 6.
The air intakes 41 communicate with the through holes 30 through the hollow
handle
shaft 4, the bushing 11 and the central shaft 3.
[0016] The vacuum breaker 1 is disposed in the bushing 11 and includes a check
3
CA 02508094 2005-06-03
plugger 10 and a sealing sleeve 12. The check plugger 10 is movably disposed
in the
bushing 11 in a vertical manner and has an upper end 101. The upper end 101 is
tapered or conical and has a closing surface 102. The check plugger 10 further
has a
plurality of protrusions 103 formed adjacent to the closing surface 102. The
protrusions 103 provide a gap between the check plugger 10 and the bushing 11
for
allowing passage of air. Furthermore, the protrusions 103 will guide the
movement of
the check plugger 10 in the busing 11 in a smooth manner.
[0017] The sealing sleeve 12 is mounted in the bushing 11 at a position
adjacent to
the upper end 101 of the check plugger 10 and has a central hole 121. The
central
hole 121 has an inner wall. The inner wall has an inner conical surface 122
corresponding to the closing surface 102. The inner conical surface 122 is
closely
abutted against by the closing surface 102 in a normal operation.
[0018] Further referring to Fig. 4, the vacuum breaker 1 may further include a
leakage prevention device that is disposed between the closing surface 102 and
the
inner conical surface 122. The leakage prevention device includes at least one
annular
ring such as two annular rings 123. The annular rings are formed on the inner
conical
surface 122 and will be deformed thereby achieving a better water leakage
prevention
effect when the closing surface 102 abuts against the inner conical surface
122. The
annular rings 123 can also facilitate the closing surface 102 to disengage the
inner
conical surface 122. Alternatively, the annular rings 123 can be formed on the
closing
surface 102.
(0019] Referring to Fig. 2, in the normal operation, water flow is switched to
either
the first water outlet 21 or the second water outlet 22 through the water
diverter. A
portion of the water flow enters the central shaft 3 through the through hole
30, passes
through the check valve 5 and then pushes the check plugger 10. The check
plugger
10 is pushed upwardly to render the upper end 101 of the check plugger 10 to
enter
the central hole 121 of the sealing sleeve 12 until the closing surface 102
closely
abuts against the inner conical surface 122. The contact between the two
surfaces
I 02,122 prevents the vacuum breaker 1 from leakage of the water.
[0020] Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, when the event of water pressure drop is
occurred
such as the water supply is suddenly stopped, the check plugger 10 is not
pushed by
the water flow. The check plugger 10 automatically falls down by gravity and
opens
the vacuum breaker 1. Thus, the closing surface 102 disengages the inner
conical
surface 122, which forms a gap 14 between the two surfaces 102,122. Therefore,
air
4
CA 02508094 2005-06-03
(shown in arrows) enters the inside of the diverter valve through the air
intakes 41,
the handle shaft 4, the bushing 11, the gap 14 and the central shaft 3, and
then passes
through the through hole 30 to break vacuum status inside the water diverter
valve.
[0021] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth for
the
purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiment of the
invention as
well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art.
Accordingly,
the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart
from
the spirit and scope of the invention.
