Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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This lnvention relates to an aerator for use in water f~ucets.
Aerators molded in one piece are well known, for example, my
United States Patents 3,363,841, entitled Molded Water Aerators, granted
January 16, 1968, and 3,27Q,964, entitled Molded Water Aerator, granted
September 6, 1966, show all of the parts of an aerator, including the ~asing
molded in one piece, e~cept that the met21 screens are separate and may be
readily inserted into the molded aerator. It is desirable, however, in some
cases, to use a metal casing for the aerator, and, consequently, there are a
number of my prior patents which show such a casing with molded inserts
capable of receiving a screen, see, for example, my United States Patents
No. 2,799,487 - "Aerator ~Jith ~nitary Molded Inner Assembly", granted
July 16, 1957; United States Patent No. 2,998,929 - "Water Aerators",
granted Septe~ber 5, 1961; United States Patent No. 3,13Q,917 - "Water
Aerator 'rlaving Improved Pre-~erating Disc", gre~nted ~pril 28, 1964;
United States Patent No. 3,13Q,918 - "Slotless Aerator", granted April 28,
1964; United States Patent No. 3,270,946 - "Self-Sealing and Deposit-Proof
Aerator, granted September 6, 1966; British Patent No. 1,1~4,550, published
April 2a, 1970; Italian Patent No. 85~,515, granted January 15, 1970.
The aforesaid patents, however, do not disclose a one-piece insert
capable of being molded at the lowest possible price and providing all of
the advantages which ~n aerator is capable of providing. Very satisfactory
aerators utilizing an imperforate cylindrical casing containing both metal
and plastic parts are well Icnown; see, for example, my United States ~'atent
No. 2,998,927 entitled "Fluid Mixing Devices", granted Septen~er 5, 1961.
These devices, however, do not have the cost-saving advantage of a single
one-piece molded insert. Moreover, they do not have the advantage of a
simplified assembly, nor do t'hey have the advantage of ease of cleaning
which allows t'he insert to be taken o~t, cleaned, and put bacli in the metal
casing.
It i9, therefore, an obJect of my invention to provide an
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aerator-adapted to be attached to the spout end of a faucet-which comprises a
metal casing and a low cost one-piece inscrt for the casing.
The aerating function is carried out with a very high degree of
efficiency and problem.s of leakage bet~een the faucet and the aerator are
overcome.
The structure of the aerator is such that there may not be
required a washer between the aerator and the faucet.
Finally, the aerator can be formcd of plAstic in one piece, as it
is easily moldable and requires a minimum amount of plastic material.
My new aerator employs a metal casing having threads at the
upstream end for attaching it to the faucet. The casing is cylindrical in
shape and has a small Inturned ledge or lip at its downstream end.
A generally cylir.drica' one-piece plastic insert snugly fits in
said casing and has an upstrcarl cylindrical portion, the upstream end of
which engages the downstream end of the faucet when the aerator is screwed
onto the faucet. This insert also has ribs, the downstream end of which
rests on said ledge so that ~he one-piece insert is compressed between the
downstream end of the faucet and the ledge. The insert can be of material
such as DELRI~ which is soft enough to form a substantial seal with the
downstream end of the faucet when the aerator is compressed as aforesaid.
The one-piece insert has an upstrec~m perforated disc having at
least one water discharge opening to thus increase the velocity of the
water while decreasing its cross-section. The aforesaid ribs are integral
with the perforated disc and are spaced apart. The ribs support and are
integral with a ring, the upstream end of which is spaced from the downstream
end of the disc to thus allow the air to enter the mixing space. Moreover,
the d~nstream end of the ring includes means, such as a ledge, for receiving
the mixing screen.
Downstream of the disc is a mixing space fed with air by an air
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delive~)~ path. Tllis air dclivery patll i5 defined by the inner wall of the
casing and the outer wall of the ring, and extends be~ween each pair of ribs.
There are slits e~:tending from the do~nstream ends of the ribs
upstrea~ardly to tl-e do~nstream end of the upstream disc. These slits
extend not only through the ribs but also through the wall that comprises
the ring wllicll receives the screen. These slits are sufficiently narro~ to
impair water flow through them. They enhancc removal of the plastic insert
from the mold. Air may, however, enter through the slits.
~Ioreover, the ribs extend further downstream than the ring, to
maximi7e flow of air into the aerztor. The lowermost part of the ring is
preferably spaced upstream of the upstream side of the ledge so that air ~ay
freely enter the air delive~y path. I~owever, the lowermost end of the ring
may be as low as the upstream side of the ledge if the latter comprises a
series of spaced teeth.
The space between the cylindrlcal portion and the inner side wall
of the casing com~unicates with the air-delivery path so that if small
amounts of water do pass the substantial seal, such water will pass along the
inside wall of the casing and be deflected by the ledge towards the main body
of water leaving the aerator.
The invention will now be described by reference to the accompany-
ing drawlngs, in which:
Figure 1 is a top view of the one-piece plastic insert which forms
a part of the invention;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of Figure 1 taken along the
lines of 2-2, Figure l;
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of
Figure l;
Figure 4 is a side view of the plastic insert;
Figure S is a cross-sectional view of a modified form of aerator
in which the perforations of the disc are conical; 2nd
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of Figure 1 ta~en along lines
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6-6.
The aerator has a ~etal casing having threads at its upstream end
and an inturned lip at its downstream end. A~ example of such casing where
the threads are on the inner wall and casin~ is shown in Figure 3 where the
casing 22 is provided with internal threads 32 and an inturned downstream
ledge or lip 42. ~lother example of the casing is shown in Figure 5 where
the casing 23 has external threads 33 near its upstream end and an inturned
ledge or lip 42 at its downstre2m end. The casings of both Figures 3 and 5
are preferably cylindrical and imperforate along their side walls.
One form of the one-piece plastic insert is sho~7n in Figures 1, 2,
3, 4, and 6, for example. As shown in Figure 4, the one-piece plastic insert
is generally cylindrical in shape and has a handle 40 projecting upstream-
wardly from the insert to enable easy rer.loval of the insert from the caslng.
The one-piece plastic insert also includes a cylindrical upstream
portion 11 of slightly smaller diameter than the inside wall of the casing.
The cylindrical portion 11 is integral with the disc portion 25 which in tur~
is integral witll the ribs 10. There is, moreover, a lower cylindrical
portion 15 integral with the ribs 10, which portion includes a ledge 17 for
supporting screen 18 which is prevented from moving upwardly by the projec-
tions 19 which are integral with the disc 20. The disc 25 has perforations
26 for directing a plurality of water jets at the screen 18. The efficiency
of aeration may be improved by incorporating a bridge 27 such as is sho~7n
and described in my aforesaid United States Patent No. 3,363,841 - "Molded
l~ater Aerators", granted January 16, 1968, or other turbulent generating
means such as described in other of my patents, such as my other United
States Patent No. 2,998,929 - "Water Aerators"~ granted September 5, 1961.
By incorporating such a bridge 27 integral with the remainder of the one-
piece plastic insert, the water jets are appropriately conditioned so that
upon striking the screen lo a very efficient aerating function occurs,
thereby reducing the number of screens 18 that are needed for best operation
of the aerator. The inlet air enters aro~md the inner wall of the ledge 42,
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proceeds upstrea~ardly hetweell thc ~ s 10 and enters the mixing space bet-
ween the cylindrical disc 25 and the cylindrical portion 15 of the aerator.
While I have referred to the fact that the upstream end of the plastic
insert creates a substantial seal against the downstreclm end of the metal
faucet 13, it is understood that this seal may not be perfect and that,
therefore, there may be some leakage of ~Jater through the seal. If this
should occur, a ~lasher may be seated above portion 11, otherwise such water
enters the space S between the outer wall of ~he cylindrical portion 11 and
the inner ~all of casing 22 and flows downstrean~Jardly towards the main body
of the water leaving the aerator. As a result, leakage between the aerator
casing 22 and the faucet 13 is avoided. In the modified form of Figure 5,
the casing has external threads 33, but the do~Jnstream end of the faucet
has an inside ledge against which the cylindrical portion 11 may abut to
constitute the substantial seal described above. A somewhat similar arrange-
ment for attaching an aerator having external threads to a faucet is shown
in severa] of my prior patents, for example, see United States Patent
3,270,965 entitled Self Sealing and Deposit Proof Aerator, granted
September 6, 19~6; ~7nited States Pcatent 3>104,827, entitled Vandal~Proof
Aerator, granted September 24, 1963; United States Patent 2,998,929,
entitled Uater ~erators, granted September 5, 1961, and my aforesaid
British and Italian patents.
The aerator of Figure 5 may have inverted cones 50 in place of the
perforations 26 and may have a plurality of screens 18 instead of the sirgle
screen 18 of Figure 2. Otherwise, the aerators of Figures 1, 2, 3, ar.d 4
on the one hand and Figllre 5 on the other hand are similar. In Figures 1
through 4 and 6, the perforations 26, of diaphragm 25 have a square or
arcuate cross-section, as taught in my aforesaid prior United States Patent
~o. 3,130,917.
To enhance the effectiveness of molding the plastic insert in one
piece, it is desirable to provide a slit 1~ in the ribs 10. In one form
the slit extends from the downstream end of the insert to the lowe. level
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of the disc 25. In practicc, It has be~n fourld th2t w~len the s]it is
approximately 0.3 mm. to 0.5 m~ 7ide, the water will not flood the space bet-
ween the inner ~all of casing 13 ar.d the outer wall of cylindrical portlon 15.
Slit 4 allows the cylindrical portions 15 to move outwardly 25 the
plastic insert is ren-oved from the nold. To further enhance the removal of
the plastic insert from the mold, the ledge 17, for the screen 18, is
inclined as shown.
It is noted that ribs 10 extend do~mstrea~wardly beyond the down-
stream end of cylindrical portion 15 to provide ample space between inturned
ledge 42 and cylindrical portion 15 for a larger quantity of air to enter the
aerator.
The casing 22 (or 23) may be made of plastic material, or of
elastic material such as rubber instead of metal, in which event the down-
stream end of the casing may be distended and the insert placed in the casing
through the opening in the downstream end thereof.
The lowermost end of cylindrical portion (ring) 15 should be posi-
tioned at least as far upstream as the upstream side of ledge 42.
If the lowermost end of ring 15 is at the same level as, or only
slightly upstream of, the upstream side of ledge 42, tl-at ledge should be
constructed in the form of spaced teeth, as sh~.~n in my United States
Patents No. 2,998,926, granted September 5, 1961, entitled "Aerator ~'ith
Improved Air Supply"; No. 2,998,927, granted September 5, 1961, entitled
"Fluid Mixing Devices"; No. 3,198,440, granted August 3, 1965, entitled
"Aerator Structure and Legged Diaphragm Therefor". This permits air to enter
between the teeth and pass between casing 23 and ring 15 to the mixing space
downstream of the orifices 26 and/or 50.
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