Shower head

• US 4,650,120 A
• Filed: 10/01/1984
• Issued: 03/17/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/1983
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hansa Metallwerke AG (Paasikivi Family)
• Original Assignee: Hansa Metallwerke AG (Paasikivi Family)
• Inventors: Kress, Hermann K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Peters, Jr., Joseph F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NOT, DEFINED
• Application Number:
  US06/656,224
• Time in Patent Office: 897 Days
• Field of Search: 239/436, 239/437, 239/443-449, 239/586, 239/587, 239/383, 137/625.48, 137/625.25, 251/121
• US Class Current: 239/446
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 1/1663 by relative translatory movement of the valve elements B05B1/1672 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/86879 Reciprocating valve unit

Abstract

In a shower head (12) provided with hard-jet ports (84) and soft-jet ports (88), a partition wall between the distributor chambers (32, 82) communicating with these sets of ports is designed as an insert part (26) which can be inserted from the open end of the housing (14). The partition wall insert part has an integrally formed valve supporting section (38) with connection channels (42, 72, 74) to the feed port (44) and the two distributor chambers (32, 34) respectively and carries a linear slide change-over valve, whose valve seat (50) and valve slide (52) are made of a ceramic material.

Claims

1. A hand shower that includes a hollow handle defining a water feed passage and an integral cup-like housing (14) which contains (1) two distributor chambers (32, 82) that are separated flowwise by a wall (26) and one of which is in communication with at least one soft-jet port (88) and the other is in communication with hard-jet ports (84), (2) a slide change-over valve by means of which a main feed port for water (44) in the housing (14) can be connected to one or the other of the two distributor chambers (32, 82), and (3) an actuating member (96) that passes through said housing (14) characterized in that

(a) said change-over valve comprising

(1) a linearly guided valve slide with a facing surface (52),

(2) a stationary valve seat with a facing surface (50),

a portion of the facing surface on said valve slide (52) being in sliding engagement with a portion of the facing surface on said valve seat (50),

a portion of said facing surface on said valve slide (52) also containing a depression (94),

said facing surface of said valve seat (50) has opening out into it

an inlet control port (60) connected to said main feed port (44),

two working control ports (64, 66) located on the same side of said facing surface as said inlet control port and on either side of said inlet control port (60), said control ports (64, 66) being in communication through two separate passageways (72, 74) with one or the other of said two distribution chambers (32, 82),

(b) said housing (14) is in the form of a unilaterally open cup and the partition wall between the two distributor chambers (32, 82) is formed by a partition wall insert (26) which is positioned within the housing (14) and which carries said valve seat (50) and contains a feed channel (42), which leads from the inlet control port (60) in the valve seat (50), as well as said two separate passageways (72, 74) which lead to one or the other of the distributor chambers (32, 82).

2. A hand shower as set forth in claim 1 wherein on an outer surface of the partition wall insert part (26) there is provided a ring seal (46) which surrounds the point at which the feed channel (42) opens out.

3. A hand shower as set forth in claim 1 wherein the partition wall insert part (26) is sealed against a peripheral wall (16) of the housing (14) by a ring seal (36).

4. A hand shower as set forth in claim 1 wherein the valve slide (52) sits in a form-locked manner in a cage (54) which is open towards the facing surface of the valve seat (50) and which, for its part, has a prismatic outer surface and runs in a complementary guide part (56), which is fastened on the partition wall insert part (26) face pointing towards the cup bottom.

5. A hand shower as set forth in claim 4 wherein the cage (54) has end faces and at least one of the end faces of the cage (54) lying in the direction of movement is provided with interlocking means (102) which cooperate with complementary interlocking means (100) of the actuating member (96).

6. A hand shower as set forth in claim 5 wherein the complementary interlocking means (100, 102) on the cage (54) and the actuating member (96) respectively form a dovetail joint, whose direction of insertion extends parallel to the direction of installation of the partition wall insert part (26) into the housing (14).

7. A hand shower as set forth in claim 5 wherein the complementary interlocking means (100, 102) on the cage (54) and the actuating member (96) are formed by detent means.

8. A hand shower as set forth in claim 7 wherein the positive dovetail guide means (102) are slotted (104) so that they simultaneously form a plug which can be resiliently introduced into the negative dovetail guide means (100).

9. A hand shower as set forth in claim 4 wherein the guide part (56) comprises a detent section (124) which projects elastically from the guide surface and which, in the central position of the valve slide (52) engages elastically in an aligned depression (122) in the cage (54).

10. A hand shower as set forth in claim 4 wherein the housing (14) is provided with stop ribs (114, 116) which define the working positions of the valve slide (52).

11. A hand shower as set forth in claim 1 wherein the valve slide (52) has end walls which are to the front and rear as viewed in the direction of movement and are provided with leakage notches (118, 120).

12. A hand shower as set forth in claim 1 wherein a shower cover (28) which comprises the hard-jet ports (84) and the soft-jet ports (88), has an outer peripheral wall (81) which is insertable into the housing (14), and an inner peripheral wall (79), which is radially inwardly offset thereto and is sealed (80) against the partition wall insert part (26), which walls together specify a shell-shaped hard-jet distributor chamber (82) which closely surrounds the soft-jet ports (88).

13. A hand shower as set forth in claim 12 wherein the inner peripheral wall (79) of the shower cover (28) engages positively over a projection (76, 80) of the partition wall insert part (26), and in that the opposite end faces of the partition wall insert part (26) and of the shower cover (28) are sealed flatly against one another by a plate seal (80).

14. A hand shower as set forth in claim 12 wherein the partition wall insert part (26) and the shower cover (28) are fastened to the housing (14) by a single central fastening means (24).

15. A hand shower as set forth in claim 1 wherein the valve seat (50) sits positively in a depression (40) in the partition wall insert part (26) with the interposition of a bottom seal (48), and in that the thickness of the bottom seal has been chosen, taking into consideration the thickness of the valve seat (50), to be such that the contact surface between the valve seal (50) and the valve slide (52), in the assembled state of the shower head, is seated in the partition wall insert part (26) and the valve seat (50) is thus held on the valve slide (52) in elastic sliding contact.