Shower head with continuous or cycling flow rate, fast or slow pulsation and variable spray pattern

• US 6,223,998 B1
• Filed: 08/17/1999
• Issued: 05/01/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Heitzman, Charles J.
• Original Assignee: Heitzman, Charles J.
• Inventors: Heitzman, Charles J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Scherbel, David A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HWU, DAVIS D
• Application Number:
  US09/375,707
• Time in Patent Office: 623 Days
• Field of Search: 239/106, 239/107, 239/533.13, 239/233.14, 239/546, 239/602, 239/380-383, 239/460
• US Class Current: 239/383
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 1/18 Roses; Shower heads with means for adding soap or the like E03C1/046; jet regulators E03C1/08
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 15/654 using universal joints
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 3/04 driven by the liquid or other fluent material discharged, e.g. the liquid actuating a motor before passing to the outlet B05B3/023 takes precedence

Abstract

A shower head assembly includes a housing enclosing a rotary valve member driven by a water activated motor. A rotatable tubular valve member surrounds the housing and has an internal cartridge with circumferentially spaced internal passages for selectively directing continuous flow water or cycling flow water directly to nozzle orifices or to radially inner or outer sets of drive jets for a water pulsating turbine wheel. The spray discharge orifices may be adjusted by a control ring which cooperates with the valve member to provide for selecting various spray functions including 1) a normal continuous spray, 2) a fast or slow pulsating spray, 3) a cycling flow rate spray with fast or slow pulsation, 4) a cycling flow rate spray with no pulsation and 5) a discharge spray variable between narrow and wide spray patterns.

Claims

1. A shower head assembly comprising a housing, means for directing water into said housing, a water spray member connected to said housing and including a plurality of spaced flexible disks each having a plurality of resilient and flexible projecting tubular nozzle tips, and a spray control member connected to flex said disks simultaneously to vary the spray pattern of water streams from said nozzle tips between narrow and wide patterns.

2. A shower head assembly as defined in claim 1 and including a rotary cycling valve member within said housing, and a water activated drive for continuously rotating said valve member to provide a cycling flow rate of water to said orifices.

3. A shower head assembly as defined in claim 1 and including a non-resilient flexible disk having holes for receiving said tubular nozzle tips and for supporting each of said one flexible disks.

4. A shower head assembly comprising a housing, an inlet passage for directing water into said housing at a flow rate above a predetermined flow rate, a water spray member connected to said housing and having a plurality of orifices for directing water from said housing in water streams forming a spray, a water driven rotary cycling valve member within said housing and connected to receive water from said inlet passage and to vary automatically and continuously the flow rate between a first flow rate above said predetermined flow rate and a second flow rate below said predetermined flow rate, a water actuated rotary turbine within said housing and cooperating with said orifices for pulsating the water streams, a first flow control passage for directing water from said inlet passage around said rotary cycling valve member and said turbine at substantially said predetermined flow rate for producing continuous water streams from said orifices, and a second flow control passage for directing water from said rotary cycling valve member to said rotary turbine for producing pulsating water streams at a variable flow rate having an average total flow rate substantially the same as said predetermined flow rate.

5. A shower head assembly as defined in claim 4 and including a third flow control passage for directing water from said inlet passage around said rotary cycling valve member at substantially said predetermined flow rate to said rotary turbine to produce pulsating water streams at a substantially constant said total flow rate.

6. A shower head assembly as defined in claim 4 and including radially spaced sets of inner and outer drive ports for directing water streams towards said turbine wheel at radially spaced locations, and a set of passages for directing water with cycling flow rates from said cycling valve member to said sets of inner and outer drive ports for varying the speed of said turbine wheel and the corresponding pulsation frequency of the water streams.

7. A shower head assembly as defined in claim 4 and including a water activated motor for rotating said cycling valve member and comprising a housing supporting a shaft having an eccentric portion within a rotor chamber, and a gear-like rotor within said rotor chamber and supported for orbital movement by said eccentric shaft portion in response to pressurized water.

8. A shower head assembly as defined in claim 4 wherein said housing has a cylindrical wall with at least one radial port upstream of said cycling valve member, and a control valve member surrounding said wall and having an internal passage connecting said port to said orifices for producing a spray with a non-cycling flow rate.