EP0930100A2 - Brausekopf - Google Patents

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Publication number
EP0930100A2
EP0930100A2 EP98310392A EP98310392A EP0930100A2 EP 0930100 A2 EP0930100 A2 EP 0930100A2 EP 98310392 A EP98310392 A EP 98310392A EP 98310392 A EP98310392 A EP 98310392A EP 0930100 A2 EP0930100 A2 EP 0930100A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
nozzles
shower head
nozzle
component
head according
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP98310392A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0930100A3 (de
EP0930100B1 (de
Inventor
Graham Keith Lacy
Brian Douglas Smith
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Aqualisa Products Ltd
Original Assignee
Aqualisa Products Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Aqualisa Products Ltd filed Critical Aqualisa Products Ltd
Publication of EP0930100A2 publication Critical patent/EP0930100A2/de
Publication of EP0930100A3 publication Critical patent/EP0930100A3/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0930100B1 publication Critical patent/EP0930100B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B1/00—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means
    • B05B1/14—Nozzles, spray heads or other outlets, with or without auxiliary devices such as valves, heating means with multiple outlet openings; with strainers in or outside the outlet opening
    • B05B1/18—Roses; Shower heads
    • B05B1/185—Roses; Shower heads characterised by their outlet element; Mounting arrangements therefor
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B15/00—Details of spraying plant or spraying apparatus not otherwise provided for; Accessories
    • B05B15/50—Arrangements for cleaning; Arrangements for preventing deposits, drying-out or blockage; Arrangements for detecting improper discharge caused by the presence of foreign matter
    • B05B15/52—Arrangements for cleaning; Arrangements for preventing deposits, drying-out or blockage; Arrangements for detecting improper discharge caused by the presence of foreign matter for removal of clogging particles
    • B05B15/528—Arrangements for cleaning; Arrangements for preventing deposits, drying-out or blockage; Arrangements for detecting improper discharge caused by the presence of foreign matter for removal of clogging particles by resilient deformation of the nozzle
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05B—SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES
    • B05B15/00—Details of spraying plant or spraying apparatus not otherwise provided for; Accessories
    • B05B15/60—Arrangements for mounting, supporting or holding spraying apparatus
    • B05B15/62—Arrangements for supporting spraying apparatus, e.g. suction cups

Definitions

  • the present application relates to a shower head and, more particularly, to a shower head in which the nozzles may be effectively descaled.
  • shower heads are known for use in bathrooms and the like. These shower heads may be arranged in a number of ways, for instance fixed to a wall or provided with a handle and a connecting flexible tube.
  • the shower heads are usually provided with a plurality of nozzles which produce respective jets of water to provide an overall spray pattern. Furthermore, some shower heads have two or more sets or arrays of nozzles and some operating means, such as a lever, for allowing a user to select between the sets of nozzles and vary the overall spray pattern.
  • shower heads may be arranged merely for the selection of the number of sets of nozzles and, hence, the extent of the combined spray pattern.
  • respective sets of nozzles can in some shower heads produce different types of jet stream and/or different types of spray pattern. With these shower heads, the user may select between the types of jet stream or spray pattern.
  • the nozzles To produce fine jets of water, often of high pressure, the nozzles have to be of relatively small cross-sectional area. Unfortunately, this makes them particularly prone to scaling. In particular, limescale is deposited from the water in and around the downstream portion of the nozzle, causing the nozzle to become partly, if not totally, blocked.
  • the descaling ability of the shower head is not as good as one might first think.
  • the elastomeric teats are cleaned by wiping a member, such as one's finger, over the outermost end surface of the teat. This deflects the teats to one side in a pivoting movement about the position at which they extend from the face plate.
  • a teat is deflected as a whole without particular deformation at its end, such that scale need not necessarily be cleared from within the rubber teat.
  • a rubber teat having scale built up in its outlet opening can easily be deflected to one side at its base whilst leaving the scaled end of the teat intact.
  • a further disadvantage of the elastomeric teat arrangement is that deflection is caused by rubbing the thinnest most vulnerable part of the rubber teat, often with hard scale particles. This can result in the teats being damaged very quickly.
  • a method of descaling the nozzles of a shower head having nozzles constructed of a flexible resilient material comprising:
  • a shower head having a first array of nozzles for issuing respective jets of water to form a spray pattern, each nozzle being constructed of a flexible resilient material, the shower head also having first and second components arranged to engage diametrically opposite sides of the nozzles and being relatively movably so as to shear the nozzles.
  • the flexible nozzle is deformed such that scaling will be more effectively broken up or released. Furthermore, since the nozzles are deformed by contact with their sides, rather than their ends, the relatively weak end surface is not rubbed or damaged.
  • the nozzles are deformed by action on their side surfaces, it is not necessary for them to protrude beyond the face plate, which may itself be formed from the first and second components. As a result, the ends of the nozzles need not protrude beyond the face plate, such that they do not spoil the appearance of the shower head and are not vulnerable to being damaged.
  • a first component conforms to part of the peripheral extent of the outer surface of the nozzle and a second component conforms to the remainder of the peripheral extent of the outer surface of the nozzle, such that the downstream portion of nozzle is substantially fully supported.
  • the nozzles By supporting the nozzles, they are more stable and deform less with varying pressure. Furthermore, the material properties of the nozzles may be chosen to optimize flexibility and release of scale, since they do not have to be designed to be self supporting.
  • the first component can extend along the entire length of the nozzle, preferably surrounding the entire peripheral extent of the outer surface of each nozzle at its upstream portion.
  • the upstream portion of each nozzle is supported, but is not directly deflected by a second component.
  • each nozzle is formed integrally with a flange which is mounted upstream of and against an inner surface of the first component which is substantially perpendicular to the extent of the nozzle.
  • the flange may then be used to seal with upstream moving components of the shower head, for instance by means of lip seals. This has the advantage of avoiding the need for any seals around the first and second components.
  • each nozzle is substantially cylindrical and the downstream portion of each nozzle is substantially conical.
  • the conical section is used, since it allows nozzles to direct water jets at different angles according to the centre line of the cone of the respective nozzle, whilst allowing the molding tools to be withdrawn easily.
  • the conical internal cross-section also helps to provide well formed jets.
  • the upstream cylindrical outer cross-section allows a good transition between the downstream end of the nozzle where the greatest deflection occurs and the upstream portion of the nozzle where substantially only twisting occurs.
  • the shower head includes a front face plate from which the jets of water issue and a rotatable bezel around the periphery of the face plate, one of the first and second components being connected to the bezel so as to cause shearing of each nozzle when the bezel is rotated.
  • the first and second components may be common to all of the nozzles of the first array.
  • the first component may have an inner periphery positioned substantially along the circle and the second component may have an outer periphery positioned substantially along the circle.
  • That one of the first and second components which is connected to the bezel may actually be formed integrally with the bezel, but, by being formed separately, variations in appearance are possible, for instance a chromed bezel may be provided together with coloured components forming the face plate.
  • the shower head is capable of producing more than one spray pattern and further comprises a movable member for changing between spray patterns, one of the first and second components being connected to the movable member so as to cause shearing of each nozzle when changing between spray patterns.
  • the movable member may preferably be the bezel mentioned above.
  • the shower head may include more than one array of nozzles according to the present invention, preferably arranged in two or more concentric circles.
  • they are arranged such that movement of one component to shear an outer ring of nozzles will shear that outer ring of nozzles and then transmit the motion inwardly to shear also the inner ring of nozzles with respect to a third component.
  • the nozzles of an array are formed from a single integral component, thereby simplify manufacture and construction.
  • This approach can be extended to multiple arrays of nozzles.
  • the shower head 2 is fitted to an extension 4, of which only the end is shown.
  • the extension 4 may be part of a handle or a wall fixture.
  • Water is guided up the inside of the extension 4 and into the shower head 2.
  • the shower head 2 of Figures 1 and 2 includes three different arrays 6, 8, 10 of nozzles.
  • a mechanism is provided within the shower head 2 to supply selectively the water from the extension 4 into one or more of the arrays 6, 8, 10 of nozzles.
  • the internal structure of this particular shower head 2 is also arranged to provide different types of jets of water from the respective arrays of nozzles, in particular fine powerful jets from array 6, aerated jets from array 8 and normal or pulsating jets from array 10.
  • a bezel 12 is also provided around the face plate 14 in which the nozzles are formed.
  • the internal mechanism is operated so as to change between the various spray patterns and provide water selectively to one or more of the arrays 6,8,10.
  • the outer array 6 of nozzles includes a series of nozzles 16 arranged in accordance with the present invention.
  • Figure 3 illustrates a cross-section through one such nozzle 16.
  • the nozzle 16 is formed of an elastomeric material and comprises a downstream generally conically shaped portion 16a, an upstream generally cylindrically shaped portion 16b and a flange portion 16c with lip seals 16d.
  • the nozzle 16 is supported by a first component 18 and a second component 20 which together form part of the face plate 14. These are also illustrated in Figures 4 and 5.
  • the first component 18 surrounds the upstream portion 16b of the nozzle 16 completely, but only encircles part of the downstream portion 16a. The remainder of the downstream portion 16a is surrounded by the second component 20.
  • Figure 4 also shows that each of the nozzles 16 can be formed with a common flange 16c and that common first and second components 18,20 can be provided for all of the nozzles 16 of the array by providing them as annular members.
  • the first component 18 is connected to the bezel 12.
  • the bezel 12 is provided with extensions 12a which fit into corresponding recesses 18a in the first component 18. This rotationally fixes the bezel 12 to the first component 18, such that the bezel 12 may be used to rotate the first component 18.
  • the bezel may be attached to the first component 18 in other ways, for instance using adhesive.
  • the bezel 12 and first component 18 can be formed as an integral component.
  • the advantage of forming them as separate components is that the bezel 12 may then be formed of a different material to that of the first component 18.
  • the bezel 12 is rotatable relative to the rest of the handset 2.
  • the bezel 12 can be rotated relative to the handset 2 in order to change the spray pattern in use. However, since the bezel 12 is rotationally fixed to the first component 18, rotation of the bezel 12 will also cause rotation of the first component 18 and all of the nozzles 16 which it supports.
  • the second component 20 is free to rotate relative to the first component 18. Therefore, when the bezel 12 and first component 18 are rotated, a relative rotation occurs between the first component 18 and second component 20.
  • those parts of the first component 18 and the second component 20 which support the downstream portion 16a of the nozzle 16 move relative to one another and shear the downstream portion 16a of the nozzle 16 causing the scale in the downstream portion 16a to be dislodged from the nozzle 16.
  • the nozzle 16 is only fixed where it joins the flange portion 16c, the length of the upstream portion 16b gradually absorbs the shearing of the downstream portion 16a as a gradually decreasing twist along its length.
  • the flange 16c of the nozzle 16 is provided with two peripheral lip seals 16d. As illustrated in Figure 3, these are used to seal against internal side walls of the shower head 2. In this way, water which is ducted to the nozzles 16 need not at any stage come into contact with the relatively complex arrangement of first and second components 18,20 and bezel 12. In particular, the moving arrangement of the first and second components 18,20 is provided outside of the channelling of the water, such that it is not necessary to provide any water seals in the moving parts.
  • downstream portion 16a of the nozzle 16 are conical in shape.
  • the divide between the first and second components 16,18 lies substantially along the central axis of this cone.
  • consecutive downstream portions 16a will have internal conical sections with axes at different angles.
  • three different angles ⁇ for instance -4°, 0°, 4° or 0°, 4°, 8° etc, may be used in sequence around the array of nozzles 16, such that a spread of water jets is formed.
  • the internal cross-section may be entirely conical as shown in Figure 3 or only partly conical as shown subsequently in Figures 9 and 12.
  • the outer sections of the downstream portion 16a of the nozzle 16 should all be the same, such that all of the supporting areas of the first and second components 18,20 can be of the same shape and dimension and not require the nozzles 16 to be inserted with a particular orientation.
  • a shower head is merely provided with an array of nozzles 16 as discussed above without any further array of nozzles.
  • the bezel 12 would be used only for cleaning the nozzle 16.
  • two further arrays, 8 and 10 are provided and the bezel 12 also functions to operate the mechanism within the shower head 2 to redirect water between the various arrays 6,8,10.
  • first component 18 it may be undesirable for the first component 18 to have complete freedom of movement against the second component 20, since a user could over-rotate the first component 18 relative to the second component 20 and thereby damage the nozzle 16. This may be a problem, particularly where the bezel 12 is also used to operate a fairly stiff internal mechanism and where this operation is transmitted through the first and second components 18,20.
  • the first and second components 18,20 should be provided with some kind of interlocking arrangement.
  • the first and second components 18,20 should be arranged such that only a limited amount of relative rotation is possible.
  • the first component 18 once the first component 18 has rotated relative to the second component 20 sufficient to provide the required shear and deformation of the nozzle 16, then it should engage with the second component 20 so as to rotate the second component 20 directly without any further relative rotation.
  • Figure 5 illustrates a possible embodiment.
  • An outer surface of the second component 20 is formed with a series of outwardly facing teeth 22.
  • An inner surface of the first component 18 is formed with a corresponding series of inwardly facing indents 24.
  • the indents 24 are slightly bigger than the teeth 22 such that, with the teeth 22 of the second component 20 in the indents 24 of the first component 18, a small amount of relative rotation is possible between the first component 18 and second component 20.
  • the relative sizes of the teeth 22 and indents 24 are determined according to the size of the nozzle 16 and the radius of the circle along which they are positioned.
  • a nozzle 16 is to be sheared such that the side wall of one half of the nozzle 16 is sheared to a position adjacent the centre of the other half of the nozzle 16. Therefore, the relative sizes of the teeth 22 and indents 24 should be chosen such that a side surface of a tooth 22 engages a corresponding side surface of an indent 24 when the nozzles 16 have been sheared to the extent mentioned above. In this way, any further shearing of the nozzles is prevented and further transmission of forces between the first component 18 and the second component 22 occurs between the side surfaces of the teeth 22 and indents 24, rather than through the nozzles 16.
  • teeth 22 and indents 24 allow relative rotation and shearing in both directions.
  • the nozzles 16 return to their unsheared and undeformed state.
  • an additional sprung mechanism is provided to return the first and second components 18,20 to their aligned state when no relative rotation is imposed by the user. In other words, in its "at rest" state, where a user is not rotating the bezel 12 or first component 18, the first component 18 is forced to a position where its supporting surfaces are aligned with the supporting surfaces of the second component 20 and the nozzles 16 are not deformed.
  • Figure 5 illustrates an embodiment including this preferred feature.
  • the inner surface of the first component 18 is formed with a resilient cantilevered arm 26 having a return indent 28.
  • the return indent 28 is of substantially the same shape and size as the teeth 22.
  • the return indent 28 is positioned in the first component 18 such that, in its at rest state when it fully engages a tooth 22, the supporting surfaces of the first component 18 are aligned with the supporting surfaces of the second component 20.
  • the return indent 28 and arm 26 In use, when the first component 18 is rotated relative to the second component 20, the return indent 28 and arm 26 is forced outwards by riding up a tooth 22. In this way, when the rotating force is released from the first component 18, the resilient inward force of the arm 26 causes the return indent 28 to ride back down into its engaged position with the tooth 22, thereby causing the first and second components 18,20 to be re-aligned.
  • the teeth 22 and indents 24 can have a square section. However, as will be apparent from the above, for the functioning of the return indent 28, the teeth 22 and indents 24,28 should have generally sloped side surfaces.
  • the resilient returning force of the cantilever arm 26 should be strong enough to overcome frictional forces to return the first and second components 18,20 to their aligned state, but should not be so great as to prevent relative rotation for the purposes of shearing the nozzles.
  • the force required to overcome the cantilever arm 26 should be less than that required to operate the internal mechanism.
  • three such return mechanisms are provided around the periphery.
  • Figure 6 illustrates schematically an alternative return mechanism.
  • a generally "M" shaped spring member 30 is formed on the inner surface of the first component 18.
  • This spring member 30 can work in one of two ways.
  • the respective tooth 22 can cause the spring member 30 to be deflected inwardly as the tooth 22 rotates relative to it.
  • the spring member 30 can securely grip the side surfaces of the tooth 22, such that the central portion of the spring member 30 is actually rotated with the tooth 22 relative to the first component 18.
  • the spring member 30 acts to return the first component 18 to the position where its supporting surfaces aligned with those of the second component 20.
  • the spring member 30 is not formed integrally with the first component 18, but is made of spring steel and is merely fitted to the inner surface of the first component 18.
  • a shower head it is also possible for a shower head to include two or more concentric rings of nozzles 16 and such a shower head is illustrated schematically in Figures 7 and 8.
  • Each array of nozzles may be constructed and arranged in the manner described above. However, as illustrated more clearly in Figure 9, whereas the first component 18 of the outer array of nozzles 16 is connected to or formed integrally with the bezel 12, the first component 18 of the inner array of nozzles 16 is connected to or formed integrally with the second component 20 of the outer array of nozzles.
  • Figure 10 illustrates an integral outer second component 18 and inner first component 20 of the type previously discussed with reference to Figure 4.
  • Figure 11 illustrates an outer second component 20 and inner first component 18 corresponding to the first and second components described with reference to Figure 5.
  • the outer array of nozzles 16 are sheared until the teeth 22 prevent further relative rotation with the outer second component 20. Further rotation of the bezel 12 will rotate the outer second component 20 and also the inner first component 18. This rotation will then shear the inner array of nozzles 16 until the teeth 22 of the inner array prevent further rotation with the inner second component 20. Further rotation of the bezel 12 may then be used to rotate the inner second component 20 so as to operate some internal mechanism for changing spray patterns.

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  • Nozzles (AREA)
EP98310392A 1998-01-20 1998-12-17 Brausekopf Expired - Lifetime EP0930100B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9801177A GB2333251B (en) 1998-01-20 1998-01-20 Shower head
GB9801177 1998-01-20

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0930100A2 true EP0930100A2 (de) 1999-07-21
EP0930100A3 EP0930100A3 (de) 2001-01-10
EP0930100B1 EP0930100B1 (de) 2003-06-25

Family

ID=10825580

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP98310392A Expired - Lifetime EP0930100B1 (de) 1998-01-20 1998-12-17 Brausekopf

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0930100B1 (de)
DE (1) DE69815804T2 (de)
GB (1) GB2333251B (de)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2014171718A (ja) * 2013-03-11 2014-09-22 Panasonic Corp シャワーヘッド
EP3369485A1 (de) * 2017-03-01 2018-09-05 Fabrizio Nobili Verbesserter duschkopf
KR20220136332A (ko) * 2020-02-28 2022-10-07 박성호 가정용 소방 다용도 호스
WO2025030668A1 (zh) * 2023-08-10 2025-02-13 九牧厨卫股份有限公司 出液装置及出液系统

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102016225987A1 (de) * 2016-12-22 2018-06-28 Hansgrohe Se Brausestrahlaustrittsvorrichtung und damit ausgerüstete Brause
KR102863435B1 (ko) * 2023-05-31 2025-09-26 박성호 배터리 전원공급 방식의 소화용 가압박스

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3044310C2 (de) * 1980-11-25 1984-09-27 Friedrich Grohe Armaturenfabrik Gmbh & Co, 5870 Hemer Brauseeinrichtung
DE3943062C2 (de) * 1989-12-28 1999-07-15 Grohe Armaturen Friedrich Brausekopf
DE9303986U1 (de) * 1992-11-04 1993-08-12 Friedrich Grohe AG & Co. KG, 58675 Hemer Brausekopf
DE4447115C2 (de) * 1994-12-29 1998-11-19 Hansa Metallwerke Ag Brausekopf, insbesondere für ein Handbrause

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
None

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2014171718A (ja) * 2013-03-11 2014-09-22 Panasonic Corp シャワーヘッド
EP3369485A1 (de) * 2017-03-01 2018-09-05 Fabrizio Nobili Verbesserter duschkopf
KR20220136332A (ko) * 2020-02-28 2022-10-07 박성호 가정용 소방 다용도 호스
WO2025030668A1 (zh) * 2023-08-10 2025-02-13 九牧厨卫股份有限公司 出液装置及出液系统

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE69815804D1 (de) 2003-07-31
EP0930100A3 (de) 2001-01-10
GB9801177D0 (en) 1998-03-18
DE69815804T2 (de) 2004-05-19
GB2333251B (en) 2001-09-12
GB2333251A (en) 1999-07-21
EP0930100B1 (de) 2003-06-25

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