EP1985375A1

EP1985375A1 - Pullout showerhead

Info

Publication number: EP1985375A1
Application number: EP07008624A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Fabrizio Nobili
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-04-27
Filing date: 2007-04-27
Publication date: 2008-10-29
Also published as: WO2008131923A1

Abstract

Pullout shower head comprising: a tubular handle (2), having an end (2a) equipped for removable connection to a flexible hose; a water-dispensing head (3), associated on one side with the other end (2b) of the tubular handle (2), and equipped on the other side with a respective dispensing outlet (4); a perforated dispensing mouth (5) associated with the outlet (4);
a nozzle having a hollow body (6) with at least one spherical part engaged so that it can move in the dispensing outlet (4) with a substantially ball joint coupling, the hollow body (6) being in liquid communication, on one side, with the handle (2) and, on the other side, with the dispensing mouth (5) with which it is fixedly associated;
means substantially of a ring nut type (7) associated with the dispensing outlet (4) and acting upon the hollow body (6), to axially hold it fixedly engaged by ball joint in the outlet (4) itself and
means (9-12) for moving the hollow body (6) through a ball joint with movements of predetermined angular size.

Description

Field of application

The present invention refers to a pullout shower head with one or more functions, particularly, but not exclusively recommended for known sanitary items like a bidet, and of the type comprising a tubular handle, having an end equipped for removable connection to a flexible hose, a water-dispensing head, associated on one side with the other end of said tubular handle, and equipped on the other side with a respective dispensing outlet, a perforated dispensing mouth associated with said outlet.

Prior art

It is well known that there is widespread use of pullout shower heads applied to sanitary items like baths, shower cubicles, sinks, bidets and similar, just as there is a wide range of different models, both in terms of structure and function, and in terms of appearance.
It is known, in this specific field, that research is ongoing into the design of such shower heads to give them new and additional functions, above all greater user-comfort, without at the same time "complicating" their use in terms of the number of command functions and/or adjustments to perform.
As far as application to known sanitary items known as bidets is concerned, pullout shower heads currently available on the market, along with recognized advantages of manipulativeness, multi-functionality and a wide range of different models, have the equally recognized drawback of little if not absolutely no possibility of directing the dispensing outlet and, therefore, the water jet that is dispensed as one wishes.
The problem forming the basis of the present invention is that of providing a pullout shower head of the type considered having structural and functional characteristics such as to overcome the quoted drawbacks with reference to the prior art, whilst still being easy and cost-effective to manufacture and simple to manipulate.

Summary of the invention

This problem is solved, according to the present invention, by a pullout shower head with one or more functions, comprising a tubular handle, having an end equipped for removable connection to a flexible hose, a water-dispensing head, associated on one side with the other end of said tubular handle, and equipped on the other side with a respective dispensing outlet, a perforated dispensing mouth associated with said outlet, said shower head being characterized in that it comprises:

a nozzle having a hollow body with at least one spherical part of predetermined diameter, engaged so that it can move in said dispensing outlet with a substantially ball joint coupling, said hollow body being in liquid communication, on one side, with said handle and, on the other side, with said dispensing mouth with which it is fixedly associated,
means substantially of a ring nut type associated with said dispensing outlet and acting upon said hollow body, to axially hold it fixedly engaged by ball joint in the outlet itself,
means for moving said hollow body through the ball joint with movements of predetermined angular size.

In accordance with a second characteristic of the present invention, in said hollow body and at the side thereof associated with said perforated mouth, a flat circular wall is defined, having a smaller diameter than the predetermined diameter of said spherical part of the hollow body itself.
According to a third characteristic of the present invention, at least one portion of said flat wall is perforated to constitute said dispensing mouth.
In accordance with a further characteristic of the invention, said means for moving said hollow body through the ball joint comprise:

at least one groove of predetermined length, formed on the outside of the spherical part of said hollow body and extending along an arc of circumference lying in a plane forming an angle with the flat wall of said hollow body and with the diametric plane of the spherical part parallel to said flat wall,
a ring, coaxially and rotatably mounted on said dispensing head at the respective outlet,
at least one pin, projecting radially from said ring towards at least one groove, in which it is engaged so that it can slide.
The groove is shaped like an elongated slot.
The length of the slot-shaped groove is linked to the predetermined angular size of the movement of the hollow body.
The angular size of such a movement is set according to the size of the perforated area of the flat part of said hollow body, in the sense that it must not or should not ever be "blocked" by the dispensing outlet of the shower head.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention shall become clearer from the following description, given for illustrative and nonlimiting purposes, with the help of the figures illustrated in the attached tables.

Brief description of the attached figures

figure 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a shower head according to the present invention;
figure 2 shows an enlargement of some elements of figure 1;
figure 3 shows a detail of the oscillation system of the nozzle with respect to the dispensing head;
figure 4 shows a detail of the system for moving the nozzle;
figure 5 shows an element of figure 4 in detail.

Detailed description

With reference to figure 1, in accordance with the present invention a shower head is comprehensively indicated with 1.
The shower head 1 comprises, in a general way, a tubular handle 2, having a threaded end 2a for removable connection to a flexible hose, a water-dispensing head 3, associated, on one side, with the other end 2b of the handle 2 and equipped, on the other side, with a respective dispensing outlet 4 with which a perforated dispensing mouth 5 is associated.
In accordance with the present invention, the shower head 1 also comprises a nozzle having a hollow body 6 (in the example made in two pieces) with at least one spherical part of predetermined diameter, engaged so that it can move in the dispensing outlet 4 with a substantially ball joint type coupling. In this hollow body 6, on one side, a perforated flat wall 61 is defined, which constitutes the dispensing mouth 5.
In particular, the flat wall 61 has a circular configuration, having a smaller diameter than the predetermined diameter of said spherical part.
On the hollow body 6, at the side opposite the flat wall 61, a hole 62 is also formed to place the perforated wall 61, through which the liquid (usually water) is dispensed, in fluid communication with the cavity of the handle 2.
The hole 62 is suitably blocked or freed by a customary valve device, globally indicated as 20, commanded by a grip 21, which for the sake of simplicity of explanation is not described in detail, since as such it is widely known in the field.
In order to hold the hollow body 6 axially in a fixed ball joint type engagement in the outlet 4 itself, suitable means of a basically ring nut-type are used.
In the example, said ring nut-type means are in the form of an annular body 7 threaded on the outer side so as to screw into a corresponding internal threading formed at the free end of the dispensing outlet 4.
The shower head 1, according to the present invention, also comprises means for moving the hollow body 6 through a ball joint with movements of predetermined angular size.
In particular, the means for moving the hollow body through the ball joint comprise:

two opposite elongated slot-shaped grooves 9, of the same predetermined length and formed on the outside of the spherical part of the hollow body 6 and extending along an arc of circumference lying in a plane forming an angle with the flat wall 61 of the hollow body 6 and with the diametric plane of the spherical part parallel to the flat wall 61,
a ring 10, coaxially and rotatably mounted on the dispensing head 3 at the respective outlet 4, and
two opposite pins 11, projecting radially from the ring 10 towards a respective groove 9, in which they are engaged so that they can slide.

Of course, the number of grooves and corresponding sliding pins can vary as desired.
The length of each slot-shaped groove 9 is linked to the predetermined angular size of the movement of the hollow body 6.
The angular size of the grooves 9 is selected so that the holes of the mouth 5 are not "blocked" by the dispensing outlet 4 so that the water jet, whatever the position occupied by the pins 11 in the grooves 9, always faces outwards.
In order to make it easier for the operator to direct the dispensing mouth 5 and consequently the dispensed water jet, the ring 10 is provided with a manoeuvring element, in the example a small lever 12, which projects radially from the circumferential outer side and that remains accessible from the outside during normal conditions of use.
In accordance with the present invention, the hollow body 6 is also provided with a pair of opposite coaxial radial pins 13 (fig. 3) that are inserted into corresponding seats 14 formed on two opposite ears 15 that project axially from a crown 16, which is inserted inside the outlet 4 and is held in fixed position, i.e. prevented from rotating, by three teeth (not visible in the figures) that are inserted into three corresponding notches, only one of which can be seen in figure 3 (indicated with 17), formed on the crown itself.
Basically, the hollow body 6 oscillates exclusively around a rotation axis corresponding to the common axis of the two pins 13.
The assembly of the shower head 1, according to the present invention, is extremely simple: firstly the crown 16 is inserted inside the outlet 4 with the usual sealing gaskets, ensuring that the teeth are inserted into the corresponding notches 17, then the hollow body 6 is mounted ensuring that the two pins 13 are inserted into the seats 14 of the crown 16, then the ring 10 with the small lever 12 is mounted ensuring that the two pins 11 are inserted into the respective grooves 9. At the end the annular body 7 is screwed on, keeping the different pieces joined together and holding them axially.
Naturally the annular body 7 is provided with a circumferential opening arranged in correspondence with the small lever 12 to allow it to move angularly.
In practice, the hollow body 6 is kept is position inside the outlet 4 of the dispensing head 3 through the crown 16 on top and through the annular body 7 at the bottom.
In order to make it easier to insert the pins 11 into the grooves 9, the inner opening of the ring is shaped substantially elliptically.
Essentially, whenever one wishes to change the dispensing angle of the water jet it is sufficient to shift the small lever 12 rotating it along an angle of circumference defined by the ring 10. In this way, the two pins 11, fixedly connected to the ring 10 rotated through the small lever 12, cross a portion in the respective groove 9, forcing the hollow body 6 to carry out a rotation, by a corresponding angle, about the common axis of the two opposite pins 13 (fig. 3).
In other words, by rotating the ring 10 by means of the small lever 12, the hollow body 6 with the perforated wall 61 rotates about an axis substantially perpendicular to the rotational axis of the ring 10.
As can be appreciated from what has been described, the shower head according to the present invention allows the demands to be satisfied and the drawbacks mentioned in the introductory part of the present invention with reference to the prior art to be overcome.
Indeed, the shower head, according to the present invention, allows the angle of inclination of the water jet to be varied by simply operating the small lever directly from outside.
Of course, a person skilled in the art can apply numerous modifications and variants to the shower head described above in order to satisfy contingent and specific requirements, all of which are in any case covered by the scope of protection of the invention, as defined by the following claims.

Claims

Pullout shower head with one or more functions, comprising a tubular handle (2), having an end (2a) equipped for removable connection to a flexible hose, a water-dispensing head (3), associated on one side with the other end (2b) of said tubular handle (2) and equipped on the other side with a respective dispensing outlet (4), a perforated dispensing mouth (5), associated with said outlet (4), said shower head (1) being characterized in that it comprises:
- a nozzle having a hollow body (6) with at least one spherical part of predetermined diameter, engaged so that it can move in said dispensing outlet (4) with a substantially ball joint coupling, said hollow body (6) being in liquid communication, on one side, with said handle (2) and, on the other side, with said dispensing mouth (5) with which it is fixedly associated,

- means substantially of a ring nut type (7) associated with said dispensing outlet (4) and acting upon said hollow body (6), to axially hold it fixedly engaged by ball joint in the outlet (4) itself,

- means (9-12) for moving said hollow body (6) through the ball joint with movements of predetermined angular size.
Shower head according to claim 1, wherein in said hollow body (6) and at the side thereof associated with said perforated mouth (5), a circular flat wall (61) is defined, having a smaller diameter than the predetermined diameter of said spherical part of the hollow body (6) itself.
Shower head according to claim 2, wherein at least one portion of said flat wall (61) is perforated to constitute said dispensing mouth (5).
Shower head according to claim 1, wherein said means for moving said hollow body (6) through a ball joint comprise:
- at least one groove (9) of predetermined length, formed on the outside of the spherical part of said hollow body (6) and extending along an arc of circumference lying in a plane forming an angle with the flat wall (61) of said hollow body (6) and with the diametric plane of the spherical part parallel to said flat wall (61),

- a ring (10), coaxially and rotatably mounted on said dispensing head (3) at the respective outlet (4),

- at least one pin (11), projecting radially from said ring (10) towards at least one groove (9), in which it is engaged so that it can slide.
Shower head according to claim 4, wherein said groove (9) is shaped like an elongated slot.
Shower head according to claim 5, wherein the length of the slotted groove (9) is linked to the predetermined angular size of the movement of the hollow body (6).
Shower head according to any one of claims 4-6, wherein said ring (10) is provided with a manoeuvring element (12) which projects radially from the circumferential outer side, said manoeuvring element (12) being accessible from the outside during the normal conditions of use.
Shower head according to any one of the previous claims 4-7, wherein said hollow body (6) is associated with a crown (16) fixed inside said outlet (4) so as to be able to oscillate with respect to an axis substantially perpendicular to the rotational axis of said ring (10).
Shower head according to claim 8, wherein said hollow body (6) is provided with a pair of opposite coaxial radial pins (13) suitable for inserting into corresponding seats (14) formed on two opposite ears (15) that project axially from said crown (16).