GB2470608A

GB2470608A - A fitting assembly for a tap anda kit for fitting a tap

Info

Publication number: GB2470608A
Application number: GB0909324A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roderick Joseph Gibbs
Original assignee: Bristan Group Ltd
Current assignee: Bristan Group Ltd
Priority date: 2009-05-29
Filing date: 2009-05-29
Publication date: 2010-12-01
Anticipated expiration: 2029-05-29
Also published as: GB2470608B; GB0909324D0

Abstract

A fitting assembly 8 for a tap comprises a connector 12 and a nut 14. The connector includes an inlet 36 and a bore 26 for a water supply, a first flange 22 to engage the underside of a deck 108 on which the tap is to be mounted, and a pillar 20 with an external screw thread (38 fig 5) to project through an aperture 106 in the deck. The nut has a second flange 58 for engaging the top of a deck, so that by screwing the nut on to the pillar of the connector, the connector and nut assembly are clamped to the deck, the nut and/or the connector being arranged to mount a tap body 16. The nut has external formations (60 fig 4) to define two or more predetermined, indexed tap mounting orientations whereby the tap can be mounted to the nut in any of the predetermined orientations. A later embodiment relates to a kit for fitting a tap and comprises the fitting assembly, a pillar tool (18 fig 2a) and a nut tool (19 fig 2b).

Description

A FITTING ASSEMBLY FOR A TAP AND

A KIT FOR FITTING A TAP

The invention relates to a fitting assembly for a tap and a kit for fitting a tap.

In fitting a conventional known tap, the tail of the tap is inserted through an aperture in the deck to which the tap is to be fitted, which may be for example the deck of a bath or bidet or sink, or may be a work surface, and then the fitter must work underneath the deck and perhaps behind the bowl of the sink, bidet or bath, as the case may be, in order to connect the tail of the tap to the water supply and clamp the tap body in place on the deck. This is awkward. It would be easier to work to fit the tap from above the deck.

US3495616 discloses a tap body which can be fitted from above the deck. To achieve this, a tubular member is provided which has an annular collar. The tubular member is inserted through an aperture in the deck until the annular collar engages the underside of the deck. A water supply is arranged to be connected to the lower end of the tubular member.

The top of the tubular member has an external screw thread onto which the tap body is screwed. The tap body can be subsequently unscrewed and replaced, working entirely from above the deck.

There are two problems with this arrangement. Firstly, the fitting of a replacement tap may result in twisting of the tubular member which may harm the connection to the water supply perhaps resulting in a leak. Also, when the tap body is screwed down, the tap spout may not be pointing in the desired direction.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved fitting assembly for a tap.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a fitting assembly for a tap, the assembly comprising: a connector including an inlet for connection to a water supply, a first engaging formation to engage the underside of a deck on which the tap is to be mounted, a pillar to project through an aperture in the deck, and the connector defining a bore therethrough for the passage of water from the water supply, the bore extending through the pillar; an intermediate mounting member, the member having a passage therethrough which receives the pillar of the connector so that the pillar can extend through the mounting member, the member and/or the pillar having a fastening feature or features to effect fastening of the member to the pillar, the member further including a second engaging formation for engaging the top of a deck on which the tap is to be mounted, so that by fastening the member on to the pillar of the connector, the connector and member assembly is clamped to the deck, the member having an external formation or formations to define two or more predetermined indexed tap mounting orientations, whereby the tap can be mounted to the intermediate mounting member in any of said predetermined indexed tap mounting orientations.

In that way, the intermediate mounting member can be secured to the deck on which the tap is to be mounted, for example on a bath or basin surface. The tap can then be mounted to the intermediate mounting member in one of a series of predetermined indexed angular positions.

The or each external formation may comprise a flat on the outer surface with an indentation therein. Alternatively, the or each external formation may comprise a flat on the outer surface with a bore therein, the bore extending through from the outer surface to the passage. In such a case, the pillar preferably has one or more external grooves running generally parallel with the axis of the pillar. Most preferably, the number of grooves is greater than or equal to the number of bores. The or each bore may be internally screw threaded to receive a grub screw. The pillar has tool cooperating features on its external surface which can cooperate with a tool to effect manipulation of the pillar. The tool cooperating features may comprise the external grooves running parallel with the axis of the pillar. Preferably there is further provided a pillar tool having a handle and a head shaped to cooperate with the tool cooperating features on the pillar to effect manipulation of the pillar.

The pillar tool may be provided with correspondingly angularly spaced teeth, preferably at a regular angular spacing around a central axis. There may be further provided a mounting member tool, the mounting member tool having a handle and a head shaped to cooperate with the external formation or formations. In such a case, the external formation or formations on the intermediate mounting member, the mounting member tool, the tool cooperating features on the pillar and the pillar tool are preferably configured so that, when the intermediate mounting member is tightened onto the pillar and the handles of the pillar tool and mounting member tool are aligned, the handles indicate the orientation of a spout of a tap to be mounted to the intermediate mounting member.

The fastening feature or features preferably comprises an external screw thread on the pillar and an internal screw thread on the intermediate mounting member. Alternatively, the pillar may have a series of circumferential ratchet like teeth and the member may have a waisted portion for engagement under the teeth to effect a push fit fastening of pillar to member. The fastening feature may comprise a bayonet fitting arrangement. Snap fitting features are also envisaged, as is the securing of the member to the pipe by holding the member in place with a circlip arranged in an external groove on the pillar. The member may be secured in place by swaging over the uppermost part of the pillar. Finally, although less preferable, the pillar and member can be secured together by less reversible methods such as gluing or welding.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved kit for fitting a tap.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a kit for fitting a tap, the kit comprising: a kit for fitting a tap, the kit comprising: a connector including an inlet for connection to a water supply, first engaging means to engage the underside of a deck on which the tap is to be mounted, a pillar to project through an aperture in the deck, and the connector defining a bore therethrough for the passage of water from the water supply, the bore extending through the pillar; a nut including second engaging means for engaging the top of a deck on which the tap is to be mounted, so that by fastening the nut on to the pillar of the connector, the connector and nut assembly is clamped to the deck, the nut and/or the connector being arranged to mount a tap body, the nut having an external formation or formation to define two or more predetermined, indexed tap mounting orientations, the nut and/or the pillar having a fastening feature or features to effect fastening of the nut to the pillar a pillar tool, having a pillar tool handle and a pillar tool head, the connector including a tool cooperating feature on at least the upper part of the pillar, the pillar tool head and the tool cooperating feature being shaped to interengage so that a user working above the deck can use the pillar tool to engage with the tool cooperating feature of the connector and can hold the engaged tool to thereby prevent rotation of the connector whilst the nut is fastened to the pillar and a nut tool having a nut tool handle and a nut tool head, the external formation, the nut tool, the tool cooperating feature and the pillar tool being configured so that when the nut is fully fastened to the connector and the handles of the pillar tool and the nut tool are aligned, the handles indicate the orientation of a spout of a tap to be mounted to the nut.

In this way the user can use the pillar tool to ensure that manipulation of the nut does not in turn rotate the connector preventing possible harm to the connection to the water supply and avoiding the possibility of a leak. Also, in this way it can be ensured that the connector and nut assembly is in the right position to receive the tap body so that the spout will point in the desired direction.

The pillar tool and the tool cooperating feature may be arranged such that the pillar tool can be engaged with the tool cooperating feature of the connector in a plurality of different positions. The pillar tool may be elongate and may indicate the intended direction of the tap spout by its direction of elongation.

The tool cooperating feature may be in any suitable position on the connector and may be above the fastening feature on the pillar, but in a preferred embodiment the tool cooperating feature overlaps the screw thread on the pillar. The tool cooperating feature may take any suitable form and may comprise at least one recess in the pillar, in which case the tool may include a protrusion to be received in the or each recess. The or each recess may comprise a groove down the pillar. The tool cooperating feature may comprise a plurality of recesses preferably equi-spaced around the pillar. This can enable the pillar tool to engage the connector in a plurality of different positions around the pillar. The pillar tool may be arranged to encircle the pillar of the connector.

Preferably locking means is provided to lock the nut and connector in position against unscrewing. The locking means may take any suitable form and may comprise at least one screw to screw through a bore in the nut to engage the pillar of the connector.

The kit may include a tap body to be fitted, and a tap fastener may be provided to fasten the tap body to the nut and/or connector. The tap fastener may be arranged to fasten the tap body to the nut and/or connector in a pre-determined position. The tap fastener may take any suitable form and may comprise at least one screw to screw through a bore in the tap body to engage the nut and/or the connector.

The or each screw of the tap fastener in a preferred embodiment is also a screw of the locking means so that the or each screw goes through bores in both the tap body and the nut to engage the pillar of the connector and lock the tap body, nut and connector together.

The tap body may include a projecting tube to be received in the bore of the pillar of the connector to place the tap body in communication with the water supply via the connector. The projecting tube may locate the tap body with respect to the connector.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side elevation in cross section of a basin tap fitted to a first deck using a fitting assembly of the first aspect and the kit of the second aspect of the invention; Fig. 2a is a plan view of the pillar tool of the kit; Fig.2b is a plan view of the nut tool of the kit; Fig. 3 is a plan view in cross section of the nut on the connector of the kit; Fig. 4 is a plan view in cross section of the tap body mounted on the assembled connector and nut of the kit; Fig. 5 is a side elevation in cross section of a basin tap fitted to a second, slimmer deck using the fitting assembly of the first aspect and the kit of the second aspect of the invention; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation in cross section of a monoblock mixer tap fitted to the first deck using the kit of a second embodiment of the second aspect of the invention; Fig. 7 is a detail fragmentary side elevation in cross section of a bath tap fitted to a deck using the kit of a third embodiment of the second aspect of the invention; and Figs. 8a to 8f are schematic sections of the pillar and nut showing alternative fastening arrangements between the pillar and nut.

A fitting assembly 8 in accordance with the first aspect of the invention is shown in Fig.1 with a tap mounted to it. The fitting assembly 8 comprises a connecter 12, and a nut 14 which is called an intermediate mounting member in the claims relating to the fitting assembly 8.

A kit 10 in accordance with the second aspect of the invention comprises the fitting assembly 8, a tap body 16, a pillar tool 18 (Fig.2a) and a nut tool 19 (Fig.2b).

The connector 12 is generally tubular and comprises a pillar 20 with a disc-shaped collar flange 22 at its lower end and a short projection 24 below the collar flange 22. The collar flange 22 constitutes the aforesaid "first engaging means". A bore 26 runs axially through the connector 12. The bore 26 has a wider part 28 from the top of the pillar 20 and narrows at a shoulder 30 to a narrow part 32, widening again slightly at a smaller shoulder 34 to the final part 36 forming the inlet. The pillar 20 has an external screw thread 38 from the top almost all the way down to the collar 22. The screw thread 38 is interrupted by twelve equispaced, axial grooves 40, which also extend from the top of the pillar 20 down almost to the collar 22. The grooves 40 are V-shaped although other shapes may be envisaged. The portions of the pillar 20 defining the grooves 40 constitute the aforesaid "tool cooperating feature".

The nut 14 has an axial bore 50 with an internal screw thread 52. The nut 14 has an upper part 54 with a hexagonal outer surface comprising six flats 56, and a lower part in the form of a radially extending annular flange 58 which constitutes the aforesaid "second engagement means". The upper part 54 defines six radial bores 60 one through each flat 56.

In other embodiments, the underside of the nut itself may provide the "second engagement means" without the provision of a flange.

The tap body 16 includes a generally cylindrical main part 70 and a spout 72. The main part 70 defines a downwardly facing stepped cylindrical bore 74 leading to a chamber 76. The bore comprises a lower part 78 narrowing at a step 80 to an upper part 82. The wall of the tap body 16 defining the upper part 82 of the bore 74 defines two radially arranged screw threaded bores 84 at an angle of about 60 degrees to one another. The chamber 76 in the main part 70 leads to an axial screw threaded bore 86 in which is screwed a tube 88. The tube 88 has a screw threaded upper end 90 beneath which is a circumferential groove 92 to receive an 0-ring. The main part 94 of the tube 88 also has a circumferential groove 96 at its lower end to receive an 0-ring. The main part 94 of the tube 88 has a greater external diameter than the upper end 90, so that a shoulder 98 is defined between the two which engages the tap body 16 when the tube 88 is fully screwed into the screw threaded bore 86.

The screw threaded bore 86 leads to a chamber 100 which extends from the main part 70 through the spout 72.

The pillar tool 18 is illustratively in the form of a ring spanner, the ring 44 being lined with twelve protrusions in the form of triangular teeth 46 to be received in the grooves 40 of the pillar 20 of the connector 12. The tool 18 has an elongate handle 48.

The nut tool 19 is in the form of a spanner having an elongate handle 49 and a head 51 which defines a part hexagon shaped aperture 53. The shape of the aperture and its orientation relative to the elongate handle 49 is selected carefully as described below. The head 51 may optionally include two pips 55 formed on the inner wall of the aperture and arranged to be received in the radial bores 60 of the nut 14.

In use, the fitter attaches the water supply via a flexible pipe 102 to the lower projection 24 of the connector 12 sealed by an 0-ring. A plastic back washer 104 is then placed over the pillar 20 of the connector 12 and pushed down to lie on the upper surface of the flange 22. The pillar 20 is then pushed through a bore 106 in the deck 108 to which the tap is to be fitted. The nut 14 is then screwed Onto the pillar 20 of the connector 12 clamping the assembly loosely to the deck.

The fitter then places the ring 44 of the tool 18 over the pillar 20 of the connector 12, aligns it with the desired direction of the spout 72 and slides it down further so that the teeth 46 of the tool 18 enter the grooves 40 of the pillar 20. The fitter then uses the tool 18 to hold the connector 12 in position while tightening the nut 14 fully. The nut 14 is tightened using nut tool 19. The part hexagon shaped aperture 53 is arranged so that when the nut is fully tightened and the handles 48, 49 of the pillar tool 18 and nut tool 19 are aligned, the radial bores 60 are aligned with grooves 40 in the pillar 20 of the connector 12, as shown in Fig 3 and the handles 48, 49 indicate the eventual orientation of the tap spout.

The tap body 16 is then fitted onto the connector and nut assembly 8. The tap body 16 is offered up so that the lower end of the tube 88 is received in the bore 26 of the connector 12, this joint being sealed by an 0-ring in the groove 96 in the tube 88 to engage the wall of the bore 26. The stepped bore 74 in the main part 70 of the tap body 16 receives the nut 14 including the flange 58 thereof which is received in the lower part 78 of the bore 74. The spout 72 of the tap body 16 is then aligned with an axis previously indicated by the longitudinal axis of the handle 48 of the pillar tool 18 prior to its removal from the pillar, in which position the screw threaded bores 84 in the tap body 16 are aligned with the two of the radial bores 60 in the nut 14. Grub screws 110 (see Fig 4) with pointed ends 112 are then screwed into the bores 84 in the tap body 16 SO that they enter the bores 60 in the nut 14 and engage the pillar 20 of the connector 12, the pointed end 112 of each grub screw 110 engaging in a groove 40 in the pillar 20, thus gripping the connector 12 and locking the connector, nut and tap body assembly together. The grub screws 110 in their screw thread 84 constitute the aforesaid "locking means" and "tap fastener".

In this way, the tap is fitted with most of the work taking place above the deck 108.

There is no danger in connection of the tap body 16 or tightening of the nut 14 that the connection through the connector 12 to the water supply pipe 102 will be disturbed because the connector 12 is held using the tool 18. The tool 18 is also used to line up the nut and connector assembly with the intended direction for the spout 72 so that the tap body 16 can be fitted and locked to the assembly with the spout 72 in the correct position.

If it is desired to change the tap body 16, the grub screws 110 can be untightened, the old tap body 16 removed and a new tap body 16 fitted in a simple manner and with all work being carried out from above the deck.

Figure 5 shows the fitting assembly 8 of Fig.l fitted to a slimmer deck 120 in the form of a 2mm thick panel. It is seen that the assembly 8 is just as effective at mounting a tap on this slimmer deck 120. The nut 14 lies lower down on the pillar 20 of the connector 12 and the lower end of the tube 88 lies further down the wider part 28 of the bore 26 in the pillar 20.

The assembly 8 can thus accommodate a wide range of thicknesses of deck.

Figure 6 shows the assembly 8 of the second embodiment. The second embodiment is similar to the first and only the differences will be described. The same reference numerals will be used for equivalent features.

The assembly 8 and kit 10 of the second embodiment is to fit a monoblock mixer tap.

In this embodiment, the connector 12 thus includes two bores 26 in a wider cylindrical pillar 20, one for connection to a hot water supply and the other for connection to a cold water supply. Equally, the tap body 16 includes two tubes 88 to be received in the bores 26. The shoulder 98 on the tube 88 is also omitted and replaced by a collar 130. The short projection 24 is also omitted, the flexible pipe 102 of the water supply being connected at the level of the collar flange 22. The tap is fitted in the same way as in the first embodiment.

Figure 7 shows the kit 10 of the third embodiment. The third embodiment is similar to the first and only the differences will be described. The same reference numerals will be used for equivalent features.

The kit 10 of the third embodiment is to fit a bath tap. in order to allow a greater volume flow of water, the bores 26 through the connector 12 and tube 88 are wider. Like in the second embodiment, the shoulder 98 on the tube 88 is omitted and replaced by a collar 130. The upper part 82 of the bore 74 in the tap body 16 is of the same diameter and continuous with the chamber 76. The tap is fitted in the same way as in the first embodiment.

Figs. 8a to 8f illustrate alternative fastening features for fastening the pillar 20 to the nut 14.

in Fig. 8a, the pillar 20 has a series of circumferential ratchet like teeth 132. The nut has an annularly inwardly projecting lip 134 which can progressively engage under the teeth 132 as the nut is pushed down onto the pillar 20. A resilient compressible sealing washer 136 is arranged between the nut 14 and the deck 108. In Fig. 8b, the pillar 20 and nut 14 are fastened together by means of a bayonet fitting arrangement 138. In Fig. 8c, the pillar 20 has an external annular projection 140 and the nut has a corresponding annular recess 142. The nut is made of resilient material such as a plastics material so that the projection and recess snap engage. In Fig. 8d, the pillar 20 has a circumferential groove 144 adjacent the upper end thereof and the aforesaid axial grooves 40. The nut 14 has internal spline features 146 which slide in the grooves 40 and the nut is secured in place by a circlip 148 snapped into the groove 144. In Fig. 8e, the nut 14 has an alternative form and is secured onto the pillar 20 by swaging over the end of the pillar to provide an axial compressive force on the nut. In fig. 8f the nut is glued to the pillar using a suitable adhesive. The latter two arrangements are less preferred as they are less reversible making removal of the connector from the deck more time consuming.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A fitting assembly for a tap, the assembly comprising: a connector including an inlet for connection to a water supply, a first engaging formation to engage the underside of a deck on which the tap is to be mounted, a pillar to project through an aperture in the deck, and the connector defining a bore therethrough for the passage of water from the water supply, the bore extending through the pillar; an intermediate mounting member, the member having a passage therethrough which receives the pillar of the connector so that the pillar can extend through the mounting member, the member andlor the pillar having a fastening feature or features to effect fastening of the member to the pillar, the member further including a second engaging formation for engaging the top of a deck on which the tap is to be mounted, so that by fastening the member on to the pillar of the connector, the connector and member assembly is clamped to the deck, the member having an external formation or formations to define two or more predetermined indexed tap mounting orientations, whereby the tap can be mounted to the intermediate mounting member in any of said predetermined indexed tap mounting orientations.
2, A fitting assembly for a tap according to claim 1, in which the or each external formation comprises a flat on the outer surface with an indentation therein.
3. A fitting assembly for a tap according to claim 1, in which the or each external formation comprises a flat on the outer surface with a bore therein, the bore extending through from the outer surface to the passage.
4. A fitting assembly for a tap according to claim 3 in which the pillar has one or more external grooves running generally parallel with the axis of the pillar.
5. A fitting assembly for a tap according to claim 4 in which the same number of grooves is greater than or equal to the number of bores.
6. A fitting assembly for a tap according to claim 3, 4 or 5 in which the or each bore is internally screw threaded to receive a grub screw.
7. A fitting assembly for a tap according to any preceding claim in which the pillar has tool cooperating features on its external surface which can cooperate with a tool to effect manipulation of the pillar.
8. A fitting assembly for a tap according to claim 7 in which the tool cooperating features comprise external grooves running parallel with the axis of the pillar.
9. A fitting assembly for a tap according to claim 7 or 8 further comprising a pillar tool having a handle and a head shaped to cooperate with the features on the pillar to effect manipulation of the pillar.
10. A fitting assembly for a tap according to claim 9 in which the features on the pillar are angularly spaced indentations or grooves and the pillar tool is provided with correspondingly angularly spaced teeth, preferably at a regular angular spacing around a central axis.
11. A fitting assembly for a tap according to claim 9 or 10 further comprising a mounting member tool, the mounting member tool having a handle and a head shaped to cooperate with the external formation or formations.
12. A fitting assembly for a tap according to claim 11 wherein the external formation or formations on the intermediate mounting member, the mounting member tool, the tool cooperating features on the pillar and the pillar tool are configured so that, when the intermediate mounting member is tightened onto the pillar and the handles of the pillar tool and mounting member tool are aligned, the handles indicate the orientation of a spout of a tap to be mounted to the intermediate mounting member.
13. A kit for fitting a tape the kit comprising: a kit for fitting a tap, the kit comprising: a connector including an inlet for connection to a water supply, first engaging means to engage the underside of a deck on which the tap is to be mounted, a pillar to project through an aperture in the deck, and the connector defining a bore therethrough for the passage of water from the water supply, the bore extending through the pillar; a nut including second engaging means for engaging the top of a deck on which the tap is to be mounted, so that by fastening the nut on to the pillar of the connector, the connector and nut assembly is clamped to the deck, the nut and/or the connector being arranged to mount a tap body, the nut having an external formation or formation to define two or more predetermined, indexed tap mounting orientations, the nut and/or the pillar having a fastening feature or features to effect fastening of the nut to the pillar a pillar tool, having a pillar tool handle and a pillar tool head, the connector including a tool cooperating feature on at least the upper part of the pillar, the pillar tool head and the tool cooperating feature being shaped to interengage so that a user working above the deck can use the pillar tool to engage with the tool cooperating feature of the connector and can hold the engaged tool to thereby prevent rotation of the connector whilst the nut is fastened to the pillar and a nut tool having a nut tool handle and a nut tool head, the external formation, the nut tool, the tool cooperating feature and the pillar tool being configured so that when the nut is fully fastened to the connector and the handles of the pillar tool and the nut tool are aligned, the handles indicate the orientation of a spout of a tap to be mounted to the nut.
14. A kit as claimed in claim 13, wherein the feature comprises at least one groove down the pillar, preferably a plurality of grooves spaced around the pillar, and most preferably equally angularly spaced.
15. A kit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the pillar tool is arranged to encircle the pillar of the connector.
16. A kit as claimed in claim 14 or 15, further comprising at least one screw to screw through a bore in the nut to engage in a groove of the pillar of the connector.
17. A kit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the kit includes a tap body to be fitted.