AU2004221713B2

AU2004221713B2 - Sanitary insert unit

Info

Publication number: AU2004221713B2
Application number: AU2004221713A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Uwe Zoller
Original assignee: Neoperl GmbH
Current assignee: Neoperl GmbH
Priority date: 2003-03-21
Filing date: 2004-03-11
Publication date: 2009-01-22
Anticipated expiration: 2024-03-11
Also published as: AU2004221713A1; PT1606462E; US20080078848A1; ES2525419T3; WO2004083538A1; EP1606462A1; DE502004014749C5; EP1606462B1; CN100485143C; DE10312854A1; US20060144962A1; DE10312854B4; PL1606462T3; DK1606462T3; CN1761791A; CN100485143B9

Description

SANITARY INSERT UNIT The invention relates to a sanitary insert unit, which can be inserted into a discharge fitting, comprising an essentially conical-shaped upstream sieve with a throughflow regulator and a jet regulator located further downstream in the direction of the flow.

The discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles and the like is included in this specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all of these matters formed part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.

Sanitary insert units of the type mentioned at the outset have been known in various embodiments. Such insert units are regularly inserted into a discharge mouthpiece, which is mounted in a detachable manner in a sanitary discharge fitting. With the aid of such insert units, a homogenous, gentle, and nonsplashing water jet is formed.

Such insert units, comprising an upstream throughflow regulator and a downstream jet regulator, can result in mounting problems due to their construction size. In particular, retrofitting into such discharge fittings is problematic, which had previously been operated with an insert unit comprising no throughflow regulators but a jet regulator only, because the latter insert unit has a lower construction height than the insert unit with a throughflow regulator.

In DE 100 27 986 Al a sanitary insert unit with an essentially conicallyshaped sieve is described with a throughflow regulator and jet regulator -1located downstream in the direction of flow. The jet regulator has a jet regulator housing that has insert opening on the inflow side through which the throughflow regulator arranged between the sieve and the jet regulator can be inserted up to an assigned insert stop in the interior of the housing. The jet regulator used in the previously known insert unit therefore has an inflow-side insert opening that extends so deeply into the interior of the housing of the jet regulator housing that the section of the throughflow regulator slightly projecting from the inflow side of the jet regulator housing easily fits under the free space bounded by the sieve. However, as the throughflow regulator is of the usual construction size because the insert opening has to extend sufficiently deeply into the interior of housing of the jet regulator housing and as the subsequent functional units in the interior of the jet regulator housing can only be provided in the subsequent housing section, the jet regulator and the insert unit known from DE 100 27 986 Al is of a correspondingly overdimensioned construction length.

From DE 35 29 484 Al and DE 34 40 883 Al various throughflow limiters are known which with an inflow-side upstream sieve are combined into a sanitary insert unit. These throughflow limiters of the previously known insert units, which may also have a downstream jet regulator (cf. DE 35 29 484 Al) are only formed of a perforated plate limiting the throughflow that can only counter the water pressure flowing onto the throughflow limiter setting of the throughflow to a fixed maximum value is not possible with the previously known throughflow limiters. The throughflow limiters used in the previously known insert units are therefore not at all comparable in their manner of operation and their simplicity with the throughflow regulator.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a sanitary insert unit of the type mentioned at the outset, in which the mounting problems due to the construction height are avoided even in environments with limited space.

In a first aspect the present invention provides a sanitary unit for insertion into a discharge fitting, the sanitary unit including an essentially cone-shaped upstream sieve, with a throughflow regulator and a jet regulator arranged downstream in the direction of flow, wherein the throughflow regulator is -2essentially arranged inside an interior space of the insert unit limited at the top by the upstream sieve, and wherein the annular throttle body limits, between itself and an external edge area of the throughflow regulator, a control gap which changes depending on the pressure of the medium flowing through it.

The throughflow regulator according to an embodiment of the present invention is essentially arranged within the interior space of the insert unit limited at its top by the upstream sieve.

Thus, the previously unused interior space below the upstream sieve of previously known insert units is functionally used for the throughflow regulator, so that the construction height of the insert unit according to the invention with the throughflow regulator requires little or no increase with regard to the construction height of a conventional insert unit.

In this way, one hundred per cent geometrical compatibility between two such insert units can be achieved so that any mutual exchange of the insert units or the optional retrofitting of the throughflow regulator is possible without any problems.

The insertion of the throughflow regulator into the interior space limited by the upstream sieve can take place in a particularly efficient manner, if the throughflow regulator is provided with a cross-sectional profile essentially shaped to correspond with the profile of the upstream sieve.

Over time, the upstream sieve can become clogged by contaminants or calcium deposits. In order to ensure sufficient water flow even in upstream sieves partially clogged in their central area it is advantageous for the throughflow regulator to be provided with a sloping surface rising radially upward at an exterior, in particular circular edge region, which leads to a throughflow opening connected to a control gap or the like, provided with the jet regulator, and for the rising sloping surface and the upstream sieve to be distanced from one another.

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WO 2004/083538 PCT/EP2004/002504 This way, inflowing water can be fed from the exterior region of the upstream sieve via the rising sloping surface to the throughflow regulator and, subsequently, to the jet regulator. This ensures the functionality of the insert unit according to the invention even with a partially clogged upstream sieve.

In order to achieve a defined flow of water to the throughflow regulator via the rising sloping surface and to avoid turbulence in the circumferential direction, it is useful for the rising sloping surface to be provided on its upper side with approximately radially aligned grooves to form individual inflow channels. Through the bundled water flow in the feeding channels, the inflow speed can be increased at the throughflow regulator, and subsequently at the jet regulator as well, so that the functionality of the insert unit is improved.

It is advantageous for the bars located between the grooves to end close to or at the interior side of the upstream sieve and to serve as support elements for said upstream sieve. This way, the bars form supports for the upstream sieve so that the stability of the arrangement is improved and an undesired deformation of the upstream sieve, for example by excessive pressure of the inflowing water, can be avoided.

In order to enable steady water influx it is useful for the bars of the rising sloping surface to be distanced from one another in regular intervals in the circumferential direction.

One preferred embodiment of the insert unit according to the invention includes the throughflow regulator being provided with a central core region, which is surrounded by a circular throttle body, and that between the throttle body and the rising sloping surface a control gap is formed, with the cross- WO 2004/083538 PCT/EP2004/002504 section of its opening being adjustable by the throttle body deforming under the pressure difference developing by the throughflow.

An exemplary embodiment of the insert unit according to the invention is explained in greater detail in the following using the drawings: Shown are: Fig. 1: a side view of an insert unit according to the invention, partially 'in cross-section Fig. 2: a top view of the throughflow regulator of an insert unit according to the invention.

A sanitary insert unit, marked 1 in its entirety, is provided with an upstream sieve 2, a throughflow regulator 3, and a jet regulator 4, detachably connected to one another via its housing.

Fig. 1 shows a side view of the insert unit 1 partially in a cross-section.

Below the upstream sieve 2, formed essentially cone-shaped, an interior space 6 is formed, in which the throughflow regulator 3 is arranged. The throughflow regulator 3 is provided with a central core region 7, which is surrounded by a circular throttle body 8. Between the throttle body 8 and a radially, inwardly rising sloped surface 9 a control gap 10 is formed in the exterior edge region of the throughflow regulator 3, which is in throughflowing connection to the jet regulator 4 located therebelow.

The central core region 7, the throttle body 8, and the rising sloping surface 9 are sized such that the cross-sectional profile of the throughflow regulator 3 r WO 2004/083538 PCT/EP2004/002504 is substantially form-fitting to the cross-sectional profile of the upstream sieve 2, with the rising sloping surface 9 and the upstream sieve 2 being distanced from one another. Due to the arrangement of the throughflow regulator 3 inside the interior space 6 formed below the upstream sieve 2 an insert unit 1 results with, in reference to conventional insert units, a reduced construction height and/or with the ability to realize a construction height for an insert unit housing a throughflow unit, which previously was only possible for insert units without any throughflow regulators. Thus, the insert unit 1 according to the invention can be easily integrated in environments, in which previously known jet regulators without any throughflow regulators had been used or which are provided with limited space available.

As particularly discernible in Fig. 2, the rising sloped surface 9 is provided at its upper side with rinsing grooves or the like 11, extending radially and equally spaced apart from one another, in order to form individual influx channels. These influx channels allow a controlled incoming flow of water, which enters the throughflow regulator 3 through the area of the upstream sieve 2 above rising sloping surface 9, towards the control gap 10. This way, even in the case of a sectional clogging of the upstream sieve 2 in the central region, for example by contaminants in the inflowing water or by calcium deposit, sufficient water flow from the exterior region is ensured into the control gap 10 and subsequently into jet regulator 4.

The bars or protrusions 12 positioned between the grooves 11 and limiting them end in proximity to the interior side of the upstream sieve 2. This way, they can serve as support elements for the upstream sieve 2, in order to improve the stability of the insert unit 1 and to prevent an undesired deformation of the upstream sieve 2 into the interior space 6, for example by excessive pressure of the inflowing water or by the handling during the mounting process of the insert unit 1.

Claims

1. A sanitary unit for insertion into a discharge fitting, the sanitary unit including an essentially cone-shaped upstream sieve, with a throughflow regulator and a jet regulator arranged downstream in the direction of flow, wherein the throughflow regulator is essentially arranged inside an interior space of the insert unit limited at the top by the upstream sieve, and wherein the annular throttle body limits, between itself and an external edge area of the throughflow regulator, a control gap which changes depending on the pressure of the medium flowing through it.

2. A sanitary unit according to claim 1, wherein the throughflow regulator is provided with a cross-sectional profile essentially form-fitting the cross- sectional profile of the upstream sieve.

3. A sanitary unit according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the throughflow regulator is provided on an exterior, more particularly an annular edge region with a radially inward rising sloping surface, which leads to a throughfow opening connected to a control gap or the like provided with the jet regulator, and wherein the rising sloping surface and the upstream sieve are spaced apart from one another.

4. A sanitary unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rising sloping surface is provided, at an upper side, with approximately radially aligned grooves in order to form individual influx channels.

A sanitary unit according to claim 4, wherein the bars located between the grooves end in close proximity to, or on, the interior side of the upstream sieve and serve as support elements for the upstream sieve.

6. A sanitary unit according to claim 5, wherein the bars of the rising sloping surface are evenly spaced apart from one another in a circumferential direction. -6-

7. A sanitary unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the Sthroughflow regulator is provided with a central core area, which is surrounded by an annular throttle body, so that between the throttle body and the rising sloping surface a control gap is formed, having a throughflow cross- section that is adjustable by the throttle body being deformed by a pressure c difference arising during the throughflow. C

8. A sanitary unit for insertion into a discharge fitting, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.