CN106949298B

CN106949298B - Fluid control device and sanitary ware

Info

Publication number: CN106949298B
Application number: CN201710284454.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 叶立明; 周建平; 白双林; 王陆成
Original assignee: Xiamen Lota International Co Ltd
Current assignee: Xiamen Lota International Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-04-26
Filing date: 2017-04-26
Publication date: 2023-01-13
Anticipated expiration: 2037-04-26
Also published as: CN106949298A

Abstract

The invention relates to a fluid control device and a sanitary ware. Fluid control device (1) comprising: a tube structure (2) defining a fluid channel; a valve element (4) provided on the fluid passage and having a valve shaft (41); a mounting plate (5) mounted to the tube structure (2) and having a through hole (57) through which the valve shaft (41) passes; and a handle (7) having an engagement portion (73) adapted to be inserted into the through bore (57), the handle (7) being in driving connection with the valve shaft (41); the fluid control device (1) further comprises an elastic gasket (8) which is in an open ring shape or consists of a plurality of ring segments, and in a mounting state, the elastic gasket (8) is arranged around the joint part (73) and completely separates the joint part (73) from the wall of the through hole (57).

Description

Fluid control device and sanitary ware

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of sanitary ware, in particular to a fluid control device for controlling water flow of the sanitary ware.

Background

In sanitary facilities, since friction is easily generated between an operating part such as a handle and other surrounding parts due to frequent screwing and pulling operations, it is necessary to design a wear-resistant structure for the operating part. In the existing wear-resistant structure, the related matched parts have accumulated tolerance caused by the machining and forming tolerance, the assembly tolerance, the deviation in the installation process and the like of the parts. These cumulative tolerances can lead to problems of eccentricity of the bore axis, angular differences, etc. between the handle and the corresponding part, such as a valve member, thereby affecting the user experience of wear resistance and handling of the handle.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to a fluid control device that reduces the effect of stack-up tolerances on handle performance.

The present invention also aims to provide a sanitary ware incorporating the improved fluid control device.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a fluid control device for a sanitary ware, comprising: a tube structure defining a fluid channel; a valve member provided on the fluid passage and having a valve shaft; a mounting plate mounted to the tube structure and having a through hole through which the valve shaft passes; and a handle having an engagement portion adapted to be inserted into the through bore, the handle being in driving connection with the valve shaft; the fluid control device is characterized by further comprising an elastic gasket which is formed in an open ring shape or consists of a plurality of ring segments, and in the installation state, the elastic gasket is arranged around the joint part and completely separates the joint part from the wall of the through hole.

The joint part of the handle is completely separated from the wall of the through hole by the elastic washer, so that the joint part and the wall of the through hole are prevented from being contacted to generate friction. In addition, the structure is beneficial to realizing the centering of the valve shaft and the joint part, and the phenomena of inclination and the like of the valve shaft are avoided. By complete is meant that the engagement portion is only in contact with the resilient washer, and not with the wall of the through-hole, both circumferentially and axially of the engagement portion.

In a preferred embodiment, the engagement portion has an inner bore corresponding to the through-hole of the mounting disk for the valve shaft to extend into. This provides a simple structure for connecting the valve shaft and the handle.

In a preferred embodiment, the through hole has a stepped hole portion at an end facing the handle, the engagement portion is adapted to be seated in the stepped hole portion, and an outer peripheral surface of the elastic washer is in contact with an inner peripheral surface of the stepped hole portion and an end surface of the elastic washer is in contact with a stepped surface of the stepped hole portion. In this way, the elastic washer is supported by the stepped surface of the stepped hole portion, the peripheral surface of the stepped hole portion is in contact with the elastic washer, and the stepped hole portion is not in contact with the joint portion, so that friction between the stepped hole portion and the joint portion is avoided, and the problem that the valve shaft and the joint portion cannot be centered due to various errors can be solved.

Preferably, the engagement portion is sleeve-shaped and formed with an annular groove on an outer peripheral surface, and the elastic washer is mounted in the annular groove, wherein in a mounted state, an end surface of the elastic washer exceeds an end surface of the engagement portion facing the mounting disk, and in a projection plane perpendicular to an axial direction of the engagement portion, an outer peripheral contour of at least a section of the engagement portion that falls within the stepped hole portion is located within an outer peripheral contour of the elastic washer.

Preferably, an axial limiting structure in concave-convex fit is formed between the annular groove and the elastic gasket.

Preferably, the axial limiting structure comprises: a radial flange formed on the annular groove; and a groove formed on the elastic washer and corresponding to the radial flange.

In a preferred embodiment, a chamfered surface is formed at an outer peripheral edge of an end surface of the elastic washer facing the mounting disk.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sanitary ware comprising the aforementioned fluid control device.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned from practice of the invention.

Drawings

Embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fluid control device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded schematic view of a handle, a faceplate and a mounting plate according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded schematic view of a handle and a panel member assembled with a mounting plate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a handle according to an embodiment of the present invention when not mounted to a panel member;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a handle having been mounted on a panel member according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a spring washer according to an embodiment of the present invention not mounted to a handle; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a spring washer having been mounted to a handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the present invention, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar features.

Description of the reference numerals

1. Fluid control device 2. Pipe structure

21. First water inlet pipe 23, first water outlet pipe

25. Second outlet pipe 3, switch valve

4. Mixing valve 41. Valve shaft

43. Pressure balance mechanism 5. Mounting disc

51. Mounting boss 53, lock nut

55. Screw 57. Through hole

571. First diameter section 573. Second diameter section

575. Stepped hole portion 6, panel member

61. Button 63, opening

7. Handle 71 locking nut

73. Junction 733, annular groove

735. Radial flange 737. Chamfer plane

75. Inner hole 77, outer wall

79. Handle 8, elastic washer

81. Mouth 83, chamfer

85. Groove

Detailed Description

Referring now to the drawings, illustrative aspects of the disclosed fluid control devices will be described in detail. Although the drawings are provided to present some embodiments of the invention, the drawings are not necessarily to scale of particular embodiments, and certain features may be exaggerated, removed, or partially sectioned to better illustrate and explain the present disclosure. The position of some components in the attached drawings can be adjusted according to actual requirements on the premise of not influencing the technical effect. The appearances of the phrase "in the drawings" or similar language in the specification are not necessarily referring to all of the drawings or the examples.

Certain directional terms used hereinafter to describe the drawings, such as "inner", "outer", "above", "below", and other directional terms, will be understood to have their normal meaning and refer to those directions as they normally relate to when viewing the drawings. Unless otherwise indicated, the directional terms described herein are generally in accordance with conventional directions as understood by those skilled in the art.

The terms "first," "second," "one," "another," and the like, as used herein, do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a fluid control device 1, which is used, for example, in a sanitary fixture such as a shower installation for controlling a water flow through the sanitary fixture, such as for example, switching, mixing, etc. To achieve this, in the illustrated embodiment, the fluid control device 1 includes a tube structure 2, valve elements such as an on-off valve 3 and a mixing valve 4 (shown in fig. 4 and 5), a mounting plate 5 (shown in fig. 2), a faceplate 6, and a handle 7. Wherein the tubular structure 2 is adapted to be embedded in a wall and has a first water inlet pipe body 21 in fluid communication with a cold water pipe, a second water inlet pipe body (not shown) in communication with a hot water pipe, a first water outlet pipe body 23 and a second water outlet pipe body 25. Through these tubes, a fluid passage is formed in the pipe structure 2 through which water flows. The two switch valves 3 are respectively arranged on the fluid channel corresponding to the two water outlet pipe bodies 23 and 25 (only one switch valve 3 is shown in figure 1) and play the purpose of controlling the on-off of the water flow. Referring to fig. 4 and 5, the mixing valve 4, which is also mounted on the fluid passage, for example, selects a pressure balance valve having a pressure balance mechanism 43. The mixing valve 4 also has a valve shaft 41 connected to the handle 7. Driven by the handle 7, the valve shaft 41 is rotated to achieve different degrees of mixing of hot and cold water in the valve cavity of the mixing valve 41 to supply the mixed water of a desired temperature to the first and second

outlet pipe bodies

23 and 25.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the mounting plate 5 is mounted on the tube structure 2 by means of screws 55. Referring next to fig. 4 and 5, the mounting disk 5 has a mounting boss 51 with an external threaded section and a through hole 57 passing through the mounting boss 51 for the valve shaft 41 of the mixing valve 4 to pass through.

Returning to fig. 1-3, the faceplate 6 has two slightly smaller openings for receiving the buttons 61 and a slightly larger opening 63 for receiving the mounting boss 51 of the mounting plate 5, respectively, to provide a three-point layout in appearance. The panel member 6 is mounted to the mounting plate 5 by screwing the lock nut 53 onto the male thread section of the mounting boss 51. Each of the push buttons 61 corresponds to one of the on-off valves 3, and a transmission mechanism for transmitting a force applied to the push button 61 to the on-off valve 3 to operate it is provided between each of the push buttons 61 and the corresponding on-off valve 3.

Fig. 1 to 3 show an external appearance of the handle 7, and fig. 4 to 7 further show an internal structure of the handle 7. As shown, the handle 7 includes a generally cylindrical outer wall 77 and a grip 79 projecting from the outer wall 77. Extending inwardly from the end face of outer wall 77 is a generally sleeve-like engagement portion 73, which engagement portion 73 is adapted to be inserted into through-hole 57 of mounting plate 5 to provide a stable engagement of handle 7 with mounting plate 5. The valve shaft 41 of the mixing valve 4 extends through the through-hole 57 of the mounting plate 5 into the inner bore 75 of the engagement portion 73. The valve shaft 41 has a cross-sectional or near cross-sectional profile (with a curvature) on its outer circumference, and the valve shaft 41 is pressed against the wall of the bore 75 by the engagement of the radially mounted locking screw 71 with the cross-sectional profile, thereby allowing the handle 7 to drive the valve shaft 41. In another embodiment, not shown, it is also possible that the valve shaft has a bore/slot and the engagement portion has a protrusion which is inserted into the bore/slot to effect engagement of the two.

In the illustrated embodiment, the through bore 57 of the mounting plate 5 includes a first diameter section 571 of a slightly larger diameter and a second diameter section 573 of a slightly smaller diameter to form a stepped bore portion 575 within the through bore 57. The engagement portion 73 of the handle 7 is seated in the stepped hole portion 575, defining axial displacement of the handle 7. A circumferentially extending chamfered surface 737 is formed at an outer peripheral edge of an end surface of the engagement portion 73 facing the mounting disk 5. An elastic washer 8 is mounted between the engaging portion 73 and the wall of the through-hole 57. As best shown in fig. 2, 3 and 6, the elastic gasket 8 is of an unclosed annular shape, defining a mouth 81 of micrometric size. The annular, elastic gasket 8 is preferably in one piece. In one embodiment, not shown, the elastic washer is composed of at least two ring segments. A further chamfered surface 83 extending circumferentially is formed at the outer peripheral edge of the end surface of the elastic washer 8 facing the mounting disc 5, helping to guide the elastic washer 8 into the stepped hole portion 575 during mounting. In the mounted state, the elastic washer 8 is disposed around the engagement portion 73 and contacts/abuts the wall of the through-hole 57, completely separating the engagement portion 73 from the wall of the through-hole 57 (or from the stepped hole portion 575), preventing the handle 7 from rubbing against the wall of the through-hole 57 during rotation.

In the illustrated embodiment, the engaging portion 73 of the handle 7 has an annular groove 733, and the elastic washer 8 is mounted in the annular groove 733. In the mounted state, the thickness of the elastic washer 8 is greater than the axial length of the annular groove 733, so that the end face of the elastic washer 8 exceeds the end face of the engagement portion 73 facing the mounting plate 5, and the outer peripheral contour of the section of the engagement portion 73 that is seated in the stepped hole portion 575 falls within the outer peripheral contour of the elastic washer 8 in the projection plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the engagement portion 73, whereby the engagement portion 73 can not be brought into contact with the wall of the through hole 57 at all in the case where the outer peripheral face of the elastic washer 8 is brought into contact with the peripheral face of the first diameter section 571 of the through hole 57 (i.e., the peripheral face of the stepped hole portion 575) and the end face of the elastic washer 8 is brought into contact with the end face (bearing face) of the stepped hole portion 575. At this time, the outer peripheral surface and the end surface of the elastic washer 8 are fitted to the peripheral surface and the support surface of the stepped hole portion 575, and the eccentricity and the inclination are corrected. Meanwhile, the special-shaped elastic washer 8 is in all-dimensional contact friction with the handle and the wall of the through hole 57, the handle 7 is comfortable in hand feeling when rotating, and the wear-resisting service life is prolonged. There is no limitation on the sectional shape of the engaging portion 73, which may be circular, elliptical, polygonal, or the like.

In order to prevent the elastic washer 8 from being separated from the handle 7, an axial limiting structure in concave-convex fit is formed between the elastic washer 8 and the handle 7. In the illustrated embodiment, the annular groove 733 of the engagement portion 73 of the handle 7 is formed with a radial flange 735, and the inner peripheral wall of the resilient washer 8 is formed with a recess 85 adapted to receive the radial flange 735. In another embodiment, not shown, the radial flange is formed on the inner peripheral wall of the elastic washer 8, and the groove is formed on the annular groove of the engaging portion 73.

It should be understood that although the description is in terms of various embodiments, not every embodiment includes only a single embodiment, and such description is for clarity purposes only, and those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments described herein may be combined as suitable to form other embodiments, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

The above description is only an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent changes, modifications and combinations that may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and principles of the invention shall fall within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A fluid control device (1) for a sanitary ware, comprising:

a tube structure (2) defining a fluid channel;

a valve member provided on the fluid passage and having a valve shaft (41);

a mounting plate (5) mounted to the tube structure (2) and having a through hole (57) through which the valve shaft (41) passes; and

a handle (7) having an engagement portion (73) adapted to be inserted into the through-hole (57), the handle (7) being drivingly connected to the valve shaft (41);

the fluid control device (1) is characterized by further comprising an elastic gasket (8) which is in an open ring shape or consists of a plurality of ring segments, wherein in an installation state, the elastic gasket (8) is arranged around the joint part (73) and completely separates the joint part (73) from the wall of the through hole (57).

2. The fluid control device (1) of claim 1, wherein the engagement portion (73) has an internal bore (75) corresponding to the through bore (57) of the mounting disk (5) for the valve shaft (41) to extend into.

3. The fluid control device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the through hole (57) has a stepped hole portion (575) at an end facing the handle (7), the engagement portion (73) is adapted to be seated in the stepped hole portion (575), and an outer peripheral surface of the elastic washer (8) is in contact with an inner peripheral surface of the stepped hole portion (575) and an end surface of the elastic washer (8) is in contact with a stepped surface of the stepped hole portion (575).

4. A fluid control device (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the engagement portion (73) is sleeve-shaped and formed with an annular groove (733) on the outer circumference, the elastic washer (8) being mounted in the annular groove (733), wherein, in the mounted state, an end face of the elastic washer (8) exceeds an end face of the engagement portion (73) facing the mounting disc (5), and an outer circumferential profile of at least a section of the engagement portion (73) that falls within the stepped hole portion (575) is located within the outer circumferential profile of the elastic washer (8) in a projection plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the engagement portion (73).

5. The fluid control device (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that an axial stop structure with a concavo-convex fit is formed between the annular groove (733) and the elastic washer (8).

6. The fluid control device (1) according to claim 5, wherein the axial restraining structure comprises:

a radial flange (735) formed on the annular groove (733); and

a groove (85) formed on the resilient gasket (8) and corresponding to the radial flange (735).

7. The fluid control device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the elastic washer (8) is formed with a chamfered surface (83) at an outer peripheral edge of an end surface facing the mounting disk (5).

8. Sanitary ware, characterized in that it comprises a fluid control device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7.