DE8902238U1 - Sanitary fitting for faucets - Google Patents

Description

Cosmos Development and Research Institute

FL - 9490 Vaduz

Sanitary fittings for taps

The invention relates to a sanitary fitting for water taps and the like with a mixing valve and a shut-off valve connected downstream of the latter and controllable by a sensor, the valve body of which is provided with an armature which can be actuated by a solenoid coil which can be excited by means of a control device in dependence on the control signals of the sensor.

Such fittings, which are often used in publicly accessible washrooms to prevent manual operation of a shut-off valve, are connected to the general power grid via a connecting cable to supply the control unit and the magnetic coil with electrical energy. Apart from the fact that the cable plug can easily be pulled out of the socket or cut, making it very easy to switch off the fitting, as soon as the sensor sends out an impulse and the shut-off valve is opened, the

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Electrical energy is taken from the power grid. The operating costs of these well-known fittings, which are frequently in use in most applications, are therefore considerable. The construction effort is also high, since the Magnot-5 coil of the shut-off valve has to be supplied with a different voltage than that provided by the power grid and sometimes complex precautions have to be taken to avoid accidents.

The object of the invention is therefore to improve the sanitary fitting 10 of the aforementioned type in such a way that deliberate damage by third parties is largely

are excluded and that, above all, no connection K:
'ti to a power grid is required, but still a

?f reliable operation is guaranteed. The operating costs should therefore be kept low, g; despite the low construction costs, the risk of accidents caused by electricity should be excluded.

k According to the invention, this is achieved by

U to the control unit integrated in the sanitary fitting

•jf: 20 ter accumulator is connected as an electrical power source, through which the control unit, depending on

the control signals of the sensor can be supplied with electrical energy permanently and independently of a power grid.

% 25 It is advisable to design the accumulator as a rechargeable battery U.

&igr;. According to a particularly advantageous embodiment,

j. to charge the battery in one of the sanitary

■'■' fitting associated lines, preferably in the

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A turbine connected to a generator connected to the control unit is used in the downstream water pipe leading to the tap.

It is advisable to arrange a transmission gear between the turbine and the generator and to design the area of the water pipe that accommodates the turbine blades as an annular channel, whereby the turbine shaft, the generator and the transmission gear should be arranged concentrically within the annular channel in a preferably drop-shaped housing.

According to a different design, one or more solar cells connected to the accumulator can also be provided for charging it.

If a separate, preferably rechargeable battery is connected to the control unit of a sanitary fitting of the aforementioned type according to the invention, it is possible to operate the sanitary fitting independently of a power supply. This not only extends its area of application, since it can also be installed in places where it is difficult to supply electrical energy from a power supply, but it also highly probably excludes the possibility of causing damage in a simple manner. There are no longer any connecting cables that can be easily severed.

Another advantage is that no electrical energy is required from the power grid to operate the valve.

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is, in fact, self-sufficient, particularly when a turbine is installed in the water pipe, by converting the flow energy of the water into electrical energy and storing it in the accumulator. This significantly reduces operating costs. And since the generator can be designed for the operating voltage of the magnetic coil, accidents caused by the given electrical voltage are excluded without any special precautions being taken, even if the system is handled improperly. With little construction effort, the proposed sanitary fitting can be used in a variety of ways and without any problems.

The drawing shows an embodiment of the sanitary fitting designed according to the invention, which is explained in detail below. It shows:

Figure 1 the installed in a water pipe

Sanitary fitting with shut-off valve and power supply device, partly

in a longitudinal section and

characters

2 and 3 show the structure of the sanitary fittings according to Figure 1, each in schematic representations and in different designs.

The sanitary fitting shown in Figure 1 and designated 1 comprises a mixing valve 11 and a

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downstream of the shut-off valve 12, which can be controlled by means of a sensor 17. The water supplied from a cold water pipe 2 and a hot water pipe 3 via pipes 4 and 5 to the mixing valve 11 is mixed according to the set water distribution and can be discharged from a faucet 7, to which the mixed water is supplied via a water pipe 6, until it is opened by a pulse emitted by the sensor 17.

The shut-off valve 12 is equipped with a magnetic coil 13 and an armature 14 to which a valve body 15 is attached. When the magnetic coil 13 is excited, the armature 14 is moved to the right against the force of a return spring, so that in the mixing valve 11, water mixed accordingly from cold and warm water flows into the water line from a channel 6' ¹ through which the mixing valve 11 and the shut-off valve 12 are connected to one another, since in this case the shut-off valve 12 is open.

A control unit 18 is used to excite the magnetic coil 13 of the shut-off valve 12 depending on the pulses from the sensor 17, which is connected to the sensor 17 via a signal line 19 and to the magnetic coil 13 via a further line 20. In addition, an accumulator designed as a rechargeable battery is connected to the control unit 18 to supply it with electrical energy and to supply the magnetic coil 13 via a line.

The control device 18 thus controls the water supply to the faucet 7 and this is

■&bull;ta ¹ ·<··.,

the setting of the mixing valve 11 from cold and warm

: Water mixed water supplied.

In order to be able to charge the accumulator 21 independently of a power grid, a generator 33 is assigned to it, which is connected to the accumulator 21 via a power line 34. And the generator 33 is connected via a winch-operated transmission gear 32 to a turbine 31, which can be driven by the water flowing in the water pipe 6.

In order to be able to arrange the blades 35 of the turbine 31, which are acted upon by the flowing water, the water pipe 6 is designed as an annular channel 6' in the area of the turbine 31, and the shaft 36 of the turbine 35, the transmission gear 32 connected to it, and the downstream generator 31 are installed concentrically in a drop-shaped housing 30 which delimits the annular channel 6'.

As soon as water is taken from the tap 7, the turbine 31 is put into operation and by means of the turbine and the generator 33 the flow energy of the water flowing in the ring channel 6' is converted into electrical energy, which is stored in the accumulator 2i and, if required, fed via the line 22 to the control device 18 shown schematically in Figure 1ii.

H 25. The sanitary fitting 1 is therefore always ready for use, independent of |J a power supply.

In the embodiment according to Figure 3, the supply

ff supply of the accumulator 21 with electrical energy a

L solar cell 41 is provided, which is connected via a line 42 to

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- 10 -

the accumulator 21. In this way, the constant operational readiness of the sanitary fitting 1 can also be ensured.

A 8465 es /
20 February 1/989

Claims (1)

DIPL-ING. GUIDO W. ^ 7990 Friedrichshafen Cosmos Development and Research Institute FL - 9490 Vaduz &Ggr;&eegr; t &igr;?) &eegr; t Bk &eegr; Sayings: 1. Sanitary fitting for water taps and the like with a mixing valve and a shut-off valve connected downstream of the latter and controlled by a sensor, the valve body of which is provided with an armature which can be actuated by a magnetic coil which can be excited by means of a control device in dependence on the control signals of the sensor, characterized, that an accumulator (21) integrated into the sanitary fitting (1) is connected to the control device (18) as an electrical power source, through which the control device (18) can be supplied with electrical energy permanently and independently of a power network. 2. Sanitary fitting according to claim 1, characterized, that the accumulator (21) is designed as a rechargeable battery. 3. Sanitary fitting according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that that for charging the accumulator (21) a turbine (31) is inserted into one of the lines associated with the sanitary fitting (1) , preferably in the water line (6) connected downstream of the latter and leading to the water tap (7), which is drivingly connected to a generator (33) connected to the control device (18). 4. Sanitary fitting according to claim 3, characterized, that a transmission gear (32) is arranged between the turbine (31) and the generator (33). 5. Sanitary fitting according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that that the area of the water pipe (6) receiving the blades (35) of the turbine (31) is designed as an annular channel (6'). 6. Sanitary fitting according to claim 5,
characterized, that the shaft (36) carrying the blades (35) of the turbine (31), the generator (33) and the transmission gear (32) are arranged concentrically within the annular channel (6 ¹ ) in a preferably drop-shaped housing (30). II t Il · · I I »tit · · 7. Sanitary fitting according to claim 1 or 2, characterized, that one or more solar cells (41) connected to the accumulator (21) are provided for charging the accumulator (21). 17 February 19.69
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