IE85941B1 - A connector for a fluid flow control device - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT A connector (10) for a fluid flow control device, the connector (10) having a body (11) in which is disposed a passage to convey fluid from a supply tube to the control device, a collcct (18) with a gripping element (22) which, by axial movement away from the body (11), can be urged inwardly so as to grip an exterior surface of the supply tube, and an adjustable securing element (15) to urge the collect (18) away from the body (1 1) to maintain the grip on the supply tube.

Description

Title: A Connector for a Fluid Flow Control Device Field of the Invention This invention relates, in broad terms, to the field of fluid flow control devices such as shower valves, temperature regulators and the like and relates in particular, although by no means exclusively, to connectors which enable such devices to be connected to fluid supplies in a bathroom or shower environment.

Background to the invention and Overview of the Prior Art The designs of showers have evolved greatly in recent times, both in technical and aesthetic areas, with advances having been made in mixer, pumped and general electric shower technologies. Whilst not being limited to this particular area, the present invention is concerned largely with the area of mixer showers, in which separate hot and cold water supplies are mixed in a valve arrangement prior to being dispatched to a shower head, for example. A variety of mixer shower arrangements are of course known, with a recent trend having been towards the use of “bar mixers" which comprise a generally unitary bar—shaped mixing chamber to which the hot and cold water supplies are fed.

When installing showers having mixers of this type, a popular approach has been to conceal the hot and cold water supply pipes behind a stud partition or wall, with connectors being used to provide both a mounting platform for the mixing chamber and a fluid flow passage from the water supply pipes to the mixer assembly. Concealing the hot and cold water supply pipes in this way provides a neat and aesthetica|ly—pleasing finish, with straight inlet or elbow connectors being used, depending upon the orientation of the hidden supply pipes. Whatever the orientation of the water supply pipes, outlet parts of the l85941 straight/elbow connectors are typically provided with a threaded configuration for engagement with a corresponding thread on an inlet part of the mixer valve assembly.

The concealment of the supply pipes in this way does, however, gives rise to a number of challenges, such as how best to mount the connectors to a support surface (typically a bathroom or shower cabinet wall) in a visually-appealing, user-friendly and secure manner.

Summary of the Invention In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector for a ftuid flow control device, the connector having a body in which is disposed a passage to convey fluid from a supply tube to the control device, a collet with a gripping element which, by axial movement away from the body, can be urged inwardly so as to grip an exterior surface of the supply tube, and an adjustable securing element to urge the collet away from the body to maintain the grip on the suppty tube, the securing element having a bearing part which, in use, bears upon a support surface to which the connector is mounted.

The securing element may be axially-moveable relative to the body.

The body and securing element may be threadedly engaged such that their relative rotation effects said axial movement of the securing element.

The securing element may comprise a sleeve which is rotatably-moveable about the body.

The bearing part may comprise a flange which extends away from a threaded part of the sleeve.

Preferably, the bearing part comprises an aperture for the passage of a fastener by which the connector is mounted to the support surface.

The bearing part may comprise a pturality of such apertures.

The collet preferably is axially-moveable within a sheath, the sheath having a cam surface with which co-operates the gripping element of the collet.

The sheath preferably is substantially axially-immovable relative to the body.

The gripping element of the collet may be disposed towards its inner end, with a head being provided at its outer end to limit insertion of the collet into the sheath and to facilitate its removal therefrom.

The fluid flow control device may be a sanitary device such as a tap, bath or shower mixer, and the passage of the connector body may extend from a water inlet to a water outlet, with the water outlet having an engagement formation for the connection of an inlet of the sanitary device.

The sanitary device may be a shower valve, and preferably is a bar mixer for a shower. in accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shower mixer set comprising a bar mixer and at least one connector in accordance with the first or the second aspect of the present invention.

In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of installing a connector for a shower valve in which the water supply pipe protrudes from a support surface such as a wall, comprising procuring a connector in accordance with the first aspect of the invention, locating the 'collet of said connector around the exposed end of the supply pipe. inserting the end of the pipe into the passage of said connector until the gripping element of said connector makes contact with an exterior surface of the pipe, and adjusting the securing element ‘of the connector so as to urge the collet away from the body, to tighten the grip on the supply pipe.

Brief Description of the Drawings Specific and non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, in its various aspects, will now be described, strictly by way of example only, by reference to the accompanying drawings, of which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a connector for a shower valve; FIGURE 2 is a side and part-sectioned view of the connector of Figure 1, showing a number of additional internal components; and FIGURE 3 shows two bar valve connectors attached to a bathroom wall, with hot and cold supply pipes and a bar mixer valve assembly also being shown.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments and Best Mode of the invention Referring first to Figure 1, a shower valve connector 10 is shown, comprising a generally cylindrical metallic body 11 having an externally-threaded portion 12 and a shorter, non—threaded portion 13, shown in Figure 2.

The body 11 is rotatably—received within a sleeve 14 of an adjustable securing element 15, the securing element 15 having a radially-extending flange 16 having four equally spaced apertures 17 to receive threaded fasteners, as described in more detail below.

The body 11 extends through the sleeve 14, with the end of the non—threaded portion 13 being shown in Figures 1 and 2 by reference numeral 13g.

Located co-axiaily with the body 11 are a plastics collet 18 and sheath 19, which together provide a push-fit attachment facility, described in more detail below.

The collet 18 has, at its outer end, a head 20 in the form of a narrow flange, and a plurality (in this case six) of resiliently deformable arms 21 each having, on their inner surface, a stainless steel tooth 22 which projects slightly inwardly so as to grip an inserted tube, as described further below. The sheath 19 is similarly provided with a number of outwardly projecting stainless steel teeth 23 which enable the sheath 19 to bite into and thus grip the material 24 of the body 11, which surrounds the sheath in that region.

The arms 21 of the collet 18 are circumferentially spaced around the principal axis of the collet, with the apertures between them allowing the arms to flex resiliently towards and away from that principal axis.

As shown in Figure 2, the sheath 19 has a divergent tapering cam configuration 25, whereas the distal ends of the arms 21 have a convergent tapering configuration 26.

The combined effect of these opposite tapering configurations is cam-like, in that axial movement of the collet away from (i.e. to the left of) the sheath 19 forces the arms 21 radialiy inwardly, whereas movement of the collet in the opposite direction allows the arms to flex outwardiy, by virtue of their outwardly—biased resilient nature.

The coilet and sheath arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 2 may best be provided using apparatus known as "John Guest" fittings, available commerciatly under the trade mark "SPEEDFlT". Such devices are known, for example, from British patent specification no. 1520742 of 1978, although it will be understood that the precise configuration of the elements described herein may differ from that detailed in the patent specification. in brief, the function of the collet/sheath arrangement is to provide a push-fit attachment facility, whereby the connector 10 may be attached, in a fluid-tight manner, to a protruding end of a water supply pipe such as that shown in Figure 3. The manner in which the collet/sheath effect that attachment is known, for example from GB 1520742, although the use of such components in the shower valve/connector field does not, of course, form part of the prior art.

Referring to Figure 2, it can be seen that the coltet 18 ties within the sheath 19, with an O-ring 27 being located at a shoulder/step portion 28 of the internal bore extending through the body 11. The connector 10 shown in Figure 2 is aiso provided with a filter device 29 and a flow limiter 30, which may be of the type available commercially under the trade mark "NEOPERL".

A retaining element 31, which may take the form of a threaded fastener or resilient washer, is positioned at the distal end of the body 11, to keep the filter and flow limiter in position.

The procedure whereby the connector 10 is engaged with a water supply pipe will now be described, referring principally to Figure 2.

As will be understood, the connector 10 is designed to receive protruding ends of water supply pipes which extend through a support surface such as a bathroom wall, with the pipes adopting a generally horizontal position. Once the protruding end of the supply pipe (typically a 15mm diameter copper or plastics tubing) has been cut so that the protruding length is appropriate for the size of connector, the connector 10 shown in Figure 2 is brought into engagement with the protruding end of the pipe, such that the distal end of the . pipe is inserted into the passage defined by the body 11, sheath 19 and collet . Once the end of the pipe has reachedthe collet teeth 22, the teeth will exert a degree of inwardly-directed force on the exterior wall of the pipe, although that grip, at that point, is not sufficient to prevent continued inward movement of the supply pipe. The pipe may therefore continue to be inserted until it reaches shoulder 32, which lies just upstream of the filter arrangement 29. At that point, it will be appreciated that the distal exterior wall of the pipe is in contact both with the inwardly protruding teeth 22 of the collet and the inner surface of the O—ring 27. It is then necessary to secure the connector 10 and mount it to the support surface/wall, and to tighten the grip exerted on the end of the pipe by the arms 21 of the collet 18. This is achieved principally by use of the rotatably-mounted securing element 15, but can also initially be effected, to a limited degree, by a simple rean/vard pull on the body 11 (ie. to the right of Figure 2), which movement causes the sheath 19 also to move to the right of Figure 2, and thus to exert an inwardly directed force on, the arms 21, by virtue of the divergent tapering configuration 25. It will be understood, of course, that the coltet 18 does not move with the body 11 by virtue of its engagement (via the collet teeth 22) with the outer surface of the protruding pipe. Thereafter, the securing element 15 is rotated about the external thread 12 of the body 11 such that the flange 16 is caused to move towards the supporting wall. As the body 11 is held to the pipe by virtue of the O—ring seal 27 and the teeth engagement referred to above, substantially no rotational movement of the body 11 occurs. Continued rotation of the securing element eventually leads to the flange 16 coming into engagement (i.e. bearing upon) the support wall, with further rotation causing the body 11 to be pushed to the right of Figure 2, thus increasing the degree of opposed movement between the collet 18 and sheath 19. in other words, continued rotation of the securing element 15 results in an increase in the grip exerted by the collet 18 on the water supply tube. Once a sufficient "tightness" has been attained (this being largely down to the judgement of a trained fitter), appropriate threaded fasteners are passed through the apertures 17 in the flange 16, to secure the flange to the supporting wall and thus to lock the assembly in position.

It will be understood, of course, that in order to remove the connector 10 from the pipe, a substantially opposite process is perfonned.

As will be well appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art, bar mixer valves require both hot and cold water supply inlets and it is thus necessary to ensure that two such connectors are positioned at appropriate locations in the supporting wall, to enable the attachment of rotatably mounted (and internatly threaded) attachment collars which are disposed about the two inlets of the bar mixer valve. The subsequent attachment of the bar mixer valve, however, is generally conventional and forms no part of the present invention, although to illustrate the end result of the attachment process described above, Figure 3 shows a typical bar mixer valve mounted to a support surface such as a bathroom/shower cabinet wall, with two connectors of the type shown in Figures 1 and 2 also being shown.

For aesthetic reasons, escutcheons may also be provided, having an internal thread which co-operates with the external thread 12 of the body 11.

Furthermore, if desired, a smali "fiat" 12g (i.e. non-threaded area), shown in Figure 1, may be provided on the outer surface of the otherwise threaded portion 12, so that the body 11 may be held against undesired rotation when the bar mixer is coupled to it, using a suitable tool.

What will be appreciated, from the foregoing, is that the connectors and assembly methods described herein enable shower valves such as bar mixer valves to be installed in a quick and convenient manner which has not hitherto been possible. In addition, the flush mounting of the securing element 15 to the support surface, with the optional use of an aesthetically-appealing escutcheon, enables a very neat finish to be achieved, with no fastening elements such as screws being visible to the end user. The relatively iarge area adopted the flange 16 also enables a secure connection to be effected and which is sufficiently rigid to withstand the weight of a typical shower bar mixer.

When used in this specification and claims, the terms "comprises" and ”comprising" and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or integers are included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exciude the presence of other features, steps or components.

The features disciosed in the foregoing description, or the foilowing claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims (17)

1. A connector for a fluid flow control device, the connector having a body in which is disposed a passage to convey fluid from a supply tube to the control device, a collet with a gripping element which, by axial movement away from the body, can be urged inwardly so as to grip an exterior surface of the supply tube, and an adjustable securing element to urge the collet away from the body to maintain the grip on the supply tube, the securing element having a bearing part which, in use, bears upon a support surface to which the connector is mounted.

2. A connector according to claim 1 wherein the securing element is axially-moveable relative to the body.

3. A connector according to claim 2 wherein the body and securing element are threadedly engaged such that their relative rotation effects said axial movement of the securing eiement.

4. A connector according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the securing element comprises a sleeve which is rotatably-moveable about the body.

5. A connector according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the bearing part comprises a flange which extends away from a threaded part of the sleeve.

6. A connector according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the bearing part comprises an aperture for the passage of a fastener by which the connector is mounted to the support surface.

7. A connector according to claim 6 wherein the bearing part comprises a plurality of such apertures.

8. A connector according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the collet is axially-moveable within a sheath, the sheath having a cam surface with which co-operates the gripping element of the collet.

9. A connector according to claim 8 wherein the sheath is substantially axia||y—immovab|e relative to the body.

10. A connector according to claims 8 or 9 wherein the gripping element of the collet is disposed towards its inner end, with a head being provided at its outer end to limit insertion of the collet into the sheath and to facilitate its removal therefrom.

11. A connector according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the fluid flow control device is a sanitary device such as a tap, bath or shower mixer, and the passage of the connector body extends from a water inlet to a water outlet, with the water outlet having an engagement formation for the connection of an inlet of the sanitary device.

12. A connector according to claim 11 wherein the sanitary device is a shower valve.

13. A connector according to claim 11 or claim 12 wherein the sanitary device is a bar mixer for a shower.

14. A shower mixer set comprising a bar mixer and at ieast one connector in accordance with any one of the preceding claims.

15. A method of installing a connector for a shower valve in which the water supply pipe protrudes from a support surface such as a wait, comprising procuring a connector in accordance with any of claims 1 to 13, locating the collet of said connector around the exposed end of the supply pipe, inserting the end of the pipe into the passage of said connector until the gripping element of said connector makes contact with an exterior surface of the pipe, and adjusting the securing element of the connector so as to urge the collet away from the body, to tighten the grip on the supply pipe.

16. A connector substantially as hereinbefore described andlor as shown in the accompanying drawings.

17. A method of installing a connector for a shower valve, substantially as hereinbefore described andlor as shown in the accompanying drawings. ANNE RYAN & CO. AGENTS FOR THE APPLICANTS