WO2007110187A1

WO2007110187A1 - A hydraulic flow control device, including a diverter device and a single control mixing cartridge

Info

Publication number: WO2007110187A1
Application number: PCT/EP2007/002539
Authority: WO
Inventors: Francesco Knapp
Original assignee: Studio Tecnico Sviluppo E Ricerche S.T.S.R. S.R.L.
Priority date: 2006-03-29
Filing date: 2007-03-20
Publication date: 2007-10-04
Also published as: ITTO20060233A1

Abstract

A hydraulic flow control device which includes in combination: - a di- verter device having a substantially annular structure with an external surface (1-2) and an axial cavity (3), this device having at least two delivery connections (4) located on its external surface (1-2), having in its axial cavity (3) at least one inlet passageway (14) for the flow, and being provided with a maneuver member (15) for operating the diversion; - and a mixing cartridge whose envelope comprises a skirt portion (16) shaped correspondingly to the shape of the axial cavity (3) of the diverter device, a first end portion (18) having two inlet connections (19,20) for hot water and for cold water respectively, and a second end portion (21 ), opposite the first end portion (18), provided with a single control lever (24) whose displacements according to two different directions control the whole passage section available for the flow and respectively the ratio between the passage sections available for the hot water flow and for the cold water flow respectively; the mixing cartridge having at least one delivery passageway (17) located on its skirt portion (16), and the mixing cartridge being inserted with hydraulic seal within the axial cavity (3) of the diverter device, with its delivery passageway (17) communicating with the inlet passageway (14) of the diverter device.

Description

DESCRIPTION

A HYDRAULIC FLOW CONTROL DEVICE, INCLUDING A DIVERTER DEVICE AND A SINGLE CONTROL MIXING CARTRIDGE

The subject of the present invention is a hydraulic flow control device which includes a diverter device and a single control mixing cartridge, mutually cooperating to form a single compact control device.

The diverter devices (which in the more improved versions may also operate as combiner devices) are used in the hydraulic installations having several outlets, in order to direct a flow, under control and selection of the user, to one or another of several delivery devices or (in the case of combiner devices) simultaneously to two or more delivery devices. Usually, a diverter device is accompanied by a separate device for controlling the delivery rate and possibly the temperature of the flow, this device may be a valve for control and shut off, a mixing valve or a thermostatic mixing valve, and this valve forms a control device separate from the diverter device and connected thereto by tubings.

The use of two separate control devices connected by tubings is inconvenient from the point of view of the installation, that is complicated, encumbering and expensive, and also from the point of view of the maneuver by the user, who needs to operate on at least two control members being parts of devices which are separate and, therefore, mutually relatively remote.

There are known diverter devices which allow controlling the flow passage section, and these devices are used in those cases in which, in addition to the diverter action, only the shut off of the flow or the control of the delivery rate is required.

There is also known a flow control device which includes a first set of component parts operating as a diverter or combiner device and a second set of component parts which operate as a thermostatic mixing valve. This device offers to the user three control members, namely a first control member in- tended for admitting or shutting off the flow and controlling the delivery rate, a second control member for operating the diversion or combination of the flow, and a third control member for setting up the temperature to be controlled by the thermostatic mixing valve. The resulting device is complicated and expen- sive, and also the maneuver thereof is relatively complicated, is not intuitive, and is unwelcome for many users.

The object of the present invention is to provide a flow control device integrating a diverter (or combiner) device and a device controlling the delivery rate and the temperature of the flow, that should be of a relatively simple and compact structure and should allow to the user very simple and intuitive maneuvers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a flow control device designed in such a way that in the manufacture thereof may be used some existing component parts, designed and realized for different flow control devices.

The flow control device according to the invention comprises in combination:

- a diverter device having a substantially annular structure with an ex- ternal surface and an axial cavity, this device having at least two delivery connections located on its external surface, having in its axial cavity at least one inlet passageway for the flow, and being provided with a maneuver member for operating the diversion, and

- a mixing cartridge whose envelope comprises a skirt portion shaped correspondingly to the shape of said axial cavity of the diverter device, a first end portion having two inlet connections for hot water and for cold water respectively, and a second end portion, opposite said first end portion, provided with a single control lever whose displacements according to two different directions control the whole passage section available for the flow and respec- tively the ratio between the passage sections available for the hot water flow and for the cold water flow respectively; said mixing cartridge having at least one delivery passageway located on its skirt portion;

- said mixing cartridge being inserted with hydraulic seal within said axial cavity of said diverter device, with said at least one delivery passageway communicating with said at least one inlet passageway of said diverter device. In this way, the flow control device according to the invention, which has a simple and compact structure, offers to the user only two control members, the one serving in a usual manner for controlling the flow diversion (or, according to the case, the flow combination), whereas the other control mem- ber is a usual single control lever, which controls both the flow delivery rate and the flow temperature resulting from the mixing ratio, and that is controlled by the user in the same way in which he is accustomed to maneuver the usual single lever mixing valves. As a consequence, the resulting maneuver is simple, easy and intuitive for the user. Preferably, the control member of the diverter device surrounds the single control lever, said control member being intended to be maneuvered in rotation, either directly or through a ring or a lever, whereby both control members are located in immediate mutual closeness for the best maneuver convenience of the user. Each of the diverter device and the single control mixing cartridge may be of any known or special kind, but preferably the diverter device is of the kind described in the Italian Patent Application No. TO 2005 A 000 779, that may be used in a particularly advantageous manner for the combination according to the present invention. On its turn, the single control mixing cartridge may be of a known kind available in commerce, only modified in the shape of its envelope, in order to adapt the same to the needs of the combination with a diverter device according to the invention.

In this way, several component parts of the diverter device and/or of the single control mixing cartridge may be existing component parts, designed for the manufacture of other products, with a great advantage for the economy of the production.

Preferably, the diverter device comprises a fixed external envelope having the delivery connections, and an inner rotatable element having the maneuver member, said axial cavity being defined in part by said fixed external envelope and in part by said inner rotatable element, and the mixing cartridge inserted into said axial cavity of the diverter device is connected to said fixed external envelope, whereby the position of the cartridge and of its single control lever is not modified by the rotation of the control member of the di- verter device.

The single control lever of the mixing cartridge may be arranged in such a way that the two control directions define a tilt of the lever in a plane and a rotation of the lever around an axis, or even the single control lever may be arranged in such a way that the two control directions define a tilt of the lever in two orthogonal planes. The mixing cartridge may also be of the se- quential type, with a single control lever whose rotation controls, in subsequent positions, the fluid flow rate and the mixing ratio.

These and other features, objects and advantages of the subject of the present invention will appear more clearly from the following description of an embodiment, which represents a preferred but not limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows on an enlarged scale and in a diametrical section a hydraulic flow control device according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is an axial view of the hydraulic flow control device according to Figure 1 , observed from the side of the supply and delivery connections.

Figure 3 shows on a more reduced scale and in an exploded view some main component parts of the hydraulic flow control device according to Figure 1 .

Figure 4 shows in a diametrical section the inner rotatable element of the diverter device.

Figure 5 shows an axial view of the inner rotatable element of the diverter device, observed from the side of the flow distribution members.

Figure 6 shows in a diametrical section the outer fixed envelope of the diverter device. Figure 7 shows an axial view of the outer fixed envelope of the diverter device, observed from the side of the delivery connections.

The hydraulic flow control device represented as an example has the character of a cartridge intended to be inserted for its use in a containing body, not represented. However it is to be understood that this device may also be embodied in a shape different from a cartridge, its envelope forming in that case the body of the device.

In the following description will be defined as upper parts or lower parts those parts which are represented in the upper part or respectively in the lower part of the annexed drawings, though being intended that in its use the hydraulic flow control device may be oriented in any position.

Number 1 designates the outer wall of the fixed envelope of the diverter device, which fixed envelope may be seen separately in Figure 3 and in the Figures 6 and 7. The outer wall 1 is cylindrical and it also forms the outer wall of the entire cartridge forming the device. At a first lower end portion this outer wall 1 extends inwardly to form a bottom member 2 which has a central stepped aperture intended to form a portion of an axial cavity 3 of the diverter device. The bottom member 2 has therefore an annular shape. Along this bottom member 2 are formed a number of openings 4 (which in this example are in number of five), that are provided with seal packings 5 and are intended to define the delivery connections of the device.

At its second upper end portion, opposed to the bottom member 2, the outer wall 1 has some seats 7 intended to house some fixing teeth 9 of a cover 8 intended for enclosing the inner component parts of the diverter device. Cover 8 has a central aperture and therefore its has an annular shape. Within the inner space of the diverter device, defined by the outer wall

1 , the bottom member 2 and the cover 8, is mounted the movable element of the diverter device, that may be seen separately in Figure 3 and in the Figures 4 and 5. The movable element is composed of a lower part 10 and a upper part 13, mutually connected in a stable way. The lower part 10 of the movable element has two passageways 11

(which may be parts of a single annular passageway) which open at the lower end of the movable element and are provided with sleeve seal packings 12, these passageways being the flow distribution means and cooperating with the openings 4 of the bottom element 2 of the fixed envelope of the diverter de- vice. The lower part 10 of the movable element has an axial aperture 3 that extends the central aperture 3 of the bottom element 2. The passageways 11 communicate with the axial aperture 3 through one or more openings to be described later on.

The upper part 13 of the movable element also has an axial aperture 3. Therefore the axial cavity, always designed 3, extends in the bottom member 2 of the fixed envelope, in the lower part 10 and in the upper part 13 of the movable element, namely through the entire diverter device, whose shape is therefore annular.

The inner wall of the upper part 13, defining the axial aperture 3, has some openings 14 through which the passageways 11 of the lower part communicate with the axial cavity 3. It is noted however that, as a modification, the openings 14 could be provided in the lower part 10 rather than in the upper part 13 of the movable element.

Moreover, the upper part 13 of the movable element extends upwards to form a tubular part 15 which traverses the central opening of the annular cover 8 and forms the maneuver member for the movable element of the di- verter device. This tubular part 15 may be arranged for being directly controlled by the user, but it is preferred that it is equipped with a ring or lever (not represented) for rendering easier the maneuver. It will be understood that the movable element, according to the position it assumes, establishes a hydraulic connection from the axial cavity 3 to one of the delivery connections 4, through either the one or the other of the distribution means 12. Particularly, in the form shown as an example, this connection passes from any delivery connection 4 to the subsequent one as a consequence of a rotation of the movable element by 36° (1/10 of a turn). Therefore, with a rotation field of 144° of the movable element, all the delivery connections 4 may be subsequently supplied. It appears that the diverter device operates according to the idea exposed in the Italian Patent Application No. TO 2005 A 000 779. Of course, both the number and the disposition of the delivery connections 4, and both the number and the disposition of the distribution means 12, can be chosen in various manners, in order to satisfy different distribution needs as well as, if the case may be, in order to allow in certain positions the simultaneous supply of two or more delivery connections 4, thus providing an operation as a combiner device. In the axial cavity 3 of the diverter device, which is defined in part by the fixed envelope 1 , in part by the lower part 10 of the movable element, and in part by the upper part 13 of the movable element, there is inserted, in this case from the lower side, a single control mixing cartridge. This cartridge is a device per se well known and, for the application according to the invention, it may be of any known kind; for this reason it will not be described in a detailed manner. It is sufficient to tell that, in the shown example, this cartridge comprises an envelope 16, a lower element 18 wherein are provided the inlet connections 19 and 20 for the supply of hot and cold water, and a upper element 21. Inside the cartridge there are installed a fixed valve plate 22 and a mov- able valve plate 23, which latter is displaced along two directions under control of the user, by means of a lever 24 movably connected between the envelope 16 and the upper element 21 of the cartridge. The operation of these component parts is well known by those skilled in the art. The single control mixing cartridge shown is of a popularly used kind, but as already told other single control mixing cartridges, even possibly of the sequential type, may be chosen for the combination with a diverter device according to this invention.

For being used according to the invention, the envelope 16 of the cartridge should have a shape substantially corresponding to the shape of the axial cavity 3 of the annular diverter device, whereby it can be introduced in this axial cavity, proceeding from the lower side according to this example, with the control lever 24 protruding from the upper end portion of the diverter device and presented to the users maneuver closely near the tubular part 15 being the maneuver member of the diverter device. Moreover, it is needed that in the envelope 16 of the cartridge there is at least one opening 17 for exit of the mixing water, this opening 17 being in communication with the inlet opening 14 of the diverter device, whereby the water, mixed inside the inner cartridge, directly passes to the diverter device.

It is particularly advantageous that the envelope 16 of the cartridge is connected at its lower end portion to the fixed bottom member 2 of the diverter device, as it has been represented, whereby the cartridge does not displace in rotation when the movable element of the diverter device is caused to rotate. For this reason, the position of the control lever of the cartridge is not modified by the deviation action, and this renders easier the users maneuver.

Of course, among the various parts that have been described are to be inserted suitable seal packings, which are not described here because their provision and arrangement are obvious for those skilled in the art.

Thanks to the invention, a flow control device is provided that allows the user to maneuver, in a manner to which he is already accustomed for the use of other devices, a tubular member for choosing the deviation and possi- ble combination of flows that he intends to obtain, and a single control lever that allows controlling the rate of the mixed flow as well as the mixing ratio between hot and cold water, by means of its displacement along two directions in the conventional maneuver manner of all single control mixing appliances, both these maneuver members being situated closely near the one another. Therefore, the best conditions of easy and intuitive maneuver of the device are obtained. Moreover this device is relatively simple, of low cost and encumbrance on account of its complex operation, and in the manufacturing thereof several component parts already produced for other devices may be used, thus effectively contributing to the reduction of costs. Finally, it is evident that the hydraulic installation is extremely simplified due to the direct integration of the diverter device and the mixing valve, thus avoiding the need of any connection tubing.

It is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the embodiment which has been described and shown as an example. Several possible modifications have been stated in the course of the description, and others are available to those skilled in the art. These and other modifications, as well as any replacement by technically equivalent means, may be applied to what has been described and shown, without departing from the spirit of this invention and the scope of the present Patent as stated in the appended Claims.

Claims

1 . A hydraulic flow control device, characterized in that it comprises in combination:

- a diverter device having a substantially annular structure with an ex- ternal surface (1-2) and an axial cavity (3), this device having at least two delivery connections (4) located on its external surface (1-2), having in its axial cavity (3) at least one inlet passageway (14) for the flow, and being provided with a maneuver member (15) for operating the diversion, and

- a single control mixing cartridge having an envelope which comprises a skirt portion (16) shaped correspondingly to the shape of said axial cavity (3) of the diverter device, a first end portion (18) having two inlet connections (19,20) for hot water and for cold water respectively, and a second end portion (21 ), opposite said first end portion (18), provided with a single control lever (24) whose displacements according to two different directions control the whole passage section available for the flow and respectively the ratio between the passage sections available for the hot water flow and for the cold water flow respectively; said mixing cartridge having at least one delivery passageway (17) located on its skirt portion (16);

- said mixing cartridge being inserted with hydraulic seal within said axial cavity (3) of said diverter device, with said at least one delivery passageway (17) communicating with said inlet passageway (14) of said diverter device.

2 . A hydraulic flow control device as set forth in Claim 1 , characterized in that the control member of the diverter device is a tubular mem- ber (15) which surrounds the single control lever (24), said control member being (15) intended to be maneuvered in rotation, either directly or through a ring or a lever.

3 . A hydraulic flow control device as set forth in Claim 1 , characterized in that the diverter device is of the kind described in the Italian Patent Application No. TO 2005 A 000 779.

4 . A hydraulic flow control device as set forth in Claim 1 , characterized in that the single control mixing cartridge is of a kind per se known available in commerce, only modified in the shape of its envelope.

5 . A hydraulic flow control device as set forth in Claim 3, characterized in that several component parts of the diverter device and/or of the single control mixing cartridge are existing component parts, provided for the manufacture of other products.

6 . A hydraulic flow control device as set forth in Claim 1 , characterized in that the diverter device comprises a fixed external envelope (1 -2) having the delivery connections (4), and an inner rotatable element (10, 13) having the maneuver member (15), said axial cavity (3) being defined in part by said fixed external envelope (1 -2) and in part by said inner ro- tatable element (10, 13).

7 . A hydraulic flow control device as set forth in Claim 6, characterized in that the mixing cartridge inserted into said axial cavity (3) of the diverter device is connected to said fixed external envelope (1 -2), whereby the positions of the cartridge and of the single control lever (24) are not modified by the rotation of the control member (15) of the diverter device.

8 . A hydraulic flow control device as set forth in Claim 1 , characterized in that the single control lever (24) of the mixing cartridge is arranged in such a way that the two control directions define a tilt of the lever (24) in a plane and a rotation of the lever around an axis.

9 . A hydraulic flow control device as set forth in Claim 1 , characterized in that the single control lever (24) of the mixing cartridge is arranged in such a way that the two control directions define a tilt of the lever (24) in two orthogonal planes.

10 . A hydraulic flow control device as set forth in Claim 1 , character- ized in that the mixing cartridge is of a sequential type.