WO2023033156A1

WO2023033156A1 - Method for manufacturing faucet housing for sanitary faucet, faucet housing for sanitary faucet, and sanitary faucet

Info

Publication number: WO2023033156A1
Application number: PCT/JP2022/033175
Authority: WO
Inventors: Carsten Romanowski
Original assignee: Lixil Corporation
Priority date: 2021-09-03
Filing date: 2022-09-02
Publication date: 2023-03-09
Also published as: DE102021122864A1

Abstract

The method for manufacturing a faucet housing for a sanitary faucet, including at least the following steps: a) 3D printing a functional unit having a fastening member for attaching the functional unit to a support, a cartridge receptacle for a mixing cartridge, at least one supply channel for supplying a liquid, and a mixed water channel for discharging a mixed water; and b) at least partial encasing of the functional unit with an outer housing.

Description

METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING FAUCET HOUSING FOR SANITARY FAUCET, FAUCET HOUSING FOR SANITARY FAUCET, AND SANITARY FAUCET

The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a faucet housing for a sanitary faucet, a faucet housing for a sanitary faucet, and a sanitary faucet. Such sanitary faucets serve in particular to provide a liquid at a sink, wash basin, shower, and/or bathtub.
Priority is claimed on German Patent Application No. 102021122864.6 filed on September 3, 2021, and the content of the German Patent application is incorporated herein by reference.

Sanitary faucets require functional components for their operation, such as fluid lines, valves, mixing valves and/or actuating members. The installation space required for these functional components can limit the design options for the external shape of the sanitary faucets. Moreover, sanitary faucets that are optically designed individually according to customer requirements can only be manufactured economically if the design of the sanitary faucets does not require substantial changes to the functional components or their arrangement in the sanitary faucet.

It is therefore an object of the disclosure to at least partially solve the problems described with reference to the prior art and, in particular, to specify a method for manufacturing a faucet housing for a sanitary faucet which allows greater freedom of optical design of the sanitary faucet. In addition, a faucet housing and a sanitary faucet are to be specified which allow greater freedom of optical design of the sanitary faucet.

These objects are solved by the features of the independent claims. Further advantageous embodiments of the disclosure are specified in the dependent claims. It is pointed out that the features mentioned in the dependent claims can be combined with each other in any technologically useful way and define further embodiments of the disclosure. In addition, the features indicated in the claims are further specified and explained in the description, wherein further preferred embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated.

A method for manufacturing a faucet housing for a sanitary faucet contributes thereto, including at least the following steps: a) 3D printing a functional unit having a fastening member for attaching the functional unit to a support, a cartridge receptacle for a mixing cartridge, at least one supply channel for supplying a liquid, and a mixed water channel for discharging a mixed water; and b) at least partial encasing of the functional unit with an outer housing.

A faucet housing for a sanitary faucet, at least including: a 3D-printed functional unit having a fastening member for fastening the functional unit to a support, a cartridge receptacle for a mixing cartridge, at least one supply channel for supplying a liquid and a mixed water channel for discharging a mixed water; and an outer housing that at least partially encloses the functional unit.

A sanitary faucet, at least including: the faucet housing; and a mixing cartridge, which is at least partially arranged in a cartridge receptacle of the faucet housing.

The disclosure allows greater freedom of a visual design of the sanitary faucet and a reduced number of components.

Fig. 1 is in a perspective view of a functional unit. Fig. 2 is side view of a sanitary faucet with a faucet housing. Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing the sanitary faucet.

The faucet housing can be used for a sanitary faucet, which is used, in particular, for mixing cold water and hot water to form mixed water with a desired mixed water temperature and/or for dispensing the mixed water. Such sanitary faucets are regularly used for sinks, washbasins, showers, and/or bathtubs.

In the method, a functional unit is 3D printed in step a). This can be done, for example, by means of a 3D printer. 3D printing is also known as additive manufacturing. In 3D printing, a powdered material can be provided, for example. The powdered material may be, for example, powdered metal, for example (especially lead-free) brass or stainless steel. The powdered material may include a plurality of particles. The powdered material may be provided, in particular, on a base plate on which the functional unit is formed. For example, the base plate may be part of the 3D printer. In particular, the provision of the powdered material may be in the form of a powder bed. Furthermore, 3D printing may include at least partial layer-by-layer build-up of the functional unit by partial irradiation or exposure of the powdered material. For example, the irradiation may be performed by a laser beam or electron beam. Further, the irradiation at an irradiated location of the powdered material causes the particles of the powdered material to melt so that the individual particles of the powdered material bond together. By building up the functional unit layer by layer, it can be understood, for example, that several layers are formed one after the other or layer by layer. In this context, a layer essentially describes a horizontal cross-section through the functional unit. It can also be envisaged that the layer-by-layer build-up is carried out in or with a powder bed of the powdered material. The 3D printing can be carried out, for example, by means of selective laser melting (SLM) or selective laser sintering (SLS).

The functional unit is formed by 3D printing in such a way that it (integrally) includes (at least) the following functional components:
　　a fastening member for fastening the functional unit to a support;
　　a cartridge receptacle for a mixing cartridge;
　　at least one supply channel for supplying a liquid; and
　　a mixed water channel for discharging the mixed water.

The cartridge receptacle serves to receive and/or fix a mixing cartridge in the faucet housing. The cartridge receptacle is at least partially tubular in shape and/or extends along a longitudinal axis. Furthermore, the cartridge receptacle can have a receptacle bottom, which is formed, for example, starting from an end face of the cartridge receptacle, with a depth of, in particular, parallel to the longitudinal axis, 12 mm (millimeters) to 50 mm in the cartridge receptacle. In addition, the cartridge receptacle may have an inner diameter (in particular, orthogonal to the longitudinal axis) of, for example, 10 mm to 45 mm, preferably 26 mm to 30 mm, particularly preferably (substantially) 28 mm. Furthermore, the cartridge receptacle (in particular, parallel to the longitudinal axis) may have a first length of, for example, 20 mm to 35 mm. The functional unit may have (in particular, parallel to the longitudinal axis) a total length of, for example, 50 mm to 600 mm. Furthermore, the cartridge receptacle may have (in particular, orthogonally to the longitudinal axis) a wall thickness of 0.1 mm to 10 mm, preferably 0.1 mm to 5 mm, particularly preferably 0.1 mm to 2.5 mm. Furthermore, an internal thread for fastening the mixing cartridge can be formed at least partially in the cartridge receptacle. In the area of the internal thread, the wall thickness of the cartridge receptacle can be (approximately) 2.5 mm, for example. The internal thread can extend, for example, from the end face of the cartridge receptacle parallel to the longitudinal axis with a thread length of, for example, 1 mm to 10 mm, preferably 1 mm to 4 mm, particularly preferably (essentially) 2.5 mm, into the cartridge receptacle. The mixing cartridge can be arranged and/or fastened at least partially in the cartridge receptacle. The cartridge receptacle can thus be designed, for example, in the manner of an adapter by means of which the mixing cartridge is held in the faucet housing. In particular, the mixing cartridge can be arranged in the cartridge receptacle in such a way that it sits on the cartridge bottom.

By means of the mixing cartridge, in particular, cold water with a cold water temperature and hot water with a hot water temperature can be mixed to form mixed water with a desired mixed water temperature. The cold water temperature is, in particular, a maximum of 25 °C (Celsius), preferably 1 °C to 25 °C, particularly preferably 5 °C to 20 °C and/or the hot water temperature is, in particular, a maximum of 90 °C, preferably 25 °C to 90 °C, particularly preferably 55 °C to 65 °C. In addition, the mixing cartridge can be actuated by means of an actuating element of the sanitary faucet, for example in the manner of an actuating lever. For example, the mixed water temperature and/or a discharge quantity of the mixed water can be adjustable by means of the actuating element. The mixing cartridge can be designed, for example, in the manner of a single-lever mixer and/or at least partially cylindrical. Furthermore, the mixing cartridge can have a cartridge housing.

The fastening member can, for example, be designed in the manner of a fastening plate, a base, and/or a pedestal. Furthermore, the fastening member can be at least partially round, circular and/or ring-shaped. Further, the fastening member may be formed, for example, concentrically with respect to the cartridge receptacle. Alternatively, a center axis of the fastening plate may be parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge receptacle. Furthermore, the fastening plate may have a thickness of, for example, 1 mm to 20 mm, in particular, parallel to the longitudinal axis. The functional unit can be fastened to the support by means of the fastening member. For this purpose, the fastening member can be arranged, for example with its bottom, on a mounting opening of the support. The fastening member can be fastened to the support, for example, by means of additional fastening means, such as screws, nuts, clamping devices and/or threaded rods. The support may be, for example, a countertop, the sink, the washbasin, the shower, the bathtub, a building wall, and/or a building floor.

By means of the at least one supply channel, the liquid, in particular, water, can be fed to the mixing cartridge in the cartridge receptacle. In particular, the functional unit can have a first supply channel for the cold water and/or a second supply channel for the hot water. In particular, the at least one supply channel may be tubular and/or extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge receptacle. In particular, the at least one supply channel may open into the receptacle bottom of the cartridge receptacle. The at least one fluid channel may have a second length of, for example, 10 mm to 300 mm. In particular, this may mean that the cartridge receptacle is spaced from the fastening member, in particular, by the second length.

The mixed water can be discharged by means of the mixed water channel. For this purpose, the mixed water channel can, for example, extend radially outward from a circumferential surface of the cartridge receptacle. For example, the mixed water channel can have a mixed water channel length of, for example, 30 mm to 600 mm, in particular, starting from a circumferential surface of the cartridge receptacle and/or orthogonally to the longitudinal axis. In addition, the mixed water channel may have, at least in part, a cross-sectional area of 5 mm² to 300 mm² and/or a diameter of 2 mm to 15 mm, preferably 4 mm to 5 mm. In particular, the mixed water channel may have a non-circular cross-section.

Due to 3D printing, the functional unit is, in particular, designed to be one-piece and/or self-supporting. This can mean, for example, that after the fastening member has been attached to the support, no additional components are required for fixing the functional unit or for the stationary arrangement of the functional unit in the faucet housing. Furthermore, 3D printing means that no seals are required at connection points of the at least one supply channel and the mixed water channel, which means that a required installation space and installation effort can be reduced. In addition, the functional unit can be made particularly small by 3D printing, so that the functional unit only slightly restricts the visual design of the faucet housing.

In a step b), the functional unit is at least partially encased with an outer housing. The outer housing may have an outlet with an outlet opening, wherein the outer housing may be at least partially made of brass, a zinc alloy, stainless steel, plastic, ceramic, and/or wood. The outlet may be at least partially tubular in shape. Further, the outer housing may have a decorative outer surface. After encasing the functional unit with the outer housing, the mixed water channel of the functional unit extends at least partially through the outlet to the outlet opening. Furthermore, after the functional unit is encased with the outer housing, the functional unit is at least partially no longer visible. Furthermore, the outer housing, in particular, at least partially forms an outer surface of the faucet housing. The outer surface may be mechanically processed, ground, brushed, polished, galvanized, electroplated, and/or printed after step b). The outer housing may have a material thickness of, for example, 0.1 mm to 9 mm. Furthermore, the outer housing can be interchangeable so that the functional unit can be combined with differently designed outer housings without adapting the functional unit. The outer housing can be fastened to the functional unit by means of a clamp connection, screw connection and/or snap connection, for example. For this purpose, the outer housing can be designed in several parts, for example. For example, the outer housing can be formed by two half shells. Furthermore, the outer housing can be supported by the functional unit. This can mean, for example, that the outer housing can be fastened to the support (only) via the functional unit. The optical shape of the faucet housing or the outer surface can be designed without (fundamental) changes to the functional unit. If necessary, only the total length of the functional unit, the length of the mixed water channel and/or an alignment of a receptacle for an aerator need to be adapted, which can be done with little effort.

The mixed water channel can have a receptacle for an aerator. The receptacle for the aerator is formed, in particular, at a longitudinal end of the mixed water channel. The receptacle can have a thread with the aid of which the aerator can be fastened in the receptacle.

After step a) and before step b), the functional unit can be attached to the support. This may mean that steps a) and b) are not performed simultaneously.

The outer housing may be at least partially made of a different material than the functional unit.

In step b), the outer housing can be produced by 3D printing. This may mean that steps a) and b) are performed at least partially simultaneously. Furthermore, this may mean that the functional unit and the outer housing are made of the same material and/or in one piece. Furthermore, support structures, for example in the form of struts, can be formed between the functional unit and the outer housing. When the design of the outer housing is changed, therefore, only the support structures may need to be adapted.

The fastening member can be at least partially plate-shaped.

The at least one supply channel can lead from the fastening member to the cartridge receptacle. Moreover, the cartridge receptacle may be connected to the fastening member only through the at least one supply channel. Further, the cartridge receptacle may be supported only by the at least one supply channel (on the fastening member).

In the region of the at least one supply channel, the functional unit can have a first outer diameter that is smaller than a second outer diameter of the fastening member and/or a third outer diameter of the cartridge receptacle. The first outer diameter, second outer diameter and/or third outer diameter are dimensioned, in particular, orthogonally to the longitudinal axis. Furthermore, the first outer diameter may be dimensioned in a direction in which the at least one supply channel has a largest outer diameter. For example, the first outer diameter may be 10 mm to 45 mm, the second outer diameter may be 15 mm to 50 mm, and/or the third outer diameter may be 10 mm to 50 mm. The functional unit can thus have a waisted design.

According to another aspect, a faucet housing for a sanitary faucet is proposed, including at least the following: a 3D-printed functional unit having a fastening member for fastening the functional unit to a support, a cartridge receptacle for a mixing cartridge, at least one supply channel for supplying a liquid and a mixed water channel for discharging a mixed water; and an outer housing that at least partially encloses the functional unit.

The faucet housing can be manufactured, in particular, using the method according to the invention. The 3D-printed functional unit is, in particular, manufactured in one piece. For further details, full reference is made to the description of the method.

According to still a further aspect, a sanitary faucet is proposed, including at least the following: a faucet housing according to the disclosure; and a mixing cartridge, which is at least partially arranged in a cartridge receptacle of the faucet housing.

For further details, full reference is made to the description of the method and the faucet housing.
The proposed disclosure and its technical environment are explained in more detail below with reference to the figures. It should be noted that the disclosure is not intended to be limited by the shown embodiments. In particular, partial aspects of the facts explained in connection with the figures may be combined with other parts of the description. It shows exemplarily and schematically in Figs. 1 to 3.

Fig. 1 shows a functional unit 3 in a perspective view. The functional unit 3 includes a cartridge receptacle 6 for a mixing cartridge not shown here. The cartridge receptacle 6 extends tubularly along a longitudinal axis 17 with a first length 25 and has (in each case orthogonally to the longitudinal axis 17) an inner diameter 20 and a wall thickness 21. Further, the cartridge receptacle 6 has a receptacle bottom 16 formed in the cartridge receptacle 6 at a depth 19 starting from an end face 18 of the cartridge receptacle 6. The mixing cartridge can be inserted into the cartridge receptacle 6 parallel to the longitudinal axis 17 up to the receptacle bottom 16. For this purpose, the mixing cartridge may have an outer diameter that (substantially) corresponds to the inner diameter 20 of the cartridge receptacle 6. Furthermore, the functional unit 3 has a fastening member 4 with which the functional unit 3 can be fastened to a support 5 shown in Fig. 2. The fastening member 4 is designed here in the manner of a circular fastening plate and has a thickness 22 (parallel to the longitudinal axis 17). An opening 23 is formed in the fastening member 4. A first supply channel 7 and a second supply channel 8 extend between the fastening member 4 and the cartridge receptacle 6. The first supply channel 7 and the second supply channel 8 run parallel to the longitudinal axis 17 with a second length 26 and are tubular in shape, so that from a bottom 24 of the fastening member 4 a first supply line for cold water, which is not shown here, can be connected to the first supply channel 7 and a second supply line for hot water, which is also not shown here, can be connected to the second supply channel 8. The first supply channel 7 and the second supply channel 8 open into the receptacle bottom 16 of the cartridge receptacle 6, so that the cold water and the hot water can be supplied to a mixing cartridge arranged in the cartridge receptacle 6. In the region of the channels 7, 8 (orthogonal to the longitudinal axis 17), the functional unit 3 has a first outer diameter 13, which is smaller than a second outer diameter 14 of the fastening member 4 and a third outer diameter 15 of the cartridge receptacle 6. In addition, the functional unit 3 has a total length 27 from the bottom 24 of the fastening member 4 to the end face 18 of the cartridge receptacle 6 (parallel to the longitudinal axis 17). The cold water and hot water are mixable by the mixing cartridge to form a mixed water with a desired mixed water temperature. The mixed water can be discharged via a mixed water channel 9 which extends radially outwardly from the cartridge receptacle 6. In this regard, the mixed water channel 9 may have a fourth outer diameter 31 and a mixed water channel length 30 from a circumferential surface 28 of the cartridge receptacle 6 to an outer end 29 of the mixed water channel 9 (orthogonal to the longitudinal axis 17). At the outer end 29, the mixed water channel 9 has a receptacle 11 for an aerator 12 shown in Fig. 2. The functional unit 3 was manufactured using a 3D printer not shown here, so that the functional unit 3 is formed in one piece. Furthermore, the functional unit 3 is self-supporting, so that after fastening the fastening member 4 to the support 5 shown in Fig. 2, no additional components are required for fixing the functional unit 3 or for the stationary arrangement of the functional unit 3 in a sanitary faucet 2 shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 shows a side view of the sanitary faucet 2. The sanitary faucet 2 has a faucet housing 1 which includes the functional unit 3 shown in Fig. 1 and an outer housing 10. The functional unit 3 is attached to the support 5 by its fastening member 4 shown in Fig. 1 and is encased by the outer housing 10, so that the functional unit 3 is not visible in Fig. 2. The sanitary faucet 2 has an actuation lever 32 by means of which the mixing cartridge of the sanitary faucet 2 can be actuated for setting a desired mixed water temperature and discharge quantity of the mixed water. The mixed water is dispensed via a discharge opening 33 of the aerator 12, which is screwed into the receptacle 11 of the functional unit 3 shown in Fig. 1. The aerator 12 is arranged at an outlet 34 of the faucet housing 1.

Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of a method for manufacturing the faucet housing 1 of the sanitary faucet 2 shown in Fig. 2. In a step a), the functional unit 3 shown in Fig. 1 was printed using a 3D printer. In a step b), the functional unit was encased with the outer housing 10 shown in Fig. 2.

1 Faucet housing
2 Sanitary faucet
3 Functional unit
4 Fastening member
5 Support
6 Cartridge receptacle
7 First supply channel
8 Second supply channel
9 Mixed water channel
10 Outer housing
11 Receptacle
12 Aerator
13 First outer diameter
14 Second outer diameter
15 Third outer diameter
16 Receptacle bottom
17 Longitudinal axis
18 End face
19 Depth
20 Inner diameter
21 Wall thickness
22 Thickness
23 Opening
24 Bottom
25 First length
26 Second length
27 Total length
28 Circumferential surface
29 Outer end
30 Mixed water channel length
31 Fourth outer diameter
32 Actuation lever
33 Discharge opening
34 Outlet

Claims

A method for manufacturing a faucet housing for a sanitary faucet, comprising at least the following steps:
　　a)　3D printing a functional unit having a fastening member for attaching the functional unit to a support, a cartridge receptacle for a mixing cartridge, at least one supply channel for supplying a liquid, and a mixed water channel for discharging a mixed water; and
　　b)　at least partial encasing of the functional unit with an outer housing.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the mixed water channel has a receptacle for an aerator.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein after step a) and before step b) the functional unit is attached to the support.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the outer housing (10) is at least partially made of a different material than the functional unit (3).
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein in step b) the outer housing is produced by 3D printing.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the fastening member is at least partially plate-shaped.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the at least one supply channel leads from the fastening member to the cartridge receptacle.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the functional unit has, in the region of the at least one supply channel, a first outer diameter,
　　　　 the first outer diameter being smaller than a second outer diameter of the fastening member.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the functional unit has, in the region of the at least one supply channel, a first outer diameter,
　　　　the first outer diameter being smaller than a third outer diameter of the cartridge receptacle.
A faucet housing for a sanitary faucet, at least comprising:
　　a 3D-printed functional unit having a fastening member for fastening the functional unit to a support, a cartridge receptacle for a mixing cartridge, at least one supply channel for supplying a liquid and a mixed water channel for discharging a mixed water; and
　　an outer housing that at least partially encloses the functional unit.
A sanitary faucet, at least comprising:
　　a faucet housing according to claim 10; and
　　a mixing cartridge, which is at least partially arranged in a cartridge receptacle of the faucet housing.