US20080196776A1

US20080196776A1 - Faucet structure

Info

Publication number: US20080196776A1
Application number: US11/708,138
Authority: US
Inventors: Hsi Chia Ko
Original assignee: Ching Feng Home Fashions Co Ltd
Current assignee: Chung Cheng Faucet Co Ltd; Ching Feng Home Fashions Co Ltd
Priority date: 2007-02-20
Filing date: 2007-02-20
Publication date: 2008-08-21

Abstract

A faucet structure comprises a water-inlet pipe assembly, control valves, a mount, handles, and a spout. The water-inlet pipe assembly has a set of hot/cold water-intake ducts each having a coupling end extending at one side, and a connector tube having a connecting portion and a set of water-guiding passages. The water-guiding passage has a coupled end with insert blocks to fit to insert recesses of the coupling end, permitting the water-inlet pipe assembly automatically adjusted in position to directly engage with the mount and a base board having hooked legs to fix to reinforcing ribs. The coupled end also includes multiple ringed grooves with waterproof rings to tightly seal to the coupling end, providing a double-layer water-sealing benefit to ensure the best high/low pressure watertight effect. For the separate-type design, the water-guiding passages can be molded into various lengths to match to different-sized mounts, facilitating more flexible assembly thereby.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a faucet structure, comprising a water-inlet pipe assembly, control valves, a mount, handles, and a spout wherein the water-inlet pipe assembly is made up of a set of hot/cold water-intake ducts each having a coupling end extending at one side, and a connector tube having a connecting portion and a set of water-guiding passages; whereby, via the separate-type design, the water-guiding passages extending at both sides of the connector tube can be molded into various lengths to match to different-sized mounts, facilitating more flexible assembly thereby, and via insert blocks of the connector tube fitted to insert recesses of the water-intake ducts thereof, the water-inlet pipe assembly can be automatically adjusted in position and directly fixed to the mount in an easy and speedy manner.
A conventional faucet structure includes a water-inlet pipe assembly that is integrally molded into one unit. However, the water-inlet pipe assembly integrally molded thereby cannot be adapted to mounts and spouts of various sizes and is, thus, restricted in application. As a result, other molds must be cast to produce different-sized water-inlet pipe assembly to fit to mounts or spouts of various standards, which can boost the cost of production in the process. Besides, the water pipes molded in the conventional way are rather heavy and cumbersome, and residue in water flow can easily get accumulated inside the conventional water pipes, which is quite unhygienic in application.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is, therefore, the primary purpose of the present invention to provide a faucet structure, comprising a water-inlet pipe assembly, control valves, a mount, handles, and a spout wherein the water-inlet pipe assembly is made up of a set of hot/cold water-intake ducts each having a coupling end extending at one side, and a connector tube having a connecting portion and a set of water-guiding passages; whereby, via the separate-type design, the water-guiding passages extending at both sides of the connector tube can be molded into various lengths to match to different-sized mounts without any restrictions, facilitating more flexible assembly thereby
It is, therefore, the second purpose of the present invention to provide a faucet structure wherein the connector tube has multiple reinforcing ribs extending at the circumferential surface thereon so as to boost the durability and stability of the water-inlet pipe assembly thereby. Besides, via insert blocks of the connector tube fitted to insert recesses of the water-intake ducts thereof, the water-inlet pipe assembly, automatically adjusted and firmly located in place without the risk of being twisted in position, can be directly fixed to the mount in an easy and speedy manner.
It is, therefore, the third purpose of the present invention to provide a faucet structure wherein the coupled end of the connector tube and the lower end of the spout are respectively equipped with multiple ringed grooves with waterproof rings mounted therein to tightly seal to the coupling ends of the water-intake ducts and the internal surface of the connecting portion of the connector tube, providing a double-layer water-sealing benefit so that, no matter under high or lower water pressure, the water-inlet pipe assembly can accurately achieve the best high/low pressure watertight effect thereby.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 1-A is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1 thereof.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a water-inlet pipe assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective cross sectional view of a water-intake duct of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of the water-inlet pipe assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an assembled perspective view of the present invention as shown FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an assembled cross sectional view of the water-inlet pipe assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a second assembled cross sectional view of the water-inlet pipe assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a second exploded perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an assembled perspective view of the present invention as shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a third exploded perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an assembled perspective view of the present invention as shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a fourth exploded perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a partially enlarged and perspective view of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a fifth exploded perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a partially assembled view of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 15.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing one design of the handles of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing another design of the handles of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is an exploded perspective view of a mount, a base board, and the water-inlet pipe assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is an assembled cross sectional view of FIG. 20 thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIG. 1 showing an exploded perspective view of the present invention (accompanied by FIGS. 1-A to 5 inclusive). The present invention relates to a faucet structure, comprising a water-inlet pipe assembly 10, control valves 20, a mount 30, handles 40, and a spout 50. The water-inlet pipe assembly 10 is made up of a set of hot/cold water-intake ducts 11 and a connector tube 12. Each water-intake duct 11 has a valve seat 111 with an external-threaded section 112 defining thereon disposed at the top end for the accommodation of one control valve 20 therein, and a coupling end 113 extending at one side thereon. The coupling end 113 has insert recesses 114 cut at the opening edge thereon. The connector tube 12 is composed of a connecting portion 121 with an upper opening end 1211 vertically extending in the middle section thereon, and a set of water-guiding passages 122 horizontally extending in symmetry at both sides thereon. The water-guiding passage 122 is equipped with multiple reinforcing ribs 123 distributed at the circumferential surface thereon to strengthen the durability and stability of the connector tube 12 thereby. The water-guiding passage 122 has one end equipped with a smaller-diameter coupled end 124 to reciprocally fit to the coupling end 113 of the water-intake duct 11 thereby. The coupled end 124 thereof has insert blocks 125 protruding at one side thereon to precisely match to the insert recesses 114 thereby, and multiple ringed grooves 126 defining the other side thereon into which waterproof rings 13 are mounted to tightly seal against the inner wall of the coupling end 113 thereby. The mount 30 is fixed on top of the water-inlet pipe assembly 10 and matched to a base board 31 as shown in FIG. 20 so that the external-threaded sections 112 and the connecting portion 121 of the water-inlet pipe assembly 10 are allowed to respectively extend through the mount 30 and securely locked to the top of the mount 30 via fixing sleeves 21. The handle 40 is mounted to cover the outer side of the control valve 20 and capable of actuating a valve shaft 22 to regulate the amount of water flow and to switch on or off the water discharge thereby. The spout 50 is bent into an arched U shape, having a lower end mounted to the connecting portion 121 and equipped with multiple ringed grooves 51 defining thereon for the accommodation of waterproof rings 52 so as to seal the lower end tightly against the inner surface of the connecting portion 121 thereby. The spout 50 also has a stop flange 53 extending at the lower end thereon to abut against the upper opening end 1211 of the connecting portion 121 thereby. The connecting portion 121 is equipped with a locking section 127 defining the outer surface thereon to precisely fit to an internal-threaded section 541 of a locking sleeve 54 so that the spout 50 can be stably fixed to the connecting portion 121 as shown in FIG. 5 to provide a faucet thereby. The coupled ends 124 of the connector tube 12 and the lower end of the spout 50 are equipped with multiple waterproof rings 13, 52 mounted thereto so as to seal tight onto the coupling ends 113 of the water-intake duct 11 and the inner surface of the connecting portion 121 respectively, forming a double-layer water-sealing design thereby as shown in FIG. 6. Thus, no matter under high or lower water pressure, the water-inlet pipe assembly 10 can accurately achieve the best high/low pressure waterproof effect thereby. Meanwhile, the reinforcing ribs 123 disposed at the outer surface of the connector tube 12 can also boost the durability and stability of the water-inlet pipe assembly 10. Besides, the insert blocks 125 of the connector tube 12 are precisely fitted to the insert recesses 114 of the water-intake ducts 11 as shown in FIG. 7 so that, in assembly, the water-inlet pipe assembly 10 can be automatically adjusted and firmly located in place without the risk of being twisted in position. Then, the water-inlet pipe assembly 10 can be directly fixed to the mount 30 in an easy and speedy manner.
Please refer to FIGS. 8, 9. The connecting portion 121 of the connector tube 12 can also have a lower opening end 1213 with an external-threaded section 1212 defining thereon, to which a hose 60 with a spray gun 61 attached at one end can be mounted to provide another embodiment of the present invention in application.
Moreover, the spout 50 can also be molded into an L-shaped form, and, via the separate-type design of the water-inlet pipe assembly 10 with the two water-intake ducts 11 detachably mounted to the connector tube 12 thereof, the water-guiding passages 122 extending at both sides of the connector tube 12 can be flexibly molded into a shorter length as shown in FIGS. 10, 11, or into a longer length as shown in FIGS. 12, 13, 14, so as to match to various-sized mounts 30′, 30″, facilitating more flexible assembly thereby. Meanwhile, the connecting portion 121′ of the connector tube 12 can also have more than one ring-shaped groove 1211′ defining the outer surface thereon, to which waterproof rings 1212′ are mounted. Between the two ring-shaped grooves 1211′ is disposed a water-collecting chamber 1214′ with outlet ports 1213′ defining thereon to communicate with the interior of the connector tube 12 thereby. A spout 50′ is provided extending into an oblique angle and equipped with a cylindrical sleeve 51′ to mount to the connecting portion 121′ of the connector tube 12 thereby. And the connecting portion 121′ of the connector tube 12 has an internal-threaded section 1215′ defining the inner surface thereon, to which a sealing cap 52′ equipped with a screw bolt 521′ and a stop ring 522′ are fixedly secured to form another style of the faucet structure thereby.
Please refer to FIGS. 15, 16, 17. The present invention can also has a water-inlet pipe assembly 70 composed of a set of hot/cold water-intake ducts 71 and a connector tube 72. Each water-intake duct 71 has a valve seat 711 with an external-threaded section 712 defining thereon disposed at the top end for the accommodation of one control valve 20 therein. The control valve 20 is controlled by a handle 40 to regulate the amount of water flow and switch on or off the water discharge thereby. The water-intake duct 71 has a coupling end 713 with insert recesses 714 cut thereon extending at one side thereof. And the connector tube 72 is molded into a T shape, having a connecting portion 721 extending in the middle section and communicating with both water-guiding passages 722 extending at both sides thereon. The adjacent turning corners of the water-guiding passages 722 and the connecting portion 721 thereof are respectively equipped with a triangular-shaped reinforcing rib 723 so as to strengthen the durability and the stability of the connector tube 72 thereby. Moreover, each water-guiding passage 722 has one end equipped with a smaller-diameter coupled end 724 to reciprocally fit to the coupling end 713 of the water-intake duct 71 thereby. The coupled end 724 thereof has insert blocks 725 protruding at one side thereon to precisely match to the insert recesses 714 thereby. A spout 80 is mounted to the connecting portion 721, and the spout 80 has a stop flange 82 with insert blocks 81 thereon protruding at an appropriate position to precisely fit to insert recesses 7211 cut at the opening end of the connecting portion 721 thereon. Thus, via the insert blocks 725, 81 precisely fitted to the insert recesses 714, 721, and restricted thereby, the coupled ends 724 of the connector tube 72 and the coupling ends 713 of the water-intake ducts 71 can be automatically adjusted and firmly located in place to avoid the risk of being twisted in position so that the connecting portion 721 and the spout 80 accurately assembled thereby can be naturally bent into an oblique angle, and a decorative cover 90 of various styles can be mounted thereto to hide them therein. Moreover, multiple ringed grooves 726, 83 are respectively disposed at the coupled end 724 and the lower section beneath the stop flange 82 of the spout 80, to which waterproof rings 727, 84 are mounted to seal tight to the internal surface of the coupling ends 713 and the connecting portion 721 thereof, providing a double-layer water-sealing benefit thereby. Therefore, no matter under high or lower water pressure, the water-inlet pipe assembly 70 can achieve the best high/lower pressure waterproof effect thereby.
Please refer to FIGS. 18, 19. The handles 40 can be flexibly molded into various shapes such as a pentagonal star-shaped handle, and a kettle-like level handle, etc.
Please refer to FIGS. 20, 21. The base board 31 is equipped with a plurality of inverted taper-faced hooked-legs 311 symmetrically protruding at the top surface thereon to precisely join and hook to the reinforcing ribs 123 of the water-inlet pipe assembly 10 thereby.

Claims

1. A faucet structure, comprising a water-inlet pipe assembly, control valves, a mount, handles, and a spout wherein the water-inlet pipe assembly is made up of a set of hot/cold water-intake ducts and a connector tube;

the water-intake duct having a valve seat with an external-threaded section defining thereon disposed at the top end for the accommodation of one control valve therein, and a coupling end defined by insert recesses extending at one side thereon;

the connector tube having a connecting portion with an upper opening end vertically extending in the middle section thereon, and a set of water-guiding passages horizontally extending in symmetry at both sides thereon wherein each water-guiding passage has one end equipped with a smaller-diameter coupled end to reciprocally fit to the coupling end of the water-intake duct thereby, and the coupled end thereof has insert blocks protruding at one side thereon to precisely match to the insert recesses of the coupling end so that the water-inlet pipe assembly, automatically adjusted and firmly located in place to avoid the risk of being twisted in position, can be directly fixed to the mount and a base board in an easy and speedy manner; the coupled end thereof also includes multiple ringed grooves defining the other side thereon, into which waterproof rings are mounted to tightly seal to the inner wall of the coupling end thereby, providing a double-layer water-sealing benefit to ensure the best high/low pressure watertight effect thereby;

moreover; via the separate-type design of the water-inlet pipe assembly with the two water-intake ducts detachably mounted to the connector tube thereof, the water-guiding passages extending at both sides of the connector tube can be flexibly molded into various lengths so as to match to different-sized mounts, facilitating more flexible assembly thereby.

2. The faucet structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the spout is molded into an arched U-shaped configuration.

3. The faucet structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the water-guiding passage of the connector tube has multiple reinforcing ribs extending at the circumferential surface thereon.

4. The faucet structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the spout has a lower end mounted to the connecting portion of the connector tube and equipped with multiple ringed grooves defining the surface thereon for the accommodation of waterproof rings so as to seal the lower end tightly to the inner surface of the connecting portion thereby; besides, the spout also has a stop flange extending at the lower end thereon to abut against the upper opening end of the connecting portion; the connecting portion is equipped with a locking section defining the outer surface thereon to precisely fit to an internal-threaded section of a locking sleeve so that the spout can be stably fixed to the connecting portion thereby.

5. The faucet structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the connecting portion of the connector tube can also have a lower opening end with an external-threaded section defining thereon, to which a hose with a spray gun attached at one end can be fixed thereon.

6. The faucet structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the spout can also be molded into an L-shaped configuration.

7. The faucet structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the connecting portion of the connector tube can also have more than one ring-shaped groove defining the outer surface thereon, to which waterproof rings are mounted, and between the two ring-shaped grooves is disposed a water-collecting chamber with outlet ports defining thereon to communicate with the interior of the connector tube thereby; moreover, a spout is provided extending into an oblique angle and equipped with a cylindrical sleeve to mount to the connecting portion of the connector tube; the connecting portion of the connector tube also includes an internal-threaded section defining the inner surface thereon, to which a sealing cap equipped with a screw bolt and a stop ring are fixedly secured thereon.

8. A faucet structure, comprising a water-inlet pipe assembly, control valves, a decorative cover, handles, and a spout wherein the water-inlet pipe assembly is composed of a set of hot/cold water-intake ducts and a connector tube;

the water-intake duct having a valve seat with an external-threaded section defining thereon disposed at the top end for the accommodation of one control valve therein, and the control valve being controlled by one handle to regulate the amount of water flow and switch on or off the water discharge thereby; the water-intake duct also includes a coupling end with insert recesses cut thereon extending at one side thereof;

the connector tube being molded into a T shape and having a connecting portion extending in the middle section and communicating with both water-guiding passages extending symmetrically at both sides thereon; moreover, each water-guiding passage has one end equipped with a smaller-diameter coupled end to reciprocally fit to the coupling end of the water-intake duct thereby; the coupled end thereof has insert blocks protruding at one side thereon to precisely match to the insert recesses of the coupling end thereby;

a spout being mounted to the connecting portion of the connector tube and equipped with a stop flange with insert blocks thereon protruding at an appropriate position to precisely fit to insert recesses cut at the opening end of the connecting portion thereon;

thus, via the insert blocks precisely fitted to the insert recesses and restricted thereby, the coupled ends of the connector tube and the coupling ends of the water-intake ducts can be automatically adjusted and firmly located in place to avoid the risk of being twisted in position; besides, the connecting portion and the spout can be accurately assembled thereby and naturally bent into an oblique angle so that the decorative cover of various styles can be mounted thereto to hide them therein;

moreover, multiple ringed grooves are respectively disposed at the coupled end and the lower section beneath the stop flange of the spout, to which waterproof rings are mounted to seal tight to the internal surface of the coupling ends and the connecting portion thereof, providing a double-layer water-sealing benefit thereby; therefore, no matter under high or lower water pressure, the water-inlet pipe assembly can achieve the best high/lower pressure waterproof effect thereby.

9. The faucet structure as claimed in claim 8 wherein the adjacent turning corners of the water-guiding passages and the connecting portion of the connector tube are respectively equipped with a triangular-shaped reinforcing rib so as to strengthen the durability and the stability of the connector tube thereby.

10. The faucet structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the handles can be flexibly molded into various shapes, such as a pentagonal star-shaped handle and a kettle-like level handle, etc.

11. The faucet structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the base board is equipped with a plurality of inverted taper-faced hooked-legs symmetrically protruding at the top surface thereon to precisely join and hook to the reinforcing ribs of the water-inlet pipe assembly thereby.