AU2005200578A1 - A Shower Arm Assembly - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Invention Title: Applicant: A Shower Arm Assembly Con-Serv Corporation Australia Pty Ltd The invention is described in the following statement.

'4T -2- 0 0 A SHOWER ARM ASSEMBLY FIELD OF THE INVENTION

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This invention relates generally to a shower arm assembly.

00 DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

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In Known shower arm assemblies typically have a shower arm with a shower head secured 0 o to one end thereof and the other end of the arm is pivotally coupled to a mounting which in turn is in fluid communication with a fitting which is in fluid communication with a water supply. The arm is connected to the mounting and held relative thereto by a fastener which allows for pivotal movement of the arm relative to the mounting to allow the orientation of the arm with respect to the mounting and in turn a wall to which the mounting is to be connected to be altered so that water which exits from the shower head at one end of the arm is directed in a desired direction and from a desired height.

Often, the shower head is also pivotally adjustable relative to the shower arm.

With known shower arm assemblies there is a tendencies for the pivotal connection between the shower arm and the mounting to become loose during use of the shower arm assembly. In the extreme, the shower arm is no longer maintained at a desired orientation and falls under the influence of gravity so that the arm itself extends vertically downwardly rendering the shower arm assembly unusable until it is once again placed in the desired orientation and the fastener is tightened.

The difficult mentioned above is amplified where the shower head located at the end of the shower arm is a particularly large one and a chamber within the shower head from which water may escape is able to accumulate a relatively great volume of water and adds to the combined weight present at the end of the shower arm.

-3- 0 0 It is usual for the orientation of the shower arm to require adjustment to suit a particular user and such periodic adjustments tends to loosen the fastener which attaches the shower o arm to the mounting and provides for pivotal movement of the shower arm with respect to the mounting.

00 It is an object of the present invention to provide a shower arm assembly which at least minimises the disadvantages referred to above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a shower arm assembly having: a shower arm with an arm housing; a base housing adjacent the arm housing; a fastener extending between the housings for securing the housings relative to one another; and complementary tapered surfaces within the housings biased against one another whereby, the arm may be pivotally moved relative to the base housing and held in a desired orientation relative to the base housing.

The shower arm which forms part of the shower arm assembly is preferably tubular and has a passage extending along its length through which water may flow. In one embodiment the arm is preferably a substantially straight tubular member although, if desired the arm may consist of first and second tubular lengths arranged at an angle with respect to one another.

One end of the arm or a distal end of the arm may carry an arm head provided with an attachment portion to which a shower head may be fitted. Alternatively, a shower head

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4may be directly attached to the distal end of the shower arm and if such a configuration is adopted, the end of the shower arm does not need to be provided with an arm head.

0 0 An end of the shower arm remote from where the shower head may ultimately be attached preferably extends laterally from the arm housing previously mentioned. The passage extending through the shower arm communicates with the interior of the arm housing.

0 N Where the arm housing is substantially cylindrical in shape, the arm may extend radially from the arm housing and may either be attached to the arm housing or formed integrally therewith The base housing is preferably of a shape corresponding to the shape of the arm housing.

Thus, where the arm housing is substantially cylindrical in shape it is preferred that the base housing also be substantially cylindrical in shape. The interior of the base housing communicates with the interior of the arm housing so that water may flow from the space within the base housing into the space within the arm housing and then through the passage in the shower arm.

The arm housing and base housing may be sealed relative to one another. One way in which this sealing may be achieved is with the use of one or more sealing rings. Where the housings are substantially cylindrical in shape, one of the housings may be provided with one or more grooves with sealing rings contained within them.

As mentioned, complementary tapered surfaces are provided within the housings and these surfaces are biased against one another for frictionally engaging with one another.

Any suitable spring may be used for this purpose. Preferably, the biasing is achieved by a coil spring. The tapered surfaces may be provided integrally formed with one or other of the housings. For example, one of the housings may have a tapered surface whilst the t

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other tapered surface may be provided by a separate component placed within the housings. Preferably, both of the tapered surfaces are provided by separate components O present within the housings and the spring previously mentioned may be used to bias one of those components against the other. Preferably, the tapered surfaces are provided by two sleeves present within the housings. In one embodiment, one sleeve is received within the other and the sleeves are able to move relative to one another so that tapered osurfaces on these sleeves may engage. Preferably, one of the sleeves is held stationary N and the other is free to move to compensate for any wear of components within the two ohousings.

Where two sleeves are present and provide the tapered surfaces, one sleeve is received within the other and the inner sleeve preferably has the fastener extending through it and is held stationary by the fastener.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A particular preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: Figure 1 is an elevational view of a shower arm assembly according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is an inverted part sectioned view of the shower arm assembly of Figure 1 taken along line B-B shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a partial enlarged sectional view of part of the shower arm assembly identified by the letter C in Figure 2; Figure 4 is an exploded isometric view of the shower arm assembly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings; and Figure 5 is a sectional view of the arm mounting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS -6-

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0 The shower arm assembly 10 shown in Figure 1 of the drawings has a shower arm 11, one end of which has an arm head 12 fitted thereto whilst the other end of the arm 11 oterminates in an arm housing 13. The arm housing 13 is coupled to a base housing 14 which in turn is connected to an outlet fitting of which only a mounting disc 15 is visible OO 5 in Figure 1 of the drawings.

I The arm head 12 is provided with an attachment portion 16 to which a shower head (not oshown) of any suitable type may be fitted.

Figure 2 of the drawings shows a section through that part of the shower arm assembly distant from the arm head 12. Figure 3 shows the sectioned portion of the shower arm assembly in greater detail. An end portion of the shower arm 11 is shown in this view.

The shower arm 11 is hollow and has a passage 17 extending therethrough. The arm 11 is secured to the arm housing 13 and projects laterally into the housing 13.

As shown in Figure 3, the arm housing 13 has an inwardly projecting hollow spigot which receives within it an outer sleeve 21 and an inner sleeve 22. The inner sleeve 22 is received within the outer sleeve 21 and these sleeves have complementary facing tapered surfaces. The outer sleeve 21 is preferably made from a wear resistant synthetic material whilst the inner sleeve 22 may be made from metal and is typically made from brass. In one embodiment, the sleeve 21 is made from acetal such as that sold by DuPont under the trade mark DELRN. The inner sleeve 22 has a bore which receives a threaded fastener.

An opening 24 (shown in Figure 4) allows the sleeves and fastener to be inserted into the arm housing 13. The head of the fastener 23 is concealed by a cap 25 fitted into the opening 24 (illustrated in Figure 4).

Figure 3 shows greater detail of the base housing 14. That housing 14 has a tubular connecting portion 30 adapted to extend over a mounting coupling 31 which, together V) -7-

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with the mounting disc 15, comprise the outlet fitting previously discussed. The base housing 14 has an inwardly projecting spigot 32 provided with a partially internally o threaded blind bore 33. This bore 33 is adapted to be engaged by the fastener 23. The base housing 14 has an outer cylindrical skirt 34 which receives an outer cylindrical end 00 5 portion 35 of the arm housing 13. Cylindrical portion 35 is provided with two I circumferentially extending grooves adapted to receive two longitudinally spaced sealing 0 Srings 36 and 37. These rings 36 and 37 provide a seal between the skirt 34 and the I cylindrical portion 35. An annular passage 40 extends around and between spigots 20 and S32 and allows fluid communication between passage 17 in the arm 11 and passage 41 which extends laterally of the annular passage A tensioning spring 42 is positioned between the extreme ends of the spigots 20 and 32.

A washer 43 abuts an end of the spigot 20 and one end of the spring 42 bears against the washer 43.

The fastener 23 functions to not only connect the arm housing 13 to the base housing 14 but also compresses the spring 42 which in turn ensures that the tapered mating surfaces of the outer sleeve 21 and inner sleeves 22 are biased against one another. Should there be any wear of components within the arm housing 13 then the spring 42 ensures that this wear is taken up and compensated for by relative longitudinal movement of the inner and outer sleeves with respect to one another. The arrangement illustrated ensures that the shower arm of the assembly may be pivoted relative to the base housing 14 but also ensures that the shower arm 11 is maintained relative to the base housing 14 at a selected angular orientation relative to the base housing 14 and that the relative orientation is maintained regardless of wear of the components and no further tightening of the fastener is required. The spring and the tapered sleeves provide sufficient frictional resistance to prevent undesired pivotal movement of the shower arm 11 and hence of the arm housing 13 relative to the base housing 14. As shown in Figure 3, the mounting coupling 31 is provided with a flow restrictor 50 held in position in an internal passage 51 by a spring clip 52. A filter 53 is located inwardly of the spring clip 52. Water introduced into the tt -8- 0 0 shower arm assembly through passage 51 flows from the passage 51 through passage 41, into the annular passage 40 and then into passage 17 in the arm 11.

0 0 The mounting coupling is provided with an annular groove 55 and a further annular n 5 groove for receiving a seal 56. The seal 56 ensures a fluid tight connection between the mounting coupling 31 and the interior of the portion 30 of the base housing 14.

Figure 4 shows an exploded view of the shower arm assembly 10. As shown in this view, mounting disc 15 has a central opening 58. The annular groove 55 is adapted to receive a set screw 56 which extends through a threaded aperture 57 which extends through cylindrical portion 30 of the base housing 14. In this way, once cylindrical portion 30 is fitted over the mounting coupling 31, the set screw 56 will ensure that these components do not separate from one another.

Spigot 32 present within the base housing 14 is illustrated in Figure 4 and is shown to have a bore 33. Spring 42 locates between the spigot 32 and the washer 43. Annular grooves 60 and 61 on cylindrical portion 35 of the arm housing 13 are visible in Figure 4.

These grooves 60 and 61 receive the sealing rings 36 and 37 illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawings. Opening 24 in the arm housing 13 receives the outer sleeve 21 and the inner sleeve 22 locates within the outer sleeve 21. The inside of the outer sleeve has a tapered surface whilst a portion of the inner sleeve has a correspondingly outer tapered surface.

Fastener 23 extends through the inner sleeve and is received by the threaded bore 33 so that when the fastener is tightened the spring 42 is compressed to cause the tapered surfaces of the sleeves to frictionally engage one another. In this way the arm housing 13 is securely fastened to the base housing 14 and may be pivoted relative to the base housing and is maintained in a selected orientation relative to the base housing by the frictional engagement of the sleeves. A cap 25 is received within opening 24 and conceals the head of the fastener 23.

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tt-9- 0 0 Arm 11 extends laterally from the arm housing 13 and terminates in an arm head 12. The Sarm head 12 has an attachment portion 16 to which a suitable shower head (not shown) o may be secured.

00 Figure 5 shows a sectional view like that shown in Figure 3 but only shows a portion of the arm 11 and the housing 13 without the other components normally received or In connected to it. The spigot 20 is shown and has an inwardly tapered end against which othe outer sleeve 21 is received. End 65 of the spigot 20 receives the washer 43 against it.

The outer sleeve 21 ensures that fluid within chamber 40 cannot travel past the fastener and out through opening 24.

Claims (14)

1. A shower arm assembly having: 00 a shower arm with an arm housing; a base housing adjacent the arm housing; 0 I a fastener extending between the housings for securing the housings relative to o one another; and complementary tapered surfaces within the housings biased against one another whereby, the arm may be pivotally moved relative to the base housing and held in a desired orientation relative to the base housing.

2. The shower arm assembly of claim I wherein a spring located within the housings biases the surfaces against one another.

3. The shower arm assembly of claim 2 wherein the spring is a coil spring.

4. The shower arm assembly of claim 2 or 3 wherein the arm housing has an inwardly extending spigot with a bore extending therethrough and the spring abuts an end of the spigot.

The shower arm assembly of claim 4 wherein the tapered surfaces are provided by an inner sleeve and an outer sleeve with the inner sleeve being received within the outer sleeve and with the sleeves being received within the spigot. -11

6. The shower arm assembly of claim 5 wherein the outer sleeve is made of synthetic material and the bore of the spigot has an inwardly tapered region and the outer sleeve seals against the bore of the spigot and against an outer surface of the inner sleeve.

7. The shower arm assembly of claim 6 wherein the inner sleeve is made from metal.

8. The shower arm assembly of any one of claims 4 to 7 wherein the arm housing has a cylindrical portion and the base housing has a skirt and at least one seal being located between the cylindrical portion and the skirt.

9. The shower arm assembly of any one of claims 4 to 8 wherein the base housing has an inwardly directed spigot and the spring is located between the spigots and is compressed between them by the fastener.

10. The shower arm assembly of claim 9 including a washer positioned between the spring and the end of the spigot of the arm housing.

11. The shower arm assembly of any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein the housings are substantially cylindrical in shape.

12. The shower arm assembly of claim 11 wherein the arm extends radially from the arm housing.

13. The shower arm assembly of claim 9 or 10 wherein the spigot projecting from the base housing has a threaded bore for receiving the fastener. -12-

14. A shower arm assembly substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings. CON-SERV CORPORATION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD By the patent attorneys for the applicant CULLEN CO. Date: 10 February 2005