AU2021376930A1

AU2021376930A1 - Improvements in shower component

Info

Publication number: AU2021376930A1
Application number: AU2021376930A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Andrew William Southen
Original assignee: Isotec Ltd
Current assignee: Isotec Ltd
Priority date: 2020-11-11
Filing date: 2021-11-03
Publication date: 2023-06-29
Also published as: WO2022101737A1

Abstract

A shower elbow for use in a slide shower, said shower elbow incorporating an adjustable flow control valve, wherein the adjustable flow control valve cannot be accessed by a user of the shower during use, and wherein the adjustable flow control valve provides 5 adjustment of the water flow between any of a plurality of water flow settings from low-flow to high flow.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN SHOWER COMPONENT

Technical Field

The present invention relates to improvements in a shower component, more specifically to an improvement in the shower elbow used in a slide shower.

As used herein, the term “slide shower” relates to a shower of the type where the shower head, rather than being fixed, is mounted upon a vertical rail, upon which the showerhead can slide up or down. Water is supplied to the showerhead through a flexible pipe, one end of which is secured to the showerhead and the other end of which is secured to a pipe elbow mounted on the wall of the shower. A shower of this general type is shown diagrammatically in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.

Background Art

Slide showers are well known and are widely used:- the ability to control the height of the showerhead means that the shower can readily be adjusted for users of different heights.

The temperature of the water supplied to the shower may be controlled by a mixer valve of known type or, in the case of banks of showers, may be centrally controlled and preset. However, the rate of flow of the water cannot normally be controlled.

The flow of water can be limited using a fixed flow restrictor, in the form of a washer which is simply a restriction push-fitted into the showerhead. However, these washers are easily removed by a user, and thus of little use in situations where a homeowner or building owner wishes to limit the amount of water being used by the shower user, but the shower user does not choose to cooperate.

Some shower designs have been proposed where the flow through the shower can be altered by a user during use, see for example US 5653270 and US 2013/0340854. However these provide purely for alteration by a user, and thus cannot be preset by a homeowner or a building owner who wishes to limit the amount of water used. Further, the above patents provide for simply switching the flow between two preset limits - low- flow/high flow, and do not allow for any adjustment of the flow between these two limits. Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is the provision of a design of shower elbow which enables the water flow to be accurately and quickly controlled, but which cannot readily be reset by the shower user, and cannot be adjusted while the shower is in use.

The present invention provides a shower elbow for use in a slide shower, the shower elbow incorporating an adjustable flow control valve, wherein the adjustable flow control valve cannot be accessed by a user of the shower during use, and wherein the adjustable flow control valve provides adjustment of the water flow between any of a plurality of water flow settings from low-flow to high flow.

Preferably, the adjustable flow control valve includes a frustoconical portion mounted in opposition to an outlet fitting through which in use water flows out of the shower elbow, and the water flow setting through the shower elbow is adjusted by adjusting the spacing between said frustoconical portion and said outlet fitting.

Preferably, the adjustable flow control valve is mounted within the shower elbow such that said valve can be moved towards or away from the outlet fitting, to reduce or increase water flow through the outlet fitting in use.

Most preferably, the adjustable flow control valve includes an externally screw-threaded cylindrical base formed integrally with said frustoconical portion, and further includes an internally screw threaded housing arranged to engage said externally screw threaded cylindrical base, such that said valve can be moved towards or away from the outlet fitting by rotating said valve relative to said housing.

The rotation of the flow control valve may be achieved in any of a number of ways. For example, an Allen key slot may be formed in the base or in the top of the valve, to allow rotation of the valve relative to the housing by means of an Allen key.

In another embodiment of the invention, the adjustable flow control valve is mounted in a fixed position within the shower elbow, and the outlet fitting is mounted such that the outlet fitting can be moved towards or away from said valve, to reduce or increase water flow through the outlet fitting in use. The flow control valve of the present invention is not intended to be quickly accessible by a shower user, but rather to be relatively easy to access by a household or business owner seeking to make a semipermanent adjustment to the water flow rate.

Brief Description of Drawings

By way of example only, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a slide shower;

Figure 2 is a side view of a shower elbow in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a section on line A-A of Figure 2 showing the valve incorporated in the shower elbow in the fully closed position;

Figure 4 is a section on line A-A of Figure 2 showing the valve incorporated in the shower elbow in the fully open position;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the shower elbow;

Figure 6 is a section on line D-D of Figure 5;

Figure 6a is a section through part of a valve, on a larger scale;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6, showing a second embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 6, showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Figure 1 shows a slide shower of known type:- a showerhead 10 is pivotably mounted on a bracket 11 which can slide up or down a vertical support 12 as indicated by arrows A. The showerhead 10 is connected by a flexible pipe 13 to a wall mounted elbow 14. Water is supplied to the showerhead 10 through the flexible pipe 13 via the elbow 14. The temperature of the water supplied is controlled by a mixer valve 15 of known type. The mixer valve 15 is moved clockwise or anticlockwise by the lever 16 to control the water temperature, and the lever 16 can be moved away from the supporting wall or towards the wall to turn the water supply to the showerhead 10 on or off, in known manner.

In the known construction for a slide shower, the shower elbow 14 is a right angled pipe one end of which is inserted through the supporting wall to connect to the water supply from the mixer valve 15, and the other end of which extends at right angles to said one end, to connect to the flexible pipe 13. In the present invention, the shower elbow 14 is modified to incorporate a flow controlling valve, as hereinafter described.

Referring in particular to Figures 2-6, a shower elbow 14 in accordance with the present invention provides a body 18, one end 18a (Fig. 6) of which is designed to be mounted on the wall supporting the shower and connected to the water supply pipe from the mixer valve 15. An outlet 19 extends outwards from the body 18 with the longitudinal axis of the outlet perpendicular to that of the body. The end of 19a of the outlet is designed to be releasably secured to one end of the flexible pipe 13, the other end of which is connected to the showerhead 10.

Referring in particular to Fig. 6, the body 18 is formed with an internal passage 20 through which water can flow from the water supply pipe from the mixer valve 15, into the internal passage 21 which extends through the outlet 19.

A tubular housing 22 is mounted in the internal wall of the body 18, with one end of the housing 22 rigidly secured to the body 18 and the other end of the housing 22 extending outwards into the internal passage 20, terminating a short distance away from an outlet fitting 23 which is mounted in the opposite portion of the internal wall of the body 18. The outlet fitting 23 is externally screw-threaded, to engage a corresponding screw- thread in the wall of the body 18.

The housing 22 receives a flow control valve 24, the base of which is externally screw threaded to engage an internal screw thread formed on the inner wall of the tubular housing 22. The flow control valve 24 has a lower cylindrical portion 26 on which the external screw thread is formed and an upper frustoconical portion 27, formed integrally with the cylindrical portion 26. The frustoconical portion 27 is dimensioned so that the smaller upper end of the portion 27 can extend into the internal passage 21 through the outlet 19. The passage 21 is circular in cross-section.

An o-ring seal 24a provides a water-tight seal between the valve 24 and the housing 22. A further o-ring seal 23a provides a water-tight seal between the fitting 23 and the wall of the body 18.

In the position shown in Figure 6, the flow control valve 24 is arranged with the frustoconical portion 27 partially within the passage 21 , so that the flow of water through the passage 20 can pass into the passage 21 only through the relatively small annular gap 25 between the conical portion 27 and the surrounding walls of the passage 21 .

The position of the flow control valve in Figure 3 shows the portion 27 inserted as far as possible into the passage 21 i.e. the “fully closed” position. It should be noted that the flow control valve 24 cannot shut the flow of water off completely, since to do so would potentially cause problems with the plumbing system generally. Preferably, a bypass hole 40 is formed through the frusto-comical portion 27 of the flow valve, as shown in Figure 6a only. The hole 40 is dimensioned to ensure that a preselected minimum flow eg. at least 3 litres/minute can flow through the valve 24, even when the valve is in the “fully closed” position of Figure 3. The position shown in Figure 4 shows the portion 27 withdrawn from the passage 21 as much as possible, i.e. to maximise the flow of water into the passage 21.

The position of the flow control valve 24 relative to the tubular housing 22 is adjusted by rotating the flow control valve 24 on the screw threaded engagement with the housing 22. This rotation may be achieved in any of a number of ways:- in the embodiment shown in Figures 2- 6, an Allen key socket 31 is formed in the base of the portion 26 of the flow control valve 24, closed off by a removable cap 32. To adjust the flow control valve 24, the cap 32 is removed, an Allen key is inserted into the socket 31 , and the flow control valve 24 is rotated relative to the housing 22 to reduce or enlarge the annular gap 25. In an alternative embodiment shown in Figure 7, an Allen key socket 33 is formed in the top of the frustoconical portion 27 instead of in the portion 26. To adjust the flow control valve in this embodiment, the shower hose 13 is disconnected from the end 19a, to give access to the socket 33, and an Allen key is inserted into the socket to rotate the flow control valve 24 as described with reference to Figure 6.

Another embodiment is shown in Figure 8. In this embodiment, the flow control valve 24 is permanently and rigidly secured in place in a housing 30 formed in the wall of the body 18; the housing 22 is omitted. The spacing between the top of the frustoconical portion 27 and the walls of the adjacent portion of the passage 21 is altered by rotating the outlet fitting 23 on its screw threaded mounting in the body 18, to bring the lower end of the outlet fitting 23 closer to, or further away from, the top of the frustoconical portion 27, thus narrowing or widening the annular gap 25.

Optionally, a non-return valve 39 of known type can be mounted in the top of the outlet 19, to prevent backflow from the flexible pipe 13 and showerhead 10 into the water supply system; this is shown in Figure 4 only.

Claims

7 Claims

1. A shower elbow for use in a slide shower, said shower elbow incorporating an adjustable flow control valve, wherein the adjustable flow control valve cannot be accessed by a user of the shower during use, and wherein the adjustable flow control valve provides adjustment of the water flow between any of a plurality of water flow settings from low-flow to high flow.

2. The shower elbow as claimed in Claim 1 , wherein the adjustable flow control valve includes a frustoconical portion mounted in opposition to an outlet fitting through which in use water flows out of the shower elbow, and the water flow setting through the shower elbow is adjusted by adjusting the spacing between said frustoconical portion and said outlet fitting.

3. The shower elbow as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the adjustable flow control valve is mounted within the shower elbow such that said frustoconical portion of said valve can be moved towards or away from the outlet fitting, to reduce or increase water flow through the outlet fitting in use.

4. The shower elbow as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the adjustable flow control valve includes an externally screw-threaded cylindrical base formed integrally with said frustoconical portion, and further includes an internally screw threaded housing arranged to engage said externally screw threaded cylindrical base, such that said valve can be moved towards or away from the outlet fitting by rotating said valve relative to said housing.

5. The shower elbow as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said cylindrical base is formed with a socket for receiving an adjusting tool for rotating said valve relative to said housing.

6. The shower elbow as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said frustoconical portion is formed with a socket for receiving and adjusting tool for rotating said valve relative to said housing.

7. The shower elbow as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the adjustable flow control valve is mounted in a fixed position within the shower elbow, and the outlet fitting is 8 mounted such that the outlet fitting can be moved towards or away from said valve, to reduce or increase water flow through the outlet fitting in use.

8. The shower elbow as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said adjustable flow control valve includes a bypass hole such that in use there is a preselected minimum flow from the outlet fitting.

9. The shower elbow as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the outlet fitting is provided with a nonreturn valve, to prevent back flow through the shower elbow in use.