AU2009200530B2

AU2009200530B2 - Sanitary functional unit

Info

Publication number: AU2009200530B2
Application number: AU2009200530A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Hermann Grether
Original assignee: Neoperl GmbH
Current assignee: Neoperl GmbH
Priority date: 2005-03-04
Filing date: 2009-02-11
Publication date: 2010-04-01
Anticipated expiration: 2026-02-28
Also published as: EP1853771A2; ZA200706149B; BRPI0607585B8; EP2025820B1; AU2006219983A1; ES2422214T3; CN101287879B; CA2600686A1; WO2006092276A2; AU2006219983B2; RU2385386C2; CN101287879A; DE102005010551A1; EP2025820A2; EP2025820A3; MX2007010522A; RU2007131962A; PL1853771T3; BRPI0607585B1; ES2550155T3

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (ORIGINAL) Class Int. Class Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority Related Art: Name of Applicant: Neoperl GmbH Actual Inventor(s): Hermann Grether Address for Service and Correspondence: PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys 367 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 AUSTRALIA Invention Title: SANITARY FUNCTIONAL UNIT Our Ref: 848331 POF Code: 1635/471530 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to applicant(s): -1- 2 SANITARY FUNCTIONAL UNIT The present application is a divisional application from Australian patent application number 2006219983, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 5 The invention relates to a sanitary functional unit which, as an insertion cartridge, can be inserted into a liquid guide of a sanitary outlet fitting and has a housing and also a jet regulator, the housing carrying on the outside an external thread which can be screwed into an internal thread of the outlet fitting. A sanitary functional unit of this type is known for example from W02004/038112 Al. Although this sanitary functional unit has proven successful, it is still capable of improvement. 15 That is to say, the problem is to produce a sanitary functional unit of the type mentioned at the outset that is embodied as an integrated part, can be manufactured in an inexpensive and also simple manner and is functionally reliable. 20 The solution according to the invention to this problem consists in particular In that a perforated plate is moulded Integrally onto the housing on the outflow side. 25 Accordingly, the present Invention provides Sanitary functional unit which, as an insertion cartridge, can be inserted into a liquid guide of a sanitary outlet fitting and has a housing having an outflow side and inflow side, a perforated plate is integrally moulded onto the housing on the outflow side and a jet regulator that has a jet splitter part that is connected to the housing on the inflow side, the housing has on its outside an external thread which can be screwed into an 2a internal thread of the outlet fitting. The functional unit according to the invention has on its housing, which can be screwed into the outlet fitting, an outflow-side perforated plate which is integrally moulded on and serves as a vandalism protection means in order effectively to prevent unauthorized pressing-up, leading to untightness, of the components 30 located in the housing Interior. This ensures that the sanitary functional unit according to the invention can reliably perform its functions at all times. A preferred embodiment according to the invention makes provision for the length of the housing to be designed in such a way that the external thread and the ring seal, which is immediately adjacent on the outflow side, have space, for the inflow-side housing edge immediately to adjoin the external thread and for a jet splitter part, which can be connected to the housing, to be arranged on the inflow side. This preferred embodiment according to the -3 invention thus consists substantially of just two main components which are comparatively simple to manufacture, namely the housing and the jet splitter part which are joined together and then form the jet regulator. 5 A preferred development according to the invention makes provision for the jet splitter part and the housing to engage with each other in the use position, in each case with a partial region of their longitudinal extension, and for there to be provided on the jet splitter part or on the housing on the external or internal circumferential side an annular shoulder which acts in 10 the use position on the front edge region of the respective other component. In the case of this developing embodiment, the jet splitter part and the housing engage with each other in the use position, in each case only with 15 a partial region of their longitudinal extension. This engagement in certain regions of these components produces a horizontal parting plane between the jet splitter part and the housing; as these components act on each other not in the throughflow direction, but rather in a horizontal parting plane, any untightness is counteracted without the need for an additional 20 0-ring or similar ring seal. Sealing, which is increased even without an additional ring seal, between the jet splitter part and the housing is further promoted in that there is provided on the jet splitter part or on the housing on the circumferential side an annular shoulder which acts in the use position on the front edge region of the respective other component. This 25 eliminates the need for complex sealing of the jet splitter. Should water get past the jet splitter part, this leakage water flows into the normal water jet and is not sensed by the end consumer to have a disruptive effect as a result of impairing the jet. In addition, an embodiment of this type has many fewer components and high compactness. Furthermore, the lower overall 30 height offers much more configurational freedom for the design of the fitting. In this case, it is particularly advantageous if there is provided on the jet splitter part, preferably on the external circumferential side, the annular 35 shoulder which in the use position acts on the inflow-side front edge region of the housing. It is advantageous if the housing and also the jet splitter part which can be connected thereto each have a preferably peripheral locking moulding -4 which engage with each other in the assembly position. As a result, the two parts can easily be clipped together, but if necessary also separated from each other again. The holding elements, which are provided directly in one piece on the parts to be joined together, eliminate the need for additional 5 parts for holding-together; this simplifies the construction of the functional unit and also promotes a low overall length. The external thread, which is provided on the housing part, and also the ring seal allow direct integration into the liquid guide of a sanitary outlet 10 fitting without an intermediate holder comprising these parts - the external thread/ring seal - being required for this purpose. This simplifies manufacture and assembly. The separability of the housing part and the jet splitter part is particularly 15 advantageous if the functional properties of the jet regulator are to be altered. That is to say, despite the low overall length, an intermediate space for receiving one or more grate-like insert parts is provided in the housing between the housing perforated plate, which is embodied preferably as a honeycomb plate, and the perforated plate of the jet splitter 20 part. The designing of the housing length in such.a way that the external thread and the preferably immediately adjoining ring seal have space, wherein the inflow-side housing edge adjoins the external thread almost immediately, 25 produces a very compact construction allowing the functional unit to be inserted also into outlet fittings which have, for example for design reasons, little space for receiving the functional unit. It is therefore possible to produce compact functional units having an overall height of the insertion cartridge, including the attachment screen, of approximately 1.5 cm. 30 Advantageously, the internal thread of the outlet fitting is set apart from the mouth of said fitting by a distance which is smaller than the distance of the housing ring seal from the inner end of the housing external thread. 35 As a result, the threaded connection engages as early as during assembly of the functional unit, before the ring seal enters the outlet fitting, thus substantially simplifying in particular a manual assembly process. On the other hand, during disassembly, the ring seal can be moved out of the -5 fitting seat by rotating the functional unit in the axial direction until it is disengaged and before the threaded connection is released. This simplification of assembly and disassembly is particularly important 5 because the insertion cartridge is arranged as a "concealed insertion cartridge" with at least the predominant partial region of its longitudinal extension, preferably completely with its entire longitudinal extension, in the fitting outlet. 10 Expediently, the jet splitter part has on the inflow side an insertion opening for the attachment screen having an outer annular wall and a bearing shoulder, wherein the holding elements are embodied as locking elements for fastening the attachment screen and wherein for this purpose the outer annular wall has on the inside an undercut and the outer edge of the 15 attachment screen has preferably an, in particular peripheral, locking projection which engages with the undercut. As a result, the attachment screen can be clipped onto the jet splitter part on the upper side and is thus securely held. This also contributes to low 20 manufacturing and assembly costs, as on the one hand the holding elements are also moulded onto the parts to be joined together during manufacture thereof and on the other hand the screen assembly can be carried out rapidly - manually or automatically. 25 The clipped-on attachment screen can be additionally secured during assembly in the outlet fitting. For this purpose, the inflow-side annular wall of the jet splitter part and at least a part of the outer edge of the attachment screen form a stop which rests in the assembly position against an insertion stop in the outlet fitting. The insertion stop of the outlet fitting 30 covers in this case partly or wholly the screen edge, so that the attachment screen is securely held even under disadvantageous conditions. In order additionally to simplify the manufacturability of the functional unit according to the invention and to reduce the required number of individual 35 parts, it is advantageous if the housing is embodied in one piece with an outflow-side perforated plate as part of the jet regulator. A preferred development of the invention makes provision for the jet splitter part to be arranged with an integrally connected, further perforated plate as - 6 part of the jet regulator and/or for the jet splitter part to have holding elements for fastening the attachment screen. Further features of the invention will emerge from the following description 5 of exemplary embodiments according to the invention in conjunction with the claims and also the drawings. The individual features can each be realized per se or in combination in an embodiment according to the invention. 10 The single figure: is a sectional view of a sanitary functional unit embodied as an insertion cartridge. 15 A sanitary functional unit 1 illustrated in the figure is embodied as an insertion cartridge 2 which can be inserted into a liquid guide 3 of an outlet fitting 4 which is indicated by broken lines and only one side of which is shown. 20 The functional unit 1 has substantially a housing 5 with an outflow-side perforated plate 6 which is integrally moulded on, a jet splitter part 7 with a one-piece perforated plate 8 and also an attachment screen 9. The outflow side perforated plate 6, which is integrally moulded onto the housing 5, serves also as a vandalism protection means which effectively prevents 25 unauthorized pressing-up, leading to untightness, of the components located in the housing interior of the housing 5. The housing 5 carries on the outside an external thread 10 and, adjacent thereto on the outflow side, a ring seal 12 which is inserted into an annular 30 groove 11. The throughflow direction is denoted by the arrow Pf 1. The housing 5 can be screwed with the external thread 10 into an internal thread 13 of the outlet fitting 4 and produces a seal, by means of the ring seal 12, against the inner wall 14 of the outlet fitting 4. It may clearly be seen in this case that the internal thread of the outlet fitting 4 is inwardly set 35 back, so that the ring seal 12 enters into abutment in a thread-free region. In order to simplify the assembly and also the disassembly of the insertion cartridge 2 into the outlet fitting 4, the internal thread 13 of the outlet fitting 4 on the one hand and the ring seal 12 of the housing 5 on the other hand are arranged in such a way that the threads already enter into engagement -7 when the ring seal 12 is still located outside the outlet fitting mouth 15. This is achieved in that the internal thread 13 of the outlet fitting 4 is set apart from the mouth 15 by a distance a which is smaller than the distance b of the housing ring seal 12 from the inner end of the housing external thread 5 10. This also causes, during rotation of the insertion cartridge 2 out of the outlet fitting 4, the threads to remain in engagement until the ring seal 12 leaves or has left the mouth 15. In order to avoid untightness in the region between the jet splitter part 7 10 and the housing 5, the jet splitter part 7 and the housing 5 engage with each other in the use position, in each case with a partial region of their longitudinal extension. In this case, there is provided on the jet splitter part 7 or on the housing 5 on the internal or external circumferential side an annular shoulder 40 which acts in the use position on the front edge region 15 41 of the respective other component 57. It is clear from the figure that in this case the jet splitter part 7 carries the annular shoulder 40 which in the use position acts on the inflow-side front edge region 41 of the housing 5. In this case, the jet splitter part 7 is connected to the housing 5 by a locking connection 16. 20 The locking connection 16 is located on the housing edge 17 which immediately adjoins the external thread 10 of the housing 5. For this locking connection, the housing edge 17 has on the inside an annular groove 32, whereas the jet splitter part 7 has an annular bead 33 engaging 25 with the annular groove. Both locking mouldings are embodied in a preferably peripheral manner. The locking connection 16 provided is embodied in such a way that the jet splitter part 7 can be detached from the housing 5 and the interior of the 30 housing is then accessible. The attachment screen 9 is also connected to the jet splitter part 7 by means of a locking connection 20. This jet splitter part 7 has on the upper side or on the inflow side an insertion opening 21 having an outer annular 35 wall 22 and a bearing shoulder 23. The annular wall 22 has on the inside an undercut 24 and the outer edge 25 of the attachment screen 9 has an, in particular peripheral, locking projection 26 engaging with the undercut 24. The attachment screen 9 can accordingly be clipped from the inflow -8 side into the insertion opening 21 in the jet splitter part 7 and is as a result securely connected to the jet splitter part 7. The fact that the parts of the insertion cartridge 2 that are to be joined 5 together, i.e. the housing 5, the jet splitter part 7 and also the attachment screen 9, themselves have one-piece connecting elements allows them to be joined together without additional holders being required for this purpose. 10 The housing 5 of the insertion cartridge 2 can have a profiled external contour and/or a profiled outflow end face for attaching an assembly tool. In the exemplary embodiment, a profiled annular edge 29, to which an assembly tool can be attached for rotating the insertion cartridge 2 in and out, is provided on the outflow side. It is particularly advantageous if this 15 profiling of the annular edge is embodied in such a way that a further insertion cartridge 2 can be used in the inverted position as an assembly tool and can engage with its annular edge profiling into the insertion cartridge 2 to be screwed in or to be screwed out. In the exemplary embodiment, the annular edge 29 has for this purpose annular wall 20 portions 30 with breaks 31 located therebetween. The dimensions of the breaks 31 in the circumferential direction are such that the annular wall portions 30 of a further insertion cartridge 2, which is embodied in an identical manner, fit in. Instead of this profiling, profilings configured in a different manner can also be provided. 25

Claims

1. Sanitary functional unit which, as an insertion cartridge, can be inserted into a liquid guide of a sanitary outlet fitting and has a housing having an outflow side and an inflow side, a perforated plate is integrally moulded onto the housing on the outflow side and a jet regulator that has a jet splitter part that is connected to the housing on the inflow side, the housing has on its outside an external thread which can be screwed into an internal thread of the outlet fitting.

2. Sanitary functional unit according to Claim 1, wherein the length of the housing is designed in such a way that the external thread and the ring seal, which is immediately adjacent on the outflow side, have space, in that the inflow-side housing edge Immediately adjoins the external thread and in that a jet splitter part, which can be connected to the housing, is arranged on the Inflow side.

3. Sanitary functional unit according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the jet splitter part and the housing engage with each other in the use position, in each case with a partial region of their longitudinal extension, and in that there is provided on the jet splitter part or on the housing on the circumferential side an annular shoulder which acts in the use position on the front edge region of the respective other component.

4. Sanitary functional unit according to one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein in the housing the housing edge adjoins, preferably immediately on the inflow side, the ring seal and the in particular directly adjoining external thread.

5. Sanitary functional unit according to one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the overall height of the insertion cartridge in the throughflow direction is approximately 1.5 cm. 10

6. Sanitary functional unit according to one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the housing and also the jet splitter part which can be connected thereto each have a preferably peripheral locking moulding which engage with each other in the assembly position.

7. Sanitary functional unit according to one of Claims 2 to 6, wherein an intermediate space for receiving one or more grate-like insert parts is provided in the housing between the housing perforated plate, which is embodied preferably as a s honeycomb plate, and a perforated plate of the jet splitter part.

8. Sanitary functional unit according to one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the jet splitter part has on the inflow side an insertion opening for an attachment screen having an outer annular wall and a bearing shoulder, in that holding elements are provided and are embodied as locking elements for fastening the attachment screen, and in that for this purpose the outer annular wall has on the inside an undercut and the outer edge of the attachment screen has preferably an, in particular peripheral, locking projection which engages with the undercut.

9. Sanitary functional unit according to Claim 8, wherein the inflow-side annular wall of the jet splitter part and at least a part of the outer edge of the attachment screen form a stop which rests in the assembly position against an insertion stop in the outlet fitting.

10. Sanitary functional unit according to one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the insertion cartridge has on the outflow side a profiled annular edge and in that use is made, as an assembly tool for an insertion cartridge to be inserted or to be disassembled, of another insertion cartridge which engages with its profiled annular edge in the insertion cartridge to be inserted or to be disassembled. 11

11. Sanitary functional unit according to one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the jet splitter part is provided with an integrally connected, further perforated plate as part of the jet regulator and/or in that the jet splitter part has holding elements for fastening the attachment screen.

12. A sanitary functional unit, substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings of embodiments of the invention.