Pneumatic control device for home sanitary equipment

Abstract

 A push-button (5) is adapted to slide in a piston-like manner in a hollow body (1), from a raised resting position towards an end-of-stroke position, to impart pneumatic commands. Actuation means (16, 17) that can be excluded enable the push-button to selectively commutate between said resting position, in which a hole (8) provided in the body (1) is open, and an intermediate axial position in which the push-button (5) shuts said through-hole (8).

Description

[0001] The present invention refers to a pneumatic control device for use in connection with home sanitary equipment, such as whirlpool-type bathtubs and the like.

[0002] Whirlpool-type bathtubs are largely known to comprise ports that are adapted to deliver a mixture of water and air under pressure, said ports being supplied with water that is circulated by means of at least a pump. Such ports are made according to the description that is given for instance in EP-A-0 560 097 and the amount of air contained in the mixture delivered therethrough can be adjusted by the user by means of a pneumatic control faucet that is arranged to enable the cross-section area of an air intake facility connected to the ports to be varied from a minimum to a maximum. Usually, such control faucets are of the type provided with a rotating stem and adapted to be actuated manually through a rotating knob arranged along the rim of the tub.

[0003] The pump can be switched on and off by the user through a further control device conveniently arranged along the rim of the tub. For safety reasons, such a further control device actuates the pump through pneumatic actuation means which are capable of ensuring a remote control of the power supply to the pump, in such a way as to substantially isolate the bathtub electrically. Such a further control device comprises namely a spring-loaded piston with a metal push-button that is actuatable by the user to control the operation of the pump pneumatically through an electric-pneumatic interface.

[0004] As already hinted at above, all of the afore described pneumatic control devices are arranged along the rim of the bathtub and, since they have a rigid and substantially edgy structure, can constitute a dangerous presence for the user in the case that he or she should hit against them or fall on them accidentally.

[0005] In any case, the various control devices have each a substantially different structure and mode of operation, so that their construction shall be carried out in a totally independent manner. This of course makes their manufacturing on an industrial scale quite more difficult and, as a consequence, much more time-consuming and cost-ineffective.

[0006] It is therefore a main purpose of the present invention to provide a pneumatic control device for home sanitary equipment, which is totally safe for the user in the practical use of the equipment, in particular in the case of he or she bumping against or falling upon them accidentally.

[0007] It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide a pneumatic control device of the above cited kind, which has a substantially interchangeable structure enabling different pneumatic commands to be given off selectively.

[0008] According to the present invention, such aims are reached in a pneumatic control device for home sanitary equipment with the features and characteristics as recited in the appended claims.

[0009] The characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly apparent from the description which is given below by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 is a phantom view of a control device according to the present invention, adapted to deliver pneumatic commands; and
• Figure 2 is a schematical, cross-section view, as taken at 90 axial degrees, of the control device shown in Figure 1.

[0010] With reference to the above listed Figures, the pneumatic control device can be seen to mainly comprise a body 1 having a substantially cylindrically shaped inner cavity and capable of being introduced in an opening provided on a wall 2 of a home sanitary apparatus, such as a whirlpool-type bathtub or the like. An end portion of said body 1 is provided with a ring-shaped flange 3 adapted to abut against the outer surface of the wall 2, to which said body can be fastened by means of a nut (not shown) to be screwed on an outer thread 4 provided on the portion of the body 1 which is inside the bathtub. Inside the body 1 there is provided in an axially slidable manner a hollow push-button 5, preferably in the shape of an overturned glass. The push-button 5 carries externally at least an O-ring seal 6, or similar element, adapted to slidably seal against the inner surface of the body 1. The lower rim of the push-button 5 co-operates additionally with a compression spring 7 which is housed on the bottom of the body 1 and is adapted to normally keep the push-button 5 in a raised resting position, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 by a continuous line.

[0011] The body 1 comprises at least a through-hole 8 which, when the push-button 5 is in a raised position, (ie. pulled out of the body 1), is adapted to allow the inner cavity of the body 1 to communicate with the outside atmosphere. When the push-button 5 is on the contrary pushed manually downwards (ie. pushed into the body 1) against the force of the spring 7, it shuts the hole 8. As this will be more clearly explained in the following, the push-button 5 can be pushed axially into an intermediate operative position, or into a lower end-of-stroke position (as shown with a dashed line in Figure 2); in both such positions (which may also substantially coincide), said push-button shuts the through-hole 8.

[0012] In any case, the free end 9 of the push-button 5 (outside the bathtub) is enclosed in a flexible cap 10 made of a soft material (such as rubber or the like) sealingly mounted against the flange 3. In particular, the edge of said cap 10 is preferably provided with an annular groove 11 in which an attachment ring 12 is inserted elastically, the edge of said attachment ring being adapted to engage a corresponding rib 13 of the flange 3 by snap-fitting onto it. Installing and removing the cap 10 can be carried out in an advantageously simple and convenient manner. Furthermore, in an advantageous manner the cap 10 can only be removed with the use of a proper tool.

[0013] Said cap 10 has a double purpose, ie.:

a) first of all, it ensures perfect water-tightness of the actual control device, preventing water from being able to seep inside it, where it would give rise to a number of problems associated with corrosion, scaling and/or electric insulation; and

b) thanks to its curvilinear shape, its softness and its heavy thickness, it constitutes a safety provision for the user by deadening the effects of his or her striking accidentally against the protruding portion of the body 1 and the push-button 5.

[0014] In a preferred manner, the push-button 5 is prevented from rotating relative to the body 1 by the fact that the two component parts are coupled to each other by means of at least a pin 14 and at least a corresponding vertical slot 15. Furthermore, on the outer side-portion surface of the push-button 5 there is provided a grooved cam 16, or similar element, of the so-called "heart-shaped" type. In a per se known manner, such a groove is adapted to co-operate with a flexible reed 17 fixed to the body 1 so as to enable the push-button 5 to alternately commutate between said raised resting position and said intermediate operative position.

[0015] A tubing 18, which communicates with the inner cavity of the body 1, extends from the lower portion of the same body 1. As required, such a tubing 18 may be selectively connected hermetically with either the air intake of at least one of the water delivery ports (not shown) of the bathtub or the driving input of an electric-pneumatic control interface adapted to control the operation of at least a pump provided to supply water to said delivery ports. For a greater simplicity of this description, said pump and interface are not shown. In particular, such a control interface may be of any known type and is adapted to alternately convert successive pulses of air under pressure, which it receives through the tubing 18, into ON-OFF switching commands for the pump.

[0016] From the above description it can be clearly appreciated that the control device according to the present invention can be used, in a selectively interchangeable manner, both to adjust the amount of air taken in by the delivery ports and to control the operation of the pump.

[0017] In the first case, in which the tubing 18 shall be understood as being connected with the water delivery ports, the spring-loaded push-button 5 can be switched over axially between the afore cited resting position (in which the hole 8 is substantially open) and the afore cited intermediate position, in which said hole 8 is at least partially closedl, thereby preventing the water delivery ports from taking in air.

[0018] In the second case, in which the tubing 18 shall be understood as being connected with the electric-pneumatic interface, the cam 16 is released from the reed 17, which can therefore also be omitted. Furthermore, even the hole 8, the slot-pin coupling 14, 15 and the cam 16 itself can be omitted. The spring-loaded push-button 5 can be actuated in a piston-like manner toward the afore cited end-of-stroke position (shown by the dashed line in Figure 2) so as to generate, along the tubing 18, pulses of air under pressure that are capable of controlling the operation state of the pump. In a preferred embodiment, ie. in which the hole 8 is not omitted, such pulses of air under pressure will be generated when the lower end portion of the push-button 5 is lowered below the hole 8, thereby closing it.

[0019] Conclusively, it is therefore quite apparent that the pneumatic control device according to the present invention has a particularly simple and rational structure that enables it to be used selectively, in a substantially interchangeable way, to both control the operating state of the pump and adjust the air flow rate that can be taken in by the water delivery ports in the bathtub. In both applications, in fact, the push-button 5 is actuated in an axial direction and substantially the same component parts are capable of imparting different commands, depending on the particular application. In this connection, the cam 16 and the reed 17 are acting as actuation means that can be excluded so as to vary the axial displacement of the push-button 5 and, as a result, the type of pneumatic commands that can be imparted by the inner control means.

[0020] It will therefore be fully appreciated that manufacturing this control device on an industrial scale turns out to be particularly rational, convenient and cost-effective.

[0021] It will also be appreciated that the above described control device may be the subject of a number of modifications without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0022] So, for instance, a more effective operation may be achieved by providing the piston 5 with an inclined bottom in such a way that its higher edge 19 is only capable of substantially shutting the hole 8 when the piston 5 is in the afore cited intermediate axial position. In this case, the piston 5 is inserted in the body 1 in a pre-determined relative angular position, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and can be used to adjust the air taken in by the water delivery ports in the afore described manner.

[0023] Alternatively thereto, the push-button 5 can be inserted in the body 1 in an angular position which is rotated by an angle of 180° with respect to the one shown in the cited Figures, in such a way that the above cited higher edge 19 of the piston 5 is able to substantially shut the hole 8 even when the piston 5 is in its raised resting position. The control device is therefore able to effectively use the whole displacement of the piston 5 to operate in a piston-like manner and actuate the electric-pneumatic interface in the described way.

Claims

1. Pneumatic control device for home sanitary equipment, comprising a hollow body in which a spring-loaded push-button is adapted to slide axially, so as to impart pneumatic commands along a tubing that extends from said body, from a raised resting position toward an end-of-stroke position inside said hollow body, and vice-versa, characterized in that the spring-loaded push-button (5) is capable of co-operating with excludable actuation means (16, 17) that are arranged to enable said push-button to selectively commutate between said resting position, in which said tubing (18) communicates with the outside atmosphere through at least a through-hole (8) provided in the hollow body (1), and an operative axial position in which the push-button (5) substantially shuts said through-hole (8).

2. Pneumatic control device according to claim 1, characterized in that said excludable actuation means comprise a flexible reed (17) mounted on the hollow body (1) and capable of engaging a heart-shaped cam-like groove (16) provided on the outer side-portion surface of the push-button (5), the latter being connected to the hollow body through pin-and-slot (14, 15) coupling means arranged to prevent them from axially rotating relative to each other.

3. Pneumatic control device according to claim 1, characterized in that said push-button (5) is provided with an inclined bottom and is adapted to be selectively positioned in the hollow body (1) in either a first or a second relative angular position, wherein only in one of said positions it shuts said through-hole (8) when it is raised in its resting position.

4. Pneumatic control device according to claim 1, wherein the hollow body is adapted to be mounted in a through-hole provided in a support wall, characterized in that it further comprises a flexible cap (10) that has a thick gauge, is made of a soft material and is arranged to enclose in a water-tight manner, on the outer side of said support wall (2), the corresponding end portion of the spring-loaded push-button (5).

5. Pneumatic control device according to claim 4, wherein the hollow body comprises a flange adapted to abut against said support wall, characterized in that the rim of said cap (10) comprises a groove (11) in which an attachment ring (12) is capable of fitting elastically, said attachment ring having a rib capable of snap-fitting onto a corresponding rib (13) of the flange (3).

Drawing