The present invention relates to a shower head and a manufacturing method thereof.
Shower heads of the prior art usually comprise a dispensing plate inserted in a body connected to a hose or water outlet for receiving inlet water. In further embodiments, the shower heads are provided with a dispensing plate associated to a connecting plate, provided with the hose; said plates are associated to one another by the interposition of a ring fitted with a seal and with holes for the passage of bolts or screws for closing the shower head. Such shower heads are known from
Prior art shower heads have several disadvantages.
In fact, such heads are cumbersome, expensive and complex to be made and assembled.
A difficulty consists, for example, in ensuring the hydraulic seal in the assembly of the plates without increasing the axial overall dimensions too much. Moreover, the shower heads of the prior art often have considerable radial overall dimensions, that is, the shower heads have increasingly larger diameters; thus, it is not possible to ensure evenness of the flow dispensed on all the area of the dispensing holes. In the fluid dispensed by the known shower heads are greater at the central holes and smaller at the peripheral holes.
The problem of the present invention is to provide a shower head which should solve the disadvantages mentioned with reference to the prior art.
Such disadvantages are solved by a shower head in accordance with claim 1 and by a manufacturing method thereof in accordance with claim 13.
Other embodiments of the shower head according to the invention are described in the subsequent claims.
Further features and the advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly from the following description of preferred non-limiting embodiments thereof, wherein:
Elements or parts of elements in common between the embodiments described below are referred to with the same reference numerals.
Shower head 4 comprises a dispensing plate 8 provided with at least one hole 12 for water dispensing and a closing plate 16 in fluid connection with a water outlet 18.
Plates 8, 16 are directly facing each other relative to an axial direction X-X. Preferably, the shower head is axial-symmetrical relative to the axial direction X-X.
Preferably, the two plates 8, 16 have the same outer overall dimensions so as to be perfectly overlapped relative to said axial direction X-X.
According to an embodiment, the dispensing plate 18 is plane and perpendicular to the axial direction X-X.
Advantageously, the closing plate 16 comprises a first peripheral portion 20 plane and parallel to the dispensing plate 8, so as to interface directly in contact with a corresponding second peripheral portion 24 of the dispensing plate 8, and an intermediate portion 28 preferably contiguous and integral with the first peripheral portion 20.
The intermediate portion 28 is at least partly raised relative to the first peripheral portion 20, opposite the associable dispensing plate 8, so as to form a collecting chamber 32 between said plates 8, 16 for the fluid to be dispensed, having an axial thickness 36 that increases gradually moving from the peripheral portions 20, 24 towards the intermediate portion 28. By axial thickness it is meant a thickness measured along a direction parallel to the axial direction X-X.
Shower head 4 further comprises fixing and sealing means 40, better described hereinafter, arranged at the peripheral portions 20, 24, suitable for obtaining a relative locking between plates 8, 16 and a hermetic seal, so as to sealingly delimit the collecting chamber 32 with plates 8, 16 and dispensing the fluid through holes 12 of the dispensing plate 8.
Advantageously, the intermediate portion 28 of the closing plate 16 comprises a variable height relative to a support plane parallel to the first peripheral portion 20; such height is gradually variable so that the intermediate portion 28 delimits a collecting chamber 32v with the dispensing plate 8, having an axial thickness 36 gradually increasing moving from the periphery of the shower head towards the water outlet, that is, from the peripheral portions 20, 24 inwards of shower head 4.
Preferably, the intermediate portion extends radially at least up to the outermost dispensing holes 12 of the dispensing plate.
According to an embodiment (
According to a further embodiment (
According to a further embodiment (
Advantageously, the intermediate portion 28, thanks to the variable distance from the associable dispensing plate 8 and thus to the gradually variable height of the collecting chamber 32, allows even distribution of the pressure inside the shower head itself. Moreover, the intermediate portion is elastically deformable under the action of the fluid under pressure so as to ensure a pulsating jet of water. In other words, the water reaches the maximum pressure at the central portion of the closing plate, that is, of the water outlet 18, where it encounters the maximum axial thickness of chamber 32. At the peripheral portions 20, 24 of plates 8, 16 the water arrives with a reduced pressure, relative to the central portion; such pressure reduction, essentially due to load losses of water, is compensated by the reduced axial thickness of chamber 32 at the peripheral portions. In this way, the shower head is capable of ensuring a highly even dispensing of the fluid. Moreover, the reduced thickness of plates 8, 16 and the substantially conical or parabolic shape of the closing plate ensures controlled elastic bending of plates 8, 16 themselves under the pressure action of water. This elastic bending allows obtaining water dispensing with a sort of pulsating effect. In other words, the intermediate portion 28 imparts an effect of elastic spring to the closing plate 16 that makes the fluid dispensed through the dispensing holes 12 even.
According to a possible embodiment, in the proximity of the water outlet, the intermediate portion 28 comprises a levelling 48 substantially parallel to the dispensing plate 8.
According to an embodiment, the fixing and sealing means 40 are made integral to plates 8, 16 so as to prevent removing plates 8, 16.
Preferably, the fixing and sealing means 40 have a negligible axial thickness relative to the axial thickness of plates 8, 16 so that the overall axial thickness of shower head 4 is substantially equal to the sum of the axial thicknesses of the plates themselves.
Preferably, the fixing and sealing means 40 are only arranged along the peripheral portions 20, 24 so as to allow an elastic deformation of plates 8, 16 at the inner portions, at the dispensing holes 12.
According to an embodiment, the fixing and sealing means 40 comprise a welding that circumferentially delimits all the collecting chamber 32 of shower head 4.
According to an embodiment, said welding is of the radial type, that is, made on the end of the outer circumference of shower head 4, that is, on the edge or of the shower head itself.
According to a further embodiment, the welding is of the axial type, that is, made on the peripheral portions 20, 24 of plates 8, 16 directly in contact with one another.
The welding between plates 8, 16, either axial or radial, may be a TIG, MIG, MAG welding or a laser welding.
According to a further embodiment, the fixing and sealing means 40 comprise a gluing portion that circumferentially delimits all the collecting chamber 32 of shower head 4.
The gluing portion is preferably arranged on the peripheral portions 20, 24 of plates 8, 16 placed in direct axial contact with one another.
The gluing portion may comprise a silicone or epoxy glue.
The shower head may comprise nozzles 52 suitable for being partly inserted in holes 12 of the dispensing plate 8.
For example, said nozzles 52 comprise a dispensing portion 56 projecting from the dispensing plate 8 and a stopping portion 60 suitable for forming a stop in the introduction of nozzles (62) into the relevant holes 12, on the end of the intermediate face of the dispensing plate, that is, on the end of the collecting chamber 32.
Preferably, an axial thickness of the stopping portion 60 is smaller than the axial thickness 36 of the collecting chamber 32 at the nozzle itself, so as to allow the water to come out from the chamber through the nozzle.
The nozzles may be separate from one another and individually inserted into the dispensing holes 12, or they may be made integral with a membrane and inserted in a single solution in holes 12 of the dispensing plate 8.
The method for manufacturing a shower head according to the present invention shall now be described.
The manufacturing method comprises the steps of shearing the dispensing plate from a sheet, provided with at least one hole 12 for water dispensing, shearing and drawing the closing plate from a sheet provided with at least one water outlet hole.
The shearing may be carried out by laser cutting so as to impart various geometrical shapes not necessarily axial-symmetric to the plates.
Preferably, the closing plate 16 is at the same time sheared and spun so as to obtain in a single operation the shearing from sheet, the second planar peripheral portion 24, that is, plane and parallel to the associable dispensing plate 8, and the intermediate portion 28 not coplanar to the second peripheral portion 24.
The method then comprises the step of associating the two plates 8, 16 placing the respective peripheral portions 20, 24 in contact so that the intermediate portion 28 of the closing plate 16 defines the collecting chamber 32 of the fluid with the dispensing plate 8 having gradually increasing thickness moving from the peripheral portion 20, 24 to the intermediate portion 28.
The two plates 8, 16 are constrained to each other at the respective peripheral portions 20, 24 by fining and sealing means 40 suitable for obtaining both a relative locking between plates 8, 16 and a hermetic seal of the collecting chamber 32.
The locking step may comprise welding and/or gluing of plates 8, 16 themselves at the peripheral portions 20, 24.
As we can appreciate from the description, the shower head of the present invention allows overcoming the disadvantages exhibited by the shower heads of the prior art.
In particular, the shower head according to the invention exhibits assembly easiness and inexpensiveness.
As seen, the plates may be simply obtained by shearing from plate or also for example by laser cutting. It is therefore possible to manufacture plates having any shape, even asymmetric.
In other words, unlike the shower heads of the prior art, which are restricted to few configurations of simple shape, the shower head according to the present invention allows creating complex shapes, using a production technology that requires no investments in expensive equipment like moulds, specific tools or else. Complex shapes can be manufactured in small batches at low cost.
Moreover, it is possible to carry out the optional sheet polishing before the subsequent shearing or cutting so as to avoid carrying out the subsequent surface finishing processes on the single plates. In other words, it is possible to treat the plate in advance with automatic finishing machines, thus minimising the costs due to the unit component treatment.
Moreover, the shower head has very small overall dimensions. For example, it is possible to manufacture a shower head having an axial thickness, intended as overall thickness or distance between the plates, equal to the sum of the thickness of the plates themselves.
The shower heads of the prior art do not allow achieving such small thicknesses.
The water flow between the plates, that is, the axial thickness of the collecting chamber is also very reduced and may advantageously range from a maximum value, for example at a central portion of the shower head, equal to the maximum height of the intermediate, conical, parabolic or rounded portion, to a minimum value, at the radial periphery of the shower head, equal to the sum of the plate thicknesses.
In this way, the even water distribution through all the holes of the distribution plate is favoured; in particular, it is possible to reduce the axial thickness of the collecting chamber moving from the central portion to the peripheral portion, so as to ensure a pressure evenness also on the outermost dispensing holes.
Moreover, the shape of the intermediate portion allows obtaining a spring effect between the plates that favours the evenness of the dispensed flow of water.
The assembly may be advantageously obtained by welding or gluing.
The welding allows obtaining a safe connection between the plates suitable for preventing the detachment of the same and at the same time ensuring the fluid seal. The welding also ensures that the shower head thickness remains substantially unchanged and equal to the sum of the plate thicknesses.
The welding further allows a high assembly accuracy, as well as the possibility of perfectly combining thin surfaces to one another. The welding further allows a high automation degree; for example, a laser welding is advantageous since the same head may be used both for shearing the plates from sheet and for making the subsequent welding.
The welding also requires a reduced addition of heat so as to prevent deforming the thin plates; it is possible to carry out an autogenous welding, that is, without using added material, so as to limit as much as possible the axial overall dimensions of the shower head.
Gluing allows quick and inexpensive assembly of the plates. The adhesive layer is capable of ensuring the fluid seal and also of withstanding the axial separation force between the plates due to the water pressure.
In one embodiment it is possible to assist the gluing also with screw connecting means that substantially have the function of withstanding the axial forces exerted between the plates; in this way, the glue portion takes the function of hydraulic seal and the screws take the function of locking between the plates.
The welding and/or gluing allow assembling the plates without the interposition of external rings or seals. In this way, assembly costs and times are reduced.
A man skilled in the art may make several changes and adjustments to the shower heads described above in order to meet specific and incidental needs, all falling within the scope of protection defined in the following claims.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.