The present invention relates to a liquid discharge apparatus, especially a liquid discharge apparatus for the discharge of both normal temperature liquid and non-normal temperature liquid; the liquid discharge apparatus may be a faucet, a shower or like device.

Liquid discharge apparatuses wherein liquid of different temperatures share one liquid discharge pipe orifice are very common in the field. These liquid discharge apparatuses are usually confronted with one problem: non-normal temperature liquid makes the temperature at the surface of the liquid discharge apparatus become abnormal, i.e., too hot or too cold, so that a position to be manually operated cannot be directly operated with hands, and mores seriously, adverse consequences such as burn and freeze might be caused to a user. These liquid discharge apparatuses are for example comprise a head portion of a draw-type faucet and a head potion of a rotation type faucet.

Therefore, an improved liquid discharge apparatus is urgently needed to solve the above problems and increase the user's comfort and convenience in use.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved liquid discharge apparatus, which ensures liquid of different temperatures share one liquid discharge pipe orifice, and can avoid adverse influence exerted by the non-normal temperature liquid to the temperature of an operating surface of the liquid discharge apparatus and thereby facilitate the user's operation and use of the liquid discharge apparatus.

To solve the above problem, the technical solution of the present invention provides a liquid discharge apparatus, comprising a liquid channel, wherein the liquid channel comprises one or more inner pipes, and an outer pipe wrapping the inner pipes and spaced apart from the inner pipes, each of the inner pipes and the outer pipe have a shared liquid discharge pipe orifice, and a flow limiting device is arranged at the shared liquid discharge pipe orifice to limit flow of liquid in the inner pipes to the outer pipe.

According to a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the outer pipe at least partially wraps the inner pipe, particularly preferably at least a portion of the inner pipe adjacent to the flow limiting device is wrapped by the outer pipe.

According to a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the flow limiting device comprises an inner pipe connection port communicated with the inner pipe, an outer pipe connection port communicated with the outer pipe, and a liquid discharge pipe orifice connection port communicated with the shared liquid discharge pipe orifice; at the outer pipe connection port is provided a one-way valve preventing liquid in the inner pipe from flowing in the outer pipe through the outer pipe connection port.

According to a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the one-way valve is in an open state when the liquid in the outer pipe flows out, and in a closed state when no liquid flows out of the outer pipe. Besides, the one-way valve is also in the open state when the liquid in the outer pipe and the liquid in the inner pipe flow out simultaneously. The opening, closing and the opening scope of the one-way valve is controlled through the liquid flow pressure. Furthermore, the opening scope of the one-way valve is further controlled by an elastic material of the one-way valve itself or an additionally provided elastic member.

According to a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the one-way valve may further be closed by an elastic material of the one-way valve itself or an additionally provided elastic member.

Through the above technical solutions, the liquid discharge apparatus of the present invention, through its dedicated flow limiting device, effectively prevents the liquid in the inner pipe from flowing in the outer pipe so that the user may safely and reliably operate the liquid discharge apparatus.

• Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an overall structure of a liquid discharge apparatus according to the present invention, wherein the liquid discharge apparatus is partially shown in a section;
• Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a flow limiting device according to the present invention;
• Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the liquid discharge apparatus of the present invention being applied to a faucet providing hot water and cold water.

The following detailed depictions with reference to figures are only intended for an illustration purpose not for a limiting purpose.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an overall structure of a liquid discharge apparatus according to the present invention. The liquid discharge apparatus comprises a liquid channel; the liquid channel further comprises an inner pipe and an outer pipe, the inner pipe 1 being disposed in the outer pipe 2 and spaced apart from the outer pipe 2. Usually, the inner pipe 1 is used to deliver non-normal temperature liquid, an outer wall of the outer pipe 2 forms an operating surface of the liquid discharge apparatus, the user may directly contact the outer wall of the outer pipe 2 and operates the liquid discharge apparatus. A flow limiting device 3 is arranged at a shared liquid discharge pipe orifice 10 of the inner pipe 1 and the outer pipe 2 to limit flow of liquid in the inner pipe 10 into the outer pipe 2. If the liquid in the inner pipe 1 flows in the outer pipe 2, the temperature of the non-normal temperature liquid in the inner pipe 1 will affect the temperature of the operating surface of the liquid discharge apparatus, so as to cause failure to operate normally; therefore, the flow limiting device 3 in the present invention is used to effectively avoid occurrence of such phenomena. To achieve this purpose, the inner pipe 1 at least partially wrapped by the outer pipe 2, e.g., at a portion adjacent to the flow limiting device 3.

Certainly, there are other feasible embodiments depending on practical application, e.g., the inner pipe 1 may comprise one or more inner pipes, and the shared liquid discharge pipe orifices 10 and flow limiting devices 3 in the equal number to the inner pipes may be disposed accordingly to achieve concurrent secure operation of a plurality of users. Besides, the outer pipe 2 may comprise one or more outer pipes, and inner pipes 1, shared liquid discharge pipe orifices 10 and flow limiting devices 3 in the corresponding number may be provided according to needs.

Besides, both the inner pipe 1 and outer pipe 2 may deliver normal temperature liquid, wherein the normal temperature liquid in the inner pipe 1 and outer pipe 2 may be normal temperature liquid of different components. This solution may be used in a laboratory.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a flow limiting device according to the present invention. As known from Fig. 2, the flow limiting device 3 comprises an inner pipe connection port 5 communicated with the inner pipe 1, an outer pipe connection port 6 communicated with the outer pipe 2, and a liquid discharge pipe orifice connection port 4 communicated with the shared liquid discharge pipe orifice 10; at the outer pipe connection port 6 is provided a one-way valve 7 preventing the liquid in the inner pipe from flowing in the outer pipe through the outer pipe connection port 6.

When the liquid flows out of the outer pipe 2, the one-way valve 7 is in an open state. the one-way valve 7 is still in the open state when the liquid in the outer pipe 2 and the liquid in the inner pipe 1 flow out simultaneously; at this time, the one-way valve 7 controls an opening scope of the one-way valve through a liquid flow pressure, for example, the liquid flow pressure in the outer pipe 2 remains greater than the liquid flow pressure in the inner pipe 1 for ever so that the one-way valve 7 is kept open and liquid in the inner pipe 1 is prevented from flowing into the outer pipe 2. On the premise of making the liquid flow pressure in the outer pipe 2 remain greater than the liquid flow pressure in the inner pipe 1 for ever, a magnitude of the liquid flow pressure in the inner pipe 1 and/or outer pipe 2 may be adjusted properly to control the discharge quantity of the non-normal temperature liquid and normal temperature liquid. On this basis, the opening scope of the one-way valve 7 may be further controlled by an elastic material of the one-way valve 7 itself or an additionally provided elastic member.

When no liquid flows out of the outer pipe 2 and the liquid in the inner pipe 1 flows out, the one-way valve 7 is in a closed state, that is to say, to prevent the liquid in the inner pipe 1 from flowing into the outer pipe 2. Likewise, the one-way valve 7 may be closed through the liquid flow pressure; the one-way valve may be closed by an elastic material of the one-way valve itself or an additionally provided elastic member.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the liquid discharge apparatus of the present invention being applied to a faucet providing hot water and cold water. The inner pipe 1 is a boiled water pipe, the outer pipe 2 is a normal temperature water pipe, and the flow limiting device 3 is provided at the shared liquid discharge pipe orifice 10 of the boiled water pipe and the normal temperature water pipe. The flow limiting device 3 may prevent the hot water in the boiled water pipe from flowing to the normal temperature water pipe to ensure the temperature of the surface of the faucet is not affected by the boiled water temperature and thereby avoid occurrence of burn of the user.

The above embodiments are only specific examples of the present invention, and any modifications made according to the idea of the present invention are understood as not departing from the protection scope of the present invention.