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(11) | EP 3 567 168 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | FITTING FOR A FAUCET AND FAUCET COMRISING THE FITTING |
| (57) A fitting (1) for a wall-mounted faucet (50) , said fitting comprising a tubular
element (2), adapted to be mounted on a hot or cold water connection (10) fixed to
the wall (80). A body (3) is adapted to be mounted on the faucet (50) and comprises
an eccentric seat (3a) which receives one end (2a) of the tubular element (2), said
body (3) being rotatable on the tubular element (3), in order to adjust a height of
the body (3) from the ground when the tubular element (2) is fixed to the wall connection
(10).
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Field of application
[0001] The present invention relates to a fitting for a faucet or for a mixer unit of a shower or a bathroom or kitchen sink.
[0002] In particular, the invention relates to a fitting having a first end intended to be inserted inside a wall connection of a water supply pipe and a second end intended to be inserted inside a connection of the faucet or the mixer unit.
[0003] Even more particularly, the invention relates to a fitting of the aforementioned type, for connecting the hot water supply pipe to the faucet, which is connected, by means of another fitting according to the present invention, to a cold water supply pipe.
Prior art
[0005] It is known that a connection system for the water piping, generally a hot water connection and a cold water connection, is mounted at a predetermined distance - which is usually pre-set, for example 15 cm - in the walls of a bathroom, kitchen or other room in which sinks, wash basins, bath-tubs, showers, etc., are to be installed.
[0006] The female connections are inset in the wall so as to allow connection of the faucets, for example by means of two fittings, each screwed at one end to the wall connection, and at the other end to a flexible pipe of the faucet.
[0007] However, some faucets, which are particularly appreciated because of their attractive design, are connected to the connections without flexible pipes. This is the case, for example, of monobloc faucets which have two seats directly fixed to the connections.
[0008] Especially in this kind of installation it is of fundamental importance that the connections set inside the walls during the building work should be precisely aligned, with respect to both the ground and the wall. In fact, even a small misalignment between the two connections, of the order of a few millimeters, results in an unattractive appearance owing to the monobloc unit not being positioned parallel to the ground.
[0009] Despite the precautions taken, it often happens that the wall connections are not precisely arranged, something which may be corrected either by repositioning the connections by means of the necessary building work, or by performing complex adjustments of the monobloc unit, these however being able to remedy only to small misalignments.
[0010] Adjustment of the faucet relative to the wall is also complicated, not only because of the connections not being installed correctly, for example not positioned perpendicular to the wall, but also because the fittings may not be correctly adjusted. In fact it happens that the fitting may have been screwed in too far into the respective wall connection and that it cannot be extracted (or at least not easily) because it causes fraying of the Teflon or other sealing material arranged between the connection and the fitting.
[0011] The technical problem at the basis of the present invention is that of providing a fitting which allows precise and easy mounting of the faucet, even when the hot and cold water wall connections are not precisely aligned with the ground or the wall, speeding up and simplifying the adjustment operations, especially in the case where monobloc faucets have been installed, overcoming all the drawbacks and limitations hitherto associated with the known fittings.
Summary of the invention
[0012] The idea at the basis of the present invention is to use a fitting having a first body which can be fitted to a water wall connection and a second body which can be fitted to the first body and to a monobloc unit of a faucet, the second body being movable with respect to the first body, so as to compensate for any defective installation of the wall connection and allow the connection to be joined to a water inlet of the monobloc unit in a correct installation position. For example, according to an embodiment of the invention, the first body is a tubular body and the second body is a body which has an eccentric seat for the tubular body.
[0013] According to the proposed solution mentioned above, the technical problem is solved by a fitting of a faucet for a shower or a bathroom or kitchen sink, comprising a tubular element, adapted to be mounted on a hot or cold water connection fixed to the wall, and characterized in that it comprises a body, adapted to be mounted on the faucet, said body comprising an eccentric seat which receives one end of the tubular element and is able to rotate on the tubular element, in order to adjust a height of the body from the ground when the tubular element is fixed to the wall connection.
[0016] In particular, once the parts have been assembled, locking means lock the body on the tubular element. For example, the locking means comprise a radial hole in the body, which emerges radially inside the eccentric seat, a pin which can be inserted inside the radial hole until it comes into contact with the tubular element, an axial hole communicating with the radial hole, and a threaded tappet which, via the axial hole, clamps the pin against the tubular element inside the eccentric seat.
[0017] Alternatively, the locking means comprise a radial hole, threaded inside the body and radially opened inside the eccentric seat, and a threaded tappet, which clamps the tubular element inside the eccentric seat passing through the radial threaded hole.
[0018] Preferably, the eccentric seat comprises an axial through-hole with a diameter substantially the same as a diameter of the tubular element, and the tubular element is inserted inside the eccentric seat, preferably with one end flush with a surface of the body. Said end may, however, project partly from the eccentric seat.
[0019] Sealing means are provided between the end of the tubular element and the eccentric seat. For example, the end of the tubular element comprises an annular segment and a seal situated inside the annular segment.
[0020] Preferably, the tubular element is a non-flexible cylindrical body. For example, the tubular element is made of metal, preferably brass.
[0021] In one embodiment, the body is also cylindrical. Such a body can be inserted inside a cylindrical seat of the faucet or of the mixer unit.
[0022] The tubular element comprises a threaded portion, intended to be screwed onto the water connection, and a portion which is shaped, preferably with a hexagonal cross-section, suitable for allowing engagement of a spanner or tightening tool, in order to screw the tubular element into the connection before connecting the tubular element and the body together.
[0023] The invention also relates to a faucet comprising a first and a second fitting of the aforementioned type, which are fixed to respective hot and cold water wall connections.
[0024] For example, the faucet is a monobloc unit having a seat inside which the body for the cold water connection is inserted and a seat inside which the body for the hot water connection is inserted, and is displaceable during mounting, into a position parallel to the ground, with the bodies already inside the seats, even if the wall connections are not aligned.
[0025] A distance separating the monobloc unit from the wall opposite each of the seats can be adjusted by inserting the body inside the respective seat by a greater or smaller amount.
[0026] Preferably, the seats of the faucet and/or the body comprise a conical or curved portion designed to allow displacements of the monobloc unit into a position perpendicular to the wall.
[0028] On the basis of the solution described above, the technical problem underlying the present invention is also solved by a method for mounting a fitting of a faucet for a shower or a bathroom or kitchen sink, comprising the following steps:
fixing a tubular element of the fitting to a cold (or hot) water wall connection, leaving one end of the tubular element projecting from the wall;
mounting a body of the fitting which has an eccentric seat onto the end of the tubular element projecting from the wall, such that the end of the tubular element is engaged inside the eccentric seat;
rotating the body on the tubular element, in order to adjust a height of the body from the ground,
mounting the faucet on the body.
[0029] The step of rotating the body on the tubular element may be performed in order to adjust the lateral distance separating the tubular body from the tubular body of a second fitting, before mounting the faucet on the tubular bodies.
[0030] The step of rotating the body on the tubular element may also be performed in order to obtain simultaneously adjustment of the lateral distance separating the tubular body from the tubular body of the second fitting and the height of the tubular body from the ground.
[0031] In particular, the height of the fitting and the height of another fitting fixed with the respective tubular element to a hot (or cold) water connection are adjusted so that the faucet is perfectly level.
[0032] Further characteristic features and advantages of the mounting method according to the present invention will become clear from an embodiment thereof, provided purely by way of a non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings.
Brief description of the attached figures
[0033]
Figure 1 shows a schematic laterally sectioned view of a fitting according to the present invention mounted on a wall-mounted water connection and on a faucet.
Figure 2 shows a schematic frontally sectioned view of the fitting according to Figure 1.
Figure 3 shows a laterally sectioned view of the fitting according to the present invention, with the parts disassembled.
Figure 4 is a front view of the fitting according to Figure 3.
Figure 5 shows a laterally sectioned view of the fitting according to the present invention, with the parts assembled.
Figure 6 is a front view of the fitting according to Figure 5;
Figure 7 is a view of the fitting according to Figure 5, before fixing to the wall and to the faucet.
Figure 8 is a view of the fitting according to Figure 7 after fixing to the faucet; in Figure 8 the wall is not shown; fixing of the fitting according to the present invention to the wall is made before fixing of the faucet to this fitting.
Detailed description of the invention
[0034] With reference to the attached figures below a description is provided of a fitting 1 according to the present invention, and in particular a fitting designed to be associated, by means of its first end, with a hot or cold water pipe connection 10 mounted in a wall 80 (Fig. 1) and, by means of an opposite end, with a faucet 50 or mixer unit, for example a monobloc unit 51 (Fig. 7), without the use of flexible pipes.
[0035] For easier illustration, in the description below, the term "monobloc unit" is used, said term being understood as comprising in any case mixer units, faucets or other devices designed to receive the water at their inlet and adjust its flow rate and/or temperature and/or opening/closing thereof.
[0036] Figure 3 is a laterally sectioned view of the fitting 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It comprises a tubular element 2, designed to be associated with the water connection 10, and a body 3, designed to be associated with the monobloc unit 51.
[0037] According to the present invention, the tubular element 2 is fixed to the connection 10 mounted in the wall 80, leaving a part projecting from the wall. The body 3 is fitted onto the end of the tubular element 2 projecting from the wall, by means of an eccentric seat 3a, which allows the heightwise and widthwise adjustment (lateral adjustment) of the body 3.
[0038] In particular, the centre of the body 3 may be raised or lowered with respect to the ground by rotating the body 3 about the axis of the tubular element 2, corresponding to the axis of the eccentric seat 3a, thus making it possible to obtain the correct installation position of the fitting 1. Figure 2 is a front view of two fittings 1 mounted on two water connections 10 and adjusted by means of different angular displacement of the bodies 3 on the tubular elements 2, in order to obtain a correct installation position of the faucet 50, in particular a horizontal alignment.
[0039] According to the present invention, the correct position may be determined by means of simple manual operations and simultaneously for two fittings. In particular, when the tubular elements 2 of two respective fittings 1 have been fixed to the hot and cold water connections. and the corresponding bodies 3 have been associated with the tubular elements, as explained above, two seats 52, 53 (Fig. 7) of a monobloc unit 51, which are intended to provide the hydraulic connection, are fitted onto the bodies 3.
[0040] In this connection reference may be made also to Figures 7 and 8 where the two fittings 1 are shown together with a monobloc unit 51. In these figures, the wall 80 is not shown, but it is clear that the two fittings 1 are understood as being already fixed to the wall by means of the respective tubular elements 2.
[0041] If the monobloc unit 51 cannot be mounted on the fittings 1 because the interaxial distance between the seats 52, 53 does not correspond to the interaxial distance between the bodies 3, a first manual adjustment of the bodies 3 may be performed, moving them towards or away from each other, by means of rotation on the tubular elements 2, so as to be able to obtain first provisional positioning.
[0042] Then, definitive correct positioning of the monobloc unit 51, namely its horizontal alignment (parallel arrangement relative to the ground), is obtained by means of small horizontal movements of the monobloc unit 51, this causing rotation of the two bodies 3 on the tubular elements 2 and consequently raising/lowering of the bodies 3 with respect to the ground, and therefore raising/lowering of the respective seats 52, 53 of the monobloc unit 51.
[0043] Once the correct position has been identified, for example by placing a spirit level on a flat surface of the monobloc unit 51 and checking the alignment with the spirit level, the monobloc unit 51 is temporarily removed from the bodies 3 so that the latter may be fixed to the tubular elements 2. This check may be easily carried out on the monobloc unit because normally it comprises a parallelepiped body or body which has another shape, but in any case has a flat top surface on which the spirit level may rest.
[0044] Below a number of details which allow the aforementioned operations to be carried out more quickly are described, but other embodiments may also be employed.
[0045] Preferably, the tubular element 2 comprises a threaded portion 23 (Fig. 5) which is intended to be screwed to the wall connection and a shaped portion 24 (see also Fig. 3), preferably with a hexagonal cross-section (Figs. 4, 6), onto which a spanner or a tightening tool may be engaged, in order to fasten the tubular element 2 to the connection. The shaped portion remains projecting from the wall and its connections.
[0046] Preferably, the threaded portion 23 has a diameter greater than that of the shaped portion 24, which is situated in an intermediate part of the tubular element 2; a contact shoulder 25, designed to make bearing contact against the body 3 when the parts are assembled (as shown in Figure 5), is provided between the threaded portion 23 and the shaped portion 24. The remaining portion 26 of the tubular element has preferably a diameter smaller than or the same as the diameter of the contact shoulder 25.
[0047] The eccentric seat 3a is a through-seat and has a diameter smaller than the diameter of the contact shoulder 25. When the parts are assembled, the contact shoulder 25 bears against an edge 33c of the eccentric seat 3a.
[0048] An annular segment 22b in the non-threaded portion 26 of the tubular element 2 receives a seal, for example an O-ring, which provides a sealing action on the surface of the eccentric seat 3a, inside the body 3.
[0049] Another annular segment 27, preferably between the annular segment 22b and the shaped portion 24, is intended to receive a pin 4 for locking the body 3 on the tubular element 2.
[0050] In particular, the body 3 comprises a radial hole 59 with a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of the pin 4, which emerges inside the eccentric seat 3a. The pin 4 can be inserted inside the radial hole 59 and may be partially seated inside the radial segment 27, making contact against the tubular element 2. The radial segment 27 has a width the same as the diameter of the pin 4.
[0051] Another hole 51 inside the body 3, which is parallel to an axis of the eccentric seat 3c, emerges inside the radial hole 59, in an intermediate position, partly engaged by the pin 4, and is threaded opposite the threaded seat 59, and preferably also along another predetermined section of the hole 51. A screw 44 may be engaged inside the hole 51 against the pin 4, preventing the pin 4 from coming out of the radial segment 27 and therefore preventing the axial movement of the tubular element 2 with respect to the body 3, when the parts are assembled, as shown in Figure 5. Preferably, the pin 4 and the screw 44 have conical ends engaged tightly together.
[0052] Other embodiments are envisaged, such as those shown in Figures 1 and 2. A tappet 4 is inserted inside the radial hole which is threaded; in this case it is the end of the tappet 4 which fixes the tubular element in a predetermined position of the eccentric seat 3a.
[0053] Still according to the present invention a distance separating the monobloc unit 51 from the wall opposite each of the seats 52, 53 can be adjusted by inserting the body 3 into the respective seat 52, 53 by a greater or smaller amount. In this respect fixing is performed by inserting a threaded tappet (not shown) into a hole of the monobloc unit (not shown) which emerges inside the seat 52, 53. The threaded tappet is tightened on the body 3.
[0054] Furthermore an inclination of the monobloc unit 51 with respect to the wall may be adjusted and any defects in the positioning of the wall connections rectified. In particular, it is envisaged that the seats 52, 53 of the monobloc unit and/or the body 3 comprise a conical or curved portion and that, between the seats and the body, there is a predefined play, namely that the seat has a diameter larger than the diameter of the body, for example between 0.1 and 0.5 mm.
[0055] Advantageously, after mounting the monobloc on the fittings 1 and, if necessary, after determining the correct horizontal alignment of the monobloc unit (or its positioning parallel to the ground - see arrows in Fig. 2) and/or its distance from the wall (or snug-fit position), the monobloc may be inclined upwards or downwards in order to obtain its vertical alignment (or parallel arrangement with respect to the wall - see arrows in Fig. 1).
1. Fitting (1) of a faucet (50) for a shower or a bathroom or kitchen sink, comprising
a tubular element (2), adapted to be mounted on a hot or cold water connection (10)
fixed to the wall (80), characterized in that it comprises a body (3), adapted to be mounted on the faucet (50), said body (3)
comprising an eccentric seat (3a) which receives one end (2a) of the tubular element
(2), said body (3) being rotatable on the tubular element (3), in order to adjust
a height of the body (3) from the ground when the tubular element (2) is fixed to
the wall connection (10).
2. Fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that the body (3) and the tubular element (2) are removable.
3. Fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that the body (3) and the tubular element (2) are snap-engageable.
4. Fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means (4) for locking the body (3) with respect to the tubular element
(2).
5. Fitting according to claim 4, characterized in that the locking means comprise a radial hole (59) in the body, which flows radially in
the eccentric seat (3a), a pin (4) inserted inside the radial hole until it comes
into contact with the tubular element (2), an axial hole (51) and a threaded tappet
(44) which clamps the pin (4) against the tubular element inside the eccentric seat.
6. Fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that the eccentric seat (3a) comprises an axial through-hole with a diameter substantially
the same as a diameter of the tubular element (2) and the tubular element (2) is inserted
inside the eccentric seat (3a).
7. Fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises sealing means (2) between the end (2a) of the tubular element (2) and
the eccentric seat (3a).
8. Fitting according to claim 7, characterized in that the end (2a) of the tubular element (2) comprises an annular segment (22b) and a
seat (2b) inside the annular seat (22b).
9. Fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that the tubular element (2) is a non-flexible cylindrical body.
10. Fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that the tubular element (3) is a cylindrical body.
11. Fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that the tubular element (2) comprises a threaded portion, intended to be screwed to the
water connection (10), and a portion which is shaped, preferably with a hexagonal
cross-section, suitable for allowing engagement of a spanner or tightening tool, in
order to screw the tubular element (2) into the connection (10) before connecting
the tubular element (2) and the body (3) together.
12. Faucet (50) comprising a fitting (1) according to claim 1 for cold water and a fitting
(1) according to claim 1 for hot water.
13. Faucet according to claim 12, comprising a monobloc unit (51) having a seat (52) inside
which the body (3) of the cold water fitting is inserted and a seat (53) inside which
the body (3) of the hot water fitting (1) is inserted, said monobloc unit being displaceable
into a position parallel to the ground, with the bodies (3) already inserted inside
the seats (51, 52), even if the wall connections (10) are not aligned.
14. Faucet according to claim 12, characterized in that the distance of the monobloc unit from the wall opposite each of said seats (52,
53) can be adjusted by inserting the body (3) inside the respective seat (52, 53)
by a greater or smaller amount.
15. Faucet according to claim 12, characterized in that said seats (52, 53) and/or said body (3) comprise a conical or curved portion for
displacing the monobloc unit into a position perpendicular to the wall.
16. Faucet according to claim 12, characterized in that said seats (52, 53) comprise through-holes for means for locking the body (3) inside
the seats (52, 53).