FAUCET DEVICE AND DRYING APPARATUS

Abstract

 A faucet device (1) includes a base (10), a water outlet portion (20), and an annular portion (30). The base (10) has a water inlet hole (104) and a gas inlet hole (106). An end of the water outlet portion (20) is connected to the base (10), and another end of the water outlet portion (20) has a water outlet hole (202). The water outlet portion (20) has a water outlet channel (204) communicating with the water inlet hole (104) and the water outlet hole (202). The annular portion (30) has two ends (30a) respectively connected to two opposite sides of the base (10), and surrounds the water outlet portion (20), and has at least one gas outlet hole (302) and a gas outlet channel (304) communicating with the gas inlet hole (106) and the at least one gas outlet hole (302).

Description

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to a sanitary ware, and more particularly to a faucet device.

Description of Related Art

[0002] Typically, a faucet is a main sanitary ware in a bathroom, wherein a paper towel or a hand dryer is usually provided near the faucet for users to remove the remaining water on hands, thereby preventing residual water on user's hands from dripping after washing hands which makes a floor in the bathroom slippery and affects the environmental hygiene and the safety.

[0003] However, providing users with the paper towels to remove the remaining water on hands not only produces garbage but also causes inconvenience when the paper towel is not refilled immediately after being consumed; providing users with the hand dryer to remove the remaining water on hands has a problem that the location where the hand dryer is provided is not good enough. For example, the hand dryer is generally provided on a wall by a distance with a sink, so that users are required to move hands to the location of the hand dryer for drying after washing their hands in the sink. As a result, the remaining water on hands might drop on the floor when users move hands, making the floor wet and affecting the environmental hygiene and the safety. Therefore, the typical faucet devices still have room for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a faucet device, which could output water and air stream.

[0005] The present invention provides a faucet device, including a base, a water outlet portion, and an annular portion. The base has a water inlet hole and a gas inlet hole. An end of the water outlet portion is connected to the base, and another end of the water outlet portion has a water outlet hole; the water outlet portion has a water outlet channel communicating with the water inlet hole and the water outlet hole. The annular portion has two ends respectively connected to two opposite sides of the base, and surrounds the water outlet portion and has at least one gas outlet hole and a gas outlet channel, wherein the gas outlet channel communicates with the gas inlet hole and the at least one gas outlet hole.

[0006] The present invention also provides a drying apparatus, including the faucet device, a gas-supplying assembly, a gas-supplying channel, and a sterilizing and deodorizing assembly. Two opposite ends of the gas-supplying channel respectively communicate with the gas inlet hole and the gas-supplying assembly, and a tubular wall of the gas-supplying channel has a through hole. The sterilizing and deodorizing assembly communicates with the through hole; wherein when a gas is outputted by the gas-supplying assembly to pass through the gas-supplying channel, a gas in the sterilizing and deodorizing assembly enters the gas-supplying channel to flow with the gas in the gas-supplying channel to be outputted through the at least one gas outlet hole by passing through the gas inlet hole.

[0007] With the aforementioned design, through the faucet device of the present invention, the user could wash hands via a water stream outputted by the water outlet hole, and dry the remaining water on hands via the air stream outputted by the at least one gas outlet hole, relieving the problem of the remaining water on hands dropping on a floor in a bathroom, so that the environmental hygiene and the safety could be improved. Besides, through the drying apparatus of the present invention, the air stream that is odourless could be outputted for users to dry remaining water on hands.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the faucet device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the faucet device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the faucet device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the faucet device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of the drying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic front view of the drying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic view of a marked region in FIG. 6, showing a part of the drying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 7, showing a part of the drying apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is similar to FIG. 7, showing a part of the drying apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] A faucet device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 and includes a base 10, a water outlet portion 20, and an annular portion 30, wherein the base 10 has an installing surface 102 adapted to be connected to a surface of a sink as an example, and the installing surface 102 has a water inlet hole 104 and a gas inlet hole 106.

[0010] An end of the water outlet portion 20 is connected to the base 10, and another end of the water outlet portion 20 has a water outlet hole 202, wherein the water outlet portion 20 has a water outlet channel 204 communicating with the water inlet hole 104 and the water outlet hole 202. The annular portion 30 has two ends 30a respectively connected to two opposite sides of the base 10, and surrounds the water outlet portion 20, and has at least one gas outlet hole 302 and a gas outlet channel 304, wherein the gas outlet channel 304 communicates with the gas inlet hole 106 and the at least on gas outlet hole 302. In the current embodiment, the at least one gas outlet hole 302 includes a plurality of the gas outlet holes 302.

[0011] Therefore, the faucet device 1 could output a water stream via the water outlet hole 202 for users to wash hands, and output an air stream via the gas outlet holes 302 for users to dry the remaining water on hands. In this way, the users could wash hands and dry the remaining water on hands at the faucet device 1, relieving the problem of the remaining water on hands dropping on a floor in a bathroom. In the current embodiment, the gas outlet holes 302 are arranged along a contour of the annular portion 30 as an example. In other embodiments, the number of the gas outlet hole 302 could be one, which could also provide the air stream for users to dry the remaining water on hands.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 3, the faucet device 1 includes a water outlet sensor 40 and two gas outlet sensors 42, wherein the water outlet sensor 40 is disposed on an outer wall of the water outlet portion 20, and is located on a side of the water outlet portion 20 facing a sink below and is located at a position near the water outlet hole 202. The two gas outlet sensors 42 are disposed on an outer annular wall of the annular portion 30, and are located on a left side and a right side of the annular portion 30. The annular portion 30 includes two curved arms 32 having the two ends 30a which are engaged with the two opposite sides of the base 10. In other words, an end of each of the curved arms 32 is connected to the base 10, and another end of each of the curved arms 32 is connected to the other curved arm 32, thereby a closed ring is formed by connecting the two curved arms 32 and the base 10, wherein the two gas outlet sensors 42 are respectively disposed on two opposite positions on an outer annular wall of the two curved arms 32, and the position of the water outlet sensor 40 and the two positions of the two gas outlet sensors 42 are convenient for users to use.

[0013] In the current embodiment, the water outlet sensor 40 is disposed on the side of the water outlet portion 20 facing the sink below and is located at the position near the water outlet hole 202 as an example. In practice, the water outlet sensor 40 could be disposed on any position on the outer wall of the water outlet portion 20, such as a top portion or a side of the water outlet portion 20. Besides, in the current embodiment, the number of the gas outlet sensor 42 is two as an example. In other embodiments, the number of the gas outlet sensor 42 could be one or more than two, and the gas outlet sensor 42 could be disposed on any position on the annular portion 30, such as an outer side wall of one of the two curved arms 32, or a position near the gas outlet hole 302.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 4, the gas outlet channel 304 is disposed in one of the two curved arms 32 and is in a curved shape. In other embodiments, the number of the gas outlet channels 304 could be two, and the two gas outlet channels 304 could be respectively disposed in the two curved arms 32.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 2, the gas outlet holes 302 and the base 10 are spaced apart by a first horizontal distance X1 in a horizontal direction X and are spaced apart by a first vertical distance Y1 in a vertical direction Y, and the water outlet hole 202 and the base 10 are spaced apart by a second horizontal distance X2 in the horizontal direction X and are spaced apart by a second vertical distance Y2 in the vertical direction Y, wherein the first horizontal distance X1 is larger than the second horizontal distance X2, and the first vertical distance Y1 is larger than the second vertical distance Y2. With the aforementioned design, the gas outlet holes 302 are located at a position farther to the base 10 than the water outlet hole 202 in both the horizontal direction X and the vertical direction Y. In this way, when a user drying their hands, the residual water on the water outlet hole 202 could be prevented from dropping on hands, and the water outlet sensor 40 could be prevented from being accidentally triggered by hands.

[0016] A drying apparatus 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 and includes the faucet device 1, an gas-supplying assembly 50, an gas-supplying channel 60, a control system 70, and a sterilizing and deodorizing assembly 80, wherein the control system 70 is adapted to receive a water-outputting signal sent from the water outlet sensor 40 and to control the water outlet portion 20 to output water according to the water-outputting signal, and is also adapted to receive an air-outputting signal sent from the gas outlet sensor 42 and to control the gas-supplying assembly 50 to output gas according to the air-outputting signal.

[0017] Therefore, a user could swing hands at the position of the water outlet sensor 40 to trigger the water outlet sensor 40 to send the water-outputting signal, and after the control system 70 receives the water-outputting signal, the control system 70 could control the water outlet portion 20 to output water according to the water-outputting signal for the user to wash hands. Besides, the user could swing hands at the position of the two gas outlet sensors 42 on the left side or the right side of the annular portion 30 to trigger the gas outlet sensor 42 to send the gas-outputting signal, and after the control system 70 receives the gas-outputting signal, the control system 70 could control the gas-supplying assembly 50 to output the air stream according to the gas-outputting signal for users to dry hands.

[0018] Two opposite ends of the gas-supplying channel 60 respectively communicate with the gas inlet hole 106 and the gas-supplying assembly 50. A tubular wall of the gas-supplying channel 60 has a through hole 602. The sterilizing and deodorizing assembly 80 communicates with the through hole 602, and is adapted to remove the odour and bacteria in a gas, thereby when a gas is outputted by the gas-supplying assembly 50 to pass through the gas-supplying channel 60, a gas in the sterilizing and deodorizing assembly 80 could pass through the through hole 602 and enter the gas-supplying channel 60 to flow with the gas in the gas-supplying channel 60 to be outputted through the gas outlet holes 302 by passing through the gas inlet hole 106, outputting the gas that is odourless for users to dry the remaining water on hands.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 7, the sterilizing and deodorizing assembly 80 has a pipe 82, an gas inlet channel 84, and a receiving space 86, wherein the receiving space 86 is adapted to receive an sterilizing and deodorizing unit 88, and the pipe 82 communicates with the through hole 602, and the receiving space 86 communicates with an external space via the gas inlet channel 84, thereby an atmospheric pressure in the through hole 602 decrease when the gas is outputted by the gas-supplying assembly 50 to pass through the gas-supplying channel 60, which causes a pressure difference between the receiving space 86 and the external space, so that a gas of the external space is sucked into the receiving space 86 through the gas inlet channel 84, and is sterilized and deodorized via the sterilizing and deodorizing unit 88, and then passes through the through hole 602 and flows with the air stream in the gas-supplying channel 60 to be outputted by the gas outlet holes 302 by passing through the gas inlet hole 106, outputting the gas that is odourless for users to dry the remaining water on hands.

[0020] For example, the sterilizing and deodorizing unit 88 could be solid sterilizing and deodorizing granules as shown in FIG.7 or a liquid sterilizing and deodorizing solution as shown in FIG. 8, and the receiving space 86 could be a U-shape to lengthen a pathway of the gas, so that a time of the gas contacting with the sterilizing and deodorizing solution could be lengthened, enhancing the effect of sterilizing, deodorizing, and freshening.

[0021] Referring to FIG. 9, in another embodiment, the sterilizing and deodorizing assembly 80 further includes an ultrasonic oscillator 89, and the liquid sterilizing and deodorizing solution could be added into the receiving space 86 of the sterilizing and deodorizing assembly 80 and could be fogged via a high-frequency sound wave generated by the ultrasonic oscillator 89, then the sterilizing and deodorizing solution that is fogged enters the gas-supplying channel 60 through the through hole 602 to flow with the gas in the gas-supplying channel 60, fulfilling the purpose of sterilizing, deodorizing, and freshening during drying. In the current embodiment, the gas inlet channel 84 of the sterilizing and deodorizing assembly 80 could be omitted.

[0022] With the aforementioned design, through the faucet device 1 of the present invention, the user could wash hands via the water stream outputted by the water outlet hole 202, and could dry the remaining water on hands via the air stream outputted by the gas outlet hole 302, relieving the problem of the remaining water on hands dropping on the floor of the bathroom, so that the environmental hygiene and the safety could be improved. Besides, through the drying apparatus 2 of the present invention, the air stream that is odourless could be outputted for users to dry remaining water on hands, fulfilling the purpose of sterilizing, deodorizing, and freshening during drying.

Claims

1. A faucet device (1), comprising:

a base (10) having a water inlet hole (104) and a gas inlet hole (106);

a water outlet portion (20), wherein an end of the water outlet portion (20) is connected to the base (10), and another end of the water outlet portion (20) has a water outlet hole (202); the water outlet portion (20) has a water outlet channel (204) communicating with the water inlet hole (104) and the water outlet hole (202); and

an annular portion (30) having two ends (30a) respectively connected to two opposite sides of the base (10), wherein the annular portion (30) surrounds the water outlet portion (20) and has at least one gas outlet hole (302) and a gas outlet channel (304); the gas outlet channel (304) communicates with the gas inlet hole (106) and the at least one gas outlet hole (302).

2. The faucet device (1) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one gas outlet sensor (42) disposed on an outer annular wall of the annular portion (30) .

3. The faucet device (1) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the annular portion (30) comprises two curved arms (32) having the two ends (30a); the at least one gas outlet sensor (42) is located on at least one of the two curved arms (32).

4. The faucet device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the annular portion (30) comprises two curved arms (32) having the two ends (30a); the gas outlet channel (304) is located in at least one of the two curved arms (32) .

5. The faucet device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one gas outlet hole (302) and the base (10) are spaced apart by a first horizontal distance (X1) in a horizontal direction (X) and are spaced apart by a first vertical distance (Y1) in a vertical direction (Y), and the water outlet hole (202) and the base (10) are spaced apart by a second horizontal distance (X2) in the horizontal direction (X) and are spaced apart by a second vertical distance (Y2) in the vertical direction (Y), wherein the first horizontal distance (X1) is larger than the second horizontal distance (X2), and the first vertical distance (Y1) is larger than the second vertical distance (Y2) .

6. A drying apparatus (2), comprising:

the faucet device (1) as claimed in claim 1 to claim 5;

a gas-supplying assembly (50);

a gas-supplying channel (60), wherein two opposite ends of the gas-supplying channel (60) respectively communicate with the gas inlet hole (106) and the gas-supplying assembly (50), and a tubular wall of the gas-supplying channel (60) has a through hole (602); and

a sterilizing and deodorizing assembly (80) communicating with the through hole (602);

wherein when a gas is outputted by the gas-supplying assembly (50) to pass through the gas-supplying channel (60), a gas in the sterilizing and deodorizing assembly (80) enters the gas-supplying channel (60) through the through hole (602) to flow with the gas in the gas-supplying channel (60) to be outputted through the at least one gas outlet hole (302) by passing through the gas inlet hole (106).

7. The drying apparatus (2) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the sterilizing and deodorizing assembly (80) has a pipe (82), a gas inlet channel (84), and a receiving space (86); the pipe (82) communicates with the through hole (602), and the receiving space (86) communicates with an external space via the gas inlet channel (84).

8. The drying apparatus (2) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the receiving space (86) is adapted to receive a sterilizing and deodorizing unit (88).

9. The drying apparatus (2) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the sterilizing and deodorizing assembly (80) comprises an ultrasonic oscillator (89).

10. The drying apparatus (2) as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a control system (70), wherein the faucet device (1) comprises a water outlet sensor (40) disposed on an outer wall of the water outlet portion (20); the control system (70) is adapted to receive a water-outputting signal sent from the water outlet sensor (40) and to control the water outlet portion (20) to output water according to the water-outputting signal, and to receive an gas-outputting signal sent from the at least one gas outlet sensor (42) and to control the gas-supplying assembly (50) to output air streams according to the air-outputting signal.

Drawing