HK1027856A1 - Multiple discharge water faucet with self-contained filter - Google Patents

Abstract

A faucet with multiple water discharges includes a housing , an input water connection for said housing, an unfiltered water discharge and a filtered water discharge. There is a water filter within the housing and a valve within the housing which is connected to each water discharge. There is an unfiltered water flow path from the input water connection to the valve and a filtered water flow path from the input water connection through the filter, to the valve. A manual control element, accessible from the exterior of the housing, operates the valve to direct filtered water to the filtered water discharge and unfiltered water to the unfiltered water discharge. There is an electrical circuit positioned within the housing. The circuit includes a display and the circuit is responsive to operation of the manual control to cause the circuit to operate the display only during the discharge of filtered water.

Description

Multi-outlet water tap with filter

Technical Field

The present invention is a continuation-in-part application of serial No.08/761,351, filed on day 7, 27, 1998, which is a continuation-in-part application of No.08/761,351, filed on day 12, 6, 1996.

The invention relates to a faucet with an integral structure and a water filter.

The present invention relates to a faucet used in a kitchen, and more particularly, to a faucet having both a filtered water outlet and an unfiltered water outlet.

Summary of The Invention

It is a first object of the present invention to provide a faucet as described above having a water filter integrated therewith and a display for indicating the status of the filter.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a faucet as described above wherein the display includes a pair of light emitting diodes of different colors and associated circuit elements, such that the light emitting diodes can display either one color or two colors simultaneously to provide three different indications of filter status.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a faucet as described above, which includes a reliable and simple control valve that can discharge directly-entering water in either filtered or unfiltered form.

It is a fourth object of the present invention to provide a faucet as described above wherein the control valve includes a valve member which closes the passage of unfiltered water in response to a manual control button and maintains the closed position until the water is turned off.

It is a fifth object of the present invention to provide a faucet as above, having a filtered water discharge and an unfiltered water discharge, and having an integral water filter with the unfiltered water path being external to the filter and the filtered water path being internal to the water filter.

A sixth object of the present invention is to provide a faucet as described above, which, depending on design, will not work if a filter is not properly installed therein.

It is a seventh object of the present invention to provide a faucet as described above, which includes a plug which normally closes a portion of the unfiltered water pathway.

According to the present invention there is provided a faucet having a plurality of water outlets, comprising an outer housing, a water inlet connection to said housing, unfiltered water discharge means mounted on said housing, filtered water discharge means mounted on said housing, a water filter mounted in said housing, valve means mounted in said housing and connected to each of said water outlets,

an unfiltered water pathway leading from said water inlet connection to said valve means, a filtered water pathway leading from said water inlet connection through said filter to said valve means, filtered water manual control means being controllable externally of the housing to operate said valve means to pass filtered water to said filtered water discharge means and to prevent unfiltered water from flowing to said unfiltered water discharge means, and

an electrical circuit mounted in said housing to which the filtered water display means in the housing is connected, means being provided in the electrical circuit which are responsive to operation of said manual control means so that said electrical circuit operates the display means during discharge of filtered water.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a kitchen faucet of the type that is commercially available and has a plurality of outlets, its use is quite widespread. The faucet may have an elongated water delivery tube with a drain opening and a filtered water discharge opening. The invention can equally be used with a faucet stem that can be moved from its base to point to any location in the sink. The faucet includes a filter for producing filtered water to discharge the filtered water. The filter, which may be comprised of carbon granules, is disposed within the faucet housing and forms a portion of the water flow path from the inlet tube connection to the plurality of water discharge ports.

The faucet includes a simple and reliable valve member that is movable in response to manual controls that may be provided from outside the faucet. The movable manual control is a spring biased to a position in which the passage of filtered water is normally closed. The valve element may also be moved by manual operation to a position in which the passage of filtered water is opened and the passage of unfiltered water is closed. The valve element will remain in this position by the pressure of the water until the water flow is closed, at which point the valve element is returned to its normal position by the spring.

The faucet includes a visual reader that indicates the condition of the filter and is only operated when water is flowing through the filtered water discharge. The display comprises two light emitting diodes of different colors. Each led may be controlled by a circuit that is part of the faucet, and both leds may be controlled simultaneously so that the display provides three different color displays to indicate the filter status and whether a filter change is required.

Brief Description of Drawings

The invention is summarized in the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a water delivery tube assembly, partially broken away;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the water delivery tube head assembly;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the head valve;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the main valve body;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the main valve body taken along the plane 5-5 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the valve plug illustrating the outlet for filtered water;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a display circuit.

Description of The Preferred Embodiment

The invention will now be described in connection with a kitchen faucet and an elongated water delivery tube passing over the basin of a sink. The principles of the present invention can also be applied to a pull rod, which is common in today's kitchen faucets.

In fig. 1, the faucet has an outer housing 10, which may be composed of a plurality of housing sections, some of which may be acoustically welded or sonically welded together as a unit. The housing 10 has a fixed spigot 12 to be mounted on the counter top of a sink, which has a cavity 14 in which a control valve is to be mounted to deliver hot and cold water to the filtered water control valve of the water delivery pipe. A handle would be mounted on top of the fixed socket 12 for controlling the valve element within the chamber 14. Water from the chamber 14 will enter the elongate tube portion 16 of the housing 10 through an inlet aperture 18.

A water filter 20 is located in the tubular portion 16 of the housing 10 and may be conventionally filled with carbon granules or other suitable filter media which are effective in removing some impurities from the water to deliver properly filtered drinking water to the filtered water outlet. The housing 10 includes a head 22 having a drain opening 24 oriented downwardly toward the basin and a filtered water outlet 26 also oriented downwardly toward the basin. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the head 22 is manually removable from the tube portion 16 to allow for easy replacement when it is desired to replace the filter 20.

As best shown in fig. 1 and 2, water entering the tube portion 16 through the inlet aperture 18 will flow around the filter 20. A portion of the water will flow through the filter 20 into a filtered water passage 28 and then through passage 30 into a filter outlet end cap 32. The end cap 32 is an integral part of the filter, and as with the inlet end cap 34 of FIG. 1, the filter element 36 is formed as an integral, replaceable filter by means of the inlet and outlet end caps.

Fig. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 depict details of the faucet head 22 and its valve mechanism for controlling the flow of filtered and unfiltered water to the respective outlets 26 and 24. Within the head 22 is a valve body 40 having a tubular passage 42 communicating with the filtered water outlet 30 of the end cap 32 via a sealed filter nose 31. The passage 42 has an outlet 44 which communicates with a restrictor 46 which will restrict the flow of filtered water through the faucet. The outlet 44 is not axially aligned with the restrictor 46 and thus the water may flow through the faucet quietly by virtue of such an off-center positional relationship. A flow retainer 48 holds the restrictor in place and has an opening 50 which communicates with the restrictor and a chamber 52 located in the front 51 of the valve body. A reciprocable valve member 54 is located within the chamber 52. Thus, filtered water from the filtered water passage 28 passes through the passage into the chamber 52 and into an interior chamber 56 of the valve member 54. The inner chamber 56 has a plurality of openings 58 which are blocked in fig. 2 so that filtered water cannot enter the filtered water passage 60 which is in communication with the filtered water discharge port 26. The valve element 54 has a head 62 which is connected by a snap-on connector 63 to a button 64 to form a manual control for controlling the discharge of filtered water from the tap. A coil spring 66 biases the button 64 to move the valve member 54 toward the rest or release position, as shown in fig. 2.

The head of the valve member 54 surrounds a seal 68 which seals against a part 70 of the front 51 of the valve body. The head 62 has a tapered portion 72 which, in fig. 2, lies just above the passage 60 and a sealing ring 74 is provided at the junction of the tapered portion 72 and the larger end of the valve member 54. In fig. 2, the sealing ring 74 may prevent filtered water from entering the chamber 56, through the opening 58 and into the filtered water discharge passage 60. The valve member 54 may have a plurality of seals 76, which may be square seals, that extend around its periphery in sealing contact with portions of the front 51 of the valve body to prevent filtered water from leaking outside the valve member 54.

Fig. 3 illustrates the position of the valve when the button 64 is depressed for the purpose of draining filtered water. It should be noted that valve member 54 has been urged inwardly and depresses spring 66, thereby unseating seal 74 from a surface 78 of valve body 70 and placing opening 58 in communication with chamber 80 within valve body 70 and the exterior of valve member 54. In this way, filtered water is able to pass from the chamber 56 into the chamber 80 through the opening 58 and then down through the filtered water channel 60 to the filtered water discharge port 26. As will be discussed below, once the valve element is moved to the position illustrated in fig. 3, the faucet will remain in its filtered water discharge state until the water is turned off.

The unfiltered water passage starts from the outside of the filter and is an annular passage that is located outside the filter and within the faucet housing tube portion 16. Water will pass through the passage 82 and into the annular passage 84 of the valve body 40. Water flows from passage 84 into a chamber 86 located outside of the front 51 of the valve body. From the chamber 86, the water flows into a circular recess 96 and through a circumferential opening 98 into a passage 100 directly above the outlet 102 which constitutes the unfiltered water discharge 24.

Fig. 2 illustrates the normal position of the faucet when the button 64 is not operated to discharge filtered water. The water now passes through the channels, chambers, grooves and cavities all the way to the outlet 102.

When the button 64 is depressed, the valve member 54 moves from the position of FIG. 2 to the position of FIG. 3, and a contact surface 104 with a sealing ring 106 moves into contact with a tapered surface 108 on a portion of the valve body front 51 to close off the flow of water from the passage 98 to the opening 102.

When the valve is moved to this position, unfiltered water within the annular chamber 86 will exert pressure against the contact surface 104 and the seal 106, holding the valve element in the position shown in fig. 3. The pressure exerted by the water is sufficient to overcome the restoring force of the spring 66. In this way, the faucet will remain in its filtered water position until the faucet is closed, at which time the return spring 66 will move the valve element back to the unfiltered water discharge position shown in fig. 2, since there is no pressure urging the valve element into the state shown in fig. 3, or the filtered water position.

The filter end cap 32 has a cylindrical boss or plug 95 shaped and dimensioned for placement within the passage 90 of the valve body 40. Passage 90 communicates with a passage 92 in the front 51 of the valve body, with passage 92 communicating with opening 102 through passage 100. If a filter is located in the faucet, unfiltered water will not flow from the annular channel 82 outside the filter into the channel 90 and into the unfiltered water discharge 24. The plug 95 and its seal 97 may prevent such flow. However, if the filter is not present, unfiltered water will flow along this path, and if the button 64 is operated, unfiltered water will flow out of both the drain opening 24 and the filtered water drain opening 26. When the button 64 is released, no filtered water will flow, but unfiltered water will continue to drain. Since this is not the normal operating state of the faucet, it will alert the operator that no filter is present in the faucet.

A printed circuit board 112 carrying the circuit components shown in fig. 7 is mounted on a projection 114 outside the front part 51 of the valve body. The battery compartment 116 houses a battery 118 which is connected to the printed circuit board 112 by a contact 120. The battery also has a second contactor not shown. A switch 122 is mounted on an extension arm 124 of the button 64 and interfaces with a contact 126 when the button is moved from the position of fig. 2 to the water filtration position of fig. 3. Closing of the switch 124 on the contactor 126 will cause the power from the battery to communicate with the printed wiring board, causing the light emitting diodes driven by the battery to illuminate. A light pipe 128 is aligned with a pair of leds 130. Depending on the remaining life of the filter, the diode will emit light in certain specific cases.

The circuitry of fig. 7 includes a microprocessor 132 having outputs coupled to a red led 134 and a green led 136. When the momentary mechanical switch 122 is closed, the microprocessor receives power from the battery 118. The microprocessor connection to the battery power source is maintained by a MOSFET switch 138 in parallel with a switch 122 which is turned on once the mechanical switch 122 supplies power to the microprocessor. The service life of the battery can be effectively prolonged by connecting the MOSFET switch and the mechanical switch in a parallel connection mode. The MOSFET switch 138 will close whenever the mechanical switch 122 is closed, and the microprocessor 132 will determine when the MOSFET switch is open. Thus, the supply time of the power will depend on the use of the microprocessor and not the mechanical switch. Also connected to the microprocessor 132 is a test point 140 and a non-volatile memory 142. In addition to controlling circuit operation, microprocessor 132 also provides data storage related to the use of the faucet filter. The data may include the effective life of the filter currently in use, the number of switch actuations to provide filtered water discharge, and the condition of the filter in use within that particular faucet.

The circuitry of fig. 7 may selectively activate the red and green leds 134 and 136 to indicate the status of the filter. The microprocessor will control the illumination of the led and will only operate when the mechanical switch 122 is initially closed by the action of the button 64. Thus, the display will illuminate only when filtered water is discharged by the faucet. As mentioned above, whenever the line is driven, the filter lifetime and the remaining filter life are dependent on a measure of the time the microprocessor is driven. The microprocessor accumulates the total time it is driven, which accumulation will indicate the remaining life of the filter.

As an example of a method of operation, assuming a filter capacity of 200 gallons, this capacity is replaced by a filter life of 400 minutes, and when the filter is placed in the faucet, the button 64 is operated, the red and green leds 134 and 136 are both activated, and a yellow display signal will be emitted from the light pipe 128 for a period of 5 minutes. This will be an alternating display because when both leds are driven, it will pulse between a pure green display and a pure yellow display. After the first 5 minutes has elapsed, there will be only a green display pulse from the led 136, since the microprocessor is now only powering this one led. This situation prevails whenever the filter is operated, until the remaining life of the filter is 32 minutes. During this time and the next 16 minutes of filter use, both the red led 134 and the green led 136 will pulse when the display is operating. When the remaining life of the filter is 16 minutes and the display is driven, only the red led 134 is pulsed. This state will continue until the remaining life of the filter is 0 minutes, after which any actuation of the filter will cause a more rapid red display pulse.

The above is only one example of the possible display order of the filter. It is important that the filter is operated only when the filtered water is discharged, thereby reducing the consumption of the battery, and that the filter accurately provides the user with an indication of the remaining life of the filter.

While the preferred form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it should be understood that many modifications, substitutions and changes may be made thereto.

Claims (17)

1. A faucet having a plurality of water outlets, comprising an outer housing, a water inlet connection to said housing, unfiltered water discharge means mounted on said housing, filtered water discharge means mounted on said housing, a water filter mounted in said housing, valve means mounted in said housing and connected to each of said water outlets,

an unfiltered water pathway leading from said water inlet connection to said valve means, a filtered water pathway leading from said water inlet connection through said filter to said valve means, filtered water manual control means being controllable externally of the housing to operate said valve means to pass filtered water to said filtered water discharge means and to prevent unfiltered water from flowing to said unfiltered water discharge means, and

an electrical circuit mounted in said housing to which the filtered water display means in the housing is connected, means being provided in the electrical circuit which are responsive to operation of said manual control means so that said electrical circuit operates the display means during discharge of filtered water.

2. The faucet of claim 1, wherein said valve means includes a valve member movable by said manual control means and located within said unfiltered and filtered water paths.

3. The faucet of claim 2, wherein said valve member has a portion located within said unfiltered water pathway that closes said unfiltered water pathway when said valve member is moved by the manual control means.

4. The faucet of claim 3, wherein said valve member portion has a pressure surface exposed to the pressure of the water flow in said unfiltered water pathway, said pressure surface being adapted to hold said valve member in a position to close said unfiltered water pathway upon actuation and subsequent release of the manual control means.

5. The faucet of claim 4, including spring means biasing said valve member to a position in which it normally closes said filtered water path.

6. The faucet of claim 5, wherein said spring means extends around said valve member.

7. The faucet of claim 4, wherein said filtered water pathway extends within said valve member and said unfiltered water pathway extends around said valve member.

8. The faucet of claim 7, wherein said valve member includes a chamber located within said filtered water pathway.

9. The faucet of claim 8, further comprising a flow restrictor located within said filtered water pathway.

10. The faucet of claim 9, wherein said flow restrictor has an opening that is offset from the axis of said filtered water pathway.

11. The faucet of claim 1, wherein the electrical circuit includes a switch and a battery, and wherein closing the switch connects the battery to the display to form a closed circuit, and operating the manual control means closes the switch.

12. The faucet of claim 1, wherein the display device comprises a pair of light emitting diodes, each of the diodes being a different color.

13. The faucet of claim 12, wherein the circuitry includes means for supplying battery power to each of the two leds separately or simultaneously, such that the display means produces three different colors.

14. The faucet of claim 1, wherein the unfiltered water pathway extends around the exterior of the water filter, and the filtered water pathway passes through the water filter.

15. The faucet of claim 14, wherein said valve means includes two unfiltered water paths leading from outside said water filter to said unfiltered water discharge means, said filter including a plug normally closing one of said unfiltered water paths.

16. A water filter for use in a water tap having a filtered water discharge and an unfiltered water discharge, the filter comprising an input end cap and an output end cap, filter material being disposed between said end caps, there being an internal passage in said body of filter material for the passage of filtered water, an extension of said output end cap being aligned with the axial axis of the internal passage to allow filtered water to pass through the filter, and a sealing plug extending outwardly from the output end cap adjacent said extension, the sealing plug acting to close an unfiltered water passage in the tap.

17. The faucet of claim 16, wherein the passageway is coaxial with the body of filter material.