Aerator with variable proportioning

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Millions of water aerators have been made in accordance with the disclosures of my basic U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,210,846 and 2,316,832. In these aerators, a jet-forming means projects jets of high velocity water over wire mesh screens in the presence of air, the jet velocity and screen resistance being proportioned so as to cause the production of a soft, bubble-laden aerated stream. In aerators built in accordance with the first of the aforesaid patents, No. 2,210,846, in which the jet-forming means comprised a single diaphragm member, the issuing bubbly stream was harsh and uneven unless greater screen resistance was used which decreased aeration. This shortcoming was remedied by the devices disclosed in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,316,832 and 2,104,824 which provide a second diaphragm upstream the diaphragm which produces said jets. Practically all aerators now in use have such two diaphragms, or the single diaphragm of my later U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,929 which delivers highly swollen jets requiring even less screen resistance than do the jets from the two diaphragms of my U.S. Pat. No. 2,316,832 in order to produce an even and soft, highly bubbleladen stream.

Aerators constructed in accordance with the aforesaid U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,210,846 and 2,316,832 have been in widespread use to produce such a highly aerated stream despite a significant decrease in water flow and a resulting high pressure which may tend to increase the leakage of water past the packings used in the faucet. Moreover, in recent years, it has been found that the high back pressure resulting from the use of aerators designed to produce a highly aerated stream will often prevent the automatic ignition of gas fired heaters. In order to overcome this, aerators are now being made and sold having a greater number of orifices in the diaphragms or with bigger orifices, so that whereas the back pressure with the earlier types of aerators was often in the order of 30 pounds per square inch, with the new type of aerators it is usually only about 10 pounds per square inch.

The provision of more, and/or bigger orifices in the diaphragm results in the delivery of more water with less jet velocity over a screen area which is no bigger than before. It has been well established that in order to provide optimum aeration, it is necessary to have a predetermined relationship between the jet velocity of the streamlet and the screen resistance. However, such a modification of a water aerator as to provide more or bigger holes for the jet-forming means produces a substantial departure from optimum conditions so that such aerators neither provide the benefits of a fully aerated drinking water nor the high degree of effervescence of the original bubbly stream which was pleasanter to the touch and washed faster. However, manufacturers of water aerators have found it impractical to market one type of aerator with a high degree of aeration and another which produces only a very low back pressure; consequently, those who do not employ gas-fired heaters on their premises and therefore do not have a heater ignition problem, like those who are not concerned with increased rate of flow or with decreased back pressure, are deprived of the benefits of having properly aerated water.

In accordance with the present invention, many of the foregoing problems are overcome by providing an element which is assembled within the aerator, preferably above the jet-forming means. Such element may be reversible in position and also removable and is capable, when in position, of selectively blocking, wholly or partially, some of the through passages of the jet-forming means, or may be capable, in some embodiments, of accelerating the velocity of some or all of the streams issuing from the jet-forming means.

The aerator is so designed that it provides substantially the desired proportioning between jet stream velocity and screen resistance according to one assembly of the aforementioned

3,554,451 attainment of good aeration at low water pressure. Moreover, while the flow restricting means of adjustable prior art aerators are. either applied to aerators embodying a single diaphragm so as to obturate directly some of the orifices which project streamlets upon the mixing screens resulting in the delivery of a harsh stream, or closed the peripheral holes of the downstream diaphragm as aforesaid with the result that the issuing stream was thin and splashy, in the present invention, by contrast, the restriction or obturation is effected upstream in such a way that in some cases all of the orifices which project jets of water over the screens may be left open so that the resulting stream of aerated water is even and soft.

In addition, whereas the flow restricting means of adjustable aerators of the prior art requires manual controls from the outside, were costly and unattractive, the element of the present invention is accessible only upon removal of the aerator from the faucet, is simple in construction, and therefore costs very little to make.

Consequently, the objectives sought by the prior art adjustable aerators, namely the provision of a fully bubble-laden, even, and soft stream at high as well as low water pressures, could not be obtained. The housewife would always select the position giving a poorly aerated but less splashy high rate of flow in lieu of a highly aerated but harsh and splashy stream. With the aerator of the present invention, on the other hand, the element, with its preset proportions will always give an antisplash and even stream, with a predetermined degree of aeration for each of its positions. As a result, in cities without gas-fire heaters, the aerators of this invention nevertheless prove attractive since they provide full aeration; in locations where water heaters are used, but on faucets not used in proximity to such water heaters, the element can still be placed in such a position as to provide the best degree of aeration. In all instances, however, the element may either be turned upside down within the aerator or removed so as to permit control of the back pressure and rate of water flow.

Another attribute of this invention is that the aforesaid eleelement is ordinarily provided with a considerable number of apertures whose maximum dimension is such to enable it to entrain sediment and other particles which would otherwise clog in either the normal jet-forming means or the downstream mixing screens.

Further, whereas in prior adjustable aerators, the holes of the single perforate disc in the diaphragm are closed or restricted, either by a closely contacting upstream disc or by the sealing periphery of a second diaphragm placed upstream ing the restriction of flow is located over the upstream side of the through passages of the jet-forming means disclosed in one or the other of my aforesaid three patents. The flow restricting element may, or may not embody said filter element. Also, it may, or may not, embody said sealing periphery, the embodi- 55 ment of which in said element makes it possible to dispense with the use of a washer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an aerator according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 1A and IB illustrate alternative forms of the invention 55 of FIG. 1; .

FIG. 0 IS A cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate plan views of the aerator ot FIG. 2 according to two alternative embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of the invention; .

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative form ot jetforming means and insert adapted for use in an aerator of the type shown in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate alternative embodiments of an insert adaptable for use with the embodiment of FIG. 4A; and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of still another embodiment ofthe present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The aerator of FIG. 1 comprises an outer cylindrical casing 10 having an interior upstream ledge 11 which supports an annular inner casing member 12. The member 12 defines an annular air passageway 13 extending from the downstream or discharge end ofthe aerator to the mixing.space 14, the air entering into the mixing space through the circumferential openings 15 in member 12. Member 12 has an intumed ledge 16 at the bottom which supports a plurality of mixing screens 17 in stacked relation. Near its upstream end, member 12 is provided with an annular intumed ledge 18 which supports two spaced diaphragm members 19 and 20, each having a plurality of holes 21 and 22, respectively.

Positioned at the top of the uppermost diaphragm member 20 is a flow control member 23 which is provided with a plurality of through apertures 24 and an annular supporting ring 25 which may serve as a sealing washer and thereby eliminate the need for the washer ordinarily used for this purpose. When 25 this element 23 is in the position shown, the plurality of annular rings 26 effectively block many ofthe through passages in the upper diaphragm 20, and this comes about because the bottom surface 27 of each of the annular rings 26 is essentially coplanar with the bottom surface 28 of ring 25, thereby per³θ mitting each bottom surface of a ring 26 to lie against the upper surface of diaphragm member 20. Incidentally, it should be noted that the outermost peripheral ring of holes in the upper diaphragm member 20 are left unblocked, and only the inner rows of apertures are blocked. As mentioned previously, this ensures that the aerated stream issuing from the aerator will be a full, rounded stream.

If the element 23 of FIG. 1 is inverted, the annular rings 26, nu»ma>i>>uuwv.u»·______________________ will then obviously no longer block any of the through ment has substantially utility as a filter element. Thus, such ₄θ passages in the upper diaphragm member 20; instead, water ' ^c win then pass through the orifices 24 and through all of the through passages 22 in the upper diaphragm member 20. Thus there is then very much less restriction in the flow of water through the upper diaphragm member 20 although, quite ob45 viously, more restriction of water flow exists than if the member 23 is not even present within the aerator.

With the element 23 in the position shown in FIG. 1, the proportioning of the jet velocity of streamlets issuing from the rne sealing penpueiy v* - --------_r,—-_o- _r------ . diaphragm members 20 and 21 is so related to the screen resaid perforate disc, in the present invention, the element caus- 50 _si_stance offered by the mixing screens 17 as to produce sub^F .. -- . . . -----—stantially optimum water aeration. When the element 23 is reversed in position, there is a significant reduction in jet velocity and in back pressure, but still providing good aeration at low water pressures, and/or a saving of water at high water pressures. Finally, the element 23 may be entirely removed from the aerator assembly, thereby completely removing the restriction of flow through the jet-forming elements 19 and 20 with a resultant lowering of back pressure, a corresponding increase of rate of flow, together with some impairment of the degree of water aeration.

The alternative embodiment of FIG. 1A illustrates jet-forming means or diaphragm members 19α and 20α which may be used instead ofthe corresponding elements 12 and 20 of FIG. ₃ 1. The additional flow control element 23α in the position ’ shown in FIG. 1A blocks the two outer rows of through passages in element 20α; whereas, when in the reverse position, element 23α permits a flow of water through the outermost two rows of passages but restricts flow through the inner70 most circles of apertures.

It has been mentioned previously that blocking the extenor or peripheral rows of holes of the jet-forming means results in a nonrounded, and splashy stream. These drawbacks are considerably lessened, when, in accordance with the embodiment 75 of FIG. 1 A, the lower jet-forming element 19α is provided with

3,554,451 a rounded portion 19b as shown since the jets issuing therefrom tend to be divergent and thus fill the entire available downstream space even through the outer rows of apertures do not receive jets of water impinging thereon because of the blockage effect provided by the element 23α when in the position shown in FIG. 1 A. When element 23α is removed, the diaphragm members 19α and 20α will operate as disclosed in my Pat. No. 3,316,832. The back pressure is thus very substantially reduced and the rate of water flow increased.

In the embodiment of FIG. IB, the flow control element 23b has an annular sealing rim 30 which in the position shown in FIG. IB, spaces the bottom surface of the element 23b from the upper surface of the perforated jet-forming element 31. (In FIG. IB, only the upper of the two jet-forming elements is shown, but it will be understood that two such elements can be provided as shown for example in FIG. 1.) It will also be apparent from FIG. IB that if the element 23b is reversed in position, the upwardly extending portion 32 which is coplanar with the upper edge of the annular sealing ring 30 will then rest directly upon the upper surface of element 31 so as to close off the inner rows of holes 33, leaving, however, the outer rows of holes open so that a fully rounded stream of aerated stream of water will in any event be produced.

With the element 23b in the position shown in FIG. IB moderate aeration and low back pressures result. When the element 23b is reversed in position a fully aerated stream is produced, but with higher back pressure and lower water flow. When the element 23b is entirely removed, impaired aeration results, but the back pressure is then at its lowest and a full flow of water results.

Referring now to FIG. 2 there is shown the single diaphragm element of my prior U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,929. Assuming that the flow control element 34 is not in place, water will enter each of the holes 35,36, and 37 from either side of the respective bridges 39,40 and 41, thereby providing a tortuous path for each stream of water which tends to produce a swollen jet. The flow control element 34 is provided with a plurality of annular depending portions 42 and 43 (shown also in the plan view of FIG. 2) which enter into the space between the successive bridges so as to obturate, at least in part, the passages which provide water to the holes 35-37. The cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 shows also one of the radial webs 44 which interconnects the successive depending annular portions 42 and 43 to each other as well as to the hub portion 45 and the annular ring 46 which may act as a sealing washer, Member 34 fits over the upstanding portion 59a of one-piece diaphragm 50.

Positioned atop member 34 is a filter screen 47 which blocks particles that would otherwise obstruct the passages in the diaphragm or mixing screens. As an alternative, the screen 47 may be removed and then instead the portions which lie between the ring-shaped portions 43 and 42 (see FIG. 2B) may be divided by a plurality of closely spaced annular slots 42α whose radial spacing is such that they will trap sediment and other particles and thus act as a screen.

As with the previously described embodiments, the element 34 may be either placed in the position shown or may be inverted. When inverted, the annular portions 42 and 43 no longer protrude into the space between the successive bridge portions 39, 4·, and 41. Moreover, it will be noted that the spacing 4* on the outer annular ring 46 is less than that of corresponding portion 49 with the result that when the element 34 is reversed in position, there will be some clearance between the top of each of the annular bridges 39,40 and 41 and the adjacent surface of the element 34 so that there will be less of a restriction of water flow into the holes 35-37. Again, the element 34 may be entirely removed so as to provide even less obturation ofthe passages through the jet-forming means.

FIG. 3 is a partial view of an all-plastic, one-piece aerator as disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,964. In FIG. 3, the flow control element 52 has depending annular portions 53 and 54. The portion 53 fits in the annular groove 55 so as to block one entry to the passage 56, and the depending annular portion 54 together with the remainder of the portion 53 completely block off the holes 57. Consequently, jets of water will emerge from holes 58 and from holes 56, but with the latter partially obstructed. Obviously, when the element 52 is reversed in position, none of the passages 56, 57, or 58 is wholly blocked so that there is substantially less obstruction of the single piece diaphragm with a resultant decrease in back pressure. However, even with the element 52 in reverse position, there is some obturation of flow because of the fact that water can only pass through the plurality of small passages 59 provided in element 52. Consequently, when the element 52 is entirely removed, there is still less flow restriction with a corresponding decrease in back pressure and increase of water flow.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4 the flow control element 60 has a central stem 61 which is adapted to be threaded at its lower end into diaphragm 62. The element 60 has a plurality of apertures 62 therein which permits some flow of water into the two inner rows of passages 63 and 64. The outer row of passages are also only partially obturated by element 60. With element 60 in place a high degree of aeration is provided with a corresponding fairly high back pressure. When element 60 is removed, the back pressure is considerably lowered.

FIG. 4A illustrates an element 70 which may be used in connection with the diaphragm 62 of FIG. 4 in place of the flow control element 60. When placed on top of the diaphragm 62, with the collar portion 68 facing upwardly as in FIG. 4A, water can flow only restrictedly from each of the holes 63-65. However, when the element is placed in the inverted position, the collar 68 fits quite snugly into the inner circular space defined by bridge 69 so as to partially obturate the innermost row of holes 64. Element 70 is centered relative to diaphragm 62 by means of three or more outwardly extending, circumferentially spaced legs 71.

Element 70 may not only be used in place of element 60 of FIG. 4 but may also be placed on top of element 60 in order to block passages 60. This may be done when improved aeration is desired under very low water pressure conditions or when it is desired to reduce water consumption.

FIG. 4B illustrates still another flow control element 72 which may be used in place of element 60 of FIG. 4. The inner hub fits within the recess defined by annular bridge 69 and thereby partially obturates the innermost row of passages 64. Inner wall 74 is dimensioned to snugly fit over the annular bridge 74α of FIG. 4, thereby completely blocking holes 63 in diaphragm 62 to provide the highest velocity of the jet streamlets, the least rate of water flow, and the greatest back pressure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an aerator unit which is intended to be inserted into a casing such as a casing 10 of FIG. 1. The sleeve 75 which supports the mixing screen 76 is connected to ring 77 by ribs 78 and 79, which are integral with ring 77 and ribs 88, the latter being connected to the outer ring 80. Member 81 is connected to ring 77 by webs 82. Indentations 83 are provided in the intumed ledge 84 in order to permit the lower portion of a two-piece die which forms the unit to enter from the bottom and, by means of longitudinal ribs on such die portion, form such indentations 83 and thereby prevent the downward continuance of the ribs 78 and 79 which are formed by the upper die member. This makes possible the molding of the entire unit from a single piece except for screen 76 and the Upper reversible perforate diaphragm member 85.

In the position shown for the diaphragm member 85, the inner row of apertures 86 are entirely blocked, but when the element 85 is reversed in position, these apertures as well as the outer row of apertures 87 are open to thereby permit a lowering of the back pressure.

Having described several embodiments of my invention, I desire it to be understood that various modifications and alterations may be made to the specific forms shown without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.