Abstract:
A hub assembly for a faucet handle having an interconnectable top member and skirt member. The top member having a bottom portion of reduced diameter with an external recess formed therein a short distance up from its bottom. The skirt member having an upper opening sized to receive the bottom portion of the top member. Resilient members being formed in the skirt member to extend downwardly and into the upper opening. The resilient members being engageable in the recess of the bottom portion releasably to connect the top member and the skirt.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a hub assembly for a faucet handle, which is made up of an interconnected top member and a skirt member. It is desirable to make the hub assembly with design and material flexibility while providing a simple and solid connection. In the prior art, a one-piece hub assembly was generally used, but if pieces were connected to each other, the same material was usually used for all of the components and/or the connection or disconnection was complex and difficult to make. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved hub assembly that uses two interconnected components that are of the same or different material and are snap-fitted to each other for easy connection and/or disconnection to each other. It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved hub assembly that is simple and solid to make, is flexible as to design and material, and is easy to assemble and/or disassemble. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a hub assembly that protects and operates the water valve (not shown) while providing the availability of a variety of aesthetic designs. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the accompanying drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a partial exploded sectional view of a preferred (first) embodiment of the hub assembly of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a partial broken away and sectional side elevational view of the skirt member of the preferred embodiment of the hub assembly of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of the encircled portion of the skirt member shown in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a top plan view, partly in section, of the skirt member of the preferred embodiment of the hub assembly of the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the top member of the preferred embodiment of the hub assembly of the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is an enlarged side elevational view of the encircled portion of the top member shown in FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial sectional side elevational view of the encircled portion of the top member shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 8 is a sectional side elevational view of a second embodiment of the hub assembly of the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a sectional side elevational view of a third embodiment of the hub assembly of the present invention; 
     FIG. 10 is a sectional side elevational view of a fourth embodiment of the hub assembly of the present invention; 
     FIG. 11 a sectional side elevational view of a fifth embodiment of the hub assembly of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 12 is a sectional side elevational view of a sixth embodiment of the hub assembly of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The preferred (i.e., the first) embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 through 7, wherein FIG. 1 shows a hub assembly  20  in an exploded view thereof that depicts a conventional valve stem  22  that is connected to a water valve (not shown) through a coupling  24 . The upper end  26  of the valve stem  22  has a tapped hole (not shown) formed about an axis  28 , and a plurality of splines  30  formed on the upper end  26  of the valve stem  22 . Rotation of the valve stem  22  controls the flow of water (hot or cold) through the water valve. 
     The hub assembly  20  shown in FIG. 1 is made principally of two components, namely, a top member  32  and a skirt member  34  that are interconnected to each other, as is more fully explained hereinafter. The two components can be made of the same or different materials and the design of each component can be varied as desired. Some examples of different materials that may be used for either or both of the components are brass, plastic, steel, zinc or the like, or a coating or film of suitable material applied to one of these materials. Likewise, the designs of the components can be varied, as is shown in the several embodiments of the present invention. In each case, a handle will be connected to the hub assembly  20  to suitably operate the water valve and the hub assembly  20  will enclose the water valve in an aesthetically pleasing design that also protects the water valve. In some installations, a first material and/or design may be used and, subsequently, a second or third material and/or design may be substituted therefor, as desired. 
     The top member  32  of the handle assembly  20 , as shown in FIG. 1, has a countersunk central opening  36  formed about the axis  28  with a tapped reduced diameter at  38  formed at the lower end of the opening  36  which continues into an enlarged opening  40  that extends upwardly from a bottom end  42  to terminate in a flat top  44 . The enlarged opening  40  has a plurality of splines  46  formed therein of a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the splines  30  of the upper end  26  of the valve stem  22 . 
     The splines  30  of the upper end  26  of the valve stem  22  will be operatively disposed within the spline  46  of the top member  32 . The connection is fixed by a flat headed screw  48  which has a slotted head  50  that is tapered inwardly and downwardly to a reduced diameter threaded section  52  that will be threadedly engaged in a tapped hole (not shown) formed in the top of the upper end  26  of the valve stem  22  so that, in connected position, the screw  48  will have its head  50  engage the countersink  38  so as to affix the valve stem  22  to the top member  32  of the handle assembly  20 . A handle (not shown) will be suitably connected to the top member  32  at the splined upper portion  54 , best seen in FIG. 5, to operated the valve stem  22  and the water valve in a conventional manner. A pair of vertically spaced ribs, with upper rib  56  and a lower rib  58  separated by a vertical portion  60  that provides a smooth transition from the bottom of the rib  56  to a larger diameter vertical section that terminates in the top of the rib  58 . The rib  58  has a flat bottom  62  that terminates in a cylindrical bottom portion  64  of the top member  32  having a reduced diameter that extends vertically and downwardly therefrom. An annular recess  66  is formed in the bottom portion  64  a short distance up from the bottom  42  thereof. FIG. 6 shows an enlarged illustration of the recess  66  is formed between a flat bottom edge  68  formed perpendicular to the vertical wall of the bottom portion  64  and a rounded top edge  70  that extends into the recess  66  from the vertical wall of the bottom portion  64 . 
     The skirt member  34 , shown in FIGS. 2,  3  and  4 , has a bulbous shape with a circular bottom edge  72  and a smaller circular upper opening  74  of substantially the same diameter as that of the bottom portion  64  of the top member  32 . The upper opening  74  has a top edge  76  which turns downwardly to form a plurality of resilient members or fingers  78  that have a bent end  80  that extends in the direction of the opening  74 . The resilient members  78  are separated by a cutout space  82  that is formed therebetween to extend upwardly from the end  80  to terminate below the top edge  76 . 
     The handle assembly  20  can have the top member  32  and the skirt member  34  interconnected or disconnected to each other, as is shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, by disposing the bottom portion  64  into the upper opening  74  and extended downwardly until the top edge  76  of the skirt member  34  contacts the flat bottom  62  of the rib  58  of the top member  32 . When this occurs, the bent end  80  of the resilient member  78  will have entered the recess  66  of the bottom portion  64  of the top member  32 . The resilient members  78  will yield outwardly during the downward descent of the bottom portion  64  until the bent end  80  enters the recess to spring the resilient members  78  back into locking position whereby the skirt member  34  and the top member  32  are interconnected. This connection is deemed a snap-fit and, with sufficient force, the components may be disconnected from each other. The bottom portion  64  and the resilient members  78 , as best shown in FIG. 7 in connected position, are connected substantially along the full length of the bottom portion  64  that lies from the rounded top edge  70  of the recess  66  to the bottom  62  of the rib  58 . The two contact points between the top member  32  and the skirt members namely at the bottom  62  of the rib  58  and the top edge  76  of the upper opening  74 , and along the length of the bottom portion  64  and the resilient members  78 . 
     In FIG. 8, a second embodiment of the present invention is shown and the components are functionally, if not physically, similar to the components of the first embodiment of the present invention described hereinbefore in FIGS. 1 through 7. Once again, the materials and the designs may vary from those shown and described in the first embodiment of the present invention and the materials used may be coated or uncoated in any suitable combination and made of any suitable material. Likewise, the design shown is only one of many possible designs. The handle assembly  90  is made up of a top member  92  and a skirt member  94 . The top member  92  has a countersunk central opening  96  that is counterbored at  98 , counterbore extends upwardly from a bottom  100  thereof. External splines  102  are formed at the upper end of the top member  92  and internal splines  104  are formed in the counterbore  98 . A handle (not shown) will be connected to the splines  102  and the splined upper end of a valve stem of a water valve (not shown) will be connected to the internal spline  104  for conventional operation of the water valve by the handle. The top member has a rib  106  formed midway of its length below the splines  102  with a bottom edge  107 , and above a cylindrical bottom portion  108 , that has an external recess  110  formed near the bottom  100 . The skirt member  94  is bulbous and shaped similar to the skirt member  34  of the first embodiment of the present invention. The skirt member  94  has a flat bottom  112  and a bulbous side  114  that terminate at a top  116  of an upper opening  118  of substantially the same diameter as that of the bottom portion  108  of the top member  92  which is disposed in the upper opening  118 . A plurality of resilient members or fingers  120  extend downwardly to yieldably contact the bottom portion  108  above the recess  110 . The lower edge  122  of the resilient members  120  is bent inwardly to be engaged in the recess  110  upon the top  116  of the skirt member  94  contacting the bottom  100  of the rib  106  of the top member  92 . This provides the same snap-fit that was described more fully in connection with the first embodiment of the present invention so as to interconnect the top member  92  to the skirt member  94  in a solid and stable manner while permitting the components to be easily disconnected from each other whenever desired for purposes of maintenance or to change the material and/or design of one or both of the components of the handle assembly  90 . 
     In most instances, the same reference characters as was for the second embodiment of the present invention will be used for the third (FIG.  9 ), fourth (FIG.  10 ), fifth (FIG. 11) and sixth (FIG. 12) embodiments of the present invention in that, in each of these embodiments of the present invention, though the designs are different and the materials may or may not be different, the invention is substantially the same and the handle assembly  90  in those instances will have interconnected components of a top member  92  and a skirt member  94 . However, in some instances, the reference characters will be different, as will be indicated hereinafter. 
     In the third (FIG. 9) and fourth (FIG. 10) embodiments of the present invention, a handle (not shown) will be connected at splines  102 , while in the fifth (FIG. 11) and sixth (FIG. 12) embodiments, a lever (not shown) may be screw connected in a tapped hole  124  which intersects with the central opening  96  of the top member  92 . Whether the water valve is operated by a handle or a lever is immaterial in that it will function in the same conventional manner. 
     It will be appreciated that the above described invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.