Abstract:
A shower bath tap valve assembly allowing easy production and assembly and adaptable also to a ceramic cartridge is essentially comprised of a valve body, a cylindrical balance valve seat to accommodate a balance valve to be forthwith placed in a central trough, connected to a cartridge and secured in position with a sleeve and a fixation nut.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   (a) Field of the Invention 
   The present invention is related to a shower bath tap valve assembly, and more particularly, to one that is firmly secured in balance, allows easier production and assembly, and can be adapted to a ceramic or a general cartridge. 
   (b) Description of the Prior Art 
   A shower bath tap in the present invention relates to a fixed tap in configuration as illustrated in  FIG. 1  of the accompanying drawings. Wherein, a valve assembly  1  is mounted to a disk shape base  2 ; a handle  3  provided on the base  2  connects a cartridge of the valve assembly to control water amount delivered; a cold water inlet  11 , a hot water inlet  12 , a water outlet  13 , a drain  14 , a trough  15  to accommodate the cartridge, and another trough  16  to accommodate a balance valve are provided on the valve body; the water outlet  13  is connected to a diverter (not illustrated); and the valve assembly  1  is then provided with the pipe work to connect through a shower head  4  and a bathtub tap  5 . 
   The shower bath tap as described above is characterized by that both cold and hot water, before entering into a valve body  10 , pass through a balance valve  20  and a cartridge  30  where both cold and hot water are properly mixed and delivered through the water outlet  13 . Both the cartridge  30  and the balance valve  20  are members of the prior art in their configuration as illustrated in  FIGS. 3 ,  5 , and  6 . The operation of the balance valve  20  is illustrated in  FIG. 7 , wherein, both cold and hot water from the water supply lines flow respectively through the cold and hot water tubes  11 ,  12  of the valve body  10  into the balance valve  20 . As illustrated in  FIG. 7A , a mobile part  22  of the balance valve  20  remains at the center for being subject to the equal pressure from the cold water and the hot water if the amount delivered of both cold and hot water are equal for both cold and hot water to flow to the balance valve  20  through a left water way  221  and a right water way  222 . As illustrated in  FIG. 7B , when only cold water is supplied t rough the cold water inlet  11 , water current pressure is applied through the left water way  221  of the mobile part  22  on a separation plate  223  to move the mobile part  2  to its right, thus to block a left water pore  211  of a fixed part  21  to prevent the cold water from being delivered. On the contrary, if only hot water is supplied through the cold water inlet  12  as illustrated in  FIG. 7C , water current pressure is applied, the mobile part  22  is moved to its left to block a right water pore  212  of a fixed part  21  to prevent the hot water from being delivered. Referring to  FIG. 6 , both cold and hot water flowing through the balance valve and entering into the cartridge  30  are mixed in the cartridge  30  and the mixing ratio is controlled by turning the handle  3  before allowing the mixed water to be delivered through the water outlet  13 . This type of shower bath tap is known for its advantage of giving a very accurate regulation and control of the temperature of the water delivered through the balance valve and the cartridge. However, the mechanism of the cartridge may be of a general one or a precision ceramic one, arid the configuration of the balance valve varies depending on which one is used. Accordingly, various types of valve body must be designed to cope with the cartridge and the balance valve for assembly, resulting in higher production and assembly costs due to inconsistent structures among the members. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a shower bath tap assembly housing a cylindrical balance valve seat to accommodate a balance valve that can be directly placed in a central trough of the valve body and adapted to a general or a ceramic cartridge in achieving the standardized specification for the tap valve assembly for production and assembly costs reduction. 
   The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts. 
   Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded view of the prior art of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a view showing an assembly of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 6  is another sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 7  is a schematic view showing the operation of a balance valve in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 8  is a view showing the appearance of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 9  is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in anyway. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 A,  7 B, and  7 C, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is comprised of a valve body  10 , a balance valve  20 , a ceramic cartridge  30 , a sleeve  40 , a fixation nut  50  and a balance valve seat  60 . Wherein, the valve body  10  is provided with a cold water inlet  11 , a hot water inlet  12 , a water outlet  13  and a drain  14  all connected through a central trough  15  of the valve body  10 . The balance valve seat  60  has an outer diameter which is the same as an inner diameter of the central trough  15  and is directly placed in the central trough  15 . An accommodation trough  61  is provided on one side of the balance valve seat  60  to receive the balance valve  20  (a member of the prior art) comprised of a fixed part  21  and a movable part  22 ; a cold waterway  62 , a hot water way  63  and a water outlet way  64  are provided on the end surface of the balance valve seat  60  with both of the cold and hot water ways  62 ,  63  being connected through the accommodation trough  61 . The ceramic cartridge  30 , also a member of the prior art, is provided at its bottom with a cold water inlet, a hot water inlet and a water outlet and contains a current mixing mechanism; and rod extending from its top being connected to a handle to directly have the ceramic cartridge  30  mounted on the balance valve seat  60 , covered with the sleeve  40  and secured in the central trough  15  of the valve  10 . Furthermore, the fixation nut  50  is screwed to the central trough  15  of the valve body  10  before being screwed to the other end of the sleeve to complete the assembly of the entire valve body. Wherein, both of the cold and hot water ways  62 ,  63  of the balance valve seat  60  are respectively connected at their lower ends to both of the cold d hot water inlets  11 ,  12  of the valve body while their upper ends are respectively connected to cold and hot water inlets of the ceramic cartridge  30 . The water outlet way  64  of the balance valve seat  60  is connected at its top to the water outlet of the ceramic cartridge  30  and its lower end, to the water outlet  13  of the valve body  10  so that cold and hot water have to first flow through the balance valve seat  60  to undergo regulation and control of closing or opening the cold and hot water ways of the balance valve  20  (in a way in consistency to the prior art) before entering into cold and hot water inlets of the valve body  10  where both cold and hot water are mixed at a proper ratio by turning the handle and delivered to the water outlet  13  of the valve body  10  through the water outlet way  64  of the balance valve seat  60 . Furthermore, as illustrated in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the specification of the valve body  10  can be standardized due to the installation of the balance valve seat  60  of the present invention, thus is also applicable for the assembly with a general cartridge. 
   It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above. 
   While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.