Abstract:
Quick-install three-way pipe connector with a valve body, a lower pipe assembly and a switching element. The valve body has a fitting opening, a water inlet and a lower pipe orifice; the lower pipe assembly has an on-flow pipe and a counter-flow pipe; the upper ends of the on-flow and counter-flow pipes pass through the lower pipe orifice and fix inside the valve body by an upper connector; the switching element fixes on the lower end of the on-flow and counter-flow and has a lower water outlet; the fitting opening has an upper cover sealing a water inlet cavity. The water path includes: water in-flow from a support arm joint flowing sequentially through the water inlet, the on-flow pipe, the switching element, the counter-flow pipe and the water outlet. This is simple and quick to assemble, and avoids welding a threaded part on the counter-current pipe, thus saving costs.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an accessory of sanitary ware, especially to a quick-install three-way pipe connector which can couple with a standard supporting arm. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     American supporting arm is popular in some areas, it becomes a standard equipment in the domestic sanitary ware. The supporting arm is fixed in the side wall and connected to the water resource pre-installed in the wall. When in practical use, it needs to install a three-way pipe connector to the supporting arm for two extended outputs to connect higher head shower and lower hand shower. 
     This kind of three-way pipe connector has many kinds of structures, but they have common characters: they have a long lower pipe and a waterway switching mechanism, and the operation part of the waterway switching mechanism is usually disposed in the end of the lower pipe. The function is that the waterway is controllable in a lower position to outflow from higher head shower or lower hand shower. This kind of structure has something in common: the metal lower pipe is fixed with or welded with an internal threaded joint; the switching mechanism has complex moving element. The entire mechanism is assembled to the supporting arm, making it complicated; and the switching mechanism is complicated. 
     Above three-way pipe connector needs a quick and reliable structure to install the entire mechanism to the supporting arm, thus making it easy assembled and disassembled; besides it needs to save the cost and the time, such as the material to weld the threaded element to the lower pipe and the machining time. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     As needed, the present invention is provided with a quick-install three-way pipe connector, the technical proposal is as below: 
     A quick-install three-way pipe connector, which is fixed to an support arm ( 400 ) in the wall by means of a support arm joint ( 210 ), wherein comprising: 
     a valve body ( 100 ), the valve body ( 100 ) comprises a fitting opening ( 107 ), a water inlet ( 201 ), a water outlet ( 202 ) and a lower pipe orifice ( 203 ), which are interconnected, the water inlet ( 201 ) is connected to the support arm joint ( 210 ); 
     a lower pipe assembly, which is a pipe entirely faced down, the lower pipe assembly comprises a on-flow pipe ( 104 ) and a counter-flow pipe ( 103 ), the upper ends of the on-flow pipe ( 104 ) and the counter-flow pipe ( 103 ) pass through the lower pipe orifice ( 203 ) and are fixed inside the valve body ( 100 ) by means of an upper connector ( 110 ) inserted from the fitting opening ( 107 ); and 
     a switching element ( 130 ), the switching element ( 130 ) is fixed on the lower ends of the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe and is disposed with a lower water outlet ( 131 ) which is connected to the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe; 
     thereinto, the fitting opening ( 107 ) is disposed with an upper cover ( 109 ) to seal the valve body; the complete water path provided by the entire device comprises: water in-flow from the support arm joint ( 210 ) to flow sequentially through the water inlet ( 201 ), the on-flow pipe ( 104 ), the switching element ( 130 ), the counter-flow pipe ( 103 ) and finally the water outlet ( 202 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the valve body ( 100 ) further comprises an inlet cavity ( 101 ) and an outlet cavity ( 102 ), the fitting opening ( 107 ) is connected to the inlet cavity ( 101 ), the inlet cavity ( 101 ) is connected to the support arm joint ( 210 ) by means of the water inlet ( 201 ), then is connected to the support arm ( 400 ); the outlet cavity ( 102 ) is connected to the outside of the valve body ( 100 ) by means of the water outlet ( 202 ); 
     In another preferred embodiment, the upper connector ( 110 ) is connected to the on-flow pipe ( 104 ) at the inlet cavity ( 102 ), and is separated from the counter-flow pipe ( 103 ); the counter-flow pipe ( 103 ) is connected to the outlet cavity at the valve body; 
     In another preferred embodiment, the complete water path provided by the entire device comprises: water in-flow from the support arm joint ( 210 ) to flow sequentially through the water inlet ( 201 ), the inlet cavity ( 101 ), the upper connector ( 110 ), the on-flow pipe ( 104 ), the switching element ( 130 ), the counter-flow pipe ( 103 ), the outlet cavity ( 102 ) and finally the water outlet ( 202 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, a positioning shaft ( 105 ) is disposed to pass through the upper connector ( 110 ) and the lower pipe assembly where the upper connector ( 110 ) and the lower pipe assembly are fixed. 
     In another preferred embodiment, the counter-flow pipe ( 103 ) and the on-flow pipe ( 104 ) are disposed in a way of two-layer nested, the on-flow pipe ( 104 ) is applied with a flexible material, and is situated inside the counter-flow pipe ( 103 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the counter-flow pipe ( 103 ) and the on-flow pipe ( 104 ) are disposed in a way of two-layer nested, the counter-flow pipe ( 103 ) is applied with a flexible material, and is situated inside the on-flow pipe ( 104 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the counter-flow pipe ( 103 ) and the on-flow pipe ( 104 ) are disposed in a same pipe, the inside of the pipe is longitudinally divided into two parts. 
     In another preferred embodiment, the upper joint ( 110 ) is disposed with an axial throughout hole; one end of the upper joint is disposed with an annular flange ( 111 ), the other end is disposed with an upper on-flow pipe orifice ( 112 ) inserted inside the on-flow pipe ( 104 ); the inlet cavity ( 101 ) and the outlet cavity ( 102 ) are separated in the valve body ( 100 ) by means of the annular flange ( 111 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, a lower joint ( 120 ) is disposed between the on-flow pipe ( 104 ), the counter-flow pipe and the switching element ( 130 ), the lower joint ( 120 ) is disposed with a lower on-flow pipe orifice ( 121 ) inserted inside the on-flow pipe ( 104 ) and a lower counter-flow pipe hole ( 122 ) connected to the counter-flow pipe ( 121 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the switching element ( 130 ) is disposed with a switching valve inside to cut off the water route of the lower on-flow pipe orifice ( 121 ) and the lower counter-flow pipe hole ( 122 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the supporting arm joint ( 210 ) comprises: 
     a water element ( 211 ) and a threaded ball head ( 214 ), the water element ( 211 ) and the ball head ( 214 ) have a complete water route in the entire body; one end of the water element ( 211 ) is threaded and fixed to the supporting arm ( 400 ); 
     a nut ( 212 ), a bush ( 213 ) and a spheric washer ( 215 ), the nut ( 212 ) is movably coupled to the spheric washer ( 215 ) by means of the ball head ( 214 ), the nut ( 212 ) is fixed inside the water inlet ( 201 ) of the valve body ( 100 ); 
     thereinto, the water element, the ball head, the water inlet and the inlet cavity have a complete water route. 
     The technical advantages of the present invention are that:
         1. the upper joint is inserted from the fitting opening to fix the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe, making the entire three-way pipe connector with simple installing, besides, it saves accessory elements like fixing thread element to the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe, thus saving money and machining time.   2. the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe is locked to the upper joint by means of the axial positioning shaft, with the upper cover, it saves much installing time.   3. with the supporting arm joint with a universal ball head, it is convenient when installing and using, because the entire device can freely rotate and have a certain axial deviation.   4. the double-way structure of the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe makes it available to outflow from a lower device, it doesn&#39;t need more valve element to switch, the structure is simple and reliable.   5. the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe are in a same pipe longitudinally divided into two parts, thus making it with less assembly elements and simple installing.       

    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be further descried with the drawings and the embodiments. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a breakdown structure of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a side sectional view of the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a sectional view of the upper part of the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a partial side sectional view of the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a partial side sectional view of the third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a partial side sectional view of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     The First Embodiment: 
     As figured in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , a quick-install three-way pipe connector is provided; the supporting arm is standard equipment, and it is extended out from the side surface of the wall, it is connected to the valve body  100  by means of a supporting arm joint  210 . The supporting arm joint  210  can have kinds of shapes, only if it can connect the waterway of the supporting arm  400  to the valve body  100 . This embodiment is applied with a ball head  214 , the supporting arm  400  is movably connected to the valve body  100  by means of a water element  211 , a nut  212 , a bush  213  and a spheric washer  215 , thus making it applicable in many situations. 
     The lower pipe assembly comprises an on-flow pipe  104  and a counter-flow pipe  103 . the on-flow pipe  104  is sleeved inside the counter-flow pipe  103 , two pipes are equal in length, the upper ends of the two pipes are fixed by an upper joint  110 , the lower ends of the two pipes are fixed by a lower joint  120 . When the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe are fixed by the upper joint  110  inside the valve body, an upper cover  109  is closed the valve body  100 . A switching element  130  is fixed in the external of the lower joint  120 . 
     The practical installing can be as below: 
     Put the on-flow pipe  104  into the counter-flow pipe  103 , the lower pipe orifice  203  passes through the valve body  100 ; then after inserted the upper joint  110  to the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe, the positioning shaft  105  locks the three in the axial direction, then pull the three back to the valve body  100  from the fitting opening  107 , fix the upper cover  107  in the fitting opening to complete the assembly of the main body. Then assemble the supporting arm  400 , that is to say, screw the water element  211  to the end of the supporting arm  400 , fit the nut  212  and the bush  213  in the free end of the water element  211 , then screw the ball head  214 , finally put the spheric washer  215  between the ball head  214  and the valve body  100 , and screw the nut  212  to fix the device to the supporting arm  400 . 
     The water outlet  202  of the valve body  100  is preset to connect to a higher device, such as a head shower; the switching element  130  in the external of the lower joint  120  is used to connect to a lower device, such as a hand shower, we can do the work after the device is fixed. The internal of the switching element  130  can be a cavity, only if it can mix the outflow of the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe. When the hand shower connected to the switching element  130  is turned on, water of the supporting arm  400  flows out of the lower joint  120  and the switching element  130  unobstructed, the water would not flow into the counter-flow pipe then to the water outlet  202 , so that it can satisfy the needs that only the lower device is used. But in this embodiment, the switching element  130  has a valve, which can block water to flow from the lower joint  120  to go back to the valve body along the internal wall of the counter-flow pipe  103 , it is more reliable to separate the higher device and the lower device, when the switching valve is turned on, and the lower device is turned off, water flows back unobstructed along the internal wall of the counter-flow pipe, then flows out of the higher device from the water outlet  202 . 
       FIG. 2  is a side sectional view of the first embodiment. It figures the detail of the interior of the valve body. In the supporting arm joint  210 , thread in the left end of the water element is coupled to and fixed to the supporting arm; after the water element  211  is fixed to the ball head  214 , the bush  213  and the spheric washer  215  are used to fix and position in two directions, and then nut  212  is locked to the valve body, so that the water element  211  and the ball head  214  can freely rotate in the axial direction with respect to the valve body, and they can deviate in the axial direction in a certain range, so that it has a larger free degree when installing and using. 
     The interior of the valve body has two separated cavities: an inlet cavity  101  and an outlet cavity  102 . The inlet cavity  101  is connected to the waterway of the supporting arm joint  210 , and is connected to the on-flow pipe  104  through the hole of the upper on-flow pipe orifice  112  in the upper joint  110 . the top end of the upper joint  110  is disposed with an annular flange  111 , which is used to separate the inlet cavity  101 , the outlet cavity  102  and the counter-flow pipe  103 , when the upper cover  109  seals the valve body from the upper portion at the same time, it presses the annular flange  111  as well, so that the on-flow pipe  104  and the counter-flow pipe  103  are fixed to the valve body without dropping out. 
     The outlet cavity  102  is situated between the external of the counter-flow pipe  103  and the valve body, and is connected to the interior of the counter-flow pipe  103  through the hole in the wall of the counter-flow pipe  103 . the outlet cavity  103  is connected to the exterior through the water outlet  202 , and is used to fix higher device, such as a head shower. 
     The lower ends of the counter-flow pipe  103  and the on-flow pipe  104  are fixed and connected by a lower joint  120 . The central of the lower joint  120  is inserted with the lower on-flow pipe orifice  121  of the on-flow pipe  104 , the external periphery of the lower on-flow pipe orifice  121  is connected to the lower counter-flow pipe hole  122  of the counter-flow pipe  103 . The lower on-flow pipe orifice  121  and the lower counter-flow pipe hole  122  are connected to the switching element  130 , and the on-off of the lower counter-flow pipe hole  122  is controlled by the switching element  130 . When the lower counter-flow pipe hole  122  is blocked, water from the on-flow pipe  104  flows out of the switching element  130 , but not goes back upwards from the counter-flow pipe  103 . if the switching element  130  does not block the lower counter-flow pipe hole  122 , and the lower device connected to the exterior of the switching element  130  is cut off, so that water of the on-flow pipe  104  goes back from the counter-flow pipe  103  to the outlet cavity  102 , then finally flows from the water outlet  202  to the higher device. 
       FIG. 3  is the sectional view of the upper portion of the first embodiment, it mainly shows the detail of the upper joint  110  fixing with the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe. The positioning shaft  105  passes through the upper joint  110  laterally and two ends thereof are extended out to limit to the step inside the valve body  100 , so that the three will not drop out from the lower part. The simple assembly not only fixes the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe, it also relieves the accessory assembling structure welded to the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe such as a thread element. 
     The Second Embodiment: 
     As figured in  FIG. 4  of a partial side sectional view of the second embodiment of the present invention. compared to the first embodiment, the on-flow pipe  104  and the counter-flow pipe  103  are not two-layer structure, but in a same pipe separated longitudinally by a separator  106 ; so that the upper on-flow pipe orifice  112  of the upper joint  110  is eccentric to properly insert to the on-flow pipe  104  and to make the inlet cavity  101  separated from the counter-flow pipe  103  in the valve body. Similarly, the lower joint  120  is different from the first embodiment, the lower counter-flow pipe hole  122  is not around the lower on-flow pipe  121 , but both are eccentrically arranged and respectively corresponding to the counter-flow pipe and the on-flow pipe. In this embodiment, the on-flow pipe  104  and the counter-flow pipe  103  are one step forming, thus reducing the assembly components and machining time. 
     The Third Embodiment: 
     As figured in  FIG. 5  of a partial sectional view of the third embodiment of the present invention similar to the first embodiment, the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe are two layer structure; the difference is that the counter-flow pipe  104  is placed inside the on-flow pipe  103 ; so that the inlet cavity  101  is situated in the exterior of the on-flow pipe and inside the valve body; the outlet cavity  102  is situated inside the upper joint  110 . 
     The Fourth Embodiment: 
     As figured in  FIG. 6  of a partial side sectional view of the fourth embodiment of the first embodiment. Compared to the second embodiment, the on-flow pipe  104  and the counter-flow pipe  103  are also in a same pipe separated longitudinally by a separator  106 ; the difference is that the upper counter-flow pipe orifice  113  of the upper joint  110  is eccentric and inserted to the counter-flow pipe  103 ; correspondingly, the inlet cavity  101  is annular and is situated in the exterior of the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe; meanwhile, the outlet cavity  102  is situated in the interior of the upper joint  110 . 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof for carrying out the patent for invention, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the patent for invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims. 
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
     The present invention is provided with a quick-install three-way pipe connector, the installing is simple, it saves accessory elements like fixing thread element to the on-flow pipe and the counter-flow pipe, thus saving money and machining time. the present invention can be widely industrial applied with well industrial applicability.