Faucet assembly having overlapping spouts for releasing filtered and unfiltered water therefrom

A faucet assembly includes synchronously rotatable first and second spouts for releasing filtered and unfiltered water therefrom.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 This invention relates to a faucet assembly, more particularly to a faucet
 assembly which has two spouts for releasing filtered and unfiltered water
 therefrom.
 2. Description of the Related Art
 Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional faucet assembly is shown to include a
 faucet body 1, a tubular housing 2, a spout 4 and a control knob 3.
 As illustrated, the faucet body 1 defines a water passage chamber having a
 cold water inlet adapted to be connected fluidly with a cold water supply
 source 111, a hot water inlet adapted to be connected fluidly with a hot
 water supply source 112, and a water outlet for discharging water
 therefrom.
 The tubular housing 2 is sleeved rotatably around the faucet body 1, and
 has a peripheral wall with upper and lower ends establishing a water-tight
 seal in cooperation with the faucet body 1 so as to define an annular
 chamber between the tubular housing 2 and the faucet body 1, and between
 the upper and lower ends of the peripheral wall. The annular chamber is in
 fluid communication with the water passage chamber via the water outlet.
 The housing 2 further has a spout mounting port which is in fluid
 communication with the annular chamber and from which the spout 4 extends
 integrally and outwardly so as to guide the water inside the annular
 chamber to an exterior of the faucet assembly.
 The control knob 3 is mounted on the tubular housing 2 for regulating and
 stopping flow of the water from the annular chamber to the exterior of the
 faucet assembly.
 Since the aforesaid conventional faucet assembly is provided with only one
 spout, water discharged therefrom is generally not filtered and is thus
 fit only for washing and common use. In order to obtain drinking water, a
 two-spout faucet assembly 10 (see FIG. 1A) is provided with two spouts
 that are spaced apart from each other. As a result, a relatively large
 sink is needed to be disposed under two spouts of the assembly 10 (see
 FIG. 1A).
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide a faucet assembly
 with two spouts that are adapted to release filtered and unfiltered water
 therefrom and that are disposed in an overlapping manner for use with a
 volume-reduced sink.
 Accordingly, the faucet assembly of the present invention includes a faucet
 body, a tubular housing, a hollow tube, a first spout, a second spout, and
 first and second control knobs. The faucet body includes an upper faucet
 portion defining a first water passage chamber having a cold water inlet
 adapted to be connected fluidly with a cold water supply source, a hot
 water inlet adapted to be connected fluidly with a hot water supply
 source, and a first water outlet. The faucet body further includes a lower
 faucet portion defining a second water passage chamber isolated fluidly
 from the first water passage chamber. The second water passage chamber has
 an inlet adapted to be connected fluidly with a filtered water source so
 as to receive filtered water therefrom, and a second water outlet adapted
 for discharging the filtered water therefrom. The housing is sleeved
 rotatably around the faucet body, and includes an upper housing portion
 that establishes a first water-tight seal in cooperation with the upper
 faucet portion so as to define a first annular chamber therebetween in
 communication with the first water passage chamber via the first water
 outlet and that is formed with a first spout mounting port, and a lower
 housing portion that is disposed around the lower faucet portion and that
 defines an annular tube accommodating space therebetween. The tube has an
 axial length and a width that are smaller than those of the housing, and
 is disposed inside the tube accommodating space. The tube has a peripheral
 wall with two opposite ends connected to the lower faucet portion so as to
 establish a second water-tight seal and a second annular chamber between
 the lower faucet portion and the peripheral wall, and between the opposite
 ends of the peripheral wall of the tube. The second annular chamber is in
 fluid communication with the second water passage chamber via the second
 water outlet. The tube has a second spout mounting port formed in the
 peripheral wall and in fluid communication with the second annular
 chamber. The first spout extends integrally, radially and outwardly from
 the upper housing portion and is in fluid communication with the first
 spout mounting port for guiding water outwardly from the first annular
 chamber. The second spout is operably associated with the first spout so
 as to synchronously rotate therewith relative to the faucet body. The
 second spout extends generally parallel with the first spout and through
 the lower housing portion and is connected integrally to the tube. The
 second spout is in fluid communication with the second spout mounting port
 so as to be adapted to guide the filtered water outwardly from the second
 annular chamber. The first control knob is mounted on the tubular housing
 for selectively closing and opening the cold and hot water inlets and the
 first outlet upon operation thereof. The second control knob is adapted to
 regulate and stop flow of the filtered water to the second spout mounting
 port in the tube.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
 Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the preferred embodiment of a faucet assembly
 according to the present invention is shown to include a faucet body 20, a
 tubular housing 30, a hollow tube 80, a first spout 70, a second spout 82,
 a first control knob 40 and a second control knob 310 (see FIG. 5).
 As illustrated, the faucet body 20 includes an upper faucet portion 201
 defining a first water passage chamber 201C having a cold water inlet 21
 adapted to be connected fluidly with a cold water supply source 100, a hot
 water inlet 22 adapted to be connected fluidly with a hot water supply
 source 200, and a first water outlet 23. The faucet body 20 further
 includes a lower faucet portion 202 defining a second water passage
 chamber 202C (see FIG. 3) that is isolated fluidly from the first water
 passage chamber 201C. The second water passage chamber 202C has an inlet
 (not visible) adapted to be connected fluidly with a filter device 300
 (see FIG. 5) via a filter pipe 110 so as to receive filtered water
 therefrom, and a second water outlet 25 adapted for discharging the
 filtered water therefrom.
 The housing 30 is sleeved rotatably around the faucet body 20, and includes
 an upper housing portion 301 that establishes a first water-tight seal in
 cooperation with the upper faucet portion 201 so as to define a first
 annular chamber 31 therebetween in communication with the first water
 passage chamber 201C via the first water outlet 23, and that is formed
 with a first spout mounting port 303. The housing 30 further has a lower
 housing portion 302 disposed around the lower faucet portion 202 and
 defining an annular tube accommodating space 32 therebetween.
 The hollow tube 80 has an axial length and a width that are smaller than
 those of the tubular housing 30, and is disposed inside the tube
 accommodating space 32 defined between the lower faucet portion 202 and
 the lower housing portion 302. The tube 80 has a peripheral wall 81 with
 two opposite ends connected to the lower faucet portion 202 so as to
 establish a second water-tight seal and a second annular chamber 34
 between the lower faucet portion 202 and the peripheral wall 81, and
 between the ends of the peripheral wall 81 in the tube 80. The second
 annular chamber 34 is in fluid communication with the second water passage
 chamber 202C via the second water outlet 25. The tube 80 further has a
 second spout mounting port 803 formed in the peripheral wall 81 and in
 fluid communication with the second annular chamber 34. Preferably, two
 pairs of rubber rings 24 are employed to form the first and second
 water-tight seals.
 The first spout 70 extends integrally, radially and outwardly from the
 upper housing portion 301 and is in fluid communication with the first
 spout mounting port 303 for guiding water outwardly from the first annular
 chamber 31. Preferably, the first spout 70 has an inner end integrally
 connected to the periphery defining the first spout mounting port 303.
 The second spout 82 is operably associated with the first spout 70 so as to
 synchronously rotate therewith relative to the faucet body 20. The second
 spout 82 extends generally parallel with the first spout 70 and through
 the lower housing portion 302 and connected integrally to the tube 80. The
 second spout 82 is in fluid communication with the second spout mounting
 port 803 so as to be adapted to guide the filtered water outwardly from
 the second annular chamber 34. Preferably, the second spout 82 has an
 inner end integrally connected to the periphery defining the second spout
 mounting port 803 in the tube 80.
 The first control knob 40 is mounted on the tubular housing 30 for
 selectively closing and opening the cold and hot water inlets 21, 22 and
 the first outlet 23 upon operation thereof. Preferably, the first control
 knob 40 includes a valve confining seat 50 fixed on the top end of the
 housing 30 so as to define a valve accommodating space 31, a valve unit
 400 disposed rotatably within the space 31, and an operating lever 60
 disposed over the seat 50 and operably attached to the valve unit 400.
 The second control knob 310 can regulate and stop flow of the filtered
 water to the second spout mounting port 803 in the tube 80. In this
 embodiment, a rotary valve serves as the second control knob 310. Since
 the structure of the rotary valve is not pertinent to the present
 invention, a detailed description of the same is omitted herein for the
 sake of brevity.
 In this embodiment, the first spout 70 includes a spout pipe of an inverted
 U-shaped cross-section extending from the housing 30 generally in a
 horizontal direction, and defines an accommodating slot 71 therein (see
 FIG. 4). The second spout 82 has an intermediate spout body 820 (see FIG.
 4) of oval-shaped cross section received in the accommodating slot 71 in
 the first spout 70 so as to be co-rotatable with the first spout 70.
 Preferably, the lower housing portion 302 in the housing 30 has a notch 33
 formed in a lower end thereof and in communication with the slot 71 in the
 first spout 70. Under this condition, the second spout 82 extends into the
 slot 71 in the first spout 70 through the notch 33 in the lower housing
 portion 302.
 A connecting pipe 120 is employed to supply cold water to the filter device
 300.
 Since the first and second spouts 70, 82 are disposed in an overlapping
 manner, a volume-reduced sink is required to be disposed under the faucet
 assembly of the present invention. The object of the invention is thus
 met.
 With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerous
 modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope
 and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that this invention
 be limited only as indicated by the appended claims.