Insert for a faucet valve for increasing flow rate

A flow increasing insert member for a faucet valve body includes a notch therein. The insert member is sized to fit within a cavity passage in the valve body. The notch and the bottom surface of the cavity passage form a passage therethrough of lesser cross sectional area compared to the cavity passage and has a contoured surface to provide for a laminated and less turbulent flow as compared to the cavity passage. The insert member maintains the advantages of quiet opening of the valve body by not interfering with the function of the specifically shaped inlet through the bottom surface of the valve body. In addition, the insert member allows for restricted flow through a groove about the circumference of the valve body when in a partially open position.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
This invention relates to faucet valves and more particularly to an insert 
member that fits within the faucet valve to increase the maximum flow 
rate. 
DISCLOSURE INFORMATION 
A faucet valve commonly has a housing that has an inlet port and an outlet 
port. A valve body is moveable within the housing between a closed 
position which blocks communication between the two ports and an open 
position which allows communication between the two ports. Often the 
communication is provided by a passage extending through the valve body. 
One such valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,493 issued on Feb. 29, 
1972 to Manoogian et al. 
Often, for reasons of manufacturing expediency, the passage within the 
valve body has a cross-sectional area that is substantially larger than 
either the inlet or outlet port. Furthermore, the passage may be L-shaped 
to provide passage from a horizontally disposed inlet to a vertically 
disposed outlet or vice versa. Because of the constraints imposed by the 
shapes of the inlets and outlets, the valve body passage restricts the 
flow therethrough. 
The restricted flow is due, in part, to turbulence created in the sharp 
turn within the valve body. In addition, the large passage in the body 
allows for cavitation of the water which causes further flow restriction. 
In certain situations, it is desirous to maximize the flow rate. A 
predetermined flow rate may either be dictated by governmental regulation, 
a plumber's association decree, or by customers' desires. The flow 
restrictions provided by the sharp turns and the cavitations are therefore 
undesirable. 
One way to increase the flow rate would be to retool so that the valve body 
would have a contoured passageway that has a cross-section matching the 
cross-section of the inlet and outlet ports. The contours would be free of 
any sharp bends which would cause turbulence of the water. 
However, retooling can be an expensive proposition. What is needed is an 
inexpensive, expeditious manner to increase the flow rate in existing 
valve bodies without the added expense of modifying the valve body itself. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to one aspect of the invention, an insert member is provided for 
insertion into a cavity passage of a valve body to modify the shape and 
reduce the effective cross-sectional area of a cavity passage to an area 
comparable to an inlet port and outlet port in the faucet. 
In one embodiment, the insert member has contoured walls forming a notch 
within the insert member. The contoured walls of the insert in conjunction 
with a wall of the valve body forms a passage of reduced cross-sectional 
area substantially equal to the area of the inlet at one end of the cavity 
passage and the outlet port in the faucet body at the other end of the 
cavity passage. 
The insert member preferably has contoured walls to form a passage having a 
smooth transition from the vertical section adjacent one of the ports to a 
horizontal section adjacent the other of the ports. The contour is 
provided by a radius curve being defined by the free end of a radius when 
the other end of the radius is fixed with the radius pivoted on its fixed 
end. The radius curve preferably has a radius in the order of magnitude of 
the radius of the passage. 
The insert provides for a smooth contoured passageway that creates a 
decreased amount of turbulence as compared to the cavity passage within 
which it is inserted. The reduced cross-sectional area reduces cavitation 
within the passage and the contoured walls promote a laminated flow rather 
than a turbulent flow. The combination of both of these aspects of 
contoured walls and reduced cross-sectional area provides for increased 
flow through the valve body when the valve body is in the fully opened 
position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional faucet valve 10 has a handle 12 
connected to a valve body 14 which is rotatably mounted within the valve 
housing 16. The valve housing has an inlet port 18, and an outlet port 20. 
A sealing gasket 22 is spring biased by spring 24 within an enlarged 
counterbore portion 25 of inlet 18 to abut the bottom surface 26 of the 
valve body 14. The valve body 14 has an integral stem 28 which mounts the 
handle 12 via threaded fastener 30. The stem is rotatable within a fixed 
stop member 32 that seats two sealing rings 34 and 36. A cap 37 threads 
onto housing 16 to retain the stop member 32 and valve body 14 within 
housing 16. Within the valve body 14 is an inlet 38 leading to a cavity 
passage 40. The cavity passage 40 has bottom wall 42, a rear wall 44, top 
wall 46 and two side walls 48 as shown more clearly in FIG. 4. The 
cross-sectional area of cavity passage 40 as shown in FIG. 3, is 
substantially larger than the outlet port 20. 
Referring now to FIGS. 2 through 9, an insert member 52 is positioned 
within cavity passage 40 of valve body 14. The insert 52 has a top wall 
54, two side walls 56, a curved rear wall 58, and a bottom wall 60. The 
bottom wall 60 has a notch 62 therein which extends to a curved front wall 
59. The notch 62 has a curved interior surface 64 with a radius section 66 
curved about a radius approximately equal to the radius of the notch 62. 
The notch has a rear contoured surface section 68. The front wall 59 has 
an outwardly protruding upper section 70 and recessed lower section 72 
which coincide with respective walls 74 and 76 in the valve body. Wall 76 
is recessed with respect to wall 74 to form a groove 78 therein. The lower 
section 72 of wall 59, by being aligned with wall 76, continues the groove 
78 to the edge of the notch 62 as more clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 9. 
The insert member 52 is positioned within the cavity passage 40 such that 
the bottom wall 42 of the cavity passage 40 and the contoured wall 64 
within the notch forms a passage 41 of reduced diameter between the inlet 
38 through wall 42 and the outlet port 20. The cross-sectional area of the 
passage 41 as shown in FIG. 3 more closely approximates the 
cross-sectional of the outlet port 20 and in addition, contoured rear 
surface section 68 aligns with the rear edge 69 of the inlet 38 such that 
a more laminated and less turbulent flow occurs through the passage 41. 
By decreasing the cross-sectional area of the passage, there is less 
cavitation of the water. The contoured surface 64 by having a radius 
section 66 provides for more laminated flow and less turbulence. These 
factors help increase the flow through the valve body such that when the 
valve is in the fully open position as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the maximum 
flow rate is increased compared to the conventional valve shown in FIG. 1. 
In addition, the insert 52 maintains the advantages of the valve shown in 
FIG. 1, namely the insert is shaped so as to provide the continuation of 
the restricted passage 79 provided by groove 78 between passage 41 and 
port 20. When a restricted flow is desired, the valve is moved to the 
partially open position, as shown in FIG. 9. The water must pass through 
the passage 41 then through passage 79 and to the outlet port 20. 
Secondly, the inlet 38 can maintain its desired shape as shown in FIGS. 7 
and 9 to provide for a quiet opening and closing of the valve. The inlet 
38 has two arcuate tongue portions 82 that provide the inlet port to open 
into inlet 38 through a cracked opening 83 rather than a pinpoint opening 
when the valve body starts to open. The cracked opening 83 provides for a 
smoother, quieter, operation. The insert body does not interfere with the 
function of tongue portion 82. 
The insert member 52 increases the flow rate in a valve body without the 
added expense of retooling or reshaping the valve body. None of the valve 
parts need reshaping. The insert member 52 is easily placed within the 
cavity passage 40 and is incapable of being mispositioned or removed once 
the valve body 14 is positioned within the faucet housing 16. 
In this fashion, an insert member for a valve body provides for increased 
flow rate through an existing valve body without any expensive 
modifications to the valve body. 
Variations and modifications of the present invention are possible without 
departing from its spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims.