Showerhead with turbocharger mechanism

A showerhead with a turbocharger mechanism including a showerhead housing and a turbo-compressor unit is provided. The showerhead housing has a water inlet port for introducing a water flow, a case wall that gradually expands, and a water drainage panel. The turbo-compressor unit is accommodated in a housing chamber and includes a compressor compartment where the water flow is converted into a vortex flow, a turbo-pump impeller accommodated in the compressor compartment, and a turbo-generator capable of generating electric energy. The turbo-generator is electrically connected to an illumination means, so as to emit light beams. The present invention is provided with the turbocharger mechanism, so as to make use of the water flow flowing through the showerhead effectively to generate electricity for illumination.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a liquid dispenser, and more particularly to a showerhead equipped with a turbocharger mechanism, so as to effectively make use of a water flow flowing through the showerhead to generate electricity for illumination or other applications.

2. Related Art

Currently, various types of showerheads are available in the market. In order to generate different water-spraying modes, such as pulsing, centering, showing, and misting, all showerheads are designed to have complicated structures and include a quite large number of internal parts. In the other aspect, all the complicated components must be accommodated in the sprinkle in a waterproof manner. Therefore, the manufacturing process is complex, and the related cost of the showerhead is high. Moreover, as so many precise components are packaged in a showerhead housing, it is impossible to ensure that all the critical parts are fitted in an ideal state in the practice. After the product has been used for a long time, different foreign substances are accumulated on the surface of the showerhead, thus blocking water drainage nozzles.

Most users expect that the showerhead is reliable and economic. It is certainly that the blocking caused by foreign substances accumulated on the showerhead is unacceptable. First, the foreign substances destroy the original good appearance of the showerhead. Moreover, this type of blocking may cause interruption of the required water spraying.

It is the worst experience that could be imagined for each person that the electricity is unexpectedly interrupted while showering. Especially, when showering in hotels or public bathrooms, the sudden blackness will cause a chaos. Usually, another illumination means (such as, a torch light) is used to provide illumination for showering. However, it is quite inconvenient and annoying for most users to go out of the bathroom to fetch the lamp.

Therefore, the showerhead is disadvantageous in terms of lacking of the emergency illumination means. Also, it is difficult to install this type of illumination means in the standard showerhead. In the other aspect, it is impossible to carry spare battery cells for providing power supply to the illumination means.

In fact, high-speed water showerhead and the like (e.g., sprayers) are widely applied in various fields, for example, in parks, public and personal lawns, and golf courses. A quite large amount of water resource has been wasted, and it is environmental protective to use this water resource. Therefore, it can be predicted that a source-saving showerhead with a simple structure will be welcomed in the market.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an innovative and improved showerhead with a turbo-generator unit, which has a simplified internal structure to ensure an extended service life of this type of showerhead.

The present invention is also directed to an innovative and improved showerhead with a turbo-generator unit, in which critical elements accommodated in a showerhead housing can be detached periodically for cleaning, so as to protect the showerhead nozzle from being blocked by foreign substances.

The present invention is further directed to an innovative and improved showerhead with a turbo-generator unit, which makes use of high-speed water flow to generate electric energy.

The present invention is further directed to an innovative and improved showerhead with a turbo-generator unit, in which the showerhead further includes an illumination means, and the illumination means is provided in the showerhead and powered by the generator to emit light.

The present invention is further directed to an innovative and improved showerhead with a turbo-generator unit. Therefore, the water flowing through the showerhead is first compressed by a turbo compressor mechanism, and is sprayed out from the nozzle at an extremely large speed and pressure.

The present invention is further directed to an innovative and improved showerhead equipped with an illumination means for emitting light beams of different colors. Thus, this type of showerhead can be used for illumination in case of unexpected electricity interruption.

The present invention is further directed to an innovative and improved showerhead, in which features of conventional showerheads are maintained, such as pulsing spraying and easy operation.

The present invention is further directed to an innovative and improved showerhead, in which the above object is achieved without using complicated structure or expensive components.

Therefore, in order to achieve the above objectives, the showerhead with a turbocharger mechanism according to the present invention includes:

a showerhead housing, including a case and a water drainage panel, wherein the case has a case water inlet port for introducing a water flow, and a case wall that gradually expands; the water drainage panel has a water spray nozzle disposed thereon and is disposed at a most bottom end of the case and hermetically connected with the case;

a turbo-compressor unit, accommodated in a housing chamber, wherein the turbo-compressor unit includes:

a compressor compartment, having a compressor compartment water inlet port communicated with the case water inlet port, so as to convert the water flow into a vortex flow to push a turbo-pump impeller, so that the water is discharged from a compressor compartment water exit; and

a turbo-pump impeller, rotatably accommodated in the compressor compartment; and

a turbo-generator, provided in the housing chamber, and including a generator and a generator driven shaft coaxially connected to the turbo-pump impeller; wherein when the turbo-pump impeller is driven by the vortex flow, the turbo-pump impeller drives the generator driven shaft to rotate so that the turbo-generator generates electric energy;

a compressor compartment water exit, in communication with the water spray nozzle disposed on the water drainage panel, so that the water flow is sprayed from the water spray nozzle;

an illumination means, accommodated in the housing chamber and electrically connected with the turbo-generator, so as to emit light beams.

In the showerhead with a turbocharger mechanism, the turbo-generator is disposed at a position near the case water inlet port, and includes a generator and a generator protective cover, wherein a protective cover water passage is disposed on the generator protective cover, and the generator protective cover protrudes backward so as to accommodate the generator therein and rests against a circumferential wall of the housing chamber.

In the showerhead with a turbocharger mechanism, the compressor compartment further includes a compartment upper body, and a compartment lower lid detachably covered on a bottom of the compartment upper body, so as to define a compartment chamber therein to accommodate the turbo-pump impeller, wherein a compressor compartment water inlet port in communication with the case water inlet port is disposed on the compartment upper body; a centrifugal passage with a diameter of cross-section gradually reduced from the compressor compartment water inlet port to the compressor compartment water exit is disposed on the bottom of the compartment upper body, for guiding the water flow coming from the compressor compartment water inlet port, and the centrifugal passage includes an inner wall on which a plurality of inclined intakes tangential to a moving direction of the water flow is disposed which allows a portion of the water flow to enter in a direction tangential to the rotation direction of the turbo-pump impeller, so that the intake water entering from the inclined intakes generate continuous tangential pressure along a circular centrifugal passage to generate the vortex flow; a compartment lower recess capable of accommodating the turbo-pump impeller is disposed at the bottom of the compartment lower lid, and a compressor compartment water exit is disposed at the bottom of the compartment lower recess.

In the showerhead with the turbocharger mechanism, the illumination means further includes a circuit board and a circuit electrically connected to the turbo-generator; the circuit has a plurality of light-emitting tubes arranged on a lower surface of the circuit board at intervals, so as to emit the light beams, and the circuit board is provided with a circuit board water hole.

In the showerhead with the turbocharger mechanism, a water passage sleeve pipe is disposed on the compartment upper body, and extends upward from the compartment upper body to be inserted into the protective cover water passage disposed on the generator protective cover, and the water passage sleeve pipe and the protective cover water passage are fitted hermetically, so as to ensure that the water flow is directly injected into the compartment chamber.

In the showerhead with the turbocharger mechanism, a sealing gasket is further provided, and the sealing gasket is provided between the turbo-generator and the turbo-pump unit, so as to ensure a complete sealing between the turbo-generator and the turbo-pump unit to avoid the generator from being affected with damp.

In the showerhead with the turbocharger mechanism, a protective cover wire through hole, a compartment upper wire through hole, and a compartment lower wire through hole are respectively disposed on the generator protective cover, the compartment upper body, and the compartment lower lid.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring toFIGS. 1-12, a showerhead according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The showerhead includes a showerhead housing10. The showerhead housing10has a water inlet port100for introducing a water flow, a case wall101that gradually expands and extends from the water inlet port100to define a housing chamber102; and a water drainage panel11, provided coaxially with the water inlet port100, for ending the housing chamber102.

Moreover, the showerhead of the present invention includes a turbo-compressor unit accommodated in the housing chamber102. The turbo-compressor unit includes a compressor compartment300formed by a compartment upper body30and a compartment lower lid31, and in communication with the water inlet port100for converting the water flow into a vortex flow; and a turbo-pump impeller32, rotatably accommodated in the compressor compartment300to be driven by the vortex flow.

The showerhead further includes a turbo-generator4provided in the housing chamber102at a position near the turbo-compressor unit. The turbo-generator4includes a driven shaft40that extends from the turbo-generator4and is coaxially connected to the turbo-pump impeller32when the turbo-pump impeller32is driven by the vortex flow and starts to rotate to force the driven shaft40to rotate such that the turbo-generator functions to generate electric energy.

Moreover, the showerhead of the present invention further includes an illumination means5accommodated in the housing chamber102and electrically connected with the turbo-generator4to emit light beams.

Therefore, the showerhead of the present invention is provided for effectively converting the water flow into a high-pressure water flow, so as to make the turbo-generator rotate to start operation. As shown inFIG. 2, the turbo-compressor unit is configured to act as a centrifugal pump for compressing water flow. First, the water flow is introduced into the compressor compartment300to be converted into the vortex flow, and the vortex flow then drives the turbo-pump impeller32to rotate. Meanwhile, the vortex flow with a high pressure is jetted through the water drainage panel11.

Referring toFIG. 2andFIG. 11, a plurality of nozzles110is defined on the water drainage panel11. Therefore, the water drainage panel11functions as a plurality of water exits in fluid communication with the turbo-compressor unit and the water inlet port100.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the turbo-generator4is provided at a position near the water inlet port100. In addition to the driven shaft40, the turbo-generator4further includes a generator protective cover2correspondingly fitted with the circumferential wall of the housing chamber102. It should be noted that a generator rotor is mounted on the driven shaft40. Therefore, as long as the driven shaft40is rotating, the rotor rotates with respect to a stator of the turbo-generator4to generate electricity.

Referring toFIGS. 2 and 3, the turbo-generator4further includes a water passageway20defined on the generator protective cover2, and the water flow is directly injected in the compressor compartment300through the water passage, instead of leaking into the turbo-generator4. As shown inFIG. 5, the turbo-pump impeller32acts as a water propeller of the turbo-compressor compartment300. In the figure,21indicates a fixing hole, and22indicates a protective cover wire through hole.

FIGS. 3A and 3Billustrate the top and the bottom of the turbo-generator4, respectively. In the generator protective cover22of the turbo-generator4according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the case wall101gradually expands from the water inlet port to define the housing chamber102. Therefore, a chamber is reserved between the generator protective cover2and the water inlet port100. Meanwhile, the generator protective cover2further includes a plurality of fixing, holes21defined on the lower surface of a peripheral edge of the generator protective cover2, so as to be detachably fitted with the turbo-compressor unit. The generator protective cover2further includes a pair of circular flanges, namely an inner flange23and an outer flange24disposed at the peripheral edge of the generator protective cover2, in which the inner flange23is lower than the outer flange24. Therefore, the two circular flanges23,24form a circular passageway25at the peripheral edge of the generator protective cover2. It should be noted that the top of the turbo-compressor unit3is correspondingly fitted with the bottom of the generator protective cover2, so as to ensure that the turbo-generator4is correspondingly fixed in the showerhead housing. Finally, the inner flange23extending from the generator protective cover2further includes the protective cover wife through holes22provided thereon for wires to pass through.

FIGS. 4A,4B,5A, and5B illustrate the top and the bottom of the turbo-compressor unit, respectively. According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the compressor compartment300includes a compartment upper body30, and a compartment lower lid31detachably covered on the bottom of the compartment upper body30, so as to define a compartment chamber300there between for accommodating the turbo-pump impeller32. As shown inFIG. 4B, the profile of the bottom of the compartment upper body30is similar to that of the centrifugal pump, and the water flow is introduced along the boundary to generate continuous force in a tangential direction, so as to generate the vortex flow.

The compartment upper body30is round, and the compartment lower lid31is semispherical, thereby not only providing a cone space, but also supporting the turbo-pump impeller at a proper position. Therefore, the top of the compartment upper body30is configured to fit the lower surface of the generator protective cover2, as shown inFIG. 2. That is to say, the compartment upper body30includes a water passage sleeve pipe301extending upward from the compartment upper body30, so as to be inserted in the water passage20of the generator protective cover2. Therefore, the water flow can be directly injected into the compartment chamber300. The compartment upper body30further includes four mounting posts302extending upright from the compartment upper body, so as to be coupled with the corresponding fixing holes21of the generator protective cover2. Therefore, the compartment upper body further includes compartment upper wire through holes303correspondingly fitted with the protective cover wire through holes22of the turbo-generator4, in which the wires are adapted to pass through the protective cover wire through holes22, the compartment upper wire through holes303, and the compartment lower wire through hole311, so as to electrically connect the turbo-generator4and the illumination means5. It should be noted that the circumferential edge at the top of the compartment upper body30extends upright to form the circular flange, so as to be inserted into circular passage25defined on the bottom of the generator protective cover2. This type of arrangement ensures that the turbo-compressor unit is fitted with the turbo-generator4during operation. In the figure, reference numeral320indicates a mounting hole for mounting the turbo-generator4,307indicates a shaft hole fitted with the driven shaft40. The driven shaft40penetrates through the hole to be connected to the turbo-pump impeller32, and a water-proof treatment is performed between the driven shaft40and the shaft hole307.

As shown inFIG. 4B, the bottom of the compartment upper body30is constructed to be a centrifugal pump having a centrifugal passage304for introducing the water flow, in which an inner wall305of the centrifugal passage304has a plurality of inclined intakes306tangential to the moving direction of the water flow disposed thereon, so as to form a plurality of deflected intervals each between two neighboring inclined intakes306. Moreover, the size of the cross-section of the centrifugal passage304is gradually reduced, so as to form a vortex flow passage for guiding the water flow. As the size of the circular centrifugal passage304becomes narrow gradually, the water flowing through the passage will be subjected to a gradually increasing pressure, and then extruded into the compartment chamber300through the plurality of inclined intakes, such that the turbo-pump impeller32rotatably supported by the compartment lower lid31rotates. It should be noted that the water flow is guided into a wide most portion of the centrifugal passage304, and then guided into the compartment chamber300along the centrifugal passage304. Therefore, the compressed water is concentrated at a central portion of the centrifugal pump.

According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each of the inclined intakes306is particularly designed to have a predetermined inclined angle. That is to say, each inclined angle of the inclined water gap306is gradually increased along the circular centrifugal passage304especially. Meanwhile, the interval between every two neighboring inclined intakes306is gradually reduced. It should be noted that this type of arrangement is directed to generating a vortex flow effect inside the compressor compartment chamber300. The compartment lower lid31is conical, and has a base slot for the turbo-pump impeller32to inserted, and the shape of the turbo-pump impeller32is similar to a thruster for enhancing rotation effect.

This structure can be clearly seen inFIG. 4. The right side of the centrifugal passage304is wider and higher than the left side opposite to the right side. The water flow is injected from the right side of the centrifugal passage304, and is guided to the left side of the centrifugal passage304. The gradually reduced space compresses the water, and extrudes the water to the central portion of the compressor compartment chamber300.

As shown inFIG. 7, the showerhead of the present invention further includes a sealing gasket6for preventing water being communicated between the turbo-generator4and the turbo-compressor unit, and for protecting the turbo-compressor unit in a waterproof manner. The sealing gasket6is prepared by a resin material. It should be noted that the sealing gasket will ensure that the water sprayed from the turbo-compressor unit will not leak into the showerhead housing10.

As shown inFIG. 8, a compressor compartment water exit310is further defined at the bottom of the compartment lower lid31, in which the compressor compartment water exit310can include three semi-sector shaped through holes, each of them is semi-sector shaped for effectively spraying the water flow because the fact that three semi-sector shaped compressor compartment water exit310can form a relatively round hole in practice. It should be noted that the main shaft of the turbo-pump impeller32further extend downward to enhance the rotation movement of the turbo-pump impeller32.

According to the present invention, the illumination means5further includes a circuit board50having a circular edge fitted with the inner surface of the housing body; and a plurality of light-emitting tubes51arranged on the lower surface of the circuit board50at intervals for emitting light beams.

FIG. 9Cillustrates the circuit board50of the illumination means5electrically connected with the turbo-generator4, so as to provide power supply to the light-emitting tubes51. Therefore, the light-emitting tubes51can be configured to have different colors, so as to establish different emitting effects. As the electricity is controlled by the rotating speed of the turbo-pump impeller32, the user can selectively adjust the brightness of the light-emitting tubes by managing the water flow intensity. Circuit board water holes52are symmetrically disposed at sides of the illumination means5. In practical application, a water-proof treatment, such as water-proof adhesive sealing, is performed on the naked conductive portions of the circuit board50of the illumination means5.

Referring toFIG. 11AandFIG. 11B, the water drainage panel11according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. The water drainage panel11further includes a threaded wall112extending in turns from the water drainage panel11, so as to rotatably attach the water drainage panel11to the housing chamber102. The water drainage panel11is further provided with a water spray nozzle110and a light-emitting tube light uniform head111.