Intake mouth for whirlpool-type and similar bathtubs

Abstract: The intake mouth has an intake inlet (8) for a flow of water towards an outlet (3) connected to a pump. Shutter means (12) are switchable from a resting position, in which the outlet (3) communicates with vent means (13-16), into an operating position, when the flow of water is caused to move towards the outlet (3), wherein the shutter means (12) shut said vent means (16). The shutter means (12) are adapted to switch from said operating condition into the resting position when said flow of water descends below a pre-determined threshold value, so as to enable air to penetrate the intake mouth to unprime said pump.

Description: The present invention refers to an intake mouth for whirlpool-type or similar bathtubs, which is adapted to prevent such accidents from occurring as the ones that may for instance be brought about by hair remaining trapped therein and, under the circumstances, may also involve such serious consequences as drowning. It is a generally known circumstance that a water recirculation flow is generated in whirlpool-type bathtubs owing to the fact that, by the action of at least a pump, said water is taken from the interior of the washtub through an intake mouth and is them sent to a plurality of jet nozzles which, after mixing it with air, eject it again, under pressure, into the interior of the same bathtub. In order to minimize the likeliness for the above mentioned accidents to occur owing to hair or other material remaining trapped in correspondence of a front screening grille which the intake mouth is provided with, a number of solutions have been proposed involving for example the use of floats and/or electric or magnetic switches to detect, and react to, possible clogging conditions of the intake mouth so as to cut off the operation of the recirculating pump. All such solutions, however, are undesirably complicated, expensive and poorly reliable, considering the criticalness of the operation of the component parts used in connection therewith. A simpler, lower-cost solution is described in WO 96/18335. Such a solution provides for a part of the water flow taken in through the intake mouth to pass through a central tube having a reduced cross-section area so as to normally balance the weight of a water column being present in a vent pipe connected to the intake side of the recirculating pump. When the intake mouth possibly happens ti be clogged frontally by trapped hair, or the like, in correspondence of said central tube, the vent pipe becomes empty, by discharging the water contained therein, and starts conveying air towards the suction or intake side of the pump, which therefore becomes unprimed, ie. deactivates, thereby allowing for the foreign matters that led to the clogging condition to be conveniently removed. Such a solution allows for the pump to be controlled in a simple manner. However, it also implies a rather serious drawback: it in fact is only capable of detecting or identifying a situation of foreign matters remaining possibly trapped in correspondence of a reduced front surface area of the intake mouth, ie. a surface area that practically corresponds to the cross-section area of said central tube. On the other hand, if the contrary case occurs, ie. if foreign matters remain similarly trapped in the remaining portion of the front surface of the intake mouth, such a condition substantially fails to be identified or detected. Therefore, the intake mouth itself is only effective under certain conditions and, on the whole, it turns out to be undesirably unsafe. It therefore is a main purpose of the present invention to provide an intake mouth for whirlpool-type and similar bathtubs which is particularly simple, low-cost and reliable in its construction and, at the same time, is capable of constantly operating in a substantially safe manner under all and any conditions. According to the present invention, this aim is reached in an intake mouth for whirlpool-type and similar bathtubs embodying the features as recited in the appended claims. Anyway, the features and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood from the description that is given below by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figures 1 and 2 are schematical cross-sectional views of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in respective operating positions thereof. With reference to the above Figures, the intake mouth according to the present invention can be noticed to mainly comprise a hollow body 1 provided with at least an inlet opening 2, which is adapted to communicate with the interior of a whirlpool-type bathtub 4, and at least an outlet opening 3 which is adapted to be connected to the suction side of at least a recirculation pump. The latter is not shown for reasons of greater simplicity of the description and shall be understood as being associated, in a per se known manner, to a water recriculating circuit comprising also water jet spray nozzles as required to produce the swirling, massaging action of the bath, for instance of the type described in EP-A-0 560 097. In particular, the opening 2 of the hollow body is provided in correspondence of a threaded abutment 5 on which a threaded ring-nut 6 can be screwed so as to clamp between such two elements the edge of a corresponding assembly aperture provided in the tub 4. After the intake mouth is so assembled, the front side of the ring-nut 6, which defines with a peripheral wall 9 an inlet 8 of the same intake mouth, communicates with the interior of the bathtub through a perforated grille 7 which is preferably screwed on to the ring-nut 6 in correspondence of a central stem 18 protruding towards the interior of the body 1. Axially slidable on said stem 18 there is arranged a moving member 10 which is provided with at least a discoidal pan 11, or any other similar hydraulically operated sensor means, preferably integral therewith, ie. in a single-piece construction. Furthermore, the moving member 10 carries, preferably in correspondence of a rear free end portion thereof, at least a shutter means 12. The latter may be of any appropriate type for the given purpose, but is preferably of the elastic membrane type in the shape of a suction cup. The intake mouth also comprises a vent pipe 13, which is preferably made integral with the hollow body 1. On one side, such a vent pipe extends outwardly with a tubing 14 extending upwards; on the other side, it on the contrary extends into the hollow body 1 in a position which is contiguous to the stem 18. In particular, the tubing 14 has a free end portion 15 that communicates with the outside ambient and is arranged above the highest allowable water level inside the tub 4. On the opposite side, the vent pipe 13 is adapted to communicate with the interior of the body 1, and therefore with the suction side of the recirculation pump, through at least a calibrated opening 16 that is axially aligned with the stem 18. A calibrated thrust member 17 is adapted to normally keep the moving member 10 in a first operating position thereof, which is axially spaced from the opening 16 as illustrated in Figure 1 and in which the shutter means 12 is disengaged from the calibrated opening 16 and the pan 11 at least partially shuts the inlet 8 of the intake mouth. The thrust member 17 is preferably formed by a compression spring which is partially inserted around the moving member 10 and an end portion of which is arranged to abut against the pan 11, while the opposite end portion thereof rests in a seat 19 provided on the outside of the pipe 13 around the calibrated opening 16. As this will be described in greater detail further on, the moving member 10 is adapted to move into a second operating position thereof, illustrated in Figure 2, in which the shutter means 12 substantially shuts the calibrated opening 16, while the pan 11 substantially opens the inlet 8 of the intake mouth. Under resting conditions (Figure 1), the recirculating pump is inactive. Under these conditions, the thrust spring 17 keeps the moving member 10 in an axial position in which the shutter means 12 is disengaged from the opening 16 of the vent pipe 13. It should be noticed that the latter, along with the tubing 14 associated therewith, can substantially fill up with water, owing to the effect of communicating vessels, when the tub 4is filled with water up to a pre-determined level, in a per sè known manner. When the recirculating pump is started so as to supply the water jet spouts of the bathtub (not shown), and thereby bringing about the swirling massage action of the bath itself, a negative pressure occurs at the outlet 3 of the body 1 which attracts the pan 11, and therefore the whole moving member 10, in such a manner as to move it axially away from the inlet 8. Such a displacement occurs, by overcoming the force of the spring 17, so as to enable the water contained in the tub 4 to flow into the body 1 at an appropriate rate. through the open inlet 8, towards the suction side of the pump. During an initial transient phase, also the water that may possibly be contained in the vent pipe 13 and the tubing 14 is slowly taken in by the pump through the calibrated opening 16, in such a manner as to prevent the correct priming of same pump from being substantially altered. The intake mouth switches in this way into the operating state illustrated in Figure 2, in which the moving member 10 causes the shutter means 12 to shut the calibrated opening 16. The intake mouth can therefore operate normally so as to enable a substantial flow of water to take place from the tub 4 to the recirculating pump through the (open) inlet 8 and the outlet 3. Through a proper sizing of the various component parts (which is well within the usual capability of thos skilled in the art), the intake mouth will be arranged so as to be able to operate and respond in the manner described below, so as to maintain constant safe operating conditions, in the case that foreign matters (eg. the hair of a person taking a bath) would adhere to the screening grille 7, thereby reducing the water flow cross-section area towards the inlet 8 correspondingly. When the water flow toward the inlet 8 descends below a pre-determined threshold value (corresponding to a condition of substantial clogging of the grille 7), it is no longer able to exert on the pan 11 a sufficient thrust as required to overcome the force of the spring 17, which therefore causes the moving member 10 to be displaced towards the resting position illustrated in Figure 1. The calibrated opening 16 is thereby opened and communicates with the outlet 3, which takes in ambient air through the venting arrangement 13-16. In a per se known manner, this leads to a condition in which the recirculating pump becomes substantially unprimed, ie. deactivated. This of course facilitates the separation and the removal of the foreign matters from the grille 7, so as to restore normal operating conditions. Further to the simplicity in the construction and operation of the intake mouth according to the present invention, from the above description it clearly emerges that such an intake mouth actually ensures full operational reliability and safety, since the recirculation pump is unprimed, ie. deactivated, automatically whenever a dangerous clogging condition occurs in any portion or zone of the grille 7. In an advantageous manner, in fact, the displacements of the moving member 10 are not controlled by a partial flow of water passing through a localized area of the grille 7, but rather by the variations in the total flow of water passing through the whole cross-section area of the same grille. It will of course be appreciated that the above described intake mouth may undergo a number of modifications without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims: Intake mouth for whirlpool-type or similar bathtubs, comprising at least an inlet (8) for a water flow towards at least an outlet (3) adapted to be connected to the suction side of pump means, vent means (13-16) being adapted to connect the interior of said intake mouth with the outside ambient, characterized in that it further comprises shutter means (12) capable of being switched from a normal resting position, in which said outlet (3) communicates with said vent means (13-16), into a normal operating condition when said flow of water is caused to move towards said outlet (3), wherein the shutter means (12) substantially shut said vent means (16), said shutter means (12) being adapted to switch from said operating condition into said resting position thereof when said flow of water descends below a pre-determined threshold value, so as to enable air to penetrate the intake mouth (1) through said vent means (13-16) and cut off said flow. Intake mouth according to claim 1, characterized in that said shutter means (12) are provided on a moving member (10) which is biased by spring means (17) towards said resting position and also comprises sensor means (11) adapted to be actuated by said flow of water against the force of said spring means so as to displace the moving member (10) into said normal operating position. Intake mouth according to claim 2, characterized in that said shutter means comprise an elastic membrane (12) adapted to shut at least a calibrated opening (16) provided in said vent means inside the intake mouth (1). Intake mouth according to claim 2, characterized in that said sensor means comprise at least a pan-like member (11) adapted to substantially shut said inlet (8) of the intake mouth when the moving member (10) is in its resting position.

Inventors: BERTOIA GIULIANO, BERTOIA, GIULIANO
Applicants: DOMINO SPA, DOMINO S.P.A.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: A61H33
IPC codes: A61H33