A modular-construction towel rail

Abstract: A towel rail 2 is assembled in modular format by having a plurality of individual pipes 4 selectively connectable with a plurality of individual discrete connecting pieces 6. The ends of the pipes 4 may have a chamfered recess 22 to enable a grub screw 20 to rigidly hold each pipe 4 in fluid-tight contact with a respective connector 6.

Description: The invention relates to a modular - construction towel rail according to the preamble of claim 1. The present invention has particular, although not exclusive, relevance to towel rail assemblies which lend themselves readily to being constructed in any design format. It is known to form towel rails by starting with pre-polished brass hollow pipes which are then braised together in the desired shape or format. Having been braised in this way, the assembly of pipes are then immersed in hot water for a period of time in order to clean off the flux which is formed around those positions where braising has occurred. Following this, the assembly is polished by hand and is then usually electroplated. The above process is very inflexible and time consuming. Clearly, once the pipes have been braised together in their desired format, then any alteration of this is not possible without extensive reworking. Furthermore, because the flux associated with the braising process needs to be removed and polishing of the product after this undertaken by hand, then a great deal of time is required in order to be able to form a towel rail in this manner. Because the assemblies so produced are very unwieldy and, due to the labour-intensive methods of production, it is not uncommon for damage to occur to the assembly during the process. As a result of this damage if reworking is not possible, then the whole assembly may need to be scrapped. If this occurs then clearly high expenses are incurred and it may also lead to long delivery lead times to a customer. In GB-A-596 135, connection between pipe members and right angled or T-shaped connection pieces is made by a force fit. FR-2 695 466 uses a releasable connection, but it is not a modular system. Only one design is provided, dictated by the uprights of the radiator. The connectors themselves are straight, connection is made into the side walls of the respective pipes. GB-A-2 212 037 shows a towel rail heated by an electrical resistance element, it is not a fluid tight system. Tubular sections may be fixed to the ball shaped connectors by screws. It is an aim of the present invention therefore to at least alleviate the aforementioned shortcomings by provision of a towel rail assembly which is of modular construction. According to the present invention there is provided a modular-construction towel rail as set forth in claim 1. This enables the manufacturer to not only be able to assembly a towel rail in accordance with a customer's desired format, but also removes the need for scrapping the entire assembly, should one part of the towel rail be damaged. The connection between a pipe member and a connection piece is maintained by a locking means engaging both said a pipe and said a connection piece. In this way therefore the need to braise the pipe members and connection pieces together is avoided and once again, should any damage occur, it is simply a question of replacing the damaged piece rather than the entire assembly. Additionally one of the said a pipe member and the said a connection piece includes a chamfered surface against which surface the locking means may abut. This provides that the connection, once formed, between the pipe and the connection piece may not readily be broken. Preferably the locking means comprises a grub screw. Furthermore the O-ring may be fitted to either an end of a pipe member or an end of a connection piece (which connection piece is connected to said an end of a pipe member). The pipe members of the plurality of pipe members include male portions and the connection pieces of the plurality of connection pieces include female portions. Preferably the O-rings are fitted to the male portion of a pipe member. The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the following drawings of which: Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a towel rail assembled by the modular construction of the present invention, and; Figure 2 shows in detail the feature of Figure 1 which has been circled. Referring now to both Figures 1 and 2, it can be seen that a towel rail shown generally as 2 comprises a plurality of discrete pieces, in this case hollow pipes 4 each of which is coupled to a connection piece, in this example a metallic connector 6. It will be appreciated that various different forms of metallic connector 6 are possible and in the present example only two types namely a right angle connector and a "T" connector are shown. The left hand side of Figure 1 shows part-sectional views of each of the metallic connectors 6. The towel rail is coupled at either end to part of a hot water central heating unit (not shown). The valve stems 8 and the valves themselves 10 are shown in Figure 1. The valves are used to control the flow of hot water from one of the valve stems 8 to the other of the valve stems 8 in a desired manner. By opening or closing either of the valves 10 a user may therefore control whether the towel rail 2 is heated or not by controlling the flow of hot water from one valve stem 8 to the other valve stem 8. When the valves 10 are open the water will flow through each of the branches marked A, B and C as shown in Figure 1. Further discussion of the flow of water around each of the branches A, B and C will not be discussed herein as this is well known within the art. Referring now particularly to Figure 2 it can be seen that each hollow pipe 4 has at an end thereof a male projecting portion 12. Also, in this example, a metallic connector has, at each portion thereof adapted to be connected to a hollow pipe 4, a female projecting portion 14. Although in this example a hollow pipe 4 has a male portion 12 at an end thereof and a metallic connector 6 has a female portion 14 at an end adapted to be connected to a corresponding hollow pipe 4, this need not necessarily be the case. The invention will be equally efficacious if a hollow pipe 4 has a female end and a metallic connector 6 has a male end. For reasons of clarity however this particular possibility is not shown herein. The male portion 12 is formed as an annular flange depending from the main body of the pipe 4. An annular step 16 is formed at the junction between the body of the pipe 4 and the male portion 12. Similarly an annular step 18 is formed on the female portion 14 such that both steps 16 and 18 mate in tight relationship when the pipe 4 is inserted into the connector 6. Furthermore annular steps 16, 18 help the user locate an accurate seating of the pipe 4 within the connector 6 by simply feeling this abutment between the steps taking place. Once a pipe 4 has been inserted into a connector 6, then clearly some means of locking together is necessary. This prevents the pipe 4 and connector 6 coming apart under pressure of hot water. This achieved by way of a locking means engaging the pipe 4 and the piece 6 so as one cannot be removed from the other. In this example a locking means comprises a grub screw 20. Once a pipe 4 has been fully inserted into a connector 6 and the two annular steps 16, 18 are abutting each other, then the user simply tightens up grub screw 20 until this is fully home. Removal of the pipe from the connector is then no longer possible unless the grub screw 20 is untightened. To further ensure that the grub screw mates with the pipe 4 in rigid relationship thereby to prevent the pipe 4 being removed from the connector 6, the male portion 12 is preferably formed with a chamfered recess 22 so that when the grub screw 20 there abuts removal of the pipe 4 from the connector 6 is no longer possible. This is most important if, for example, the grub screw 20 works itself loose slightly over time. In the event that the male and female portions 12, 14 of the pipe and connector 4, 6 respectively are reversed i.e. the connector 6 has a male portion and the pipe 4 has a female portion, then the use of the grub screw and a chamfered recess would still be advantageous. All that is required in terms of the locking of the pipe 4 to the connector 6 is that a locking means passes through one of these and contacts the other so that relative movement therebetween may not be effected. In order to form a fluid-tight seal between the pipe and the connector 6, an O-ring is fitted therebetween. In the examples shown, an O-ring 24 is formed around the male portion 12 of the pipe 4 and sits snugly within the female portion 14 of the connector 6. In the above example the metallic connectors are formed from a die-cast brass piece. The hollow pipes 4 may also be of brass and the O-rings 24 are formed of heat resistant material. The O-rings may be inserted into the female portion 14 of the connector 6 instead of being formed around the male portion 12 of pipe 4. The present invention therefore lends itself readily to an adaptable modular-construction towel in which the finished product may take whichever form the user thereof desires. Removal or insertion of different pieces and branches for the flow of fluid therethrough are readily obtainable. The present invention, whilst most readily lending itself to a hot water system may equally well be employed in a towel rail which is oil-filled. In this instance, the towel rail could be heated by utilizing an electric heating element within the pipes 4 and connectors 6. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that this is equally efficacious as applied to the present invention.

Claims: A modular-construction towel rail (2) comprising a plurality of pipe members (4) and a plurality of discrete connection pieces (6) each of which connects together a plurality of the pipe members (4), the connection pieces (6) comprising right angle connection pieces (6) adapted to connect two of the pipe members (4) at right angles to each other and T-shaped connection pieces (6) adapted to connect three of the pipe members together to form a T-shape, characterised in that each of the plurality of pipe members (4) has a male portion (12) fitted in an axial end thereof and the plurality of connection pieces (6) includes a female portion (14) for receiving the pipe member male portion (12), wherein an O-ring (24) is fitted between each pipe member male portion (12) and the respective connection piece female portion (14) thereby to provide a fluid-tight seal therebetween, a locking means (20) engages said pipe member male portion (12) and the respective connection piece female portion (14) to maintain the connection between the pipe member (4) and connection piece (6). A towel rail (2) according to claim 1, characterised in that the locking means (20) abuts against a chamfered surface (22) on the a pipe member male portion (12). A modular-construction towel rail (2) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the locking means comprises a grub screw (20). A modular-construction towel rail (2) according to claim 1, characterised in that the O-ring (24) is fitted to the male portion (12) of the pipe member (4).

Inventors: ROWE GREG, ROWE, GREG, Rowe, Greg, c/o Avilion Limited
Applicants: AVILION LTD, AVILION LIMITED
Application year: 1998
Main classification: F28D1
IPC codes: F28F9, F28D1