Abstract:
A high temperature protective valve and the use thereof in a shower head, wherein the high temperature protective valve includes a body, the body having a complete one-way waterway, and also a thermo-sensitive assembly and a pivot valve assembly. The thermo-sensitive assembly is fixed inside the body and has a memory alloy body which can be immersed in the waterway and extend and retract along the direction of the flow. The pivot valve assembly is also fixed inside the body downstream waterway of the thermo-sensitive assembly. The pivot valve assembly has a pivot valve plug which is controllable by the thermo-sensitive assembly so as to cut off the waterway. The high temperature protective valve of such a structure has a fast response and can achieve good protective effects at a high temperature.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to an accessory of sanitary ware, especially to a high temperature protective valve and the use thereof in a shower head. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    It may happen that the water temperature is high when showering, when the temperature is higher than the proper value of 45° C., people feel uncomfortable, hurt, even get scaled. It happens when cold water is not serviced well, when the pipe gets wrong or when cold water and hot water are not mixed well, these situations are unpredictable. How to cut off the water with high temperature sensitively in a short time is a necessary humanization demands; meanwhile, if the device is smart enough to integrate into kinds of small sanitary wares, it makes it a convenient one to benefit the manufacturing and the users. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The present invention is provided with a high temperature protective valve to solve the technical problems of the existing technology, the technical proposal is as below: 
         [0004]    A high temperature protective valve, comprising a body, the body is disposed with a complete one-way waterway, wherein further comprising: 
         [0005]    a thermo-sensitive assembly ( 110 ), which is fixed inside the body, the thermo-sensitive assembly has a memory alloy body ( 112 ) which can be immersed in the waterway and extend and retract along the direction of the flow; and 
         [0006]    a pivot valve assembly ( 120 ), which is fixed inside the body and has a pivot valve plug ( 124 ) controllable by the thermo-sensitive assembly ( 110 ) so as to cut off the waterway. 
         [0007]    In another preferred embodiment, the memory alloy body ( 112 ) is a spring shape, the fixing end is situated in the most upstream waterway. 
         [0008]    In another preferred embodiment, the pivot valve assembly ( 120 ) is disposed with a plug ( 122 ) fixed to the memory alloy body ( 112 ) and a pivot hole ( 124   b ) on-off controllable by the plug ( 122 ). 
         [0009]    In another preferred embodiment, the pivot vale plug ( 124 ) comprising a packing leather ( 124   a ) to control the on-off of the downstream waterway. 
         [0010]    In another preferred embodiment, the pivot valve plug ( 124 ) comprising a pivot cavity ( 124   c ) and a backpressure cavity ( 124   d ), the pivot cavity ( 124   c ) and the backpressure cavity ( 124   d ) are disposed in order from upstream waterway to downstream waterway, and are connected by a guiding pipe ( 124   e ); the plug ( 122 ) and the pivot hole ( 124   b ) are situated inside the pivot cavity ( 124   c ); the pivot hole ( 124   b ) is connected to a pressure relief hole ( 124   h ) to connect to the downstream waterway of the backpressure cavity ( 124   d ); the packing leather ( 124   a ) is situated in the end face of the downstream waterway of the backpressure valve ( 124   d ); the backpressure cavity ( 124   d ) further comprising a needle valve ( 124   f ). 
         [0011]    In another preferred embodiment, the movable end of the memory alloy body ( 112 ) is fixed with a pushing rod ( 113 ), the pushing rod ( 113 ) threads a positioning sleeve ( 131 ) movably, and is fixed to the plug ( 122 ), the pushing rod ( 113 ) is disposed with a piston ( 113   a ), which can slide along the axial direction inside the positioning sleeve ( 131 ). 
         [0012]    In another preferred embodiment, the backpressure valve ( 124   d ) is disposed with a restoring spring ( 124   g ) to hold the shape of the packing leather ( 124   a ). 
         [0013]    The technical proposal of the use of the high temperature protective valve in a shower head is as below: 
         [0014]    A shower head with a high temperature valve, comprising a body, the body has a complete one-way waterway, wherein further comprising: 
         [0015]    a thermo-sensitive assembly ( 110 ), which is fixed inside the body, the thermo-sensitive assembly has a memory alloy body ( 112 ) which can be immersed in the waterway and extend and retract along the direction of the flow; and 
         [0016]    a pivot valve assembly ( 120 ), which is fixed inside the body ( 110 ) in the downstream waterway of the thermo-sensitive assembly ( 110 ); 
         [0017]    thereinto, the pivot valve assembly ( 120 ) has a pivot valve plug ( 124 ) controllable by the thermo-sensitive assembly ( 110 ) so as to cut off the waterway; the downstream waterway of the pivot valve plug ( 124 ) is disposed with a straight switch ( 130 ), which can manually release the waterway from disconnecting state by the pivot valve plug ( 124 ). 
         [0018]    the straight switch ( 130 ) comprising a moving pipe ( 132 ), a button ( 131 ) and a second spring ( 133 ); the moving pipe ( 132 ) is coupled to the inside of the body in the axial direction in moving way, one end of the moving pipe ( 132 ) is disposed with an entrance coupled to the packing leather ( 124   a ), the other end of the moving pipe ( 132 ) is connected to the body by the second spring ( 133 ); the button ( 131 ) is disposed with a guiding inclined surface to make the moving pipe ( 132 ) detached from the packing leather ( 124   a ) in the axial direction. 
         [0019]    The advantages of the present invention are that:
       1. the thermo-sensitive assembly is immersed inside the waterway, when the memory alloy body extends to the downstream waterway in a preset water temperature, it is coupled to the controlled pivot valve to cut off the waterway for high temperature protect.   2. the pivot valve plug with a pivot hole, a backpressure cavity, a needle valve and a packing leather can plug the waterway effectively when the plug cuts off the pivot hole.   3. the pushing rod with a piston can improve the sensitivity of the plug to touch the pivot hole.   4. in a shower head with a high temperature protective valve, the moving pipe is controlled by the button, the detachable structure with the packing leather makes it available to manually release the high temperature protective state, satisfying different needs, so that it is with flexible application.       
 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0024]    The present invention will be further described with the drawings and the embodiments. 
           [0025]      FIG. 1  illustrates the sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0026]      FIG. 2  illustrates the breakdown structure of the second embodiment of the present invention with each main component. 
           [0027]      FIG. 3  illustrates the sectional view of the second embodiment in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0028]      FIG. 4  illustrates the sectional view of the second embodiment in  FIG. 2  in protective state. 
           [0029]      FIG. 5  illustrates the sectional view of the second embodiment in  FIG. 2  in connecting state. 
           [0030]      FIG. 6  illustrates the sectional view of the pivot valve assembly of the second embodiment in  FIG. 2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     The First Embodiment 
       [0031]    A high temperature protective valve of the present invention is figured in  FIG. 1 , the valve is an one-way straight pipe, the valve is disposed with a body  10  with two connecting heads, a thermo-sensitive assembly and a pivot valve assembly, the thermo-sensitive assembly and the pivot valve assembly are disposed inside the body  10  in the axial direction in order; the thermo-sensitive assembly comprising a memory alloy body  112  and a pushing rod  113  and a joint  111  in the end thereof; a pivot valve assembly is disposed downstream waterway of the thermo-sensitive assembly, the pivot valve assembly comprising a pivot valve plug  124 , a positioning sleeve  121  and a plug  122 . in this embodiment, the memory alloy body  112  is a spring shape, the fixing end of the spring is disposed in the upstream waterway. 
         [0032]    As figured in the arrow in  FIG. 1 , hot water flows in from the joint  111 , then the memory alloy body  112  is immersed in the waterway, when the water temperature is higher than the recovery temperature of the memory alloy body  112 , the memory alloy body  112  extends along the downstream direction so as to push the pushing rod  112 ; the pushing rod  112  slides along the downstream direction inside the positioning sleeve  121 , the plug  122  at top end of the pushing rod  112  plugs the opening  124   b  of the pivot valve assembly, so that the pivot valve assembly  124  cuts off the waterway (as figured in  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 ). This embodiment of valve has small size, it is available in many kinds of pipes, and can be used in many outlet devices of temperature controlled. 
       The Second Embodiment 
       [0033]    The present invention is also provided with a shower head with a high temperature protective valve, as figured in  FIG. 2 ; the handle  100  and the shower head  200  compose the main components of the whole device housing, the handle  100  and the shower head  200  are hollow, and have a connecting and complete waterway. 
         [0034]    The thermo-sensitive assembly  110 , the pivot valve assembly  120  and the straight switch  130  are disposed inside the handle  100 , from the end of the handle  100  to the shower head  200  there are: 
         [0035]    The thermo-sensitive assembly  110  comprising a joint  11 , a memory alloy body  112  and the pushing rod  113 ; the joint  111  is fixed in the end of the handle  100 , it constitutes a part of the housing, and it is fixed to one end of the memory alloy body  112 . the other end of the memory alloy body  112  is movable in the axial direction, and is fixed with the pushing rod  113 . 
         [0036]    The pivot valve assembly  120  comprising a positioning sleeve  121 , a plug  122 , a first compression spring  123  and a pivot valve plug  125 ; thereinto, the plug  122  is fixed to the pushing rod  113  extended out of the positioning sleeve  121 , so that the pushing rod  113  can drive the plug  122  to move a certain distance in the axial direction between the positioning sleeve  121  and the pivot valve plug  124 ; the first compression spring  123  is fixed between the plug  122  and the pivot valve plug  124 , and provides with a reverse stress with respect to the memory alloy body  112  by the plug  122 . in normal station, the first compression spring  123  pushes the plug  122  so that the plug  122  is away from the pivot valve plug  124 . The pivot valve plug is connected to downstream waterway by a spacer  125 . The positioning sleeve  121 , the pivot valve plug  124  and the spacer  125  are fixed to the handle  100  relatively. 
         [0037]    The straight switch  130  comprising a button  131 , a movable pipe  132  and two compression spring  133 ; thereinto, the movable pipe  132  is connected to the shower head  200  by the second compression spring  133 , the button  131  is inserted from the hole in the outside of the body  100  and fixed so as to cooperate with the movable pipe  132 ; from the drawings, the button  131  controls the movable pipe  132  to move in the axial direction by a guiding inclined surface with its own movement up and down, so that the movable pipe  132  is near to or away from the pivot valve plug  124  in the axial direction. the straight switch is a switch that the on and off are respectively corresponding to the connecting state and cut off state of the whole device; when in connecting state, it releases the high temperature protective function, otherwise the protective function is effective. 
         [0038]    In this embodiment, the recovery temperature of the memory alloy body  112  is 45° C., with the spring shape, when the temperature is lower than 45° C., the memory alloy body  112  keeps compressed in the axial direction. when water flows from the joint  111  into the body  100 , it runs through the memory alloy body  112 , then flows through the clearance between the positioning sleeve  121  and the internal wall of the body  100 , the clearance between the pivot valve plug  124  and the internal wall of the body  100  and the space inside the spacer  125 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 3  is the sectional view of  FIG. 2  in normal working station and the waterway, the dot line arrow is the water flowing direction in the drawing. Water resource enters from the joint  111 , then runs through the clearance between the whole of the positioning sleeve  121  and the pivot valve plug  124  and the internal wall of the handle  100 , then reaches to the cavity of the spacer. In this position, the packing leather  124   a  of the pivot valve plug  124  is not contacted to the end of the moving pipe  132 , there is clearance between both, so that water can flows from the spacer  125  to the moving pipe  132 , then flows out of the shower head  200  under normal service. In this working state, the water temperature is not higher than 45° C., so that the memory alloy body  112  is contracted, the axial length is shorter, with the pressure of the first spring  124 , the plug  122  is not contacted to the pivot hole  124   b  of the pivot valve plug  124  but is withstood the internal wall of the positioning sleeve  121  in the upstream waterway. 
         [0040]      FIG. 4  is the sectional view of the embodiment in  FIG. 2  in protective state. It illustrates the high temperature protective function. As the memory alloy body  112  is always immersed in the water, it real-time monitors the water. When the water temperature is higher than the preset temperature of 45° C., the memory alloy body  112  extends along the downstream waterway, the force is larger than that of the first spring  123 , the pushing rod  113  drives the plug  122  to get close to the pivot hole  124   b  and finally plug the pivot hole  124   b . As he internal pressure of the packing leather  124   a  is larger than the external pressure, the packing leather  124   a  expands to contact the end of the moving pipe  132 , so that water is kept in the external of the packing leather  124   a  and is unable to flow into the moving pipe  132 , the moving pipe  132  is cut off, achieving the object of high temperature protecting. Through parameter design of memory alloy body  112  and the first spring  123 , it can achieve different memory alloy body  112  effectively extending in different temperature to satisfy different water temperature protecting needs. 
         [0041]      FIG. 5  is the sectional view of the embodiment in  FIG. 2  in straight connecting state. In this working state, the button  131  is pressed down, the moving pipe  132  slides along the downstream waterway, so that the clearance between the packing leather  124   a  and the end of the moving pipe  132  is increase, whatever the state of the memory alloy body  112  is or whether the plug  112  plugs the pivot hole  124   b  or not, the water can flow into the moving pipe  132 . it releases the protective function of the device by pressing the button  131  down. From another view angle, if the button  131  is not pressed down manually, the device is always in auto-protective state. 
         [0042]      FIG. 6  is the sectional view of the pivot valve assembly of the embodiment of  FIG. 2 . a rod cavity  121   a  is disposed in the upstream end of the positioning sleeve  121  to accommodate the pushing rod  113 ; the central of the pushing rod is disposed with a piston  113 , the memory alloy body  112  is sleeved on the pushing rod  112  and is contacted the piston  113   a  in the axial direction. As the water pressures in the two sides of the piston  113   a  are different, it generates a pressure towards the upstream waterway to make a damping action when the pushing rod  113  drives the plug  112  to extend towards the downstream waterway. 
         [0043]    The pivot valve plug is divided into two cavities in the axial direction: the pivot cavity  124   c  and the backpressure cavity  124   d . two cavities are connected by a guiding pipe  124   e ; the packing leather  124   a  is in one side of the downstream waterway of the backpressure cavity  124   d , the packing leather  124   a  has a needle valve  124   f  to connect to the backpressure cavity  124   d ; a pressure relief hole  124   h  is disposed in the central of the packing leather  124   a , the pivot hole  124   b  is connected to the side surface of the downstream waterway of the packing leather  124   a  by the pressure relief hole  124   h.    
         [0044]    When in use, when the memory alloy body  112  extends, the pushing rod  113  drives the plug  122  to plug the pivot hole  124   b , water flows into the backpressure cavity  124   c  through the needle valve  124  in one way, as the effective area of the internal side of the packing leather  124   a  is larger than that of the external side, the downstream waterway side, the packing leather  124   a  expands towards the external side to contact the unmoving moving pipe  132  to cut off the moving pipe  132 , achieving protecting object. If water temperature is not high enough or it recovers below the protective temperature, the plug  122  moves towards the upstream waterway under the work of the first spring  123  and the piston  113   a , the pivot hole  124   b  is released, as the pivot hole  124   b  is connected to the pressure relief hole  124   h , the water pressure inside the backpressure cavity  124   d  is not strong enough to make the packing leather expanded, that is the normal working state. The restoring spring  124   g  is used to assist to maintain the normal shape of the packing leather  124   a.    
         [0045]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof for carrying out the patent for invention, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the patent for invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims. 
       INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
       [0046]    The present invention is provided with a high temperature protective valve and the use thereof in a shower, the thermo-sensitive assembly is immersed inside the waterway, when the memory alloy body extends to the downstream waterway in a preset water temperature, it is coupled to the controlled pivot valve to cut off the waterway for well high temperature protecting.