Patent Publication Number: US-9895701-B2

Title: Shower water rotating structure

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a bathroom product, and more particularly to a shower water rotating structure. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Current shower heads are variable in shape and style; users&#39; requirements for them are not only the shapes thereof but the functions and water comfort thereof. Current shower heads may have various water types such as shower water, column water, massage water and fall water, allowing users to choose, where conventional structures for outputting pulsating massage water mostly use water to impact impeller to form intermittent water flow to hit a person&#39;s body to generate a sometimes strong and sometimes weak massage-like feeling to the person, the output water being soft and comfortable. But, such kind of massage water effect formed simply by impeller structured is not ideal, having no obvious pulsating massage effect. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is to provide a shower water rotating structure, capable of improving the pulsating effect of output water so as to enhance a shower water massage function, allowing shower to be more comfortable and relax. 
     To achieve the object mentioned above, the present invention proposes a shower water rotating structure, including a main body having a water inlet and water outlet, and a rotating disk, pinion, water inclining support, impeller and rotors arranged top to bottom inside the main body, the water inclining support having inclined water inlet adapted to guide water flow to impact the impeller to rotate the impeller being configured with a drive gear adapted to drive the pinion to rotate, the pinion being configured with a guide rod adapted to drive the rotating disk to rotate, the rotating disk being distributed radially with guide grooves for the staged matching with the guide rod, and a lower part of rotating disk being configured with a gear adapted to drive the rotors having an inclined water hole and capable of being rotated in the water outlet of the main body. 
     A upper part of the rotating disk is further configured with a water separating disk, and a peripheral of the water separating disk is configured with water passing gaps. 
     The water separating disk is a disk body, a upper surface thereof close to a periphery thereof is formed with convex edges, notches are distributed on the convex edges, and the water passing gaps are distributed on the water separating disk outside the convex edges. 
     The rotating disk is a circular disk body, a projecting rod matching with a through hole is extended downward from a middle part of the circular disk body, a gear is configured on a lower end of the projecting rod, guide grooves are distributed radially on a lower surface of the circular disk body, a closed positioning seat for the positioning of the pinion is formed between each two adjacent guide grooves, and a deep seat allowing the guide rod of the pinion to be passed through is formed between each positioning seat and the projecting rod. 
     A guide concave arc is formed on a periphery of a lower surface of the circular disk body between each two adjacent guide grooves. 
     A guide rod is configured on a matching face of the pinion with the rotating disk close to a periphery thereof, and a guide convex arc operated in coordination with the guide concave arc is configured on an opposite side to the guide rod. 
     A positioning rod operated in coordination with the positioning seat of the rotating disk is formed on a middle part of the pinion between the guide rod and guide convex arc of the pinion, and another side of the positioning rod is formed with an engagement seat matching with the water inclining support. 
     The water inclining support is a post cover, a middle part thereof is formed into a partitioning plate adapted to divide the post cover into a upper seat and lower seat, a middle part of the partitioning plate is configured with a matching hole allowing the drive gear of the impeller to be passed through, one side of the matching hole of the partitioning plate is configured with a projecting bar matching with the pinion, the rotating disk and pinion are accepted in the upper seat, the impeller is accepted in the lower seat, and the inclined water inlets are configured on a side wall of the lower seat. 
     A drive gear in engagement with the pinion is configured on a upper part of an axle of the impeller with an engagement hole, and a periphery of a lower par of the axle is formed with leaves, the axle of the impeller allowing the projecting rod of the rotating disk to be matched therewith by extension of the projecting rod therein. 
     The rotor is a water body configured with an inclined water hole, the water hole on the rotor having an included angle with a rotation axis of the rotor, and a upper end edge of the rotor is formed with a driven gear in engagement with the gear of the rotating disk. 
     Whereby, the present invention drives the pinion adapted to drive the rotating disk to rotate intermittently through the impeller having the drive gear, and the rotating disk then drives the rotors having an inclined water hole in such a way to realize spray having a pulsating rotating water effect, improving shower water massage function, allowing shower to be more comfortable and relax. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematically perspective view of an impeller in engagement with a pinion according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematically perspective view of a rotating disk in engagement with the pinion according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3A  is a schematically perspective view of the rotating disk of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3B  is a schematically perspective view of the pinion of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematically perspective view of the rotating disk in engagement with rotors according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematically perspective view of the rotating disk, pinion, impeller and rotors operated in coordination with one another according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a longitudinally cross-sectional view of the present invention after assembly; 
         FIG. 6A  is a cross sectional view of the present invention taken along line A-A of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 6B  is a cross sectional view of the present invention taken along line B-B of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 6C  is a cross sectional view of the present invention taken along line C-C of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 6D  is a cross sectional view of the present invention taken along line D-D of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIGS. 6A-1 to 6A-6  respectively are a schematically cross-sectional view of the present invention derived from  FIG. 6A , showing the pinion driving the rotating disk when shower water is being sprayed out; and 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram, showing a working principle of shower water output according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 7 , a shower water rotating structure of the present invention includes a main body  1  having a water inlet  111  and water outlet  121  and a rotating disk  3 , pinion  4 , water inclining support  5 , impeller  6  and rotors  7  arranged from top to bottom inside the main body  1 , where the water inclining support  5  has an inclined water inlet  56  adapted to guide water flow to impact the impeller  6  to rotate, the impeller  6  is configured with a drive gear  62  for driving the pinion  4  to rotate, and the pinion  4  is configured with a guide rod  41  driving the rotating disk  3  to rotate, with the rotating disk  3  being distributed radially with guide grooves  33  for the staged matching of the guide rod  41 , while the lower part of the rotating disk  3  is configured with a gear  32  adapted to drive the rotor  7  having inclined water holes  71  and capable of being rotated in the water outlet  121  of the main body  1 . 
     Furthermore, the upper part of the rotating disk  3  is configured with a water separating disk  2 , on the periphery of which water passing gaps  23  are configured. 
     The main body  1  is constituted by engaging a upper housing  11  with a lower housing  121 , between them is formed with an accommodation space for the accommodation of the components mentioned above, the water inlet  111  for the connection with a water supplying hose is configured on the top of the upper housing  11 , and the water outlet  121  allowing the rotors  7  to be extended in and mated with it the bottom of the lower housing  12 . 
     The water separating disk  2  is a disk body, on the upper surface of which close to the periphery is configured with convex edges  21 , on which notches  22  are distributed. Furthermore, the water passing gaps  23  are distributed along the periphery on the water separating disk outside the convex edges  21 . It is noted that the convex edges  21  and notches  22  are configured in such a way to speed water flow. 
     Further referring to  FIG. 3A , the rotating disk  3  is a circular disk body, the middle part of which is extended with a projecting rod  31  having a matching through hole  30 , and a gear  32  is configured on the lower end of the projecting rod  31 . Furthermore, guide grooves  33  are distributed radially on the lower surface of the circular disk body; a guide concave arc  34  is formed on the periphery of the circular disk body between each two adjacent guide grooves  33 ; a closed positioning seat  34  is further formed between each two adjacent guide grooves on the lower surface of the circular disk body; between each positioning seat  35  and the projecting rod  31  is formed with a deep seat  36  allowing a guide rod  41  of the pinion  4  described below to be passed through. Here, the number of the guide grooves  33  depends on the outer diameter and tooth number of the pinion  4 . 
     Still further referring to  FIG. 3B , the matching face of the pinion  4  with the rotating disk  3  close to the periphery is configured with a guide rod  41  operated in coordination with the guide grooves  33 , and the side of the matching face opposite to the guide rod  41  is further configured with a guide convex arc  42  operated in coordination with the guide concave arc  34 . Furthermore, a positioning rod  43  is formed on the middle of the pinion  4  between the guide rod  41  and guide convex arc  42 , and an engagement seat  44  is formed on another side of the positioning rod  43 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the positioning rod  43  of the pinion  4  is inserted in the positioning seat  35  and the guide rod  41  is extended in the guide groove  33  when the pinion  4  is operated in coordination with the rotating disk  3 . 
     The water inclining support  5  is a post cover, where a partitioning plate  51  is formed in the middle thereof to divide it into a upper seat  52  and lower seat  53 , Furthermore, a matching hole  54  is configured on the middle of the partitioning plate  51 , and a projecting bar  55  in engagement with the engagement seat  44  of the pinion  4  is configured at one side of the matching hole  54  of the partitioning plate  51 , where the rotating disk  3  and pinion  4  are accepted in the upper seat  52 , and the impeller  6  in the lower seat  53 , with inclined water inlets  56  being configured on the side wall of the lower seat  53 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the impeller  6  has an axle  61  with an engagement hole  60 , on the upper part of which a drive gear  62  for the engagement with the pinion  5  is configured, and a plurality of leaves  63  are formed on the lower part of the periphery of the axle  61 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the rotor  7  is a water body configured with inclined water hole  71 , i.e. the water hole  71  on the rotor  7  is formed a certain angle with the rotation axis of the rotor  7 , and the upper end edge of the rotor  7  is formed with a driven gear  72  in engagement with the rotating disk gear  32 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , upon the assembly of the shower water rotating structure of the present invention, each rotor  7  is inserted in the water outlet  121  of the lower housing  12 , and the impeller  6 , water inclining support  5 , pinion  4  and rotating disk  3  are successively mounted thereon from bottom to top, where the axle  61  of the impeller  6  is in movable engagement with the projecting rod  31  of the rotating disk  3 ; the gear  32  of the rotating disk  3  is in engagement with the driven gears  72 ; the drive gear  62  on the rotating shaft  61  is passed through the partitioning plate  51  of the water inclining support  5  to be in engagement with the pinion  4 ; and a pin  8  is passed through the matching through hole  30  of the rotating disk  3  to fix the water separating disk  2  to the lower housing  12 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6A to 6D , according to the present invention, upon shower, water flows into main body via the water inlet  111  of the upper housing  11  and is then guided by the water separating disk  3  to flow into the water inclining support  5  from the side face thereof. Thereafter, the water enters the lower seat  53  via the inclined water inlet  56  of the water inclining support  5  and impacts the impeller  6  to cause it to rotate. Further, the drive gear  62  of the impeller  6  drives the pinion  4  to rotate; the guide rod  41  is moved along the guide groove  33  of the rotating disk  3  upon the rotation of the pinion  4  to poke the rotating disk  3  to rotate; and the gear  32  of the rotating disk  3  drives the rotors  7  to rotate such that the spray emitted from the rotors  7  is then formed into rotating spray. Furthermore, the rotating disk  3  is stopped rotating when the guide rod  41  of the pinion  4  is rotated to the range of the deep seat  36  of the rotating disk  3  from the previous guide groove  33 , and the guide rod  41  does not drive the rotating disk  3  to rotate until it slides into the next guide groove  33  in such a way to make the rotors  7  to output rotating spray of an intermittent pulse type, making a human body feel more obvious on the rotating spray. 
     In this embodiment, the gear ratio of the drive gear  62  of the impeller  6  and pinion  4  is set to 22:28, the one of the pinion  4  and gear  32  of the rotating disk  3  1:6, and the one of the gear  32  and driven gear  72  of the rotor  7  12:30 so that the total transmission ratio of the entire gear reduction mechanism is 240:11. In addition, the number of the guide groove  33  on the rotating disk  3  is set to 6, and the one of rotors  7  is set to 3. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the guide rod  41  of the pinion  4  and the guide groove  31  of the rotating disk  3  are fit in a sliding way to form a sliding pair, while the guide concave arc  34  of the rotating disk  3  and the guide convex arc  42  of the pinion  4  play guide and stability roles when the guide rod  41  is being slid out of the guide groove  33 . Furthermore, the constant rotation of the pinion  4  is changed to intermittent motion of the rotating disk  3 ; the pinion  4  rotates one turn, and the rotating disk  3  rotates one groove position, i.e. 60 degrees, where the rotating disk  3  is moved during ⅔ unit time and stopped during another ⅓ unit time if one turn rotation of the pinion  4  takes one unit time. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6A-1 to 6A-6 , the pinion  4  drives the rotating disk  3  to rotate; the rotating disk  3  is rotated ⅙ turn if the pinion rotates one turn, while the pinion  4  has no action with the rotating disk  3  during ⅓ of each rotation, namely, the rotating disk  3  is in a static state, so that the rotating disk  3  is not rotated continuously but intermittently. Thereupon, the spray is sprayed out in a conically spiral shape when the rotor  7  is rotated because the rotating disk  3  drives the rotor  7  to rotate and the water hole  71  on the rotor  7  is formed a certain angle with the rotation axis of the rotor  7 , and the spray is sprayed out along the axle center of the water hole  71  in a straight line shape when the rotor  7  is stopped. 
     The shower water rotating structure of the present invention outputs an spray with intermittent pauses and a conically spiral shape, which is between rotating water and massage water, having a more obvious pulsating and soft massage effect. Referring to  FIG. 7 , which shows a spray formation principle of the present invention, the original continuous output rotation is caused to change into an intermittent rotation because the pinion  4  driving the rotating disk  3  is an intermittent motion; the water flow is not rotated when the rotors  7  are stopped (see stopping point a in the figure), the rotors  7  being kept spraying out water at a certain angle at this time, and the water flow is rotated around the axis when the rotors  7  are rotated, the spray is in a rotation state (see the rotation state b in the figure) at this time. 
     To sum up, the present invention realizes spray having a pulsating rotating water effect, improving the massage effect of shower water and allowing shower to be more comfortable and relax by driving the pinion  4  adapted to push the rotating disk  3  to rotate intermittently with the impeller  6  and then driving the rotor  7  having the inclined water hole  71  with the rotating disk  3 . 
     Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the claims or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.