Patent Publication Number: US-2018031134-A1

Title: Faucet cartridge

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a faucet cartridge. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     A conventional faucet cartridge is disclosed in patent TW 514182. A knob is disposed above a seat having an outlet. The knob is screwed with a retaining sleeve having a through hole. A cavity is formed between the retaining sleeve and the seat. The retaining sleeve encloses a water room. An operating rod and a spring are set on a plate. A spring and a sliding piece are set in a valve body having a cold water inlet and a hot water inlet. The sliding piece has a plurality of holes and a receiving seat. The valve body is set under the seat. An end of the operating rod is set on the receiving seat. Thereby, the expandable operating rod can adjust the ratio of cold water and hot water to regulate the temperature of mixed water. However, the faucet cartridge has to be connected with a faucet so as to be too bulky. 
     Besides, the patent TW M471523 also disclosed a faucet cartridge. However, the outer body includes an outer layer and an inner layer so as to have a complicated structure. The inner body has to be further installed into the inner layer. Thus, installation is difficult. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main object of the present invention is to provide a faucet cartridge which is able to completely separate cold water and hot water and is easy to install. 
     To achieve the above and other objects, the faucet cartridge of the present invention includes a main body, a seat, a temperature regulating structure, and a control structure. 
     The main body defines a longitudinal direction and a radial direction and includes a top cover, an outer body, an inner body, and an anti-leaking element. The top cover is disposed on a top of the outer body. The inner body is independent from the outer body and is disposed in the outer body. The anti-leaking element is sandwiched between the inner body and the outer body to partition a space between the inner body and the outer body into two separated spaces. The two separated spaces are a first channel and a second channel respectively. Each of the first channel and the second channel extends downward along the longitudinal direction. The inner body encloses a cavity and has a first inlet hole and a second inlet hole. The first inlet hole is located below the second inlet hole. The first channel communicates with the cavity via the first inlet hole, and the second channel communicates with the cavity via the second inlet hole. 
     The seat is disposed on a bottom of the main body and is rotatable with respect to the main body. The seat has a water outlet, a hot water inlet, and a cold water inlet. The cavity communicates with exterior via the water outlet. The first channel corresponds to the hot water inlet, and the second channel corresponds to the cold water inlet. The hot water inlet and the cold water inlet communicates with or discommunicates with the first channel and the second channel respectively when the hot water inlet and the cold water inlet stagger from or align with the first channel and the second channel respectively by rotating the outer body. 
     The temperature regulating structure includes a temperature regulating rod which is expandable, a blocking element, and a first elastic element. The temperature regulating rod, the blocking element, and the first elastic element are arranged in the cavity. The blocking element has at least one through hole for water to flow through. The blocking element is adapted for blocking the first inlet hole and the second inlet hole. The temperature regulating rod and the blocking element are linked-up. Diameters of the first inlet hole and the second inlet hole are oppositely alternated when the blocking element is moved by the expanding temperature regulating rod. The first elastic element pushes one of the temperature regulating rod and the blocking element so that the temperature regulating rod and the blocking element tend to move upward. 
     The control structure includes a control axle, a follower element, a second elastic element, and a pushing element. The control axle is rotatably inserted into the top cover. The follower element is movably disposed on the top cover and is screwed with the control axle. The follower element encloses a space in which the second elastic element and the pushing element are arranged. The second elastic element pushes the pushing element to abut against the temperature regulating rod. 
     Thereby, the faucet cartridge of the present invention has switch mechanism, temperature auto-regulation mechanism, and temperature adjusting mechanism. In addition, the structure of the present invention is simple and easy to install. Besides, cold water and hot water are completely separated before blending. 
     The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment(s) in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a stereogram of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a profile of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a partial perspective view of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view of the present invention at another angle; 
         FIG. 5  is a profile of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 5 , the faucet cartridge of the present invention includes a main body, a seat  20 , a temperature regulating structure  30 , and a control structure  40 . 
     The main body defines a longitudinal direction and a radial direction and includes a top cover  11 , an outer body  12 , an inner body  13 , and an anti-leaking element  14 . The top cover  11  is disposed on a top of the outer body  12 . The inner body  13  is received in the outer body  12  and is independent from the outer body  12 . The anti-leaking element  14  is sandwiched between the outer body  12  and the inner body  13  to partition the space between the outer body  12  and the inner body  13  into two separated spaces aligned along the radial direction. The two separated spaces are a first channel  101  and a second channel  102  respectively. Each of the first channel  101  and the second channel  102  extends downward along the longitudinal direction. The inner body  13  encloses a cavity therein and has a first inlet hole  131  and a second inlet hole  132 . The first inlet hole  131  is located below the second inlet hole  132 . The first channel  101  communicates with the cavity via the first inlet hole  131 , and the second channel  102  communicates with the cavity via the second inlet hole  132 . In the present embodiment, the anti-leaking element  14  includes an upper ring  141 , a lower ring  142 , and two longitudinal portions  143 . The upper ring  141  and the lower ring  142  are spacedly arranged along the longitudinal direction. Each longitudinal portion  143  connects the upper ring  141  and the lower ring  142  therebetween. The two longitudinal portions  143  are apart from each other to be located at two ends along the radial direction. The anti-leaking element  14  is sleeved onto the inner body  13  to be sandwiched between the inner body  13  and the outer body  12 . Preferably, the inner body  13  is formed with a groove  133  on the outer surface thereof The groove  133  has a shape corresponding to the shape of the anti-leaking element  14  so that the anti-leaking element  14  is set in the groove  133 . Preferably, the anti-leaking element  14  is made of rubber. Besides, the outer body  12  can be disposed with a handle for a user to hold. 
     The seat  20  is disposed on a bottom of the main body and is rotatable with respect to the main body. The seat  20  has a water outlet  21 , a hot water inlet  22 , and a cold water inlet  23 . The cavity communicates with exterior by the water outlet  21 . The first channel  101  corresponds to the hot water inlet  22 , and the second channel  102  corresponds to the cold water inlet  23 . When the first channel  101  and the second channel  102  stagger from or align with the hot water inlet  22  and the cold water inlet  23  by rotating the outer body  12 , the hot water inlet  22  and the cold water inlet  23  discommunicate or communicate with the first channel  101  and the second channel respectively. That is, the flow can be adjusted by rotating the outer body  12  various angles. 
     The temperature regulating structure  30  includes a temperature regulating rod  31  which is expandable, a blocking element  32 , and a first elastic element  33 . The temperature regulating rod  31 , the blocking element  32 , and the first elastic element  33  are received in the cavity. The blocking element  32  has at least one through hole  321  for water to flow through. The blocking element  32  is adapted for block the first inlet hole  131  and the second inlet hole  132 . The temperature regulating rod  31  is linked-up with the blocking element  32 . When the temperature regulating rod  31  is expanded or shrunk, the blocking element  32  is moved to alternate the diameters of the first inlet hole  131  and the second inlet hole  132 . The first elastic element  33  pushes one of the temperature regulating rod  31  and the blocking element  32  to make it tend to move upward. 
     The control structure  40  includes a control axle  41 , a follower element  42 , a second elastic element  43 , and a pushing element  44 . The control axle  41  is rotatably inserted into the top cover  11 . The follower element  42  is movably disposed on the top cover  11  and is screwed with the control axle  41 . The follower element  42  encloses a space, and the second elastic element  43  and the pushing element  44  are received in the space. The second elastic element  43  pushes the pushing element  44  to abut against the temperature regulating rod  31 . Specifically, an end of the control axle  41  penetrates the top cover  11  and is exposed outside for holding. The temperature regulating rod  31  is kept abutting against the pushing element  44  due to the first elastic element  33  and the second elastic element  43 . Thus, the temperature regulating rod  31  and the blocking element  32  are kept at a specific position. 
     To improve the adaptation between the main body and the seat, two ceramic discs  50  received in the seat  20  are included. The two ceramic discs  50  include a movable disc  51  and a fixed disc  52 . The movable disc  51  is linked-up with the bottom of the inner body  13 , and the fixed disc  52  is linked-up with the seat  20 . Each ceramic disc  50  is formed with a plurality of holes corresponding to the water outlet  21 , the hot water inlet  22 , and the cold water inlet  23 . 
     To facilitate the installation, the outer body  12  has a stepped face  121  facing downward on the inner wall thereof near the top of the outer body  12 . The inner body  13  is inserted into the outer body  12  upward via the bottom of the outer body  12  to abut against the stepped face  121 . 
     Preferably, the seat  20  covers the bottom half of the outer body  12 . An outer cover  60  is sandwiched between the outer body  12  and the seat and is fixed with the seat  20 . 
     In use, hot water and cold water enter via the hot water inlet  22  and the cold water inlet  23  respectively. The hot water further enters the cavity via the first channel  101  and the first inlet hole  131 , and the cold water further enters the cavity via the second channel  102  and the second inlet hole  132 . And then, cold water and hot water are mixed in the cavity, and the mixed water is discharged by the water outlet  21 . 
     By rotating the outer body  12 , the inlets and the channels stagger to cut the water supply. Thereby, the flow can be also adjusted. Besides, by rotating the control axle  41  to push the temperature regulating rod  31 , the original position of the blocking element  32  can be adjusted so as to regulate the temperature of mixed water. 
     When the mixed water is too hot, the temperature regulating rod  31  expands to drive the blocking element  32  to move downward so that the first inlet hole  131  is blocked more and that the second inlet  132  is blocked less. Thus, the flow of cold water increases, and the flow of hot water decreases so as to regulate the temperature of the mixed water, and vice versa. 
     In conclusion, the faucet cartridge of the present invention has a simple structure and is easy to install. In addition, the flow and the temperature of water are adjusted, and the temperature of water is auto-regulated.