Patent Publication Number: US-2020284000-A1

Title: Water saving system with a diverter valve for switching cold and hot water passing therethrough

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT DOCUMENTS 
     This patent application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/852,267 entitled “DIVERTER VALVE FOR SWITCHING FLOW OF COLD AND HOT WATER THROUGH ABLUTIONARY INSTALLATIONS SUCH AS SHOWER HEADS,” filed May 23, 2019, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to valves for controlling fluid flow, and particularly to a diverter valve that can be integrated with ablutionary installations such as shower heads and the like for switching flow of cold and hot water. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Users require hot water for taking a shower using bath outlets; washing dishes and clothes using hand taps. In order to fulfill this requirement, often various heating sources such as geysers are installed in bathrooms or other remote places. These heating sources heat cold water to a desired temperature, and transmit the heated water for uses to ablutionary installations such as showers, faucets via Thermostatic Mixing Valve (TMV) using preinstalled pipeline system. As known, the TMV is a mechanism that blends hot water with cold water at a pre-set temperature to ensure that when the water is released through this valve and into the water system for delivery to taps, bath outlets, or other outlets where the water is directly accessible to a user, the water is delivered at a certain temperature. 
     It is known fact that, there always remains some water in the preinstalled pipeline system and is usually cold and has an ambient temperature nearly equivalent to atmospheric temperature outside. For the users who desire to have hot water, the temperature of the water in the pipeline system may not be acceptable and thus the users may open the faucet or water outlets to draw the hot water from the heating source. In the event, where the heating source is remotely located and the user is not using the TMV, then as the user turns on showers, faucets or other water outlets, the water that&#39;s remained in the preinstalled pipeline system first flows out of the shower heads, faucets, or other desired outlets until the hot water from the heating source reaches the desired outlets. This water with ambient temperature that usually flow out of the shower heads, faucets, or other outlets are usually wasted as the users just tend to wait for the hot water to reach and flow out of the shower heads, faucets, or other outlets and be accessible to them. 
     In this event, it becomes utmost important to save this water with ambient temperature that get wasted unused. While the supply of water seems abundant, water is not a limitless resource, particularly when the water is most necessary to human survival. Without any conservation efforts from users to prevent water wastage, this vital supply of water may be exhausted. With regard to this, several inventors in the past have proposed different solutions For example, U.S. Ser. No. 10/047,505 discloses cool water draining switch valve having a valve body, a valve spool and a thermal module disposed in the valve body. The valve body has an inlet passage and two outlet passages connected to the inlet passage. The patent as disclosed uses retractable ports to open/close water draining holes and it allows for the multi-way flow of water through two outlet ports. It has limitation based on its complex structural design. 
     U.S. Ser. No. 10/012,320 discloses a hot and cold water switching valve that operates in two modes and can flexibly control the hot water outflow while avoiding the waste of cold water. The valve as disclosed in the patent uses three switching elements configured within the valve&#39;s body. The claimed water switching valve requires a user to turn a knob that changes the direction of the water flow through the valve. During the summer, or when no hot water is required, this allows the water to flow freely from the water source. However, during the winter, or when hot water is required, the ambient-temperature water flows to a “recovery channel”. As disclosed, the knob is used to control a switching valve&#39;s positioning to determine whether hot water is required. Additionally, a thermostat body with a spring, O-shaped sealing rings, and limiting plates is used to control the flow of water. It has limitation based on its complex structural design. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,456 discloses a two-way diverter valve having a valve body that includes an inlet port, a first outlet port and a second outlet port. The inlet port is separated from the two outlet ports. There is also provided a rotatable valve with a knob for rotating the valve stem to selectively divert the fresh water from outlet neck to either the first outlet port or the second outlet port by way of respective valve passages. The patent discloses a manual diverter valve, manually operable by a user to allow storage of cold water from the hot water line in an auxiliary tank. While such an arrangement can save water, it has limitations based on the manual operation. Such an arrangement relies on the individual operator to initiate the savings of water. This is not convenient and may not be reliable depending upon the number of potential users. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,499 discloses a temperature sensitive shower diverter valve and method for diverting shower water used between a source of shower water and a shower head to control the flow of water to the shower head. The diverter valve is positioned between the wall outlet pipe and the shower head. The valve as described in the patent diverts the water from a bather when the temperature of the water is too hot or too cold and automatically resets when water of the proper temperature arrives. As can be understood from the patent, the outlet port that diverts ambient temperature water simply shoots into a corner or against the shower wall. The purpose is to ensure the user gets their desired temperature, but not necessarily to save the diverted water. The patent further discloses use of a microprocessor controller connected to a keypad to determine desired temperatures. Although the diverter valve disclosed in the patent may be satisfactory in use, apparently the patent doesn&#39;t disclose about any user friendly way to set the water temperature. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,661 discloses a control valve that is a three-way direction control valve that shifts when fluid passing through the valve reaches a preset temperature. The control valve includes three ports, an internal shiftable spool, and a thermal element, wherein fluid entering a first port from a source of heated fluid passes around a thermal element and out of a second port, until the fluid is warm enough to cause the thermal element to expand, thereby shifting the spool so that the first port is closed, and the second and third ports are in fluid communication with each other. The valve uses an elastomer or a material that can expand and contract with changes in temperature to change the flow of liquids. This elastomer element pushes a valve spool to block the flow of hot water from being re-directed. Although the control valve disclosed in the patent may be satisfactory in use, apparently the patent doesn&#39;t disclose about any user friendly way to set the water temperature. Further, the proposed control valve in the patent as disclosed is integrated away from ablutionary installations. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,462 discloses a temperature controlled system which includes a water conservation by-pass circuit. As taught by this patent, the disclosed diverter valve uses an electromagnet to change the flow of water. The patent discloses an extensive pipeline system that makes a closed plumbing system. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,688 discloses an apparatus for preventing the waste of water which typically occurs in household and industry installations. As disclosed in the patent, the diverted water goes to a pump that recycles the water back through the pipe system. The disclosed solution appears to be more extensive pipeline that allows diverted water to be pumped back into the system when the water reaches a desired temperature. 
     Although attempts are made in the past to provide various systems and/or control valves to overcome the wastage of ambient water from the pre-installed water pipeline system during showering, washing dishes and clothes, the existing systems and/or valves are either expensive, involve complex interior designs, operation, and unreliable. Thus, there remains a need for a more simplified and reliable solution to this existing problem of wastage of ambient temperature water remained in the preinstalled pipeline system. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     Accordingly, the proposed invention provides a diverter valve that can help in saving water while showering, washing dishes and clothes and so on. 
     It is an objective of the present invention to provide a valve that has simplified interior design, simple to operate, easy to install with the ablutionary installations such as shower heads, faucets, and at the same time cost effective to manufacture. 
     It is another objective of the present invention to provide a diverter valve that switches flow of cold and hot water passing through the ablutionary installations based on a specific temperature of the water set by a user. 
     It is another objective of the present invention to provide a water saving system that comprises of a diverter valve connected in midway between an ablutionary installation (such as shower head) and the preexisting pipeline system to switch flow of cold water present in the pipeline system to an auxiliary tank for storage until the water of a desired temperature from the heating source arrives at the diverter valve that then switches the hot water through the shower head for showering. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a water saving system which enables storage of cold water (water with ambient temperature that usually gets wasted before a user receives water with desired temperature) in an auxiliary tank that can then be used for several other domestic uses such as for watering plants, flushing toilets and so on. 
     According to the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a water saving system that includes an auxiliary tank, a diverter valve comprising a valve body having an inlet port, a first outlet port, and a second outlet port, wherein the inlet port of the diverter valve in a fluid communication to a preexisting pipeline system to draw water therefrom, the first outlet port of the diverter valve in fluid communication to the auxiliary tank using a pipe, and the second outlet port of the diverter valve in fluid communication to an ablutionary installation such as shower head. 
     According to the embodiment, the diverter valve further includes a thermostat element disposed within the valve body perpendicularly aligned with respect to the first and second outlet ports, and a temperature adjuster rotatably configured over a threaded end opposite to the inlet port of the valve body, wherein the temperature adjuster enables a user to set a specific temperature based on which the diverter valve would switch the flow of water arriving from the preexisting pipeline system to either the first outlet port for storage in the auxiliary tank, or the second outlet port for delivery to the user through the ablutionary installation. 
     These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description below, in light of the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an environmental diagram of a water saving system with a diverter valve integrated with a shower head, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows an external view of a diverter valve having an inlet port, two outlet ports, union nuts, and tailpieces connected to the ports, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows a cross sectional view of the diverter valve with no union nuts, and tailpieces connected to the ports, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4-5  shows operation of the diverter valve or switching of water flow between the two outlet ports of the diverter valve for saving ambient water remained in the pipeline system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As used in the specification and claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The words “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” and “including,” and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. Those with ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated, relative to other elements, in order to improve the understanding of the present invention. References to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “another embodiment”, “an example”, “one implementation”, “some embodiment”, and so on, indicate that the embodiment(s) or example(s) so described may include a particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element, or limitation, but that not every embodiment or example necessarily includes that particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element or limitation. Unless stated otherwise, terms such as “first”, “second”, are used to arbitrarily distinguish between the elements such terms describe. Thus, these terms are not necessarily intended to indicate temporal or other prioritization of such elements. In the context of the present invention, the terms “cold water”, “water with ambient temperature”, “ambient temperature water”, and so on all mean the same and used to refer to the stored water or water remained in the pipeline system that is nearly equal in temperature to the outside environment. These terms are interchangeably used in this disclosure. 
     As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. 
     The diverter valve that can be integrated with ablutionary installations such as shower heads and the like for switching flow of cold and hot water in order to save or store the water with ambient temperature (or water below desired temperature) that would otherwise be wasted or go unused will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings  FIGS. 1-5 , which should be regarded as merely illustrative without restricting the scope and ambit of the disclosure. 
     Referring to accompanying figures, particularly to  FIG. 1 , an environmental diagram of a water saving system with a diverter valve integrated with a shower head is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Although, not explicitly shown, it should be understood that some heating source (such as a portable geyser) may be connected to a water supply source so that hot water can be delivered to a user through various outlets when needed. 
     The water saving system  100  is shown installed in a washroom/bathroom  200 . Typically, the washroom/bathroom  200  includes a preexisting pipeline system or water line  202  usually distributed and concealed within walls of the bathroom  200 . Typically, the preexisting pipeline system  202  concealed within the walls are provided with multiple ablutionary installations (bath shower heads, hand taps and so on) installed at different locations within the bathroom  200 . The various ablutionary may be installed to enable a user to receive the water therefrom that passes through the preexisting pipeline system  202  for various purposes such as for washing clothes, taking shower and so on. As seen, the system  100  further includes a diverter valve  102  configured in between a shower head  208  and the preexisting pipeline  202 . In particular, the shower head  208  connects to an outlet port of the diverter valve  102  using a shower arm  209 . As seen, an inlet port of the diverter valve  102  connects to an outlet present on bathroom wall that&#39;s in fluid communication with the preexisting pipeline system  202  concealed within the bathroom&#39;s wall. The diverter valve  102  is further connected to an auxiliary tank  206 . The tank  206  may be made of various materials such as for example, plastic. Further, the size/capacity of the tank  206  can vary based on the requirement. In the example, the auxiliary tank  206  is shown installed within the bathroom  200 , but it can be understood that the auxiliary tank  206  may be installed at any other location in the residence or outside the residence. Particularly, an outlet port of the diverter valve  102  is connected to the auxiliary tank  206  using a pipe  204 . The pipe  204  may be any commercially available pipe that can connect to the outlet port. As seen, the auxiliary tank  206  may further include an outlet  206   a  that may be selectively opened or closed to drain water stored in the auxiliary tank  206  to other places for various purposes such as for example but not limited to flushing toilets, washing hands, watering plants and so on. Further, the diverter valve  102  includes a temperature adjuster  110 . The temperature adjuster  110  enables a user to set a specific temperature based on which the diverter valve  102  may switch the flow of water arriving from the preexisting pipeline system  202  to one of the provided two outlet ports either for storage of ambient temperature water in the auxiliary tank  206 , or desired hot water from heating source for showering. A more comprehensive detail on the design features, and functionalities of the diverter valve  102  of the present invention is presented in  FIGS. 2-5 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2-3 , the diverter valve  102  includes a valve body  103 . The valve body  103  includes an inlet port  104 , a first outlet port  106 , and a second outlet port  108 . As seen, the first and second outlet ports  106 , 108  are configured opposite to each other. Also, as seen, the valve body  103  is constructed such that the first outlet port  106  is partially blocked using a member  106   d , and the second outlet port  108  is partially blocked using a member  108   d . As seen in the  FIG. 2 , the diverter valve  102  may further include union nuts or nut assemblies  104   a ,  106   a ,  108   a , tail pieces  106   b ,  108   b  connected to the ports  104 , 106 , 108  in order to facilitate connectivity of the valve  102  with other plumbing structures such as the pipe  204 . The diverter valve or body  103  and any other associated components thereof may be made of metallic material such for example brass. The valve  102  may be made in various sizes depending upon requirement. Further, many other components not shown and described such as but not limited to gaskets, strainers etc may be used with the proposed diverter valve like in any other known thermostatic mixing valves and are intentionally omitted from the description to keep the focus of the patent more into the novel and inventive aspects of the disclosure. Referring to  FIG. 1  in conjunction to  FIG. 2 , the inlet port  104  of the diverter valve  102  is operationally connected to the preexisting pipeline system  202  to draw water therefrom, the first outlet port  106  of the diverter valve  102  operationally connected to the auxiliary tank  206  using the pipe  204 , and the second outlet port  108  of the diverter valve  102  operationally connected to the shower head  208  using the shower arm  209 . Further, it can be understood from  FIG. 1  that the shower arm  209  is in fluid communication with the second outlet port  108  of the valve  102  to supply water to the shower head  208 . 
     As seen in  FIG. 3 , the diverter valve  102  further includes a thermostat element  112  disposed within the valve body  103 . Particularly, the thermostat element  112  is perpendicularly aligned with respect to the first and second outlet ports  106 , 108  of the diverter valve  102 . Further as seen, the thermostat element  112  includes a thermostat body  112   a  preferably cylindrical in shape. The thermostat element  112  further includes a plunger  112   c  operationally configured at a center top end of the thermostat body  112   a . The plunger  112   c  is configured to either retract or extend based on the temperature of the water passing through the valve body  103 . The thermostat element  112  further includes a cylinder  112   b  preferably cylindrical in shape configured over the top end of the thermostat body  112   a  surrounding the plunger  112   c . The cylinder  112   b  preferably attaches to or sits on periphery at the top end of the thermostat body  112   a  such that the cylinder moves along with the movement of the thermostat body  112   a . The movement of the cylinder  112   b  is against the members  106   d ,  108   d . The movement of the cylinder  112   b  selectively opens openings  106   c ,  108   c  of the first and second outlet ports  106 , 108 . The cylinder  112   b  is made up of but not limited to plastic, rubber or any other like materials known in the art. As seen, a portion of the thermostat body  112   a  may be wrapped within a spring  112   d  or in simple terms the thermostat body  112   a  is embodied within or surrounded by the spring  112   d . The spring  112   d  may be made of stainless steel or like elastic material. The spring  112   d  is preferably a compression spring capable of expansion (stretchable) or compression. 
     The diverter valve  102  further includes a temperature adjuster  110  rotatably configured over a threaded end  113  opposite to the inlet port  104  of the valve body  103 . The adjuster  110  may be made of various materials such as stainless steel, plastic and so on. The adjustable range can vary based on application area. In an example, the adjustable range of the temperature adjuster  110  may be from 35° C.-50° C. In one example implementation, the adjuster  110  may be internally threaded to facilitate the adjuster  110  to connect to the threaded end  113  of the valve body  103 . In an implementation, the adjuster  110  sits on threads, like a bolt. When the user turns it, it moves up or down changing the position where the plunger  112   c  touches it. So moving the adjuster  110  up moves the thermostat element  112  up, and then the plunger  112   c  has to move further to change outlets  106 , 108 . The temperature adjuster  110  enables a user to set a specific temperature based on which the diverter valve  102  switches the flow of water arriving from the preexisting pipeline system  202  either to the first outlet port  106  for storage in the auxiliary tank  206 , or the second outlet port  108  for showering. 
     In operation, as best understood from  FIGS. 4-5  in conjunction with  FIG. 1 , assuming the user sets (using the adjuster  110 ) a specific temperature (say for example 39 Degrees Celsius) for the valve  102  to perform switching between cold and hot water. When the user first opens up a knob/handle (not seen) associated with the shower head  208  for taking the shower, as a matter of fact initially the water that&#39;s present in the preexisting pipeline system/water line  202  first arrives to the valve  102  before arrival of hot water from the heating source. It is known fact that, the water that remains in the pipeline system  202  for a certain time achieves an ambient temperature or temperature substantially equal to the environment temperature. When this water present in the pipeline system  202  arrives inside the valve body  103  through the inlet port  104 , the thermostat element  112  will detect if the temperature of the water is below the set temperature (&lt;39 Degrees Celsius) or equal to or above the set temperature (&gt;=39 Degrees Celsius). If the thermostat element  112  detect the temperature of water to be below the set temperature by the user, the plunger  112   c  of the thermostat element  112  would retract to push the thermostat body  112   a  in vertically upward direction (this is facilitated by the spring  112   d ) for opening a first flow channel (“Flow channel A”) represented with dotted arrow in  FIG. 4 . In particular, when the plunger  112   c  retract the cylinder  112   b  of the thermostat element  112  moves up, and when the cylinder  112   b  moves up, it lets the first outlet port  106  of the valve  102  to open. More specifically, when the cylinder  112   b  moves up, it just opens the opening  106   c  of the outlet port  106  and closes the second outlet port  108  completely (specifically the opening  108   c  of the outlet port  108 ). The water which is of lower temperature (not of desired temperature for showering) than the set temperature is then passed to the auxiliary tank  206  for storage through the pipe  204  connected to the outlet port  106 . This stored water or saved water in the auxiliary tank  206  can then be used by the user for various purposes such as watering plants, flushing toilets and so on. 
     Once the complete water from the pipeline system  202  is passed and stored in the auxiliary tank  206 . The water from the heating source will then arrive at the valve  102 . Operationally, when the hot water from the heating source arrives at the valve  102  or valve body  103  through the inlet port  104  via the pipeline system  202 , the thermostat element  112  will detect if the temperature of the water is below the set temperature (&lt;39 Degrees Celsius) or equal to or above the set temperature (&gt;=39 Degrees Celsius). If the thermostat element  112  detects the temperature of water being equal to or above the set temperature by the user, then the plunger  112   c  of the thermostat element  112  would extend to push the thermostat body  112   a  in vertically downward direction for opening a second flow channel (“Flow channel B”) represented by dotted arrow in  FIG. 5 . In particular, when the plunger  112   c  extends, the cylinder  112   b  of the thermostat element  112  moves down, and when the cylinder  112   b  moves down, it closes the first outlet port  106  of the valve  102  and open up the second outlet port  108 . More specifically, when the cylinder  112   b  moves down, it just opens the opening  108   c  of the outlet port  108  and closes the outlet port  106  (specifically the opening  106   c  of the outlet port  106 ). The water which is of acceptable temperature (above or equal to the set temperature) is then passed to shower head  208  through the shower arm  209  connected to the outlet port  108  and used for taking shower by the user. 
     The valve of the present invention may be made of any suitable metallic material and in many different sizes. The various associated components of the valve (such as the thermostat element including cylinder, plunger etc, spring) may be made using suitable metals or plastic or any other material or any combinations thereof and in variety of dimensions or sizes as needed. The use of material should not be construed as any limitation for implementation of the present invention; however the material is desired to have good durability and at the same time is inexpensive for the production and affordability of the end users. 
     Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.