Patent Publication Number: US-6220278-B1

Title: Top mounting faucet assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to an assembly for mounting faucets to a sink, countertop or the like without the need for access to the undersink area. 
     The installation of faucets had typically required that work be performed by lying on one&#39;s back in order to reach dark and cramped undercounter areas. As such, mounting systems were developed for attaching faucets to countertops with less need for access to the undersink area. See e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,557,288 and 4,760,861. Unfortunately, most of these systems left exposed connections visible to the consumer or required the use of additional components. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,749 disclosed a number of faucet assemblies which could be installed from the top of the sink deck. In one embodiment a faucet was provided with a pivotable escutcheon. The faucet was clamped in place on the sink deck by rotating screws having upwardly exposed heads to draw hinge arms tight against the underside of the deck. The escutcheon was then pivoted to cover the exposed heads during normal use of the faucet. 
     While this system had significant advantages, a force exerted on the escutcheon (e.g. bumping against the escutcheon during cleaning) could cause it to move, thus giving the consumer concern that the faucet was not solidly attached. Furthermore, the escutcheon could rattle if jarred (e.g. if there was water hammer or other vibration in the building). 
     Thus, a need still exists for an improved top mountable faucet, particularly with respect to systems where the escutcheon is pivotable to hide the attachment. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one form the invention provides a faucet suitable for mounting on a support of the type having a wall with an opening, a supporting surface at one side of the wall, and a clamping surface at an opposite side. The faucet has a base adapted to be positioned on the supporting surface, a body extending from said base and having a lip spaced from said base, and an escutcheon surrounding the body and interposed between the base and the lip. There is also a locking member interposable between said escutcheon and the lip, and a toggle assembly linked to the base and suitable to be inserted through the support opening to abut against the clamping surface and clamp the faucet on the supporting surface. 
     When the locking member is interposed between the escutcheon and lip, pivoting of the escutcheon is inhibited. When the locking member is not interposed between the escutcheon and lip the escutcheon may pivot from a first position where it covers a portion of the toggle assembly that extends through the base to a second position where a portion of the toggle assembly extending through the base is exposed. 
     In preferred forms the locking member is a snap clip which snaps around the body between the lip and the escutcheon, and there is a spacer for filling a gap left by said snap clip between the lip and the escutcheon after the snap clip snaps around the body. 
     The snap clip holds the escutcheon downward to inhibit its pivoting after the faucet is installed. The spacer completes the aesthetics. By removing the spacer and snap clip, one can move the escutcheon up slightly and then pivot it (thereby providing access to the mounting mechanism to remove the faucet). 
     An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a top mountable faucet (preferably of the single handle type) that has a pivotable escutcheon for hiding the mounting system, yet which does not permit inadvertent exposure of the internal portions of the faucet, and which minimizes unwanted rattle. 
     The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description. In this description reference is made to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of illustration and not limitation, a preferred embodiment of the invention. Thus, the claims should be looked to in order to judge the full scope of the invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front, top perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention, in process of being assembled to a sink mounting ledge; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the faucet shown in FIG. 1, in a further stage of assembly; 
     FIG. 3 is a front, top perspective view of the faucet of FIG. 1, albeit fully assembled; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken along line  4 — 4  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5A is a schematic sectional view generally taken along line  5 A— 5 A of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5B is a partial sectional view taken along line  5 B— 5 B of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line  6 — 6  of FIG.  5 A. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A faucet (generally  10 ) is shown in conjunction with a sink ledge  12  having a center access opening  14 . The faucet  10  includes a body  16  for delivery of water from hot and cold inlet conduits (not shown) to a central spout  18 . A control handle  17  is operatively connected to the body  16  and controls the flow of water through the spout  18 . Water is supplied to the body  16  by means of the water inlet shanks (e.g.  20 ) which are in turn connected to respective building hot and cold inlet conduits by methods well known in the art. 
     Referring particularly to FIGS. 5A-6, body  16  encloses a control valve in a cylindrical housing  19 . The housing  19  is mounted to base  24  which is supported on the sink ledge  12 , and is surrounded by an elongated pivotable escutcheon  26 . 
     A toggle bolt  32  is extendable through opening  34  in the sink ledge  12  to secure the faucet  10  to the sink ledge  12 . The opening  34  can be one of the usual three or four holes provided in most preformed kitchen sinks. Alternatively, where the faucet is mounted directly on a countertop, the opening can be a hole through the countertop. 
     The escutcheon  26  can cover/hide the base  24  in the FIG. 2 position, and can be locked in place against pivoting and vertical movement by a C-shaped snap clip  28  which is preferably made of plastic. The snap clip  28  is snapped around the housing  19  between the escutcheon  26  and a lip  30  (best shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B) formed in the housing  19 . 
     Preferably a spacer  36  can be slipped into the gap formed by the snapped in place snap clip  28  between the lip  30  and escutcheon  26 . This completes an aesthetically pleasing faucet appearance (see e.g. FIG.  3 ). An O-ring  27  can also be interposed between the escutcheon and snap clip  28  to flexibly urge the escutcheon  26  against the base  24  to further inhibit the escutcheon  26  from rattling. 
     To mount the faucet  10  onto the sink ledge  12  the inlet conduits would first be connected to the water inlet shanks  20  and  22  by projecting hoses from the conduits up through the center opening  12 . After the connection, the faucet  10  can then be lowered until the base  24  contacts the upper surface  12 T of the sink ledge  12 . While lowering the faucet a toggle bolt  32  depending down through the base  24  is slipped through the sink ledge aperture  34 . This can be achieved because wings of the toggle bolt can pivot up towards each other on horizontal pivots to permit them to pass through the aperture  34 . Once through the apertures the toggle arms swing out and down to the FIG. 4 position. 
     When the base  24  is resting on the sink ledge  12 , snap clip  34  can be removed and the escutcheon  26  slightly lifted (as shown in FIG. 5B) and rotated to expose the toggle bolt head  38 . The bolt  32  is rotated by a screwdriver rotating head  38  to cause the toggle members  42  to ride upwardly on the bolt  32  until they engage the underside  12 U of the sink ledge  12 . Extension  44  depending downwardly from the base  24  through the aperture  34  prevents the toggle member  42  from merely rotating along with the bolt  32 . 
     The base  24  can then be covered by rotating, and then lowering, the escutcheon  26  over the base  24 . The snap clip  28  is then snapped into place between the escutcheon  26  and manifold lip  30  to prevent the escutcheon  26  from lifting off of the base  24 . The spacer  36  is then snapped into the gap formed by the snap clip  28 . 
     To remove the faucet  10  from the sink ledge  12  (for replacement or repair), the spacer  36  and snap clip  28  are removed, and the escutcheon  26  is then raised and pivoted to expose the toggle bolt head  38 . The toggle bolt  32  is rotated to lower the toggle member  42  from the sink ledge underside  12 U until the toggle member  42  drops off of the bolt ends. The faucet  10  is then lifted off of the sink ledge  12 . Again, no significant access below the sink is needed. 
     As can be seen from the above description, the present invention provides a top mountable faucet assembly which is easily installed and removed. While the preferred embodiment has been described above, it should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that a number of modifications and changes may be made to it without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, while the present invention has been shown as part of a faucet attached to sink, it is also adaptable for use with other types of fluid valves (e.g. a shower control valve on a vertical wall). Also, the specific materials mentioned are not the only materials which can be used (e.g. the clip may be metal). 
     Moreover, the cartridge valve used in connection with these assemblies is not critical. The system will work regardless of whether the valve control elements are designed to merely rotate, to rotate and slide, or to otherwise control volume and/or temperature. All such and other modifications within the spirit of the invention are meant to be in the scope of the invention. 
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
     The present invention provides faucets that can easily be installed on countertops, sinks and the like.