Patent Publication Number: US-9849471-B2

Title: Combination showerhead with dial button switching

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a combination shower head, especially to a combination shower head with the waterway switched by dial button. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Existing combination shower head, for example a shower system combined with top sprayer and hand shower head applied by this applicant with publishing number CN103521369A, comprises a top sprayer with at least two outlet types and a hand shower head, the top sprayer is disposed with an inlet waterway connected to the water supply source and first diversion waterways corresponding to the outlet type one by one; the top sprayer is further disposed with a second diversion waterway, the hand shower head is connected to the second diversion waterway by a flexible pipe; the top sprayer is disposed with a switch mechanism, which is coupled to the inlet waterway, the first diversion waterway and the second diversion waterway to switch the waterways, the waterway switch can switch any diversion waterway to connect to the inlet waterway. The switch mechanism of the combination shower head is disposed at the top sprayer, the structure is not compact enough not it needs improvement. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is provided with a combination showerhead with dial button switching, which overcomes the disadvantages of the shower system combined with top sprayer and hand shower head of the existing technology. 
     The technical proposal of the present invention is that: 
     A combination showerhead with dial button switching, comprising a fixing seat ( 10 ) assembled to a support arm, a first shower head ( 20 ), a second shower head ( 30 ) and a switch mechanism ( 40 ), the first shower head ( 20 ) is assembled to the fixing seat ( 10 ); the fixing seat ( 10 ) is disposed with an inlet waterway ( 11 ) to connect to the support arm and at least two diversion waterways ( 12 ), the first diversion waterway is connected to the second shower head ( 30 ), the rest diversion waterways are connected to the first shower head ( 20 ); wherein the switch mechanism comprises: 
     a water diversion plate ( 41 ) movably connected to the fixing seat ( 10 ) and coupled to the inlet waterway ( 11 ) and the diversion waterways ( 12 ), the waterways are switched by rotating the water diversion plate ( 41 ) in a preset angle; 
     a valve spool ( 42 ) slidably connected to the fixing seat ( 10 ) and connected to the water diversion plate ( 41 ) in transmission way, the valve spool ( 42 ) slides forth and back to drive the water diversion plate ( 41 ) to rotate in a preset angle; 
     a dial button ( 43 ) rotatably connected to the fixing seat ( 10 ), the dial button ( 43 ) is disposed with a cam portion ( 431 ), the valve spool ( 42 ) abuts against the periphery surface of the cam portion ( 431 ), the dial button ( 43 ) swags to drive the valve spool ( 42 ) to slide; and 
     an elastic body ( 44 ) used to reset the valve spool ( 42 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the switch mechanism ( 40 ) further comprises a fixing shaft ( 45 ) fixedly connected to the water diversion plate ( 41 ), the end of the valve spool ( 42 ), the end of the fixing shaft ( 45 ) and the fixing seat ( 10 ) are respectively disposed with ratchet, the ratchet at the end of the valve spool ( 42 ), the ratchet at the end of the fixing shaft ( 45 ) and the ratchet of the fixing seat ( 10 ) are coupled to make the transmission mechanism form an automatic pencil mechanism, the valve spool ( 42 ) slides forth and back to drive the fixing shaft ( 45 ) and the water diversion plate ( 41 ) to rotate in a preset angle. 
     In another preferred embodiment, the water diversion plate ( 41 ) is connected to the fixing seat ( 10 ) rotatably and movably with respect to the rotating axis, the elastic body ( 44 ) abuts between the water diversion plate ( 41 ) and the fixing seat ( 10 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the rear side of the fixing seat ( 10 ) is protruding with an assembly portion ( 13 ), the switch mechanism is assembled into the assembly portion ( 13 ); the dial button ( 43 ) is disposed with a handle ( 432 ), one end of the cam portion ( 431 ) is fixedly connected to the handle ( 432 ); the handle ( 432 ) is disposed at the outer side of the assembly portion ( 13 ), the cam portion ( 431 ) is rotatably connected to the assembly portion ( 13 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the second shower head ( 30 ) is a hand shower head, the outlet of the diversion waterway ( 12 ) connected to the second shower head ( 30 ) is corresponding to the periphery wall of the assembly portion ( 13 ), the hand shower head is connected to the outlet of the corresponding diversion waterway ( 12 ) by a flexible pipe ( 50 ), the lower portion of the front side of the fixing seat ( 10 ) is disposed with a connecting mechanism ( 14 ) to position the hand shower head. 
     In another preferred embodiment, the second shower head ( 30 ) is a fixing shower head, the fixing shower head is fixedly connected to the lower portion of the front side of the fixing seat ( 10 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the fixing seat ( 10 ) is disposed with a common portion ( 15 ) and two fork portions ( 16 ) arranged in fork way and fixedly connected to the common portion ( 15 ), the first shower head ( 20 ) is rotatably connected between two fork portions ( 16 ); a pipe section ( 21 ) is further provided arranged along the rotating axis of the first shower head ( 20 ), a portion of the diversion waterway ( 12 ) is connected to the first shower head ( 20 ) along the pipe section ( 21 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the assembly portion ( 13 ) is disposed at the rear side of the common portion ( 15 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the first shower head ( 20 ) is rotatably connected to the fixing seat ( 10 ), a damping mechanism ( 60 ) is disposed between the fixing seat ( 10 ) and the first shower head ( 20 ). 
     In another preferred embodiment, the damping mechanism ( 60 ) comprises a position seat ( 61 ), a rotating block ( 62 ) and a cam ( 63 ), the position seat ( 61 ) is disposed with at least two suspending sheets ( 64 ) arranged with space in the periphery direction, the at least two suspending sheets ( 64 ) form a revolution-like sleeve, the internal wall of the revolution-like sleeve is disposed with at least a gradient section with semi-diameter gradually varied, the cam ( 63 ) is disposed in the revolution-like sleeve and coupled to the gradient section, the rotating block ( 62 ) is sleeved on the outer side of the revolution-like sleeve, the cam ( 63 ) rotates and couples to the gradient section to make the friction force between the suspending sheets ( 64 ) and the rotating block ( 62 ) change to adjust the damping. 
     In another preferred embodiment, the fixing seat ( 10 ) is disposed with a common portion ( 150 , the first shower head ( 20 ) is rotatably connected to the common portion ( 15 ); at least a pipe section is further provided along the rotating axis of the first shower head ( 20 ), a portion of the diversion waterway ( 12 ) is connected to the first shower head ( 20 ) along the pipe section ( 21 ). 
     Compared to the existing known technology, the technical proposal of the present invention has advantages: 
     1. the switch mechanism is disposed at the fixing seat, the first shower head can be applied with new designed shower head or existing shower head; the dial button rotates to drive the cam portion to rotate, the cam portion rotates to drive the valve spool to slide, the valve spool drives the water diversion plate to rotate so as to switch the waterways, on one hand, it is applied with the dial button to drive, the switch way is new and it is convenient for user to operate with one hand, on the other hand, the dial button is operated to drive the cam portion to rotate, the cam portion rotates to drive the valve spool, the valve spool drives the water diversion plate to rotate, it can configure the position of the dial button and the valve spool according to the fixing seat, the arrangement is reliable, the structure is compact.
 
2. the valve spool, the fixing shaft and the fixing seat are disposed with ratchet, the ratchets are coupled to form an automatic pencil mechanism, the valve spool pushes the fixing shaft to slide upwardly to rotate forwardly in half preset angle, the valve spool resets to drive the fixing shaft to slide downwardly to reset to rotate in half preset angle again, the valve spool slides forth and back and the fixing shaft and the water diversion plate rotate together in the preset angle, the arrangement is reliable, the structure is simple, the switch is stable and reliable, the operation is convenient.
 
3. the rear side of the fixing seat is protruding with an assembly portion, the switch mechanism is assembled in the assembly portion, the handle is disposed at the outer side of the assembly portion, the cam portion is rotatably connected to the assembly portion, the arrangement is reliable, the structure is compact, the appearance is attractive, it is convenient for user to operate.
 
4. The connecting structure to position the hand shower head is disposed at the lower portion of the front side of the fixing seat, it is convenient for user to catch or position the hand shower head, the appearance is attractive.
 
5. the fixing seat is disposed with a common portion and two fork portions, the first shower head is rotatably connected between two fork portions, the first shower head is rotatable that it is convenient for user to adjust the direction of the outlet of the first shower head as needed, it is convenient to use.
 
6. a damping mechanism is disposed between the fork portion of the fixing seat and the first shower head, it is convenient to position the shower head in the adjusted angle.
 
7. the cam is rotatably coupled to the gradient section to make the friction of the suspending sheets and the rotating block change, so that the damping is adjustable, the structure is simple and compact, the damping is convenient to adjust.
 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be further described with the drawings and the embodiments. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic diagram of the combination shower head of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a sectional diagram of the combination shower head of the first embodiment when water flows out of the first shower head. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a sectional diagram of  FIG. 2  in B-B. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an enlargement diagram of a portion of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  illustrates of a sectional diagram of the combination shower head of the first embodiment when water flows out of the first shower head and the second shower head. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a sectional diagram of the combination shower head of the first embodiment when water flows out of the second shower head. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an exploded and schematic diagram of the combination shower head of the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a front view of the damping mechanism of the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a sectional diagram of the damping mechanism of the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a sectional diagram of  FIG. 9  in A-A. 
         FIG. 11  illustrates a schematic diagram of the combination shower head of the second embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  illustrates a sectional diagram of the combination shower head of the second embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  illustrates an exploded and schematic diagram of the combination shower head of the second embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Please referring to  FIGS. 1-10 , the combination showerhead with dial button switching comprises a fixing seat  10 , a first shower head  20 , a second shower head  30  and a switch mechanism  40 . The fixing seat  10  is assembled to the support arm, the support arm can be a water supply pipe fixed to the wall, the assembly can be fixedly connecting or universally connecting with ball structure. The first shower head  20  is an top spraying shower head or an overhead shower head assembled to the fixing seat  10 , the first shower head  20  is disposed with a plurality of outlet functions with different water types, or it can be disposed with only an outlet function. The fixing seat  10  is disposed with an inlet waterway  11  connected to the support arm and at least two diversion waterways  12 , one diversion waterway  12  is connected to the second shower head  30 , the other diversion waterways  12  are connected to the first shower head  20 ; therein, if the first shower head  20  has only one outlet function, the fixing seat  10  has two diversion waterways  12 ; if the first shower head  20  has a plurality of outlet functions, 1. the fixing seat  10  has one diversion waterway, the first shower head and the second shower head are switched by the switch mechanism  40 , the first shower head is further disposed with a switch mechanism to switch the outlet functions of the first shower head; 2. The rest diversion waterways  12  have same number as the outlet functions, the rest diversion waterways  12  are connected to the outlet functions one by one correspondingly, the second shower head and the outlet functions are switched by the switch mechanism  40 . 
     The fixing seat  10  is disposed with a common portion  15  and two fork portions  16  arranged in fork way and fixedly connected to the common portion  15 , the rear side of the common portion of the fixing seat  10  is protruding with an assembly portion  13 . in this embodiment, the fixing seat  10  comprises a front cover  17  and a rear cover  18 , the front cover  17  and the rear cover  18  are fixedly connected to form with the common portion and the fork portions, the rear cover is disposed with a through hole corresponding to the common portion, the periphery of the through hole extends to form above assembly portion  13  at the back side. 
     The switch mechanism  40  is assembled to the assembly portion  13  to switch the at least two diversion waterways to connect to the inlet waterway so as to switch the diversion waterways, or switch the diversion waterways and close all diversion waterways. The switch mechanism  40  comprises a water diversion plate  41 , a valve spool  42 , a dial button  43 , an elastic body  44  and the fixing shaft  45 . The water diversion plate  41  is rotatably and movably with respect to the rotating axis connected to the fixing seat  10  to couple to the inlet waterway  11  and the diversion waterway  12  to achieve waterway switch by rotating in a preset angle; if the water diversion plate is disposed with water holes, the water holes align with the water diversion holes to achieve connecting, the waterway is closed by staggering of the previous two, if the water diversion plate is fan-shaped, the water is closed by fully blocking of the water diversion plate, the water is flowing by not fully blocking or not blocking of the water diversion plate. The valve spool  42  is slidably connected to the assembly portion of the fixing seat  10  along the rotating axis of the water diversion plate, so that the valve spool  42  slides forth and back to drive the water diversion plate  41  to rotate in a preset angle. The dial button  43  is rotatably connected to the fixing seat  10 , the rotating axis of the dial button is vertical to the sliding direction of the valve spool, the dial button  43  is disposed with a cam portion  431 , the first end of the valve spool  42  abuts against the periphery surface of the cam portion  431 , so that the dial button  43  swags to drive the valve spool  42  to slide. The fixing shaft  45  is fixedly connected to the water diversion plate  41 . The elastic body  44  is used to reset the valve spool. Preferred, the end portion of the valve spool abutting against the cam portion is disposed to be segment shaped so as to drive the dial button to reset. 
     In detailed, the assembly portion is disposed with a throughout hole passing through inside and outside, the dial button  43  is further disposed with a handle  432 , one end of the cam portion  431  is fixedly connected to the handle  432 , preferred, this end is fixedly connected to the handle by a column section, the other end is a column section, two column sections are rotatably connected to the assembly portion, the column section is rotatably passing through the throughout hole and then is fixedly connected to the handle  432  to position the handle  432  at the outer side of the assembly portion  13  for user to dial, the cam portion  431  is rotatably disposed to the assembly portion  13 . The end of the valve spool  42  and the end of the fixing shaft  45  are disposed respectively with ratchet  422 ,  451 , the fixing seat is also disposed with ratchet, the ratchet  422  at the end of the valve spool  42 , the ratchet  451  at the end of the fixing shaft  45  and the ratchet of the fixing seat are coupled to each other to form an automatic pencil mechanism, that is to say, the valve spool slides forwardly to drive the fixing shaft  45  to move upwardly and rotate forwardly in half preset angle, the valve spool slides backwardly to drive the fixing shaft  45  to move downwardly to reset and rotate forwardly in half preset angle again, the valve spool  42  pushes the fixing shaft  45  and the water diversion plate  41  to move upwardly together and rotate forwardly in half preset angle, the valve spool  42  moves back to drive the fixing shaft  45  and the water diversion plate  41  to move downwardly together and rotate forwardly in half preset angle; the elastic body  44  abuts between the side surface of the fixing shaft at the back side of the water diversion plate  41  and the assembly portion of the fixing seat, so that when the water diversion plate moves upwardly, the elastic body is compressed to store energy, the elastic body releases energy to drive the water diversion plate to move downwardly so as to drive the valve spool to move backwardly. The dial button  43  swags to the first direction to drive the cam portion  431  to rotate in the first direction, the cam portion  431  abuts against the valve spool  42  to drive the valve spool  42  to slide towards the water diversion plate  41 , the valve spool  42  pushes the fixing shaft  45  and the water diversion plate to move upwardly, during the movement, the fixing shaft and the water diversion plate rotate forwardly in half preset angle, at the same time, the elastic body stores energy; when the dial button is released, the elastic body releases the energy to push the water diversion plate and the valve spool to move downwardly, the valve spool and the dial button reset, the water diversion plate and the fixing shaft rotate forwardly in half preset angle again. 
     In this preferred embodiment, the fixing seat further comprises a fixing base  131  fixed to the assembly portion, a water diversion body  132  and a connecting seat  133 , the connecting seat  133  is coupled to a ball joint  134  to assemble to the support arm. A water diversion chamber is formed between the connecting seat and the fixing base  131 , the water diversion chamber forms a portion of the inlet waterway  11 . The water diversion plate  41  is movably connected to the fixing base  131 ; the elastic body  44 , such as a spring, is disposed between the water diversion plate and the connecting seat  133 , so that the water diversion plate  41  is closely contacted with the bottom surface of the fixing base  131 . The fixing base  131  is disposed with at least two water diversion holes, which respectively form a portion of the at least two diversion waterways  12 , the water diversion plate rotates to switch the water diversion holes to connect to the water diversion chamber, so as to achieve the switching of the diversion waterway to connect to the inlet waterway. The water diversion body  132  is fixedly connected to the fixing base  131  and is disposed with at least two water passages, the at least two water passages are respectively connected to the at least two water diversion holes, they respectively form a portion of the at least two diversion waterways  12 . The fixing base  131  is disposed with a throughout assembly hole, the fixing shaft is coupled to pass through the assembly hole to make the fixing shaft be able to rotate and move along the rotating axis, the valve spool is slidably connected in the assembly hole, the ratchet of the fixing seat is disposed at the assembly hole; the water diversion body is concaved with an assembly groove connected to the assembly hole, the cam portion of the dial button is disposed in the assembly groove, the valve spool passes through the assembly hole and abuts against the water diversion body. 
     The first shower head  20  is rotatably connected between the two fork portions. A pipe section  21  is disposed along the rotating axis of the first shower head  20 , one end of the pipe section  21  is connected to the first shower head  20 , the other end is fixedly disposed with a water pipe  22 , the pipe section  21  and the water pipe  22  are coupled to a L-shaped structure, the rest diversion waterways are connected to the first shower head along the water pipe  22  and the pipe section  21 , if there is only one rest diversion waterway, the water pipe  22  and the pipe section  21  directly form a portion of the diversion waterway. 
     A damping mechanism  60  is disposed between one fork portion  16  of the fixing seat  10  and the first shower head  20 . In detailed, the damping mechanism  60  comprises a position seat  61 , a rotating block  62  and a cam  63 , the position seat  61  comprises a base and two suspending sheets  64  arranged with space in the periphery direction and fixedly connected to the position seat  61 , two suspending sheets  64  form a revolution-like sleeve (a slot is formed between two suspending sheets  64 ), the external wall of the revolution-like sleeve is the revolution surface, the semi-diameter of the internal wall of the revolution-like sleeve is gradually changed to form a gradient section, the cam  63  is disposed in the revolution-like sleeve and it abuts against the gradient section; the rotating block  62  is sleeved on the outer side of the revolution-like sleeve, the cam  63  rotates and couples to the gradient section to make the pressure between the suspending sheets  64  and the rotating block  62  varied so that the friction force therebetween changes, thus adjusting the damping. Preferred, the base passes through the cam to make one end face of the cam exposed, the exposed end face is disposed with a coupling groove  631  for user to use tool to drive the cam to rotate. The position seat  61  and the rotating block  62  are respectively fixedly connected to two relatively rotating components, for example, the fork portion and the first shower head. 
     In this embodiment, the second shower head  30  is a hand shower head. The front side of the common portion is disposed with a connecting structure  14  for the positioning of the hand shower head, the connecting mechanism  14  is, for example, a socket, but not limited to this, it can be a magnetic attraction structure. The diversion waterway  12  connected to the second shower head  30  further comprises a joint  46  fixedly connected to one water passage of the water diversion body, the port of the joint  46  forms the outlet, the joint passes through the assembly portion  13 , the hand shower head is connected to the outlet of the corresponding diversion waterway  12  by a flexible pipe  50 . 
     In another embodiment, please referring to  FIGS. 11-13 , this embodiment differs from the previous embodiment in that: the second shower head  30  is a fixing shower head, the fixing shower head is fixedly connected to the lower portion of the front side of the common portion of the fixing seat  10 , the water passage of the water diversion body is directly connected to the fixing shower head; the common portion is protruding with a protruding portion  19 , the first shower head is protruding with two protruding ears  23 , the protruding portion  19  is disposed between the two protruding ears, the first shower head is connected to the protruding portion by a pivot shaft, the pivot shaft is hollow for the diversion waterway to connect to the first shower head; the damping mechanism is disposed between the protruding portion and the connecting portion, the damping mechanism comprises a connecting portion  66  fixedly connected to the protruding portion  19 , there can be one connecting portion or more than one, if there is only one connecting portion, the connecting portion has a column surface or a column portion, if there are more than one connecting portion, the connecting portions are arranged with space in the periphery direction, each connecting portion has a column portion, the column portion is protruding with damping teeth  661  arranged with space, the protruding ear  23  is concaved with a groove  24 , which is sleeved on the connecting portion, the internal wall of the groove is protruding with damping teeth  241  arranged with space, the damping teeth couple to achieve damping. 
     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.