Patent Publication Number: US-8967499-B2

Title: Water spray plate and water saving shower using the same

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a National Stage Application of PCT International Application No. PCT/KR2009/001643 (filed on Mar. 31, 2009), under 35 U.S.C. §371, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-2008-0030715 (filed on Apr. 2, 2008), 10-2009-0024487 (Mar. 23, 2009), and 10-2009-0024498 (filed on Mar. 23, 2009), which are all hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a shower plate and a water-saving shower using the same, more specifically, to a shower plate which can obliquely spray supplying fluidal material by changing a shape of a spray hole formed therein, and a water-saving shower using the same. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Generally, showers looking like watering pots are spraying devices which can spray supplying fluidal material such as cold water and hot water, used in a home bathroom, sink and bath tub and in a for-business water pull, water softener and a tub broadly. 
     Such a shower may be classified into a standing type shower and a sitting type shower and the shape of the shower may be variable according to its type. 
     The supplying fluidal material such as cold water and hot water supplied via a hose passes a shower head of the shower and it is sprayed into shower objects via a plurality of spray holes formed in a shower plate. 
     The supplying fluidal material sprayed to the spraying objects typically has a spraying area corresponding to the width of the shower plate. 
     However, when supplying the supplying fluidal material to the spraying objects via the shower, a conventional shower uses a curvature shower plate or a thick shower plate having oblique spray holes, to diffuse the fluidal material broadly or to focus the fluidal material intensively on a single point. 
     Recently, a water-saving shower has been introduced to save water and a shower plate having a diameter getting larger from an inner portion to an outer portion of the head is provided in the water-saving shower, such that a water-saving effect may be gained. However, this structure requires an auxiliary part to form an auxiliary small diameter part disadvantageously and the production cost will be increased accordingly. 
     In addition, to achieve the water-saving effect, the number of the spray holes formed in the shower plate or the size of each spray hole is reduced. However, this structure will fail to enable a proper amount of water to be supplied in case a user uses the shower or the shower timing will be lengthened enough to remove the water-saving effect. 
     In the meanwhile, the water supplied to an inner path of the shower via a hose may contain foreign substrates and it is necessary to filter and remove the foreign substances. 
     Non-woven fabric is used to remove the foreign substances contained in the water and the non-woven fabric has to be replaced with new one inconveniently when a lot of foreign substances are accumulating. 
     Moreover, the non-woven fabric always contains moisture and bad bacteria and mold will breed easily in the wet non-woven fabric. In this case, the non-woven fabric cannot be recycled and it has to be replaced with new one. 
     DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
     To solve the problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a thin-plate-shaped shower plate which can determine a spraying shape of supplying fluid sprayed there through based on appearance and arrangement of spray holes formed therein, to enable the supplying fluid diffused broadly or united into a single stream. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a shower plate which can unite the supplying fluid sprayed toward a spraying object with each other. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide a water-saving shower including a filter which is reusable by washing, without replaced with a new one, when foreign substances are loaded in a filter in case of unsmooth flow of the supplying fluid caused by foreign substances loaded in a filter. 
     Technical Solution 
     To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a shower plate provided in a head body of a shower used to supply fluid along an inner path thereof, the shower plate includes a plurality of spray holes configured to spray the supplying fluid out, wherein a predetermined amount of the spray hole are direction changing spray holes comprising a direction changing parts projected inwardly there from. 
     The direction changing spray holes may be located in an outer portion of the shower plate and a spraying scope of the supplying fluid may be determined by outward or inward projection of the direction changing parts with respect to the shower plate. 
     The direction changing spray hole may be concave-quadrangle-shaped. 
     A plurality of shower spray groups may be arranged in the shower plate to unite the supplying fluid sprayed out into a single stream, each of the shower spray groups comprising a plurality of direction changing spray holes. 
     At least one spray hole may be formed in a center of the shower spray group and the plurality of the direction changing spray holes may be surroundingly arranged with the spray hole as their center. 
     The direction changing parts of the direction changing spray holes may be projected toward the spray hole formed in the center of the shower spray groups. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, a water-saving shower includes a shower plate provided in a head body of a shower used to supply fluid along an inner path thereof, the shower plate comprising a plurality of spray holes configured to spray the supplying fluid out, wherein a predetermined amount of the spray hole are direction changing spray holes comprising a direction changing parts projected inwardly there from; and a filter provided in the head body to filter foreign substances contained in the supplying fluid before the supplying fluid reaches the shower plate. 
     The filter may include a filtering net supporter comprising a plurality of openings configured not to interfere with the flow of the supplying fluid supplied along the inner path of the head body; and a filtering net woven with synthetic fabric to filter foreign substances contained in the supplying fluid, the filtering net secured to a rear surface of the filtering net supporter. 
     The filtering net may be satin-woven. 
     The filtering net may be heat-stakingly secured to the filtering net. 
     The water-saving shower may further include a filter housing secured to the filtering net supporter, filled with ceramic balls, the filter housing comprising a plurality of openings formed in front and rear surfaces thereof. 
     The ceramic ball may be made of one of sulfur balls, tourmaline gemstone, selenium, negative-ion resin, germanium, red clay, elvan, zeolite and sericite or compounds thereof. 
     Advantageous Effects 
     The present invention has following advantageous effects. 
     First of all, a predetermined amount of the spray hole are direction changing spray holes comprising a direction changing parts projected inwardly there from. Without using a curvature shower plate to diffuse supplying fluid sprayed toward a spraying object broadly or to unite supplying fluid into a single point or a shower plate having an enough thickness to form spray holes obliquely, a thin-plate shaped shower plate according to the present invention may be used to implement the above functions and the production cost may be reduced. 
     Furthermore, plurality of shower spray groups configured to unite the supplying fluid sprayed out into a single stream are arranged. Even with a small amount of supplying fluid, the user may feel that the supplied fluid is enough and the supplying fluid may be saved accordingly. 
     Still further, the shower spray groups formed to unite the supplying fluid sprayed out into a single stream enables diameters of the spray hole relatively small. As a result, negative-ion generation during the process of spraying the supplying fluid out may be increased. 
     Still further, as the diameter of the spray hole is getting smaller, the pressure of the water sprayed out may be increased. As a result, even with the identical amount of the water, washing efficiency may be improved advantageously. 
     Still further, even through the pressure of the supplying fluid supplied to the shower is low, the supplying fluid substantially sprayed out has an increased pressure enough to be sprayed toward the shower object. 
     Still further, a filter including a filtering net woven with synthetic fabric is provided in a head body of a shower. In case the flow of the supplying fluid is not smooth, a filter loaded with foreign substances may be washed to be reusable, without replaced with a new one. 
     Still further, different from felt which is non-woven fabric, used in the conventional filter, the filtering net of the filter is woven with synthetic fabric to prevent the supplying fluid from being absorbed thereto. As a result, there may be little concern of bacteria and mold breeding and there may be a sanitary advantageous effect. 
     Still further, the filtering net is satin-woven with synthetic fabric and a surface of the filtering net is smooth and dense enough to be washed conveniently and to improve efficiency of foreign substance removal. 
     Lastly, the filter is filled with ceramic balls capable implementing functions of the chlorine removal, the ionization, the antibacterial performance and the deodorization. As a result, the supplied water may be useful to the user, especially, to a human body. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the disclosure. 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a sectional view illustrating a water-saving shower according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged plane view illustrating a shower plate according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a shape of water sprayed from a head body having the shower plate shown in  FIG. 3  inserted therein; 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged plane view illustrating a shower plate according to another embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a shape of water sprayed from a head body having the shower plate shown in  FIG. 5  inserted therein; 
         FIG. 7  is an enlarged view illustrating a direction changing spray hole shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 8  is an enlarged plane view illustrating a shower plate according to a further embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a process of water streams united into a single stream because of the shower plate shown in  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a filter shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating a state of a filtering net shown in  FIG. 10  being placed on a filtering net supporter; and 
         FIG. 12  is an enlarged view illustrating upper and side surfaces of the filtering net textured satin shown in  FIG. 10 . 
     
    
    
     BEST MODE 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the specific embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. 
     In reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an overall configuration of a shower having a shower filter according to an embodiment of the present invention used therein will be described as follows. Here,  FIG. 1  is a sectional view illustrating a water-saving shower according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of  FIG. 1 . 
     A shower according to this embodiment includes a head body  10 , a filter  50 , an O-ring, a shower plate  30  and a head cap  20 . 
     The head body  10  according to this embodiment is presented to be a sitting type as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  and the present invention is not limited thereto. The head body  10  may be formed of variable types. 
     An inner path  12  is provided in the head body  10  to guide flow of supplying fluidal material and the fluidal material supplied along the inner path  12  passes the filter  50  and the shower plate  30  provided in the head body  10 , to be sprayed to objects. 
     Here, the O-ring  40  is employed to prevent the supplying fluid from being exhausted from a connected portion between the shower plate  30  and the head body  10 , not from a plurality of spray holes  32  and  34  formed in the shower plate  30 , when the supplying fluid passes the shower plate  30  to be sprayed to the object. 
     The filter  50  is provided in the head body  10  to filter foreign substances contained in the supplying fluid supplied via the inner path  12  of the head body  10 , located on a rear surface of the shower plate  30 . The detailed description of the filter  50  will be made later. 
     The shower plate  30  having a thin plate shape is provided in the head body  10  and the plurality of the spray holes  32  and  34  may be formed in the shower plate  30  to enable the supplying fluid supplied via the inner path  12  to be sprayed toward the shower object. 
     After the shower plate  30 , the O-ring  40  and the filter  50  are secured in the head body  10 , the head cap  30  may be secured to the head body  10  and it protects all of the shower plate  30 , the O-ring  40  and the filter  50 . 
     Next, in reference to  FIGS. 3 to 7 , a process of the supplying fluid being sprayed from the head body  10  having the shower plate  30  according to the embodiment secured therein will be described as follows. Here,  FIG. 3  is an enlarged plane view illustrating a shower plate according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a shape of water sprayed from a head body having the shower plate shown in  FIG. 3  inserted therein.  FIG. 5  is an enlarged plane view illustrating a shower plate according to another embodiment.  FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a shape of water sprayed from a head body having the shower plate shown in  FIG. 5  inserted therein.  FIG. 7  is an enlarged view illustrating a direction changing spray hole shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     The thin-plate-shaped shower plate  30  is provided to supply the supplying fluid via the inner path  12  and the plurality of the spray holes  32  may be formed in the shower plate  30  to spray the supplying fluid outside. At least one of the spray holes  32  configured of a spray hole part  34   a  and a direction changing part  34   b  projected inwardly may be configured to be a direction changing spray hole  34  and the direction changing spray holes  34  may be located in an edge portion of the shower plate in the shower plate  30 . 
     Here, a spraying scope of the supplying fluid via the direction changing spray holes  34  located in the edge portion of the shower plate  30  may be determined by the inward or outward projection of the direction changing part  34   b  from the shower plate  30 . 
     Once the supplying fluid is supplied to the direction changing spray hole  34 , the supplying fluid may be concentrated on an opposite portion of the direction changing part  34   b  and the fluid may be obliquely sprayed in an opposite direction of the direction changing part  34   b  accordingly. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the direction changing holes  34  having the direction changing parts  34   b  projected toward an outside of the shower plate  30  may be located in the edge portion of the shower plate  30 . The spray holes  32  having no direction changing parts  34   b  formed therein may be located inner to the direction changing spray holes  34 . Because of that, the supplying fluid supplied via the shower plate  30  may be diffused broadly. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the supplying fluid (W 1 ) sprayed via the spray holes  32  having no direction changing parts  34   b  formed therein may be sprayed in a perpendicular direction of the shower plate  30 . The supplying fluid (W 2 ) sprayed via the direction changing spray holes  34  may be sprayed in an oblique direction of the shower plate  30  to be diffused broadly. 
     In contrast, as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , to make the supplying fluid (W 1  and W 2 ) sprayed via a shower plate  300  sprayed intensively, the direction changing parts  34   b  formed in the direction changing spray holes  34  located in the edge portion of the shower plate  300  may be projected toward the inside of the shower plate  300 . 
     As a result, when the shower plate  300  having the direction changing part  34   b  projected toward the inner portion of the shower plate  300  is secured to the head body  10 , the supplying fluid (W 1 ) sprayed via the spray holes  32  having no direction changing parts  34   b  may be sprayed in the perpendicular direction of the shower plate  300 . The supplying fluid (W 2 ) sprayed via the direction changing spry holes  34  may be oblique sprayed in an inner direction of the shower plate  300 , only to be united with the supplying fluid (W 1 ) sprayed via the spray holes  32  having no direction changing parts to be intensively supplied to a single point. 
     A shown in  FIGS. 3 and 5 , the spray hole  34  according to this embodiment is a triangle-shaped and the present invention is not limited thereto. The spray hole  34  may have a variety of shapes, for example, a circular shape and polygonal shape and the like. 
     The direction changing spray hole  36  may also have a variety of shapes. As shown in  FIGS. 3 ,  5  and  7 , the direction changing spray hole  36  may be formed in a concave quadrangle shape according to the shape of the spray hole  34 . 
     Especially, in case the degree of the oblique supply of the supplying fluid, structural stability and production efficiency are experimented, the concave quadrangle shaped direction changing spray hole  36  is the most excellent one. 
     As follows, a shower plate  60  according to a further embodiment of the present invention will be described in reference to  FIGS. 8 and 9 . Here,  FIG. 8  is an enlarged plane view illustrating a shower plate according to a further embodiment.  FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a process of water streams united into a single stream because of the shower plate shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     The shower plate  60  according to this embodiment includes a plurality of shower spray groups arranged therein. The shower spray group is formed of a plurality of direction changing spray holes  34  to unite the sprayed fluid into a single stream. 
     Here, the direction changing spray holes  34  may be arranged toward a center of the shower spray groups to unite the supplying fluid sprayed via the shower spray groups  62  in a direction of a normal of the center of the shower spray groups  62 . 
     The plurality of the shower spray groups  62  having the plurality homes formed therein may be arranged in the shower plate  60  according to this embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the shower spray groups  62  are arranged in a two-concentric circle shape and the arrangement of the shower spray groups  62  may be variable depending on cases. 
     At least one spray hole  32  is formed in a center of each shower spray group  62  and the direction changing spray holes  34  are arranged surroundingly adjacent to the spray hole  32 . 
     The direction changing spray holes  34  are arranged with the spray hole as their center in each of the shower spray groups  62 . Because of that, when the supplying fluid is sprayed via the shower spray groups  62 , the supplying fluid (W 2 ) obliquely sprayed toward the spray hole  32  via the direction changing spray holes  34  may be united with the supplying fluid (W 1 ) sprayed via the spray hole  32 , only to form a single stream. 
     The supplying fluid (W 1  and W 2 ) sprayed out via the shower spray groups  62  may be united into a single stream. As a result, diameters of the spray hole  32  and the direction changing spray hole  34  may be relatively small. Although the absolute quantity of the supplying fluid substantially sprayed to the user is decreased, the user cannot feel any change of the quantity of the supplying fluid advantageously. 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , the direction changing parts  34   b  of the direction changing spray holes  34  may be projected toward the center of the shower spray groups  62  to obliquely spray the supplying fluid (W 2 ) sprayed via the direction changing spray holes  34  toward the supplying fluid (W 1 ) sprayed via the spray holes  32 . 
     The shower plate  60  is configured of the plurality of the shower spray groups  62  as mentioned above and the supply fluid sprayed via the shower spray groups  62  is united into a single stream. Because of that, the diameters of the spray hole  32  and the direction changing spray hole  34  may be smaller. 
     As a result, in case of a home shower, for example, the diameters of the spray holes  32  and the direction changing spray holes  34  which are formed in the shower plate  60  may be relatively small. Because of Lenard Effect in that the amount negative ions contained in the air when the water is sprayed via the spray holes  32  and the direction changing spray holes  34  is increased, the amount of the negative-ion generation may be increased. 
     According to this embodiment mentioned above, the spray hole  32  is triangle-shaped and the direction changing spray hole  34  is concave-quadrangle-shaped. Because of that, when water passes the spray hole  32  and the direction changing spray hole  34 , negative-ions contained in the air may be effectively increased, in comparison to a circular-shaped spray hole formed in the conventional shower plate. 
     A single stream (W 1 ) is formed through the spray hole  32  located in the center of the shower spray groups  62  and the stream (W 2 ) sprayed via the direction changing spray holes  34  around the spray hole  32  is obliquely sprayed toward the center of the shower spray groups  62  to be united with the stream (W 1 ) formed via the spray hole  32  into a single stream. 
     Lastly, the filter  50  of the water-saving shower according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in reference to  FIGS. 10 to 12 .  FIG. 10  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a filter shown in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating a state of a filtering net shown in  FIG. 10  being placed on a filtering net supporter.  FIG. 12  is an enlarged view illustrating upper and side surfaces of the filtering net textured satin shown in  FIG. 10 . 
     The filter  50  is located in rear of the rear surface of the shower plate  30  within the head body  10  to filter foreign substances contained in the supplying fluid supplied along the inner path  12  of the head body  10  before they reach the shower plate  30 . 
     The filter  50  includes a filtering net supporter  52  and a filtering net  51 . The filtering net supporter  52  has a plurality of openings formed therein not to interfere with the flow of the supplying fluid supplied along the inner path  12  of the head body  10 . The filtering net  51  textured with synthetic fabric is coupled to a rear surface of the filtering net supporter  52  and it filters the foreign substances contained in the supplying fluid. 
     As mentioned above, the filtering net  51  may be woven with Polypropylene (PP) fabric and it may be woven with a variety of synthetic fabrics. 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , the filter according to this embodiment includes a filter housing  56  and the filter housing  56  is filled with ceramic balls  59  capable of implementing functions of chlorine removal, ionization, antibacterial performance, deodorization and the like contained in the supplying fluid, especially, water supplied to the home shower. 
     The filter housing  56  has a plurality of openings formed in front and rear surfaces to pass the supplying fluid, not interfering with the flow of the supplying fluid. 
     The supplying fluid drawn along the inner path  12  of the head body  10  passes the openings formed in the rear surface of the filter housing  56  and the ceramic balls  59  capable of implementing functions of the chlorine removal, the ionization, the antibacterial performance and the deodorization. As a result, useful supplying fluid may be supplied to the user. 
     The ceramic balls  59  filled in the filter housing  56  may be made of red clay and they may be made of one of sulfur balls, tourmaline gemstone, selenium, negative-ion resin, germanium, red clay, elvan, zeolite and sericite or compounds thereof. 
     The filter housing  56  is coupled to the filter net supporter  52  and the filtering net  51  according to this embodiment is satin-woven with synthetic fabric, for example, Polypropylene (PP). The filtering net  51  may be flexible smoothly and it is securely supported by the filtering net supporter  52  to be prevented from deformity and damage which might be caused by the water pressure. 
     To secure the filtering net supporter  52  and the filtering housing  56  to each other, securing holes  54  are formed in the filtering next supporter  52  and securing fins  58  projected from the filtering housing  56  are integrally formed with the filtering housing, to correspond with the securing holes  54  of the filtering net supporter  52 . 
     As mentioned above, the filtering net  51  woven with synthetic fabric, for example, PP is secured to the rear surface of the filtering net supporter  52 . 
     Only an outer end of the filtering net  51  is heat-stakingly secured to the filtering net supporter  52 . As a result, the flow of the supplying fluid may not be interfered with and the deformity and damage of the filtering net  51  caused by the water pressure may be prevented. 
     The filtering net  51  may be woven with synthetic fabric, for example, PP and this embodiment presents the filtering net  51  is satin-woven. However, the filtering net  51  may be woven in various types. 
     Since it is satin-woven, the filtering net  51  may be densely formed enough to filter the foreign substances contained in the supplying fluid efficiently. 
     The foreign substances contained in the supplying fluid drawn along the inner path  12  of the head body  10  are filtered by the filtering net  51  and they will be loaded in the filtering net  51  too much to interfere with the flow of the supplying fluid. In this case, the filtering net  51  can be washed to reuse, without replaced with a new one. 
     Moreover, since the filtering net  51  is satin-woven, a surface of the filtering net  51  may be smooth and this enables the filtering net  51  to be washed more conveniently. 
     The shower including the shower plate  30  and the filter mentioned above may be applicable to business use and industrial washing lines, rather than home use. 
     In case the shower is a home shower, the supplying fluid supplied to the shower according to the present invention may be water and the present invention is not limited thereto. The supplying fluid may be variable according to usage of showers. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.