Patent Publication Number: US-11662040-B2

Title: Electric water diverter

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a divisional application of a co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/086,465 filed on Nov. 2, 2020, which claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. CN2020110689552 filed on Sep. 30, 2020, all contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a water diverter, in particular to an electric water diverter for a bathtub, hottub or swim spas. 
     RELATED ART 
     At present, common water diverters on the market are manually adjusted. Such valves have disadvantages that it takes a lot of effort to twist a core since water to be adjusted impose a large pressure, which is inconvenient for children or women to use; secondly, for such manual adjustment valve, its knob and core must be coaxially connected, which requires making larger room for installation above the back of the hottub body, where is a relatively cramped region in the hottub space; also, because the manual adjustment valve is installed at the top of the hottub body, water must be transported from the bottom of the hottub body to the top of the hottub body through a pipe so as be adjusted, which causes a water pressure loss, and cause a turbulence that generates a noise in the T-shaped body since water flows through the T-shaped body via a pipe elbow. In addition, since the knob of the manual adjustment valve is usually located at a high level, which is a drag on the appearance and design of the hottub. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a water diverter that is electrically driven and adjusted. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure provides an electric water diverter, which realizes an electrically driven and stepless regulation of water flow from a water outlet by the electric drive. 
     The present disclosure provides an electric water diverter, which includes a controller, a brushless DC motor, a core, and a T-shaped body. The core includes a water inlet and a predetermined number of water outlets. The T-shaped body includes a water inlet port pipe and water outlet port pipes corresponding to the water outlets one to one. The controller is electrically connected to a fixed Hall PCB circuit board and the brushless DC motor in turn. The brushless DC motor has a rotating shaft that is detachably connected to the core via a connector. The connector is also embedded with a magnet cooperating with the Hall PCB circuit board. The Hall PCB circuit board obtains a relative position signal of the motor rotating shaft through Hall induction and feeds it back to the controller. A user controls the brushless DC motor to perform phase rotation through the controller and drive the connector and the core to selectively rotate forward or backward relative to the T-shaped body. Thereby, stepless adjustment of water flow from water outlet is achieved. 
     Preferably, the controller is embodied as a knob controller, which includes a knob cover and a control circuit board, the control circuit board is provided with a predetermined number of Hall elements, the knob cover is embedded with a magnet cooperating with the Hall elements, and the control circuit board is electrically connected to the Hall PCB circuit board and the brushless DC motor. 
     Preferably, the controller is embodied as a touch controller, which includes a touch control panel and a control circuit board, the touch control panel is provided with a forward selection button, a reverse rotation button and a stop rotation button, and the control circuit board is electrically connected to the Hall PCB circuit board and the brushless DC motor. 
     Preferably, one end of the connector connected to the brushless DC motor has a drop-shaped shoulder, and the magnet is embedded in a tip of the drop-shaped shoulder. 
     Preferably, the electric water diverter further includes a waterproof box for accommodating the brushless DC motor, the waterproof box is provided with a connecting through-opening at a bottom thereof, and the core has a connecting portion that passes through the connecting through-opening and then is connected with and limited by the connector. 
     Preferably, the connector includes an adapter and a connecting head embedded in the adapter, the adapter is connected with and limited by the connecting portion, and the connection head is connected with and limited by the motor rotating shaft. 
     Preferably, a sealing ring is provided between the connecting portion of the core and the connecting through-hole of the waterproof box. 
     Preferably, the waterproof box is installed in the T-shaped body, and the waterproof box includes a box body and a cover body, and an O-shaped sealing ring is arranged between the cover body and the box body. 
     Preferably, the T-shaped body is cooperated with a fixing nut to clamp and fix the waterproof box between the T-shaped body and the fixing nut. 
     Preferably, the water outlets of the core are arranged one on top of the other in an axial direction and staggered by a certain angle in a circumferential direction, and the water outlet port pipes of the T-shaped body are arranged one on top of the other in the axial direction. 
     The electric water diverter according to the present disclosure is driven by a brushless DC motor. Compared with the traditional manual water diverter, the electric water diverter provides a more flexible installation position, which solves the disadvantage that the conventional water diverter has a limited installation position; the water diverter is driven by the motor such that various industry pain points, such as adjustment difficulties of the water diverter, too high knob position, too much noise, and large water pressure loss. In addition, with the cooperation of the Hall PCB circuit board and the magnet, the relative rotation position of the motor shaft and the core, can be clearly identified, and thus the water output ratio of different water outlets can be obtained, which is convenient for performing stepless adjustment of water flow according to user&#39;s requirements. 
    
    
     
       THE BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of an electric water diverter according to the present disclosure, with the controller hidden; 
         FIG.  2    is an exploded view of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  3    is a cross-sectional view of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4    is a perspective view showing a partial structure of an electric water diverter according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective view of a waterproof box of an electric water diverter according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  6    is an exploded view of a connector of an electric water diverter according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  7    is a view showing a core of an electric water diverter according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  8    is a perspective view of a controller according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  9    is an exploded view of the controller in  FIG.  8   ; 
         FIG.  10    is a perspective view of another controller according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  11    is an exploded view of the controller in  FIG.  10   . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     The electric water diverter according to the present disclosure will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be pointed out that the technical solution and design principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail below only with an optimized technical solution. 
     Referring to  FIG.  1   ,  FIG.  2   ,  FIG.  3   ,  FIG.  4   ,  FIG.  8    and  FIG.  10   , an electric water diverter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a controller, a brushless DC motor  5 , a core  13  and a T-shaped body  14 . The controller is electrically connected to a fixed Hall PCB circuit board  52  and the brushless DC motor  5  in turn. The brushless DC motor  5  has a rotating shaft  51  that is detachedly connected with the core  13  via a connector  7 . The connector  7  is embedded with a magnet  8  which is configured for cooperating with the Hall PCB circuit board  52 . The Hall PCB circuit board  52  obtains a relative position signal of the motor rotating shaft  51  through Hall induction and feeds the relative position signal back to the controller. A user controls the brushless DC motor  5  to perform phase rotation through the controller and drive the connector  7  and the core  13  to selectively rotate forward or backward relative to the T-shaped body  14 . Thereby, stepless adjustment of water flow from water outlets is achieved. 
     Specifically, with reference to  FIGS.  2  and  3   , the electric water diverter further includes a waterproof box for accommodating the brushless DC motor  5  and the Hall PCB circuit board  52 . The waterproof box includes a box body  10  and a cover body  2 , and the waterproof box is clamped and mounted to the T-shaped body  14  by a lock nut  1  cooperating with the T-shaped body  14 . 
     Specifically, with reference to  FIGS.  4  and  5   , the box body  10  is provided with a connecting through-opening  101  at a bottom thereof, and the box body  10  is provided with a threaded hole  102  in an inner end surface thereof near the bottom. The brushless DC motor  5  and the Hall PCB circuit board  52  are fixedly mounted to a mounting base plate  6  which is fixedly mounted within the box body  10  through screws  61  and threaded holes  102 , and the motor  5  and the Hall PCB circuit board  52  are therefore fixedly mounted within the box body  10 . 
     Specifically, with reference to  FIGS.  2 ,  3 ,  5  and  7   , the core  13  has a connecting portion  131 , a water inlet  132  and two water outlets  133  and  134 . The water outlets  133 ,  134  are arranged one on top of the other in an axial direction of the core  13  and staggered by a certain phase angle in a circumferential direction. Of course, according to user&#39;s requirements, it is possible to provide more water outlets. The connecting portion  131  passes through the connecting through-opening  101  of the box body  10  and is connected to and limited by the connector  7 . In addition, the T-shaped body  14  cooperating with the core  13  is provided with a water inlet port pipe  141  and water outlet port pipes  142 ,  143  corresponding to the water inlet and outlets respectively, with the water outlet port pipes  142 ,  143  arranged one on top of the other in the axial direction. 
     Specifically, with reference to  FIGS.  2 ,  3 ,  6  and  7   , the connector  7  includes an adapter  72  and a connecting head  71  embedded in the adapter  72 . The adapter  72  is connected with and limited by a D-shaped counterbore formed in the connecting portion  131  of the core  13 . The connecting head  71  is also D-shaped. The connecting head  71  is connected to the flattened rotating shaft  51  with the flattened surface of the connecting head  71  facing the flattened surface of the flattened rotating shaft  51 . In addition, an end of the adapter  72  close to the brushless DC motor  5  has a drop-shaped shoulder  721 , and the magnet  8  is embedded in a tip of the drop-shaped shoulder  721 . 
     With reference to  FIGS.  2  and  3   , in order to realize waterproof protection of the brushless DC motor  5 , in this embodiment, the following waterproof measures are taken, respectively: firstly, a port waterproof member  3  is provided to seal an introduction port of connection wires  4  into the waterproof box; secondly, an O-shaped sealing ring  9  is arranged in an installation gap between the cover body  2  and the box body  10 ; thirdly, an O-shaped sealing ring  11  is arranged between the waterproof box and the T-shaped body  14 ; and finally, a star-shaped sealing ring  12  is provided into an installation gap between the connecting portion  131  of the core  13  and the connecting through-opening  101  of the box body  10 . 
     With reference to  FIGS.  2  and  3   , it is also preferable that the T-shaped body  14  is also provided with a mounting foot  15 . 
     Next, with reference to  FIGS.  3 ,  8 , and  9   , the controller may be embodied as a knob controller  16  which includes a knob cover  161 , a mounting seat  162 , and a control circuit board (not labeled) provided on the mounting seat  162 , a controller locking nut  163  and a base  164 . The control circuit board is provided with a predetermined number of Hall elements, and the knob cover  161  is embedded with a magnet cooperating with the Hall elements. The control circuit board is electrically connected to the Hall PCB circuit board  52  and the brushless DC motor  5  through the connecting wires  4 . The mounting seat  162  cooperates with the controller lock nut  163  to fix the knob controller  16  on a mounting base. 
     With reference to  FIGS.  3 ,  10  and  11   , the controller may be embodied as a touch controller  17  which includes a touch control panel  171 , a control circuit board  172 , a mounting seat  173 , a lock nut  174  and a base  185 . The touch control panel  171  is provided with a forward selection button, a reverse rotation button, and a stop rotation button. The control circuit board  172  is electrically connected to the Hall PCB circuit board  52  and the brushless DC motor  5  through the connecting wires  4 . The mounting seat  173  cooperates with the lock nut  174  to fix the touch controller  17  on a mounting base. 
     The electric water diverter according to the present disclosure is applied to a hottub. The electric water diverter is electrically driven to divert water and realizes stepless flow adjustment, which greatly improves user experience. In addition, the means for adjusting is installed at the surface position of the hottub, which, compared with the manual control knob of the traditional manual water diverter, makes installation position more flexible, installation height lower, adjustment methods more diverse, and appearance have more possibilities, thereby improving the overall appearance of the hottub. 
     The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the above preferred embodiments should not be regarded as limitations to the present disclosure, and the protection scope of the present disclosure should be defined by the claims. For those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, several improvements and modifications can be made, and these improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present disclosure.