Patent Description:
A pressure reducing valve in the technical field of bath and kitchen products, such as disclosed in <CIT>, which comprises a valve housing, a valve seat is provided in internal space of the valve housing, and the valve seat has at least one flow passage, and the pressure reducing valve comprises a pot-shaped valve body, the valve body overcomes a restoring force to be guided from an open position to move to a closed position. In the closed position, the valve body abuts the valve seat of a valve bracket with its pot-shaped circumferential edge, and the valve body closes at least one passage opening of the at least one flow passage. The pressure reducing valve of this disclosure is characterized that at least one holding sleeve is disposed on the valve bracket or on the valve body, and a holding pin disposed on the valve body or on the valve bracket respectively protrudes into the holding sleeve, in addition, a stop is disposed on an inner circumference of the holding sleeve. The stop and a mating stop on an outer circumference of the holding pin work together so that when the pressure reducing valve in the open position, the stop and the mating stop limit a sliding distance of the valve body relative to the valve bracket. Another example is disclosed in <CIT>, which describes a pressure regulator valve that belongs to the technical field of valves and solves the technical problems of large volume and poor sensitivity of the prior art. The pressure regulator valve described in this disclosure comprises a valve body with a water inlet passage and a water outlet passage, the valve body is disposed with a valve seat, an elastic element, and a piston, the piston is sleeved on the valve seat and defines a sealed cavity for mounting the elastic element, a top surface of the piston abuts the valve body, the valve seat is provided with an overflow passage for connecting the water inlet passage and the water outlet passage, and the piston moves axially on the valve seat to adjust an opening of a water outlet on the overflow passage. In the above two technical solutions, an inner peripheral surface of a peripheral wall of the piston is a closed section. When the peripheral wall acts on a seal ring, a sudden deformation of the seal ring subjected by a force results in uneven force on the seal ring, which is easily squeezed out by the peripheral wall and leakage happens.

With regard to the prior art attention is drawn to <CIT> from which a pressure maintaining valve is known.

From <CIT> a fluid flow control valve is known, in which a spool is slidably disposed in the working hollow of the valve housing formed with first and second ports and is provided with an orifice portion for communicating between said second port and hollow; a rod is slidably mounted through said spool so as to move at least in the urging direction of a resilient member together with said spool and its one end is exposed to pressure of a value lower than that in said two chambers, whereby the balancing movement of the spool may determine the opening of the orifice portion in such a manner as to reduce the discharge of fluid under pressure as a value of fluid pressure in the side of the first port increases.

Further, from <CIT> a pressure regulator assembly is known, which includes an inlet portion having a passageway through which liquid passes through the assembly. The assembly includes a plunger movable within the housing to selectively engage the inlet portion or the housing to control the path of liquid through the assembly.

Furthermore, from <CIT> a pull-out faucet is known, which contains: a body and a shower assembly mounted on the body. The shower assembly includes a flexible pipe, an inflow member, a spray head coupled with an outlet segment of the flexible pipe and retracting back to an outlet of the body after being pulled outwardly, a plurality of LED elements, a circuit board, and an electric wire. The spray head includes a light conductor having at least one input face, at least one light transmission portion, and at least one output face. The circuit board is a flexible printed circuit and at least one includes a longitudinal sheet and a C-shaped ring, the longitudinal sheet longitudinally extends into the spray head, and each of the plurality of LED elements is electrically connected with the C-shaped ring and faces to each of the at least one input face.

The present invention relates to a pressure reducing valve as defined in claim <NUM>.

Further, the present invention relates to a pull-out faucet as defined in claim <NUM>.

The present disclosure provides a pressure reducing valve and a pull-out faucet to solve deficiencies of the conventional pressure reducing valve in the background.

Compared with the existing techniques, the technical solution has the following advantages.

The discharging section of the peripheral wall of the piston comprises one or more discharging passages. After the pressure from the rear end increases (for example, the water passage of the rear end is suddenly closed), the piston slides upward, the peripheral wall slides upward, the water from the water passing holes can flow out of the one or more discharging passages, and the one or more discharging passages continue to discharge water, so as to prevent the water passing holes from being suddenly and completely closed, there will not be a pressure mutation of a portion of the seal ring that results in the seal ring being deformed and being squeezed out, the seal ring is prevented from being squeezed out, the seal ring is prevented from moving, the piston continues to slide upward to the top until the pressure from the rear end is greater than the elastic value of the elastic member, the sealed section of the peripheral wall is hermetically disposed on the seal ring to achieve a complete seal, and the pressure from the rear end is constant.

As the pressure reducing valve is disposed on the second water passage of the hose, a control mechanism can be directly disposed on the water outlet terminal to control the second water passage to be opened and to be closed. Two water passages can discharge water from the same water outlet terminal, the appearance of the faucet is beautiful, and the control is convenient.

The present disclosure will be further described below in combination with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

Reference numbers: valve body <NUM>, piston <NUM>, elastic member <NUM>, connector <NUM>, valve housing <NUM>; water inlet passage <NUM>, water passing hole <NUM>, annular groove <NUM>, seal ring <NUM>, air flow passage <NUM>, second positioning portion <NUM>; protrusion ring <NUM>; bottom wall <NUM>, peripheral wall <NUM>; one or more first positioning portions <NUM>; discharging section <NUM>, sealed section <NUM>, one or more discharging passage <NUM>, guiding tapered surface <NUM>; faucet body <NUM>, water outlet terminal <NUM>, hose <NUM>, pressure reducing valve <NUM>, control mechanism <NUM>, housing <NUM>, and first communication passage <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, a pressure reducing valve comprises a valve body <NUM>, a piston <NUM>, and an elastic member <NUM>.

The valve body <NUM> comprises a connector <NUM> and a valve housing <NUM>. An inner side (i.e., an inner peripheral surface) of the valve housing <NUM> protrudes to define a protrusion ring <NUM>, and the connector <NUM> is secured in the valve housing <NUM>. A top end surface of the connector <NUM> is concave to define a water inlet passage <NUM> in communication with a water supply source. The connector <NUM> further comprises a plurality of water passing holes <NUM> penetrating from an inner side to an outer side of the water inlet passage <NUM> (i.e., the plurality of water passing holes <NUM> are in communication with the water inlet passage <NUM>). The plurality of water passing holes <NUM> are annularly arrayed. The water passing holes <NUM> penetrate from the water inlet passage <NUM> disposed in the connector <NUM> to an outer peripheral surface of the connector <NUM>. The outer peripheral surface (i.e., an outer side) of the connector <NUM> is concave to define an annular groove <NUM>. The annular groove <NUM> is disposed above the water passing holes <NUM>, a sealing member is disposed in the annular groove <NUM> (i.e., the sealing member encompasses the outer side of the connecter <NUM>, and the sealing member is disposed above the plurality of water passing holes <NUM>), and the sealing member defines a seal ring <NUM>. An outer periphery of the connector <NUM> is disposed with an annular surface facing downward, the annular surface defines a second positioning portion <NUM> (i.e., the outer side of the connector <NUM> protrudes to define a second positioning portion <NUM>), and the second positioning portion <NUM> is disposed above the seal ring <NUM>.

The piston <NUM> comprises a bottom wall <NUM> and a peripheral wall <NUM> extending upward from a periphery of the bottom wall <NUM>. An inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall <NUM> comprises a discharging section <NUM> disposed on an end portion of the peripheral wall <NUM> and a sealed section <NUM> disposed between the discharging section <NUM> and the bottom wall <NUM>. The discharging section <NUM> is concave to define one or more discharging passages <NUM> and the one or more discharging passages <NUM> penetrate an end surface of the peripheral wall <NUM>. In this embodiment, the one or more discharging passages <NUM> define through grooves that penetrate an inner side and an outer side of the peripheral wall <NUM>, and the through grooves penetrate the end surface of the peripheral wall <NUM>. The discharging section <NUM> is concave to define a plurality of discharging passages <NUM> of the one or more discharging passages <NUM> circumferentially and evenly disposed at intervals. An end of the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall <NUM> defines a guiding tapered surface <NUM>. One or more first positioning portions <NUM> protrude from an outer side of the bottom wall <NUM> (i.e., an outer side of the piston <NUM> is secured with one or more first positioning portions <NUM> configured to be abutted by the elastic member), and the one or more first positioning portions <NUM> are, for example, lugs.

The peripheral wall <NUM> of the piston <NUM> is configured to slidably and upwardly encompass the outer side of the connector <NUM>. A sealed cavity <NUM> is defined between the piston <NUM> and the connector <NUM>, and the connector <NUM> comprises an air flow passage <NUM> in communication with an external environment and the sealed cavity <NUM>. The elastic member <NUM> encompasses the connector <NUM> and the piston <NUM> and abuts and is disposed between the one or more first positioning portions <NUM> and the second positioning portion <NUM>. The one or more first positioning portions <NUM> are disposed above the protrusion ring <NUM> of the valve housing <NUM>, and the protrusion ring <NUM> is configured to cooperate with the one or more first positioning portions <NUM> to limit a furthest sliding position of the piston <NUM> and limit a furthest downward sliding distance. In this embodiment, a water outlet passage in communication with the water passing holes <NUM> is defined between an outer side of the piston <NUM> and an inner peripheral surface of the valve housing <NUM>, and water from the water outlet passage flows downward through an interval between every two first positioning portions <NUM>. As needed, the elastic member can also be disposed between the piston and the valve housing. When water pressure from a rear end increases, a buffering function generates to prevent water passage from being closed by the piston. When the water is cut off, an elastic force of the elastic member drives the piston to be reset and the water passage to be opened (i.e., the elastic member acts on the piston <NUM> to generate an elastic force configured to drive the piston <NUM> to be separated from the connector <NUM>).

The peripheral wall <NUM> of the piston <NUM> slidably encompasses the outer side of the connector <NUM>, and the peripheral wall <NUM> slides relative to the connector <NUM> to control the sealed section <NUM> to cooperate with the seal ring <NUM> to control water outflow from the water passing holes <NUM>. Wherein, the elastic member <NUM> is a spring, and a setting principle of a force value of the spring is as follows. When water flows though the water passage, the water pressure of the water passage at a front end and the rear end is equal, there is an area difference between a top area and a bottom area of the piston (the bottom area of the piston is much larger than the top area. When the pressure at the rear end reaches a preset range greater than the force value of the spring, the piston is pushed to finally close the entire water passage, and the pressure at the rear end is kept constant within the pressure range of the spring force). According to the formula F=P*S (F for force value, P for pressure, and S for area difference), when the pressure at the rear end F1> the force value F plus atmospheric pressure F2 (F1>F+F2), the piston starts to move up to adjust the pressure at the rear end, and the pressure at the rear end is kept constant at no more than a predetermined value as the pressure changes (for example, <NUM> MPA) to protect equipment or pipes of the rear water passage.

The discharging section <NUM> of the peripheral wall <NUM> of the piston <NUM> comprises the one or more discharging passages <NUM>, and the one or more discharging passages <NUM> define the through grooves that penetrate the inner side and the outer side of the peripheral wall <NUM>, so that an upper end of the peripheral wall <NUM> of the piston <NUM> defines a sieve-like structure. Wherein, after the pressure at the rear end increases (i.e., the water passage of the rear end is suddenly closed), the piston <NUM> slides upward, the peripheral wall <NUM> slides upward, the sieve-like structure of the peripheral wall <NUM> enables water from the water passing holes <NUM> to flow from the one or more discharging passages <NUM>, and the one or more discharging passages <NUM> continue to discharge water to prevent the water passing holes <NUM> from being suddenly completely closed. Therefore, there will not be a pressure mutation of a portion of the seal ring <NUM> that results in the seal ring <NUM> being deformed and being squeezed out, which can prevent the seal ring <NUM> from being squeezed out and enable the seal ring <NUM> to be hermetically locked in the annular groove <NUM>. When the pressure at the rear end is greater than the force value of spring, the piston continues to slide upward to a top. The sealed section is hermetically disposed on the seal ring <NUM> to achieve a complete seal, and the pressure at the rear end is constant.

As needed, the valve housing comprises a joint. The joint defines the connector. The joint further comprises a protruding portion protruding out of the connector, and the protruding portion abuts an upper end opening of the valve housing.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, which illustrate schematic views of an application of the pressure reducing valve applied to a pull-out faucet. The pull-out faucet comprises a faucet body <NUM>, a water outlet terminal <NUM>, a hose <NUM>, and a pressure reducing valve <NUM>. The water outlet terminal <NUM> comprises two water outlets and a control mechanism <NUM>. The hose <NUM> is a pipe-in-pipe structure comprising an inner pipe and an outer pipe, a second water passage is disposed in the inner pipe, and a first water passage is defined between the inner pipe and the outer pipe. The hose <NUM> passes through the faucet body <NUM>, a first end of the hose <NUM> is connected to the water outlet terminal <NUM>, and the first water passage and the second water passage are respectively in communication with the two water outlets. The control mechanism <NUM> is configured to control the second water passage to be opened and to be closed. The pressure reducing valve <NUM> is connected to the hose <NUM> and is used in conjunction with the second water passage. In this embodiment, the first water passage <NUM> is a conventional water passage, and the second water passage <NUM> is a purified water passage.

In a specific structure: the pressure reducing valve <NUM> comprises a housing <NUM>, the valve body <NUM>, the piston <NUM>, and the elastic member <NUM>. The valve body <NUM> comprises the connector <NUM> and the valve housing <NUM>, the valve body <NUM> is disposed in the housing <NUM>, and a first communication passage <NUM> is defined between the housing <NUM> and the valve housing <NUM> to define a part of the first water passage. The second water passage comprises the water passing holes <NUM> and the water outlet passage. The pressure reducing valve and the pipe-in-pipe structure are designed as an integral structure (water flows from the top, and the piston moves upward and downward to control an amount of water flow and the pressure at the rear end with a change of the pressure at the rear end. When the pressure at the rear end is too high or greater than a preset force value of the spring, the water passing passage is completely closed, and a water pressure at the rear end remains at a pressure slightly greater than a pressure equal to the force value of the spring and remains at a constant pressure).

In the pull-out faucet of this embodiment, since the pressure reducing valve <NUM> is disposed on the purified water passage of the hose, therefore, the control mechanism can be directly disposed on the water outlet terminal <NUM> to control the second water passage (the conventional hose is not disposed with the pressure reducing valve and thus, for example, when the second water passage is directly closed on the water outlet terminal, the water pressure in the hose and the water outlet terminal will continue to increase in a situation where a front end is not closed, resulting in a possibility that the hose and the water outlet terminal are damaged. Therefore, the second water passage in the existing techniques is mostly controlled by a valve at the front end, the purified water passage and the conventional water passage have separate water outlets, an occupied space is larger, an appearance of the faucet is not good, and integral water discharging of the pull-out pipe-in-pipe structure cannot be achieved). The purified water and the conventional water can discharge water from the same shower (because two water passages can be directly controlled at the water outlet terminal, so water can flow out of the same shower), the faucet body only maintains one switch configured to control, and an appearance design of the faucet is beautiful (the purified water and the conventional water is not configured to be discharged separately or to be controlled by independent handles). In the pull-out faucet of this embodiment, since the pressure reducing valve <NUM> is disposed on the purified water passage of the hose, the pressure reducing valve <NUM> adopts the aforementioned structure, so it can withstand a <NUM> MPa high pressure and the pressure at the rear end can be controlled to a minimum value.

Referring to <FIG>, which differs from Embodiment <NUM> in that the one or more discharging passages <NUM>' comprise one or more give-way grooves extending inward from the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall <NUM>, and the one or more give-way grooves penetrate the end surface of the peripheral wall <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, which differs from Embodiment <NUM> in that the one or more discharging passages <NUM>" comprise one or more through grooves penetrating the inner side and the outer side of the peripheral wall <NUM>. The one or more through grooves do not penetrate to the end surface of the peripheral wall <NUM>, and an annular part corresponding with an inner port of the through groove defines the discharging section.

The invention may be summarized as follows: The present disclosure discloses a pressure reducing valve and a pull-out faucet. The pressure reducing valve comprises a valve body, a piston and an elastic member, the valve body comprises a connector, the connector comprises a water passing hole penetrating from an inner side to an outer peripheral surface of the connector, a sealing member encompasses the connector, the piston comprises a bottom wall and a peripheral wall extending upward from a periphery of the bottom wall, an inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall comprises a discharging section and a sealed section disposed between the discharging section and the bottom wall, the discharging section defines one or more discharging passages, the peripheral wall of the piston is configured to slidably encompass an outer side of the connector, the peripheral wall slides relative to the connector to control the sealed section to cooperate with the sealing member to control the water passing holes to discharge water, and the elastic member acts on the piston to generate an elastic force configured to drive the piston to be separated from the connector. It has following advantages: there will not be a pressure mutation of a portion of the seal ring that results in the seal ring being deformed and being squeezed out, the seal ring is prevented from being squeezed out, the seal ring is prevented from moving.

Claim 1:
A pressure reducing valve which comprises a valve body (<NUM>), a piston (<NUM>) and an elastic member (<NUM>), the valve body (<NUM>) comprises a connector (<NUM>), the connector (<NUM>) comprises water passing holes (<NUM>) penetrating from an inner side to an outer peripheral surface of the connector (<NUM>), a sealing member (<NUM>) encompasses an outer side of the connector (<NUM>), the piston (<NUM>) comprises a bottom wall (<NUM>) and a peripheral wall (<NUM>) extending upward from a periphery of the bottom wall (<NUM>), the peripheral wall (<NUM>) of the piston (<NUM>) is configured to slidably encompass the outer side of the connector (<NUM>), the peripheral wall (<NUM>) slides relative to the connector (<NUM>) to control a sealed section (<NUM>) to cooperate with the sealing member (<NUM>) to control the water passing hole (<NUM>) to discharge water, and the elastic member (<NUM>) acts on the piston (<NUM>) to generate an elastic force configured to drive the piston (<NUM>) to be separated from the connector (<NUM>), the pressure reducing valve being characterized in that an inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall (<NUM>) comprises a discharging section (<NUM>) and the sealed section (<NUM>) disposed between the discharging section (<NUM>) and the bottom wall (<NUM>), the discharging section (<NUM>) defines one or more discharging passages (<NUM>), the one or more discharging passages (<NUM>) define through grooves that penetrate the inner side and the outer side of the peripheral wall (<NUM>), so that an upper end of the peripheral wall (<NUM>) of the piston (<NUM>) defines a sieve-like structure; wherein after the pressure at the rear end increases, the piston (<NUM>) slides upward, the peripheral wall (<NUM>) slides upward, the sieve-like structure of the peripheral wall (<NUM>) enables water from the water passing holes (<NUM>) to flow from the one or more discharging passages (<NUM>).