Hydro-Air Fitting

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to improvements in fitting used to combine air with a pressurized water stream in swimming pools and baths for aeration, hydrotherapy, hydromassage, and similar purposes.

2. The Prior Art

The Virgil Jacuzzi U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,358, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, discloses a hydro-air fitting in which a ball is mounted in two sealing members and a retaining member each separately fitted with the housing, and wherein the nozzle is either removable from within the ball or is retained therein by a separate set screw passed through the ball. U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,438 to Roy Jacuzzi discloses a hydro-air jet assembly wherein a rear portion of the housing is formed as a socket against which a swivelable ball is retained by a two-piece seal and retaining member separately attached to the housing. A pair of set screws spaced axially apart in a side wall of the ball forms stop members against respective front and rear ridges forming a seat for a sealing member between water and air passages of the assembly.

In a hydro-air fitting of the general configuration of Virgil Jacuzzi U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,358, a rear seat and sealing member for the swivelable ball is replaced by a spherical configuration formed directly in the hollow housing member, and the two-piece front seat and sealing members are combined into a one-piece seal and retaining member for more economical production and with less chance of misassembly. Further, a flexible ring or split ring is fitted in a channel about a rearward portion of the nozzle to abut against a circumferential surface formed on the ball to provide positive protection against withdrawal of the nozzle from the ball .

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal, side sectional view through the improved hydro-air fitting of the present invention.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are enlarged side sectional views of details of FIG. 1.

An improved hydro-air fitting 10 is shown in FIG. 1 embedded in a wall 11 of a pool of water 12 having a maximum level 13. While the wall 11 is shown as a concrete structure and a housing 15 of the fitting 10 is specifically adapted for mounting therein as by a radially extending flange 16, suitable modification of the housing 15 can adapt the fitting 10 for use in thin-walled pool enclosures, as known to those skilled in the art.

The housing 15 is a hollow, molded article made in one piece of a plastic or thermoplastic material and generally defining a central axis 17. An interior of the housing 15 is charged with water through a conduit 18 provided on the axis 17 at a rearward portion 19 of the housing, the water conduit 18 being supplied with pressurized water from a source such as a pump 20. A supply of air is also provided to the interior of the housing 15 along the axis 17 at a radially extending air port 21 formed in a tubular member 22 aligned with the axis 17 and communicating to an air conduit 23 extending to an air intake opening 24 arranged gravitationally above the maximum fluid level 13 of the water body 12.

In a central portion 25 of the housing 15, centered about an intersection 26 between the axis 17 and the fixed air port 21 is a ball 27 having a spherical outer surface 28. The ball 27 has a cylindrical passage formed therethrough by a threaded cylindrical bore 29. A collar portion 30 is formed integrally on a forward part of the ball 27 to extend into a forward portion 31 of the housing 15.

A nozzle member 25 having a cylindrical, threaded outer surface 36 is cooperatively received within the threaded bore 29 of the ball 27. The cooperative threads 29, 36 permit axial adjustment of the nozzle 35 with respect to the ball 27, the housing 15, and the tubular air member 22. An interior flow passage 37 of the nozzle 35 defines, respectively, in a downstream direction toward the forward end 31 of the housing 15, relatively converging and diverging sections in accordance with the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,358.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the ball 27 is received and retained in the housing 15 by first and second spherical socket portions 40, 41 which engage against respective rearward and forward spherical surfaces 42, 43, respectively of the ball 27. The first, rearward ball socket surface 40 is molded or otherwise formed directly in the center portion 25 of the housing 15. The second, forward ball socket portion 41 is carried on an annular, one-piece sealing and retaining member 44 fitted into the housing 15 about the ball 27 and secured to the housing 15 by attachment means such as a pair or more of screws 45. The sealing and retaining member 44 is radially sized to fit between the ball 27 and the conical wall of the housing 15 and especially to resist rotation of the ball 27 about the axis 17 as the nozzle 35 is screwed along the threaded 29, 36. The member 44 does permit easy swiveling of the ball 27 about the point 26 through an angle 46 in any direction about the axis 17, until the collar 30 abuts against member 44. The member 44 is preferably formed of a thermoplastic material such as that employed to mold the housing 15. The plastic material permits elimination of separate seals heretofore provided in these devices.

Further in accordance with the principles of the present invention, the nozzle member 35 is made non-removable from the ball 27 and the hydro-air fitting 10 by forming a recessed channel or groove 50 in a rearward portion 51 of the nozzle 35. The recess, groove, or channel 50 has inner, rearward, and forward walls as shown in detail in FIG. 3. It is preferable to cut the threads 36 to the end of the nozzle 35 and then to make the recess 50. A flexible ring 52, such as a split plastic or an elastomer O-ring, is fitted over the rearward portion 51 of the nozzle 35 and into the channel 50 where it is retained by the forward and rearward walls in a selected radial and axial position. A radially outward portion of the ring 52 extends radially outwardly of the threads 36 on the nozzle 35.

A rearward end 53 of the ball 27 is formed with a circumferentially recessed portion 54 to avoid interfering with the ring 52 on the nozzle 35. A forward termination or abutment surface 55 of the recess 54 together with the ring 52 allows the nozzle 35 to be moved axially forwardly through a distance 56 as shown in FIG. 1, but no farther. Rearward movement of the nozzle 35 with respect to the ball 27 and housing 15 is unaffected by the ring 52, so that the internal passage 37 of the nozzle 35 may interact with the walls of the tubular air passage 22 to control and reduce the flow of water passing outwardly from the conduit 18 into the body of fluid 12.

In operation, the hydro-air fitting 10 manufactured in accordance with the present invention is assembled from a housing 15, a ball 27, a nozzle 35, a sealing and retaining member 44, a pair of screws 45, and a flexible ring 52, plus conduits 18 and 23 as necessary. First, the nozzle 35 is screwed through the ball 27 in a rearward direction, from the frontward, collar portion 30 thereof and past the rearward portion 53 of the ball 27. Once the rear end 51 of the nozzle 35 emerges from the rearward end of the ball 27, the flexible ring 52 may be distorted or expanded and snapped into the channel 50 where it is retained by the respective walls thereof. The nozzle 35 may not thereafter be removed from the ball 27 without first removing the ring 52. Next, the ball 27 with the nozzle 35 therein is inserted into the housing 15 and against the first, rearward spherical socket portion 40 about the axis 17 of the housing. The annular seal and retaining member 44 is dropped into the forward portion 31 of the housing 15 about the ball 27. Apertures in the member 44 are aligned with corresponding apertures formed in the center portion 25 of the housing 15 and the attachment means or screws 45 are inserted therethrough and tightened. The second, forward spherical socket surface 41 engages against the forward spherical surface 43 of the ball 27, snugly engaging same to retain the ball 27 in the housing 15 and to seal against flow of water about the ball 27.

In operation, this arrangement allows the nozzle 35 to be swiveled about the center point 26 of the ball 27 in the socket provided and to move axially to control water and air flow through the interior passage 37. Depending upon the configuration of the forward end of the tubular air passage 22 and the converging portion of the passage 37, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,358, water flow may be completely shut off by screwing the nozzle 35 to its rearwardmost position.

Although various minor modifications may be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.