Sanitary Valve Assembly

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a sanitary valve assembly and, more particularly, to a mixing valve assembly having at least two control elements, one of which is in the form of a stationary valve seat connected to the water supply line or lines and with a movable control element displaceable on it, the surfaces of the control elements facing towards one another being designed as sealing surfaces.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Valves of this general type are, as a rule, provided with disc-shaped control elements of a ceramic material and have been found to be successful. A disadvantage of the known valves is that the discs have relatively large sealing areas, which require the body of the mixing valve to have relatively large structural dimensions. Additionally, relatively large hydraulic pressure areas on the underside of the valve seat disc are required to hold the discs together. The valves are also constructed with each flow aperture in the stationary valve seat disc accurately associated with only one control port or control edge for advancing the water. Consequently, the flow rates are comparatively low despite the large structural dimensions. Another disadvantage is that the relatively large sealing areas which, in turn, necessitate relatively large pressure areas, give rise to corresponding frictional forces.

The problems and disadvantages heretofore encountered are overcome by providing a sanitary valve of the above type, which is simple in construction and reliable in operation and which has high flow rates despite its small structural dimensions.

The sanitary valve assembly, according to the present invention, includes control elements that are at least partly annular in shape, and which are formed having relatively narrow sealing surfaces so that when the valve assembly is in its opened position, the control elements partly lie over one another and are partially out of sealing engagement. It is preferable that three superimposed control elements are provided, of which the two outer control elements are stationary, while the central element is movable. When the valve assembly is in the closed and/or opened positions, the central control element directs the water or portions of the water against an outer control element, which has a diverting chamber and which is permanently under the inflow pressure.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a sanitary valve assembly wherein the control elements of the present invention are illustrated in the closed position;

FIG. 1A is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating the cartridge which houses the control elements, taken along the line 1A-1A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the control elements taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the control elements taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, illustrating the movable control element in its opened position;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 1A, but with the movable control element in its closed position;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but illustrating the movable control element in its opened position;

FIG. 7 is an exploded isometric view of the control elements with the cartridge removed;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8--8 of FIG. 3, showing a movable control element in its closed position; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line 9--9 of FIG. 4, illustrating the flow path through the control elements in their open position.

Sanitary valve assembly 1 of FIG. 1 is illustrated in its various operable positions in FIGS. 1A--6, 8 and 9. Cartridge 4, which houses control elements 7, 8, 9, is provided with two inlets 5, 6 for cold and hot water. Control elements 7, 8, 9 are superimposed, which control the flow of hot and cold water through valve 1. The three control elements 7, 8, 9 each has two annular portions 10, 11, and each is made in one piece from a ceramic material, preferably aluminum oxide. Casing 4 is closed at the top by a cover 12 having a central opening O through which a control lever 13 engages control element 15, as seen in FIG. 1. Lever 13 can be tipped or pivoted in two planes and is joined to a handle member H. Lever 13 further extends through the outer control element 9 and engages central control element 8, which is movably mounted in sealing watertight engagement between stationary elements 7 and 9. In the opened and closed positions of the valve, the central control element 8 guides the water or portions of the water against the control element 9, which has a diverting chamber 14 and is permanently under the inflow pressure. The lever 13 is sealed externally by annular sealing surfaces 15 surrounding it. The holes 16, 17 in the elements 9, 8 are provided for the lever 13 to pass through and engage the control element 8, which has a guide bushing 18 mounted in its hole 17. Control elements 9, 8, 7 are accurately positioned and accurately guided relative to one another by means of guide bushing 20 provided in further holes 19 in the elements 7, 8, 9. A guiding and connecting pin 21 is mounted in the bushings 20, and the central control element 8 can be turned around it.

The annular control elements 7, 8, 9 have relatively narrow sealing surfaces 22, which lie partly over one another to form watertight seals in their closed positions, and are out of sealing engagement when the valve (FIG. 5) is in the opened position. From the foregoing, it can be seen that the sanitary valve assembly is made of few parts and illustrates an example of the invention while variations thereof may be made that are within the concept of the invention, for example, with respect to the arrangement and form of the various parts. It is also obvious that the control elements, according to the valve of the invention, may be modified and could be constructed as a single stop valve for cold or hot water only, so that control elements with only one hole would be used, or would provide a control element which functions as a valve seat with only a movable control element, and one with a diverting chamber.