Kohler Company

Gary A Fleischmann

Lawrence C Peabody

Thomas A Bonnell

Clarence E Klessig

Faucets are provided with joystick type control handles. The joysticks are provided with springs outside the main valve housing either between the joystick handle and lever stick, or between the joystick handle and an associated ball. In the latter case the ball retains a sliding disk.

Plumbing valve with stick control handle

Faucets are provided with joystick type control handles. The joysticks are provided with springs outside the main valve housing between the joystick handle and an associated ball. The ball retains a sliding disk.

A tamper resistant aerating/laminarizing assembly includes a slotted, annular retainer piece that threads into the faucet spout or a separate spout extension so that it is recessed back from the opening and thereby hidden and difficult to operate without a special key that fits through the opening to engage the slots. The retainer supports a cartridge, containing flow modifying elements, from its downstream side, rather than from above, so that it is located almost entirely to one side of the cartridge and does not add to the overall diameter of the cartridge.

Tamper-resistant flow modifier assembly

Faucet

A faucet with a vacuum breaker for a pull-out spray head plumbing fixture is provided. The vacuum breaker is placed in the faucet housing immediately under a valve unit and has fluid inlets and an outlet all passing therethrough. The vacuum breaker also has a multiplicity of openings extending through a base portion. A flapper gasket is stretch fitted over the base portion. The vacuum breaker affords ease of installation and removal. A check valve is placed immediately adjacent to the vacuum breaker.

Vacuum breaker for faucets

A faucet with a pull-out spray head includes a mixing valve for combining water from hot and cold supply lines. Water from the mixing valve flows through a check valve assembly having a chamber with an inlet, connected to the mixing valve, and an outlet, that is connected to the spray head. Separate check valves are located in the inlet and the outlet to restrict water flow through the check valve assembly to only the direction from the inlet to the outlet. A hose connects the intermediate chamber of the check valve mechanism to a vacuum breaker adapted to mount next to the faucet. The vacuum breaker includes a housing with an internal cavity into which the conduit communicates. An aperture in the vacuum breaker housing provides a passage between the cavity and the ambient environment of the faucet. Located within the chamber of the vacuum breaker assembly is a float which seals the aperture when pressure within the intermediate chamber of the check valve assembly is significantly greater than the atmospheric pressure of the ambient environment of the faucet. The aperture is opened when the intermediate chamber pressure is less than the atmospheric pressure.

Anti-siphoning valve assembly

Handle

Lavatory faucet shell

A valve for controlling fluid flow is disclosed. In one embodiment, there is a valve housing which has a mixing chamber therein, first and second valve seats in the bottom of the chamber that are laterally spaced from one another to provide inlet openings connected to the chamber, and an outlet opening exiting from the chamber. A valve member is positioned in the chamber, the valve member having a lower sealing surface in slideable contact with the valve seats, porting means controlling the flow of water from the inlet openings to the outlet, and an aperture which is open at the upper surface of the valve member. A bearing member is mounted over the valve member, the bearing member having an axial bore. The upper stem section of an actuator is rotatably and axially movably mounted in the bore, and a lower cam section of the actuator is slideably extended into the valve member aperture. In this embodiment, axial movement of the actuator stem section causes the actuator cam to abut against a wall of the valve member aperture, thereby causing the valve member to slide laterally over the valve seats and control fluid volume. Rotation of the stem section causes the valve member to rotate, thereby controlling the proportion of fluids entering from each inlet opening.

Fluid control valve

Soap dish

Tub spout

A faucet handle assembly includes an open-ended sleeve connectable to a valve stem by a screw inserted and removed through the open end. A handle projects laterally through openings in the sleeve, and a removable thimble covers the open end, the handle passing through openings in the thimble to hold the thimble in place. In the preferred embodiment, the handle and sleeve openings are non-circular and there are spacers and decorative end nuts to hold the handle axially. The invention is also useful for other items such as towel racks and robe hooks.

Growing community of inventors

Sheboygan, WI, United States of America

Gary A Fleischmann