Kohler Mira Limited

Walker Crosweller & Company Limited

Nicholas John Beck

Kevin Taylor Peel

Sean Patrick Conway

Bruce Lewin John Hayward

Paul Vigars

Timothy James Shepherd

Geoffrey Hawke Whale

Peter T Green

An ablutionary installation including a mixing valve having respective inlets for hot and cold water and an outlet for temperature controlled water, a temperature sensor for monitoring outlet water temperature and providing a signal representative of the outlet water temperature to an electronic controller, a user interface permitting selection of outlet water temperature up to a pre-determined temperature, the electronic controller being operable to compare the selected and sensed outlet water temperatures for controlling the mixing valve to adjust the ratio of hot and cold water delivered to the outlet according to the selected outlet water temperature, and apparatus for initiating a disinfection cycle to deliver water to the outlet at a temperature higher than the pre-determined temperature, wherein the initiating apparatus includes an operating sequence with at least two inputs.

Ablutionary installations

A thermostatic mixing valve for hot and cold water has two-stage inlet chambers for the hot and cold water flows respectively. The inlet chambers distribute the flows uniformly with respect to porting for admitting the flows to the mixing chamber to reduce asymmetric flow patterns and promote thorough mixing of the flows within the mixing chamber.

Thermostatic mixing valve

An automatic drain-off valve for an ablutionary shower system is provided at the lowest point of the supply pipe at or from the shower control or mixing valve to the shower spray head. The drain valve (30) comprises a body (1) having a chamber (7) in which a clack valve (3) is mounted and which is normally biassed into the open position relative to a port (16) surrounded by a seating (8). The port (16) comprises a series of through bores opening to the bottom of the valve for discharging water from the chamber (7) to waste. When water flows through the supply pipe of the shower system, the chamber (7) fills and pressure on the clack valve overcomes the bias applied to the valve spindle (4) by a spring (14) so that the valve close on the seating (8). A clearance gap (9) is provided between the periphery of the clack valve and the internal wall of the chamber (7) to ensure that when the valve is open water can drain through the valve, but the gap is small and restricts flow when the chamber (7) is filled and cause pressure build-up in the chamber (7) to close the valve. In a modification, the spring bias is adjustable. Automatic drain-off in shower systems is considered as a preventative measure with regard to Legionnaire's disease as well as for other advantages avoiding stagnation of water in the shower head supply pipe. Various installations are described.

Ablutionary shower systems

A spray nozzle for use in the spray head of shower-bathing apparatus and primarily for use with high pressure water systems. The nozzle comprises a ducted body housing a swirl device having fixed guide vanes extending radially from a generally cylindrical hub and substantially flat guide faces angled relative to the hub axis which impart a swirling motion to water flowing through the body and which direct the water onto a converging wall and thence to a single nozzle orifice of right cylindrical configuration, whereby the water issues as a cone-shaped spray which is 'full' of water droplets. The nozzle is suitable for use over a wide range of pressures above 1 bar (1 atmosphere) as the level of comfort of the user is maintained at the higher pressures.

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Tewkesbury, United Kingdom

Nicholas John Beck