Showerhead

Abstract

A showerhead having an axially shiftable valve means to deliver either a continuous steady water spray or an intermittent or pulsating water spray. The head has a peripheral chamber through which water flows to provide the continuous steady shower spray and an inner chamber through which the water flows to provide the pulsating shower spray. The valve means travels only 0.200 inch in shifting from the pulsating spray position to the continuous spray position. In the pulsating spray position, the valve means blocks the path of water flow through the outer chamber by a seat-seal arrangement to direct the water into and through the inner chamber. In the continuous spray position, the valve means blocks the flow of water through the inner chamber by a bore seal arrangement to direct the water path through the peripheral chamber. The inner chamber includes turbine means rotated by the flow of water with means coupled to the turbine means which successively offers resistance to water flow through different portions of a spray face through which the flow of water is discharged from the head thereby creating an intermittent or pulsating flow. A rotatable hand controlled unit actuates the axially moving valve means and one may switch from a steady uniform spray to the pulsating spray by either continuing the rotation of the hand control in a 360.degree. path or by reversing the hand control 180.degree..