METHODS EMPLOYED THEREOF

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of sanitary fixtures. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to faucets and extra accessories including specific gadgets mounted on the sanitary fixtures.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Sanitary fixtures and their accessories involve loads of wear and tear and frequent contact with water. The Faucets or conventional taps used on wash basins or other similar sanitary fixtures typically use loads of uncontrolled and unaccounted water in litres per minute. Though there have been significant updates on conventional fixtures but, this has not reduced the consumption of water significantly. The existing sanitary fixtures have not been able to emphasize much on the advantages which can be achieved by pressurising the water going into the faucets. Also, apparatus to be mounted on the fixtures are mostly not giving personalised effects and the same mount ends up being used by the entire family only in a particular way - without any adaptation to their individual needs.

BRIEF SUMMARY

[0003] The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure and it does not identify key/critical elements of the invention or delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. [0004] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards an apparatus for mounting on sanitary fixtures and methods employed thereof.

[0005] An exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards economizing the consumption of water.

[0006] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards experiencing a customized and desired usage effect.

[0007] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards controlled flow of water.

[0008] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards delivering the water output at a higher controlled pressure than as being delivered by conventional flowing faucets.

[0009] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards effective return on investments.

[00010] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards easy installation and use.

[00011] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards usage during high volume water flow, required by user under certain circumstances.

[00012] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards a one-time setting of electrical components.

[00013] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards provision of a tool kit for repair and maintenance. [00014] Another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards elimination of pipe and nozzle outlet clogging due to dust or muddy particles present in the same.

[00015] Yet another exemplary object of the present disclosure is directed towards corrosion resistant body of the mounted apparatus.

[00016] An exemplary aspect of the present subject matter is directed towards faucet to be attached to a tap of a sanitary mixture with a plurality of nozzles arranged at the bottom of the faucet and the nozzles have an umbrella effect; cascading effect; and heavy fall droplet effect to deliver water which can be easily selected by the user based on individual preferences and requirements.

[00017] Another exemplary aspect of the present subject matter is directed towards application of faucet in dental floss equipment.

[00018] Another exemplary aspect of the present subject matter is directed towards water saver faucet with nozzles and in-built flossing ring.

[00019] Another exemplary aspect of the present subject matter is directed towards design of a sanitary tap or fixture with built in water saving faucet and/or flossing ring

[00020] Another exemplary aspect of the present subject matter is directed towards multipurpose sanitary tap or fixture for usage like only water saving sanitary tap, only flossing sanitary tap or a combination of water saving and flossing facility tap.

[00021] Yet another exemplary aspect of the present subject matter is directed towards configuration of suitable adapter rings with a predetermined dimensions configured to match with the existing tap threads as available in the market and the thread of the faucet; and the flosser. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[00022] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals have been used to designate like elements, and wherein:

[00023] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram representing an apparatus for mounting on existing sanitary fixtures and/or new sanitary fixture or tap, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00024] FIG. 1A is a schematic representation of a flosser pipe and jet tip, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00025] FIG. IB is a schematic representation of a faucet assembly along with its interchangeable and clog free nozzles, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00026] FIG. 1C is a schematic representation of a flosser ring attachment, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00027] FIG ID is a schematic representation of an adapter ring, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[00028] FIG 2 is a functional flow diagram depicting the detailed sequential operations and the working principle of the apparatus for mounting on existing sanitary fixtures and/or new sanitary fixture or tap, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[00029] It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The present disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[00030] The use of “including”,“comprising” or“having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. The terms“a” and“an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. Further, the use of terms“first”, “second”, and “third”, and the like, herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another.

[00031] Depending on the demand and the requirement of market and new combined unit of Faucet with inbuilt flosser ring also could be designed on the same principles of operation and this single unit also would be covered under this invention as a Water Saver faucet with nozzles and in-built flossing attachment provision.

[00032] This invention is not limited to attaching the faucet and flosser ring on sanitary fixtures - depending on the demand in the market - the same principle can be used to design new set of suitable Tap or sanitary fixture with built in water saving and flossing attachment, on the same working principles - and this design will help manufacture of a new series of sanitary fixtures which are not only saving water - but also have multi usage and such sanitary fixtures could be in any combination of usage like only water saving sanitary tap, only flossing sanitary tap or a combination of water saving and flossing facility tap.

[00033] Referring to FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram 100, representing an apparatus for mounting on existing sanitary fixtures and/or new sanitary fixture or tap, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus here may not be limited to a faucet configured to be attached on to the sanitary fixture, and a flosser ring to be attached along with the same. It may be used in any combination on the existing or new sanitary fittings - like only faucet, only flosser ring or a combination of both faucet and flosser ring.

The sanitary unit may not be limited to, washbasins, sinks, and the like. The sanitary fixtures will be referred to as, not limiting to, wash basin in the specification.

The apparatus consists of two components, one which is the driving or base unit and the other is the add-on attachments which are fixed on the sanitary. The working apparatus has a base unit which is mounted below the wash basin and the existing flexible connection going to the wash basin tap is removed and connected to this unit. In the figure, 102, represents a rigid existing cold water line inlet normally located below the wash basin 142. An o- shaped washer ring 104 ensures that the inlet of water into the flexible pipe hose is without any leakages. The flexible hose for carrying the water which has been currently removed from existing tap is represented as 106 which are further connected through another o-shaped washer ring 108 for inlet of water into the base unit via a hose coupling 116. The o-shaped washer ring 108 is used to ensure that water does not leak outside. Similarly, o-shaped washer ring for the flow control valve 110 and 112 aid to stop leakage of water into the electrical unit (depicted as a box in the figure) and subsequently the electrical unit is insulated and is devoid of any contact with water. The termination valve for the inlet made of, not limiting to, copper and with a coupling is represented as 116. A transparent unit with an internal mesh 120 which acts as a particle and dust filter for the raw and dirty incoming water is placed with o-shaped washer ring 114 which separates the heavy as well as micro particles by gravity separation. The mesh size may be between 10 microns to 500 microns thus restricts and eliminates the movement of any particles and dust into the pump 122 and subsequently into the faucet 146 ensuring cleaned water delivery for usage by the user. A hand operated valve to control the inlet water flow 118 is located between the hose coupling 116 and the pump 122 with 2 no’s of o-shaped washer ring 110 and 112 so that the water does not leak inside the base unit and configured to control the flow of water and subsequently its usage. The inlet flow control valve 118 regulates the release rate of water between 0.150 LPM to 2.0 LPM thus leading to incoming water to develop a constraint and in turn increasing the pressure of the water at reduced flow which adds up to the pressure also developed by the pump 122 and this together when passing through the faucet 146 gives a gushing effect in the form of continuous droplets of size, not limiting to, 10 microns to 1000 microns. Another o-shaped washer ring 114 is placed before the pump and next to a pressure building centrifugal AC/DC pump 122 to ensure that the water does not leak inside the base unit and create any short circuit in the internal electronics circuit. A flow sensor 124 is configured to auto start the pump on when the water flow starts. A copper or any other suitable synthetic material outlet termination 126 is for connecting the base unit further to the tap. An earth leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) 128 is configured to detect any leakage during the flow of water and switches off automatically upon the detection of a leakage. A set of LED indicators and/or switches 130 display the working condition of the electrical unit and can be used to control its various operations. A set of input terminals 132 for supplying power not limiting to, 230 v connection to the electrical unit. A seamless pulse width modulation (PWM) controller or any other suitable electronic control circuit with a facility to set either by analog rotation of a knob or by setting the values through a digital input 134 sets the pump speed to the desired level as required by the user to achieve the cleaning effect with the use of the system. An o-shaped washer ring 136 is connected between the flexible hose 138 which is configured to connect the electrical unit to the existing tap 144 through the termination unit 140 which is located below the wash basin. The wash basin 142 accommodates a tap 144 for opening/ closing and is having a lever and/or a knob to operate the same. A faucet 146 is attached to the tap on the wash basin 142. The faucet 146 is made of non- corrosive materials, not limiting to, PVC, PP, PVDF, and TEFLON and/or of metals, not limiting to, steel, brass, bronze, and the like. A provision for a flosser ring 148 may also be attached to the tap, in case the user wants the faucet with a facility to floss. Further, a flexible pipe 150 attached to the flosser ring has a push button or an internal auto mechanism which activates when the flexible pipe is inserted into the flosser ring, to start and/or stop the flossing process. A removable flossing jet tip 152 which is attached to the floss handle at the end of the flexible pipe is removable and is specific to each user. The floss handle can also have an additional button of operation for start and stop of flow of water through the flossing jet tip. The user here is a person intending to use the flosser.

[00034] Referring to FIG. 1 A is a schematic representation lOOa, of a flosser flexible pipe and flossing jet tip, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. A water flosser is an apparatus for dental care which can be carried out at home by the user. In the figure, l02a represents the rigid end of a flosser flexible pipe configured to be inserted into the flosser ring attachment to be used upon the starting of the flow of water in the pipe on opening of the tap of the basin. The flosser ring attachment may be inserted between the tap and the faucet. The other end of the flosser flexible pipe l02a has a removing flosser jet tip l04a (will be referred to as jet tip from now on). The jet tip l04a may also be attached directly to the common flexible pipe connected to the wash basin. The jet tip l04a may be changed as per the requirement of each of the individual users. The flossing arrangement has floss ring with a plug-in kind of nozzle space for easy fit and removal of the exchangeable flosser pipe and the flosser jet tip, totally as a flossing unit for multiple application. The flossing unit can be used by just inserting into the nozzle on the flosser ring or it can have a switch or button operation apart from another button or control which can be added at the other end of the flosser pipe on the flossing handle holding the flosser jet tip.

[00035] Referring to FIG. 1B is a schematic representation lOOb, of a faucet along with its nozzles, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In the figure a basic faucet with an option for multiple position selection is represented as l02b. The thread is configured to be attached to the tap. The faucet l02b can be attached to any of the standard taps with threading to fix an aerator option typically but not limited to an size of 24 mm in external threading and 22mm in internal threading. A multiple nozzle arrangement l04b is the bottom view of the faucet to be connected to the outlet of the existing tap to give the desired usage effect wherein nozzle selection could be through rotation or multiple position selector switch or pressing of multiple selector switches. The nozzles arrangement l04b is either adjustable or rotatable or it could be fixed. In case of a requirement of a flosser attachment the arrangement described in FIG. 1A may be considered to be used in conjunction with a flosser ring inserted between the tap and the faucet as described in detail further thru FIG 1C. The nozzles arrangement l04b comprise of, not limiting to, a three non-clogging nozzle arrangement. The nozzle arrangement l04b is configured with an orifice size of the nozzle may be between 25 microns to 2000 microns and /or 100 microns to 2000 microns and have switching mechanisms to deliver the water with different effects using single nozzle at a time or combination of multiple nozzles or all the nozzles selectable by the user through rotation or the multiple position selector switch or pressing of multiple selector switches different types of effects described further, but not limiting to: an umbrella effect for fine mist formation to cover large surface area of the part of human body intended to be cleansed, not limiting to a hand; a cascading jet effect to clean the stubborn dirt or oil area and also to clean the difficult areas, not limiting to, between the fingers; and/or a heavy fall droplet fall effect where the user wants to use the water in higher quantities. Only one nozzle or a group of nozzles used together is designated to give the desired output, thus the user could select the nozzle through rotation or multiple position selector switch or pressing of multiple selector switches and choose the desired option for flow of water from the faucet as per the requirement. Further, the nozzles are designed to take the pressurized water which when flow through them with a variable speed pump to effectively achieve a pressure between 1 Kg/Sq.cm to 4 Kg/sq.cm at the nozzle head to get the desired overall effect.

Referring to FIG. 1C is a schematic representation lOOc, of a flosser ring attachment, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The flosser ring attachment is fixed as per the requirement of the user. It can also have a provision for a push to on and pull to stop the flow of water. On the tap of the wash basin the flosser ring can be used as an attachment lOOc, which in turn may be attached to the faucet overall arrangement as depicted in FIG1 and used with the flosser pipe and flosser jet tip like the arrangement as depicted in FIG. 1A. The flosser ring attachment has a floss ring with a plug in kind of nozzle for easy fit and removal of the exchangeable flosser jet flossing unit for multiple application. The flosser ring can be inserted between the faucet and the tap of a sanitary fixture through a threaded screwing arrangement, this flosser ring attachment comprising of a flexible pipe and a water jet tip with a floss ring to have a plug and play effect. [00036] Referring to FIG. 1D is a schematic representation lOOd, of an adapter, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. In case of the thread of the faucet and/or floss ring arrangement misfits the actual dimensions of the existing aerator screw thread on the tap, then the adapter matching with the thread of the faucet and/or floss arrangement and the actual dimensions of the aerator screw tap thread may be utilized to fit in the arrangement. The adapter ring’s dimensions may not be limited to, 24 mm female to 28 mm male, it can be varied in terms of the requirement of available sizes and the conversion in the adapter could be of a male thread to female thread or vice versa i.e. a female thread to male thread depending on the existing threads of the aerator on the tap.

[00037] Referring to FIG. 2 is a functional flow diagram 200, depicting the method of working of the apparatus for mounting on sanitary fixtures, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The sanitary fixture referred to in the figure is shown as a wash basin, but is not limited to this and it could be kitchen sinks having taps, utility sinks having taps in houses or commercial places including general public places of washing facilities like in railway stations, airports etc which may just having a tap with a drain arrangement to discharge the used water. The method commences at step 202 where the cold water flows from the rigid pipe attached below the wash basin. Through a not limiting to, 0.5 inch flexible hose pipe preferably made of PVC which is located to the wall unit below the wash basin the connectivity is established to the electrical unit (to be discussed from steps 204 to 220). At step 204, the control valve not limited to quarter turn valve, is turned and at step 206 the water flows into the filter unit with filter mesh not limiting up to 50 microns. At step 208 the centrifugal pneumatic and/or diaphragm AC and/or DC pump is started automatically when the water flow starts by the use of the flow sensors at step 210 which give a command to the electrical unit to switch On whenever water flow starts and automatically stop when the flow of water stops. The flow of water will start or stop depending on the opening or closing of the tap fixed on the basin, by the user who intends to use the same to wash. Further, a 450/230 volts AC power with ELCB protection of step 216 is connected to electronic control for automation at step 218 to check and control all the functions and operations including the protection function whether there is a leakage or not by the flashing of LED indicators with different possible errors at step 220. The water flow passes in the water pipe under different pressures as generated by the moving of the electrical pump whose speed can be controlled and set by the user at 212 and overall it is always ensured that the electrical circuit will never come in contact with the water at any point of time. At step 222 a suitable adapter may be attached to the tap in case of mismatch between the threads of the aerosol unit to where the flosser ring and/or faucet is to be attached. At step 224 optionally a flossing unit through a flosser ring may be attached and then using the flossing flexible pipe and flosser jet tips provision of flossing facility can be provided to desired users. Finally at step 226, the user may select a desired combination of nozzles through rotation or multiple position selector switch or pressing of multiple selector switches to obtain a desired effect for water flow.

[00038] Although the present disclosure has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments and illustrations thereof, other embodiments and modifications to preferred embodiments may be possible that are within the principles and spirit of the invention. The above descriptions and figures are therefore to be regarded as illustrative and not restrictive.

[00039] Thus the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and includes both combinations and sub combinations of the various features described herein above as well as variations and modifications thereof, which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description.