Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cap for a plumbing tap. The cap is designed to assist in stopping small leaks of liquid such as in the case of water dripping from a tap.

Background to the Invention

Taps used to provide water to homes and industrial sites are in common use. However due to the wear on washers inside tap heads and for other reasons, taps often begin to drip, even when turned off tightly, which can result in a serious wastage of water. This issue is becoming more of a problem due to water shortages in some areas, especially in certain parts of Australia. Studies of dripping taps have shown that significant volumes of water can be lost by a dripping tap, even during a single day. However to replace a washer in the head of a tap is often not a simple job and requires the assistance of a plumber in some instances. During building construction, plumbers use simple plugs for pipes or temporary tap fittings, these plugs being inserted into a pipe or tap to stop the flow of water, often with the assistance of plumbing tape. These sorts of methods to stop leaking pipes or taps usually require the assistance of a plumber's tool and the skill to fit the plug.

Therefore there is a need to have a quick and easy way to stop water from escaping from a dripping tap, at least for a short period of time, until the dripping tap can be repaired. References to prior art in this specification are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not to be taken as an admission that such prior art is part of the common general knowledge in Australia or elsewhere. Summary of the Invention

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a cap for temporarily stopping a tap from dripping, the cap comprising: connecting means for temporarily attaching the cap to a mouth of the tap; and, sealing means for closing off the mouth of the tap so as to prevent water dripping out of the tap from escaping.

In one embodiment of the cap the connecting means comprises a click-on fitting for connecting to a standard tap adaptor with O-ring. Typically the sealing means comprises a closure member adapted to cover a male portion of the standard tap adaptor. Preferably the closure member comprises a hollow female portion having a cylindrical surface adapted to engage with the O-ring on the tap adaptor to provide a watertight seal.

Preferably the click-on fitting comprises a sleeve member with external grip surfaces to permit the fitting to be gripped between the thumb and the fingers of the hand. Preferably the closure member is slidably received within the sleeve member together with a coil spring located there between. Typically the click-on fitting comprises a plurality of resilient click means provided at uniformly spaced intervals about the circumference of the closure member. There are typically three click means which each have a portion adapted to protrude through a respective aperture provided at 120° angled intervals in a wall of the closure member.

In another embodiment of the cap the connecting means comprises a sleeve member having an internal thread adapted to screw onto an external thread provided around the mouth of the tap. The sealing means preferably comprises a closure member adapted to cover the mouth of the tap when the cap is screwed on. Advantageously the closure member comprises a substantially planar member of circular shape which is formed integral with the sleeve member. Preferably the closure member is formed with a slight curvature so as to have a convex external surface for improved strength. Typically the closure member is formed with an internal central cavity of circular shape. Preferably the sealing means further comprises an annular piece of resilient material provided in connection with the closure member and adapted to seat between the closure member and the mouth of the tap to provide a watertight seal there between.

Throughout the specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers. Likewise the word "preferably" or variations such as "preferred", will be understood to imply that a stated integer or group of integers is desirable but not essential to the working of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings The nature of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of several specific embodiments of a tap cap, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top perspective view of a first embodiment of the tap cap according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top perspective view of a second embodiment of the tap cap according to the present invention;

Figure 3 is an exploded view of the tap cap of Figure 1 ;

Figure 4 is an exploded view of the tap cap of Figure 2;

Figures 5 (a) and (b) are side elevations of the tap cap of Figure 1 ; Figure 5 (c) is a section view of the tap cap of Figure 5 (a) through the line A-A;

Figures 5 (d) and (e) are a top plan view and a top perspective view respectively of the tap cap of Figure 1 ; Figure 6 (a) is a side elevation of the tap cap of Figure 2;

Figure 6 (b) is a section view of the tap cap of Figure 6 (a) through the line A-A;

Figures 6 (c) and (d) are a top plan view and a top perspective view respectively of the tap cap of Figure 2;

Figure 7 (a) illustrates a dripping tap with a standard tap adaptor with O- ring; and,

Figure 7 (b) illustrates the dripping tap of Figure 7 (a) with the tap cap of Figure 1 attached.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

A preferred embodiment of tap cap 10 in accordance with the invention, as illustrated in Figures 1 , 3, 5 and 7, comprises a connecting means 12 for temporarily attaching the cap to a mouth of a dripping tap 14 (see Figure 7). The cap 10 further comprises a sealing means 16 for closing off the mouth of the tap 14 so as to prevent water dripping out of the tap from escaping.

In this embodiment of the cap 10 the connecting means comprises a click-on fitting 18 for connecting to a standard tap adaptor 20 with O-ring 22 (see Figure 7). As can be seen most clearly in Figures 3 and 5, the click-on fitting 18 comprises a sleeve member 24 with external grip surfaces to permit the fitting to be gripped between the thumb and the fingers of the hand. An elongate closure member 26 is slidably received within the sleeve member 24 together with a coil spring 28 located there between. The coil spring 28 is maintained in a partially compressed state between a first annular lip 30 provided externally adjacent one end of the closure member 26, and a second annular lip 32 provided internally approximately midway of the sleeve member 24 (see Figure 5 (c)). The coil spring 28 biases the sleeve member 24 so that in a rest position it normally abuts against a third annular lip 34 provided externally adjacent the other end of the closure member 26. A plurality of resilient click means 36 are provided at uniformly spaced intervals about the circumference of the closure member 26. In this case there are three click means 36 which each have a portion 37 adapted to protrude through a respective aperture 38 provided at 120° angled intervals in a wall of the closure member 26. The portion 37 of the click means 36 which protrudes through the apertures 38 is adapted to engage with an annular lip 40 provided on the male portion of tap adaptor 20 (see Figure 7 (a)). External cam surfaces 42 provided on each click means 36 are engaged by a matching cam follower 44 provided on an internal surface of the sleeve member 24, (see Figure 5(c)) which normally forces the portion 37 of the click means to protrude through the apertures 38 when the sleeve member 24 is in the rest position (as shown in the drawings).

However, when the sleeve member 24 is moved axially relative to the closure member 26 so as to further compress the coil spring 28, the shape of the cam surfaces 42 on the click means 36 permits them to move in a radially outwards direction so that the protruding portion 37 they can ride over the annular lip 40 of the tap adaptor 20. This is how the click-on fitting 18 of the cap 10 is connected to or released from the tap adaptor 20.

Typically the sealing means of the cap 10 comprises the closure member 26 which is adapted to cover male portion of the tap adaptor 20. Preferably the closure member 26 comprises a hollow female portion 46 having a cylindrical surface 48 (see Figure 5 (c)) adapted to engage with the O-ring 22 on the male portion of the tap adaptor 20 to provide a watertight seal.

Figures 2, 4 and 6 illustrate another embodiment of the tap cap 50 for temporarily stopping a tap from dripping. The cap 50 comprises a connecting means 52 for temporarily attaching the cap to a mouth of a dripping tap (not illustrated). The cap 50 further comprises a sealing means 56 for closing off the mouth of the tap so as to prevent water dripping out of the tap from escaping. In this embodiment the connecting means 52 comprises a sleeve member 58 with an external grip surface to permit the cap 50 to be gripped between the thumb and the fingers of the hand. The sleeve member 58 has an internal thread 60 adapted to screw onto an external thread provided around the mouth of the tap 14 (see Figure 7 (a)). The sealing means 56 preferably comprises a closure member 62 adapted to cover the mouth of the tap when the cap 50 is screwed on. The closure member 62 in this embodiment comprises a substantially planar member of circular shape which is formed integral with the sleeve member 58, as can be seen most clearly in Figure 6 (b).

Preferably the sealing means 56 further comprises an annular piece of resilient material in the form of a washer 64 provided in connection with the closure member 62. The washer 64 is adapted to seat between the closure member 62 and the mouth of the tap to provide a watertight seal there between. Washer 64 is preferably made from a natural or synthetic rubber material. As can be seen most clearly in Figure 6 (b) the closure member 62 may be formed with a slight curvature so as to have a convex external surface for improved strength. Typically the closure member 62 is formed with an internal central cavity 66 of circular shape. The internal diameter of the cavity 66 is substantially the same as the Internal diameter of the washer 64. Now that several embodiments of the tap cap have been described in detail, it will be apparent that the described embodiments provide a number of advantages over the prior art, including the following:

(i) They are simple to use and fully compatible with standard taps and tap fittings.

(ii) They are of simple construction and can be mass-produced relatively inexpensively from injection moulded plastics material.

(Hi) They lend themselves to being marketed and sold through retail outlets together with other similar hose and tap fittings. It will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the relevant arts that various modifications and improvements may be made to the foregoing embodiments, in addition to those already described, without departing from the basic inventive concepts of the present invention. For example, the design of the click-on fitting for connecting the cap to a tap adaptor may be modified to be compatible with other types of standard tap and hose fittings. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described.