Background Art It is customary to provide in taps of this kind, a cover member, commonly referred to as a flange, which surrounds the otherwise exposed length of the spindle and the tap body between the tap handle and the wall or basin surface, to cover those components and the aperture through which the spindle and portion of the tap body pass and by which access is gained to the tap for maintenance.

An object of the invention is to provide arrangements which facilitate the reduction of the height of this cover member or flange and therefore the production of a low profile tap.

Summary of the Invention The invention provides several advances over prior art tap sets of the kind in which a tap spindle passes through an aperture in a surface and a cover member is mounted over said spindle between said surface and a handle mounted on the spindle.

A first advance over the prior art lies in the attachment of the cover member to said handle, rather than to the spindle.

A further advance over the prior art lies in the provision of a component for use in the assembly of such a prior art tap set, the component including the tap handle and the cover member assembled therewith. Preferably the handle is in fixed assembly with the cover member for rotation relative thereto.

The cover member may be attached to the handle by fixing a portion of the cover member within a socket in the handle.

Preferably the socket allows for rotation of the portion of the cover member within the socket.

A seal may be provided in the socket between the handle and the portion of the cover member.

Such a socket may take the form of an annular groove in the handle. The groove may be surrounded by an axially extending collar. Such a collar may receive the tap spindle.

Another advance over the prior art is a tap including a tap body adapted for mounting relative to a surface, a spindle operatively engageable with a handle, and a cover member for location between the handle and said surface, in which the cover member is attached to the handle in fixed axial alignment therewith and the engagement between the handle and the spindle allows for relative axial misalignment therebetween.

A further advance over the prior art lies in the attachment of the cover member to said handle, rather than to the spindle, and, upon installation of the tap set, the further attachment of the cover member to said surface.

Such attachment of the cover member to the surface may be achieved by the provision of a fixing component adapted for fixing against said surface, the cover member and the fixing component being adapted for interengagement.

Such interengagement may include complementary screw threads, or complementary bayonet formations.

The fixing component may be fixed to the surface by a component having a sleeve extending into the aperture and a flange engaging the fixing component. Alternatively, the fixing component itself may include a sleeve extending into the aperture and a portion engaged by the flange.

The term"cover member"will be used throughout this specification to refer to the component in question, which generally speaking functions to cover the underlying components of the tap below or behind the handle and the aperture through which the tap body or spindle passes. In using this term it is not intended to restrict the shape or appearance of the component.

In one form the invention resides in a tap sub-assembly comprising a cover member and a handle rotatably attached thereto, said handle being adapted for connection with a tap operating spindle extending outwardly from an architectural surface, said cover member being apertured for the passage therethrough of said spindle and being formed for attachment to said surface.

In another form the invention resides in a plumbing assembly including a tap having a tap body, an operating spindle adapted to extend from an aperture in an architectural member, and a handle capable of attachment to said spindle, a front mounting member adjustably fixed to said tap body and having a fixing portion adapted to overly a front surface of said architectural member, and formations for the engagement therewith of a cover member attached to said handle.

These contributions to tap design are further described below, where by way of example only, alternative tap assemblies are described.

Brief description of the drawings In the drawings: Fig. 1 illustrates in partial cross-section a basin tap set embodying the present invention ;

Fig. 1A shows on a larger scale, the left hand tap of Fig. 1; Fig. 2 shows a handle in cross-section; Fig. 3 shows a cover member in end elevation; Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 shows a fixing ring in end elevation; Fig. 6 is a cross-section taken on the line 6-6 in Fig. 5 ; Fig. 7 shows a lock nut in partial cross-section; Fig. 8 shows in partial cross-section a second embodiment of the invention; Fig. 9 is an end elevation of a cover member for use in the embodiment of Fig.

8; Fig. 10 is a section taken on the line 10-10 in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a partial cross-section of a lock nut for use in the embodiment of Fig.

8 ; Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate a third embodiment of the invention; Fig. 14 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the invention; Figs. 15 and 16 illustrate a spanner for use in embodiments of the invention ; Fig. 17 shows in horizontal cross-section a bath tap set incorporating a unitary cover member, in a further embodiment of the invention; Fig. 18 is a frontal view of the bath set of Fig. 17; Fig. 19 is a section taken on the line 19-19 of Fig. 17; Fig. 20 is a rear elevation of a cast breech mounted on the breech plate of this embodiment; Fig. 21 is a section taken on the line 21-21 of Fig. 17, and Figs. 22 and 23 show on an enlarged scale, a retaining screw for use in this r embodiment of the invention.

Description of Embodiments of the Invention.

Fig. 1 illustrates in partial cross-section a basin tap set embodying the present invention. In this embodiment hot and cold taps 10 and 11 and a spout 12 are mounted on a bench top 13 which also supports a basin (not shown). The outlet is supplied with

water by means of a breech 20. Components of the tap set which are of conventional design and shown in the drawings are not otherwise described here.

The taps 10 and 11 each include a tap body 14 with a cartridge 47 containing the tap valve fixed in place in the tap body by a cartridge lock nut 15. The taps are mounted within apertures 16 in the bench top 13. The taps further include a spindle 17 which is operated by a handle 18.

Covering the aperture 16 and surrounding the spindle 17 is a cover member 19. It will be observed in Figs. 1 and 1A that the height of the cover member 19, relative to its width, is very much lower than is conventional, and that the cover member has a horizontal upper surface 21 from which the handle 18 is very closely spaced. To achieve this the tap body and cartridge are mounted below the surface of the bench top 13, and the spindle 17 is shorter than is usually employed with basin taps.

The taps 10 and 11 are mounted on the bench top 13 by an arrangement which firstly includes an adapter ring 22 which engages the upper surface of the bench top and surrounds the aperture 16. The ring 22 includes an inner flange 23 (Fig. 6) which is engaged by the peripheral flange 24 (Fig. 7) of a lock nut 25 which extends into the aperture 16. The lower end portion of the lock nut 25 is internally threaded to engage an external thread 26 on the tap body 14, and its upper end is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed slots 29 which may be engaged by a spanner 50 such as that shown in Figs 15 and 16. The mounting arrangement finally includes a spacer 27 and a nut 28, the latter also engaging the threaded portion 26, by which the tap body is fixed against the lower surface of the bench top 13.

As shown in Fig. 1, where respectively on the left and right hand sides of the tap 10 there is shown the configuration of the fixing arrangement for a thin and a thick bench top, the nut 28 engages the outer thread 26 of the tap body at a height which depends on the bench top thickness. The spacer 27 and the nut 28 may, in alternative embodiments, be manufactured in one piece.

The adapter ring 22 is shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6, and includes a cylindrical wall 30 and a peripheral flange 31, removed in the regions 32 so as to form a bayonet fixing arrangement. Correspondingly the cover member 19, shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4 is provided with an internal ribs 33 which are dimensioned to fit below the peripheral flange 31, and to enter this position by rotation from the regions 32, so that the cover member 19 may be engaged with the ring 22 by rotation through 90°.

A threaded grub screw hole 34 is provided in the wall of the cover member 19, so that the rotational position of the cover member 19 on the ring 22 may be fixed upon assembly, by the use of an Allen key. It will be understood that the grub screw 34, shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as a matter of convenience in a position 90° from the correct position, will be located away from the front of the bench or basin so as to be hidden behind the cover member 19.

The handle 18 includes a body 35 provided with a central hole 36 which is internally splined at 37 for engagement with the splined upper end of the tap spindle 17. surrounding the hole 36 is a cylindrical portion 38 provided at its end with a circlip groove 39, while the lower face of the handle is relieved around the base of the portion 38 to form an annular groove 40, dimensioned to receive a nylon thrust washer 41 and the upstanding cylindrical portion 42 of the cover member 19. Pressure on the thrust washer 41 is maintained by the compression of an O ring 43 within an annular O ring retainer 44 which is constrained by a circlip 45 in the groove 39. In this way the handle 18 is free to rotate relative to the cover member 19 while the washer 41 provides a seal against the ingress of material. It may be preferred that the washer 41, the outer surface of the projection 38 and the O ring 43 are coated with a lubricant such as O-ring grease before assembly.

It is preferred that the handle and cover member are pre-assembled and supplied as a completed sub-assembly in the tap set. This offers several advantages over the prior art: it enables the compression between the O-ring retainer 44 and the thrust washer 38

to be such as would make assembly difficult in the field, it simplifies the installation of the tap set, and it allows quality control inspection of the assembly in the factory, so that the final appearance of the tap set is less dependent on the quality of work by the plumber.

Importantly, the axial alignment of the handle 18 and the cover member 19, and therefore the parallelism of the facing surfaces of the handle and the cover member and the basin or benchtop surface 13, are fixed by this arrangement.

In conjunction with the fixed alignment of the cover member and handle, the splined socket 37 of the handle is dimensioned, to provide a fit with the splines of the spindle which is such that while the interengagement of the splines provides a positive driving engagement between the handle and the spindle, some axial misalignment between the socket 37 and the spindle 17 will be tolerated. This may be achieved by having the root and crest diameters of the tap spline greater than the crest and root diameters of the spindle spline.

In this way the arrangement allows of misalignment of the tap body and spindle relative to the plane of the basin or bench top, without translating this into misalignment either between the cover member and the surface of the basin or bench top, or between the lower surface of the handle and the upper surface of the cover member, which in the latter case in view of the close spacing between the handle and the cover member in the low profile configuration achieved, would be more noticeable than in prior art, high profile taps, where the handle is spaced from the basin or bench top and the cover member is elongated in the direction of the spindle axis.

These principles are to be contrasted with the prior art, where it is conventional to fix the handle to the spindle by close engagement of the splines and the use of an axial fixing screw, and to fix the cover member to the tap body. Thus in the prior art axial alignment is maintained between the handle and the spindle, and between the cover member and the tap body, whereas in the present invention alignment is maintained

instead between the handle and the cover member independently of the alignment of the spindle and tap body.

In an alternative to the use of bayonet type fixing of the cover member to the fixing ring, the cover member 19 and the fixing ring 22 may be threaded for screw engagement. Furthermore, the fixing ring and the lock nut 25 may be combined as shown in Figs. 8-11, where the lower end of the cover member 119 is internally threaded at 146, and the lock nut 125 is provided with an externally threaded flange 124.

The principles described above in relation to a basin tap set can, with suitable modifications described below, be applied to achieving similar low profile designs in a shower set, where the tap bodies are mounted (for example by fixing to a stud wall) behind the wall of the shower recess. Conventionally, cover members are fixed to the forward portion of the tap body for contact with the shower recess wall surface and the handle is rigidly attached to the end of the spindle as described above. Such are arrangements are particularly subject to lack of normality between the tap axis and the shower recess wall, and therefore unsuitable for the low profile designs with which the present invention is particularly concerned, since again the misalignment referred to will be translated as a misalignment between the facing surfaces of the tap and cover member.

Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate the manner in which the invention may be applied to bath/shower tap sets. In this embodiment the tap bodies 214 are mounted against a stud wall (not shown), and the forward end of the tap assemblies pass through an apertures 251 in a wall 252 of a shower recess, lined with tiles 253. As in the previously described embodiment, the handle 218 of each tap is assembled together with the cover member 219 by means of a thrust washer 241, O ring 243, O ring retainer 244 and circlip 245. The splined end of the spindle is received in the splined hole 236 of the handle.

The cover member 219 is threaded for engagement with a lock nut 225. The lower end of the lock nut 225 is internally threaded, not, as in the previous embodiment, for engagement with the threaded tap body, but rather with an external thread provided for this purpose on the cartridge lock nut 215. Thus the handle and cover member assembly is attached in this embodiment by engaging the lock nut 225 with the cartridge lock nut 215, and screwing it down until the flange 224 on the outer end of the lock nut 215 engages the tiles 253. The handle is then engaged with the spindle and the cover member 219 engaged with the lock nut 224 and tightened.

Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate the manner in which the length of the splined socket 237 and the length of the lock nut 225 accommodate variations in the relative position of the tap and the wall in the direction of the tap axis.

Fig. 14 shows a further embodiment of the invention in which the bayonet type of fixing of the cover member 319, as described above in relation the first illustrated embodiment, may be applied to bath/shower tap sets. Here the adapter ring 322 is clamped against the tile surface by the screwing the lock nut 325 on to the cartridge lock nut 315, the handle assembly engaged with the adapter ring 322 in the manner described above, with the final step being the tightening of a grub screw in the hole 343.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 17-23, the principles of the invention are applied to a tap set which has a single cover member 419 for the components of the set. In the embodiment illustrated, the tap set consists of a bath spigot 457 with hot and cold taps 410 and 411. It will be appreciated, however, that this form of the invention can be applied to other arrangements of components having a common cover member, such as a pair of taps for a shower set.

In this embodiment, the breech 420 forms part of a sub-assembly with a breech mounting plate 454, and the latter is fixed across the wall aperture 451 by attachment

to wall members 455. The breech 420 may be cast in one piece, and of course its configuration depends on the configuration of taps and outlets which is required.

As in the embodiment described in relation to Fig. 14, Adaptor rings 422 are clamped against the tile surface 453 by lock nuts 424 which are engaged with the cartridge lock nuts 415, or, in the case of the spout 412, with a threaded portion 456 on the spout spigot 457.

The handles are attached to the cover member as sub-assemblies therewith, as in the previously described embodiments by means of similar circlip and seal components, while the cover member is apertured at 458 for the passage therethrough of the spout spigot, with a clearance sufficient to enable the spout to be placed over the spigot after the cover member has been fixed in place.

Unlike the cover members of the previous embodiments, however, because the cover member 419 cannot be rotated into engagement with the adapter rings 422, an alternative arrangement is provided by which the cover member is fixed to the adaptor rings.

The cover member 419 is provided with cylindrical walls 459 dimensioned to receive the adaptor rings. These walls merge with thick wall portions 460 which are provided with cylindrical passages 461 opening to the sides of the walls 459 and threaded at 462 to receive retaining screws 464. In the embodiment illustrated, one of these passages 461 is provided at each tap location and two at the central spigot location, but other configurations may be adopted.

The retaining screws 464 include a forward tapered portion 465 and a rear threaded portion 466, the latter also having a hexagonal recess 467 by which the screw may be driven.

The adaptor rings have on the outer sides of their flanges tapered surfaces 468 which are, upon assembly of the components, opposite the region of the cover member internal walls 459 into which opens the passages 459. Thus these tapered surfaces will be engaged by the tapered portions 465 of the retaining screws 464, to draw the cover member 419 down against the adaptor rings and the tile surface 453.

While particularly suitable for the case of extended cover members or cover plates which cannot be rotated due to their configuration, or due to their fitting over two or more fittings such as tap spindles spigots or spouts, the means by which the cover member 419 is attached to the wall or other surface can also be applied to the cover members of single cover member/handle sub-assemblies.