WATER JETS FOR WHIRLPOOL BATHS

Field of the invention

This invention relates to a water jet for a water system in a whirlpool bath or spa, where the water jet comprises flow adjusting means for adjusting the flow of water to the whirlpool bath through one or more openings of the water jet. The invention further relates to a method of adjusting the water flow through a water jet in a whirlpool bath.

Background

Water systems for whirlpool baths or spas generally comprise a plurality of water jet outlets to be connected to the side walls of a whirlpool tub and are thereby transporting water to the inner volume of the whirlpool tub from a water supply outside the whirlpool tub. Traditionally, a water-carrying circuit connected to the delivery side of an electric pump to supply water under pressure to the water-jet outlets and a pneumatic circuit that sucks air into the same water-jet outlets owing to the effect of the negative pressure created by the flow of water are provided

One important requirement to water jets is that they have to be easily operational from within the bathtub. One method of controlling the water flow from the water jets is to equip the jets with magnetic valves which are electronically controlled, most often via a centrally placed control panel. However, the controlling is deemed to become very complex, and too complex for many kinds of users, already with only a few water jets in the whirlpool bath. Furthermore, it is desirable for a user to be able to adjust the water flow through each and every water jet in a simple and straightforward way to obtain the optimal experience in the bath. This can be obtained with water jets with mechanically valves. Here, the flow is most commonly controlled by a design where two cylinders are moved relatively to each other, thereby changing the size of the opening. One big disadvantage with the mechanical water jets as

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known from the art is, however, that they are constructed from a number of mechanical parts and are of a complex construction which makes the jets expensive to manufacture. This also results in a higher weight and bigger size of the water jet, which is also disadvantageous.

A further problem with traditional constructions of water systems and water jets to whirlpool baths is the serious problem of water standing in the pipes and the jets getting infected by bacteria. These processes are also enhanced by the initial warm temperature of the water. When the bath is then used the next time, all the bacteria are spooled out into the bath giving rise to serious health problems.

In order to avoid this problem, the water pipes are sometimes angularly connected to the jets so that the water runs out of the pipes automatically. How- ever, a certain amount of water still stands in the jets. This is also the case even if the jets are not completely closed after use, as the side walls of a whirlpool bath most often are curved tilting backwards, thereby further preventing the water from running out of its own motion.

Object and summary of the invention

The object of the invention is to provide a water jet for a whirlpool bath or a spa solving some or all of the above mentioned problems.

This is obtained by a water jet for a water system in a whirlpool or spa bath, where the water jet comprises flow adjusting means for adjusting the flow of water to the bath through one or more openings of the water jet. Further, the flow adjusting means comprises at least one valve in the form of a disc mounted in the opening of the water jet on a pivot shaft with one or more engaging means, and a front member movable along and/or around an axis in a direction different from the pivot shaft, where the front member engages with the engaging means, whereby a movement of said front member rotates said

valve. Hereby is obtained a very simple water jet construction which only needs to be of a very few parts and which is therefore relatively simple and easy to manufacture, and thus very inexpensive to produce. The jet is further, due to its construction, very compact and light, and the principle is effective for both jets of small dimensions and large jets. Further is obtained a very simple operation of the water jet and control of the water flow, which is easy for all kinds of users to understand and master - also for children and elderly people with weak fingers. The water jet is further advantageous in that it, due to its simple construction with few parts, is not prone to ineffectiveness due to wear, dirt etc. A further advantage of the water jet according to the invention is that the different parts of the water jet can be preassembled for instance at the factory, thereafter being very simple to assembly and connect to the whirlpool. It is also very simple and straightforward to change the front member, thus customizing the water jet to specific demands or wishes from differ- ent customers. Yet a further advantage of the design of the water jet is that the operation of the water jet can be left stepless with gradual and continuous flow adjustability. Yet with only minor adjustments it is also possible to add click-positioning for better control of the movement and thereby the flow.

In a further embodiment of the water jet according to the above, the engaging means comprises one or more arms, one or more toothed wheels, and/or one or more friction rollers on the pivot shaft. These different kinds of making the front member engage with the valve are all straightforward and simple to construct, thus yielding a robust and effective design.

In another embodiment of a water jet the pivot shaft comprises two arms extending in opposite directions away from the surface of said disc. Hereby is obtained a very effective mechanism with a greater safety against failure and wear of the water jet.

In another embodiment of a water jet according to any of the above the axis is approximately perpendicular to said pivot shaft. Again this yields an effective mechanism for controlling and operating the valve.

In a further embodiment of a water jet according to the above, the valve is moved by rotating the front member around an axis approximately perpendicular to the pivot shaft. The rotation of the front member is advantageous by providing a simple and easy to understand operation and handling of the water flow through the water jet.

In yet a further embodiment of a water jet according to any of the above the disc has a shape whereby when rotated to a first position the disc blocks the flow of water through the opening.

The invention furthermore relates to a water jet according to any of the above, wherein the opening comprises a drain opening which is open independent of the position of the disc. Hereby is obtained a complete 100% drainage of the water jet, whereby is avoided that some water may stay within the jet and the pipe system causing severe health and safety risks when left for bacteria to evolve.

In one embodiment of the invention of the water jet the drain opening comprises a cut. This is advantageous in that this enables the water to run out of the jet on its own motion even in the cases where the jet is mounted on an inclined bath tub wall tilting backwards. Hereby the otherwise serious health issues of bacteria in the water are totally avoided in a simple yet effective manner with no extra cost put on the manufacture on the water jet.

In an embodiment of a water jet, the valve and/or the front member are at least partly made of a plastic material, whereby some or all of the parts for

instance can be produced by injection moulding. Hereby is obtained a very inexpensive water jet which can be manufactured at high volumes.

The invention furthermore relates to a method for adjusting the flow of water through one or more opening(s) of a water jet for a water system in a whirlpool bath comprising the step of rotating a valve in the form of a disc mounted in the opening of the water jet around a pivot shaft by pushing one or more arms on the pivot shaft. Hereby is obtained a simple, effective yet easy way to operate a water jet and control the water flow for each water jet individually. Other advantages are as mentioned above for the different embodiments of a water jet.

In another embodiment of a method for adjusting the flow of water according to the above, the one or more arms are pushed by moving a front member of the water jet in a direction different from the pivot shaft e.g. by rotating the front member around an axis approximately perpendicular to the pivot shaft. Advantages are as already mentioned above.

Brief description of the drawings In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described referring to the figures, where

figure 1 illustrates the principle of a valve mechanism in a water jet according to the invention,

figure 2 illustrates in an exploded view a specific embodiment of a water jet according to the invention,

figure 3-4 show the water jet from figure 1 in different cross sectional views,

figure 5 illustrates in a perspective view a front of the water jet from figure 1 with the valve part,

figure 6-7 illustrate a body member of the water jet from figure 1 with a valve in a fully opened and fully closed position, respectively,

figure 8 shows the water jet from figure 1 in a cross sectional view illustrating the drainage, and

figure 9-10 illustrate other embodiments of a valve principle according to the invention.

Description of preferred embodiments

The general principle of the valve mechanism in a water jet 100 according to one embodiment of the invention is illustrated in figure 1. The opening and closing part of the valve is a so-called butterfly valve 101 comprising a disk 102 (circular in this case) on a pivot shaft 103 placed in the opening 104 of the jet. The valve is thus opened and/or closed continuously by the rotation of the pivot shaft 103 as illustrated by the arrows 105. The shaft 103 comprises engaging means in the form of two arms or cranks 106 extending away from the axis of the shaft 103 whereby the rotational movement of the shaft 103 in this case can be obtained by a rotation (as shown by the arrows 107) of an outer part 108 around an axis 109 different from the shaft axis 103. In the shown embodiment the outer part is rotated around an axis 109 more or less perpendicular to the direction of the valve shaft 103. The arm end parts 111 are more or less free to move up and down in the two cuttings 110 in the outer part 108.

The embodiment in the figure 1 is purely meant to illustrate the principle of opening and closing mechanism shown and explained in more details in the following figures. The different parts of the mechanism can thus attain very

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different shapes and be positioned differently relative to each other. In this respect the opening 104 and the disk 102 therein do not necessarily have to be circular, the butterfly valve 101 need not be concentric but can also be for instance eccentric, and the outer part 108 can take on any shape in addition to the ring shape shown in the figure. Further, the arm or arms 106 can extend in other directions relative to the pivot shaft 103 than those shown in the figure, thereby enabling the valve operation by translational or rotational movement of the outer part 108 along or around an axis 109 in other directions than the one sketched in the figure. Also, by the term arm or crank is here and throughout the document meant an extension to the pivot shaft away from the pivot axis whereby a rotation of the shaft is enabled by applying a force to the outer part of the extended part or arm. Therefore, the arms can attain many different shapes and do not necessarily have to be at right angles to the shaft. Also, a relatively broad but more or less flat shaft does also in this context fall within the definition of a shaft with arm(s). Some other embodiments and possible valve configurations are illustrated in the following figures 9 and 10.

In yet a further embodiment of a water jet according to the invention the en- gaging means on the pivot shaft of the valve comprise one or more toothed wheels on the pivot shaft which engage with a corresponding teething or a gear ring on the front member. Alternatively, the engaging means may also comprise one or more friction rollers on the pivot shaft yielding the desired operational feature of the front member.

One specific embodiment of a water jet 100 according to the invention is illustrated in figure 2 where the front member 201 , the valve part 101 and the body part 202 are shown in an exploded view. Some or all of the parts in a similar water jet are also depicted in the following figures 3-8 in different views.

The body part 202 is prepared to be connected to the water system of a whirlpool bath, the water being pumped into the bath tub through the opening 104. The water is in this embodiment mixed with air which is being sucked in through pipes connected to an air intake 804 (most clearly seen in the cross sectional view in figure 8). All the parts of the water jet 100 are preassembled ready to be mounted on a bath tub by the threads 204 on the body part 202. One very big advantage of the water jet according to the invention is that it comprises only a very few parts (the front member, the valve and the body part) which are hence fast and easily assembled. Compared to water jets as known in the art, all the mechanical elements for controlling the flow through the jet are thus here replaced by just one single component, the valve part. In this embodiment, the valve part 101 is first positioned or placed in the bearing 207 (which can be simply two slits in the sides of the opening 104) in the body part 202, whereafter the front member 201 is clicked onto the body part 202 with the arm end parts 111 fitting into the cuttings 110 for this purpose.

The water jet 100 can be operated from within the bath tub individually and independently of any other water jets in the whirlpool bath by simply rotating the front member 201 relative to the body part 202 as illustrated by the ar- rows 107. The front member 201 here functions in the same way as the outer part 108 in the elementary sketch of figure 1 , controlling and moving the arms 106 through the pushing of the arm end parts 111 in the cuttings 110 or apertures in the front member 201. In this way the rotational movement of the front member 201 around the axis 109 is translated into a rotation of the disk 102 around its pivot shaft 103. As the arms 106 on the shaft 103 in this embodiment extend in opposite directions, the cuttings 110 in the front member 201 are of different lengths. This is most clearly seen in the cross sectional view in figure 4. The specific shape and design of the front member 201 is of no or little importance to the invention, which is advantageous as the water jet 100 hence easily can be customized to any special requests from a customer by simply replacing the front member. In the shown specific embodi-

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ment of the water jet, the shaft 103 of the valve part 101 is maintained in its position partly by being placed in the bearings or slits 207 in the opening 104 and partly by in the other direction by the small projecting rim or edge 208 running around the interior surface of the front member giving support to the end of the pivot shaft 103 at all stages of the opening and/closing of the valve. The valve part could equally well in another embodiment of the water jet be placed in bearings in the front member rotating together with this. In yet another embodiment the valve part is held in position by the body part only.

The water jet parts can advantageously be made of plastic by injection moulding but can also be made of a metal or metal alloy such as alumina or stainless steel. Further, also other materials can be applied to special areas of the parts such as for instance a rubber to the surface of the front member thereby facilitating the adjustment of the water flow even further or for better sealing properties.

In figure 3 and 4 are shown a similar embodiment of a water jet as depicted in figure 2. The water jet 100 is here depicted as assembled and with the valve in its fully closed position - but in two different cross sectional views. In both figures the water jet is seen from its top and down with the cross sectional view being laid along the pivot shaft 103 of the valve part 101 in figure 3 and in a parallel plane but a little further up going through one of the cuttings 110 in the front member 201 in figure 4. The water from the water system of the whirlpool bath is pumped in through a short pipe part 301 on the back of the body part 202 of the water jet 100 and out through the opening 104. As described above, the flow of the water is adjusted by the valve part and more precisely by the position of the disk 102 in the opening 104. The water jet is operated by the user by operating or moving the front member 201 of the water jet. When the front member in this embodiment is rotated around its center axis, the end parts 111 of the two arms 106 on the pivot shaft 103 of the valve 101 are pushed, as these fit into the cuttings 110 or

apertures in the front member. As the arms 106 are moved, the pivot shaft 103 and the disk 102 along with it is rotated. In this way a gradual stepless adjustment of the water flow is obtained for each single water jet independently of any other by a very simple and intuitively straightforward operation by 5 the user from within the whirlpool bath.

From the figure can be seen how the pivot shaft 103 in this embodiment is held in place partly by slits or a bearing 207 in the pipe 301 and partly by the small projecting edge 208 in the front member 201. Furthermore, as an addi- o tional feature of one embodiment of a water jet according to the invention, one or both ends of the pivot shaft 103 is/are shaped with a ball pivot 222 fitting into a correspondingly shaped ball groove 223 in the front member 201. This is most clearly to be seen in the figure 2 and 5. By this design the valve part 101 can easily be preassembled with the front member without 5 falling out, yet also without constraining the desired rotational movement of the pivot axis.

In figure 4 is shown a cross section of the water jet in a plane a little further up than in figure 3 and where the arms 106 and their positions in the cuttings 0 110 in the front member 201 can be seen more clearly. The arms 106 and hence the rotation of the pivot shaft 103 are in this way controlled by the movement of the cuttings 110. This is also clear from figure 5 which shows a perspective view of the front member 201 and the valve part 101 together and as seen from the back. A further detail visible from this view is the small 5 external projections 501 along the rim of the front member 201 which enable the front part to be simply clicked onto the body part 202 while not restricting the rotation of the front member relative to the other parts of the water jet. The valve principles behind the invention open up for the water flow to be controlled both in a stepless manner or to add steps. The latter can in some o applications be advantageous in providing the user with a better feeling of the movement of the front member and hence for the valve control. Furthermore,

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any added steps may ensure that the flow in itself cannot change the position of the valve. Such added steps or clicks are seen in the figures 2 and 5 in the shape of a series of small grooves or channels 556 on the body part 202 and the corresponding small projection 555 in the front member 201 engaging with the grooves 556. The exact design of the front member 201 is of little or no importance to the functionality of the water jet and can be changed and take on any appearances as requested by the customers.

The figures 6 and 7 show a perspective view of the body part 202 with the valve part 101 in its fully open and fully closed position, respectively. In these are also clearly seen the design of the valve part with the disk 102, the pivot shaft 103 seated in the bearing 207, the arms 106 and arm end parts 111. In this embodiment the arms 106 extend perpendicularly from the shaft 103 in opposite directions. In other embodiments, the valve comprises only one arm and the arm or arms may also extend in other directions not perpendicular to the shaft axis. Other principles of valve mechanisms falling within the present invention are depicted and described below in the figures 9-10.

Figure 8 shows the assembled water jet 100 from figures 2-4 in a cross sec- tional view as seen from the side. The valve disk 102 in the opening 104 at the end of the pipe part 301 is here in its closed position stopping the water flow. The water jet 100 is here shown in a tilted position as it would be positioned when mounted in a whirlpool bath tub with inclined sides as is very often the case. As mentioned in the introduction one very big problem with common whirlpool baths is that water very often stands in the pipes and the water jets after use. The remaining water is prone to get infected by bacteria thus causing serious health problems. This problem is solved in the present invention by a drain opening 601. In the embodiment shown in the figures 6-8 the drain functionality is obtained by a cut 602 in the lower part of the pipe part 301 , through which any remaining water can run out as illustrated by the arrows 801 (in figure 8) even when the valve 101 is fully closing the opening

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104. As can be seen from figure 8, any remaining water in the water system will run out on its own motion, even if the water jet is tilted backwards to a significant extent as could very well be the case when used in whirlpool baths with curved sides. A further recess 802 in the front of the body part 202 al- lows for the water to run out in between the body part 202 and the front member 201 and into the bath tub. In a further embodiment the disk may comprise a little short pin extending from the disk which serves to close the drain opening 601 when the valve is also closed. Hereby, the flow can be stopped completely while on the same time maintaining a complete drain of the jet.

Figure 9 and 10 illustrate schematically some other embodiments of the adjusting mechanism for the flow through a water jet according to the invention. Both figures illustrate how the rotational movement of the pivot shaft of the valve disk can be obtained by a translational movement and operation of the front member along a direction different from the direction of the pivot shaft.

In figure 9 the front member or outer part 108 is operated by moving it in and out as shown by the arrows 107. Hereby the arms 106 of the pivot shaft 103 are pushed and/or pulled resulting in a rotation 105 of the pivot shaft 103 and the valve disk 101 , 102 along with it.

In figure 10 the arms 106 on the pivot shaft 103 extend outwardly from the plane of the valve disk 103 as was also the case in the embodiment in figure 1. However, here the arms extend in the same directions and not oppositely each other whereby the valve 101 can be rotated 105 by a translational movement of the outer part(s) or front member(s) 108 in directions as shown by the arrows 107. The operational part or parts of the front member could here for instance be designed as sliding bar(s).

It is to be noted that when having used the term a water jet for a whirlpool bath this also covers water jets for alike applications such as for a spa.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word 'comprising' does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed in a claim.