The present invention relates to valve assemblies having improved disk, bonnet, and hose attachment features.
A variety of fluid control valves are known. One type of fluid control valve is a rotational, non-rise valve. This type of valve is commonly used to control a flow of a single particular fluid, such as a hot or cold water supply, to a faucet, spout, or other plumbing fitting. Some such valves have a handle that drives a rotatable valve stem, with the stem in turn rotating an apertured disk over an apertured stationary disk, to control the flow of a fluid up from the bottom of a valve cartridge and out the side. This type of valve is commonly used in a “widespread” arrangement where one such valve is positioned about six inches to the right of a spout, another such valve is positioned about six inches to the left of a spout, and the linkages between the valves and the spout are below a countertop or the like.
While such valves have many desirable features, there is still room for improvement. For example, the flow path of some such valves brings the water into substantial contact with a brass housing. Because many conventional brasses contain some lead, and because long term use of such valves has therefore raised some regulatory concerns about contact of potable water with leaded brass, it is desirable to find ways of configuring such valves to minimize contact between the potable water and leaded brass housings.
In some approaches to address this problem suppliers have attempted to remove lead from their housing brasses (e.g. by substituting bismuth for the lead). However, this can add cost and/or make machinability more complex when forming the housing.
Another approach is to link plastic or copper tubing to the valve, and place the tubing inside an outer housing, to minimize the time that the potable water is in contact with the leaded brass. However, this may still leave considerable contact between the valve housing and the potable water, particularly in widespread configurations.
There have been some attempts to redirect flow downward rather than sideways in connection with mixing valves. For example, in the valve disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,242 a movable disk redirects mixed water downward, rather than sideways. This is not in connection with a single flow control valve, and in any event still requires substantial contact between the valve housing and potable water.
Further, conventional single control valve configurations often rely on multiple O-ring seals or other techniques to avoid leakage out of the valve. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,770. Given that such valves can be expected to be used for decades once installed, there is an interest in reducing the number of such O-rings needed, and the incidence of needed maintenance relating thereto.
Moreover, there is a continued interest in reducing the complexity of assembling such valves, to lower cost relating thereto. A particular area of interest is how to reduce the labor costs relating to assembling the water supply and/or outlet connections to the valve cartridge, without compromising reliability of the connection.
Another area of such valves where there is a desire for improvement relates to optimizing the level of rotational resistance to control handle movement while supporting the rotational stem against wobble. Without some amount of resistance when turning a valve, it may appear to a consumer that the valve is broken or improperly functioning. Too much resistance can make the valve undesirable insofar as use by persons who have arthritis or otherwise are unable comfortably supply the needed force. Further, whatever solution is developed must impede excess amounts of wobble when the handle forces reach the rotational stem.
In some prior art configurations, tightening an outer bonnet too much or too little can impact on the appreciated resistance. Even where the resistance is determined in other ways, manufacturing variability can lead to undesirable variations in perceived resistance.
Hence, a need exists for improvements in these areas with respect to valve assemblies.