FAUCET BASE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Technical Field

[0001]The present invention relates generally to a component of a faucet; and more particularly to a faucet base.

Description of Related Art

[0002]Traditional faucets are generally assembled from multiple components, and during assembly, gaps often form at a plurality of joints due to incomplete sealing. Typically, a sealing ring is provided at the gaps to prevent water leakage. However, over prolonged use, the sealing ring might deteriorate, wear out, or become deformed, resulting in leakage. To address the issues—and with the increasing demand for higher quality and durability of faucets in both residential and commercial settings-integrally formed faucet manufacturing technologies have gradually become mainstream in the market. A known one-piece faucet generally includes a main body and a threaded section that covers the main body. The main body is formed with an internal water channel for water flow. More specifically, in the manufacturing process of the one-piece faucet, the main body is first formed with the internal water channel, and then the threaded section is applied over the main body using a secondary overmolding process.

[0003]However, during removal or installation of the one-piece faucet, the threaded section is subjected to a certain torque, which might cause the threaded section to rotate relative to or separate from the main body. Moreover, since the secondary overmolding technique relies on material bonding to secure the threaded section, prolonged use of the one-piece faucet could result in an unstable connection between the main body and the threaded section, thereby affecting the product's service life.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004]In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a faucet base with enhanced structural strength, thereby extending the service life of the faucet base.

[0005]The present invention provides the faucet base including a base body and at least one covering member. The base body includes a connecting pipe and at least one valve seat connecting to each other. A flow channel is disposed in the base body and has at least one inlet and an outlet. The at least one valve seat has an accommodating portion, a mounting portion, and a base portion. The accommodating portion is connected to the mounting portion and the connecting pipe, and the mounting portion is connected to the accommodating portion and the base portion. The at least one inlet of the flow channel is located at the base portion, and the outlet of the flow channel is located at the connecting pipe. The mounting portion has a coupling structure. At least one covering member, made of plastic by injection molding, covers the coupling structure of the mounting portion and the base portion to prevent rotation relative to the base portion.

[0006]The advantage of the present invention lies in the installation of the faucet base. The coupling structure provided between the base body and the at least one covering member effectively prevents the at least one covering member from rotating or detaching relative to the base body, thereby enhancing the overall structural strength of the faucet base and consequently extending the service life of the faucet base.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007]The present invention would be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which

[0008]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the faucet base according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0009]FIG. 2 is a side view of the faucet base according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0010]FIG. 3 is a top view of the faucet base according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0011]FIG. 4 is a sectional view along the 4-4 line in FIG. 3;

[0012]FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged view of a marked region A in FIG. 4;

[0013]FIG. 6 is a sectional view along the 6-6 line in FIG. 4;

[0014]FIG. 7 is a partially sectional view of the faucet base according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 8 is a sectional view along the 7-7 line in FIG. 7;

[0016]FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged view of a marked region B in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017]In order to make the technical problems to be solved, the technical solutions, and the beneficial effects of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the Figures and the embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely intended to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope thereof.

[0018]It should be noted that when an element is described as being “fixed to” or “disposed on” another element, the element might be directly on the other element or indirectly on the other element. When an element is described as being “connected to” another element, the element might be directly or indirectly connected to the other component.

[0019]It should be understood that terms such as “length”, “width”, “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, “inner”, “outer”, and the like are used to describe positional or directional relationships based on the orientation or position shown in the Figures, solely for the purpose of facilitating the description of the present invention and simplifying the explanation. These terms are not intended to indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation or be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention.

[0020]Furthermore, the terms “first” and “second” are used merely for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or as implicitly specifying the number of the indicated technical features. Accordingly, features defined with “first” or “second” might expressly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the context of the present invention, the term “plurality” means two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.

[0021]A faucet base 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6 and includes a base body 10, two covering members 20, and two metal films 30.

[0022]The base body 10 includes a connecting pipe 12 and two valve seats 14, wherein the two valve seats 14 are respectively connected to two ends of the connecting pipe 12 of the base body 10. Each valve seat 14 has an accommodating portion 142, a mounting portion 144, and a base portion 146, wherein the accommodating portion 142 is connected to the mounting portion 144 and the connecting pipe 12. An accommodating groove 1422 is disposed in each accommodating portion 142. Each mounting portion 144 is connected to each accommodating portion 142 and each base portion 146. An outer diameter of the mounting portion 144 is greater than an outer diameter of the base portion 146.

[0023]As shown in FIG. 4, the base body 10 includes a flow channel 16 disposed in the base body 10. The flow channel 16 has two inlet I and an outlet O. In the current embodiment, the flow channel 16 is divided into a central flow channel 162 and two internal flow channel 164. The central flow channel 162 is formed in the connecting pipe 12, and two ends of the central flow channel 162 are respectively in communication with the two accommodating grooves 1422 of the valve seats 14. The outlet O is located at the middle of the connecting pipe 12 and is in communication with the central flow channel 162. Each internal flow channel 164 is formed in each valve seat 14. Each inlet I is located at the bottom of each base portion 146, and each internal flow channel 164 is in communication with each accommodating groove 1422 and each inlet I.

[0024]As shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, the base body 10 has two annular grooves 18. Each annular groove 18 is recessed from a portion of the corresponding mounting portion 144 that connects to the corresponding base portion 146. In the current embodiment, each annular groove 18 has an L-shaped cross-section, and each mounting portion 144 has a coupling structure. The coupling structure includes a plurality of protrusions 1442, which are arranged at intervals along a groove bottom of the annular groove 18.

[0025]As shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, each covering member 20 is made of plastic by injection molding, and each covering member 20 covers the protrusions 1442 of the coupling structure of each mounting portion 144 and each base portion 146, so that each covering member 20 is prevented from rotating relative to the base portion 146 of each valve seat 14. More specifically, a portion of each covering member 20 that fills the corresponding annular groove 18 is defined as a filling block 22, wherein a plurality of recesses 222 of each filling block 22 are formed at a plurality of locations corresponding to the protrusions 1442. Another portion of each covering member 20 covering the corresponding base portion 146 is defined as a threaded section 24, wherein each threaded section 24 is connected to the corresponding filling block 22. By the engagement between each protrusion 1442 and the corresponding recess 222, each covering member 20 is tightly engaged with the corresponding valve seat 14, thereby preventing the covering member 20 from rotating or detaching relative to the valve seat 14, and enhancing the structural stability and firmness of the faucet base 100.

[0026]In other embodiments, a number of the protrusions 1442 of each coupling structure could be set to be one and located at the groove bottom of each annular groove 18. Correspondingly, a number of the recesses 222 could be set to be one and located at a location corresponding to the protrusion 1442. Therefore, each covering member 20 is also prevented from rotating or detaching relative to the corresponding valve seat 14.

[0027]Each metal film 30 covers an outer surface of the threaded section 24 of the corresponding covering member 20. A surface of each metal film 30 has a threaded structure. By providing the metal films 30, a surface of the faucet base 100 exhibits a metallic texture, thereby enhancing aesthetic appearance and overall quality of the faucet base 100. In addition, since the metal films 30 are made of a metallic material, the metal films 30 offer wear resistance and corrosion resistance, which further improves the service life of the faucet base 100.

[0028]A faucet base 100A according to a second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 7 to FIG. 9, and has a structure almost the same as the faucet base 100 of the first embodiment. The following describes the differences. In the current embodiment, a base body 10A includes two valve seats 14A and has two annular grooves 18A. As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, each annular groove 18A is formed in a linear cross-section rather than in the L-shape cross-section, and extends along an extending direction of a base portion 146A of the corresponding valve seat 14A. A mounting portion 144A of each valve seat 14A has a coupling structure including a plurality of protrusions 1442A. The protrusions 1442A of each coupling structure are connected to two side walls of the corresponding annular groove 18A, and a distance is provided between each protrusion 1442A and a groove bottom of each annular groove 18A. The differences are described in detail below.

[0029]The protrusions 1442A of each coupling structure are arranged at intervals in the corresponding annular groove 18A. Two covering members 20A respectively fill the two annular grooves 18A. A portion of each covering member 20A that fills the corresponding annular groove 18A is defined as a filling block 22A, and another portion of each covering member 20A covering the corresponding base portion 146A is defined as a threaded section 24A, wherein each threaded section 24A is connected to the corresponding filling block 22A.

[0030]In other embodiments, a number of the protrusions 1442A of each coupling structure could be set to be one, and the protrusion 1442A is connected to the two side walls of the corresponding annular groove 18A. In other embodiments, the protrusion 1442A might also be connected to one of the side walls of the corresponding annular groove 18A. Therefore, each covering member 20A is also prevented from rotating or detaching relative to the corresponding valve seat 14A.

[0031]In summary, when the faucet base 100, 100A is being installed, the coupling structure provided between the base body 10, 10A and each covering member 20, 20A effectively prevents the covering members 20, 20A from rotating or detaching relative to the base body 10, 10A, thereby enhancing the overall structural strength of the faucet base 100, 100A and consequently extending the service life.

[0032]In the first and the second embodiments, a number of the valve seats 14, 14A is two. In other embodiments, the number of the valve seats 14, 14A might also set to be one. Accordingly, a number of the covering member 20, 20A might also set to be one, corresponding to the number of the valve seats 14, 14A, and a number of the metal film 30, 30A might also set to be one, corresponding to the number of the covering member 20, 20A.

[0033]It must be pointed out that the embodiments described above are only some preferred embodiments of the present invention. All equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention.