Back to results
US 11,306,846 B2Granted
Shower system
AssigneeKohler Co.
InventorsChad J. Cochart, Douglas J. Brouwer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A shower system includes a shower waterway and a fluid control valve. The shower waterway is configured to be coupled to a shower device. The fluid control valve is coupled to the shower waterway and comprises a valve body and a piston. The valve body includes a chamber and a reservoir. The piston is slidably coupled to the valve body and fluidly separates the chamber from the reservoir. The chamber includes a compressible gas. The piston is configured to slidably translate within the valve body to compress the compressible gas in response to a water pressure change in the shower waterway.
Claims20
A residential shower system comprising:
- a shower waterway configured to be coupled to a shower device;
- and
- a fluid control valve coupled to the shower waterway, wherein the fluid control valve comprises:
- a hot water inlet configured to receive a hot water feed into the fluid control valve, a cold water inlet configured to receive a cold water feed into the fluid control valve, a mixing valve configured to selectively fluidly couple the hot water feed and the cold water feed, and at least one water outlet configured to discharge a flow of water from the fluid control valve, wherein a portion of the shower waterway extends within the fluid control valve between (i) at least one of the hot water inlet and the cold water inlet and (ii) the at least one water outlet;
- a valve body including a chamber and a reservoir, the valve body located along the portion of the shower waterway that extends within the fluid control valve between the mixing valve and the at least one water outlet;
- and
- a piston slidably coupled to the valve body, wherein the piston fluidly separates the chamber from the reservoir, and wherein the chamber includes a compressible gas;
- and
- wherein the piston is configured to slidably translate within the valve body to compress the compressible gas in response to a water pressure change in the shower waterway.
6 more elements
A residential shower system comprising:
- a fluid control valve configured to be coupled to a shower waterway, wherein the fluid control valve comprises:
- a hot water inlet configured to receive a hot water feed into the fluid control valve, a cold water inlet configured to receive a cold water feed into the fluid control valve, a mixing valve configured to selectively fluidly couple the hot water feed and the cold water feed, and at least one water outlet configured to discharge a flow of water from the fluid control valve, wherein a portion of the shower waterway extends within the fluid control valve between (i) at least one of the hot water inlet and the cold water inlet and (ii) the at least one water outlet;
- a valve body including a chamber and a reservoir, the valve body located along the portion of the shower waterway that extends within the fluid control valve between the mixing valve and the at least one water outlet;
- and
- a piston slidably coupled to the valve body, wherein the piston fluidly separates the chamber from the reservoir, and wherein the chamber includes a compressible gas;
- and
- wherein the piston is configured to slidably translate within the valve body to compress the compressible gas in response to a water pressure change in the shower system.
4 more elements
A fluid control valve for a residential shower system, the fluid control valve comprising:
- a hot water inlet configured to receive a hot water feed into the fluid control valve, a cold water inlet configured to receive a cold water feed into the fluid control valve, a mixing valve configured to selectively fluidly couple the hot water feed and the cold water feed, and at least one water outlet configured to discharge a flow of water from the fluid control valve, wherein a portion of the shower waterway extends within the fluid control valve between (i) at least one of the hot water inlet and the cold water inlet and (ii) the at least one water outlet;
- a valve body including a chamber and a reservoir, the valve body located along the portion of the shower waterway that extends within the fluid control valve between the mixing valve and the at least one water outlet;
- and
- a piston slidably coupled to the valve body, wherein the piston fluidly separates the chamber from the reservoir, and wherein the chamber includes a compressible gas;
- and
- wherein the piston is configured to slidably translate within the valve body to compress the compressible gas in response to a water pressure change in the residential shower system.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.