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US 12,259,062 B2Granted
Shower system
AssigneeKohler Co.
InventorsChad J. Cochart, Douglas J. Brouwer, Jack Robert Warning
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 fluctuation in the shower waterway.
Claims20
A valve damper assembly comprising:
- a valve body defining:
- an interior cavity including a chamber and a reservoir, the chamber including a compressible gas;
- a flange extending radially away from the interior cavity and disposed at an intermediate position between opposing ends of the valve body, the flange configured to engage an external surface of a fluid control valve to position the valve body within a waterway of the fluid control valve;
- and
- a piston disposed within the interior cavity and movable with respect to the valve body, the piston including at least one seal that fluidly separates the chamber from the reservoir, the piston configured to compress the compressible gas in response to a water pressure change in the reservoir.
2 more elements
A valve damper assembly comprising:
- a valve body defining:
- an interior cavity including a chamber and a reservoir, the chamber including a compressible gas;
- a flange extending radially away from the interior cavity, the flange configured to engage an external surface of a fluid control valve to position the valve body within a waterway of the fluid control valve;
- and
- a piston disposed within the interior cavity and movable with respect to the valve body, the piston including at least one seal that fluidly separates the chamber from the reservoir, the piston configured to compress the compressible gas in response to a water pressure change in the reservoir;
- and
- at least one valve body seal engaged with the valve body and configured to sealingly engage the valve body with the fluid control valve, the flange extending radially outwardly from an outer perimeter of the at least one valve body seal.
4 more elements
A fluid control valve assembly comprising:
- a fluid control valve including:
- a water inlet;
- a water outlet;
- a waterway extending between the water inlet and the water outlet;
- and
- a control valve configured to selectively fluidly couple the water inlet to the water outlet;
- and
- a valve damper assembly including:
- a valve body coupled to the fluid control valve and extending into the fluid control valve, the valve body defining a chamber and a reservoir, the valve body including a flange engaging an external surface of the fluid control valve, the flange disposed at an intermediate position between opposing ends of the valve body;
- and
- a piston disposed within the valve body, the piston fluidly separating the chamber from the reservoir, the chamber including a compressible gas, the piston configured to slidably translate within the valve body to compress the compressible gas in response to a water pressure change in the waterway.
8 more elements
A method, comprising:
- receiving water from a waterway of a fluid control valve into a reservoir of a valve body of a valve damper assembly that is (i) coupled to the fluid control valve, (ii) extends into the waterway, and (iii) includes a flange engaging an external surface of the fluid control valve, the flange disposed at an intermediate position between opposing ends of the valve body;
- and
- repositioning a piston of the valve damper assembly that is disposed within the valve body from a first position to a second position in response to a water pressure change in the reservoir to compress a compressible gas in the valve body and to increase a size of the reservoir.
A valve damper assembly comprising:
- a valve body defining:
- an interior cavity including a chamber and a reservoir, the chamber including a compressible gas;
- a flange extending radially away from the interior cavity, the flange configured to engage an external surface of a fluid control valve to position the valve body within a waterway of the fluid control valve;
- and
- a piston disposed within the interior cavity and movable with respect to the valve body, the piston including at least one seal that fluidly separates the chamber from the reservoir, the piston configured to compress the compressible gas in response to a water pressure change in the reservoir, the flange spaced axially away from opposing axial ends of the interior cavity, the flange configured to determine a position of the valve body within the fluid control valve by preventing axial movement of the valve body further into the fluid control valve.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.