Flow-rate limiting valve for inserting between a shower hose and a hand shower

Abstract

The housing (1) of a flow restricting valve has a first connection (3) which acts as a connection to a shower hose, and also a second connection (5) via which the valve can be connected to a hand shower. There are provided inside the housing 1 and parallel to each other, two outlet openings 7, 8 which determine the rate of flow per unit of time. One (7) of these outlet openings has a smaller cross-section than the other (8). The outlet opening (8) with the larger cross-section is normally sealed by a valve disk (9) so that the water can only flow through the smaller outlet opening (7) at a smaller power output per liter. If, once in a while, a greater power output per liter is required from the shower, then the valve plate can be removed from the outlet opening (8) with the larger cross-section by means of a manual actuator (15) and moved into a second position in which it at least considerably throttles or completely seals the flow path to the outlet opening (7) with the smaller cross-section. Owing to the difference in pressure of the water acting on it, the valve disk (9) remains in this position, in which a greater power output per liter flows to the shower, until the water is shut off at the shower control and the valve disk (9) returns once again to its original position under the action of a spring (26).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.