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US 9,066,634 B2Granted
Air jet fittings for bathing installations
AssigneeBalboa Water Group, Inc.
InventorsGraham J. Campbell, Eric J. Kownacki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air jet includes a body portion defining a hollow main body portion having an interior opening, and a connection portion having an air passageway in communication with the interior opening. The connection portion includes at least one connection port for attachment to a hose carrying pressurized air, and a flange portion defining a recessed mount surface inside a peripheral lip surrounding a recess, with a plurality of open regions defined in the peripheral lip. A nozzle member is fitted into the interior opening and has a nozzle orifice and nozzle tip protruding into the recess, the nozzle opening configured to allow pressurized air to pass from the connection port through the central opening and through the nozzle orifice into the tub hole and the tub.
Claims17
An air jet for a bathing vessel for holding bathing water, comprising:
- a body portion defining a hollow main body portion having an interior opening, and a connection portion having an air passageway in communication with the interior opening, the connection portion including at least one connection port for attachment to a hose carrying pressurized air, and a flange portion including a flange portion defining a recessed mount surface inside a peripheral lip surrounding a recess, the peripheral lip at a mounting surface side of the body portion and defining a lip edge configured to contact a wall of the vessel, with a plurality of open regions defined in the peripheral lip to allow excess adhesive applied to the mount surface within the recess to escape during installation of the air jet to the wall of the vessel;
- wherein the body portion is a unitary one-piece structure without requiring separate multi-piece portions assembled with annular seals or threads;
- a nozzle member constructed as a separate structure from the unitary one-piece structure of the body portion, the nozzle member configured to be fitted into the interior opening from the mounting surface side of the body portion and seated against a shoulder surface within the interior opening defined by the body portion, the nozzle member having a nozzle orifice and nozzle tip protruding into the recess, the nozzle orifice configured for concentric mounting relative to a single tub hole formed in the wall of the vessel to allow pressurized air to pass from the connection port through the central opening and directly through the nozzle orifice into the single tub hole and into the interior of the vessel, the nozzle tip configured to be in contact with the wall of the vessel surrounding the hole during the installation to prevent flow of adhesive into the hole during the installation, and wherein the nozzle member is fixed in position within the separate unitary structure of the body portion during use.
An air jet for a bathing vessel for holding bathing water, comprising:
- a body portion defining a hollow main body portion having an interior opening, and a connection portion having an air passageway in communication with the interior opening, the connection portion including at least one connection port for attachment to a hose carrying pressurized air, and a flange portion including a flange portion defining a recessed mount surface inside a peripheral lip surrounding a recess, the peripheral lip at a mounting surface side of the body portion and defining a lip edge configured to contact a wall of the vessel, with a plurality of open regions defined in the peripheral lip to allow excess adhesive applied to the mount surface within the recess to escape during installation of the air jet to the wall of the vessel;
- wherein the body portion is a unitary one-piece structure without requiring separate multi-piece portions assembled with annular seals or threads, and the hollow main body portion and the first and second connection portions define a T-shaped air jet configuration;
- a nozzle member constructed as a separate structure from the unitary one-piece structure of the body portion, the nozzle member configured to be fitted into the interior opening from the mounting surface side of the body portion and seated against a shoulder surface within the interior opening defined by the body portion, the nozzle member having a nozzle orifice and nozzle tip protruding into the recess, the nozzle orifice configured for concentric mounting relative to a single tub hole formed in the wall of the vessel to allow pressurized air to pass from the connection port through the central opening and directly through the nozzle orifice into the single tub hole and into the interior of the vessel, the nozzle tip configured to be in contact with the wall of the vessel surrounding the hole during the installation to prevent flow of adhesive into the hole during the installation, and wherein the nozzle member is fixed in position within the separate unitary structure of the body portion during use;
- wherein the first and second connection portions define compound angles relative to a center axis of the main body portion and define a “V” shaped configuration relative to each other, and wherein the compound angle provides a self-draining effect when the air jet is mounted to the side of the vessel with the first and second connection portions disposed upward directions;
- and
- wherein no air jet attachment features are visible from the interior of the vessel.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.