Faucet with Self-Locking Threaded Engagement

Abstract

A faucet (10) includes a faucet body (12) having an inlet member (17), an outlet member (14), and a fitting (15) connecting the inlet member (17) and the outlet member (14), and a handle assembly (11) rotatably securable to the faucet body (12), the handle assembly (11) includes a valve element (13) and a handle body (19) having a plurality of segmented threads (33) at angular positions at an inner surface (19b) of the handle body (19) for engaging with an external thread (32) of the fitting (15). Aself-locking mechanism is provided on the fitting (15) for rotation about an axis of the fitting (15) that permits rotation of the handle assembly relative to the faucet body (12) in one direction and prevents rotation of the handle assembly (11) relative to the faucet body in an opposite direction.