Pre-Rinse Spray Face Assembly for Parallel Water Streams

Solution Overview

Problem

Pre-rinse spray valves in commercial kitchens face challenges in maintaining parallel water streams for effective cleaning due to distortion of plastic faceplates under varying water pressure and temperature, leading to reduced cleaning power and increased costs with metal inserts.

Innovation Solution

A pre-rinse spray valve design featuring a spray face assembly with a molded engineering thermoplastic polymer face plate and an overmold attachment, which provides a unitary structure with rubber or thermoplastic elastomeric composition to maintain the integrity of spray holes and prevent distortion, ensuring parallel water streams and efficient cleaning.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a threaded attachment screw is used to secure the faceplate to the valve body, then a watertight seal can be achieved under high pressure and temperature, but the screw tightening distorts the plastic faceplate and bends the spray holes out of alignment

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvewatertight sealVSAvoidspray hole alignment

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The faceplate is divided into two functional parts: a rigid metal insert containing the precisely machined spray holes, and a separate plastic faceplate for sealing. The metal insert is embedded in the plastic faceplate, allowing the sealing function to be separated from the precision spray hole function. This segmentation allows the metal insert to maintain precise hole alignment while the plastic portion provides the watertight seal under pressure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The faceplate uses a composite structure combining metal inserts with plastic material. The metal insert provides dimensional stability and precise spray hole geometry that resists distortion under tightening, while the plastic matrix provides sealing capability. This composite approach allows the assembly to achieve both watertight sealing and maintained spray hole alignment under operating conditions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

2Manufacturing precision

If metal inserts with machined holes are used in the plastic faceplate, then spray hole alignment and stream parallelism are maintained, but manufacturing cost and process complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestream parallelismVSAvoidmanufacturing cost

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The metal insert is integrated into the plastic faceplate during the molding process, combining two materials into a single unified component. The metal insert is placed in a recess within the plastic faceplate, and the plastic is molded around it, creating a single assembly that combines the precision of machined metal holes with the sealing capability of plastic, eliminating the need for separate assembly steps.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The faceplate uses a composite structure combining metal inserts with plastic material. The metal insert provides dimensional stability and precise spray hole geometry that resists distortion under tightening, while the plastic matrix provides sealing capability. This composite approach allows the assembly to achieve both watertight sealing and maintained spray hole alignment under operating conditions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

3Reliability

If the attachment screw is tightened sufficiently to maintain sealing under maximum pressure and temperature, then reliability is improved, but the faceplate distortion and spray hole misalignment are worsened

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesealing under varying pressureVSAvoidfaceplate structural stability

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The faceplate is divided into two functional parts: a rigid metal insert containing the precisely machined spray holes, and a separate plastic faceplate for sealing. The metal insert is embedded in the plastic faceplate, allowing the sealing function to be separated from the precision spray hole function. This segmentation allows the metal insert to maintain precise hole alignment while the plastic portion provides the watertight seal under pressure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The faceplate uses a composite structure combining metal inserts with plastic material. The metal insert provides dimensional stability and precise spray hole geometry that resists distortion under tightening, while the plastic matrix provides sealing capability. This composite approach allows the assembly to achieve both watertight sealing and maintained spray hole alignment under operating conditions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

Data Source

PatentUS11221085B1Pre-rinse spray valve

Publication Date: 2022.01.11 T&S BRASS & BRONZE WORKS INC

AI summary

A pre-rinse spray valve includes a spray face assembly that includes a spray face fixture that includes a face plate and a rear end flange. The face plate defines a plurality of spray holes extending axially through the face plate. Each of the plurality of spray holes is defined in part by a conically diverging surface projecting from the back side of the face plate. Overmold bores are defined through the outer periphery of the face plate. An overmold is a unitary structure that continuously covers a peripheral region of the upper surface of the face plate, a side rim of the face plate and a peripheral ledge of the face plate. The overmold includes cords, and each of the cords threads through a respective one of the overmold bores to permanently attach the overmold to the face plate.