Title of Invention	"FAUCET COUPLER ASSEMBLY"
Abstract	The present invention relates to a novel faucet coupler assembly having lipseal which can expand in conformity with the size of the tap without tearing and a bulb lock mechanism to rigidly couple the adaptor end.

Full Text

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a novel, high corrosion resistant, user friendly faucet coupler assembly for fixing fill hose to the tap in automatic washing machines. More specifically the subject invention relates to a faucet coupler assembly having lipseal which can expand in conformity with the size of the tap without tearing and a bulb lock mechanism to rigidly coupling the adaptor end. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The washing machines are connected to the tap with the faucet coupler. By opening the tap the water flows through the faucet coupler fitted to the tap and through a hose it flows to the machine. In an automatic cycle the machine allows itself to deliver the required water through the faucet and the automatic valve fitted in the machine. Once the required water level reaches in the machine depending upon the selection the valve automatically closes. In the automatic machines the tap need not to be closed every time. So there is always water inside the faucet coupler. Current concept of fixing fill hose of fully automatic washers to the tap is quite cumbersome activity. The existing design of all brands use a similar concept which require some kind of intelligence/experience to fix it. An inexperienced handling of fixing fill hose mostly leads to a service call. There are also few chances of having problem of adjustment in head. Also some of the parts of the coupler are made of steel. As the faucet coupler is always in contact with water, there are failures due to * Salt deposition due to water being salty Rusting of steel parts and hence stuck up of coupler * Damages due to improper handling * Breakage due to aging which is due to constant contact with water. Conventionally used fill hose disconnector design has spring load snap type lock mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 3,124,157 describes a coupler having an actuator mounted at right angles to the coupler body. Moving the actuator first depressurizes the coupler and then further movement decouples the unit from the faucet by expanding a spring retainer. U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,311 discloses a mechanism mounted at right angles to the coupler body. Initial movement of the mechanism depressurizes the coupler and further movement releases a spring based pivoted latch to release the assembly from a faucet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,890 teaches a rotary valve having a single opening is movable for registering the valve opening with an opening associated with a washing machine or an opening associated with an aerator which discharges into the sink. Pressure is relieved by lapping the valve hole over the two openings. Coupling and decoupling of the assembly is also accomplished by the rotary valve. U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,743 describes a mechanism which is provided for relieving pressure by pressing the decoupling lever which pivots a relief valve through mechanical linkage. The spring load snap type mechanism is complex in structure and is not easy to handle. Thus it is believed that there always remained a need for a faucet coupler assembly which overcomes the existing drawbacks and provide improved means simplifying the assembly for liquid distribution in washing machines. It is an object of the invention to provide a novel faucet coupler assembly for a washing machine. It is a further object of the invention to provide a user friendly faucet coupler assembly. It is another object of the invention to provide a corrosion resistant faucet coupler assembly. It is yet another object of the invention to provide a bulb lock mechanism in faucet coupler assembly to rigidly couple the coupler body. It is still another object of the invention to provide a leakage proof faucet coupler assembly. The above and other objects are achieved by the present invention. The present invention relates to a faucet coupler assembly in which the parts are made of engineering plastic material and stainless steel. The faucet coupler assembly as developed is user friendly and the customer can fix the coupler body without the help of any technician. The main objective of the faucet coupler assembly is to use lipseal made of polyurethane which can expand in conformity the size of the tap (Max 22 mm) without tearing, while in the existing coupler face sealings are used which are not user friendly. The new faucet coupler assembly has two main assemblies, a tap end connector assembly and a machine end assembly. The tap end assembly have an inlet end connectable to the faucet and machine end assembly having hose connector end connectable to the machine. The mouth of the tap connector assembly is pressed to the tap until the mouth is complete inserted. The screws provided circumferentially are tightened to give complete grip to the tap connector end with tap. A fill hose connector is attached by inserting and rotating into tap connector. The hose connector end Is attached to the machine. Accordingly the present invention relates to a novel faucet coupler assembly comprising : a tap end assembly and a machine end assembly, means for coupling and decoupling the said tap end assembly with the said machine end assembly, said tap end assembly having at its one end an inlet end for water inlet and an adaptor end on the other for coupling the coupler with the adaptor, a circumferential stainless steel seal encircling the said inlet end, an acetal ring placed in between the adaptor and the said stain less steal ring said machine end assembly having a coupler at its one end and connector end on the other and a hose PVC means for connecting the hose PVC to the coupler and the connector end means for preventing the leakage between the adaptor and the coupler, A more complete appreciation of the invention and the attendant advantages thereof will be more clearly understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, which are for illustrative purposes, hence the same should not be construed to restrict the scope of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS Fig. 1 depicts the cross sectional view of the Faucet coupler assembly. Fig. 2 depicts perspective and cross section view of tap end assembly Fig. 3 depicts cross section view of machine end assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown a faucet coupler assembly having in this embodiment two main assemblies namely a tap end assembly (1) and the machine end assembly (2). The tap end assembly has an inlet end (3) connectable to the tap for water inlet and an adaptor end (4) to be coupled to the coupler (11). The machine end assembly (2) is connectable to the washing machine. The tap end assembly (1) comprises of 5 parts, which are polyurethane seal (5) , stainless steel ring (6), stainless steel screws (7), acetal adaptor (8), acetal ring (9), and silicon seal (10). The machine end assembly (2) comprises of nylon coupler(ll), Hose PVC (12), cup crimping (13) and connector machine end (14). The overall diameter of tap end assembly(l) does not exceed 30.5 mm and overall height of the assembly is 85 mm with adaptor assembly of 45 mm approximately. The polyurethane seal (5) is manufactured by 8671 grade thermoplastic polyurethane which has very high elastic and ductile property. Because of this the seal can take any shape of the tap and fit in itself. The seal has 3 sealing lips, which ensures leakage and withstanding of pressure up to 6 bars. The frictional resistance of the material is so high, so that the seal doesn't slip from the Tap. Fig. 2 shows that the seal is encircled radially by outer stainless steel ring (6) towards the tap end (3) and the said stainless steel ring (6) is provided with two stainless steel screws (7) parallely opposite to each other rotably movable in the screw holes to ensures proper clamping with the tap. The polyurethane seal (5) is secured in the acetal adaptor (8) which is manufactured by poly acetal - Celcon M90 grade material, and has very high dimensional stability and creep resistant. The strength, stiffness and toughness are inherent in the material and work over a wide range of temperatures for a very long time. The adaptor (8) is coupled with the seal by press fitting the acetal ring (9).. The adaptor (8) further has a silicon seal (9), which prevents leakage between the adaptor (8) and the nylon coupler (11). The adaptor end (4) of the tap end assembly (1) has at least three L shaped recesses just like an electric bulb holder so that the corresponding projections provided on the coupler(ll) are engaged into said recesses upon rotation. Thus the tap end assembly can be coupled/decoupled by simple mechanical operation. The nylon coupler (11) is thus fitted to the acetal adaptor (8) with a bulb lock mechanism. The coupler (10) is engineered with Nylon material, which is shockproof, abrasion resistant and self-lubricating. As shown in Fig. 3 the coupler (11) is crimped to the hose PVC (12) by cup crimping (13) at one end. These cup crimpings (14) are made of steel. The other end of hose PVC (12) is connected to connector machine end (14) by second cup crimping (13). The connector machine end (14) is fixed to the washing machine by threading and washer machine end (15) acts as a seal to prevent water leakage. Several tests were conducted in the Laboratory to severe field usage conditions of the Faucet coupler and it has been observed that the New Faucet coupler works effectively in the commonly used steel taps for Washing machines. The life is more than 2 years. The pressure test - Withstands upto 4bar pressure Tap fitment test - Suitability checked in steel taps 1/2 From 15 dia - 20dia out side dia 1/2 standard inner dia Pull off force - Passes As there are only Plastic parts the cleaning is easy and handling is also gentle. It is therefore clearly seen the present invention is a clear advantage over the prior faucet coupler assemblies. The invention provides a plurality of L shaped recesses. The corresponding cylindrical projections are provided in the coupler which engage/disengage the coupler into the adapter to lock/unlock the tap end assembly with the machine end assembly. While particular embodiments of the present invention have been iliustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention. We claim: 1. An improved faucet coupler assembly comprising: a tap end assembly (1) having an inlet end (3) connectable to a tap for water inlet and an adaptor end (4), said tap end assembly (1) comprising a polyurethane seal (5), a circumferential stainless steel ring (6) encircling the said inlet end (3), an acetal adaptor (8) and an acetal ring (9) placed in between the adaptor (8) and the said stainless steel ring (6), a machine end assembly comprising a coupler (11) at its one end, a connector end (14), a hose PVC (12) and means for connecting the hose PVC (12) to the coupler (11) and the connector end (14), means for coupling and decoupling the said tap end assembly (1) with the said machine end assembly (2) such that the the coupler (11) is connectable to the adaptor (8), and means for preventing the leakage between the adaptor (8) and the coupler (11). 2. An improved faucet coupler assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said seal (5) has three slipping lips for preventing leakage. 3. An improved faucet coupler assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said stainless steel ring (6) is provided with a pair of parallely opposite stainless steel screws (7) which are rotatably movable in screw grooves to ensure clamping of the said tap end assembly (1) with the tap. 4. An improved faucet coupler assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said adaptor (8) is made of Polyacetal - Celcon material having very high dimensional stability and creep resistance . 5 . An improved faucet coupler assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said coupler (11) is made of stock proof, abrasion resistant nylon material. 6. An improved faucet coupler assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said coupling and decoupling means are bulb locking means. 7. An improved faucet coupler assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said adaptor end (4) has at least three L shaped recesses and the coupler (11) has at least three corresponding cylindrical projections to engage with the said recesses to couple/decouple the tap end assembly (1) with the machine end assembly (2). 8. An improved faucet coupler assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said means for connecting the hose PVC (12) to the coupler (11) and connector end (14) are a pair of cup crimping (13). 9. An improved faucet coupler assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein said cup crimping (13) are made of steel. 10 . An improved faucet coupler assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means for preventing the leakage between the adaptor (8) and the coupler (11) is a seal (10) made of silicon.

Documents:

922-DEL-2003-Abstract-(24-04-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-abstract.pdf

922-DEL-2003-Claims-(24-04-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-claims.pdf

922-del-2003-Correspondence Others-(01-05-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-Correspondence Others-(02-05-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-Correspondence Others-(07-03-2013).pdf

922-DEL-2003-Correspondence Others-(24-04-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-correspondence-others.pdf

922-del-2003-correspondence-po.pdf

922-DEL-2003-Description (Complete)-(24-04-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-description (complete).pdf

922-DEL-2003-Drawings-(24-04-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-drawings.pdf

922-del-2003-Form-1-(01-05-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-Form-1-(02-05-2012).pdf

922-DEL-2003-Form-1-(24-04-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-form-1.pdf

922-del-2003-form-18.pdf

922-del-2003-Form-2-(02-05-2012).pdf

922-DEL-2003-Form-2-(24-04-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-form-2.pdf

922-del-2003-form-3.pdf

922-del-2003-GPA-(02-05-2012).pdf

922-del-2003-gpa.pdf

922-del-2003-Petition-137-(01-05-2012).pdf