| 摘要 |
<p>A miniature diverter valve cartridge adapted to be received in a well in the side of a solid casing incorporated into a faucet assembly which includes a handspray unit. The diverter valve cartridge is positioned adjacent to the outlet port of the faucet assembly. The cartridge includes a housing and a piston shaft mounted in the housing for reciprocal movement, with a piston and a cup valve mounted on opposite ends of the shaft. The cup valve controls water flow to the spout of the faucet assembly. When the handspray is turned off, water pressure builds up within the interior of the cartridge in a manner such that the cup valve is moved off its seat to establish water flow to the spout. However, when the handspray unit is operated, water from the interior of the diverter valve flows into a passage leading to the handspray unit, and also into a further compartment on the opposite side of the piston. A differential pressure is created, so that the pressure in the inner compartment of the cartridge forces the piston to a position which causes the cup valve to seat securely against the housing and block the flow of water to the spout, with water flow passing through an output passage through the casing to the handspray unit. The pressure differential is achieved by providing a notch in an annular rim portion of the housing separating the inner compartment from the further compartment, the notch having a selected size to create sufficient pressure differential across the piston when the handspray unit is operated to force the valve in a direction firmly to close the cup valve on its seat. The size of the notch is made sufficiently large so that particle contaminants may flow easily through the cartridge, and into the handspray passage so as to avoid clogging of the cartridge valve. 16</p> |
