Abstract
A sanitary fitting (1) containing an outer housing (2) having a sensor (3), wherein the sensor (3) contains at least a first electrical connector (4), and an inner housing (5) to which a connector assembly (11) having at least one second electrical connector (6) is attached in a detachable manner, wherein the inner housing (5) can be disposed in the outer housing (2) in such a way that the at least one first electrical connector (4) and the at least one second electrical connector (6) form a first electrical plug connection (7).
Claims
1. A sanitary fitting (1), comprising: an outer housing (2) having a sensor (3), wherein the sensor (3) comprises at least a first electrical connector (4), and an inner housing (5) to which a connector assembly (11), having at least one second electrical connector (6), is attached in a detachable manner, wherein the inner housing (5) can be disposed in the outer housing (2) in such a way that the at least one first electrical connector (4) and the at least one second electrical connector (6) form a first electrical plug connection (7).
2. The sanitary fitting (1) according to claim 1, wherein the inner housing (5) has a seat (17) into which the connector assembly (11) can be inserted.
3. The sanitary fitting (1) according to claim 2, wherein the seat (17) is disposed on a circumferential surface (30) of the inner housing (5).
4. The sanitary fitting (1) according to claim 2, wherein the connector assembly (11) can be inserted into the seat (17) in a longitudinal direction (10) of the inner housing (5).
5. The sanitary fitting (1) according to claim 2, wherein the seat (17) has an opening (20) for a cable (19) of the connector assembly (11).
6. The sanitary fitting (1) according to claim 1, wherein a fastening element (12) of the sanitary fitting (1) is used to attach the connector assembly (11) to the inner housing (5).
7. The sanitary fitting (1) according to claim 6, wherein the fastening element (12) is a nut into which a threaded bolt (31) can be screwed for attaching the sanitary fitting (1).
8. The sanitary fitting (1) according to claim 6, wherein the fastening element (12) can be inserted into the inner housing (5).
9. The sanitary fitting (1) according to claim 6, wherein the fastening element (12) has a retaining lug (18) that attaches the connector assembly (11) in the seat (17).
10. The sanitary fitting (1) according to claim 1, wherein the connector assembly (11) has a third electrical connector (21), which can be used to electrically connect the connector assembly (11) to at least one functional unit (13) of the sanitary fitting (1).
Description
[0021] The invention and the technical environment are explained in more detail below with reference to the Figures. It should be noted that the Figures show a particularly preferred embodiment variant of the invention, but the invention is not limited thereto. The same reference signs are used for the same components in the Figures. In an exemplary and schematic manner
[0022] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a sanitary fitting;
[0023] FIG. 2 shows a view of an outer housing of the sanitary fitting;
[0024] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an inner housing of the sanitary fitting; and
[0025] FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of a part of the sanitary fitting.
[0026] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the sanitary fitting 1. The sanitary fitting comprises an outer housing 2, on which a sensor 3 is disposed. In the embodiment variant shown here, the sensor 3 is an infrared sensor, which is used to control the dispensing of a liquid through an outlet opening 22 of the outer housing 2. The outer housing 2 has an installation opening 23 at a longitudinal end 24, from which the outer housing 2 extends tubular in a longitudinal direction 10.
[0027] FIG. 2 shows a view into the outer housing 2 through the installation opening 23. In particular, the sensor 3, which is attached to an inner circumferential surface 25 of the outer housing 2, can be seen here. The sensor 3 comprises a first electrical connector 4 at a sensor housing 26. In this case, the first electrical connector 4 is designed in the manner of a socket having 4 contact openings 27. The contact openings 27 are electrically connected to a printed circuit board 28 of the sensor 3, which comprises a microprocessor 29.
[0028] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an inner housing 5 of the sanitary fitting 1 of FIG. 1. A threaded bolt 31 can be used to attach the inner housing 5 to a support not shown here, for instance to a worktop or a sink. Subsequently, the installation opening 23 of the outer housing 2 of the sanitary fitting 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be pushed onto the inner housing 5 and attached to the inner housing 5. For this purpose, the inner housing 5 is mainly cylindrical in shape and has a circumferential surface 30, the outer diameter of which largely matches an inner diameter of the outer housing 2. The circumferential surface 30 comprises a guide 9, which is formed in the manner of a groove extending in the longitudinal direction 10 of the inner housing 5 in this instance. The guide 9 can be used to plug the outer housing 2 onto the inner housing 5 in a predetermined orientation. Cold water can be supplied to the inner housing 5 via a cold-water line 32 and hot water via a hot-water line 33. The cold water and hot water are supplied to a mixing valve 16 inside the inner housing 2 via fluid ducts not shown here, which mixing valve is designed in the manner of a mixing shaft having an outer mixing contour in this case. The mixing valve 16 can be used to mix the cold water and the hot water to form a mixed water having a desired mixed water temperature. The mixing shaft can be rotated around an axis of rotation to set the mixed water temperature. For this purpose, the sanitary fitting 1 shown in FIG. 1 may have a lever by means of which the mixing valve 16 can be operated by a user of the sanitary fitting 1. The mixed water can then be fed to the outlet opening 22 of the outer housing 2 shown in FIG. 1 via a liquid channel 15. A functional unit 13 in the form of a valve 14, which in this case is a solenoid valve, is disposed in the fluid duct 15. The valve 14 can be used to control the dispensing of the liquid through the sanitary fitting 1.
[0029] A connector assembly 11 having a second electrical connector 6 is detachably attached to the inner housing 5. The second electrical connector 6 is a plug having 4 contact pins 34 in this case. When the outer housing 2, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is fitted onto the inner housing 5, the first electrical connector 4 of the sensor 3 shown in FIG. 2 and the second electrical connector 6 of the connector assembly 11 form a first electrical plug-connection 7 shown in FIG. 4. Furthermore, the connector 11 is connected to the valve 14 via a cable 19. For this purpose, the cable 19 has a third electrical connector 21 for forming a second electrical plug-connection 35 with the connector element 11, such that the cable 19 is detachably connected to the connector 11. The connector 11 is inserted into a seat 17 of the inner housing 5 such that the connector 11 is flush with the circumferential surface 30 of the housing 5.
[0030] FIG. 4 shows an area of the sanitary fitting 1 after the outer housing 2 has been pushed onto the inner housing 5 in a sectional view along the sectional line IV-IV shown in FIG. 2. The outer housing 2 is attached to the inner housing 5 by means of a screw 38. The first electrical connector 4 of the sensor 3 and the second electrical connector 6 of the connector assembly 11 form a first electrical plug-connection 7 in this case. It electrically connects the sensor 3 to the valve 14 such that the microprocessor 29 of the sensor 3 shown in FIG. 2 can control the valve 14. The valve 14 is located in a fluid duct 15 that leads from the mixing valve 16 to the discharge opening 22 shown in FIG. 1. The connector assembly 11 is fitted into the seat 17 of the inner housing 5 and a fastening element 12 is used to attach it in the seat 17. The seat 17 has an opening 20 through which a power supply line 39 can be fed to the connector assembly 11. Electrical energy can be supplied to the sensor 3 and/or the valve 4 from an energy source, for instance a battery or a power supply unit, through the energy supply line 39. The fastening element 12 is inserted into the inner housing 5 through a side opening 36 of the inner housing 5, such that a retaining lug 18 holds the connector assembly 11 in the seat 17 in a form-fitting manner. The retaining lug 18 extends in a circumferential direction 37 of the fastening element 12 and contacts the connector assembly 11 at a blocking surface 8. In addition to the connector assembly 11, the fastening element 12 also attaches the cold-water line 32 and the hot-water line 33 shown in FIG. 3 to the inner housing 5. Furthermore, the threaded bolt 31 is screwed into the fastening element 12, which can be used to attach the sanitary fitting 1 to a support not shown here.
[0031] The present invention permits functional units of a sanitary fitting to be maintained without risk of damage to electrical connections between sensors and the functional units, and permits the electrical connections to be adapted to the needs of different sensors.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0032] 1 sanitary fitting [0033] 2 outer housing [0034] 3 sensor [0035] 4 first electrical connector [0036] 5 inner housing [0037] 6 second electrical connector [0038] 7 first electrical plug connection [0039] 8 blocking surface [0040] 9 guide [0041] 10 longitudinal direction [0042] 11 connector assembly [0043] 12 fastening element [0044] 13 functional unit [0045] 14 valve [0046] 15 fluid duct [0047] 16 mixing valve [0048] 17 seat [0049] 18 retaining lug [0050] 19 cable [0051] 20 opening [0052] 21 third electrical connector [0053] 22 outlet opening [0054] 23 installation opening [0055] 24 longitudinal end [0056] 25 inner circumferential surface [0057] 26 sensor housing [0058] 27 contact openings [0059] 28 printed circuit board [0060] 29 microprocessor [0061] 30 circumferential surface [0062] 31 threaded bolt [0063] 32 cold-water line [0064] 33 hot-water line [0065] 34 contact pin [0066] 35 second electrical plug connection [0067] 36 lateral opening [0068] 37 circumferential direction [0069] 38 screw [0070] 39 energy supply line
