CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This patent application claims the benefit of priority to Great Britain Patent Application No. 1518802.2, filed on Oct. 23, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This patent disclosure relates generally to nozzles and, more particularly, though not exclusively, nozzles for showers.

BACKGROUND

Emergency shower systems must provide effective and reliable emergency washing capabilities. Accordingly, they are typically required, by regulation, to output a minimum, or a specified, rate of water flow in use. This specified rate must be the rate as measured when the emergency shower system has in place the shower nozzle which will be used in the general emergency use of the shower.

This means that it is important to be able to accurately measure the rate of water flow in an emergency shower system in order to ensure that it will properly perform its function when needed in an emergency. Such a measurement is typically performed by directly collecting all of the water output from the shower when operated constantly for a specified collection period of time. The measured flow rate is then determined by dividing the collected volume of water by the collection period. Attempting to accurately collect all of the water output from a fully-assembled and ready-to-use emergency shower system can be extremely messy and difficult. This is because a shower unit necessarily produces a shower of water at a height typically of at least six feet (e.g., sufficient height to enable a man to stand underneath the shower head in use). Water emanating from the shower head can be difficult to collect hilly for measurement and some may be lost, rendering any water flow rate measurements highly inaccurate. Persons attempting to measure the flow rate may also become wet during the process.

It will be appreciated that this background description has been created by the inventors to aid the reader, and is not to be taken as an indication that any of the indicated problems were themselves appreciated in the art. While the described principles can, in some aspects and embodiments, alleviate the problems inherent in other systems, it will be appreciated that the scope of the protected innovation is defined by the attached claims, and not by the ability of any disclosed feature to solve any specific problem noted herein.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a shower nozzle assembly includes a shower nozzle, a nozzle attachment, and a bayonet connector. The shower nozzle has a water inlet opening and a water outlet part spaced from the water inlet opening, with the water outlet opening being configured to direct a flow of water out of the shower nozzle. The nozzle attachment has a through bore configured to receive the water outlet part therein. The bayonet connection is operative to secure the nozzle attachment to the shower nozzle, and includes a radial projection and a female bayonet receptor part configured to receive the radial projection therein to secure the shower nozzle to the nozzle attachment.

In another aspect, a kit of parts includes a shower nozzle and a nozzle attachment. The shower nozzle includes a water outlet part for directing a flow of water out of the nozzle, and the water outlet part includes an outer surface with a projection extending radially therefrom. The nozzle attachment includes a through bore and a female bayonet receptor part, with the through bore being configured to receive the water outlet part therein and the female bayonet receptor part comprising a longitudinal slot and a circumferential slot. Each slot being configured to receive the radial projection when the water outlet part is inserted into the through bore of the nozzle attachment.

In still another aspect, a shower nozzle is interconnectable to an attachment, with the attachment including a first portion of a bayonet connector. The bayonet connector is configured to fluidly interconnect the shower nozzle and the attachment. The shower nozzle includes a water inlet opening and a water outlet part spaced from the water inlet opening, with the water outlet opening being configured to direct a flow of water out of the shower nozzle. The shower nozzle further includes a second portion of the bayonet connector, with the first portion and the second portion of the bayonet connector being configured to interact to secure the shower nozzle to the attachment.

Further and alternative aspects and features of the disclosed principles will be appreciated from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. As will be appreciated, the hydraulic valves, hydraulic circuits, and methods for controlling hydraulic fluid disclosed herein are capable of being carried out in other and different embodiments, and capable of being modified in various respects. Accordingly, it is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and do not restrict the scope of the appended claims.

