The buttons seem magical. You press here and invisible connections make something happen elsewhere. But “magical” probably isn’t how I would describe most public fountains.
In today’s digital era, it sometimes feels like the hardware has become secondary to the software that controls our devices. Button of the Month is a column dedicated to the physical components of our phones, tablets, controllers and more.
Who among us hasn’t walked up to a drinking fountain expecting a bubbling stream of life-giving water, only to be crushed by the disappointment of a meager trickle after pressing that button?
But I’m starting to think it’s not the drink button’s fault; these are actually some of the most elegant buttons on the market. This is one of the few remaining buttons that, when pressed, directly and mechanically controls the outcome. They are over a hundred years old. And all the action happens within one inch of the button itself.
Photo Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
When you push this metal disc inward with your thumb, you also press the button below the button, which opens the spout inside the spout. There is a seal inside that blocks the flow of water when the button sticks out and releases it when pressed. Pressing down displaces the seal that usually covers the small waterspout inside the mechanism, allowing water to pass through. You can then move freely, fill the tap and shoot the fountain at a rate of approximately 0.4 gallons per minute.
Sounds simple, right? But the genius of the drinking fountain button is that it can be repaired modularly. The entire mechanism is part of a self-contained cartridge that can be easily removed and replaced.
You press button 16, which opens a tiny tap 22 that normally blocks the flow of water from inlet 30. It fires around the corners and out through 34. When released, 38 is a return spring that pushes the button back. Photo: Haws Corporation (USPTO)
A quick patent search shows that the cartridge idea dates back to at least the late 1950s, and today drinking fountain manufacturers have all but standardized it. “Three of our four competitors use the same cartridge,” says Bill Epker, a 45-year veteran of Haws Corporation, the company that began building and patenting drinking fountain technology in 1906. Whether you’re looking at a button or a push-button or even one of those little silver buttons on the faucet head, they almost all have the same cartridge inside, Epker says.
Drinking fountains didn’t always have buttons. Haws’ original 1906 design was to squeeze a set of tong-like handles, similar to an earlier 1897 design by the Hyde Fountain Company. Many of the first drinking fountains had no controls at all – in Portland, Oregon, there are still over a hundred “bubblers” that independently supply water for 18 hours a day.
A 1912 survey of 15 different types of “sanitary fountain” found not a single button, only levers, knobs, an optional foot pedal, and always-on types. One 1911 patent application suggests that this is because buttons are expensive: “The opposition to push-in valves has hitherto been at their expense.”
In the early 20th century, “sanitary fountains” were popularized to prevent the spread of disease; earlier types had a “common cup” that everyone shared. Modifications came quickly when scientists discovered that vertical jets and a spout that fit in the mouth were also not the best for public health. Photo: The American City, Volume 6 (Google Books)
But drinking fountain giant Halsey Taylor at least imagined the button in his first patent in 1912, and by 1928 it seems to have definitely caught on: a patent from that year states that drinking fountains were “usually equipped with buttons “. open the valves – only without the cartridge part.
Why were levers replaced with buttons? Haws, which didn’t actually switch to the technology until 1984, says maintenance became much easier when cartridge systems became available. The modern ones even have dedicated filters to prevent the internal components from clogging up so quickly, and a screwdriver slot that allows anyone with a small screwdriver to adjust the spray height – changing the maximum distance the seal moves away from the internal water port.
Exploded view of the Haws Fountain Button – including the spring loaded cartridge valve and retaining ring holding the outer button.
They’re also harder to destroy because they don’t have a lever to break off and have a silver (or copper) disk cover that simply spins in place if you try to twist it. However, they can still be easily repaired: Haws patented a version in 2006 that allows a service technician to easily remove the button and access the cartridge with one special key.
But ironically, it’s the lack of even this basic maintenance that turns bubblers into dribblers, Josh Linn, Haws’ technical product manager, tells me. Many people just need to clean the strainer or adjust the height screw, he says. One of the business owners used to carry a small screwdriver with him wherever he went to fix a dripping fountain. Epker says that if you want to try it yourself, the largest option is a 1/8-inch flat-tip screwdriver.
Not that you’d have to do that in the US, where shitty public water use is technically against the law! The Americans with Disabilities Act requires them to shoot a jet of water at least four inches high. Additionally, the controls “do not require firm gripping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist,” and no more than five pounds of force can be applied to one hand to operate the fountain.
So before you blame this button, maybe let your local parks department know it needs repairs?
Photo Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Purely physical drinking fountain buttons may not remain forever. Some indoor refrigerated fountains already use microswitches and electromagnets to dispense product, and many water bottle fillers use hands-free sensors instead of buttons. Many people now also choose packaged bottled water, even though most bottled water in the U.S. is re-filtered tap water and is not necessarily purer.
But Haws says now that the Covid-19 pandemic has died down, at least customers have gotten around to buying hands-free sensors for their regular waterers. “I would say people are increasingly going back to mechanical,” says marketing manager Mike Wilhelm. “Fewer things can break, it’s easier to maintain over time.”
For now, the button is simply more reliable.
Credit : www.theverge.com
