This application covers an aerator for a faucet. The aerator includes four principal parts: a disk or diaphragm having a plurality of apertures at its upstream end for converting incoming water into a plurality of jets of water; a substantially cylindrical body having an upper shoulder to support the diaphragm and having apertures to admit air to be mixed with the water jets produced by the diaphragm; and a pair of spaced screens of different dimensions downstream of the diaphragm for additionally mixing and emitting the air and water combination. The incoming air and the water jets developed by the diaphragm are combined and mixed in the space or chamber above the two screens before being discharged through the discharge outlet of the aerator. The diaphragm embodies a so-called "crush ring" positioned peripherally at its upstream end. The crush-ring contacts a flat ring near the end of the faucet spout and, because it is "crushed" or distorted to overcome and absorb irregularities in the end of the spout, it forms a primary obstruction to prevent leakage through the narrow spaces formed by the threaded segments that hold the aerator against the faucet spout. The body also provides additional spaces along its periphery to aspirate water that may be otherwise leaked out of the above-noted threaded portions of the structure and hence such water will be emitted from the downstream discharge end of the aerator, thereby avoiding leakage from the device.
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