Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E03—WATER SUPPLY; SEWERAGE
  • E03D—WATER-CLOSETS OR URINALS WITH FLUSHING DEVICES; FLUSHING VALVES THEREFOR
  • E03D1/00—Water flushing devices with cisterns ; Setting up a range of flushing devices or water-closets; Combinations of several flushing devices
  • E03D1/02—High-level flushing systems
  • E03D1/14—Cisterns discharging variable quantities of water also cisterns with bell siphons in combination with flushing valves
  • E03D1/142—Cisterns discharging variable quantities of water also cisterns with bell siphons in combination with flushing valves in cisterns with flushing valves

Definitions

• This invention relates to a device for closets of the type that comprises a flushing water cistern with an outlet in a bottom, an upper opening that is coverable by a. detachable lid, and a regulating mechanism being arranged to close and open the outlet, which mechanism comprises a valve body and a shaft provided with a first gripping element, which shaft extends through a hole in the cover lid, in order to make possible a lifting of the valve body from the outlet so as to provide a flushing of the closet bowl, the device comprising a tube-shaped container that is open at the bottom and has on one hand one or several inlets for water from a surrounding space in the cistern, and on the other hand a tube which at one end is wider than the shaft and at the other end is narrower than the hole in the lid, and which at the top has a second gripping element that, when lifting, carries the appurtenant tube as well as the shaft in an upward motion.
• a very common type of closets comprises a regulating mechanism whose shaft is guided by a U-shaped clamp turned upside-down, which clamp comprises two vertical legs, which are accomodated on a sealing ring adjacent to the bottom outlet, and which at the top are jointly connected via a horizontal intermediate piece with a central hole and a tube sticking up from said hole, in which tube the shaft is mounted and vertically movable.
• the valve body comprises a deformable rubber body (bladder) having the shape of a downwardly tapering frustrum of a cone. In the closing position, this part of the valve body is downwardly introduced into the bottom outlet and bears against the sealing ring that surrounds the upper edge of the outlet. Since a long time, it is known to construct closets with an economizing flushing function. Examples of closets having an economizing flushing function are found in DE 2 514 443, SE 7403731-8, WO 91/15638, US 5 502 846 and DE 2 619 585.
• a primary object of the invention is to create an economizing flushing device in the form of a separate supplement that may be mounted in a simple and rational way into the cisterns of existing closets.
• Another object is to provide an economizing flush- ing device, whose emptying capacity in connection with the economizing flushing may be varied all according to the wishes of the buyer.
• the invention aims at providing an economizing flushing device that is suited for being used in such closets known per se that comprise a fixed, U-shaped clamp for guiding of the valve shaft. It is also an object to provide an economizing flushing device that is constructively simple and, thereby, inexpensive to manufacture. Further, the device shall in a simple way be capable of being adjusted to closets of different shapes and dimensions.
• the economizing flushing device that is shown and described in the above-mentioned DE 2 514 443, is impossible to use as a separate supplement for existing closets.
• the lower part of the downwardly open container of the device requires a special sealing ring, whose outside seals against the bottom outlet of the cistern and whose inside is shaped with a conical seat for an internal valve body that is connected with the shaft of the regulating mechanism.
• Fig. 1 is a partly transparent perspective view of a closet whose cistern comprises an economizing flushing device according to the invention, inserted as a separate supplement
• Fig. 2 is a perspective exploded view illustrating only the device per se according to the invention
• Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the cistern of the closet, illustrating a first step in connection with the mounting of the device according to the invention into the cistern
• Fig. 4 is a section corresponding to Fig. 3 showing a second step during the mounting
• Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the cistern in a starting state, in which the same is completely filled with water
• Fig. 1 is a partly transparent perspective view of a closet whose cistern comprises an economizing flushing device according to the invention, inserted as a separate supplement
• Fig. 2 is a perspective exploded view illustrating only the device per se according to the invention
• Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the cistern of
• FIG. 6 is a section showing the cistern after terminated full flushing
• Fig. 7 is a section showing an introductory stage during an economizing flushing operation
• Fig. 8 is a corresponding section illustrating a terminating stage of the economizing flushing operation
• Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a closet with an alternative embodiment of an economizing flushing device according to the invention
• Fig. 10 is a perspective exploded view of only the economzing flushing device per se, in the closet according to Fig.
• Fig. 1 a closet that, in a conventional manner, besides a stool 1, comprises a water cistern 2.
• the cistern includes a bottom 3, a wall part 4 and an upper part 5, in which there is an upper opening 6 that is coverable by means of a detachable lid 7.
• an outlet 8 in the form of a vertical, cylindrical canal, via which water from the interior of the cistern may be flushed into the closet bowl.
• a regulating mechanism is mounted in the existing closet already since its manufacturing, the main component of said mechanism being a cone-like valve body 9.
• this valve body may be composed of an upper part 9' of metal and a lower part 9" of elastic nature, e.g., a rubber bladder, which substantially has the shape of a downwardly tapering frustrum of a cone.
• the largest diameter of the lower part 9" is larger than the diameter of the outlet canal 8, while the smallest diameter is at least somewhat smaller than the diameter of the canal.
• the part 9" may be lowered a bit into the outlet canal and seal against the upper edge of the latter.
• a sealing ring 10 e.g. a rubber ring, which is permanently fixed on the bottom 3, e.g. by gluing.
• a U-shaped clamp 11 turned upside-down is connected with the ring 10, which clamp comprises two side-legs 12, 12' and an upper intermediate part 13.
• the intermediate part 13 is a central hole (not visible) from which extends a fixed tube 14 in a direction upwards from the clamp.
• a shaft 15 is connected with the valve body 9, which shaft down at its lower part may have the shape of a small rod, which at its upper part transposes into a somewhat larger upper part (not shown) that is inserted into the tube 14.
• the sticking-up tube 14 that is fixed to the clamp forms a guiding tube for the shaft 15.
• a first gripping element 16 is connected with the upper end of the shaft 15, e.g. in the form of a pull knob. When the shaft is lifted by means of the pull knob, the valve body 9 is distanced from the seat that is formed by the ring 10 and the upper edge of the outlet canal 8, whereby water in the cistern may be flushed out.
• the supplying of necessary fresh water is accomplished via a tube 17 that is connected to the regular consumption water system of the housing in question, which tube at its upper part has a valve 17' whose opening and closing are controlled by a float in the form of a floating body 19 arranged on a pivotable lever 19.
• this float valve closes an upper opening in the tube 17 when the cistern has been filled to a desired upper level (see Fig. 5), but opens the same opening when the cistern is emptied (see Fig. 6) .
• an overflow protection in the form of an open tube 20 that has an upper end situated at a certain level above the maximal filling limit determined by the float valve.
• Fig. 2 illustrates a first embodiment of a device provided as a separate supplement accord- ing to the invention.
• the device comprises a downwardly open, pot-like container 21, which at its bottom has a cylindrical wall 22 and at its top an upper wall 23 with the shape of a frustrum of a cone. The latter wall transposes into an upper planar roof wall 24.
• the lower, cylindrical wall 22 has an inside diameter that is at least somewhat larger than the distance between the outsides of the clamp legs 12, 12' and preferably also larger than the outside diameter of the sealing ring 10. In this way, the lower edge 25 of the wall part 22 may be borne against the planar upper side of the bottom 3. It is axiomatic that the diameter of the cylinder wall 22 is larger than the diameter of the outlet canal 8.
• one or several apertures 26, 26' are provided in the bottom part of the container 21, which apertures serve as inlets for water from the space in the cistern that surrounds the container. More specifically, the inlet apertures 26, 26' are located near the lower edge 25 of the container. According to the shown, preferred embodiment, the apertures consist of recesses that are open downwardly. In other words, the inlet apertures form interruptions or castellations in the lower edge portion of the container. However, in this context it may be pointed out that the inlet apertures could also consist of low-located through-holes which on all sides are delimited by the surrounding wall material.
• the size of the inlet apertures 26, 26' can be varied all according to the wishes of the purchaser. As may be more clearly understood below, it applies that the amount of flushing liquid at economizing flushing increases with an increasing surface of the inlet aperture (s) and vice-versa.
• the apertures in question may be formed already in connection with the production of the container, preferably by punching according to an order to measure by the buyer.
• each individual evacuation hole 27 is diminutive (e.g., with a diameter within the range 5 to 10 mm) .
• the recess is a central hole 28. Downwardly from this hole extends a sleeve 29 of a pronoun- ced length. In practice, the length of the sleeve may amount to 15 to 25% of the axial extension of the container 21.
• This sleeve has the purpose of accomodating a lower part of a tube 30, which has an outside diameter that is smaller than the diameter of a central hole in the cover lid 7, and an inside diameter that is somewhat larger than the outside diameter of the guiding tube 14 for the shaft 15.
• the lower part of the tube 30 is formed with connection means 31 arranged to cooperate with one or several connection means adjacent to the hole 28 and the sleeve 29.
• connection means 31 consist of a plurality of conically tapering, ring- shaped cams whose cone surfaces taper downwards.
• the connection means 32 may consist of a conical, downwardly tapering hole-edge surface connecting on to the roof wall 24. By means of these connecting means, the tube 31 may be fixed at a . desired level relative to the roof wall 24, after having been pressed down into the sleeve.
• the tube 30 has elastically resilient fingers 33 with locking shoulders, which may be snapped-in to a ring 34 being comprised in a second gripping element generally designated 35.
• this second gripping element 35 comprises two diametrically opposed wings 36 that stick out from the ring 34. The element may be gripped and lif- ted by applying two fingers under the wings.
• Fig. 3 and 4 show how the device according to the invention may be mounted in an empty cistern.
• the device is a separate supplement that may be mounted into an existing closet.
• the existing first gripping element 16 is removed from the upper end of the valve shaft 15 together with a locking nut (not shown) , whereby the cover lid 7 may be freely removed from the opening 6.
• the container 21 is set down on to the bottom 3 of the cistern, in the position as shown in Fig. 3, after which the lid 7 is remounted upon the upper part of the cistern.
• the tube 30 With the gripping element 35 snapped-in at its upper end, the tube 30 is then introduced through the hole in the lid 7, to finally be pressed down into the sleeve 29. More specifically, this pressing-down is effected to such a level that the ring 34 of the gripping element 35 bears against the upper side of the lid. Depending upon the height of the cistern, the lower end of the tube 30 may then be located at different levels relative to the roof wall 24 of the container 21. However, since the connection means 31 are present along a considerable part of the tube, an automatic fixing of the tube relative to the container takes place at the desired level position as soon as the gripping element 35 has reached the lid.
• the pull knob 16 is tightened on the upper, threaded end of the shaft 15, as indicated in Fig. 4.
• Fig. 5 to 8 illustrate the two main functions of the device according to the invention.
• Fig. 5 the cistern is shown filled with water. More spe- cifically, the space outside the container 21 as well as the space within the container are water-filled. The valve body 9 seals against its seat and shuts the outlet canal 8.
• Fig. 6 the cistern and the device according to the invention are shown in a final step of so called full flushing.
• the gripping element 35 has been lifted by two fingers to an upper position, in which the container 21 has been distanced from the cistern bottom 3. Since the gripping element 35 during its upward motion carries the pull knob 16, also the shaft 15 and the appurtenant valve body 9 are con- ferred an upward motion, during which the valve body is distanced from the seat. This involves that water by its own weight may be freely flushed down into the outlet canal 8. In other words, the cistern may be completely emptied of its content of flush water.
• Fig. 7 and 8 two different steps of an economizing flushing operation are shown.
• the pull knob 16 is lifted to an upper end position, in which only the shaft 15 as such and the appurtenant valve body 9 are lifted up to an upper end position.
• the valve body 9 is distanced from the appurtenant seat. This involves that water from the space of the cistern that surrounds the container 21 can flow into the interior of the container, at the same time as the original content of water in the container can fall down freely into the outlet canal 8, by its own weight. Simultaneously therewith, air flows from the canal 8 up into the container, while an air cushion 37 is created in the upper part of the container.
• the amount of flush water may be determined to, e.g., 1,5 liters.
• the amount of flush water may be increased to, e.g., the range of 2 to 3 liters, all according to the wishes of the purchaser.
• the container When an economizing flushing operation has been terminated, the container contains an air cushion that occupies the major part of the volume of the container.
• the air in this air cushion is evacuated gradually via the afore-mentioned hole 27, whereby not only the cistern but also the container may be refilled to the state as shown in Fig. 5.
• Fig. 9 and 10 show an alternative embodiment of the device according to the invention. Characteristic for this embodiment is that the container 21 is made of a thin, elastically formable plate that has been formed into a cylinder, in that two opposed side-edge portions 21', 21" have been laid in an overlapping way.
• an endless element 38 is applied outside the cylindrically shaped plate.
• said plate may consist of plastic, while the endless element 38 preferrably consists of a shape-rigid ring of metal that has a considerable weight.
• the ring 38 is included in a series of rings with different diameters. When the ring 38 has been applied outside the container plate, the same is held in place already as a consequence of the tensile force that the elastic plate exerts against the inside of the ring.
• the ring may also be fixed in a suitable manner, e.g., by gluing.
• the container 21 is connected with the tube 30 that carries the other gripping element 35 via at least two elastically formable strips 39 which have means for controlling the level difference between the tube and the container.
• the upper parts of the strips 39 are fastened at a flange 40 at the lower end of the tube 30.
• the tube 30 is considerably shorter than the corresponding tube according to the previously described embodi- ment .
• said regulating means consist of wedge- shaped cams 41 which may be pulled upwards through slots in the flange 40, but not downwards. After the desired level difference between the upper part of the container and the flange 40 has been established, the sticking-up portions of the strips may be cut away.
• the strips are one or several male means 42, which may be snapped into holes 43 in the container. These holes 43 are included in a series of holes that are laterally separated. In this way, it is possible to fasten the strips at two diametrically opposed points, independently of the chosen diameter of the container.
• the container may be formed with a plurality of hole series that are separated vertically, it being possible to vary the level difference between the container and the tube 30 by fastening the male element 42 into holes located at diffe- rent heights.
• the device according to Fig. 9 and 10 functions substantially in the same way as the device according to Fig. 1 to 8.
• economizing flushing which is effected by pulling up the first gripping element 16, as described - the valve body 9 is lifted to an upper position within the container 21, whereby water from the interior of the cistern flows in through the lower apertures 26, 26' .
• a negligible amount of water flows down through the annular slot between the periphery of the valve body and the inside of the container 21.
• the necessary hole in the upper part of the container has the shape of a full- large opening, i.e., the container is entirely open upwards.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Hydrology & Water Resources (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Water Supply & Treatment (AREA)
• Sanitary Device For Flush Toilet (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20413194

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (2)

Citations (3)

• 1998
  • 1998-11-05 SE SE9803786A patent/SE513108C2/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1999
  • 1999-10-25 AU AU14304/00A patent/AU1430400A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1999-10-25 WO PCT/SE1999/001926 patent/WO2000028162A1/en not_active Ceased

Patent Citations (3)

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