WO2008041048A1 - Concealed wall-embedded toilet tank - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a concealed wall-embedded toilet tank comprising a tank body including a front wall having a window positioned above the maximum water level and a base having a fill port with a fill valve mounted therein and a drain port with a drain valve mounted therein, the latter being controlled by an actuator in order to empty the water from the tank into the toilet. The tank also includes a removable cover which covers the window and in which the aforementioned actuator is installed, said window being sufficiently dimensioned such that the fill and drain valves can be accessed and removed in a substantially horizontal position when being mounted in or removed from the tank. The cover and the actuator are the only visible elements of the tank once it has been built into the wall.

Description

 "HIDDEN TANK FOR TOILETS THAT MOUNT ON A WALL"

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to the techniques employed in the design and manufacture of devices and accessories for toilets, and more particularly, it is related to a hidden tank that is embedded in a wall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As is well known, the bathroom is one of the places in the home where water is most consumed, so that currently one of the guidelines governing the design of toilets is water saving, consequently, the manufacturers of toilets They are focused on providing low-water tanks, quick-fill valves and discharge valves that with a small volume of water allow efficient removal of liquids and / or solids from the toilet.

Simultaneously, current construction trends, especially those that prevail in the design of houses and apartments called "social interest", have considerably reduced the area for bathrooms, leading them to a minimum of space where inhabitants They feel extremely uncomfortable inside them. For example, it is not uncommon that the door that gives access to the bathroom cannot be opened completely, since the door hits the toilet or sink, or, it has been decided to remove the sink from the bathroom so that only The toilet and the shower are inside. Thus, any solution that helps save water or design less bulky bathroom furniture, especially toilets, is an ever present need.

With respect to the toilets, they have associated a tank or water source to eliminate the waste of the same, the tanks must have a filling valve that closes when a certain level of water is reached inside the tank and a discharge valve User operated. A solution that has been proposed so far, either to protect the tanks, to save space, or to protect them against vandalism, has been to place the tanks behind a wall or hide them in them. An example of a hidden tank can be found in the US patent

No. 1, 996,696, where a toilet with a tank hidden in a wall is described, in This document is intended to free up space below and around the toilet, so that the invention focuses on essentially providing a support structure in which the toilet is mounted on the structure and is separated from the floor. In said structure, the tank is hidden, in addition, a plate is used to hide said structure. However, this document does not provide a special design so that, in the tank, a minimum amount of water is used and at the same time it can ensure rapid access to the internal elements of the tank. In this sense, it should not be forgotten that the filling and discharge valves usually break down, replacing them being necessary. In fact, the tank shown in this patent includes a horizontal neck portion that makes it difficult to introduce or remove the internal accessories from the tank.

In the European patent application No. 1 277 891, a tank that is embedded in recesses or cavities is described, the problem to be solved by this document is to provide a tank that can be operated by the front face of the tank or by its upper face , given that the tanks can be operated by one of these faces. In this tank, the internal accessories of the tank can be installed either by the front wall of the tank or by its upper wall. In such a way that the solution for this problem is to provide an associated cover that can be moved and fixed, either towards the front face or towards the upper face and cover these two modes of operation.

However, this document does not make modifications or provide new elements to the tank so that it occupies a minimum of space in the place where it is going to be installed, in fact the use of a guard frame mounted in that opening that is not covered by Ia lid and where a user puts his hand to operate the toilet, said guard increases the volume needed in the wall to install this tank. Another tank of this type and which contemplates solving the same problem, that is, having a recessed tank that can be operated by the upper or lower part thereof, is described in US Patent No. 6,182,302. In the case of this patent, a movable lid is no longer provided, but a closure plate is provided that covers one of the openings of the tank. The other opening through which the tank is operated is protected by a protective frame, which is covered with a cover when the wall is constructed. When the tank is installed, the lid is removed and, through said frame, the tank can be operated to empty the water content of the tank into the toilet. However, a disadvantage of this tank is that there is always the possibility that foreign objects may fall into the tank that impair its operation. A characteristic of said protection frame is that it can be adjusted to the depth of the wall, this means that it is not contemplated to modify the tank to take it to a minimum volume, but rather it is preferred to adjust a component thereof so that it can be installed according to the characteristics of the wall. A common feature of the tanks described and illustrated in EP documents

1, 277,891 and US 6,182,302, is that the filling and discharge valves need to be removed and introduced into the tank in an upright position, since the assembly and removal of these elements inside the tank needs space, and sometimes it is necessary to turn them completely inside the tank. If, in addition to this restriction, the filling valve is operated by ball-type floats, the necessary space inside the tank is even greater and, consequently, an important space in the wall is required to install the tank.

In summary, tanks that are embedded or hidden in the wall of the prior art need a space of considerable dimensions, and so far a tank that occupies a minimum of space and that also allows easy removal and assembly has not been provided of the filling and discharge valves even with a minimum space inside the tank. In addition, there are tanks in which the risk of introducing objects into the tank is always present. So far, a redesign of the tank has not been proposed that minimizes the space required for its installation, but which in turn allows for easy assembly and removal of internal components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the problems of the prior art with respect to the tanks for toilets, a hidden tank for toilets has been developed that is embedded in a wall, which minimizes the space required for the installation of the tank, moreover, the tank It allows a quick installation and removal of the filling and discharge valves inside the tank. The tank of the present invention comprises a tank body formed by a bottom wall, a top wall, side walls, a front wall and a rear wall; of them, the front wall has a window that is located above a maximum level of water inside the tank, while the bottom wall has a filling opening and a discharge opening. Inside the tank, there is a filling valve that detachably joins in the filling opening; and, a discharge valve that detachably joins in the discharge opening. The tank comprises in addition an actuator operatively connected to the discharge valve to actuate it and thus empty the water content towards the toilet; and, a removable cover that covers the window of the front wall and where said actuator is installed.

In the tank, the window is of sufficient size to allow access and removal of the filling valve and the discharge valve in a substantially horizontal position either for installation or removal of the interior of the tank body when

The lid is removed; Ia which together with the actuator are the only visible elements of the tank when it is installed in a cavity or recess formed in a wall. The tank in operation is essentially closed, since the actuator is mounted on the lid, the tank body is made of an injection moldable material, preferably polyethylene.

The window is provided in the upper part of the front wall and has a rectangular shape whose longer sides are horizontal and extend from side to side on the front wall, while the shorter sides of the window have a sufficient height to allow the filling valve and the discharge valve to pass through the window in a horizontal position.

In a preferred embodiment, the tank includes a first mounting base to install the discharge valve, and a second mounting base to install the filling valve. Said bases are designed in such a way that with only a small movement not exceeding 90 °, said valves can be installed or removed from their respective mounting bases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The novel aspects that are considered characteristic of the present invention will be established with particularity in the appended claims. However, the hidden tank for toilets of the present invention, together with other objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood in the following detailed description, when read in relation to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wall where a toilet is installed using the tank of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA 'of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a front view of the wall and the toilet shown in Figure 1. Figure 4 is a front and fragmented view of the toilet tank of Figure 1, the tank being constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the tank constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the actuator and the filling and discharge valves have been removed for clarity purposes.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B 'of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a bottom plan view of the tank shown in Figure 4. Figure 8 is an enlarged view of the discharge valve used in the tank of Figure 4

Figure 9 is an enlarged view of the filling valve used in the tank of Figure 4

Figure 10 is a side and exploded view of the filling valve illustrated in Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C in the filling valve illustrated in Figure 9.

Figure 12 is a top plan view of the union nut that is part of the second mounting base where the filling valve of Figure 9 is installed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With particular reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated a brick wall 1, where a toilet 3 is installed, which uses as a water source a concealed tank 10 that is embedded in a recess 4 formed in the wall 1. As it is observed, the tank 10 is vertically separated from the toilet 3 to provide sufficient hydrostatic pressure to dislodge the waste from the toilet 3. The tank 10 is fed by a pipeline feed 5 and its contents are discharged to the toilet 3 via a discharge pipe 6.

With particular relation to Figure 2, it is observed that the thickness of the tank is minimal and can be perfectly installed in the recess 4 of the brick wall 1 2, such that a cover 30 is the only part that protrudes from The wall 1, on the lid an actuator 20 is mounted to operate the tank 10. It is convenient to indicate that the recess 4 can be covered by a removable plasterboard, wood, etc., which exposes only the lid 30, Ia plate can be removed in case of any major maintenance that has to be done in the area of the tank 10 where the feed pipe 5 or the discharge pipe 6 is connected.

Reference is now made to Figure 4, which shows a front and fragmented view of the tank 10, which is constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention that should be considered only illustrative but not limiting thereof. The tank 10 comprises a tank body 40 formed by a bottom wall 41, an upper wall 42, side walls 43 and 44, a front wall 45 and a rear wall 46. The front wall 45 has a window 47 which is located by above a maximum level 11 of water inside the tank 10, while the bottom wall 41 has a filling opening 48 and a discharge opening 49.

Inside the tank body 40, there is a filling valve 50 with a tube 51 that goes to the overflow 12 of the tank 10, this filling valve 50 is detachably attached to the filling opening 48. Similarly, there is a discharge valve 60 that detachably joins in the discharge opening 49. In Figure 4, the actuator 20 can be observed again which is operatively connected to the discharge valve 60 by means of a cable 61 in order to empty the contents of Water to the toilet. You can also see the supply pipe 5 in flow connection with the filling valve 50, and the discharge pipe 6 in flow connection with the discharge valve 60. The tank 10 also has a removable cover 30 covering the window 47 of the front wall 45 and where said actuator 20 is installed. In this sense, the window 47 is of sufficient size to allow access and removal of the filling valve 50 and the discharge valve 60 in a substantially position horizontal either for installation or removal of the inside of the tank body 40 when the lid 30 is removed. The cover 30 together with the actuator 20 are the only visible elements of the tank 10 when it is installed in a recess or recess formed in a wall.

Reference is now made to Figures 5 to 7 showing an isolated view of the tank body 40, where the actuator, the filling valve and the discharge valve have been removed only for clarity purposes. In these figures, the bottom wall 41, the upper wall 42, the side walls 43 and

44, the front wall 45 and the rear wall 46 of the tank body. You can also

• observe the filling opening 48 and the discharge opening 49 in the bottom wall 41.

As mentioned, the front wall 45 has a window 47 that is located above a maximum water level 11. This window 47 is particularly provided in the upper part of the front wall 45 and preferably has a shape rectangular whose longest straight are horizontal and extend from side to side on the front wall 45, while the shorter sides of the window 47 have a sufficient height to allow the filling valve and the discharge valve to pass through The window in horizontal position. With this design the volume of the tank is considerably reduced. Of course, the discharge and fill valves must be mounted in such a way that they can be easily installed and handled inside the tank body 40.

In relation to the previous one, window 47 measures from about 25 to about 35 cm. long, and about 8 to about 12 cm. high, with these dimensions the valves used in the present invention can be introduced and will be described a little later.

In Figures 5 to 7, it can be seen that the front wall 45 includes a rib 31 that runs perimeter and projects around the edge of said window 47; and, that said cover 30 includes a groove 32 (see Figure 6) in which the rib 31 of the front wall 45 is received so that the cover 30 is pressed into the front wall 45 of the tank body 40 for cover window 47; The cover 30 also includes a hole 33 where the actuator is mounted. Of course, the window 47 may be provided in the upper wall 42 of the tank body but this location would represent a disadvantage with respect to the preferred location of the window 47 in the front wall, even if the window 47 were in the upper wall 42, a larger recess in the wall would be necessary, and the volume needed in a wall to recess the tank would be increased. In fact, the tank of the present invention saves a space of 35 to 45 cm. long compared to the assembly of traditional toilets.

Because the tank of the present invention is hidden and embedded in a wall, the tank body 40 does not need to be made of a hard and brittle material as is done in the traditional way, and can be made of a material that is blow molding, for example polyethylene, whereby manufacturing costs are saved and can be easily transported anywhere in an extensive quantity, no special boxes would be needed to pack them. Preferably, the tank body 40 has an interior volume of about 8 to about 12 liters, of which a maximum of 75% is occupied by water, more preferably the tank has an internal volume of 10 liters of which 6 liters are occupied by water. With this capacity you can save a significant amount of water, for example, it is estimated that you can save about 35,000 liters per year, considering that the toilet is used by two people. Even more preferably, the tank body has a maximum width of approximately 10 cm., preferably 9.5 or even up to 8 cm. so that it can be embedded in a cavity or recess formed in a brick wall, as in houses of social interest, that is, the width of the tank is almost equal to the width of a wall.

In order to have a tank that occupies a minimum space, the type of discharge and filling valves are important, and moreover, their assembly inside the tank is decisive. To talk a little more about this point, reference is made to Figure

8 showing the discharge valve 60 and the actuator 20 that operates to the discharge valve by means of the cable 61. For a quick assembly of the discharge valve 60, a first mounting base 62 is housed in the discharge opening 49 of the bottom wall 41. The discharge valve 60 is released from the first mounting base 62 by turning it no more than 90 ° and moving it upwards. For this purpose, the base includes a pair of diametrically opposed ears 63 where projections 64 provided in the lower part of the discharge valve 60 are inserted.

The discharge valve preferably used in the tank of the present invention is a dual type discharge valve that is operated by the cable 61 connected to the actuator 20. This dual type discharge valve has two modes of operation, in the first of they discharge a sufficient amount of water to eliminate liquid waste, while in the second one a sufficient volume of water is discharged to eliminate solid and liquid waste, some of the modes of operation can be chosen by means of a discharge volume selector 21. Dual type discharge valves are widely known in the market and do not need to be described in greater detail in the present invention. However, it can be mentioned that when the actuator 20 is pressed, the piston 65 of the discharge valve 60 is lifted and with this the water is allowed to flow into the toilet by means of the discharge pipe 6. Finally, from Figure 8 it is possible to Observe the overflow 12 and the overflow tube 13 to prevent water from flowing out of the tank window and always going towards the toilet.

Reference is now made to Figures 9 to 12 to describe the filling valve 50 that is used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention which is mounted on a second mounting base 52 housed in the filling opening 48 of the bottom wall 41 of the tank. The filling valve 50 is released from the second mounting base 52 by turning it no more than 90 ° and moving it upwards, as indicated by the movement arrows illustrated in Figure 9. The filling valve 50 is connected to the Overflow of the tank by means of the tube 51. In this particular, the filling valve 50 is a diaphragm filling valve that responds to the pressure of the water inside the tank to open or close and which includes a mounting pipe 53 that projects downwards to be mounted on said second mounting base 52, this type of valves is described in patents No. 3,895,646 and 4,180,096 and its operation does not need to be described in detail herein. However, the second mounting base 52 for this type of valves has a particular conformation described below, the second mounting base comprises a reducer 54 having a first section 55 of larger diameter and a second section 56 of smaller diameter , defining a seat 57 on the outside of the reducer 54. The mounting pipe 53 is received within the first section 55, which includes a pair of outer protrusions 70 diametrically opposed to each other. Another important part of the base is an annular gasket 71 ("or ring") mounted on the seat 57; and, a union nut 80 that is housed in the filling opening 48 of the bottom wall 41 of the tank. The reducer 54 with the mounting pipe 53 already inserted, is received in the union nut 80 which includes a pair of internal vertical grooves 81 and a pair of radial channels 82 (see Figure 12) each connected with a vertical groove 81 and ending In a cavity 83 located no more than 90 ° from the beginning of the channel 82, both the slots 81 and the channels are represented with broken lines in Figure 12.

The protrusions 70 of the reducer 54 are received and run through the vertical grooves 81 until they reach the radial channels 82, then the reducer is rotated no more than 90 ° until each protuberance 70 is received and coupled into one of the cavities 83 at the end from its respective radial channel 82 in this way the filling valve 50 is mounted to the second mounting base 52. The union nut 80 has a second gasket 86 externally that seals the filling opening 48; The union nut is in turn received in a female nut 85 that is external to the tank and where the supply pipe is connected 5. In an alternative mode, the filling valve is mounted on the second mounting base by means of male-female couplings .

In summary, it can be mentioned that the present invention stands out for bringing the discharge tank of a toilet to a minimum volume, so that it can be mounted in a recess of a wall, the manufacturing materials are extremely economical and access to Internal components is sufficient to facilitate the installation and removal of the filling and discharge valves, this is due to the peculiar design of the window that is provided on the front wall of the tank and the cover that covers it. In addition, the fact of including mounting bases, has the advantage that the disassembly or installation of the internal components is extremely easy and that no additional space is required to manipulate the valves inside the tank. In accordance with the previously described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it can be seen that the hidden toilet tank has in principle an easy structure, is of great duration and above all is extremely economical. Therefore, it will be evident that for any expert in this area, the previously described modalities are only illustrative and do not limit the invention, since there are numerous modifications that can be made, such as the shape and size of the tank, the type of valves used or the manner in which the lid is attached to the tank, such changes without altering the scope of the invention.

Even when specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, it should be emphasized that it is possible to make numerous modifications to it. Therefore, the present invention should not be considered as restricted except as required by the prior art and by the appended claims.

Claims

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION REIVINDICATIONS 1.- A hidden toilet tank that is embedded in a wall characterized in that it comprises: a) a tank body formed by a bottom wall, a top wall, side walls, a front wall and a back wall; of them the front wall has a window that is located above a maximum level of water inside the tank, while the bottom wall has a filling opening and a discharge opening; b) a filling valve that detachably joins the filling opening; c) a discharge valve that detachably joins in the discharge opening; d) an actuator operatively connected to the discharge valve to actuate it and thus empty the water content into the toilet; and, e) a removable cover that covers the window of the front wall and where said actuator is installed; wherein, the window is of sufficient size to allow access and removal of the filling valve and the discharge valve in a substantially horizontal position either for installation or removal of the interior of the tank body when the lid is removed; Ia which together with the actuator are the only visible elements of the tank when it is embedded in a cavity formed in a wall. 2. A hidden tank for toilets that is embedded in a wall, according to claim 1, further characterized in that the window is provided in the upper part of the front wall and has a rectangular shape whose longer sides are horizontal and they extend from side to side on the front wall, while the shorter sides of the window have a sufficient height to allow the filling valve and the discharge valve to pass through the window in a horizontal position. 3.- A hidden toilet tank that is embedded in a wall, in accordance with claim 2, further characterized in that the window measures 25 to 35 cm. long and 8 to 12 cm. High. 4. A hidden tank for toilets that is embedded in a wall, in accordance with claim 1, further characterized in that the front wall includes a rib that runs perimeter and projects around the edge of said window; and, said The cover includes a groove in which the rib of the front wall is received so that the cover is pressurized in the front wall of the tank body to cover the window. 5. A hidden tank for toilets that is embedded in a wall, in accordance with claim 1, further characterized in that the tank body is made of a material that is molded by blowing. 6. A hidden tank for toilets that is embedded in a wall, in accordance with claim 5, further characterized in that said material that is blow molded is polyethylene. 7. A hidden tank for toilets, which is embedded in a wall, according to claim 1, further characterized in that the tank body has an internal volume of 8 to 12 liters, of which a maximum of 75% is occupied For the water. 8. A hidden tank for toilets, which is embedded in a wall, in accordance with claim 7, further characterized in that the tank has an internal volume of 10 liters of which 6 liters are occupied by water. 9. A hidden toilet tank, which is embedded in a wall, in accordance with claim 1, further characterized in that the tank body has a maximum width of 10 cm. so that it can be embedded in a cavity formed in a brick wall and be hidden. 10.- A hidden tank for toilets that is embedded in a wall, according to claim 1, further characterized in that it also comprises a first mounting base housed in the discharge opening and where the discharge valve is mounted, which it is released from said first mounting base by turning it no more than 90 ° and pulling it upwards. 11. A concealed tank for toilets that is embedded in a wall, according to claim 10, further characterized in that the discharge valve is a dual discharge valve that is operated by a cable connected to the actuator, the discharge valve having two modes of operation, in the first one a sufficient amount of water is discharged to remove liquid waste, while in the second one a sufficient volume of water is discharged to remove solid and liquid waste, one of said modes of operation being chosen by means of a discharge volume selector. 12. A hidden toilet tank that is embedded in a wall, in accordance with claim 1, further characterized in that it also comprises a second mounting base housed in the filling opening and where the Ia is mounted filling valve, which is released from the second mounting base by turning it no more than 90 ° and pulling it upwards. 13. A hidden toilet tank that is embedded in a wall, according to claim 1, further characterized in that the filling valve is a diaphragm filling valve that responds to the pressure of the water inside the tank to open or close. and which includes a mounting pipe that projects downwards to be mounted on said second mounting base. 14. A hidden toilet tank that is embedded in a wall, according to claim 13, further characterized in that said second mounting base comprises: a reducer having a first section of larger diameter and a second section of smaller diameter, defining a seat outside the coupling, where the assembly pipe is received along the first section, the first section including a pair of outer protrusions diametrically opposed to each other; an annular gasket mounted on the seat; and, a union nut housed in the filling opening, the reducer being received in the union nut which also includes a pair of internal vertical grooves and a pair of radial channels each connected with a vertical groove and ending in a localized cavity no more than 90 ° from the beginning of the channel; where the protuberances of the reducer are received and run through the vertical grooves until they reach the radial channels, then the reducer is turned no more than 90 ° until each protuberance is received and coupled into the corresponding cavity of each radial channel. 15.- A hidden tank for toilets, which is embedded in a wall, according to claim 11, further characterized in that the filling valve is mounted on the second mounting base by male-female couplings.