U.S. patent application number 11/716424 was filed with the patent office on 2007-07-19 for toilet flushing arrangement.
Invention is credited to William David Steadman.
Application Number | 20070163035 11/716424 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 9958739 |
Filed Date | 2007-07-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070163035 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Steadman; William David |
July 19, 2007 |
Toilet flushing arrangement
Abstract
A flushing arrangement (30) including an opened topped housing
(32) surrounding the flush valve (12). An opening (40) is provided
in a lower part of the housing (32) with a selectively openable
gate (44). The arrangement (30) is configured such that for a low
volume flush the gate (44) is closed and only water in the housing
(32) or located thereabove will be flushed, and for a high volume
flush the gate (44) is open wherein substantially all of the water
in the cistern (20) above the lowest part of the opening (40) is
flushed.
Inventors: |
Steadman; William David;
(Port Saint Lucie, FL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TAROLLI, SUNDHEIM, COVELL & TUMMINO L.L.P.
1300 EAST NINTH STREET, SUITE 1700
CLEVEVLAND
OH
44114
US
|
Family ID: |
9958739 |
Appl. No.: |
11/716424 |
Filed: |
March 9, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10852558 |
May 24, 2004 |
7219375 |
|
|
11716424 |
Mar 9, 2007 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
4/325 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02A 20/412 20180101;
Y02A 20/40 20180101; E03D 1/14 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
004/325 |
International
Class: |
E03D 1/14 20060101
E03D001/14; E03D 3/12 20060101 E03D003/12 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 24, 2003 |
GB |
0312014.4 |
Claims
1. (canceled)
2. (canceled)
3. (canceled)
4. (canceled)
5. (canceled)
6. (canceled)
7. (canceled)
8. (canceled)
9. (canceled)
10. (canceled)
11. (canceled)
12. (canceled)
13. (canceled)
14. (canceled)
15. (canceled)
16. (canceled)
17. A toilet flushing arrangement comprising an open topped sleeve
locatable in a toilet cistern to surround the flush outlet, with a
selectively openable opening provided in a lower part of the
sleeve, such that the arrangement provides two flushing modes: a
low volume flush with the opening closed, wherein substantially
only the water within the sleeve plus the volume of any water
located above the top of the sleeve, is flushed; and a high volume
flush with the opening open, wherein substantially the volume of
the water in the cistern, whether or not in the sleeve, above the
lowest part of the opening is flushed, a control arrangement being
provided with a pivotally moveable handle, such that a first
pivotal movement thereof causes a rotation of a cam member that
rotates a lever bar resulting in said low volume flush, and further
pivotal movement of said handle in the same direction causes said
cam to open a closure member covering said selectively openable
opening to allow said high volume flush.
18. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 17 wherein said cam
member is rotatably attached to a shaft fixedly attached to said
movable handle such that pivotal movement in the handle produces
pivotal movement in said cam member.
19. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 17 wherein said
closure member is movably connected to a biasing member for holding
the closure member in a closed position over said selectively
openable opening until said further pivotal movement of said cam
member occurs opening said closure member from said selectively
openable to allow said high volume flush.
20. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 17 wherein said cam
member has first and second lobes, the first lobe rotating said
lever bar in said low volume flush and said second lobe rotating a
linkage assembly during said high volume flush.
21. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 20 wherein said lever
bar includes first and second ends, the first end engaging said
first lobe and second end adjustably connected to a flush valve, a
pivot point is located in said lever bar between said first and
second ends such that first pivotal movement in said handle
provides downward movement in said first lobe of said cam member
resulting in downward movement in said first end of lever bar
resulting in upward movement of said second end, thereby raising
the flush valve for a low volume flush.
22. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 20 wherein said
linkage assembly comprises first and second links, the first link
being attached to said second lobe of said cam member and to said
second link, the second link being further connected to said
closure member such that rotation of the second lobe results in
rotation of the first and second links thereby opening the
selectively openable opening for a high volume flush.
23. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 19 wherein said
closure member includes a pair of vertical pins rotatably attached
to said housing.
24. A toilet flushing arrangement comprising: an open top housing
surrounding a flush outlet having a high volume flush opening along
the side of said housing; a control arrangement rotably connected
to a cam assembly having first and second lobes; the first lobe
rotating a first linkage assembly during a low volume flush and the
second lobe rotating a second linkage assembly during a high volume
flush, the second linkage assembly being connected to a selectively
operable gate covering said high volume flush opening during a low
volume flush and is rotated away from the high volume opening
during a high volume flush.
25. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 24 wherein said gate
is biased to a closed position by a biasing member.
26. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 25 wherein said
biasing member is a spring.
27. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 24 wherein said first
linkage assembly further comprises a pivotal bar having first and
second ends separated by a pivot point between first and second
ends, the first end connectable to said first lobe and said second
end of said pivotal bar being connectable to a flush valve.
28. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 24 wherein said second
linkage assembly further comprises a cam link and a gate link, the
cam link being connectable to said second lobe and said gate link
being connectable to said selectively operable gate such that
rotation of said second cam lobe produces movement of said gate
link and cam link resulting in the opening of said selectively
operable gate.
29. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 24 characterized in
that the control arrangement is provided such that a first
operation thereof causes a low volume flush, and a second operation
thereof causes a high volume flush.
30. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 29 characterized in
that the control arrangement is with a pivotally movable handle,
such that a first pivotal movement thereof causes a low volume
flush, and further pivotal movement in the same direction causes a
high volume flush.
31. The toilet flushing arrangement of claim 24 wherein said
selectively operable gate includes a pair of vertical pins
rotatably attached to said housing.
32. The toilet flushing arrangement according to claim 30
characterized in that the control arrangement is configured such
that after a first pivotal movement the handle a spring urging of
the selectively operable gate can be felt and must be overcome to
cause a high volume flush.
33. A toilet flushing assembly having multi-volume flush capability
comprising: a housing positioned in a toilet tank surrounding an
outlet valve, the housing having a high volume opening near the
base thereof; a closure member for the high volume opening, the
closure when in use being moveable between a closed position
blocking flow through the opening and an open position allowing
flow through the opening; a lever arrangement connectable to a cam
assembly connectable to the outlet valve for both a high volume and
low volume flush, the cam assembly also being connectable to said
closure member to move the closure member to its open position to
permit flow through the opening for a high volume flush, such that
rotation of the lever arrangement results in a first rotation of
said cam assembly producing a low volume flush and further rotation
of the lever arrangement to a second rotation of the cam assembly
in the same direction producing a high volume flush.
34. The toilet flushing assembly of claim 33 wherein said cam
assembly includes a first lobe separated from a second lobe by a
pivot point, the first lobe being connectable to the outlet valve
and the second lobe being connectable to the closure member such
that rotation of the first lobe results in said low volume flush
and rotation of the second lobe results in said high volume
flush.
35. The toilet flushing assembly of claim 34 wherein the distance
from the pivot point to the perimeter of said first and second
lobes is greater for said second lobe than said first lobe.
36. The toilet flushing assembly of claim 33 wherein said cam
assembly includes a first lobe connected to a first linkage
assembly comprising a pivotal bar having first and second ends
separated by a bar pivot point between first and second bar ends,
the first bar end connected to said first lobe and said second bar
end being connected to said flush outlet, further wherein said cam
assembly includes a second lobe connected to a second linkage
assembly comprising a cam link and a closure link, the cam link
being connected to said second lobe and said closure link being
connected to said closure member such that rotation of said second
cam lobe produces movement of said closure and cam links resulting
in the opening of said closure member.
Description
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a divisional application of
co-pending application Ser. No. 10/852,558, filed in the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office on May 24, 2004, entitled "TOILET
FLUSHING ARRANGEMENT", which claims priority from United Kingdom
Application Serial No.: 0312014.4 filed in the United Kingdom on
May 24, 2003. This divisional application claims priority to the
aforementioned patents applications which are incorporated herein
by reference for all purposes in their entireties.
[0002] This invention concerns a toilet flushing arrangement, and
also a toilet flushing system incorporating such an
arrangement.
[0003] With conventional flushing toilets, a significant amount of
water is used with each flush which after certain uses is not
wholly required and is thus wasteful of water. Dual flushing
arrangements are available providing for low volume and high volume
flushes, but these are generally of relatively complex
configuration. Furthermore, such arrangements usually cannot be
retrofitted, and therefore if dual flushing is required, new
flushing systems are needed for each toilet at a location.
[0004] According to the present invention there is provided a
toilet flushing arrangement, the arrangement comprising an open
topped sleeve locatable in a toilet cistern to surround the flush
outlet and to extend to a required height in the cistern, with a
selectively openable opening provided in a lower part of the
sleeve, such that the arrangement provides two flushing modes: a
low volume flush with the opening closed, wherein substantially
only the water within the sleeve plus the volume of any water
located above the top of the sleeve, is flushed; and a high volume
flush with the opening open, wherein substantially the volume of
the water in the cistern, whether or not in the sleeve, above the
lowest part of the opening, is flushed.
[0005] A closure may be provided, selectively locatable over the
opening to close same. The closure may be spring urged to a closed
position. The closure may be located on the outside of the sleeve,
and may be pivotally mounted thereto.
[0006] A control arrangement may be provided such that a first
operation thereof causes a low volume flush, and a second operation
thereof causes a high volume flush.
[0007] The control arrangement may be provided with a pivotally
movable handle, such that a first pivotal movement thereof causes a
low volume flush, and a further pivotal movement in the same
direction causes a high volume flush.
[0008] The control arrangement may be configured such that after a
first pivotal movement of the handle the spring urging of the
closure can be felt and must be overcome to cause a high volume
flush.
[0009] The control arrangement may include a cam arrangement
enagagable with a control mechanism for the flush valve, such that
pivotal movement of the control mechanism causes pivotal movement
of the cam arrangement.
[0010] The sleeve may have a base, and a hole may be provided
therein, or can be formed therein, to locate around the flush
outlet.
[0011] The sleeve may have markings and/or areas of weakness
provided at an upper part thereof to permit the sleeve to be formed
to a required height.
[0012] Alternatively, or in addition selectively removable openings
or cut-outs may be provided in an upper part of the sleeve to allow
the effective height of the sleeve to be selected.
[0013] As a further possibility, the sleeve could include a further
sleeve part mounted in a telescopic manner thereto, and the
effective height of the sleeve can be adjusted by telescopic
movement of the further sleeve part.
[0014] The sleeve may be formed with areas or lines of weakness on
each side thereof to permit the opening to be provided on a
respective required side of the sleeve for either left handed or
right handed operation.
[0015] The sleeve and flush valve may be formed as a single unit.
Alternatively, the sleeve may be fitted around an existing flush
valve.
[0016] The invention also provides a toilet flushing system, the
system comprising a cistern, a flush valve, control apparatus for
the flush valve, and a toilet flushing arrangement according to any
of the preceding twelve paragraphs operably located in the
system.
[0017] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described
by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
[0018] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cutaway view of a conventional
toilet flushing system;
[0019] FIG. 2 is a similar view to FIG. 1 but incorporating a first
toilet flushing arrangement according to the invention;
[0020] FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of part of the
system of FIG. 2;
[0021] FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of part of the system of
FIG. 2;
[0022] FIG. 5 is a diagrammatical cross-sectional view through part
of the system of FIG. 2;
[0023] FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic front view of the system of FIG.
2;
[0024] FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are diagrammatic perspective views of
components of a control arrangement of the system of FIG. 2;
[0025] FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic perspective view of part of a
second system according to the invention;
[0026] FIG. 11 is a similar view to FIG. 10 of part of a third
system according to the invention, and FIGS. 12 and 13 are
diagrammatic side views of further parts of the third system.
[0027] FIG. 1 shows a conventional toilet flushing system 10 with a
flush valve 12 operated by a lever 14 which causes pivotal movement
of a bar 16 which connects to the valve 12 by a link 18. In use the
cistern 20 in which the system 10 is located automatically fills
through a refill tube 22 to a required height. This required height
can be adjusted using the knob 24. Filling takes place into an
overflow pipe 26 which can receive water in the event that excess
water is supplied into the cistern 20.
[0028] To flush the system 10, the lever 14 is pushed downwardly
causing pivotal movement about its mounting 28. This raises the bar
16 and hence link 18 and causes the flush valve 12 to operate.
Following flushing, the flush valve 12 will automatically reclose
and the cistern 20 will be refilled through the tube 22. There are
of course other conventional types of flushing systems,
incorporating for instance a floating ball valve or other type of
floating valves which cause the cistern to stop filling when a
required water level therein is detected.
[0029] FIGS. 2 to 9 show a first toilet flushing arrangement 30
according to the invention fitted to the system 10 shown in FIG. 1.
The arrangement 30 comprises an open topped housing 32 with an
opening 33 in the base 34 thereof through which flushing water can
pass. In plan view the housing 32 has a generally circular front
section 36 extending from a smaller generally rectangular rear
section 38. These shapes are chosen so as to not cover and thus
permit free access to, the conventional mounting holes 39 for the
cistern 20. An opening 40 is provided on the side of the housing 32
towards the base 34 thereof, on the left hand side as shown in FIG.
2.
[0030] A closure 42 is provided for the opening 40 in the form of a
gate 44 which is pivotally mounted by projections 46 thereon to the
outside of the housing 32. An upwardly extending bar 48 is provided
at the free end of the gate 44, which mounts towards its upper end
one end of a spring 50. The other end of the spring 50 is mounted
to a hole adjacent the top of the housing 32 on an opposite side
thereof. The spring 50 urges the gate 44 to a closed position.
[0031] A control arrangement 52 is provided for selective opening
of the gate 44 as follows. The control arrangement 52 connects to
the lever 14, and includes a rectangular plate 54 which is mounted
in the cistern 20. A shaft 56 extends from the lever 14 through a
hole 58 in the plate 54. A cam member 60 is mounted on the free end
of the shaft 56 within the cistern. The cam member comprises a
lower part 62 providing a cam surface engageable against the bar 16
towards the left hand end thereof, as shown in FIG. 2. The cam
member 60 also comprises a diametrically opposite upper part 64 in
the form of a finger with an opening 66 therein to receive one end
of a cable 68 which connects to a hole 70 provided at the upper end
of the bar 48.
[0032] The bar 16 is pivotally mounted towards its left hand end as
shown in FIG. 2 by a projection 72 on the plate 54 which engages in
a hole 74 provided on a projecting part 76 of the bar 16. The end
of the bar 16 extending from the projecting part 76 is
substantially straight and engages with the cam surface of the
lower part 62.
[0033] In use, if only a low volume flush is required, the lever 14
is pressed downwardly until any particular resistance is felt. This
causes flushing in a conventional manner with the cam member 60
engaging against the bar 16 lifting the link 18 and hence flush
valve 12, thereby causing water to be flushed into the toilet. The
water flushed is however only the volume within the housing 32 and
also the volume spaced above the top of the housing 32 i.e. that
between the lines 78 and 80 in FIG. 6.
[0034] When it is required to have a higher volume of flush, the
lever 14 is pushed further down against the felt resistance, which
is in fact provided by the spring 50. This causes further rotation
of the cam member 60, which does not cause further pivoting of the
bar 16 as the cam member 60 will be moving from the position shown
by dotted lines in FIG. 8. This rotation does though cause the
cable 68 to pull the bar 48 away from the housing 32 against the
force of the spring 50, and hence open the gate 44. Therefore in
this flush all the water above the line 82 (FIG. 6) which is level
with the bottom of the opening 40, will flush, irrespective of
whether this water is in the housing 32 or outside thereof.
[0035] FIG. 10 shows an alternative housing 84 of a second
arrangement, which housing 84 in this instance is cylindrical. A
hole 86 which could be cut by an installer is shown, which would
locate around the flush outlet of a cistern. Whilst in FIG. 5 the
flush valve 12 is shown as a single unit with the housing 32, the
arrangement can readily be retrofitted to an existing toilet
flushing system with a housing such as the type 32 or the type
84.
[0036] FIGS. 11 to 13 show components of a third arrangement. FIG.
11 shows a housing 90 which in plan view has an arcuate end 92,
which would normally be located towards the rear of a cistern, with
two inclined converging side walls 94 extending from the ends
thereof, which are connected by a curved apex 96. A panel 98 is
provided in each of the walls delimited by a line of weakness 100.
A respective one of the panels 98 can be removed to provide
respectively left handed or right handed operation of the
arrangement as required. Further, selectively removable openings 99
are provided in an upper part of the housing 90 to allow the
effective height of the housing to be selected.
[0037] FIG. 12 shows a closure 102 which can be mounted to
respectively selectively close either of the openings formed by
removal of a respective one of the panels 98. The closure 102 has
two vertical inwardly facing pins 104 locatable in a semi-circular
recess 106 of a hinge plate 108 shown in FIG. 13. The plate 108 is
mountable to the housing 90 adjacent a respective opening by a
mounting flange 110 using for instance holes 112 in the flange 110,
or using glue. A bar 114 extends from the top and bottom of the
closure 102 for engagement with an operating arrangement similar to
that shown for the arrangement 30.
[0038] Various other modifications may be made without departing
from the scope of the invention. For instance, an upper part of the
housing could be provided with markings and/or lines of weakness to
enable the housing to be cut to a required height for a particular
toilet system. Alternatively, selectively removable openings or cut
outs can be provided in an upper part of the housing which could be
removed as required to provide an effective top height of the
housing.
[0039] There are thus described arrangements which provide for a
simple yet effective way of providing a dual flush in a toilet
flushing system. The arrangements can be selected to provide a
required volume of water in a low volume flush. The arrangements
can readily be retrofitted to existing toilets, or supplied new as
a complete unit. The arrangements are of relatively simple
construction and can thus be inexpensively and robustly
manufactured.
[0040] Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw
attention to those features of the invention believed to be of
particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant
claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or
combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in
the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed
thereon.
* * * * *