U.S. patent application number 12/379396 was filed with the patent office on 2010-08-26 for water stopper for toilet tanks.
Invention is credited to So Mel Huang.
Application Number | 20100212080 12/379396 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42629585 |
Filed Date | 2010-08-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100212080 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Huang; So Mel |
August 26, 2010 |
Water stopper for toilet tanks
Abstract
A water stopper for a toilet tank to allow fine-tune adjustment
of water flushing amount of the toilet tank includes at least a
cap, a dome and an adjustment strut that are incorporated with a
stopping gasket and a washer. The dome is a hollow semi-sphere
coupled on the bottom of the cap and turnable, and has a water
inlet at the bottom thereof and an air vent at one side. It further
has features as follow: the cap has a coupling portion on the
bottom to fasten to one end of the adjustment strut. The adjustment
strut has a stopping disc at other end. The stopping disc has an
aperture corresponding to the water inlet of the dome. By turning
the dome, the water inlet and the aperture of the stopping disc can
be overlapped at a desired ratio, thereby water entering speed into
the dome can be fine tuned to control water flushing amount of the
toilet tank.
Inventors: |
Huang; So Mel; (Tai Ping
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROSENBERG, KLEIN & LEE
3458 ELLICOTT CENTER DRIVE-SUITE 101
ELLICOTT CITY
MD
21043
US
|
Family ID: |
42629585 |
Appl. No.: |
12/379396 |
Filed: |
February 20, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
4/393 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E03D 1/142 20130101;
E03D 1/306 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
4/393 |
International
Class: |
E03D 1/34 20060101
E03D001/34 |
Claims
1. A water stopper for a toilet tank, comprising a cap, a dome and
an adjustment strut incorporating with a stopping gasket and a
washer, wherein: the cap is a circular tray formed at a size
slightly larger than a drain port of the toilet tank and has a
plurality of retaining flanges protruding from the bottom thereof
to hold the stopping gasket and the washer; and the dome is a
hollow semi-sphere coupling on the perimeter of the retaining
flanges and has a water inlet at the bottom thereof and an air vent
at one side; wherein: the cap further has a coupling portion at the
bottom thereof; the water inlet has the center thereof formed on an
inner bottom side of the dome and eccentric from the center line of
the dome; and the adjustment strut has one end fastened to the
coupling portion of the cap and another end formed a stopping disc
in contact with the inner bottom side of the dome, the stopping
disc having an aperture corresponding to the water inlet of the
dome.
2. The water stopper for a toilet tank of claim 1, wherein the dome
has at least one torsional groove formed on the surface thereof to
facilitate grasping of users for turning the dome.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a water stopper for toilet
tanks and particularly to a water stopper that can fine tune water
flushing amount of a toilet tank.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] A conventional toilet drain assembly 1 as shown in FIG. 1
generally has a body 10 and an overflow tube 11 at one side
thereof. The overflow tube 11 has an overflow opening 111 at an
upper end to discharge excessive water to a drain port 101 to
prevent water in a tank from overflowing outside. The overflow tube
11 has a strut 102 at a lower side to be latched by a notch 121 of
a water stopper 12. The water stopper 12 has a gasket 122 and
covers the drain port 101 on a upper side. The water stopper 12
further is driven by a chain 13 and movable about the strut 102
which serves as a fulcrum during movement so that water can be
stored in the tank and flushed into a toilet as desired. The
aforesaid structure still has drawbacks in use, notably:
[0005] 1. The water stopper is not capable of adjusting water
flushing amount according to requirements.
[0006] 2. The drain assembly 1 of different brands and models has
varying water stopper plugging time. To achieve desired flushing
effect fine-tune adjustment features are often neglected or absent.
As a result, waste of flushing water occurs.
[0007] To remedy the shortcomings mentioned above, U.S. Pat. No.
7,222,375B2, referring to FIG. 2, discloses a tank ball assembly
for toilet that has a tank ball 20 with a cap 21 located thereon.
The cap 21 has a post 211 with an internal screw thread formed
therein fastened to a screw 23 corresponding to a water inlet 221
of a dome 22. By adjusting the fastening elevation of the screw 23
water flow speed through the water inlet 221 can be harnessed.
Hence water flushing amount can be controlled.
[0008] While the aforesaid reference can control the water flushing
amount by adjusting the screw 23, it still has problems when in
use, such as:
[0009] 1. Adjusting the water flushing amount through the screw 23
has to rely on tools. But the space in the toilet tank is limited
and has many dead angles. Maneuvering the tools in the tank is an
awkward operation.
[0010] 2. The screw 23 is located beneath the cap 21 and invisible
to users. Moreover, the screw 23 is moved by pitches and difficult
for users to find out the exact adjusting distance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] In view of the aforesaid problems, the primary object of the
present invention is to provide a water stopper for a toilet tank
that that can fine tune water flushing amount. The water stopper
according to the invention includes at least a cap, a dome and an
adjustment strut that are incorporated with a stopping gasket and a
washer. The dome is a hollow semi-sphere coupled on the bottom of
the cap and turnable, and has a water inlet at the bottom and an
air vent at one side. It further has features as follow: the cap
has a coupling portion on the bottom to fasten to one end of the
adjustment strut. The adjustment strut has a stopping disc at other
end. The stopping disc has an aperture corresponding to the water
inlet of the dome. By turning the dome, the water inlet and the
aperture of the stopping disc can be overlapped or masked at a
desired ratio, thereby water entering speed into the dome can be
regulated to adjust water flushing amount of the toilet tank.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional technique.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a sectional view of another conventional
technique.
[0014] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the invention.
[0015] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the
invention.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of operation condition-1 of the
invention.
[0017] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of operation condition-2 of the
invention.
[0018] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of operation condition-3 of the
invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0019] Pleasing referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the present invention
aims to provide a water stopper 3 which includes a cap 31, a dome
34 and an adjustment strut 35 that are incorporated with a stopping
gasket 32 and a washer 33.
[0020] The cap 31 is a circular tray formed at a size slightly
larger than the drain port of a toilet tank, and has a plurality of
retaining flanges 311 protruding from the bottom thereof to hold
the stopping gasket 32 and the washer 33.
[0021] The dome 34 is a hollow semi-sphere coupling on the
perimeter of the retaining flanges 311, and has a water inlet 341
at the bottom thereof, and an air vent 342 at one side.
[0022] The invention further has features as follow:
[0023] The cap 31 has a coupling portion 312 in the center of the
bottom thereof.
[0024] The dome 34 has at least one indented torsional groove 343
on the outer surface to facilitate grasping of users to turn the
dome 34. The water inlet 341 has the center thereof formed on an
inner bottom side 340 of the dome 34 and slightly eccentric from
the center line L of the dome 34.
[0025] The adjustment strut 35 has one end fastened to the coupling
portion 312 of the cap 31 and another end formed a stopping disc
351 in contact with the inner bottom side 340 of the dome 34. The
stopping disc 351 has an aperture 352 corresponding to the water
inlet 341 of the dome 34.
[0026] The stopping gasket 32 is a pliable blade and has a first
round opening 321 formed in the center to couple on the perimeter
of the retaining flanges 311.
[0027] The washer 33 is a thin and hard blade interposed between
the stopping gasket 32 and the dome 34 to reduce friction
resistance when the dome 34 is turned. The washer 33 has a second
round opening 331 in the center.
[0028] Please referring to FIGS. 3 through 7, when in use to do
fine-tune adjustment of water flushing of a toilet tank, turn the
dome 34 with hands to generate overlap between the water inlet 341
of the dome 34 and the aperture 352 of the stopping disc 351 so
that the stopping disc 351 masks a portion or total area of the
water inlet 341 to regulate water entering speed through the water
inlet 341. FIG. 5 illustrates that the water inlet 341 is fully
opened, FIG. 7 illustrates that the water inlet 341 is fully
masked, and partial opening (or masking) of the water inlet 341 can
also be formed as shown in FIG. 6. Thus the closed duration of the
water stopper 3 can be fine-tuned to control flushing water
amount.
[0029] As a conclusion, the water stopper of the invention can
fine-tune water flushing amount of the toilet tank to reduce water
consumption without relying on any tools, thus provide improvement
to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional techniques.
* * * * *