U.S. patent application number 12/483569 was filed with the patent office on 2010-12-16 for canister flush valve.
This patent application is currently assigned to Globe Union Industrial Corp.. Invention is credited to Ching-Chen Shieh.
Application Number | 20100313347 12/483569 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43305074 |
Filed Date | 2010-12-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100313347 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Shieh; Ching-Chen |
December 16, 2010 |
CANISTER FLUSH VALVE
Abstract
A canister flush valve includes a float, an overflow tube and a
plurality of adjustment baffles, wherein the hollow cylindrical
float is provided with a bottom wall, a plurality of water inlets
are defined in the bottom wall, and a top end of the water inlet
assumes a tapered form. Moreover, the overflow tube is clamped to
the float, a ring plate radially extends from the overflow tube
close to the bottom wall, and the overflow tube is provided with a
positioning portion. The positioning portion enables the adjustment
baffles to be selectively fastened and disposed thereto, thereby
enabling changing the distance between the water inlet to the
lowest adjustment baffle to vary the flow quantity of flush water
flowing into the canister flush valve from the water inlets, and
further changing the speed the float sinks in the flush water as
well as the speed a valve port closes.
Inventors: |
Shieh; Ching-Chen; (Taichung
County, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MORRIS MANNING MARTIN LLP
3343 PEACHTREE ROAD, NE, 1600 ATLANTA FINANCIAL CENTER
ATLANTA
GA
30326
US
|
Assignee: |
Globe Union Industrial
Corp.
Taichung Export Processing Zone
TW
|
Family ID: |
43305074 |
Appl. No.: |
12/483569 |
Filed: |
June 12, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
4/394 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E03D 1/35 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
4/394 |
International
Class: |
E03D 1/35 20060101
E03D001/35 |
Claims
1. A canister flush valve, comprising: a float, said float is of a
hollow cylindrical form and is provided with a bottom wall, a
plurality of water inlets are defined in said bottom wall, and a
top portion of each of the water inlets are of a tapered form; an
overflow tube, said overflow tube is located in said float using a
detached way, and said overflow tube is provided with a positioning
portion close to a section at said bottom wall; and at least one
adjustment baffle, said adjustment baffles are selectively fastened
to said positioning portion of said overflow tube, thereby enabling
changing the distance between each of said water inlets to said
adjustment baffles or the lowest adjustment baffles.
2. The canister flush valve according to claim 1, wherein a
plurality of openings are equally spaced in said bottom wall, and a
raised tube upwardly extends from said bottom wall corresponding
with the periphery of each of said openings, thereby enabling the
top edge of each of said raised tubes to form said water inlet,
moreover, a raised arc portion is formed on the inner edge of each
of said raised tubes at the area of said water inlet, thereby
enabling said water inlet to form said tapered form, and a
plurality of drain openings are spaced in the bottom end of said
overflow tube.
3. The canister flush valve according to claim 1, wherein a float
wall upwardly extends from the outer side of said bottom wall, and
said overflow tube is provided with a cylindrical shaped overflow
tube wall, the bottom end of said overflow tube wall is disposed
tight against said bottom wall, thereby enabling a holding chamber
for containing flush water to be formed between said overflow tube
wall, said bottom wall, and said float.
4. The canister flush valve according to claim 3, wherein the
center of said bottom wall is provided with an aperture and the
diameter of said aperture matches the internal diameter of said
overflow tube wall.
5. The canister flush valve according to claim 1, wherein a
plurality of protrusions radially extend from a ring plate, and a
plurality of clamp pieces respectively radially extend from the
inner edge of said float corresponding to each of said protrusions,
thereby enabling said overflow tube to use said protrusions to
respectively insertedly clamp the bottom surface of each of said
clamp pieces, moreover, the bottom end of said overflow tube is
disposed tight against said bottom wall and said overflow tube is
axially located to said float.
6. The canister flush valve according to claim 5, wherein a bottom
edge of each of said clamp pieces corresponding to one side of each
of said protrusions is of an arc form, and the front edge of each
of said protrusions is of an arc form, thereby enabling each of
said protrusions to be guided to enter said bottom surface of each
of said clamp pieces.
7. The canister flush valve according to claim 1, wherein said
positioning portion comprises a ring plate and a clamping section,
said ring plate radially extends from said overflow tube, and said
clamping section extends from the bottom end of said overflow tube
wall to the bottom edge area of said ring plate.
8. The canister flush valve according to claim 7, wherein three
fins extend equally spaced from said overflow tube, and the bottom
portion of each of said fins is connected to said ring plate,
moreover, the outer edge of each of said fins matches up with the
inner surface of said float, thereby enabling said overflow tube to
be radially located within said float, the external diameter of
said ring plate is smaller than the internal diameter of said float
wall, thereby providing a gap between said ring plate and said
float enabling the circulation of water.
9. The canister flush valve according to claim 8, wherein a
plurality of protrusions respectively radially extend from the
areas where said ring plate adjoins each of said fins, and a
plurality of clamp pieces respectively radially extend from the
inner edge of said float corresponding to each of said protrusions,
thereby enabling said overflow tube to insertedly clamp the bottom
surface of each of said clamp pieces using said protrusions, and
each of said clamp pieces abut against said fins to insertedly
clamp said overflow tube to within said float.
10. The canister flush valve according to claim 9, wherein a bottom
edge of each of said clamp pieces corresponding to one side of each
of said protrusions is of an arc form, and the front edge of each
of said protrusions also is of an arc form, thereby enabling each
of said protrusions to be guided to enter said bottom surface of
each of said clamp pieces.
11. The canister flush valve according to claim 1, wherein each of
said adjustment baffles is provided with different thicknesses.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a technology of flush
toilet water tank, and more particularly to a canister flush valve
structure capable of adjusting the amount of flush water used.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] According to the current specifications for flush toilets
established by each country, most of the specifications are enacted
in the spirit of water saving and environmental protection when
flushing the toilet bowl, and as far as possible reduce the amount
of flush water used each time. Hence, the majority of existing
designs for flushing a toilet bowl use means such as increasing the
intensity of the flush water, as well as shortening the time of
each flush in order to be in keeping with the spirit of
environmental protection, as well as ensuring that the toilet bowl
is flushed cleanly each time. Currently, frequently used designs
usually use a flush valve assembly installed in the bottom portion
of the water tank to execute the flushing process.
[0005] The Canister Flush Valve of US patent No. 20070101485A1
discloses a similar structure. Such kinds of flush valve assembly
usually use a valve seat fixedly locked to the bottom portion of
the water tank. In a normal state, the flush valve assembly blocks
the flow channel allowing passage from the bottom portion of the
water tank to the toilet bowl, thereby enabling the interior of the
water tank to form a space capable of storing clean flush water.
When a user operates a flush handle, or presses a flush button,
then a canister flush valve on the flush valve assembly is pulled
upward, causing it to rise and separate from a valve seat to form a
valve port, thereby enabling the flush water within the water tank
to flow towards the toilet bowl to execute the flushing function.
Moreover, during the latter part of the flushing process, because
the water level of the flush water within the water tank
continuously drops, thus, the canister flush valve is caused to
drop, thereby closing the valve port, after which, the water tank
is replenished with water for the next user.
[0006] Openings penetrate the bottom portion of the canister flush
valve of the aforementioned flush valve assembly, configuration
objective of the openings being: when the valve port is opened, and
most of the flush water has flowed into the toilet bowl, then a
small portion of the flush water can flow into the canister flush
valve through the openings, thereby assisting the canister flush
valve to sink in the flush water at a faster speed and cause the
canister flush valve to close the valve port earlier while the
water level of the flush water within the water tank is dropping,
thus achieving the objective of reducing the amount of flush water
used each time.
[0007] In principle, the greater the volume of water flowing into
the canister flush valve, the faster the canister flush valve sinks
in the flush water, and the deeper the canister flush valve sinks,
thereby causing the valve port to close more quickly, and the
volume of water will be less for each flushing operation. On the
contrary, the smaller the volume of water flowing into the canister
flush valve, the slower the valve port will close, and the volume
of water will be greater for each flushing operation.
[0008] However, the standards established by each country regarding
the volume of water used for each flushing operation of the toilet
bowl differ, and a design whereby only the openings are used to
allow the flush water to flow into the interior of the canister
flush valve to change the volume of water used in a flush cycle is
difficult to satisfy the standards established by all countries.
Hence, there is the need to research and develop other designs to
change the turn-off time of the valve port, and further achieve the
objective of adjusting and changing the volume of water used in a
flush cycle.
[0009] Moreover, regarding water tanks of different size
specifications, because of the differences in volume of water
stored within the water tank, and water level heights affecting the
time the canister flush valve closes the valve port, resulting in
shortcomings in flexibility of use, thus, the prior art is unable
to accommodate different circumstances to flexibly adjust the
turn-off time of the valve port. Hence, there is the need to
further design a flush valve assembly structure able to facilitate
adjusting the volume of water used in a flush cycle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] An objective of the present invention lies in providing a
canister flush valve for a water tank, which uses changing and
adjusting the distance between adjustment baffles and water inlets
at a bottom wall to vary the flow quantity of flush water flowing
into the canister flush valve, and thereby achieve the
effectiveness of adjusting and varying the volume of water used in
a flush cycle.
[0011] In order to achieve the aforementioned objective, a canister
flush valve of the present invention is assembled from a float
(outer cylinder), an overflow tube (inner cylinder) and at least
one adjustment baffle. The float assumes a hollow cylindrical form,
the bottom portion of which is provided with a bottom wall. A
plurality of water inlets are defined in the bottom wall, and a top
end of each of the water inlets assumes a tapered form. Moreover,
the overflow tube is clamped to the float using a detached way, and
the overflow tube is provided with a positioning portion close to a
section at the bottom wall. The positioning portion enables the
adjustment baffles to be selectively fastened and disposed thereto,
thereby enabling changing the distance between each of the water
inlets to the adjustment baffles or the lowest adjustment
baffle.
[0012] Changing the distance between each of the water inlets to
the lowest adjustment plate enables varying the rate of inflow of
flush water entering from the water inlets, and further changes the
speed the float sinks in the flush water and the speed the valve
port closes, thereby enabling adjustment of the amount of flush
water used. Accordingly, the present invention is able to achieve
fulfilling the water use standards of different countries, and is
applicable for use with water tanks having various different size
specifications.
[0013] Furthermore, because the canister flush valve of the present
invention can effectively adjust the amount of flush water used,
thus, the water level within the water tank can be raised, and
raising of the water level is used to increase the height
difference between the valve port and the water level, thereby
enabling increasing the impulsive force of the flush water flushing
a toilet bowl, and further achieving improvement in flushing
effectiveness.
[0014] To enable a further understanding of the objectives and the
technological methods of the invention herein, a brief description
of the drawings is provided below followed by a detailed
description of the preferred embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a flush valve
assembly.
[0016] FIG. 2 is an assembled sectional view showing the installed
state of the flush valve assembly.
[0017] FIG. 3 is a partial perspective sectional structural
schematic view of a canister flush valve of the present
invention.
[0018] FIG. 4 is a sectional structural schematic view of the
canister flush valve of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 5 is a sectional schematic view showing assembly of a
float and an overflow tube of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 6 is a sectional structural schematic view of a fin, a
protrusion and a clamp piece according to the present
invention.
[0021] FIG. 7 is an operational schematic view of a valve port
formed after pulling up the float.
[0022] FIG. 8A is a structural schematic view of the present
invention not installed with adjustment baffles plates.
[0023] FIG. 8B is a structural schematic view of the present
invention installed with two strips of adjustment baffles.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 6, which show a structural
view of a preferred embodiment showing a canister flush valve
structure for a water tank of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1
is an exploded perspective view of a flush valve assembly; FIG. 2
is an assembled sectional view showing the state after the flush
valve assembly is installed to a bottom wall of a water tank; FIG.
3 is a partial perspective sectional structural schematic view of
the canister flush valve of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a
sectional structural schematic view of the canister flush valve of
the present invention; FIG. 5 is an assembled sectional schematic
view showing a float (outer cylinder) and an overflow tube (inner
cylinder) of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a sectional
structural schematic view showing a fin, a protrusion and a clamp
piece according to the present invention.
[0025] The flush valve assembly is fixedly installed in an
installation hole 41 of a bottom wall 40 of a common water tank (as
shown in FIG. 2), wherein the flush valve assembly is assembled
from a valve seat 10 and a canister flush valve 2, the canister
flush valve 2 being assembled from a float (outer cylinder) 20, an
overflow tube (inner cylinder) 30 and at least one adjustment
baffle 35.
[0026] The valve seat 10 assumes a cylindrical-like form, and is
provided with a longitudinal opening 11, and a bracing 12 extends
within the longitudinal opening 11. The bracing 12 of the
embodiment assumes a cross-like form, and a guide post 13 is
fixedly located on the bracing 12. In addition, a flange (clamping
plate) 14 radially extends from the valve seat 10 close to the
upper edge thereof, and the valve seat 10 is configured with a
section of external thread 15 on an outer edge below the flange 14
and the section of external thread 15 is used to pass through the
installation hole 41 of the bottom wall 40 of the water tank.
Furthermore, a waterstop gasket 16 is mounted on the outer edge
below the flange 14 of the valve seat 10, and the valve seat 10 is
screwed tight to a retaining member 17 using the external thread 15
traversing the installation hole 41 of the water tank. Moreover,
the valve seat 10 is fixedly locked to the bottom wall 40 of the
water tank, and the upper mounted waterstop gasket 16 is tightly
clamped between the bottom wall surface of the flange 14 and the
corresponding bottom wall 40 of the water tank.
[0027] The valve seat 10 laterally connects to a through-connection
member 18, and an overflow pipe 19 is uprightly disposed on the
through-connection member 18, thereby enabling the overflow pipe 19
to afford passage to the longitudinal opening 11 through the
through-connection member 18.
[0028] The float 20 assumes a cylindrical form, and is provided
with a ring-shaped bottom wall 21, and a float wall 22 upwardly
extends from the outer side of the bottom wall 21. The center of
the bottom wall 21 is provided with an aperture 23, which enables
the guide post 13 to pass therethrough. A plurality of openings 24
are equally spaced in the bottom wall 21, and a raised tube 25
upwardly extends from the bottom wall 21 corresponding with the
periphery of each of the openings 24, thereby enabling the top edge
of each of the raised tubes 25 to form a water inlet 251. Moreover,
a raised arc portion 252 is formed on the inner edge of each of the
raised tubes 25 at the area of the water inlet 251, thereby
enabling the water inlet 251 to form an upwardly tapered shape, as
shown in FIG. 4.
[0029] A waterstop gasket 26 is nested in the float 20 at the area
of the bottom end of the float wall 22 to enable a normal mutual
tight fitting with the top edge of the longitudinal opening 11 of
the valve seat 10. Furthermore, a tab 27 extends from the
peripheral wall of the float wall 22, and the tab 27 is provided
with a hole 271, which enables connecting to a chain or a lever
(not shown in the drawings) for the purpose of operational use.
[0030] The overflow tube 30 is disposed within the float 20, and
the overflow tube 30 is provided with a cylindrical shaped overflow
tube wall 31. The internal diameter of the overflow tube wall 31
matches that of the aperture 23, and the bottom end of the overflow
tube wall 31 is disposed tight against the aforementioned bottom
wall 21, thereby enabling a holding chamber D for containing flush
water to be formed between the overflow tube wall 31, the bottom
wall 21, and the float wall 22.
[0031] The overflow tube wall 31 is provided with a positioning
portion close to a section of the bottom wall 21, and the
positioning portion comprises a ring plate 32 and a clamping
section 311. The ring plate 32 radially extends from the overflow
tube wall 31 at an area at a distance from the bottom end of the
overflow tube wall 31, and the clamping section 311 extends from
the bottom end of the overflow tube wall 31 to the bottom edge area
of the ring plate 32. The clamping section 311 enables a different
number and/or different thicknesses of adjustment baffles 35 to be
mounted and fixedly positioned thereon. Each of the adjustment
baffles 35 equally assumes a ring form, and effect a covering above
each of the water inlets 251. Accordingly, when the overflow tube
30 is disposed within the float 20, then the distance between each
of the adjustment baffles 35 and the water inlets 251 at the top
edge of the raised pipe 25 can be adjusted and changed.
[0032] In actual practice, apart from changing the number and
thickness of the adjustment baffles 35 to adjust and change the
distance between the adjustment baffles 35 and the water inlets 251
at the top edge of the raised pipe 25, means can also be adopted
whereby the adjustment baffles 35 can be fixed at different height
positions on the clamping section 311 to achieve adjusting and
changing the distance between the adjustment baffles 35 and the
water inlets 251 at the top edge of the raised pipe 25.
[0033] Three fins 33 extend equally spaced from the outer edge of
the overflow tube wall 31, and the three fins 33 are connected to
the ring plate 32. Moreover, the outer edges of the three fins 33
match up with the inner surface of the float wall 22 of the float
20, thereby enabling the overflow tube 30 to be radially located
within the float 20. Furthermore, the external diameter of the ring
plate 32 is smaller than the internal diameter of the float wall
22, thus providing a gap between the ring plate 32 and the float
wall 22 enabling the circulation of water. Protrusions 321
respectively radially extend from the areas where the ring plate 32
adjoins each of the fins 33, and clamp pieces 28 respectively
radially extend from the inner edge of the float wall 22
corresponding to each of the protrusions 321, as shown in FIG. 5
and FIG. 6. The bottom edge of each of the clamp pieces 28
corresponding to one side of each of the protrusions 321 assumes an
arc form, and the front edge of each of the protrusions 321 also
assumes an arc form, thereby enabling each of the protrusions 321
to be guided to enter the bottom surface of each of the clamp
pieces 28. Moreover, the bottom end of the overflow tube wall 31 is
disposed tight against the bottom wall 21, thereby axially locating
the overflow tube 30 within the float 20, and further insertedly
clamping the overflow tube 30 to the float 20.
[0034] Furthermore, a plurality of drain openings 34 are spaced in
the bottom end of the overflow tube wall 31, thus, when the
overflow tube 30 is disposed within the float 20, passages are
formed between the overflow tube wall 31 and the bottom wall 21 for
water to flow out.
[0035] And after the overflow tube 30 is disposed within the float
20, then the overflow tube wall 31 is mounted on the guide post 13,
and the inner edge of the overflow tube 30 is appropriately guided
and positioned by the guide post 13.
[0036] Referring to FIG. 7, which shows an operational schematic
view depicting the float of the present invention separated from
the top edge of the longitudinal opening of the valve seat and
forming a valve port after an upward force has been applied to pull
the float upward. When a user pulls a flush handle, or presses a
flush button, then the float 20 is upwardly pulled by means of a
chain or a lever to cause the waterstop gasket 26 at the bottom
portion of the float 20 to separate from the top edge of the
longitudinal opening 11 of the valve seat 10 and form the valve
port 29. Accordingly, the originally clean flush water stored
within the water tank is able to flow down into the toilet bowl for
flushing use through the valve port 29 and the longitudinal opening
11 of the valve seat 10. During the initial stage of pulling up the
float 20, height of the bottom portion thereof is far lower that
the height of the water level of the flush water within the water
tank, thus, apart from most of the flush water flowing towards the
valve seat 10 through the valve port 29, moreover, a small portion
of the flush water will pass through each of the openings 24 at the
bottom portion of the float 20 as well as each of the water inlets
251 of the raised tubes 25, and flow into the holding chamber D
between the overflow tube wall 31, the bottom wall 21, and the
float wall 22.
[0037] When the flush water flows into the space of the holding
chamber D through each of the water inlets 251, because a suitable
distance is provided between the raised tubes 25 and the ring plate
32 or the adjustment baffles 35, thus, water flowing into the
holding chamber D through each of the water inlets 251 will be
blocked by the ring plate 32 or the adjustment baffles 35, thereby
enabling the water to sufficiently follow the raised arc portions
252 and flow all around. Accordingly, speed of the flush water
flowing into the holding chamber D can be appropriately adjusted,
and further enables adjusting the speed the float 20 sinks in the
flush water in the water tank. Furthermore, after the water level
of the flush water stored in the holding chamber D is higher than
the ring plate 32, then the ring plate 32 is simultaneously
provided with the function to block water flow quickly entering
each of the water inlets 251.
[0038] At the same time the water level of the flush water within
the water tank drops, then the float 20 is also caused to fall
downward until the water gasket 26 at the bottom portion of the
float 20 abuts against the valve seat 10, that is, the valve port
29 is caused to close, whereupon the flush water within the water
tank no longer flows into the toilet bowl.
[0039] After the float 20 closes the valve port 29, then the flush
water stored within the holding chamber D begins to slowly flow
into the toilet bowl through the drain openings 34 to replenish the
water seal level of the toilet bowl.
[0040] Because the overflow tube wall 31 of the overflow tube 30 of
the present invention is provided with clamping sections 311 below
the ring plate 32 which enable positionally mounting a different
number and/or different thicknesses of the adjustment baffles 35,
thus, the distance between the water inlets 251 at the top edge of
each of the raised tubes 25 and the ring plate 32 or the adjustment
baffles 35 can be changed accordingly, thereby adjusting the flow
amount entering the holding chamber D through each of the water
inlets 251.
[0041] Referring to FIG. 8A, which shows a state with the
adjustment baffles 35 not yet installed, at which time the distance
between the water inlet 251 at the top edge of each of the raised
tubes 25 and the ring plate 32 is the largest, that is, obstruction
to the flow entering the holding chamber D through each of the
water inlets 251 is the smallest. Under such a state, the flow
entering the holding chamber D through each of the water inlets 251
is the largest. Accordingly, during the flushing process, the speed
the float sinks in the flush water is the fastest, and also the
valve port will be closed earlier, thereby reducing the amount of
flush water used.
[0042] Referring to FIG. 8B, which shows the state after installing
two strips of adjustment baffles 35, at which time the distance
between the water inlet 251 at the top edge of each of the raised
tubes 25 and the adjustment baffles 35 has become very small, that
is, obstruction to the flow entering the holding chamber D through
each of the water inlets 251 is increased. Under such a state, the
flow entering the holding chamber D through each of the water
inlets 251 becomes small. Accordingly, during the flushing process,
the speed the float sinks in the flush water becomes slow, and also
the valve port will be closed at a comparatively later time,
thereby increasing the amount of flush water used.
[0043] Comparing FIGS. 8A and 8B with FIG. 4, it can be known that
installing different numbers of the adjustment baffles 35 changes
the speed the float 20 sinks in the flush water as well as the
speed the valve port closes, and further regulates the amount of
flush water used. It is understood that apart from changing the
number of adjustment baffles 35, adjustment baffles of different
thicknesses could also be fitted (not shown in the drawings) to
additionally adjust the space for the amount of flush water used.
Accordingly, the present invention is able to satisfy the standards
established by different countries and is able to be configured and
used with various types of water tanks having different size
specifications.
[0044] Furthermore, because the structure of the present invention
undoubtedly enables the amount of flush water used to be
effectively adjusted, thus, using the toilet water tank of the
present invention enables raising the height of the water level
within the water tank, and after raising the water level, the
structure of the present invention can still be used to control the
amount of flush water used. In actual fact, raising the water level
can be used to increase the height difference between the valve
port and the water level, thereby enabling increasing the impulsive
force of the flush water flushing the toilet bowl, and further
achieving the effectiveness to improve the flushing operation.
[0045] It is of course to be understood that the embodiments
described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of the
invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be
effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the
spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following
claims.
* * * * *