U.S. patent number 3,599,248 [Application Number 04/782,808] was granted by the patent office on 1971-08-17 for trapless toilet bowl fixture and ring diaphragm therefor.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Mansfield Sanitary Inc.. Invention is credited to Vaughn D. Flinner, Howard A. Fulton.
United States Patent |
3,599,248 |
Fulton , et al. |
August 17, 1971 |
TRAPLESS TOILET BOWL FIXTURE AND RING DIAPHRAGM THEREFOR
Abstract
A trapless water flush toilet bowl plumbing fixture including a
trapless bowl mounted on a waste water discharge unit and a water
seal ring diaphragm positioned between the bowl and waste water
discharge unit, the said discharge unit having a ball valve mounted
therein for a water seal frictional engagement with said diaphragm
when the said ball valve is closed.
Inventors: |
Fulton; Howard A. (Big Prairie,
OH), Flinner; Vaughn D. (Big Prairie, OH) |
Assignee: |
Mansfield Sanitary Inc.
(Perrysville, OH)
|
Family
ID: |
25127232 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/782,808 |
Filed: |
December 11, 1968 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
4/438; 251/208;
251/301 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E03D
11/10 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E03D
11/10 (20060101); E03D 11/02 (20060101); E03d
011/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;4/41,69,70,76,77,79,80,84,85,89,90,92 ;251/208,315,144,301 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Schwadron; Martin P.
Assistant Examiner: Payne; Leslie J.
Claims
We claim:
1. A trapless water flush toilet bowl fixture and a water seal ring
diaphragm therefor of the class described comprising:
a. a trapless toilet bowl having a top rim with a water channel
therein, water discharge apertures in said rim adjacent the inner
surface of the bowl wall and a waste water outlet opening centrally
of the bottom wall of said bowl,
b. a bowl supporting waste water discharge member having a
generally tubular body with a floor flange adjacent its lower end
and a V-shaped upper section, the inner wall of said upper section
forming a truncated cone having a diameter of its opening
substantially the equal to the diameter of said bowl outlet
opening,
c. ball valve means rotatively mounted in the wall of said tubular
body adjacent said upper section thereof and having a horizontal
axis of rotation,
d. handle means mounted on said waste water discharge member
adjacent the exterior surface thereof and having a connection to
said ball valve means for the rotation thereof and a connection to
a water supply valve for regulating the supply of flush water for
said bowl, and
e. a ring diaphragm having a diameter substantially equal to the
top of said bowl supporting member and a ring opening diameter
substantially equal to the waste water outlet of said bowl, the
said ring diaphragm having an integral upstanding flange adjacent
said ring opening, a plastic facing ring means having a low
coefficient of friction embedded in the surface of said flange
adjacent the flange joint facing said ring opening, the said ring
diaphragm being positioned between said bowl bottom wall and the
top of said waste water discharge member with their respective
openings in axial alignment and having said ring diaphragm in
frictional engagement with said ball valve means to provide a water
seal when said valve means is closed.
2. The toilet bowl fixture as defined in claim 1 in which said ball
valve means has a hollow spherical upper segment underlapping the
opening of said ring diaphragm, a pair of depending side panels
integral with said segment and having an integral rotor shaft and
an integral rotor stud on the respective outer walls of said
panels, the said rotor shaft and rotor stud having their axis of
rotation in alignment with the center of a sphere of which said
upper spherical segment is a part.
3. The ball valve means as defined in claim 2 in which said ball
valve means is a solvent resistant plastic and has cutaway portions
between said panels and adjacent said upper segment to provide an
unobstructed passageway in said tubular body when said ball valve
is open.
4. The ring diaphragm as defined in claim 1 in which said ring
diaphragm is a solvent resistant rubber and has an upstanding
flange adjacent the ring opening.
5. The ring diaphragm as defined in claim 4 in which said ring
diaphragm has a ring facing band having a low coefficient of
friction embedded into its lower surface and flange for a water
seal frictional engagement with the upper spherical segment of said
ball valve when said valve is closed.
6. The ring diaphragm as defined in claim 5 in which said ring
facing band is tetrafluoroethylene resin.
Description
BACKGROUND
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the art of sanitary plumbing systems and
more particularly to the field of compact water flush toilet
fixtures for use in mobile homes, cottages and other areas where
space saving is a requirement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art with which we are familiar, in the sanitary plumbing
field, that relates to devices for providing a water seal for the
water discharge valve of a flush water toilet of the trapless type,
are the rubber or plastic gaskets that have required an adjusting
ring to obtain a proper seal and alignment of parts.
SUMMARY
In contrast with the prior plumbing art in the field of trapless
toilet bowl fixtures, the present invention avoids the
disadvantages found in such art in the following respects: the
invention, together with the waste water ball valve of the waste
water discharge unit provide a water seal for said fixture by means
of a slidable frictional engagement between the outer surface of
said ball valve and the surface of the ring of low-frictional
material molded into the ring diaphragm, the said low-frictional
material being sufficiently elastic to adjustably maintain a seal
when the ball valve is in its closed position.
Another advantage is that it eliminates the use of an adjusting
ring to obtain a satisfactory seal. Still another advantage is that
it reduces the possibility of water leakage from the retained
supply of water in the bowl. It also reduces the time of assemblage
of parts and labor cost of installation.
Other advantages more or less ancillary to the foregoing will
appear in the following description and the accompanying drawing of
the invention.
THE DRAWING
Referring to the drawing:
FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a trapless toilet bowl fixture
illustrating one embodiment of the invention, parts being broken
away to show the diaphragm in place;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the diaphragm of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the diaphragm taken on a line 3-3 of
FIG. 2 and showing the facing material of the diaphragm bonded in
place.
THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The trapless toilet bowl plumbing fixture is shown with the water
seal ring diaphragm in place as an essential part of the new waste
water discharge unit of said plumbing fixture as shown in FIG. 1 of
the drawing. The water seal ring diaphragm is shown in detail in
FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing.
It will be seen that the invention comprises a ring diaphragm A in
combination with a water discharge unit B of a trapless toilet bowl
plumbing fixture and a toilet bowl C.
The said water seal ring diaphragm A comprises a ring 10 and a ring
facing band 11. It has a substantially uniform thickness 12 and
width 13 and has an integral upturned ring flange 14 forming the
ring opening 15. The said ring opening 15 has a diameter,
preferably of 3 inches, and corresponding to the diameter of the
waste water discharge opening 44 shown adjacent the base of said
bowl C and an outside diameter 16 corresponding to the outside
diameter of the bottom wall 43 of the bowl C.
The said ring portion 10 preferably is made of a solvent resistant
rubber or other material having substantially the same properties
as said rubber.
The said ring facing band 11 has a ring opening 17 substantially
equal to said ring opening 15 of said ring 10 and has an upturned
ring flange 18 adjacent said opening 17. The said ring facing band
11 is embedded and bonded into the lower surface 19 of said ring 10
and the flange portion 18 thereof is embedded and bonded into the
adjacent portion of said ring flange 14 of said ring 10 so that the
exposed surfaces of the ring 10 and the ring facing band 11 fall
within the same plane.
The said ring facing band 11 of diaphragm A is a band of solvent
resistant material having a low coefficient of friction and
inherent lubricity such as tetrafluoroethylene resin.
The said water discharge unit B includes a vertically positioned
tubular portion 20, a ball valve 21, a rotor shaft 22 and a rotor
stud 23 mounted in axial alignment on opposite sides of said ball
valve 21 and a flush water assembly 24 mounted on the outer surface
of said tubular portion 20.
The said tubular portion 20 of said water discharge unit B has a
lower section 25 having an inside diameter, preferably of 5 inches,
and a V-shaped upper section 26. The said lower section 25 has a
floor flange 27 forming its bottom wall and two axial aligned
horizontal openings 28 and 28A in the wall thereof to receive said
rotor shaft 22 and rotor stud 23 journaled therein, said rotor
shaft 22 extends through said opening 28 and is connected to said
flush water assembly 24.
The said V-shaped upper section 26 has its inner wall 29 forming a
truncated cone with the diameter of its opening 30 slightly larger
than said diaphragm opening 15, the outer wall 31 thereof having a
diameter equal to the outside diameter 16 of said diaphragm 10.
The said ball valve 21 is preferably made of a solvent resistant
plastic, has an upper spherical segment 32 having a sufficient area
of its outer surface 33 to underlap the opening 17 of said ring
facing band 11 and frictionally engage the surface thereof adjacent
its flange to provide a water seal for said bowl C when such
segment 32 is in an upright position. The said ball valve 211 has a
pair of vertical parallel side panels 34 extending downwardly from
said segment 32. The said rotor shaft 22 and rotor stud 23 are each
mounted on a side panel 34 in axial alignment with the horizontal
axis of a sphere, of which said segment 32 is a part, and in which
its axis is perpendicular to said horizontal axis to provide for
the partial rotation of said segment 32 to open and close said ball
valve 21.
The said ball valve 21 has two axially aligned semicircular
openings 35 in its wall between said panels 34 which have a
diameter at least equal to the diameter of said opening 15 of the
ring 10 to provide a passage clear of obstructions when the ball
valve is rotated to its open position.
The said flush water assembly 24 includes a water supply connection
36, a cam actuated valve 37 connected to said water supply
connection 36 and a handle 38 connected to said cam actuated valve
37 and connected to said rotor shaft 22. The said handle 38 may
supply water to the bowl and discharge the flush water as
desired.
The said toilet bowl C includes a trapless bowl portion 40 having a
hollow top rim water channel 41 with a water supply from said cam
actuated valve 37 connected thereto, apertures 41a in said water
channel 41 adjacent the bowl wall 42 to provide a curtain of
flowing water on said wall 42 when said valve 37 is open and a
bottom wall 43 thereof having a diameter substantially equal to the
diameter of said outer wall 30 of said upper section 26 of the
tubular portion 20 and a discharge opening 44 therein substantially
equal to the opening 15 of said ring diaphragm 10.
In assembling the trapless toilet the ring diaphragm A is mounted
on the V-top 26 of said member B with the ring facing band 11
thereof adjacent said V-top surface and the flange 14 upstanding
and with the spherical segment 32 of the ball valve 21 in
frictional engagement with said segment 32 of said ball valve 21.
The toilet bowl C is then mounted upon said ring diaphragm A so
that the discharge opening 44 is in alignment with the opening 15
of said ring 10. When the diaphragm A, the discharge unit B and the
toilet bowl C are assembled, the parts are held in place and sealed
with a plastic ring 45 generally U-shaped and an adjustment band 46
mounted on the outer surface of said ring 45.
Having thus described this invention in such full, clear, concise
and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which
it pertains to make and use the same, and having set forth the best
mode contemplated of carrying out this invention, we state that the
subject matter which we regard as being our invention is
particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in what is claimed,
it being understood that equivalents or modifications of, or
substitutions for, parts of the above specifically described
embodiment of the invention may be made without departing from the
scope of the invention as set forth in what is claimed.
* * * * *