Patent Application
20160168834
See Application Data Sheet.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for controlling the filling of a cistern in a main reservoir.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
The applicant filed a preceding patent application relating to a valve actuated by a float in a float housing. The drop of the water level as well as of the float can only be obtained by causing water to pass over one of the side walls of the float housing. In case of a reset, the drop can occur only when releasing the control button, which provides the device with a positive safety. The resetting occurs by means of a bell located under the float so that during a pressure on a bellows or a small pump a volume of water is discharged, and upon release, the level of water drops again in the float housing, causing the descent of the float and simultaneously triggering the opening of the float valve.
However, these devices require high volumes in order to arrange the various fairly large parts. Indeed, it is necessary to take into consideration the frictions that will occur after aging and due to the scale deposit in the long run. No risk should be taken and all of the float mass should preferably be released during the resetting. The size of the control organs must therefore be particularly large. The applicant therefore turned to a solution of resetting by siphoning, which permits to significantly reduce the dimensions of the necessary devices, and thus the effort necessary during the control. Indeed, the latter is added to the force necessary to control the valve and can then reach, even exceed, the limit specified by the standards. The proposed solution also includes other advantages.
WO 94/09217 relates to a method using a complex siphoning that is not fully satisfactory.
PCT/GB 98/03094 discloses a siphoning device with a sized orifice serving as a vent, the latter being located at the bottom of a small reservoir. In case of a fault-free operation, the vent is always submerged in water, thus permitting the siphoning and simultaneously the opening of the float valve.
In case of a small leak, the volume of water in which the vent is submerged has the time to be sucked through the latter, accordingly the vent is finally connected to the atmosphere and the siphoning cannot occur. The float housing remains full, and therefore the float valve remains closed and secure.
As regards the resetting, this document provides either a direct emptying device being located at the base of the float housing, which presents risks in case of leakage, or a retractable mechanism that should be maintained in a high position for the period of a filling of the main reservoir of the cistern until the closing of the float valve, to obtain a resetting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,537 discloses a siphoning device by suction obtained during a flushing, the spontaneous drop of water in the main water reservoir creating a negative pressure across the valve.
The detection of the small leak is thus obtained because during a slow drop of the water level in the main reservoir of the toilet flushing system there is no negative pressure on the upper portion of the siphon, therefore the water level in the float housing and, hence, the closing of the float valve are maintained.
The resetting is obtained through a mechanically operating auxiliary system, which is actuated through a control lever of the valve.
However, this solution also presents risks. In case the siphon would remain in the siphoning position in case of an accidental blocking of the control lever, it is impossible to detect the large leak, even the small leak.
The present invention pretends to cope with at least part of these drawbacks and provides a solution permitting to reset the float valve with a single maneuver, while guaranteeing an anti-siphoning and therefore to maintain the float valve in the closed position in case of a leak. The safety is perfectly positive, any blocking of the device resulting in maintaining the float valve closed.
To this end, it provides a device for controlling the filling of a cistern in a main reservoir of a toilet flushing system, in which the water inlet is controlled by a valve the closing of which is controlled by float that is movable from a high position to a low position, and inversely, said float being contained in a float housing and ensuring the closing of said valve when the float housing is full in the high position, and its opening when the float housing is empty in the low position, said float housing being connected to the main reservoir by at least one siphon comprising two tubes, a suction tube connected to the float housing and a discharge tube connected to the main reservoir and ending into an auxiliary reservoir that ends into the volume of said main reservoir, the two tubes being connected together at the level of their upper end by a passage located above the maximum filling level of said float housing, said device being characterized in that it includes a control mechanism provided with means for priming said siphon that are designed to be movable from an initial position to an actuated position, and inversely, the shift from said initial position to said actuated position resulting in an overpressure in said tubes, then a negative pressure, while the shift from the actuated position to the initial position results in a negative pressure, such that successively said overpressure and said negative pressure result in the overflowing of said auxiliary reservoir, the flow of water from the suction tube to the discharge tube by siphoning, and thus the emptying of the float housing
According to a preferred embodiment, said discharge tube extends vertically and its lower end ends below the maximum water level of said auxiliary reservoir.
Advantageously, said means for priming comprise a means for springy restoring from the actuated position to the initial position.
According to another embodiment, said passage has a sized cross-section smaller than the cross-section of each legs, i.e. the water columns or the suction and discharge tubes.
Preferably, said springy restoring means is a bellows or a restoring spring arranged in a small pump.
According to a particular embodiment, a compartment is arranged between said siphon and said control mechanism, connected through a link, for example through a connecting hole and said connection is arranged at the level of said passage.
According to an advantageous embodiment, said connection is arranged at the level of the discharge tube and under said passage, for example through an offset connecting hole, so as to provide a volume of air in the upper portion of the siphon above said link when the main reservoir is full.
Preferably, the device includes a secondary siphon in the form of a bell extending from the top of the compartment to below the connection between said compartment and the siphon.
Advantageously, the device includes an anti-siphoning bell arranged to provide a volume of air in the event of a small flush, and an auxiliary siphon arranged for transferring this volume of air to the suction tube during the rise of the water.
With these arrangements, the valve can be opened only upon a deliberate action on the control mechanism, which causes the springy restoring means to react. A positive security is thus obtained, guaranteeing the non-opening of the valve without a deliberate action by a user, irrespective of a possible leak at any component of the flush system.
According to other features
The advantage provided by the present invention primarily resides in that it provides a method and a toilet flush device with increased security against leakage, with an improved guarantee not to open the water inlet in case of a leak.
The float is released only upon release of the control button. Thus, during an accidental blocking of the control knob, the valve is kept closed. This thus avoids a great waste of water due to the valve being maintained in the open position.
The present invention will be better understood when reading the following detailed description with reference to the attached figures.
As illustrated in
When actuating the cistern, the water level in the main reservoir drops quickly, and the discharge tube 7 is just submerged with its base in the auxiliary reservoir 9. Then, when releasing the control button, the two water columns in the suction 6 and discharge 7 tubes join each other at the level of the passage 5, which triggers the siphoning of the float housing 4. Following the drop of said float 2, this produces the opening of the valve 1, and hence the filling of the main reservoir of the cistern, until refilling again the float housing 4, when the latter is completely or at least partially submersed, and thus causes the float 2 to raise and closes the valve 1.
However, in case of a small leak, the water can flow out from the main reservoir, and the water level in said reservoir slowly arrives to the bottom of the discharge tube 7 and the auxiliary reservoir 9. In order to avoid in such case the opening of the valve 1, it should be avoided that the siphon starts and gets into action. To this end, according to the invention a compartment 10, which is for example connected to the atmosphere through a hole for connecting to the atmosphere 27, is arranged in connection with the upper portion of the siphon, so as to prevent the siphon from priming and from getting into action. The drop in level of the water in the main reservoir, and hence in the discharge tube 7, then has no effect on the suction tube 6, the water level in the latter thus remains unchanged and the siphon does not start.
According to another embodiment, a compartment 11 is arranged in connection with the upper portion of the siphon through an offset connecting hole 14 so that the upper portion of the two suction 6 and discharge 7 tubes, located above the level of the offset connecting hole 14, remains full of air, even in case of leakage at the control device. The drop in level of the water in the main reservoir and thus in the discharge tube 7 is then not enough to cause the water level to raise in the suction tube 6 until the passage 5, and the siphon does not start.
Two exemplary embodiments of such a compartment 10, 11 are described below.
In the first exemplary embodiment, shown in
The inner volume of said compartment 10 may be subjected to a negative pressure.
In order to obtain the siphoning, and therefore the opening the valve 1 for filling the main reservoir, a control mechanism 13 permits in a first stage by a thrust to inject air through the compartment 10 and to expel the air and the water contained in the discharge tube 7, then by a reverse movement, to suck the water from the auxiliary reservoir 9 into and along the discharge tube 7 and the water from the float housing 4 into and along the suction tube 6, until at least one of the two columns reaches the passage 5, even the two columns are completely filled with water, as well as the passage 5, and hence join each other, which primes the siphon and empties then the float housing 4. The control mechanism 13 will be described a little later.
The arrangement of the compartment 10 does not permit a complete immersion, and since the device is at each maneuver connected to the atmosphere prevents an inadvertent siphoning in case of a small leak at the valve or at the plug of the main reservoir of the cistern.
According to a second exemplary embodiment of the compartment, shown in
It should be noted that this tube 32 serves as a flow channel during operations of sucking and discharging air and/or water in the device according to the invention. Said tube 32 is connected at its upper end to the trigger mechanism, namely the control means.
The tube 32 may have a larger diameter, capable of containing the amount of water sucked during suction, part of such a tube then forming the compartment 10, 11. Such a solution has however the drawback that such bigger tubes are more difficult to install in a cistern, which must remain as little bulky as possible.
Such an offset of the suction associated with the compartment 11 permits to maintain a sufficient volume of air, such as an air pocket, to prevent siphoning in case of a small air leak in the control device 13 and a slow drop of the water level in the main reservoir of the cistern, which simultaneously permits to submerge the whole siphon.
An effect similar to that obtained by an extension of the two suction 6 and discharge 7 tubes is thus obtained, so that the top of the siphon, where the two columns join each other, is sufficiently high and out of the water relative to the water level in the main reservoir, during the closing of the valve 1, thus leaving a sufficient volume of air so as not to initiate a siphoning in case of a small leak, and thus a slow drop of the level of water in the main reservoir.
According to a preferred embodiment, the control means may be in the form of a bellows 17.
Said bellows 17 may be replaced by a small pump 26 with or without a hole for connecting to the atmosphere 27.
Irrespective of the embodiment, the cross-section of the suction tube 6 may preferably be larger than that of the discharge tube 7, thus permitting to reduce the size of the entire device.
To further improve the reliability of the device, namely in case of leakage at the control mechanism 13, a bell 15 is arranged in the compartment 11. Following a leak at the control mechanism 13 having partially filled the compartment 11, the level of water in the latter then being above the offset connecting hole 14, during a water leak at the level of the valve in the bottom of the main reservoir, the level in said main reservoir drops slowly, gradually releasing the discharge tube 7, which causes the drop of the air in the same tube and the rise of the water and air in the suction tube 6, since the water level in the float housing 4 remains unchanged. When the air in the discharge tube 7 arrives at the level of the offset connecting hole 14, the air passes through this offset connecting hole 14 and rises in the compartment 11 and the air is thus replaced by water, which permits the discharge tube 7, as if there would not have been air, to cause the water to rise along and in the suction tube 6, finally causing a siphoning. The bell 15 thus permits to obtain a secondary siphon 16 preventing air from rising in the compartment 11 and being replaced by water during the drop of the level of the water column in the discharge tube 7. The secondary siphon 16 has thus a locking function. The bell 15 permits to recover the air-water mixture upon release of the control means, i.e. the bellows 17, the bell 15 being dimensioned so that the water does not rise to the top and cannot enter into the tube 32 connecting the bell 15 to the bellows 17 or to the small pump 26.
According to another embodiment, shown in
Hereafter are described two examples of control devices 13 suitable for the present invention, whereby each of the control devices can be used for any of the solutions of compartment 10 above the passage 5 or of compartment 11 next to the upper portion of the discharge tube 7, with or without bell 15.
According to a first embodiment, shown in
After each flushing, and emptying of the float housing after siphoning, the two water columns in the suction 6 and discharge 7 tubes drop after having sucked air through the suction tube 6 (reset).
The reset is generally obtained for large toilet flushes using a larger volume of water and which permits a reset, which could thus be satisfactory for the leak detection.
The reset' is however necessary for small toilet flushes, because without reset the siphon continues to siphon and siphons to the float housing 4 during a filling of the main reservoir and the float 2 thus rises with the water level in the main reservoir and the float valve 1 thus shuts off the water inlet before it has reached the right level of adjustment, i.e. the level and the closing of the valve reached by the overflow of water from the reservoir into the float housing 4.
The anti-siphoning bell 33 is located just out of the water during the flushing of the small cistern, the air thus replacing the water that was present there. At the same time the water level in the float housing 4 drops, the passage 5 braking the drop of the water level in the float housing 4, thus delaying the opening of the float valve 1. During the opening of the float valve 1, the water level in the cistern rises and the water enters into the anti-siphoning bell 33, discharging the air through the chimney 34 to the return bell 35. Since the pressure is increasing in the anti-siphoning bell 33, due to the rise of the level in the main reservoir and decreasing on the side of the float housing 4 where the water level continues to drop, and hence, the pressure is sufficient to permit the air to drop in the column 36 to an anti-siphoning connection 37 and to rise in the suction tube 6, thus creating an air pocket as for a reset. It should be noted that this connection 37 ends into the float housing 4.
This air pocket is sufficient to guarantee the anti-siphoning toward the float housing 4, thus permitting to obtain, after each flushing of the small cistern, the proper level of filling of the main reservoir. The water level in the main reservoir of the cistern rises and fills the float housing 4 by overflow.
At the same time, the anti-siphoning is guaranteed thanks to the air pocket in the case of a small leak and a slow drop of the water level in the reservoir providing in addition a supplement of air after a reset.
According to a second embodiment, shown in
While siphoning, the water then partly fills the compartment 10, 11, until the seal 22 releases the hole for connecting to the atmosphere 27, then connecting the entire siphoning device to the atmosphere.
The connecting hole 12 is sized so that the siphoning of the float housing 4 permits to release over its entire height the float 2, the two suction and discharge columns then being capable of dropping after having sucked air.
After the connection to atmosphere of the siphoning device, since the air can penetrate through the hole for connecting to the atmosphere 27, the compartment 10 empties after the necessary time, permitting the siphoning of the float housing 4. The device is thus capable of detecting the small leak, since the siphoning cannot occur without actuating the control mechanism 13, the siphon 5, 6, 7 being connected to the atmosphere through the hole for connecting to the atmosphere 27 and the connecting hole 12.
During a reset after a leak, the auxiliary reservoir 9 permits to siphon and instead of the air bubbles escaping at the base of the suction tube 6, they escape at the base of the discharge tube 7, since the immersion of the latter is less than for the suction tube 6 in the float housing 4, the main reservoir of the toilet flushing system being empty due to said leak.
The float housing 4 is then filled right to the brim, as well as the auxiliary reservoir 9. To reset the valve 1, it is enough to actuate the bellows 17 or the small pump 26 by pressing the control button 23, which permits to expel air through the discharge tube 7, since the main reservoir of the cistern is empty. Then, by releasing the control button 23, the water in the suction 6 and discharge 7 tubes rises and results in the discharge tube 7 being longer (out of the water), the water column contained in the latter will be enough by rising to start the siphoning. The latter then permits to empty the float housing 4 and thus to cause the opening of the valve 1.
The valve 1 is after each filling of the main reservoir in the closed position, secure, and only a maneuver of the control mechanism 13 can permit its opening. The valve 1 is reset at each maneuver, the opening of the valve 1 occurring only during the release of the button. Here too, a positive safety is obtained, according to which the valve 1 is held in the closed position in case of an accidental blocking of the control button.
This device for resetting and restarting the valve somehow permits a reset at each maneuver, each time connecting the device to the atmosphere.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the passage 5 is sized so as to obtain a slowed down flow through the suction 6 and discharge 7 tubes, and thus a delayed opening of the valve 1. This permits to avoid filling the main reservoir as long as it is not closed, and thus to properly control the amount of water to be used with each flushing.
The sized passage 5 determines the delay for opening, the valve 1 opening normally just after the closing of the valve on the bottom of the main reservoir.
Both embodiments of the resetting device can be used independently from the control of the valve, for the case of an autonomous valve float using the ballast reservoir. The reset device using the control means in the form of bellows or a small pump being then mounted on the hole of the main reservoir of the cistern remaining free, the device serving just as a reset in case of putting the float valve in safety following the detection of a leak.
Another exemplary embodiment consists in using control means in the form of a small pump provided with non-return valves operating as a priming pump and which then permits to suck and to partially empty the float housing, thus causing its water level to drop, and hence the float therein, then triggering the opening of the float valve.
A delayed opening of the valve 1 can also be obtained by arranging sockets 30 above the side walls of the float housing 4 and a sized orifice 31 at the level of the initial height of the float housing 4. The emptying of the float housing 4 is thus delayed and the delayed opening of the valve 1 is thus obtained.
According to the various embodiments of the invention, the following advantages are obtained:
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1356196 | Jun 2013 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR14/51572 | 6/24/2014 | WO | 00 |
