Patent Application
20100058521
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toilet flushing system. More specifically, the invention is a dual toilet tank system that efficiently uses, and considerably reduces, the amount of water used to flush sewage and other wastes, which, in turn, saves the user on water and sewer bills and promotes water conservation.
2. Background of the Invention
Water consumption, potable or otherwise, can be costly to consumers depending on the demand. In many metropolitan areas, wastewater is recycled and the costs are passed to the consumer. In some areas of the world, water is a premium commodity because of geography, availability, economy and/or weather conditions. Modern toilets consume much of the available water, but they are very inefficient because the same amount of water is used to flush both liquid and solid wastes.
Thus, a dual toilet tank system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The dual toilet tank system includes a tank separated into two compartments by a divider, a flushing valve assembly spanning both compartments, and two flush valves disposed at different elevations with respect to the base of the tank. When flushing waste, this arrangement allows a small amount of water to be used for liquid waste, with the remaining water used for solid waste.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
The present invention relates to a dual toilet tank system that efficiently uses the water in the tank by selectively flushing predetermined amounts of water depending on the particular waste load. Referring to
Referring to
The flushing valve system includes an elongated overflow tube 320 connected to two flush assemblies disposed on either side of the overflow tube. The flush assembly on the compartment A side is composed of a first flapper valve housing 314 with an opening at the top end thereof to accommodate a first flapper 312. A cap 316 closes the bottom end of the housing to prevent leakage of the water flowing through the housing. An L-shaped tube 310 extends from the housing 314, and the first flapper 312 is pivotably connected to the L-shaped tube. The top end of the L-shaped tube is also closed. Extending perpendicularly from the bottom of the overflow tube is the second flush valve housing 324 for the compartment B side. The second flush valve housing has an opening at the top end thereof to accommodate a second flapper 322. The second flapper is pivotably connected to the overflow tube. Although this embodiment shows the pivotable connections of the first and second flappers at the respective tubes, other locations are also possible as long as they allow the flappers to move between closed and open positions.
The bottom end of the second valve housing extends downwardly to form an outlet shaft 326. The outlet shaft is threaded to permit connection to the discharge passageway of a standard toilet bowl. The overflow tube and the L-shaped tube each have a threaded bore, one near the bottom for the overflow tube and the other at the juncture of the L-shape for the L-shaped tube. A hollow threaded connector 330 is provided to fasten the two tubes together. When the flushing valve system is assembled, the first flapper valve is disposed at a higher elevation from vertical; i.e., higher with respect to the bottom of the tank, than the second flapper valve.
Respective actuators operate each flapper valve independently. The actuator for the first flapper valve includes a first handle 210 fastened to a first lever arm 212. One end of an adjustable chain 214 connects to the distal end of the first lever arm, and the other end of the chain connects to the first flapper. The actuator for the second flapper valve is similarly arranged with a second handle 220, second lever arm 222 and an adjustable chain 224. Each lever arm is of a length suitable for the size of the respective compartments.
Next, the operation of the dual toilet tank assembly will be described. As mentioned above, the divider separates the tank into compartments A and B. Compartment A contains the lowest amount of water; i.e., about ⅓ of the tank capacity. Moreover, the water in compartment A will also be the most utilized since toilets are more often used for liquid wastes than solid. When a user desires to eliminate liquid waste, the user operates the first handle 210 to open the first flapper valve via the first lever arm 212 lifting the first flapper 312. The relatively small volume of water from compartment A drains through the first flapper valve housing, the L-shaped tube, the connector 320 and the second flapper valve housing to be discharged through the outlet shaft.
Notably, the higher vertical disposition of the first flapper valve permits the inherent water pressure within compartment A to flush while utilizing majority of the volume in the compartment. Due to the fact that the divider slot 62 allows fluid communication between the compartments, the back pressure of the water in compartment B flows water back into compartment A while compartment A is being drained, this action assists refilling of the tank until equilibrium has been reached. When the user desires to flush solid waste, the user operates the second handle 220 to open the second flapper valve via the second lever arm 222 lifting the second flapper 322.
The relatively large volume of water from compartment B drains through the second flapper valve housing to be discharged through the outlet shaft. It is noted that the above fluid flow between compartments will be present in this instance also except in reverse, i.e. water flows from compartment A to compartment B. There are occasions when the wastes may require more than the capacity of compartment B. For heavier loads, the user operates both handles to employ the full capacity of the tank.
The dual toilet tank system has many benefits for water conservation. Water conservation, especially potable water, is an important consideration for everyone in present day, not only in terms of financial costs but also as an environmental concern. As an example of how the present invention may promote water conservation, an individual or user may flush a toilet five times a day using a conventional three gallon tank system, assuming four times for liquid wastes and one time for solid waste. That amounts to 15 gallons of water per day or 5,475 gallons per year. In contrast, the dual toilet tank system of three gallon capacity would use 6 gallons per day (4 gallons total for liquid wastes and 2 gallons for solid wastes) or 2,160 gallons per year, a savings of 3,315 gallons over the course of the year.
It should be noted that the present invention may encompass a variety of alternatives to the various features thereof. For example, the flushing valve system may be formed from PVC pipes, plastics or other sturdy materials. With respect to the divider, the inner walls of the tank may be provided with elongate slots for the divider to be inserted into the tank. The divider may also be provided with holes 64 to induce additional or faster fluid flow between the compartments. These holes may be selectively corked. With respect to the flushing valve assembly, the tubing therein may be separate pieces or integrally formed, e.g. the connector may be threaded or adhesively connected to the first flapper valve and the overflow tube.
It is envisioned that the dual toilet tank system may be used to replace standard toilet tanks. In which case, the dual toilet tank system unit would be a pre-assembled package containing the elements shown in
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
