This invention is in the field of grey water usage for flushing toilets.
It is estimated that the average American residence uses in the range of 100,000 gallons of water annually and that more water is used to flush toilets than showering or any other individual activity (Reference: Indoor Water Use in the United States, US EPA, June 2008, EPA-832-F-06-004). Grey water is defined as lightly used or unprocessed water which can be re-applied, in this case, to the flushing of toilets. Currently, almost all grey water is disposed of right after leaving the source fixture (e.g. a wash basin) or appliance (e.g. a washing machine). Numerous grey water toilet systems have been proposed in order to conserve water.
One type of system serves an entire building and utilizes a common reservoir where grey water is collected from the sinks, showers, bath tubs, washing machines, rain collection points, appliances etc. The stored grey water is then utilized by grey water applications such as toilets. This type of system requires extensive design and integration and is costly to retrofit into existing buildings. Examples of these systems include U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,879, 1978 Toms; U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,597, 1980 Toms; U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,218, 1979 McCormick; U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,625, 1994 Diemand; U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,956, 1995 Gilliam; U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,468, 1996 Cormier; U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,330, 1996 Delle Cave; U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,677, 1996 Dembrosky; U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,346, 1998 Johnson; U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,882, 2001 Rosenblatt; U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,942, 2004 Nield; U.S. Pat. No. 6,796,250, 2004 Greene; U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,395, 2005 Hodges; 6904926, 2005 Aylward et al.; 7121292, 2006 Aylward et al.; 8974663, 2015 Aylward et al.; 7913331, 2011 Hartman; U.S. Pat. No. 8,696,897, 2014 Marugame; U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,920, 1992 Kimball.
Less expansive grey water toilet systems include connected sink/toilet combinations,
Foot operated devices have been applied for different individual toilet functions in the past. Foot pedals have been used to trigger the flush operation of toilets for many years. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 1,585,557, 1924 Miller; U.S. Pat. No. 1,864,827, 1931 Jenkins et al.; 2467019, 1944 Farson; U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,828, 1971 Seek; U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,829, 1971 Seek; U.S. Pat. No. 3,883,904, 1975 Wittman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,708 1992 Johnson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 8,286,273 B1, 2012 Toomer; and D6492335, 2011 Du, as well as Chinese patents: CN202370063U, 2012 and CN203222872U, 2013. These devices attach to the existing flush mechanisms of toilets and apply a small amount of energy from a user's foot action to trigger a flush event, providing more hygienic touch free flushing. Foot powered pumps have also been proposed to provide flush water for portable toilets. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,465, 1995 Tagg. Foot powered pumps and water transfer mechanisms for flushing toilets have been proposed by several Chinese patents: CN2166167Y, 1994; CN2355010Y, 1999; CN2407051Y, 2000; CN2496938Y, 2002; CN2639383Y, 2004; CN2742053Y, 2005; and CN103726543A, 2014. However, these foot powered water transfer devices are not designed to integrate with existing toilets and require custom installation or remodeling. Some are standalone components and do not offer a complete solution. For example, many of these designs require installation of a custom toilet versus integrating with an existing toilet. A practical grey water toilet retrofit system should handle all the functions related to flushing a toilet with simple input from the user. These functions include: triggering the flush mechanism, resupplying the toilet tank with grey water and handling situations when there is either too much or too little grey water. The use of grey water in toilets has not been commercially viable or widely available in part due to the high cost to retrofit existing toilets with a practical system. The goal of this invention is to overcome these obstacles.
Toilets commonly employ a cistern, otherwise known as a toilet tank 20, to hold a volume of water which is released during a flush cycle. The toilet tank is typically filled from the building's fresh water supply plumbing. This invention proposes a method,
Typical residential bathrooms have a toilet with a wash basin nearby. However, most existing wash basins are positioned too low to allow the resultant grey water to flow directly into most existing toilet tanks. Thus, current grey water toilet systems either require the wash basin drain to be raised higher than the toilet tank level or require a powered pump 11 to move the grey water from a storage reservoir 12 up to the level of the toilet tank 13. Many of these systems necessitate remodeling to position the fixtures appropriately or to provide an electrical source for the required pumping mechanism.
Typically, toilet tanks 60 are at a level of approximately 0.305 to 0.610 meters (1 to 2 feet) above the bathroom floor. Thus the grey water held in the temporary storage reservoir 61, positioned near the bathroom floor level,
The energy Ew required to lift grey water of weight w an elevation rise d is represented in
Ew=w×d EQ1:
To supply the same amount of energy, Ef, with a foot pedal, a force F on the pedal for a travel distance h is required. This is represented in
Ef=F×h EQ2:
Combining these two equations result in the unified equation EQ identifying the force F required on the foot pedal to move the grey water from the reservoir to the toilet tank under ideal conditions:
F=(w×d)/h EQ:
Ergonomically it would be beneficial to minimize both the required pedal force F,
For example, since the weight of 6.06 L (1.60 gallons) of water is 6.06 kg, a force of 59.3 N is required to lift this weight. From EQ1, the energy required to move 6.06 L of grey water up 0.610 m is 36.2 Joules (59.3 N×0.610 m). From EQ2, this is equivalent to pressing down on a pedal with a force of 36.2 N for 1 m or equivalently 119 N for 0.305 m. If however, the grey water held in the reservoir can be positioned above the floor level, less pedal force will be necessary. For example, if it is possible to install the grey water reservoir elevated to 0.305 m (1 ft) above floor level, then only 18.1 J of energy or 59.3 N of force for 0.305 m is needed to lift the grey water up to the toilet tank. This is half of the energy and force on the pedal needed to move the grey water up to the toilet tank as compared to the 0.610 m elevation rise scenario. Thus it is beneficial to mount the reservoir as high as possible but still low enough to collect grey water from the various sources.
Although a small amount of additional force is necessary to overcome parasitic losses and to trigger the toilet flush mechanism, we see from these examples that a force of approximately 59.3 N to 119 N (13.3 to 26.7 pound-force) and a pedal movement of 0.305 m (1 ft) is sufficient to move the amount of grey water needed for a single flush in a typical contemporary toilet in the US today. Since there is a wide variation of toilet tank and wash basin design, the necessary elevation rise and thus pedal force required will vary with each setup. In addition, many older toilets require more water to flush and thus a greater grey water capacity from embodiments of this invention.
From this discussion, we see that it is possible for the average person to impart enough energy with a single foot pedal actuation to lift the necessary amount of liquid to resupply a toilet tank.
System timing,
Ergonomically, it is preferable that the user does not have to worry about timing at all. Thus the foot pedal should be allowed to be released at any time after the actuation stroke so that the user does not have to hold the pedal down waiting for the flush cycle to complete or progress to a certain point.
Timing when the main volume of grey water is sent to the toilet tank varies with the many toilet designs and flush cycles being used. Ideally, the main volume of grey water should be introduced into the toilet tank when the current flush cycle progresses to the point where the grey water is able to supply the toilet tank for the next flush cycle. Introducing grey water too early can result in the grey water flowing out prematurely with the current flush cycle. In some installations, the inherent delay in moving the grey water into the toilet tank provides sufficient time to prevent this. In other installations, an additional explicit delay is also needed.
Other considerations include: how to handle situations when either too much or too little grey water is available as well as how to trigger the toilet's flush mechanism as an integral part of an embodiment.
A solution to these problems without the need for significant remodeling or the need for electrical power will help grey water usage for flushing toilets become more broadly accepted thereby achieving greater water conservation.
As demonstrated by one or more of the embodiments described here, this invention relates to methods and devices that utilize grey water for the flushing of toilets. Grey water 24 is collected 50 in a holding reservoir 25 in advance of a flush operation. A pedal 21 mechanism begins receiving energy 51 from the user. This energy is stored 52 by an energy storage mechanism 26 as it is received. A toilet flush is triggered 53 directly when the pedal is actuated 57 or indirectly through the energy storage mechanism 26 after sufficient energy is available 56. Receiving energy from the pedal 51, triggering the toilet flush 53 and storing the pedal energy 52 can overlap in time and occur simultaneously. A delay 55, comprising intrinsic and optionally explicit portions, defers the grey water introduction into the toilet tank. The explicit delay component 28 allows the current flush to progress before the transfer mechanism 27 moves 54 the grey water 24 from a holding reservoir 25 into the toilet tank 20. The grey water from the holding reservoir 25 can also supplement the current flush cycle as well as supply the toilet tank 20 for the next flush cycle.
The amount of energy required to move the grey water depends on both the amount of grey water required and the elevation rise d,
Triggering the flush cycle for typical toilets require minimal pressure on the toilet's flush mechanism. For example, 8.90 to 22.2 N (2 to 5 lbs. of force) over 2.54 to 5.08 cm (1 to 2 inches) or in the range of 1 Joule of energy will normally be sufficient to trigger a mechanical toilet flush.
Typical embodiments of this system comprise: a reservoir 25 for collecting grey water 24 in advance of a toilet flush; a pedal 21 for receiving human mechanical energy from a user's foot 23 actuation; an energy storage mechanism 26, for example, such as a spring or weight or pneumatics to hold the imparted human energy allowing the pedal to be released immediately after the foot actuation; a flush trigger actuator link 22 and flush adaptor 32 to trigger the toilet's native flush mechanism 31; a manual powered liquid transfer mechanism 27 or pump to transfer the grey water 24 to the toilet tank 20; and a grey water outlet 29 connecting the reservoir with the toilet tank. An explicit delay mechanism 28 can be included to control the point in time when the grey water enters the toilet tank if needed for a particular installation.
The liquid storage reservoir 25 stores the grey water 24 which can originate from various sources. Ideally, this reservoir is positioned lower than the grey water source 30 so that grey water can naturally flow into it utilizing gravity, without the need for mechanical assistance. Typically, this grey water storage reservoir 25 is positioned near floor level, below the exit pipes of nearby fixtures which supply the grey water but as high as possible to minimize the energy required to move the stored grey water to the toilet tank.
The pedal 21 operated mechanism is utilized by the user to start a flush cycle. When pressure is applied by the user's foot 23, a mechanical link 22 actuates the flush adaptor 32 connected to the toilet's flush mechanism 31 initiating a normal flush cycle. Continued foot pressure provides energy to transfer the grey water in the holding reservoir 25 up to the toilet tank 20 resupplying the toilet tank in preparation for the next flush cycle. While it is desirable to utilize a single pedal stroke per flush cycle, multiple strokes may be applied to decrease pedal effort or shorten stroke distance or provide additional energy which can be stored for future flush cycles.
The energy storage mechanism 26 holds the energy from the user's pedal actuation, thus allowing the pedal to be released immediately. This energy storage mechanism can utilize an explicit component, such as for example a spring, or alternatively can be realized without an explicit component, for example by imparting potential energy to the grey water by elevating it. For single pedal stroke operation, the energy storage capacity should hold enough energy to operate a single flush cycle. However, larger energy storage capacities can also be utilized to store energy for additional flush cycles.
Since the time it takes to complete a flush cycle varies with different toilets, it is beneficial in some installations to delay the transfer of grey water into the toilet tank so that it does not all flow out to the toilet bowl during the current flush cycle. This can occur if the grey water is introduced into the toilet tank too early during the flush cycle.
Timing diagram
If needed, the explicit delay duration can be determined through monitoring one of the toilet's operating parameters such as the liquid level in the toilet tank, pressure level in the toilet tank, flow rate out of the toilet tank and flush valve position. Alternatively, a fixed timer based on timing from prior flush cycles, can also be applied.
The toilet tank's flush valve begins to close near time 42. This point is near the end of the flushing process at time 43 when the water level in the toilet tank is at or near its low water mark. The toilet tank's native fill system is left intact ensuring that enough water is provided to the toilet tank for the next flush cycle in case there is insufficient grey water available. This native fill system introduces fresh water at a relatively slow rate as compared to the flushing rate of water exiting to the toilet during the flush interval, see
Additional fresh water savings can be achieved by modifying the native fresh water fill system to include a delay or by decreasing the fresh water input flow rate. This allows more grey water to fill the toilet tank and thus requiring less fresh water. Partially closing the fresh water supply valve 33 into the toilet tank is one way to achieve a fresh water flow rate reduction. Any excessive grey water introduced to the toilet tank is automatically expelled by the toilet tank's native overflow system.
This human powered system allows more efficient usage of water resources by enabling existing bathrooms to be retrofitted to use grey water for the flushing of toilets. Existing wash basins and toilets can be integrated with this grey water flush system with minimal or no remodeling and without the need to add an electrical source to power the system.
A pedal 21 interface makes this system ergonomically easy to use and accessible to most users. This pedal performs key functions including triggering the toilet's flush mechanism 31 and providing energy to supply the toilet tank 20 with grey water 24 for the next flush.
Automated functions provide consistent operation allowing the user to release the pedal 21 at any time without concern about the system timing or grey water availability. An energy storage mechanism 26 holds the energy received from the pedal 21 allowing the pedal 21 to be released immediately after actuation. If needed, an optional explicit delay 28 of the grey water to the toilet tank allows enough time for the flush cycle to progress, preventing most of the grey water from flowing out to the toilet bowl with the current flush cycle.
The toilet's existing fresh water fill mechanism is utilized to supplement the grey water should the supply of grey water be temporarily unavailable or inadequate. For example, this may happen if multiple flushes are performed before sufficient grey water is collected in the liquid storage reservoir. Excessive grey water is expelled, utilizing the toilet tank's existing overflow mechanism should too much grey water be introduced into the toilet tank, preventing an overflow situation. These features combine to provide ease of use as well as backup redundancy. If this grey water retrofit system fails, the toilet can continue to operate as it would before the retrofit by utilizing its native flush and fresh water fill capabilities.
Although, this system is focused towards retrofitting existing toilet installations, it can also be applied to new toilet installations.
As demonstrated by one or more of the embodiments, this invention relates to devices that utilize grey water for the flushing toilets. Central to the invention is the method and system to utilize human power to trigger a toilet flush cycle and re-supply the toilet tank with grey water for the next flush cycle.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention comprises of a combination of pre-existing as well as new components and is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the devices and components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting. There are many alternate forms of the described embodiments. Any suitable device, component, size, shape, position or type of materials can be used to implement this invention.
The following are example embodiments covering the different components making up this system, see
This embodiment applies pressure directly to the grey water in order to force it out of the reservoir and into a toilet tank. In this example, the reservoir 71, pedal 77, energy storage 83, flush actuator link 74 and pump/liquid transfer mechanisms 90 are unified, decreasing the overall footprint of the system. While numerous mechanisms can be devised to pressurize the grey water,
The trigger/transfer stage
In the refill phase,
Once the reservoir is filled, the embodiment is in the ready phase
A flush trigger adapter 32 is utilized to trigger the native flush mechanism of a toilet as part of this grey water toilet system.
Electronic flush systems can also be remotely triggered by the foot pedal. Example designs include an electronic flush adapter connected to the internal flush electronics of the system or physically simulating the user's input (not shown).
Grey water needs to be routed into the toilet tank as part of this grey water toilet system. A custom fill adapter 76 can be utilized for this purpose.
This custom fill adaptor embodiment consists of a grey water entry port positioned outside of the toilet tank with a manifold body which channels the grey water to a contoured grey water exit port 134 inside the toilet tank. The manifold body 135 is designed to wrap over the upper edge of the toilet tank. This manifold body is positioned between the toilet tank and the toilet tank cover. Spacers 130 can be utilized to stabilize the toilet tank cover on top of the assembled adapter and toilet tank. Different variations of this embodiment (not shown) allow grey water to enter the toilet tank from different positions depending on the available clearance and specific layout needs within the room.
Alternatives to utilizing a custom grey water fill adapter include creating a grey water entrance hole/port directly in the toilet tank cover
Grey water for this toilet system can come from any source. Typically, wash basins 78 can be tapped for grey water using standard drain pipe components (not shown) as well as utilizing a custom grey water extraction adapter 79,
An embodiment of a level sensing, high flow rate valve that can be applied to provide an explicit delay 55 to the sudden entry of fluid into the toilet tank is shown in
A horizontal embodiment,
This embodiment replaces the reservoir, pedal, energy storage, flush actuator link and liquid transfer mechanisms of the first example with an elevation based mechanism. Numerous mechanisms can be utilized to raise the grey water high enough so that it will naturally flow into the toilet tank using gravity. These include displacing the grey water upward within the storage reservoir as well as physically raising the reservoir above the level of the water entrance to the toilet tank as in this embodiment.
The trigger/transfer stage
In the refill phase,
Once the reservoir 102 is filled, it is in the ready phase,
With respect to the above descriptions then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in components, size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed to be within the expertise of those skilled in the art, and all equivalent structural variations and relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1585557 | Miller | May 1926 | A |
1864827 | Jenkins et al. | Jun 1932 | A |
2467019 | Farson | Apr 1949 | A |
3594828 | Seek | Jul 1971 | A |
3594829 | Seek | Jul 1971 | A |
3883904 | Wittman | May 1975 | A |
4115879 | Toms | Sep 1978 | A |
4162218 | McCormick | Jul 1979 | A |
4197597 | Toms | Apr 1980 | A |
4358864 | Medrano | Nov 1982 | A |
5084920 | Kimball | Feb 1992 | A |
5142708 | Johnson et al. | Sep 1992 | A |
5201082 | Rockwell | Apr 1993 | A |
5317766 | McDonald et al. | Jun 1994 | A |
5345625 | Diemand | Sep 1994 | A |
5398465 | Tagg | Mar 1995 | A |
5452956 | Gilliam | Sep 1995 | A |
5496468 | Cormier | Mar 1996 | A |
5498330 | Delle Cave | Mar 1996 | A |
5573677 | Dembrosky | Nov 1996 | A |
5813047 | Teichroeb | Sep 1998 | A |
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5937455 | Donati | Aug 1999 | A |
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7913331 | Hartman | Mar 2011 | B2 |
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8286273 | Toomer | Oct 2012 | B1 |
8696897 | Marugame | Apr 2014 | B2 |
8931122 | Cerce | Jan 2015 | B1 |
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