Patent Application
20070169254
This invention is in the field of automated cleaning devices and more specifically the automatic cleaning and/or disinfecting of toilet bowls and the perfuming the air space of toilet rooms.
As is well known in this field there are many difficulties related to the task of keeping clean and hygienic, toilets and their rooms. This is so in each and every private home and a bigger problem in office buildings, hotels, educational institutions and other places of public usage. The central problems are keeping the room and apparatus, in particular the toilet bowl, clean, hygienic and pleasant for all users with a minimum usage of labour. In the home this ‘minimum usage of labour’ is for the convenience and pleasant working environment for the member of the household or the cleaning helper who generally cleans the toilet room. In buildings used by the public this ‘minimum usage of labour’ has the additional and important factor of the cost of manpower to clean the toilet rooms. As is well known, especially in the case of toilets used by the public or even a portion of the public for example in office buildings, the toilets become unpleasant to use after a short time unless they are frequently and persistently cleaned, disinfected and where possible, also perfumed to counteract unpleasant odours.
The cost of manpower is high even when the toilet rooms are kept at an average standard of cleanliness and hygiene. A commonly used method to clean toilets consists of a slowly dissolving solid usually housed in a plastic container which allows water freely to enter and leave, thereby dissolving some of the solid matter when the flushing water comes in contact with the said solid matter. This plastic container is either placed in the cistern which holds the water next to be flushed or alternatively it is hooked onto the edge of the toilet bowl so that when the water is flushed, a portion of the water flows through the holes in the container and then into the bowl. These plastic containers are costly as they are individual units and have to be replaced at relatively frequent intervals.
This manual replacement of the dissolving solid type of cleaner is both costly in manpower and involves much direct and manual contact of the worker with the toilets and their bowls. Such manual contact is undesirable especially in the case of the said cleaning units which hang in the bowl itself as the bowl often harbors a high degree of bacteria and could transfer disease to the worker.
Another disadvantage of the said plastic bowl hangers containing the dissolvable solid is that they are easily knocked out of place and there is a good chance that they will fall in the bowl. This requires immediate removal otherwise blockages occur with unpleasant and sometimes costly consequences. Such immediate removal requires readily available manpower, thus adding to the hidden costs of such devices.
A further disadvantage of this prevalent method of cleaning toilet bowls, namely the container with a dissolving solids inside which are placed in the flushing cistern or hung on the edge of the bowl, is that they frequently disappear from toilets to which the public have access, shortly after they are installed. Until this is discovered by the cleaning staff there may be a build up of dirt, bacteria and odour. In addition there is the expense of replacement. It is generally considered not to be worth locking such cisterns and the type which hangs in the bowl is difficult to lock.
Regarding the removal of fowl odours and replacing with pleasant ones, this is usually achieved by toilet cleaning workers spraying a hand held spray when they do their periodical cleaning or automatic devices whether electrically operated or not, which give off their particular aromas constantly, twenty-four hours a day. Those fresh air dispensers which can release at pre-programmed intervals, a pre-programmed quantity of air freshener are in a different (higher) price bracket from the present invention which is a simple and mechanical device.
Prior art similar to the present invention, reveals air freshening devices placed on the external face of the toilet cistern. For example, US Patent Application No. 20040128751 where an adjustable size basket is positioned in such a way that the common spray can of air freshener will have its spray released each time the flushing handle is pressed down. The spray is released by the physical pressure of the flushing handle pressing down on the spray release nozzle of the said can. This device is more likely to lead to abuse or theft as it is openly visible to the public. Also the unscrupulous may waste the contents of the can by holding the flushing handle down for longer than necessary.
In the present invention the spray can is not visible to the public as it is situated inside the cistern which could be locked as the refilling of the cleansing fluid and replacing of the spray can be done without lifting the water cistern lid. Furthermore, the present invention works in such a way that when the flushing handle has been pressed it will cause a burst of spray from the air freshener can but no more than that even if the flushing handle is held down for a longer than necessary time.
The present invention only releases cleansing agents into the bowl and air fresheners into the air, as and when the user flushes water into the bowl. This is a cost saving factor while ensuring that these cleansing operations are done each time the toilet is flushed.
The present invention solves most of the above mentioned problems as will be revealed in more detail below. Some of the cost saving aspects of the present invention are as follows:
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description present embodiments of the invention, and are intended to provide an overview, or framework, for understanding the nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments of the invention and, together with the description serve to explain the principles and operations of the invention.
The present invention comprises apparatus which is situated in the flushing cistern and dispenses cleansing and/or disinfecting fluids into the toilet bowl. This is done each time the flushing handle is depressed to flush water into the bowl.
In addition this invention comprises a container also situated in the flushing cistern and which releases a spray of for example, air deodorizer or air freshener into the air space of the toilet room. This is also done each time and at the same time as the flushing handle is depressed to flush water into the bowl.
The apparatus of this invention could be part of a whole cistern or be attached to the lid of the cistern with the object of replacing an existing lid thereby adding the apparatus of this invention to existing cisterns.
The flushing lever usually is pressed each time the toilet is used. This invention works with levers, pivots, valves and the like that are triggered by the movement of the toilet flushing lever handle movement. No electricity is needed for the operation of this invention.
There are two basic parts that operate at the same time. Firstly the disinfecting liquids that are controllably released into the toilet bowl together with the flushing water Secondly the same movement of the flushing lever presses on a standard air freshening spray can nozzle thereby releasing air freshener into the air of the toilet room.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain, by way of example only, the principles of the invention:
As will be appreciated the present invention is capable of other and different embodiments than those discussed above and described in more detail below, and its several details are capable of modifications in various aspects, all without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description of the embodiments set forth below are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
The flushing action is activated by depressing handle 203 which is situated on the outside of the cistern 100. When the handle 203 is depressed the cylinder 205 is raised slightly which in turn raises the rubber seal 207 and the water 206 in the cistern 100 flows with the aid of gravitational force, through pipe 288 to the toilet bowl below.
At this stage when the outflow of water has been stopped and fresh water is entering, the float 204 gradually rises with the water level until it reaches a pre-determined position whereupon the arm of the float 204 presses against a seal at the opening of the inflow pipe 202. The cistern 100 is once again ready for use.
Yet another action is achieved by depressing handle 203 and that is pushing the arm 217 which in turn presses the release valve 213 of the air freshener in container 212. The said air freshener is under pressure so when the valve 213 is pressed a certain amount of its contents is forced by the said pressure into the air via nozzle 214.
Container 210 and the holding device 218 for the air freshener container 212 and all their relevant connecting arms as described above, can be attached to the inside of the lid of the cistern 100 designed at the manufacturing stage to be inserted as one unit in a conventional cistern. The re-filling of cleansing or disinfecting fluids can be achieved by an opening in the lid of the cistern 100. This facilitates the refilling process making it easier, quicker and more hygienic than the existing system whereby the lid has to be lifted each time and for example, a device inserted in the water.
The container 218 holding the aerosol device for spraying air freshener is adjustable in size to accommodate a variety of standard sized products. The replacement of the spray cans is through a covered opening in the lid of the cistern, in order to avoid lifting the main lid of the cistern.
The tank 120 of disinfecting fluid is attached to the flush handle 114 in such a way that when the flush handle 114 is pressed to flush water into the toilet bowl, a valve in the tank 120 releases a controlled amount of disinfectant fluid into the cistern 100 via pipe 132.
The water flushes out of the cistern 100 relatively fast and the bung then returns to block the exit of the water so that the majority of disinfectant released mixes with the fresh water that fills up the cistern 100 after each flush has completed.
The second main aim of this invention is to spray air freshener with the same action of the flushing handle 114. When the flush handle 114 is pushed down the upper part of the pipe 112 lifts up raising the arm 122. The arm 122 is pivoted at the joint 124 so that when arm 122 raises, the other side of the pivot 124 namely the arm 125 is forced down to press on the nozzle head 126 of the spray-can 130 thereby spaying the pressurized contents out of the nozzle 128.
The spring 134 is placed so that it returns the arm 122 and the pieces attached to it to their starting position awaiting the next flush of the water.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 172796 | Dec 2005 | IL | national |
