Patent Application
20200299945
The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed inventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
The present invention relates generally to the field of plumbing of existing art and more specifically relates to toilet fill valves.
Toilets generally comprise of a commode and a reservoir tank. The reservoir tank holds a predetermined amount of water to flush clean the commode after use. The reservoir tanks are generally connected to a water supply source via a fill valve for refilling the reservoir tank after each use.
Presently, most toilet fill valves have a conventional threaded connection. This connection can split or crack over time, causing thousands of dollar's worth of water damage. Insurance companies are forced to cover the damage in many cases and homeowners often lose valuable personal property. A suitable solution is desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,594 to Dan E. Molter relates to a toilet valve quick connect system. The described toilet valve quick connect system includes an upper housing having a capture chamber which facilitates the operation of a capture nut with oversized outward peripheral portions to enable it to be turned within the confines of a typical toilet tank. The toilet valve quick connect has a lower section which extends through the hole in a typical toilet tank and is secured in much the same way as a conventional toilet valve fitting. The toilet valve quick connect includes an internal conical sealing member for facilitating the sealed connection with the bottom rim and inside of a conventional toilet valve fitting. A capture housing partially encloses the capture nut to enable it to engage the threaded bottom fitting of a conventional toilet valve and to impress a downward force on the threaded bottom fitting.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known toilet fill valve art, the present disclosure provides a novel quick-connect toilet fill valve. The general purpose of the present disclosure, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a toilet fill valve including a quick-connection to quickly and easily connect and disconnect the fill valve to a water supply line.
A fill valve is disclosed herein. The fill valve is for installation into a toilet tank and connection to a water supply of a building. The fill valve includes a fill valve body which may include an elongated length configured for vertical orientation in the toilet tank relative to a vertical axis. The fill valve body may have a top end and a bottom end relative to the vertical axis, the bottom end sized for insertion through a tank aperture located in the toilet tank. The fill valve body further may include a refill tube and a float device. A nut may be provided and configured to mate with the bottom end and secure the fill valve body in the toilet tank when the bottom end is inserted through the tank aperture.
Further, a quick-connect fitting may be located at the bottom end of the fill valve body, the quick-connect fitting may include a quick-connect fitting body having an outer shell defining an inner capacity, the inner capacity housing an O-ring configured to create a water tight seal, and a collet. The collet may be moveable inside the inner capacity between a retracted position and an extended position, and the quick-connect fitting body, the O-ring, and the collet may all be concentric relative to the vertical axis.
A water supply tube may be provided and configured for connection to a water supply valve at a first end, and for insertion into the quick connect fitting at a second end. The second end of the water supply tube may be configured for insertion into the collet and held in friction within the inner capacity of the quick-connect fitting body.
According to another embodiment, a method of installing a fill valve into a toilet tank is also disclosed herein. The method includes providing the fill valve as above; placing the fill valve body in the toilet tank; inserting the bottom end of the fill valve body through the tank aperture located in the toilet tank; mating the nut with the bottom end of the fill valve body to secure the fill valve body in the toilet tank; connecting the water supply tube to the water supply valve at the first end; and inserting the second end of the water supply tube into the quick-connect fitting.
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and methods of use for the present disclosure, a quick-connect toilet fill valve, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present disclosure.
The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.
As discussed above, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a toilet fill valve and more particularly to a quick-connect toilet fill valve as used to improve the connection between the fill valve and a water supply of a building.
Generally, disclosed is a toilet fill valve assembly with a quick water supply connector. The may toilet fill valve assembly may eliminate the conventional threaded nut connection, which can break down over time. This valve allows the toilet supply line to be connected to the fill valve without the use of a threaded nut, instead you can connect ⅜″ outer diameter water supply line directly into the quick water supply connector. The quick water supply connector includes an O-ring to provide a water tight connection. In some embodiments a metal ring holds the water supply line in the quick water supply connector. The exact specifications may vary.
Referring now more specifically to the drawings by numerals of reference, there is shown in
The collet 160 may be moveable inside the inner capacity 131 between a retracted position and an extended position. Further, the collet 160 may include a cylindrical collet body 161 and a circumferential collar 162 and the cylindrical collet body 161 may include an outer collet surface 163 and an inner collet surface 164. In one embodiment, the inner collet surface 164 may include a gripping means 165 configured to positively grip the water supply tube 140 when inserted into the collet 160.
Further, an inner fitting surface 137 of the quick-connect fitting 130 body may include a stop means 135. The stop means 135 may be configured to block the gripping means 165 from moving into fitting 130 more than called for by op the device's operation and may prevent the collet 160 from falling out of the quick-connect fitting body 132 when pulled into the extended position. This may be particularly useful when the water supply tube 140 is pulled. In this example, the gripping means 165 holds its grip on the water supply tube 140 whilst it's being pulled, and the stop means 135 prevents the collet 160 and the water supply tube 140 from falling out. This may prevent unwanted disconnection of the water supply tube 140 from the quick-connect fitting 130. When a user wants to remove the water supply tube 140 from the quick-connect fitting 130 they may hold down the circumferential collar 162 of the collet 160 to hold it in the retracted position such that the stop means 135 is not engaged, and the water supply tube 140 can be pulled from a grip of the gripping means 165.
Preferably, the fill valve 100 does not comprise a coupling nut to attach the water supply tube 140 to the fill valve body 110 due to the issues that arise from the coupling nut, such as cracking of the coupling nut resulting in leaks and floods. Instead, the water supply tube 140 may be configured for connection to a water supply valve 15 at a first end 144, and for insertion into the quick connect fitting at a second end 146. The second end 146 of the water supply tube 140 may be configured for insertion into the collet 160 and held in friction within the inner capacity 131 of the quick-connect fitting body 132. As above, the gripping means 165 may hold the water supply tube 140 in friction.
The quick-connect fitting body 132, the O-ring 134, and the collet 160 may all be concentric relative to the vertical axis 105. In embodiments including the O-ring guide 136, the O-ring guide 136 is also concentric with the quick-connect fitting body 132, the O-ring 134, and the collet 160. A concentricity of the quick-connect fitting body 132, the O-ring 134 and the collet 160 (and the O-ring guide 136 in embodiments where it is included) may define a tube-passageway 152 having a passage-diameter 153 substantially equal to an outer diameter 142 of the water supply tube 140. Preferably, the water supply tube 140 may include the outer diameter 142 of 3/8 inches.
It should be noted that steps seven 507 and eight 508 is an optional step and may not be implemented in all cases. Optional steps of method of use 500 are illustrated using dotted lines in
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.
The present application is related to and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/822,021 filed Mar. 21, 2019, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62822021 | Mar 2019 | US |
