Patent Application
20080034488
The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.
Referring to the figures, it can be understood that the present invention is embodied in a water-saving toilet 10 which can be easily adjusted to accommodate full or partial flushes. Toilet 10 comprises a water closet flush water storage tank 12 which is associated with a water closet system 14 having the usual toilet bowl and associated plumbing as will be understood by those skilled in the art. Tank 12 is known per se and includes a first wall 16 which is a front wall when the storage tank is in use as indicated in the figure and a second wall 18 which is a bottom wall when the storage tank is in use. Second wall 18 has an inner surface 20.
A water outlet port 30 is defined through the second wall and is fluidically connected with a bowl 32 which will contain waste products when in use as is the known case. A flush mechanism 40 is used to operate toilet 10 in a known manner and includes a flush operating handle 42 pivotally mounted on the storage tank and which is pivoted to initiate a flush cycle for the water closet.
Flush mechanism 40 further includes a flapper valve 44 which is located adjacent to outlet port 30. The flapper valve is movable between a closed position shown in the figure in which water outlet port 30 is occluded and an open position in which water outlet port 30 is open so water can flow therethrough out of water storage tank 12 during a flushing operation.
An actuator arm 50 includes a first end 52 connected to the flush operating handle to be moved when the flush operating handle is pivoted and a second end 54 which is connected to a chain 56 which connects second end 54 to flapper valve 44 to move the flapper valve from the closed position shown in
A water port 68 is defined through bottom wall 66 through which water passes into and out of water storage tank 62 as indicated in
A second air port 86 is defined through top wall 64 though which air passes into water storage tank 62 as indicated in
A mounting element, such as legs 90 or the like, mounts tank 62 on bottom wall 18 of water closet flush water storage tank 12 so that bottom wall 66 of water storage tank 62 is spaced apart from inner surface 20 of bottom wall 18 of water closet flush water storage tank 12. A one-way valve 100 is located in first air port 80. One-way valve 100 is oriented to permit air to flow out of water storage tank 62 through air port 80 as indicated by arrow 82, but to prevent air from flowing into water storage tank 62 via air port 80. In one form of the invention, one-way valve 100 is a reed valve.
An auxiliary tank unit operating mechanism 110 includes a selector element 112, such as a button, movably on flush handle 42. Selector element 112 is movable into an open position and a closed position. The selector element is normally in the closed position and is biased toward the closed position by a spring or the like surrounding a shaft on the button. The button must be pushed against the bias of the spring to move the button into the open position. Alternatively, cam mechanisms on the button can automatically move the button into the open position and then cooperate with other cam elements to automatically move the button back into the closed position. The exact details of the mechanism for moving the selector element between the open and closed positions are not important to the present invention and those skilled in the art will be able to design such mechanisms based on the teaching of the present disclosure.
Selector element 112 has an air passage 114 defined therethrough. Air passage 114 is open when the selector element is in the open position and closed when the selector element is in the closed position. Suitable air passage occluding and opening elements, such as balls, springs and the like, are included in the selector element to achieve this function as will be understood by those skilled in the art.
A biasing element such as described above, is on the selector element biasing the element toward the closed position, and is indicated in
Use and operation of the system embodying the present invention can be understood from the teaching of the foregoing disclosure and thus will only be briefly presented. Filling the main tank and the auxiliary tank is accomplished in the well known manner with water flowing simultaneously into the main tank and into the auxiliary tank because air can pass out of one-way valve 100 so water can flow into auxiliary tank 62. The flush handle is operated in the normal manner to conduct a partial flush in which case, the selector valve is not opened so air will not flow into the auxiliary tank and thus water will not flow out of that tank. To conduct a full flush, the selector element is operated on the flush handle to open that selector valve and fluidically connect the flush handle to the auxiliary tank and thus allow air to pass into the auxiliary tank via the selector element. When the flush handle is operated, water will flow out of the main tank via the flapper valve and will also flow out of the auxiliary tank because that tank is now open so air will flow into the auxiliary tank to permit water to flow out of the tank via the outlet port thereon. With air flowing into the auxiliary tank, water will flow out of the outlet port thereby allowing a full flush. The auxiliary tank will be filled when the main tank is filled because water will flow into the auxiliary tank via the water port 68 in the bottom wall and air will flow out of the auxiliary tank via one-way valve 100 and air outlet port 80.
It is also noted that the flush handle need not be a manually operated element, but can be an automatic unit in which case the selector element can be located spaced apart from the automatic unit.
While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.
