Patent Application
20210054612
This invention relates to toilets. More particularly, it relates to flanges for sealing toilets.
A toilet is a piece of hardware used for the collection or disposal of human urine and feces. In other words: “Toilets are sanitation facilities at the user interface that allow the safe and convenient urination and defecation”. Toilets can be with or without flushing water (flush toilet or dry toilet). They can be set up for a sitting posture or for a squatting posture (squat toilet). Flush toilets are usually connected to a sewer system in urban areas and to septic tanks in less built-up areas. Dry toilets are connected to a pit, removable container, composting chamber, or other storage and treatment device. Toilets are commonly made of ceramic (porcelain), concrete, plastic, or wood.
In private homes, the toilet, sink, bath, or shower may be in the same room. Another option is to have one room for body washing (bathroom) and a separate room for the toilet and handwashing sink (toilet room). Public toilets consist of one or more toilets (and commonly urinals) which are available for use by the general public. Portable toilets or chemical toilets may be brought in for large and temporary gatherings.
A typical flush toilet is a ceramic bowl (pan) connected on the “up” side to a cistern (tank) that enables rapid filling with water, and on the “down” side to a drain pipe that removes the effluent. When a toilet is flushed, the sewage should flow into a septic tank or into a system connected to a sewage treatment plant. However, in many developing countries, this treatment step does not take place.
The water in the toilet bowl is connected to a pipe shaped like an upside-down U. One side of the U channel is arranged as a siphon tube longer than the water in the bowl is high. The siphon tube connects to the drain. The bottom of the drain pipe limits the height of the water in the bowl before it flows down the drain. The water in the bowl acts as a barrier to sewer gas entering the building. Sewer gas escapes through a vent pipe attached to the sewer line.
The amount of water used by conventional flush toilets usually makes up a significant portion of personal daily water usage. However, modern low flush toilet designs allow the use of much less water per flush. Dual flush toilets allow the user to select between a flush for urine or feces, saving a significant amount of water over conventional units. The flush handle on these toilets is pushed up for one kind of flush and down for the other. Another design is to have two buttons, one for urination and the other for defecation. In some places, users are encouraged not to flush after urination. Flushing toilets can be plumbed to use greywater (previously used for washing dishes, laundry, and bathing) rather than potable water (drinking water). Some modern toilets pressurize the water in the tank, which initiates flushing action with less water usage.
Another variant is the pour-flush toilet.[1] This type of flush toilet has no cistern but is flushed manually with a few liters of a small bucket. The flushing can use as little as 2-3 liters (0.44-0.66 imp gal; 0.53-0.79 US gal). This type of toilet is common in many Asian countries. The toilet can be connected to one or two pits, in which case it is called a “pour flush pit latrine” or a “twin pit pour flush to pit latrine”. It can also be connected to a septic tank.
Flush toilets on ships are typically flushed with seawater.
A flange is used to provide an odorless connection to the sewer piping from the toilet. The flanges used today are commonly movable in such that the connection with the sewer pipe can become unsecured and cause leakage or odors to escape. Therefore, there is a need for a device that can secure the flange with the sewer pipe such that any movement of the flange and/or toilet does not cause an opening to allow seepage and/or odors to escape.
The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and the like are used repeatedly. Such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. Such terms do not generally signify a closed list.
“Above,” “adhesive,” “affixing,” “any,” “around,” “both,” “bottom,” “by,” “comprising,” “consistent,” “customized,” “enclosing,” “friction,” “in,” “labeled,” “lower,” “magnetic,” “marked,” “new,” “nominal,” “not,” “of,” “other,” “outside,” “outwardly,” “particular,” “permanently,” “preventing,” “raised,” “respectively,” “reversibly,” “round,” “square,” “substantial,” “supporting,” “surrounded,” “surrounding,” “threaded,” “to,” “top,” “using,” “wherein,” “with,” or other such descriptors herein are used in their normal yes-or-no sense, not as terms of degree, unless context dictates otherwise.
Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the drawings. While embodiments are described in connection with the drawings and related descriptions, there is no intent to limit the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents. In alternate embodiments, additional devices, or combinations of illustrated devices, may be added to, or combined, without limiting the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein.
Referring to
The toilet flange 100 has a sub-floor 101, a plurality of floor joists 102, a toilet floor flange 103, a membrane 104, two flange bolts 105 and a floor drain 106. Prior to placing a commode or toilet onto the floor drain 106, the toilet flange 100 must be installed to prevent rotting, damage to the sub-floor 101 by water and to prevent odor and leakage of water from escaping the floor drain 106.
The plurality of floor joists 102 are useful in supporting the sub-floor 101 and the toilet. The sub-floor 101 is securely coupled to the plurality of floor joists 102. The coupling of the sub-floor 101 to the plurality of floor joists is preferably with screws, but other coupling devices are further contemplated such as, but not limited to, nails, glue, combination of any of the coupling devices, etc.
The sub-floor 101 is preferably three quarter (¾) inch in depth, but other depths are further contemplated including, but not limited to, seven-eighths (⅞) inches, etc. The sub-floor 101 is preferably made of plywood material, but other materials are further contemplated including, but not limited to, OSB, concrete, etc.
A hole 107 is cut into the sub-floor 101 to create access to the floor drain 106. The floor drain 106 is preferably made of a acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material, however other materials are further contemplated including, but not limited to, poly-vinyl chloride (PVC), low-density poly-ethylene (LDPE), high-density poly-ethylene (HDPE), plastic, etc. The floor drain 106 is preferably three (3) inches in diameter, but other diameters are further contemplated including, but not limited to, three and one-half (3.5) inches, four (4) inches, etc.
A connecting pipe 108 is coupled to the floor drain 106 to easily connect the toilet to the floor drain 106 without changing the height of the floor or manipulating the floor drain 106. The connecting pipe 108 is preferably made of poly-vinyl chloride (PVC), but other materials are further contemplated including, but not limited to, low-density poly-ethylene (LDPE), high-density poly-ethylene (HDPE), plastic, etc. The connecting pipe 108 is coupled to the floor drain 106 preferably using liquid PVC cement, but other coupling compounds may be used or no coupling compounds.
The membrane 104 is coupled to the sub-floor 101 at the hole 107. The membrane 104 is preferably a rubber material, but other materials that can prevent overflow of water may be used as desired. The membrane 104 is coupled to a top 109 of the sub-floor 101 and the hole 107.
The two flange bolts 105 are configured to extend through the toilet floor flange 103. The two flange bolts 105 are coupled to a bottom of the toilet by bolts. Thus, the toilet is tightly coupled to the toilet floor flange 103. The toilet floor flange 103 is coupled to the hole 107 over the membrane 104. The toilet floor flange 103 is then coupled to the bottom of the toilet when the water is expelled when flushed.
Moving now to
The floor drain 106 is coupled to the toilet floor flange 103. The membrane 104 is configured between the toilet floor flange 103 and the floor drain 106 on the sub-floor 101.
The toilet is placed on the toilet floor flange 103 where the two flange bolts 105 extend through the toilet template 201. The toilet template 201 is generally the bottom of the toilet, where nuts are screwed onto the two flange bolts 105 to secure the toilet in place.
In the numbered clauses below, specific combinations of aspects and embodiments are articulated in a shorthand form such that (1) according to respective embodiments, for each instance in which a “component” or other such identifiers appear to be introduced (with “a” or “an,” e.g.) more than once in a given chain of clauses, such designations may either identify the same entity or distinct entities; and (2) what might be called “dependent” clauses below may or may not incorporate, in respective embodiments, the features of “independent” clauses to which they refer or other features described above.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies are representative of more general processes and/or devices and/or technologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application.
The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments or combined with or interchanged with the features of other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.
