Patent Grant
10077548
The present invention relates to a toilet tank lever, and more particularly to a toilet tank lever suitable for different types of toilet tanks.
According to the installation positions of a handle on a toilet water tank, generally, a toilet tank lever has three main types which are front-mount lever, side-mount lever and angle-mount lever. Since said three types of levers are respectively applied to different types of toilet water tanks, when a user's toilet tank lever broken, the user may need to waste time to figure out the type of their lever before replacing, which is inconvenient. Therefore, there remains a need for a new and improved design for a toilet tank lever to overcome the problems presented above.
The present invention provides a toilet tank lever which comprises a flush handle, a first connecting rod and a second connecting rod. The flush handle is configured to control a toilet to flush, and a column protrudes from an inner surface thereof. A locating piece disposed on the column is configured to have preferred rotations when the flush handle is pressed for flushing toilet. A threaded section formed on an outer periphery of the locating piece is configured to engage with a locating nut. Moreover, an end portion of the column is configured to connect to the first connecting rod. The first connecting rod has a fixed section and a lever section. Wherein the fixed section is configured to connect to the column of the flush handle such that the flush handle is configured to drive the first connecting rod through the column to move simultaneously. The lever section has a lateral opening, and two engaging portions are respectively located at an upper portion and a lower portion of the lateral opening thereby forming a pivoting portion on the lever section. A first abutting surface and a second abutting surface, which are separated with a preferred angle, are respectively formed at a lateral end of the pivoting portion and an outer corner edge of the pivoting portion. The second connecting rod comprises a first end and a second end. Wherein the first end further has a T-shaped pivot rod which protrudes from an outer surface thereof and is configured to be received in the lateral opening. As a result, the pivot rod is configured to be secured by the engaging portions, and the second connecting rod is configured to be pivotally connected to the first connecting rod. Through pulling the second connecting rod, the first end of the second connecting rod is configured to selectively bear against the first abutting surface or the second abutting surface, thus allowing the toilet tank lever of the present invention to be applied to different types of toilet water tanks which have their toilet tank levers installed at different positions thereon.
Comparing with conventional toilet tank lever, the present invention is advantageous because: the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod are pivotally connected with an adjustable included angle such that the toilet tank lever of the present invention is configured to be applied to different types of the toilet water tanks thereby improving the practicability thereof.
The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of the presently exemplary device provided in accordance with aspects of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be prepared or utilized. It is to be understood, rather, that the same or equivalent functions and components may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods, devices and materials similar or equivalent to those described can be used in the practice or testing of the invention, the exemplary methods, devices and materials are now described.
All publications mentioned are incorporated by reference for the purpose of describing and disclosing, for example, the designs and methodologies that are described in the publications that might be used in connection with the presently described invention. The publications listed or discussed above, below and throughout the text are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the inventors are not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention.
In order to further understand the goal, characteristics and effect of the present invention, a number of embodiments along with the drawings are illustrated as following:
Referring to
In actual application, a toilet water tank (40) has a through hole which is configured to install the toilet tank lever. Through pulling the second connecting rod (30) to change a connecting angle between the first connecting rod (20) and the second connecting rod (30), the toilet tank lever of the present invention is configured to be applied to different types of toilet water tanks (40) which have their through holes at different positions thereon. In one embodiment, the through hole is located at a front side of the toilet water tank (40). A user can disengage the locating nut (12) from the threaded section (111) to allow the second connecting rod (30), the first connecting rod (20) and the locating piece (11) to sequentially penetrate through the through hole into an interior space of the toilet water tank (40), and then engage the locating nut (12) back with the threaded section (111) (as shown in
In one embodiment, a stepped portion (225) is formed between the first abutting surface (223) and the second abutting surface (224) to allow a user to effectively distinguish that the second connecting rod (30) is connected to the first abutting surface (223) or the second abutting surface (224) of the first connecting rod (20).
In another embodiment, an included angle between the fixed section (21) and the lever section (22) of the first connecting rod (20) is about 155 degrees.
In still another embodiment, a surface of the second connecting rod (30) has a plurality of marked lines (34) which are separated with preferred distances, and the marked lines (34) are configured to provide indications when the second connecting rod (30) is too long and needs to be cut (as shown in
In a further embodiment, the second connecting rod (30) has a plurality of hangers (35) which are configured to be selected to hang a bead chain (50) thereon (as shown in
In still a further embodiment, the second connecting rod (30) comprises a plurality of hanging holes (36) which are configured to be selected to hang a link chain (60) thereon (as shown in
In yet a further embodiment, the second connecting rod (30) has a plurality of the hangers (35) and the hanging holes (36) to allow one of different pulling units to be selectively hung thereon.
Comparing with conventional toilet tank lever, the present invention is advantageous because: the first connecting rod (20) and the second connecting rod (30) are pivotally connected with an adjustable included angle such that the toilet tank lever of the present invention is configured to be applied to different types of the toilet water tanks (40) thereby improving the practicability thereof.
Having described the invention by the description and illustrations above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description, but includes any equivalents.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6092245 | Jones | Jul 2000 | A |
| 20050273919 | Berlovan | Dec 2005 | A1 |
| 20160376780 | Yang | Dec 2016 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20180179745 A1 | Jun 2018 | US |
