Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Flush closet – Manual selection of the amount of flush
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-12
2001-09-04
Phillips, Charles E. (Department: 3751)
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Flush closet
Manual selection of the amount of flush
C004S346000, C004S405000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06282731
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the efficient use of the water in the holding tank of the water-flush toilet that causes human wastes to flow into sewers, septic tanks, or other sewage treatment systems.
Past efforts have been made to develop a toilet equipped with a water storage tank adapted to use less water while flushing waste away efficiently. Manual pressure on the standard flush lever could not be exerted effectively by all users because of the standing water head of weight on the outlet valve. The holding tank holding the water needed to flush the toilet was made smaller and smaller, and also the tank was compartmented in an effort to reduce the amount of water being used per flush. In the case of the capacity being made smaller, the amount of water being used to flush the toilet was becoming marginally inadequate to flush waste efficiently. In the instance of the tank being dually compartmented, the concept was sound; however, the mechanisms needed for causing such compartments to flush proved too complicated and costly for common use. Although the employment of companion small and large compartments was functional, such a configuration of the flushing mechanism, the toilet bowl and the traps, did not prove to be feasible. It is known that some enlargement of the trap within the current toilet bowl has been developed by certain manufacturers, making it possible for the trap to hold more waste.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the invention is to improve and simplify a method of activating the flushing of a water holding tank that has been divided into small and a large compartments, and to reduce the amount of manual pressure that must be exerted on the standard exterior flush handle needed to activate stored water to leave the holding tank and to flush the toilet bowl. The present invention comprises a mechanism that is extremely efficient and simple to operate. The invention allows for selection of one of several of a variety of planar, polygon-shaped impellers such as the pentagons, hexagons, and octagons, as impellers, each provided of a plurality of spaced-apart, peripheral “V” shaped notches, to vary the frequency of sequential flushing events from the small compartment, in a direct ratio to flushing of the large compartment. Selection of a particular polygonal edge, configuration impeller would be dependent upon the ease in which waste, consisting of liquids, solids, and toilet tissue, would flow from the toilet bowl into and through the sewer line, at a particular installation, and is within the skill of the art.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided, a modified gravity water-flush toilet tank, now divided into a larger and smaller volume compartment. Each compartment contains its own discrete water-fill means, flush outlet valves, and linkage means operatively connected between a manually-powered flushing lever and the two flush outlet valves. Each linkage means is preadjusted to allow the flush outlet valve in the smaller compartment to open partially, before the flush outlet valve in the larger compartment is opened. As the toilet is manually flushed, the standard flush rod is lifted and normally would open the large compartment flush outlet valve. By addition, of an extension arm axially to the standard flush rod, the upward movement of both the standard length and added extension rod are limited by a counterbalanced, two-part limit lever. That limit lever comprises a lower swiveling component attached to the polygon axle and an upper movable component attached to that swiveling member, so that on initial flushing only the small compartment flush outlet valve is opened. As the upward arc of the flush rod extension occurs with flush lever rotation, a counter balanced, hook-shaped end lever, attached to the flush rod extension, engages one of the “V's”-shaped openings in the particular polygon impeller. This causes the polygon impeller to rotate one finite length arc in a counter clockwise direction, the small compartment flush outlet valve is then opened, and the water in that compartment of the tank flushes the toilet bowl. As the smaller compartment becomes devoid of water, its flush outlet valve begins closing by gravitational means, causing the flexible linkage between the toilet outlet valve and the flush rod extension to move downward. The flush rod extension arm then lowers onto the polygon, and causes the polygon impeller to partially rotate in a counter clockwise direction, so that one of the linear edges of the polygon impeller, and the bottom of the flush rod extension, are on the same plane. After a number of water flushes from the smaller compartment occur in the same sequence, the impeller rotates to a point where a single lateral lug provided on the impeller surface comes in contact with a stop pin attached to the movable part of the counterbalanced limit lever. That is caused to move in the “L's”-shaped slot provided in the lower part of the counterbalanced limit lever. As the impeller is forced to rotate in a finite arc, the single lug forces that stop pin to move into the vertical part of the “L's”-shaped slot, thereby allowing the movable part of the counterbalanced limit lever to extend upward. That action causes the flush rod extension arm and the standard flush rod to move to their highest point. As a result of that action, dual linkage opens the flush outlet valves in both compartments and that the entire tank is allowed to flush the bowl. When all water leaves each of the compartments of the water holding tank, both of the flush outlet valves close by gravity. Sequentially, thereby drawing the flush rod and extension downwardly, and allowing that stop pin of the movable part of the counterbalanced limit lever to move downwardly and reseat in the lower original horizontal position of the “L's”-shaped slot. The entire sequence is repeatable.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5003644 (1991-04-01), Huang
patent: 5042096 (1991-08-01), Bolli
patent: 5450634 (1995-09-01), Mohrman
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