Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Flush closet – Tank only
Reexamination Certificate
2004-03-04
2004-12-28
Nguyen, Tuan (Department: 3751)
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Flush closet
Tank only
C004S359000, C004S380000, C004S405000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06834399
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure vessel, and particularly to a pressure vessel with enhanced water pressure for flushing a toilet bowl.
2. Related Art
It often takes over 20 liter water, even 30 liter, to wash an early pressure vessel. Nowadays washing water is reduced vastly to up to 9 liter. In developed countries and countries short of water resource, washing water is limited to 6 liter, even 4.5 liter. With environment protection becomes outstanding, there is a tendency to develop toilet bowl which costs less washing water.
People design a variety of pressure vessels to save washing water for toilet bowls. As shown in
FIG. 7
, a conventional pressure vessel consists of a tank portion
60
and a draining mechanism
70
assembled on the tank
60
. The tank
60
is filled with water for pressing. The draining mechanism
70
empties water in the tank
60
to wash the toilet bowl (not shown).
The draining mechanism
70
comprises a support ring
71
arranged in a top of the tank
60
. A locking ring
72
is fastened at a bottom of the support ring
71
by screw, and a film
73
is sandwiched between the locking ring
72
and the hollow ring
71
. A water pipe
74
is located below the hollow ring
71
. A slide tube
75
is movable along an inner surface of the water pipe
74
, and forms a neck
751
around a top thereof and a valve
752
at a middle thereof.
A pole
76
extends through interior of the support ring
71
. An actuator
77
is fixed on a top of the pole
76
, and a control post
78
is fastened on a bottom of the pole
76
by screw. A spring
80
is arranged between the pole
76
and the actuator
77
. A screw spring
79
surrounds peripheral of the pole
76
. The control post
78
forms an expanded portion
781
at a middle thereof for abutting against the neck
751
of the slide tube
75
.
When the actuator
77
is pressed down, the pole
76
drives the control post
78
to move downwardly, and the expanded portion
781
disengages from the neck
751
. Water in the water pipe
74
flows through a void between the expanded portion
781
and the neck
751
. Subsequently, the slide tube
75
moves upwardly because of water pressure, and the valve
752
moves to open an outlet
601
of the tank
60
. Thus, water in tank
60
is drained to wash the toilet bowl.
In this design, water stored in the water pipe
74
flows through a void between the slide tube
75
and the water pipe
74
, making pressure in the water pipe
74
decreases. The slide tube
75
moves upwardly because of water pressure of the tank
60
, correspondingly, the valve
752
moves to open the outlet
601
. However, at the beginning of operation, water stored in the water pipe
74
is little, so instant water drained from the water pipe
74
is relatively little, which lowering washing effect.
Moreover, a user has to arduously press the actuator
77
downwardly to drive the pole
76
and the control post
78
to move downwardly, and then expanded portion
781
disengages from the neck
751
to allow water to drain from the water pipe
74
. The spring
80
has a certain of rigidity to retain the expanded portion
781
and the neck
751
engaging with each other reliably in unused state, and therefore it is hard to press the actuator
77
.
Additionally, the draining mechanism
70
has many elements, resulting in high cost and complicated structure. On the other hand, assembly and disassembly is inconvenient, so maintenance is difficult.
A pressure vessel overcoming the above deficiencies is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a pressure vessel which instantly drains a large number of water for washing a toilet bowl, and separates and adjusts water to promote washing effect.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pressure vessel which is conveniently actuated.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a pressure vessel which has simple structure and is easily assembled/disassembled.
The pressure vessel of the present invention comprises a tank portion for preserving water. An outlet is defined at a bottom of the tank portion. A through hole is defined at a top of the tank portion and corresponding to the outlet for mounting a drain mechanism thereon.
The drain mechanism includes a hollow pipe with a top fixed on the through hole of the tank portion. A separating plate extends horizontally from an inner side and near a top of the hollow pipe. An actuator is assembled on a top of the separating plate for manual operation and has a first resilient element mounted therein. At least a pivot element pivotably connects with the actuator and is mounted between the separating plate and the actuator. Each pivot element forms an anchor at a lower end thereof.
A pole extends longitudinally through an interior of the hollow pipe. The pole forms a flange at a top thereof, and defines at least a groove near the flange for latching the anchors. A drain tube is mounted on a bottom of the pole by screw. A top projection is formed near a top of the drain tube. A plurality of drain holes is defined in the bottom of the drain tube. A tapered projection is formed at substantially a middle of the drain tube for abutting against the tank portion thereby closing the outlet.
A resisting ring is mounted on the top projection and forms a crinkle portion on a center thereof. The resisting ring has an outer rim fixedly retained between a lower portion of the hollow pipe and a lock cover of the top projection. A biasing ring is mounted on a top of the drain tube by screw and presses against an inner rim of the resisting ring.
The feed mechanism has a housing and a piston movable in the housing. The piston forms an upper block with relatively large width and a lower block with relatively small width, which fit with an inner surface of the housing, respectively. A cavity is defined among the upper block, the lower block and the housing. A second resilient element surrounds the lower block and is accommodated in the cavity. In normal state, the second resilient element has a top abutting against a bottom of the upper block, and a bottom abutting against the housing.
A fastening element is mounted on a top of the housing by screw and defines an air hole substantially in a center thereof. An air room is defined between the fastening element and the upper block and communicates with the air hole. An air tube connects with the air aperture and the air hole for guiding compressed air in the tank portion into the air room.
The tank portion forms a tapered rim at a center of a bottom thereof for bordering the outlet. The tapered projection of the drain tube forms a tapered surface abutting against the tapered rim thereby closing the outlet.
A cross portion is formed at a bottom of the drain tube for separating and adjusting water.
The housing further has an entering portion extending from a bottom thereof for transferring water into the tank portion. An outer tapered surface is formed on a bottom of the lower block for abutting against an inner tapered surface of the entering portion thereby controlling water flow.
The first and the second resilient elements are springs.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5652969 (1997-08-01), Taylor
patent: 5802628 (1998-09-01), Spoeth et al.
Globe Union Industrial Corp.
Nguyen Tuan
Troxell Law Office PLLC
LandOfFree
Pressure vessel does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Pressure vessel, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Pressure vessel will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3284827