Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Flush closet
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-30
2003-01-07
Huson, Gregory (Department: 3751)
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Flush closet
C004S374000, C004S377000, C004S425000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06502251
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a flush toilet and to a water supply device for supplying flushing water to various destinations, including this flush toilet.
BACKGROUND ART
With a typical flush toilet, flushing water is held in a flushing water tank arranged above the toilet, and the head of the water is utilized to discharge the flushing water into the toilet. In recent years, however, many different flushing methods have been proposed that do not merely utilize the flushing water head in this manner.
For instance, Japanese Patent Publication Gazette H6-99952 proposes a flush toilet in which pressurized flushing water is discharged from the flushing water tank into the toilet to remove the waste from the toilet. With a pressurized flushing system such as this, the head of the water is not utilized, and instead a large flow of flushing water is discharged into the toilet, so the flushing water tank and any ancillary equipment can be installed inside the toilet. An advantage of this layout was that the bathroom was more spacious and pleasant.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open Gazette H10-102568 proposes a flushing system that increases the flow in the discharge of flushing water by utilizing the flushing water head as mentioned above. With this flushing system, a spray nozzle facing the opening of the flush valve seat is disposed within the flushing water tank, and when the toilet is flushed, flushing water is jetted from the flush valve seat and the spray nozzle, producing a stream of flushing water aimed at t he flush valve opening. This flushing water stream induces an ejector action similar to that of a jet pump as it flows into the opening of the flush valve seat. This allows the flushing water inside the toilet flushing tank device to be forcibly sucked into the opening of the flush valve seat, and increases the discharge flow of flushing water as compared to a flushing method that merely utilizes the water head. Therefore, with a flushing method that makes use of this flushing water jetting system, a large flow of flushing water can be discharged into the toilet even if the flushing water head is small. Reducing the flushing water head affords a reduction in the height of the flushing water tank, which in turn allows the entire tank to be smaller, which makes the bathroom more spacious and pleasant.
Although a flushing method that featured either the above-mentioned pressurization system or the flushing water jetting system did make the bathroom more spacious and pleasant, the following problems were also encountered.
With a flushing method featuring a pressurized system, a pressure vessel was essential for pressurizing the flushing water in the toilet flushing tank device. Thus, to ensure a good seal, assembly took longer and higher cost was inevitable, which meant that the toilet flushing tank device and in turn the flush toilet were more expensive. Also, by its very nature, the pressure vessel required care in its handling and maintenance so as to prevent the loss of sealing.
With the flushing water jetting system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open Gazette H10-102568, the spray nozzle must be positioned so as not to interfere with the flush valve, which is opened and closed by a chain, and this spray nozzle must face the opening in the flush valve seat. Because of this mechanical layout, the outlet of the spray nozzle got in the way of the chain that lifted the flush valve, and therefore could not be directly across from the flush valve seat opening, with the spray nozzle outlet instead set off to an angle from the opening in the flush valve seat. As a result, the stream emitted from the spray nozzle would sometimes hit the walls around the opening of the flush valve seat or the area close to the opening and be slowed down, or the jetted flushing water would be diverted as it flowed out of the valve opening. Consequently, the ejector action was not fully produced and a significant increase in flushing water discharge flow could not be achieved. This means that the flushing water has to be held in the tank device with a certain amount of head with respect to the toilet, so the flushing water tank position is once again higher and the bathroom space above the toilet is more cramped. Because of this, there was room for improvement in the bathroom environment in terms of expanding bathroom space above the toilet and ensuring a comfortable amount of bathroom space.
The above problems encountered with the supply of flushing water will be described using a flush toilet as an example. Nevertheless, these problems, namely, having to ensure a flushing water head, inadequate increase in flow by flushing water jetting, problems attendant to the use of a pressure vessel, and so on, also occur in devices that supply flushing water to destinations other than a flush toilet, and are common to flushing water supply devices.
The present invention was conceived in an effort to solve the above problems, and it is an object thereof to allow more freedom in how the flushing water is held and effectively increase the flushing water discharge flow to a flushing water destination. It is another object thereof to improve the bathroom environment with a flush toilet, in which the destination is a toilet. And another object of this invention is to provide a flush toilet that has a high quality of design and is not limited the manner of holding flushing water through increasing freedom in how the flushing water is held.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve at least part of these problems, the flush toilet of the present invention is:
a flush toilet, which flushes a toilet bowl with flushing water, comprising:
a toilet flushing tank device having a flushing water tank that reserves flushing water; and
a supply line that is arranged to introduce flushing water from the toilet flushing tank device into the toilet bowl and has openings at both end of the supply line,
the toilet flushing tank device including:
a jet pump having a spray nozzle and a throat disposed across from the nozzle; and
a nozzle water supply unit for supplying operating water to the spray nozzle and jetting the operating water from the spray nozzle into the throat,
the throat being connected to one end of the supply line so that the flushing water jetted from the throat flows into the supply line,
the jet pump being disposed submerged in the flushing water tank so that the flushing water in the flushing water tank flows into the throat along with the jetting of the flushing water from the spray nozzle.
Also, in order to solve at least part of these problems, the flushing water supply device of the present invention is:
a water supply device for supplying flushing water, comprising:
a flushing water tank that reserves flushing water;
a supply line that is arranged to introduce flushing water in the flushing water tank to its destination and has openings at both end of the supply line,
a jet pump having a spray nozzle and a throat disposed across from the nozzle; and
a nozzle water supply unit for supplying operating water to the spray nozzle and jetting the operating water from the spray nozzle into the throat,
the throat being connected to one end of the supply line so that the flushing water jetted from the throat flows into the supply line,
the jet pump being disposed submerged in the flushing water tank so that the flushing water in the flushing water tank flows into the throat along with the jetting of the flushing water from the spray nozzle.
With the flush toilet and the flushing water supply device of the present invention structured as above, the only difference in structure is that the flushing water supply destination is specified to be a toilet, and the flushing water supply function is the same. Thus, the following description will be of how the water is supplied and so forth in a flush toilet as the specified supply destination.
Because the flush toilet of the present invention has the above structure, the operating water supplied to the nozzle water supply unit is jetted from the spray nozzle. T
Kosugi Tatsuhiro
Nagato Kenichi
Ohtani Takayuki
Suehiro Yoshitaka
Sugita Taiji
Huson Gregory
Le Huyen
TOTO Ltd.
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