Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Flush closet or urinal and wash receptacle – Wash receptacle water empties into toilet facility
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-22
2001-08-21
Walczak, David J. (Department: 3751)
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Flush closet or urinal and wash receptacle
Wash receptacle water empties into toilet facility
C004S668000, C004S669000, C137S403000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06276005
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a water recycling device, and, more specifically, to a simple apparatus for using gray water generated in a bathroom sink to fill a toilet tank.
Water scarcities in some areas are so severe that water either is very expensive or is rationed. In those situations, people seek ways to re-use gray water from sinks, showers, and washing machines for other purposes, such as to flush toilets. Many such recycling systems have been devised, but most are expensive and require extensive changes to the plumbing of the building. Since there is an enormous population of existing, installed toilets, and this installed population is intertwined with existing household plumbing systems, it would be desirable to have a device for recovering gray water which would be universal in its application, inexpensive, easy to install, effective in its use, simple to operate, and safe in that it does not allow any possibility of contaminating the fresh water supply with the recovered gray water to be reused.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a device that is inexpensive to manufacture, is easily retrofitted to installed toilets, and which does not allow for the mixing of gray water and the fresh water supply, should any part of the device fail.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device that will consistently serve its purpose, and do so in a seamless manner to the end user. That is, the end user will be totally unaware of the presence and usage of this water recycling device after it is installed, since the method of operation of the sink and of the toilet will remain exactly the same with or without the presence of this water recycling device. There is no special training required in order to use the water recycling device, and no special instructions need to be followed.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following description.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a gray water recycling device for flushing of toilets. In a preferred embodiment, a reservoir under the bathroom sink (or any other source of gray water such as showers, dishwashers, or clothes washers) collects the gray water to be reused. The water falls into a trap section of the reservoir where it either overflows into the main section of the reservoir after passing through a simple barrier filter, or it overflows into the city sewer drain, if the reservoir is already full.
A small water pump transfers the gray water from this reservoir to the toilet's water tank (and it may also pump water directly to the toilet tank overflow to fill the toilet bowl). This pump has a float switch, so that the pump will not run if the water level in the reservoir is too low, thus protecting the pump from damage when there is not enough water in the reservoir.
The toilet's water tank is retrofitted with a seesaw mechanism which pivots about a pivot point. On one side of the pivot point is a lift arm, which extends out and physically supports the toilet's float valve, holding the toilet's float valve in the up or closed position as long as there is water pushing down on another arm, which is on the other side of the pivot point.
A float switch in the toilet water tank sends a signal to start the pump in the reservoir as soon as the water in the toilet tank drops. Thus, when the toilet is flushed, the water level drops, signaling the pump to start pumping gray water from the reservoir. This gray water falls into a balance tube receptacle arm on the opposite side of the pivot point from the lift arm, weighing down this arm of the seesaw mechanism, thus forcing up the lift arm of the seesaw mechanism, which holds the toilet's float valve in the closed position. The balance tube receptacle includes a first tube and a weight cup adjacent to the first tube to provide more of a moment arm for pivoting, and both the first tube and the weight cup have a small hole at the bottom, so that they leak a small amount of water.
As long as gray water is being pumped from the reservoir, the float valve is held in the closed position, not permitting regular fresh water to enter the toilet's water tank. If the gray water stops flowing in (because there is not enough gray water in the reservoir or because of some other reason, such as a pump failure), the water leaks out of the balance tube receptacle, and the balance tube receptacle no longer has sufficient weight to hold the first pivot arm up. The float valve will then drop, and it will allow normal fresh water to fill the toilet's water tank.
A float tube is attached to the balance tube receptacle, which causes the balance tube receptacle to move to a substantially upright position when the toilet's water tank is full.
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Ridge Matt
Sanders Mark G.
Camoriano Theresa Fritz
Camoriano and Associates
Huynh Khoa D.
Walczak David J.
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