AU712525B2 - An ablutions cistern lid - Google Patents

Description

S F Ref: 369460

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name and Address of Applicant:

C

Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Caroma Industries Limited Market Street Brisbane Queensland 4000

AUSTRALIA

Stephen John Cummings and Leonard Conrad Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Invention Title: An Ablutions Cistern Lid ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION DETAILS [31] Application No(s) [33] Country PN8760 AU [32] Application Date 18 March 1996 The following statement is a including the best method of full description of this invention, performing it known to me/us:- 5815 AN ABLUTIONS CISTERN LID The present invention relates to an ablutions cistern lid which enables refilling water entering the cistern after a toilet has been flushed, to be used for the purposes of ablutions and a method of retro-fitting such a cistern lid.

It is known to provide cisterns, or flush tanks as they are known in the USA, with an in-built basin formed in the lid of the cistern as a water saving measure. For many years it has been recognised that the conventional arrangement whereby a toilet pan is flushed with a first volume of water, and a completely independent second volume of water is used to wash the hands of the person who used the toilet, is inherently wasteful of water. Australian Patent No. 516074 and Patent Application No. 35428/93 exemplify various prior art proposals for saving water.

It is increasingly being recognised that the cost of construction of new dams to provide additional water supplies to cities, and the cost of processing increasing volumes of water passing through sewerage systems, means that substantial community 15 savings can be achieved if greater economy is exercised in the usage of water. One S.such economy measure is the provision of a basin in the lid of the cistern so that the S.water being used to refill the cistern is automatically made available to the user of the toilet for the purposes of hand-washing. The basin drains directly into the body of the cistern and therefore the slightly soapy water initially used to wash the hands of a first 20 person who uses the toilet, is then available to flush the toilet pan after a subsequent user of the toilet flushes same. In this way the volume of water previously "lost" is saved by being reused in the flushing process.

~Although this general principle has been known for many years, it has not found widespread commercial acceptance. One of the reasons for this is the inherent 25 awkwardness in using such a basin. In this connection the basin is located at the top of .''the cistern, and therefore to the rear of the pan, so it is necessary for the user to stand to one side or the other of the pan in order to be able to reach the basin comfortably with outstretched arms.

Another water saving development of recent years is the reduction of flushing volumes. In many jurisdictions the flushing volume has been reduced initially from approximately 15 litres per flush to a dual flush cistern of, say, 9 litres and 4.5 litres for a full and half flush respectively. In recent times these volumes have been reduced still further to 6 litres for a full flush and 3 litres for .a half flush. A consequence of this reduced flushing volume is that the size of the cistern is itself shrinking. A cistern designed to hold a six litre maximum flushing volume is substantially smaller than a cistern designed to hold a fifteen litre flushing volume. Generally the cisterns have shrunk in all dimensions so that the height of the cistern is reduced, the left to right dimension of the cistern is reduced, and the front to rear dimension of the cistern is also reduced. The reduction in the front to rear dimension of the cistern exacerbates the [N:\LIBDI00110:ayl

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problem referred to above of the user gaining easy access to the top of the cistern.

Examples of 6 litre/3 litre dual flush cisterns are to be seen from Australian Registered Designs Nos. 116,988; 118,845 and 121,779.

One reason why a cistern incorporating a basin in the lid has not found Scommercial success is that generally the designs for such cisterns require a complete redesign of the internal operating mechanisms of the cistern. As a consequence, a manufacturer wishing to introduce such a cistern into its range of cisterns needed to undertake substantial tooling costs so that substantial expenses would have to be incurred in launching a product into what must be an initially uncertain market. It is therefore highly desirable that the expense of re-tooling and re-equipping the interior of the cistern and its cistern operating mechanisms be avoided.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an ablutions cistern lid which enables a cistern having a basin to be provided, but in such a way that not only is the cost of modifying the internal cistern mechanism avoided, but the ablutions cistern lid is able to be retro-fitted to existing cisterns by removal of the existing cistern lid.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is disclosed an ablutions So cistern lid adapted for fitting to a cistern, the cistern comprising: a cistern body having a front, a rear and a base; an internal cistern operating mechanism connectable to a flush pipe extending from the 20 base of the body; actuator means selectively positionable adjacent the front or rear of the body; and an inlet valve having an outlet directed into the cistern body, the ablutions cistern lid comprising: a basin forming depression located in the upper surface thereof; a spout positioned over the basin; a drain formed in and opening below the basin; and at least one cistern operating button positioned substantially e. 25 adjacent the rear of the body, *.oo.whereby the button(s) are adapted to actuate the actuation means when the actuator means are positioned adjacent the rear of the body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a method of fitting the ablutions cistern lid claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 to the cistern body, said method comprising the steps of: connecting the outlet of the inlet valve to the spout of the ablutions cistern lid with a/the flexible tubular connector; positioning the internal cistern operating mechanism substantially adjacent the rear of the cistern body.

placing the ablutions cistern lid above the cistern body to position the button(s) adjacent the actuator means to operate same and to direct the drain into the interior of b\ the cistern body.

[R \LIHD]00939.doc:AYL:DMB:MF A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the top of a cistern fitted with an ablutions cistern lid, Fig. 2 is a side view of a toilet suite having the cistern of Fig. 1 fitted thereto, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the conventional cistern body with the lid removed showing the position of the internal cistern operating mechanism and the position of the operating buttons of the conventional cistern lid, Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the re-positioning of the internal cistern operating mechanism, and Fig. 5 is a schematic side elevational view, partly in vertical cross-section, illustrating the interior components of the modified cistern as illustrated in Fig. 2.

As seen in Fig. 1, the cistern 1 has a cistern body 2 and an ablutions cistern lid 3. The lid 3 has a basin 4 which includes a prominent, forwardly projecting o* i 15 centrally located lip 5, a spout 6, a soap holding recess 7 and a pair of centrally and rearwardly located cistern operating buttons 8 and 9.

.As seen in Fig. 2, the cistern 1 is positioned above a pan 10 to which are hingedly connected a seat 11 and lid 12. The lip 5 functions not only to form the *forward rim of the basin 4 but also to provide clearance so that the seat 11 and lid 12 can be tilted slightly rearwardly as indicated in phantom in Fig. 2 so as to be in a stable position when raised. As indicated by double ended arrow 13 in Fig. 2 the seat 11 and lid 12 are able to be pivoted into a horizontal position.

o From Fig. 3 it will be appreciated that within the cistern body 2 is located a cistern operating mechanism 15 which takes the form of a frame 16. The frame 16 is 25 secured to a flush pipe 17 which is centrally located in a base 18 of the cistern body 2.

*o*The operating mechanism 15 includes a conventional actuator rod 19 (see Fig. located under each of the cistern operating buttons 8 and 9 which are schematically illustrated in Fig. 3. Examples of suitable operating mechanisms are to be found in Australian Patent No. 597,438 (to which US Patent No. 4,882,793 corresponds) and Australian Patent Application No. 35331/93.

In Fig. 3 the prior art arrangement is illustrated in which the buttons 8 and 9 are centrally and forwardly located with the half flush button 8 on the left and the full flush button 9 on the right. However, Fig. 4 illustrates the position after the plumber has re-positioned the operating mechanism 15. This is done by loosening a securing [RALIBD]00939.docAYL:DMI3MFF nut 20 (see Fig. 5) on the flush pipe 17 thereby permitting the entire operating mechanism including the frame 16 to be pivoted through 1800 as indicated by arrow 21 in Fig. 4. If the left to right dimension of the frame 16 is greater than the front to rear internal dimension of the cistern body 2, this rotational movement will initially require removal of the frame 16 from the cistern body, followed by rotation and lastly insertion back within the cistern body 2 in the desired orientation.

As indicated in Fig. 4 it will be apparent that the rotation of the operating mechanism 15 and its frame 16 results in the half flush button 8 now being positioned on the right, while the full flush button 9 is positioned on the left. This is precisely the arrangement as illustrated in Fig. 1.

In addition to re-locating the operating mechanism 15, it is also necessary to connect a flexible hose 24 between the outlet of an inlet valve 25 and the spout 6.

Preferably, the hose 24 is sufficiently long to permit the lid 3 to be raised above the cistern body 2 so that access to the interior of the cistern body 2 can be gained for the 15 purposes of preventive maintenance, for example, without the need to disconnect either end of the hose 24.

As also seen in Fig. 5, the basin 4 includes a drain 26 which has an elongated tubular extension 27 which directs water from the basin 4 towards the base 18 of the cistern 1 thereby reducing noise by a reduction of splashing within the cistern.

20 A grate 33 is provided in the drain 26 to prevent small objects, for example, such as rings, that may fall into the basin 4 from passing into the cistern body 2 and "thereafter being flushed.

The spout 6, as also indicated in Fig. 5, preferably includes a flow arrestor 29 which functions to reduce the flow of water through the spout 6, if necessary, so that 25 the flow is not too fast. In this way splashing of water from the hands being washed, beyond the area of the basin 4 is avoided if the mains water pressure is high. This prevents the floor of the bathroom inadvertently becoming wet.

As best understood in relation to Fig. 5, after the pan 10 has been flushed, the level 31 of water within the cistern 1 drops since the operating mechanism 15 opens the access to the flush pipe 17. This action lowers the position of a float 32 associated with the inlet valve 25 thereby opening the inlet valve. In a conventional cistern the inlet valve permits the water to enter directly into the cistern body 2. However, in the present arrangement the water flows from the inlet valve 25 through the hose 24 and into the spout 6. The flow arrestor 29 limits the rate of flow so that water enters the basin 4 at a relatively gentle rate. This permits the user to wash his hands in the water entering the basin 4. This soapy water then passes through the drain 26, down the drain extension and into the cistern body 2 thereby raising the level 31 of the water within the cistern. When the level 31 has risen to the required height, the float 32 closes the inlet valve [N:\LIBD]00110 O:ayl I r The basin 4 also includes an overflow outlet 34 to allow the water to pass into the cistern body 2 in the event the drain 26, the grate 33 or the tubular extension 27 become blocked.

Experimental results to date indicate that for a half flush of 3 litres, a flow time of approximately 25 seconds is achieved. For a full flush of 6 litres a flow time of the order of 40-45 seconds is achieved. Both of these times are more than ample for someone to wash their hands in the flow of water issuing from the spout 6.

It will also be apparent from Fig. 5 that an apparent disadvantage of the above described arrangement is that the cistern buttons 8, 9 and the corresponding actuator rods 19 of the operating mechanism 15 are located to the rear of the cistern. Therefore the user of the toilet must stretch towards the rear in order to push either one of the operating buttons 8, 9. However, this is paradoxically somewhat advantageous since it obliges the user to move into a position at which it is also possible to comfortably wash the hands. Furthermore, at least one hand of the user is already located close by the 15 basin 4 at the time that flow of water into the basin is initiated immediately after the depression of one of the operating buttons 8, 9. As a consequence, the mechanical arrangement has a built-in incentive to utilise the hand-washing facility provided.

The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention and °modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto without departing 20 from the scope of the present invention. For example, the cisterns of the above referenced Australian Design Registrations can be modified in accordance with the *present invention as well as the cistern illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

4~o *l° [N:\LIBDO01 1 O:ayl

Claims (12)

1. An ablutions cistern lid for fitting to a cistern, the cistern comprising: a cistern body having a front, a rear and a base; an internal cistern operating mechanism connectable to a flush pipe extending from the base of the body; actuator means selectively positionable adjacent the front or rear of the body; and an inlet valve having an outlet directed into the cistern body, the ablutions cistern lid comprising: a basin forming depression located in the upper surface thereof; a spout positioned over the basin; a drain formed in and opening below the basin; and at least one cistern operating button positioned substantially adjacent the rear of the body, wherein the button(s) are adapted to actuate the actuation means when the actuator means are positioned adjacent the rear of the body.

2. An ablutions cistern lid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ablutions cistern lid includes a forwardly extending lip at least partially forming a forward rim of 15 the basin.

3. An ablutions cistern lid as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the ablutions cistern lid includes a soap holding recess substantially adjacent the basin.

4. An ablutions cistern lid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ablutions cistern lid includes an overflow outlet in fluid communication with the cistern body.

An ablutions cistern lid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the drain includes a grate.

6. An ablutions cistern lid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to wherein the drain includes a tubular extension for directing water towards the base of the cistern.

7. An ablutions cistern lid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the internal cistern operating mechanism is adapted to provide two user selectable flush volumes and the ablutions cistern lid includes two corresponding cistern operating buttons.

8. An ablutions cistern lid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the inlet valve is connected to the spout by a flexible tubular connector of sufficient length to allow the ablutions cistern lid to be removed from the cistern body to a position allowing access to the cistern body without requiring disconnection of the flexible tubular connector from either the inlet valve or the spout. [R:\LIBD00939.docAYL:DM:NMFF

9. An ablutions cistern lid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the spout includes a flow arrestor.

An ablutions cistern lid as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A method of fitting the ablutions cistern lid claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 to the cistern body, said method comprising the steps of: connecting the outlet of the inlet valve to the spout of the ablutions cistern lid with a/the flexible tubular connector; positioning the internal cistern operating mechanism substantially adjacent the rear of the cistern body. placing the ablutions cistern lid above the cistern body to position the button(s) adjacent the actuator means for operating same and to direct the drain into the interior of the cistern body.

12. A method of fitting the ablutions cistern lid as claimed any one of 15 claims 1 to 10, said method as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig's. 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings. DATED this Eighth Day of September, 1999 Caroma Industries Limited Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON FERGUSON [RALIBD]00939.do:AYL:DM8 MFF