AU731910B2 - An actuator mechanism for a urinal cistern - Google Patents

Description

S F Ref: 425130

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name and Address of Applicant: Caroma Industries Limited Market Street Brisbane Queensland 4000

AUSTRALIA

Donald Terry Hall Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL [31] Application No(s) P07517 Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia An Actuator Mechanism for a Urinal Cistern APPLICATION DETAILS [33] Country

AU

[32] Application Date 25 June 1997 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 5815 AN ACTUATOR MECHANISM FOR A URINAL CISTERN FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an actuator mechanism for a urinal cistern (known as a flush tank in the US).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Urinal cisterns are used to flush a urinal, or a urinal tray, in mens toilets. The :cistern is normally connected to the urinal by a pipe or, in the case of a urinal tray, by a piping network which communicates the flushing water to a series of diffusers spaced along the length of the tray. The cistern is mounted above the head height of an average male in order not to restrict access to the urinal or tray, and flushing is generally actuated by a pull cord or chain operable on an internal actuator mechanism.

Traditionally, such urinal cisterns are made from vitreous china and are smaller than conventional pan cisterns since the flushing volume is less. Also urinal S"cisterns have a larger front to rear dimension and a smaller left to right dimension than conventional pan cisterns. Urinal cisterns are also used to flush cleaner sinks or "slop hoppers".

Fig. 1 shows a known urinal cistern 10 having a flush actuator mechanism 12.

The cistern 10 includes a water inlet 14 and a threaded outlet spigot 16 for connecting Sto a flush pipe or a flush pipe network (neither shown). A combined overflow pipe and 20 flush valve 18 terminates in a flush valve seal 20 which abuts and seals against a flush valve seat 22 of the cistern 10. The pipe 18 is operatively connected to the actuator mechanism 12. One end 25 of a pivoted lever 26 is connected to the actuator mechanism 12 at actuator member 24. The lever 26 pivots about a pivot point 28. The other end 30 of the lever 26 is connected to a pull chain or cord 32 which terminates in a handle 34. The pull cord 32 passes through a guide tube 36 which has an upper edge 38 terminating above the maximum water level of the cistern, represented by line As indicated by the arrows 44, when the handle 34 and the cord 32 are pulled downwardly, the lever 26 is caused to rotate in a anticlockwise direction which results in the lever end 25 lifting the actuator member 24 of the actuator mechanism 12 which, in turn, carries with it the pipe 18 and the seal 20, thereby allowing water contained within the cistern 10 to exit through the outlet spigot 16 and so on to the urinal.

The main disadvantage of this arrangement is that if excessive force is applied to the pull cord 32 it can bend or break the lever 26 at the pivot point 28 or result in excessive movement of the actuator member 24 which can damage the actuator mechanism 12. Use of excessive force is common among vandals and intoxicated [N:\LIBd00O486:lam patrons of hotel or bar toilets. In any event, such damage necessitates expensive repair, normally involving a call out visit by a plumber.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or at least ameliorate these deficiencies of the prior art by the provision of an actuator mechanism which is less prone to damage and thus less likely to require maintenance by a plumber.

A preferred feature of the present invention is the ability to use a substantially conventional pan cistern as a urinal cistern because of the nature of the actuator mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 10 Accordingly, in a first aspect of the present invention, there is disclosed an actuator mechanism for a urinal cistern, the mechanism including a flush actuator operable to open a cistern outlet, a guide tube extending through the base of the cistern and having an upper end higher than the maximum water level of the cistern, and a pull cord or chain connected to the flush actuator and adapted to pass through the guide tube 15 and terminate below the base of the cistern, wherein said flush actuator is operable when forced downwardly by downward movement of the pull cord or chain.

Preferably, the upper end of the guide tube is disposed adjacent to the flush :.:.actuator. The guide tube preferably has a lower end horizontally displaced relative to the upper end. Desirably, the guide tube is inclined between the upper end which is disposed towards to the center of the cistern and the lower end which is disposed towards an outer edge of the cistern.

The cistern preferably has a left and a right hole in its base adjacent a left and a right outer cistern edge respectively. In a preferred embodiment, the guide tube passes through the left hole and a water inlet pipe passes through the right hole. In another embodiment, the guide tube passes through the right hole and the water inlet pipe passes through the left hole.

The flush actuator preferably includes a rocker member having a first end adapted to lift a cistern flush valve seal to open the cistern outlet under the influence of a lowering of a second end by the downward movement of the flush actuator.

The actuator preferably includes an actuator housing mounted to the cistern and an actuator member connected to the pull chain. The actuator member desirably includes an abutment adapted to engage the actuator housing to thereby limit the maximum downward travel of the actuator member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a sectional front view of a known urinal cistern; [N:\LIBd]OO486:Iam -3- Fig. 2 is a similar view of an embodiment of the urinal cistern of the present invention; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the internal componentary of the embodiment of Fig. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to Fig. 2, there is shown the preferred embodiment of a urinal cistern 50 which includes a water inlet pipe 52, a threaded outlet spigot 54, a combined overflow pipe and flush valve 56 having a seal 57 which abuts and seals :against a valve seat 58, and an actuator mechanism 60 of the type generally described in Australian Patent No. 516,087 (to which US Patent No. 4,304,014 corresponds).

The mechanism 60 is connected to the pipe 56 and includes an actuator .member 62 connected to a pull cord 64 which terminates in a handle 66. The pull cord 64 passes through an inclined guide tube 68 which has an upper edge terminating adjacent the actuator 60 and above the maximum cistern water level indicated by line 72.

:As best shown in Fig. 3, the pull cord 64 passes through slit 71 and is tied into a knot 73 which is wider than the slit 71 to secure the cord 64 to the actuator member 62.

'The actuator mechanism 60 also contains mounting dove tails 74 which are snugly received within corresponding grooves or protrusions (not shown) provided in the internal walls of the cistern 50 to thereby securely mount the actuator mechanism to the cistern The actuator mechanism 60 also includes a pivotable rocker member 76 mounted thereto. One end 78 of the rocker member 76 is adapted to be operable on underside of the actuator member 62. The other end 80 of the rocker member 76 is adapted, upon upward movement thereof, to lift the pipe 56. The actuator member 62 also includes an abutment in the form of flange 82 which limits the maximum downward travel of the actuator member 62 when the flange 82 abuts the upper edge 84 of the actuator mechanism The operation of the cistern 50 will now be described. To flush the cistern the handle 66 (and thus pull cord 64 also) are manually pulled downwardly as indicated by arrow 86. This causes corresponding downward travel of the actuator member 62 and rotation of the rocker member 76 in a counter clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 3.

The upward travel of the end 80 of the rocker member 76 engages and raises the pipe 56. This lifts the seal 57 away from the valve seat 58, thereby allowing water contained within the cistern 50 to exit through the outlet spigot 54 and so on to initiate the flush.

[N:\LIBd00486:lam -4- The advantage of the cistern 50 is the ability of the actuator mechanism 60 to withstand excessive downward force on the pull cord 64. This is due to the cord 64 bearing directly on the flush mechanism 60 which is solidly mounted to the cistern rather than to an intermediate pivot or lever arrangement. This provides a more robust actuator mechanism.

If extreme excessive force is applied to the pull cord 64, the plastic material around the slit 71 deforms slightly to release the knot 73 of the cord 64. Alternatively, the cord 64 breaks. This saves potential damage to the actuator mechanism 60. The cord 64 may be easily replaced by the operator of the establishment without the need to .i o pay for a service call from a tradesperson, or the like.

The inclined guide tube 68 is also advantageous as the upper end of the inclined guide tube 68 terminates adjacent to the flush mechanism 60 thereby minimising any horizontal loading on the mechanism 60 when the pull cord 64 is pulled downwardly. Further, lower end 87 of the inclined guide tube 68 passes through existing hole 88 provided in the base of the cistern 50. Two holes are generally provided in the base of a pan cistern in order to permit the inlet to the pan cistern to be o *introduced via either side of the pan. The unused inlet hole is then blanked off for a pan cistern. With the urinal cistern which utilizes an existing pan cistern, the water inlet pipe passes through the inlet hole which is most conveniently located with respect to the mains water supply and the guide tube 68 passes through the other inlet hole.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a specific example, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be S"embodied in many other forms.

[N:\LIBd]00486:lam

Claims (14)

1. An actuator mechanism for a urinal cistern, the mechanism including a flush actuator operable to open a cistern outlet, a guide tube extending through the base of the cistern and having an upper end higher than the maximum water level of the cistern, and a pull cord or chain connected to the flush actuator and adapted to pass through the guide tube and terminate below the base of the cistern, wherein said flush actuator is operable when forced downwardly by downward movement of the pull cord or chain.

2. An actuator mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper end 1o of the guide tube is disposed adjacent to the flush actuator.

3. An actuator mechanism as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the guide tube has a lower end horizontally displaced relative to the upper end.

4. An actuator mechanism as claimed in claim 3, wherein the guide tube is inclined between the upper end which is disposed towards to the center of the cistern 15 and the lower end which is disposed towards an outer edge of the cistern.

5. An actuator mechanism as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cistern has a left and a right hole in its base adjacent a left and a right outer cistern edge respectively.

6. An actuator mechanism as claimed in claim 5, wherein the guide tube passes through the left hole and a water inlet pipe passes through the right hole.

7. An actuator mechanism as claimed in claim 5, wherein the guide tube passes through the right hole and the water inlet pipe passes through the left hole.

8. An actuator mechanism as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the flush actuator includes a rocker member having a first end adapted to lift a cistern flush valve seal to open the cistern outlet under the influence of a lowering of a second end by the downward movement of the flush actuator.

9. An actuator mechanism as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the flush actuator includes an actuator housing mounted to the cistern and an actuator member connected to the pull chain.

10. An actuator mechanism as claimed in claim 9, wherein the actuator member includes an abutment adapted to engage the actuator housing to thereby limit the maximum downward travel of the actuator member.

11. An actuator mechanism as claimed in claim 10, wherein the actuator member includes a slit through which the pull cord or chain passes, the pull cord or chain being restrained by a knot behind the slit.

12. An actuator mechanism as claimed in claim 11, wherein the actuator member is adapted to deform adjacent the slit to release the knot when excessive force is applied to the pull cord or chain. [N:\LIBd00O486:lam -6-

13. An actuator mechanism as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pull cord or chain terminates in a handle.

14. An actuator mechanism for a urinal cistern, said actuator mechanism substantially as described herein with reference to Figs. 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings. DATED this Seventeenth Day of June 1998 Caroma Industries Limited o Patent Attorneys for the Applicant S SPRUSON FERGUSON St IN:\LIBd]00486:DMB