EP0142991B1

EP0142991B1 - Water closet suites

Info

Publication number: EP0142991B1
Application number: EP84307958A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Neville Bider Mitchison
Original assignee: CARADON TWYFORDS Ltd
Current assignee: CESSIONE;CARADON BATHROOMS LIMITED
Priority date: 1983-11-17
Filing date: 1984-11-16
Publication date: 1988-02-03
Also published as: GB2152962A; EP0142991A2; ATE32362T1; GB2152962B; ES537693A0; EP0142991A3; ES8601370A1; DE3469197D1; TR22416A; GB8330721D0; GR80960B; PT79493B; PT79493A

Abstract

In a water-closet suite comprising an assembly of a water-closet basin (10) and a close-coupled flushing cistern (26), the cistern is mounted and supported by a bracket component (128) fastened to the back (22) of the basin. The bracket component (128) also locates and holds in position an inlet flush pipe section (131) which conducts flushing water into the basin through a rear inlet aperture (20), this inlet flush pipe section (131) being formed as an integral part of the bracket component (128). The inlet pipe section (131) projects through the inlet aperture (20) and terminates in a spreader (132) which is fitted and located in predetermined position on the forward free end thereof for distributing the flushing water around the rim (11) of the bowl (14) of the basin.

Description

The present invention relates to water-closet suites, especially so-called low level close-coupled suites comprising an assembly of a water-closet pedestal basin and a closely adjacent flushing cistern connected to the basin.
Generally, in low level water-closet suites, the flushing cistern is either mounted separately and spaced some distance above the water-closet basin to which it is connected by an exposed intermediate flush pipe providing an interconnecting duct for the flushing water or, when close coupled, the flushing cistern is mounted in closely adjacent relationship and is connected to the water-closet basin by which it is at least partially supported without there being any fully exposed intermediate connecting flush pipe.
In low level suites of the former kind, with a separately mounted cistern, the closet basin utilised is commonly of the type having a rearwardly facing inlet aperture in the back of the basin for receiving the flush pipe and there is no more than a relatively short rearwards extension of the basin at the top beyond that necessary for providing a seat hinge mounting. Also, the basin is often of the type having a bowl around the periphery of which extends a hollow rim of simple inverted open channel form in cross section into which the flushing water from the connecting pipe discharges at the back of the bowl with a velocity sufficient for enough of the water to swirl around to the front to give a satisfactory distribution of the flushing water over the whole interior upper surface area of the bowl. This discharge of the flushing water from the flush pipe may be provided in the form of diverging streams directed into the rim portions extending around opposite sides of the bowl, and for this purpose it is known per se to provide a distributor or spreader device in the rear part of the basin. In traditional methods of manufacture, such distributor or spreader device has been formed as an integral part of the basin which is first cast to provide an inlet passage at the back of the bowl and, after casting while still in the green state, apertures are punched out through the wall at the inner end of the inlet passage to form outlets for distributing and directing the flushing water in divergent streams into the hollow rim. It has also been proposed, for example in Swiss Patent CH-A-351913 (Gebert & Cie), German Geb- rauchsmuster DE-U-1959497 (Kera-Werke AG) and European Patent Specification EP-A-0019449 (Ideal-Standard G.m.b.H.), to provide a flushing water distributor or spreader device as a separate part fitted to the water-closet basin.
In low level close-coupled water-closet suites, however, it has been usual to utilize a moulded ceramic basin having a modified design incorporating a hollow integral box-like rear extension part arranged to project beneath, and to support, the underside of the flushing cistern of which the outlet may lead into or connect directly with the hollow interior of this rear extension part through an aperture which may be in the top of the latter. Also, water-closet basins of the simple inverted open channel form rim type have not hitherto been commonly used and the water-closet basins in close-coupled suites have generally been made with hollow rims of closed box-like sections having a series of spaced apertures of limited cross-sectional area for controlling the discharge and distribution of the flushing water into the bowl. In a close-coupled suite, particularly with a syphonic cistern, the low head of flushing water has generally been considered to be incapable of providing a discharge velocity sufficient to ensure that enough water will swirl right around a rim of open channel form to give a satisfactory distribution, even with a distributor or spreader device.
Typical designs of water-closet basins commonly used in low level close-coupled water-closet suites may be seen, for example, in Patent Specifications GB-A-1099707 (Stevenson) and GB-A-1054367 (Ideal-Standard Limited). Another example is to be seen in Patent Specification No. GB-A-1454742 (Armitage Shanks) wherein it is proposed to provide a water-closet basin with a narrow and hollow fin-like rearwardly extending integral projection for engaging and supporting a flushing cistern positioned behind a partition, this projection also providing an interconnecting passage or duct for the flushing water.
Although water-closet basins of the kind referred to, incorporating an additional integral hollow rearwardly extending cistern support part and a closed rim formation with spaced apertures, may be functionally quite satisfactory in close-coupled water-closet suites, they are in general more complex and costly to manufacture than basins of the type having a simple inverted open channel form rim of which a typical example is illustrated in our Patent Specification GB-A-1307124. And, in any event, it would often be a practical convenience and would lead to more economical production and enhanced possibilities for converting existing suites if it were to be possible readily to use in a low level close-coupled water-closet suite a water-closet basin of a kind suitable for use also in other types of installations where a relatively long integral rearwardly extending portion at the back of the basin is not required.
To some extent, a like problem has been recognised in German (DE) Patent Specification DE-A-1911677 (Schwab) wherein it has been proposed to mount a cistern on a rearwardly- extending separate bracket plate fastened to the top of the rear edge portion of a water-closet basin using existing fixing means for a hinged seat. In the arrangement described in this publication, however, a separate flush pipe is fitted to the basin independently of the cistern mounting bracket so that difficulties in obtaining proper alignment and location of the separate parts can arise and this proposed arrangement does not appear to have been generally accepted and adopted in the art. A rather crude arrangement for mounting a cistern on a closet basin by means of bracket arms anchored to existing seat fixing holes in the top of the rear edge portion of the basin, independently of a separate flush pipe connector, has also been proposed in U.S. Patent US-A-1464398 (Ahern), but this arrangement as described also has not been completely satisfactory for general use.
An object of the present invention is accordingly to provide an improved arrangement or means whereby a water-closet basin of a kind having no more than a relatively short rearwards extension at the back can be utilised satisfactorily in a low level close-coupled water-closet suite. The invention is especially useful for enabling water-closet basins of the type having a rim of simple inverted open channel form to be readily adapted for use in low level close-coupled water-closet suites.
From one aspect the present invention provides a low level water-closet suite comprising an assembly of a water-closet pedestal basin and a close-coupled flushing cistern, wherein the cistern is mounted on the basin in rearwardly offset relationship by a separate mounting bracket component which fastens to the basin and extends rearwardly therefrom in supporting engagement with the underside of the cistern, and wherein there is provided interconnecting duct means arranged to convey flushing water from the cistern to the interior of the basin via an inlet pipe section of said duct means and an inlet aperture provided in the back of the basin, characterised in that the mounting bracket component is fabricated as a hollow one-piece unitary body which provides both a load-bearing supporting and locating structure for the cistern and also the interconnecting duct means which is integrally formed therewith, whereby said bracket component, in being fastened to the basin, functions to locate and hold said inlet pipe section of the duct means in position in registry with said inlet aperture in the back of the basin.
Thus, the mounting bracket component has a dual function of supporting the cistern and of locating and holding in position the pipe section for inlet of the flushing water to the basin, and according to a further feature the downstream forward end of this inlet pipe section carries and locates a separate spreader device within the rear part of the water-closet basin. Precise positioning of the spreader device can thereby be ensured and, with a suitable design of the spreader device, it has been found that this arrangement can satisfactorily be applied to provide close-coupled suites wherein the water-closet basin is of the kind having a hollow peripheral rim of inverted open channel form for discharge of the flushing water around the interior upper surface of the bowl.
Although in preferred embodiments the duct means including the inlet pipe section through which the flushing water enters the water-closet basin is formed as an integral part of the mounting bracket component, thereby reducing the number of separate parts which need to be handled and fitted and also ensuring most positively that the inlet pipe section is held in proper position when the bracket is fitted in place, in a second aspect the invention also provides a low level water-closet suite comprising an assembly of a water-closet pedestal basin and a close-coupled flushing cistern, wherein the cistern is mounted on the basin in rearwardly offset relationship by a separate mounting bracket component which fastens to the basin and extends rearwardly therefrom in supporting engagement with the underside of the cistern, and wherein there is provided interconnecting duct means arranged to convey flushing water from the cistern to the interior of the basin via an inlet pipe section of said duct means and an inlet aperture provided in the back of the basin, characterised in that the water-closet basin is of the kind having a bowl which is surrounded by a hollow peripheral rim of inverted open channel form for discharge of the flushing water around the interior upper surface of the bowl, and in that the mounting bracket component is functionally designed to locate and hold said inlet pipe section of the duct means in position in registry with said inlet aperture in the back of the basin, and in that the downstream forward end of said inlet pipe section is fitted with a separate spreader device carried and located thereby so as to lie in a predetermined position within the rear part of the basin for distributing the flushing water and directing it in divergent streams around opposite sides of the said bowl.
The bracket component may conveniently be fastened to the back of the basin by means of fasteners, such as bolts for example, engageable with a back-plate portion of the bracket.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, the bracket component comprises a one-piece moulding, of rigid plastics material for example, of which an integral tubular body portion forms an elbow section flush pipe structure that constitutes the duct means, a lower horizontally-extending limb thereof providing the inlet pipe section and an upright upper limb thereof being arranged to receive the flushing water from the cistern outlet. This upper limb preferably terminates in a top plate portion which is clamped or otherwise fixed to the underside of the cistern, and the bracket component is strengthened to give adequate load-bearing characteristics by reinforcing webs extending between the upper and lower limbs and between the back-plate and top plate portions of said elbow section flush pipe structure.
When a syphonic type flushing cistern is used in a low level close-coupled suite, as previously mentioned, the relatively low head of water generally leads to a problem in obtaining a sufficient discharge velocity of the flushing water to give a satisfactory distribution if the basin has a bowl with an open channel-form rim. The present invention, however, also provides in preferred embodiments an improved design of spreader device by means of which this problem can be overcome when such spreader device is mounted as described in properly located position.
This improved spreader device is arranged to control accurately the discharge of the flushing water in two divergent streams directed at predetermined angles upwardly and forwardly into the portions of the hollow rim extending along opposite sides of the bowl. It may also provide a third stream of a minor proportion of the flushing water which is discharged in a downwards direction towards the surface of the water in the sump in the lower part of the bowl.
Advantageously, this improved spreader device is fabricated as a separate fitment adapted to be inserted and mounted by the inlet pipe section in accurately located position within a hollow inlet chamber in the rear upper portion of the water-closet basin, and it may comprise a nozzle member, in the form of a plastics moulding, that fits and locates on the downstream forward end of the inlet pipe section which extends through the inlet aperture at the back of the basin. This nozzle member may have a tubular main body part internally profiled to provide an internal partition for dividing the water flow into two main streams which are directed, by internal guide surfaces or walls of internal passageways, in slightly upwardly and forwardly inclined directions through respective laterally-disposed discharge apertures, preferably of substantially rectangular cross-section, at the forward end of the body part so as to emerge with the required angular orientation when the nozzle member is correctly fitted in place in use. To provide for the downwardly directed third stream of a small proportion of the flushing water, the lower region of the main body part may be profiled to define a further passageway of relatively small cross-sectional area leading into a hollow forwardly-projecting beak portion which terminates in a downwardly-presented transversely-extending narrow slot or slit aperture in its underside. This beak portion may be surmounted by an upstanding profiled reinforcing rib which may also assist in correctly positioning the device within the hollow interior space of the basin.
The invention also includes cistern mounting bracket components and spreader devices specifically designed for use in close-coupled water-closet suite assemblies as herein described and claimed.
By way of example, a preferred embodiment of the invention in ralation to a low level close-coupled water-closet suite assembly is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal sectional view showing the assembly, including the upper rear part of the water-closet basin, in accordance with this embodiment of the invention;
FIGURE 2 is a vertical section taken on line II-II of FIGURE 1;
FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the assembly shown in FIGURE 1;
FIGURE 4 is vertical cross-section through the cistern mounting bracket component in this embodiment, taken along line IV-IV of FIGURE 5;
FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the same bracket component as is shown in FIGURE 4;
FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of a nozzle member of a spreder device included in the assembly of FIGURE 1;
FIGURE 7 is a plan view of the nozzle member of FIGURE 6;
FIGURE 8 is an end elevational view of the nozzle member seen from the left-hand outlet end of FIGURE 6; and
FIGURE 9 is an end elevational view of the nozzle member seen from the right-hand inlet end of FIGURE 6.

Referring to the drawings, reference numeral 10 denotes a moulded vitreous china water-closet basin having a hollow rim 11 of inverted open channel form in cross-section which extends, from an upper rear inlet part 12 of the basin, around the periphery of the bowl portion 14 of the basin so that portions of this rim 11 bound opposite sides of the bowl.
The upper rear inlet part 12 has a hollow inlet chamber 18 in its interior which communicates with the hollow rim 11 at the front and leads rearwardly to an inlet aperture 20 opening through a rear end wall 22 defining the back of the basin.
The water-closet suite assembly also includes a low level close-coupled syphonic flushing cistern 26, and a cistern supporting and locating mounting bracket component 128 which is made in the form of a hollow one-piece unitary body that provides both supporting structure for the cistern 26 and duct means for the supply and inlet to the basin 10 of flushing water from the cistern.
This bracket component 128 is conveniently moulded of a rigid plastics material such as a polypropylene co-polymer and it comprises an integral tubular body portion 100, a back-plate portion 138 of bifurcated form, a top plate portion 134 having a circular aperture 136, and reinforcing interconnecting web portions 102, 102, having a stepped configuration as seen in FIGURE 4.
The tubular body portion 100 defines an elbow section flush pipe structure 130 of which the lower limb or arm portion 130a extends forwards horizontally to provide inlet pipe section 131 that passes through the back-plate portion 138 and through the inlet aperture 20 in the back wall 22 of the basin; the upper limb or arm portion 130b extends vertically upwards with step-wise increases in diameter to terminate in an open mouth defined by the aperture 136 in the top plate portion 134.
As shown clearly in FIGURES 1 and 2, in the complete assembly a tubularfitting 37 defining the outlet of the cistern passes through the mouth or aperture 136, which also accommodates a clamping nut 89, and projects into the enlarged part of the upper arm portion 130b of the elbow section pipe structure 130. The bracket component 128 is detachably secured to the underside of the cistern in this embodiment by being bolted to a fixing plate 104 clamped permanently in place by the clamping nut 89, the fixing bolts 105, 105, for this purpose being held captive in the fixing plate 104 as shown in FIGURE 2 and being engaged with fixing holes 106,106, in the top plate portion 134of the bracket component 128. A seal for the joint between the bracket component 128 and the underside of the cistern is provided by a resiliently compressible foam plastics or rubber gasket 107.
The mounting bracket component 128 is adapted to be fastened to the back of the basin 10 and is located in position by means of nut and bolt fasteners (of which one is shown at35 in FIGURE 3) that engage with fixing holes in the back-plate portion 138 and with registering apertures in side flange portions of the back wall 22. Since the inlet pipe section 131 in this embodiment is an integral part of the bracket component 128 it will be appreciated that in being fastened to the back of the basin as described in order to mount the cistern 26, the bracket component also functions to locate and hold this inlet pipe section 131 in proper position in registry with the inlet aperture 20. As shown, the inlet pipe section 131 projects through the inlet aperture 20 of the basin into the hollow chamber 18 and, at its downstream forward free end, carries a nozzle member 132 constituting a spreader device for distributing or spreading the flushing water and directing it into and along the portions of the hollow rim 11 either side of the bowl 14, as hereinafter described.
This nozzle member 132 is a moulded plastics element comprising a tubular main body part 50 adapted to push on to the forward free end of the inlet pipe section 131 upon which it is precisely located, both longitudinally and angularly, by engagement of a shouldered internal axial rib 52 within a short axial slot 54 (see FIGURE 5) in the inlet pipe section 131. The body part 50 is divided internally by a central axially-extending vertical partition 56 defining two passageways 58a, 58b, leading to respective laterally-disposed discharge apertures 60a, 60b, of substantially rectangular cross-section. These passageways 58a and 58b provide internal guide surfaces or walls designed so that in use the flushing water entering the body part 50 is caused to emerge with increased velocity from the apertures 60a, 60b, in two divergent streams directed at predetermined angles upwardly and forwardly into the portions of the hollow rim 11 which extend along opposite sides of the bowl 14, and impinges against the undersurface of the top wall 15 of these rim portions.
The nozzle member 132 is also designed to provide for a downwardly directed third stream of a small proportion of the flushing water entering the main body part 50, this third stream being arranged to discharge downwards towards the surface of the water in the sump (not shown) in the lower part of the bowl 14. For this purpose the partition 56 does not extend for the full internal height of the body part 50 and the lower region of the latter is formed to define a further passageway 64 of relatively small cross-sectional area which leads into a hollow forwardly-projecting integral beak portion 65 which terminates in a downwardly-presented transversely-extending narrow slot or slit aperture 67 in its underside for discharging the flushing water of this third stream. As shown, the beak portion is also surmounted by an upstanding fin-like reinforcing rib 69 which has a slightly tapering profile and curves down at its end so as to fit closely within the hollow interior space in the chamber 18 of the upper rear inlet path 12 of the basin 11. This rib 69 extends axially and may be regarded as being an external continuation of the internal partition 56 within the body part 50.
With this design and arrangement, when the nozzle member 52 is correctly fitted and located (this being facilitated by the manner in which it is mounted on the inlet pipe section 131 and by the way in which locating or proper positioning of this inlet pipe section 131 is controlled by the fixing of the bracket component 128), it has been found that even with the relatively low head of water provided by the close-coupled low level cistern 26 the flushing water discharge can be controlled so as to flow in such directions, relative to the open hollow rim portions of the basin, and with such velocity as to enable a sufficient quantity to swirl around the hollow rim 11 to the front of the basin and give a satisfactory distribution of the emerging flushing water around the whole periphery of the bowl.
It is thus possible with the improved arrangement provided by this embodiment in accordance with the invention to utilise satisfactory in a close-coupled cistern assembly not only a water-closet basin which need not have a relatively long integrally moulded rear extension for supporting the cistern but also a water-closet basin with a simple open channel-form rim which is less costly to manufacture than the more complex forms currently in use. As basins of this type are also suitable for use in other assemblies with higher level independently mounted cisterns, if desired in some cases only one form of pattern of water-closet basin need be manufactured and stocked as a standard item for a range of different water-closet suites.
The arrangement described is also well adapted for use either in installing a new close-coupled water-closet suite assembly, or in converting existing suites, since the mounting bracket component together with the spreader device carried by the inlet flush pipe section can readily be correctly fitted in place in situ.
Various further detail modifications may of course be made within the scope of the invention and, although it is preferred to use a one-piece moulded form of bracket component which, as described, incorporates both supporting structure for the cistern and interconnecting pipe structure for the flushing water because of the greater simplification in the assembly and. ease of installation, in some embodiments the cistern mounting bracket component and at least the inlet pipe section of the interconnecting duct for the flushing water could be elements adapted to cooperate through interengaging fastening and locating means so that the bracket component still functions to locate and hold the inlet pipe section in position in registry with the inlet aperture in the back of the basin in addition to its function of mounting and supporting the cistern.

Claims

1. A low level water-closet suite comprising an assembly of a water-closet pedestal basin (10) and a close-coupled flushing cistern (26) wherein the cistern is mounted on the basin (10) in rearwardly offset relationship by a separate mounting bracket component (128) which fastens to the basin and extends rearwardly therefrom in supporting engagement with the underside of the cistern, and wherein there is provided interconnecting duct means (130) arranged to convey flushing water from the cistern (26) to the interior of the basin via an inlet pipe section (131) of said duct means and an inlet aperture (20) provided in the back (22) of the basin, characterised in that the mounting bracket component (128) is fabricated as a hollow one-piece unitary body which provides both a load-bearing supporting and locating structure for the cistern (26) and also the interconnecting duct means (130) which is integrally formed therewith, whereby said bracket component, in being fastened to the basin (10), functions to locate and hold said inlet pipe section (131) of the duct means in position in registry with said inlet aperture (20) in the back (22) of the basin.

2. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in Claim 1, wherein a separate spreader device (132) is carried by the downstream forward end of the inlet pipe section (131) and is located thereon so as to lie in a predetermined position within the rear part (12) of the basin for distributing the flushing water and directing it in divergent streams around opposite sides of the bowl (14) of the water-closet basin (10).

3. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the water-closet basin is of the' kind having a hollow peripheral rim (11) of inverted open channel form for discharge of the flushing water around the interior upper surface of the bowl (14).

4. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in Claim 2 or 3, wherein the inlet pipe section (131) extends through said rear inlet aperture (20) of the basin and the spreader device (132) fits and locates on said downstream forward end of the inlet pipe section within a hollow inlet chamber (18) in the interior of the upper portion of the rear part (12) of the water-closet basin inwardly of said inlet aperture (20).

5. A low level water-closet suite comprising an assembly of a water-closet pedestal basin (10) and a close-coupled flushing cistern (26), wherein the cistern is mounted on the basin in rearwardly offset relationship by a separate mounting bracket component (128) which fastens to the basin (10) and extends rearwardly therefrom in supporting engagement with the underside of the cistern, and wherein there is provided interconnecting duct means (130) arranged to convey flushing water from the cistern (26) to the interior of the basin via an inlet pipe section (131) of said duct means and an inlet aperture (20) provided in the back (22) of the basin, characterised in that the water-closet basin is of the kind having a bowl (14) which is surrounded by a hollow peripheral rim (11) of inverted open channel form for discharge of the flushing water around the interior upper surface of the bowl (14), and in that the mounting bracket component (128) is functionally designed to locate and hold said inlet pipe section (131) of the duct means (130) in position in registry with said inlet aperture (20) in the back of the basin, and in that the downstream forward end of said inlet pipe section (131) is fitted with a separate spreader device (132) carried and located thereby so as to lie in a predetermined position within the rear part (12) of the basin for distributing the flushing water and directing it in divergent streams around opposite sides of the said bowl (14).

6. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in any of Claims 2 to 5, wherein the spreader device (132) consists of a nozzle member, in the form of a plastics moulding, having a tubular main body part (50) internally profiled to provide an internal partition (56) for dividing the water flow into two main streams which are directed, by internal guide surfaces or walls of internal passageways (58a, 58b), in slightly upwardly and forwardly inclined directions through respective laterally-disposed discharge apertures (60a, 60b) at the forward end of the body part (50) so as to emerge with the required angular orientation when the nozzle member is correctly fitted in place in use.

7. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the lower region of the main body part (50) of the spreader device (132) is profiled to define a further passageway (64) of relatively small cross-sectional area leading into a hollow forwardly-projecting beak portion (65) which terminates in a downwardly-presented transversely-extending narrow slot or slit aperture (67) in its underside to provide for a downwardly directed third stream of a minor proportion of the flushing water.

8. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in Claim 6 or 7, wherein the tubular main body part (50) of the spreader device (132) includes locating means (52) adapted to engage with co-operating locating means (54) upon the flushing water inlet pipe section (131).

9. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the mounting bracket component (128) is adapted to be fastened to the back (22) of the basin (10) by means of fasteners (35) engageable with a back-plate portion (138) of said bracket component.

10. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the duct means comprises an elbow section flush pipe structure (130) formed by an integral tubular body portion (100) of the bracket component (128) of which a lower horizontally-extending limb (130a) provides said inlet pipe section (131) and an upright upper limb (130b) receives an outlet fitting (37) of the cistern (26) through which the flushing water is delivered into said duct means.

11. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in Claim 10, wherein the upright upper limb (130b) of the elbow section flush pipe structure (130) increases in diameter towards the top forming a funnel-like entrance (136) which surrounds the outlet fitting (37) of the cistern (26).

12. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in Claim 10 or 11, wherein the mounting bracket component (128) is adapted to be fastened to the back of the basin by means of fasteners (35) engageable with a back-plate portion (138) of said bracket component.

13. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the upper limb (130b) of the elbow section flush pipe structure (130) is integrally connected to a top plate portion (134) of the bracket component (128) which engages the underside of the cistern (26), and integral reinforcing webs (102) extend between the lower and upper limbs (130a, 130b) of said elbow section pipe structure and between said bracket top plate portion (134) and back-plate portion (138).

14. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in Claim 13, wherein the underside of the cistern (26) is provided with a fixing plate (104) to which the top plate portion (134) of the bracket component (128) is fixed by clamping fastening means (105) with deformable sealing means (107) interposed therebetween.

15. A low level water-closet suite as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the mounting bracket component (128) is a unitary moulding formed of rigid plastics material.