EP1516968A1 - Sanitary arrangement - Google Patents

Abstract

The assembly has a reservoir equipped with a float whose position denotes the level of water in the reservoir. The reservoir has an inlet to receive water from a supply source, and an outlet to supply the water to basin of a water closet (13). A water economic system has a pressure pump that receives sanitary water from a bathing box (15) and a wash basin (17), and reintroduces the sanitary water into the reservoir.

Description

The present invention relates generally to sanitary installations and more particularly a new sanitary unit.

Currently, sanitary installations in homes, residences and hotels include several pieces of equipment that are often in one room, but in fact totally separated from each other. This type of development requires the installation many pipes and pipes that cause multiple complications when you want to modify the layout to add equipment additional, for example, or more simply replace equipment with a other.

On the other hand, sanitary facilities, in general, consume a large quantity running water taken directly from the water supply network. In urban environment, the amount of running water used and thus discharged to the sewers number of millions of liters and of this amount, nearly 80% are consumed by sanitary facilities, half of which are used for rinsing basins water closets. This consumption of running water is accompanied by a price more and more high for consumers because running water has become a commodity excessively expensive.

Regardless of its high cost, water distribution is sometimes critical in some inhabited areas or residential areas with occupancy seasonal. In addition, there are parts of the world that do not have large natural water reserves. And even in countries normally rich in tablecloths aquifers regularly encounter problems with water supply during long periods of drought. Climatological specialists already predict that this situation is likely to become more and more frequent and next decades.

It is therefore essential to be able to distribute water rationally and especially to be able to consume it in a reasonable way, if not with economy. And on the other hand, it is important for this purpose that dwellings, residences, hotel complexes and other places similar can be arranged or redeveloped in a rational way which allows for easy savings in sanitary water, in particular. In general, sanitary waters are discharged directly into a common collection pipe that evacuates them to a sewer system. No only, does this discharge of sanitary water constitute a high consumption of water current but still the waters thus discharged also contain many residual products that pollute the environment.

In addition to the amount of running water used for personal hygiene, a large amount running water is also used in flushing water closets. A significant saving in water could be achieved by water closets with wastewater recovered from other sanitary equipment dwelling or a residential or hotel complex and not to use running water only when there is no more sewage available.

Summary of the invention

The invention aims to provide a global solution to the general problem of distribution water to one or more sanitary equipment for the purpose of streamlining and simplifying the installation while allowing to easily achieve significant water savings current costly.

For this purpose, the present invention proposes a sanitary assembly of new design and of simple and rational construction.

Another object of the invention is to propose a sanitary assembly that can be integrated easily in a living room of an existing or new building.

Another object of the invention is to provide a compact sanitary assembly which can be easily integrated into a living room of common dimensions without require a large amount of space.

The invention also aims to propose a sanitary assembly that can be arranged to save running water without the need for installation pipes and pipes important and expensive.

These goals are achieved by a sanitary unit comprising a column with which are attached a water closet associated with a flush, and at least one other sanitary equipment, the column comprising a frame on which is fixed a reservoir equipped with a float whose position is linked to the level of the water contained in the tank. It has at least one connected input for receiving water of a power source through a valve whose opening is related to the position of the float, and at least one output connected to power the bowl of the water closet.

The reservoir has a first inlet pipe connected to a distribution network of running water, said first inlet pipe discharging the running water into the valve supra. This opens and closes the supply of running water from the distribution network depending on the amount of water in the tank.

In a preferred embodiment, the reservoir has a second inlet manifold fed sanitary water recovered at the evacuation outlet of each other sanitary equipment via a pump. Water available in the reservoir for feeding the water closet is thus normally in the major part consisting of sanitary waters collected in the tank and the valve mentioned above introduces dispensing water only in a supplementary amount. The system according to the invention thus provides an economy of running water expensive. The part tank top advantageously comprises a filter in which opens said second inlet manifold. The filtration of sanitary water thus ensures a primary water purification before discharge to sewers.

The aforementioned tank can be fed by water collected at the discharge outlet several sanitary equipment attached to the column or even outside. This is how, for example, that the sanitary assembly according to the invention can combine several sanitary facilities such as washbasin, shower cubicle and water closet mounted around the column. In addition, the pressure pump can also be connected to collect water from a bathtub.

Thanks to the sanitary assembly according to the invention, all the supply lines and drainage are in column 10, which facilitates and simplifies the the installation of the connections and the pipes as well as the arrangement of the premises. In addition, the sanitary assembly according to the invention makes it possible to include a system of economy without the need for special piping which is generally unsightly and often embarrassing. When such a system is included as provided in the example of described, the reservoir normally contains sanitary water collected via the pump and it is these sanitary waters that are used for rinsing the bowl of the water closet, without expensive water consumption. Only when the level of sanitary water recovered in the tank is insufficient than the valve introduces a make-up of tap water under the control of the float. It results in a considerable saving of expensive water consumption and money for the users

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the presentation following, accompanied by drawings.

Brief description of the drawings

Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views of an exemplary embodiment of a sanitary assembly according to the invention;

Figure 3 shows schematically the internal structure of the column around which is achieved the sanitary assembly shown in Figure 1;

Figures 4 and 5 are enlarged views of the column showing details connections of the reservoir shown in Figure 3;

Figure 6 represents, on an enlarged scale, a development detail in the base of the sanitary assembly shown in Figure 1.

Description of an embodiment of the invention

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, it can be seen that the sanitary unit represented, designated as a whole by 10, comprises a column 11 mounted on a base 12. Around Column 11 are arranged several sanitary facilities. On one side of the column 11 is fixed the bowl 13 of a water closet. On the opposite side of the column is fitted, for example, a shower stall 15. On a third face of the column 11 is fixed a sink 17. The whole represented is complete 14 side walls and a sky 16. On the side of the shower, the base forms a 12A base supporting the floor of the shower enclosure. This one can be provided a door in one or two panels.

The column 11 around which is made the sanitary assembly according to the invention is shown without its covering walls in Figure 3. The internal structure of the column comprises a frame 18 to which are attached two struts 19 forming a support for a 20. The column and the reservoir may have a shape and dimensions any. In the embodiment shown by way of example, the base of the tank has a curved shape and the struts 19 are advantageously shaped for receiving and supporting the curved base of the reservoir 20. One of the struts 19 serves also to the fixing of the basin of the water-closet 13 and connections for the supply of rinsing water and for the evacuation of waste water.

The structure of the column 11 is shown on a larger scale in FIGS. 4 and 5. More particularly, FIG. 4 shows the column seen from the side where the cabin of while Figure 5 shows the column seen from the opposite side, that is to say from the where is mounted the water-closet. The reservoir 20 has a first inlet pipe 22 connected to a running water supply. The tubing 22 opens into the interior of the tank 20 in a valve 21 connected to a float 23 visible in FIG.

When the quantity of water contained in the reservoir 20 is sufficient, the float 23 maintains the valve 21 closed but when the amount of water is insufficient, the float keeps the valve 21 open in order to complete the quantity of water contained in the tank with a quantity of running water from the distribution network.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated by way of example, the reservoir presents also a second inlet pipe 24 (visible in Figure 3) connected to a water saving system. For this purpose, the tubing 24 is connected to the output of a pump 29 supplied with sanitary waste water collected in a dwelling, a residence or a hotel complex or any real estate and brought by a conduit 41. The sanitary water received in tubing 24 is discharged into the top of the tank 20 through a filter 25 to ensure purification of these sanitary waters. The filter is, for example, an interchangeable cartridge biological filter (known in itself). The filter 25 has an outlet 27 for evacuating the eventual overflow of the reservoir in a discharge pipe 28 intended to be connected to a discharge pipe 42 for evacuation to the sewers.

The reservoir 20 has a third tubing 26 which is visible in FIG. connects to the rinsing water inlet of the water closet basin 13. This is associated with a flush of any known type (not shown). The hunt water is advantageously incorporated in the reservoir 20. In order not to overload the drawings, the pipes supplying the faucets and the shower head are not represented on the drawings.

Thanks to the sanitary assembly according to the invention, all the supply lines and water discharge are in column 11, which facilitates and simplifies the the installation of the connections and the pipes as well as the arrangement of the premises. In addition, the sanitary assembly according to the invention makes it possible to include a system of economy without the need for special piping which is generally unsightly and often embarrassing and expensive to install. When such a system is included as provided in the embodiment described, the reservoir 20 normally contains sanitary water collected via pump 29 and it is these sanitary waters that are used for rinsing the water closet bowl, without the consumption of water expensive distribution. Only when the level of sanitary water recovered in the tank 20 is insufficient that the valve 21 introduces a make-up of running water under the control of float 23. The result is a considerable saving in expensive water consumption and money for users.

In case of momentary stoppage of the pump 29 or in the event of a possible obstruction of the sanitary water supply, the float 23 automatically maintains the valve 21 which supplies the reservoir 20 with water taken from the water distribution network common. The valve 21 can also be kept open under the control any device (not shown) or under the programmed command an electronic device, in order to perform a special rinsing of the water closet bowl.

Sanitary water collected during the use of the shower enclosure 15 and the washbasin 17 are advantageously received in a collector box which temporarily retains sanitary waters collected for transport in a steady flow to the inlet of the pump 29 feeding the reservoir 20. Such a collector box is by example housed in the base 12A of the shower enclosure, as shown in Figure 5. The drawing shows a manifold box 30 having an inlet 32 which connects to the outlet 15A of the shower enclosure 15 (see Figure 3), an inlet 34 which is connected to the drain port of the sink 17 and a third inlet 36 which can be used to an external connection, as described below.

The interior space of the collecting box 30 is divided by a wall into a compartment manifold 31 and a buffer compartment 33 which communicate with each other through an orifice 35 practiced in the wall separating the two compartments. The buffer compartment 33 is equipped with a float that controls the level of the water contained in this compartment. The outlet 37 is connected to a duct 39 which leads to the inlet 41 of the pump 29 (see Figure 5). The outlet 38 serves for the discharge of the overflow to the sewer.

By connecting the inlet 36 of the header box 30 by a suitable pipe to the orifice drainage of a bath, the sanitary assembly according to the invention can also collect sanitary water from the bathtub and thus recover the bath water in the 20. The connecting pipe to the bath is advantageously arranged in a bundle of parallel tubes or channels so as to render the flow of laminar and regular bath water.

It is understood that the embodiment described in the foregoing and illustrated in the accompanying drawings is given only as an example. Various execution variants can be made while implementing the specific arrangements of the invention.

Claims (10)

Sanitary unit, characterized in that it comprises a column (11) to which are attached a water closet (13) associated with a flush, and at least one other sanitary equipment (15, 17), in that the column comprises a frame (18) on which is fixed a reservoir (20) equipped with a float (23) whose position is connected to the level of the water contained in the reservoir, and in that the reservoir (20) at least one inlet (22) connected to receive water from a supply source through a valve (21) whose opening is related to the position of the float, and an outlet (26) connected to supply the bowl of the water-closet (13). Sanitary assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the tank (20) is supported by at least one brace (19) fixed to the frame (18) and which is fixed the outlet connection of said tank. Sanitary unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the tank (20) has a first inlet pipe (22) connected to a running water distribution network, said first inlet pipe discharging the running water in the valve (21) whose opening is linked to the position of the float (23). Sanitary unit according to claim 3, characterized in that the reservoir (20) has a second inlet pipe (24) fed by a booster pump (29) connected to receive the sanitary water recovered at the discharge outlet of each other sanitary equipment (15, 17). Assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that the upper part of the reservoir (20) comprises a filter (25) into which said second inlet pipe (24) opens. An assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that said filter (25) is removably mounted. Sanitary unit according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that it comprises a collector box (30) connected to collect the sanitary waste water of the at least one other sanitary equipment and to route them to said pump (29) to then feed the tank (20). Sanitary assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that the manifold (30) is housed in the base (12) of the sanitary assembly (10). Sanitary assembly according to any one of claims 7 and 8, characterized in that the manifold box (30) further has an inlet intended to be connected to recover water from a bath. Sanitary assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the manifold box (30) is connected to the discharge outlet of said bath by a duct arranged to ensure a laminar flow.

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