GB2194653A - Intake valve for toilet tank - Google Patents

Abstract

A floatless water inlet valve for use in toilet tank comprising an inlet pipe 2, a valve body 1, a valve arrangement 4, a valve control device 5 and a central pipe 3. The valve body 1 includes a dual sleeve tubular member 10, the lock means 18 end of which is capable of vertically adjustably engaging with the inlet pipe 2 by the inner circumference of the outer pipe 11 of the tubular member 10. The upper section 22 above the flange 21 of the inlet pipe 2 has saw tooth serrations permitting adjustment of the valve in height in relation to the height of the water tank and regulation of the water level in the tank. The valve arrangement disposed on the top end of the tubular member 10 includes a block the interior of which forms a valve house and a release valve 46, a rubber valve 43 placed beneath the block and being closable and openable in respect of the opening at the upper end of inner sleeve pipe. A lever 51 of the valve control device 5 is pivotally connected at its base end to the support at the valve arrangement while the free end thereof extends transversely towards the disk portion of the valve body and pivotally connected to this end is a cylinder 52. An expansible and contractible rubber cap 53 may be provided at the outer circumference of the cylinder 52. The central pipe 3 inserted in the center of the inlet pipe 2 is snugly engageable by its upper portion outer circumference with the inner circumference of inner pipe 12 of the tubular member 10. While the lower end of central pipe 3 is provided with a unidirectional valve 33, its upper end opening opposes the rubber valve. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Intake valve for toilet tank BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS OF INVENTION The present invention relates to a toilet tank intake valve, particularly to, a floatless intake valve for use in the control of water level thereby achieving water stoppage in the toilet tank and also capable of adjusting the water level at will.

It is known that the conventional intake valve used in the tank of a flush toilet consists of a water inlet pipe having at the upper end thereof an intake valve, a control unit for controlling the intake valve, a slender connecting rod connected to the control unit and a float bowl disposed at the end of this float arm. Owing to the presence of the slender float arm extending transversely in the toilet tank and the float bowl with a considerably large volume, not only is the valve cumbersome in its external appearance but the valve itself occupies most of the space inside the tank.Furthermore, since impetus to the float bowl to work the connecting rod and to control the valve comes from the buoyancy, in order to operate this valve there must be sufficient amount of water in the tank and by which thus results in the volume of the water tank being increased correspondingly and in the waste of water. Again, if it is desired to adjust the water level in the tank by this conventional intake valve, this can be accomplished only when the float bowl end of the connecting rod is forcibly bent upward or downward in order to make the level of the float bowl to be either higher or lower during full water level. Hence, with this valve the adjustment is difficult and in so doing it will likely damage the connecting rod causing the whole water intake valve to be unserviceable.

At the same time, since the length of the water inlet pipe must remain constant and can not possibly be adjusted, it is impossible therefore that a single model of this valve can be adapted for use in water tanks of different heights and in this way, the valve lacks interchangeability in utility. In addition, in this kind of valve screws are mostly used for connection between the connecting rod and the valve control device, after use for some time these screws turn loose easily or even become rusted and broken so that the valve will not work properly or manipulation becomes impossible.It has also been found that with the conventional type of valve, water flows noisily during filling up of the toilet tank and following the ascent of the float bowl, the opening in the valve port gradually decreases and this again causes a change in the amount of inflowing water from being large to being small, thereby lengthening the time for the level of water to become full in the tank.

Again, when leakage occurs constantly in the outlet valve of the water tank, since there is no possibility that the intake valve can be completely closed water will flow out continuously resulting in wastage of water. Difficulty arises next when there is a trouble and the valve needs to be repaired and a replacement.

It often requires the use of tools or has to rely upon a plumber's hand to accomplish the job and is difficult for the user to attend to the replacement by himself, and this adds to the cost of maintenance. The entire intake valve of the conventional type with its large size and many protuberances appears again to be heavy and bulky, being disadvantageous to the manage ment and packaging thereof and damageable during transportation.

It is the puppose of this invention to ameliorate the aforesaid disadvantages in the conventional water intake valve, and to provide a novel intake valve for use with flushing toilets.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a toilet tank intake valve designed to be neat, compact and small in size having no slender float arm nor the float bowl.

It is a further object to provide a floatless water tank intake valve which can be independently adjusted in height in relation to the height of a water tank to facilitate the fitting thereof and regulation of the water level in the tank, the regulation thereof being convenient, rapid and precise.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a floatless water tank intake valve in which water discharge is kept constant such that time required for the tank to be at full water level is shortened, and the flow of water is quiet.

It is yet an additional object of the invention to provide a floatless water tank intake valve which, when there is a slight leakage in the tank or the outlet valve, is capable of maintaining the intake valve continuously closed to avoid a wastage of water.

It is yet a different object of the invention to provide a water tank intake valve in which maintenance, repair or replacement is very easy, and any person can accomplish the work by oneself.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a water tank intake valve adaptable to any conventional type or used water tank and capable of being designed to break through the configuration of the conventional type water tank since a water tank is not under limitation by the length of the conventional type float arm.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a water tank intake valve which is easy to manufacture, assemble and mount and which after assembled into the component products is easy to manage and economical in packaging volume.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA WINGS Other objects and features of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments accompanied by drawing, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a water intake valve in accordance with the invention; FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the intake valve according to the invention; FIG. 3 is an exploded new of the intake valve according to the invention; FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing details of the valve device in FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of the essential part in another embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the fitting together of the intake valve according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT There is shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 a floatless water tank intake valve of the present invention, which comprises a slightly smoking pipe shaped valve body 1, a water inlet pipe 2 inserted in the tubular portion of the valve body 1, a central pipe 3 inserted in the center of the inlet pipe 2, a valve device 4 disposed in the upper chamber of the valve body 1 and a valve control device 5 mounted on the valve device 4.

The valve body 1 includes a tubular portion 1a having a dual sleeve pipe 10 formed in a concentrically disposed manner by an outer tube 11 and an inner tube 12 and a disc member 13 extending horizontally and outwardly from the top end of the dual sleeve pipe 10, and an inverted ladle shaped cover lb. The outer tube 11 and the inner tube 12 join and form into an integral body by means of a circular plate 14 having at the center thereof a through hole 14a which passes into the top end of the inner tube 12 and in the surroundings thereof a plurality of through holes 14b which pass into the top end of the outer tube 11. This circular plate 14 has in the surroundings thereof an upwardly pro jected circular encompassing wall 15, whose inner wall is provided with a plurality of protuberances for retaining the valve device 4.The disk member 13 is formed with a large circular cavity 16a defined by a circular short encompassing wall 16, the large circular cavity 16a being spaced apart by a distance and lying side by side with a small circular cavity defined by the circular encompassing wall 15.

These two cavities are interconnected by a connecting plate 17 having a reinforcing bar 17a. The large circular cavity 1 6a is provided at the center thereof with a water intake round hole 16b and the encompassing walls 15 and 16 are provided on the outer circumferential walls thereof with several engaging projections 131 for engagement with the cover 1 b having at the inner walls thereof corresponding engage grooves 132 to cover the upper portion of the disk member 13. The sealed spaces formed in the place between the cover 1 b and the disk member 13 after the former has been properly placed in position will come to be the control compartment a and the valve chamber b at the upper portions respectively of the large and the small cavities as will be described hereafter.

On the connecting plate 17 described above there is formed a through hole 1 7b and next on the circumferential wall at the lower end of the outer tube 11 of the dual sleeve pipe 10 is provided a locking hole Ila, pivotally connected by means of a pivot pin 1 8a to the inside of this locking hole being a lock means 18. This lock means 18 has at the upper end thereof a tooth portion 1 8e which under the tension force of a spring 1 8b normally projects out from the locking hole 1 lea into the interior of the outer tube 11 to be engaged in the locking portion provided on the outer circumferential wall of the water inlet pipe 2 as will be described hereafter.

The water inlet pipe 2 is a tubular body, slightly towards the lower portion at the center of which being formed a bugle-shaped flange 21. On the circumference of the tubular body at the upper portion of this flange 21 there is formed for spacing a multisection annular retaining portion 22 having a sectional shape of a saw-tooth and on the circumference of the tubular body at the lower portion of the flange 21 is formed a threaded portion 23. The flange 21 is provided next at slightly the upper portion thereof with at least a water outlet 24 which passes through the tubular wall. On the threaded portion 23 are fitted from top to bottom in serial order a sealing washer 25, a fixing nut 26, a water check ring 27 and a coupling nut 28. Such fitting members are employed for fixing the water inlet pipe in the water tank and for connection with the supply pipe.At a location below the water outlet 211 of the flange 21 there is formed on the inner wall at the lower end of the inlet pipe 2 a ring seat 29 for retaining the large diameter lower end of the central pipe 3 in the seat 29.

The central pipe 3 is disposed by insertion from the lower end of the water inlet pipe 2 into the pipe. This central pipe 3 consists of a slender tubular portion 31 having an outer diameter appropriately insertible in the inner tube 12 of the valve body 1 and a large diameter tubular portion 32 formed at the lower end of the tubular portion 31 with an outer diameter appropriately insertible in the threaded portion 23 of the inlet pipe 2 and retainable in the ring seat 29. The inner wall of the large diameter tubular portion 32 is formed into a multisection stepped configuration and mounted in the opening is a floatable plate-like plastic valve disk 33 whereas the mouth of opening is sealed by a ring plate 34 and a perforated round plate 35 so that the valve disk 33 can be moved freely inside that large diameter tubular portion 32.The slender tubular portion 31 of the central pipe 3 is next mounted on the outer circumference at the upper and lower ends thereof with water check rings 36 to keep the space between the central pipe 3 and the inner tube 12 of the valve body 1 in water-tightness.

The valve device 4 consists of a valve piece 41 which by means of the lock projections 42a formed on the outer circumference of the cylinder portion 42 at the lower end thereof can be locked releasably in the protuberances 15a of the valve chamber b to be fixed in the upper end of the valve body 1. A middle portion slightly raised rubber diaphragm valve 43 having at the center thereof a small opening 43a and at the bottom face thereof a ring groove 43b is sandwiched between the valve piece 41 and the circular plate 14 for sealing the opening at the upper portion of the cavity.

The top surface of the cylinder portion 42 of the valve piece 41 is formed with a pair of parallel and upwardly projected projecting sheets 44 and constitutes the lever support for pivotally fitting the lever as will be described hereinafter. Between the inner walls of the two projecting sheets 44 there is disposed a hollow cylinder body 45 having at the top surface an air exit hole 45a which passes into the interior large round hole.Inside the large round hole of this cylinder body 45 is provided a release valve 46 having at the center a shaft 46a which projects out from the upper portion of the air exit hole and is provided on the circumference thereof with a plurality of axial notches 46b for passage of water, a valve seat 47 sealing the opening at the lower part of the hollow cylinder body 45 and provided at the center with a valve opening 47a and a release valve spring 48 disposed between the valve seat 47 and the release valve 46 and constantly bestowing upon the release valve 46 an inclination of upward movement.

The valve control device 5 is mounted in the control compartment a, comprising a lever 51 whose base end is disposed between the two projecting sheets 44 and pivotably connected thereto while the free end thereof extending towards the control compartment a, a cylinder 52 movably pivoted on the free end of the lever 51 and an expansible rubber cap 53 having the edge of the opening at the upper end thereof tightly confined in the ring groove 52a at the upper portion of the cylinder 52. The cylinder 52 has at the center of the bottom thereof a small valve chamber 52b which is provided on the circumferential wall thereof with several openings 52c and at the upper and lower ends thereof respectively with a hole 52d. Next, a valve plate 52f is housed in the valve chamber 52b, this valve plate 52f normally seals the opening 52e below.Again, the lower circumferential edge of the rubber cap 53 is tightly engaged in the inner wall of the encompassing wall 16 of the cavity 1 6a whereas between the cavity 1 6a and the rubber cap 53 there is formed a sealed space c. Furthermore, there is mounted at somewhat midway on the lever 51 a projecting pin 51a which passes through and projects out from a small hole 133 provided on the cover 1 b. The function of this projecting pin 51a will be described later.

Being constructed as above, the intake valve of the present invention is preferably made by plastic molding and is obtained, during assembling, by fitting the various members, as shown in FIG. 3, together in the following way. A valve assembly 6 of the valve device 4 and the control device 6 already fitted as an unit is fixedly mounted on the upper portion of the tubular part la of the valve body 1 by rotating the former in a positive direction after the piece 41 has been engaged in the valve chamber b, so as to lock the projections 42a underneath the protuberances 15a. However, before doing so, the control device 5 must be appropriately received in the compartment a at this time. Thereafter, the disk member 13 is covered with the cover 1 b to form a valve assembly 7 as shown in FIG. 6.On the other hand, the central pipe 3 already fitted at the lower end thereof with the valve disk 33, the ring plate 34 and the perforated plate 35 is inserted from the lower end of the water inlet pipe 2 into the latter till the large diameter tubular portion 32 thereof has been stopped at the ring seat 29. The water check ring 27 is then pressed tightly into the lower opening of the water inlet pipe 2 and next the sealing washer 25, the fixing nut 26 and the connecting nut 28 are mounted by turning round on to the threaded portion 23 to form another assembly 8 (see FIG. 6).This assembly 8 is subsequently inserted from below intro the dual sleeve pipe 10 of the assembly 7 and, in this way, the two assemblies 7 and 8 are fitted together by the lock means 18 being engaged in the locking portion 22 to form a finish product of the intake valves depicted in FIG.1 to 2. While the assembly 8 is being inserted into the assembly 7, the water inlet pipe 2 and the central pipe 3 will be automatically closely engaged in the outer tube 11 and the inner tube 12, respectively. During the assembling work mentioned above, almost whole of the work do not have to rely upon any tools or mechanical means but can be completed solely by hand by movements like mere turning round into position, pressing into engagement and insertion. In this way, the production efficiency can be greatly increased.

In mounting the intake valve of the present invention in a toilet tank 9 such is shown in FIG. 6, the inlet pipe assembly 8 is first inserted upright in a fitting hole in the tank 9 and, subsequently by means of the connecting nut 28 the end of pipe 2 is connected to the water supply pipe 91 which leads to the source of water, and fixed in position by screwing up the fixing nut 26 tightly. After the inlet pipe 2 has been properly mounted, the valve body assembly 7 with the dual sleeve pipe 10 is next fitted on to the inlet pipe 2 till a required height has been arrived and after it has been let go, the assembly 7 will thus be located in that position.In adjusting the height and position of the assembly 7, if the assembly 7 is to be adjusted low, by pressing the assembly 7 downward slightly in relation to the assembly 8, this assembly 7 can thus be made to slide down lightly on the inlet pipe 2. If however the assembly 7 is to be adjusted high, then by pressing with finger on the lower end of the lock means ;1:8 the assembly 7 can be concurrently lifted upward from the inlet pipe 2 till the required position therefor has been reached.

When finished with the mounting of the intake valve of the invention, water is introduced into the inlet pipe 2 from the supply pipe 91. From the lower end of this inlet pipe 2 a stream of water will then flow into the central pipe 3 and from the upper end of this pipe 3 water will jerk open the rubber valve 43 and through the holes 14a and 14b to flow into the outer tube 12. Water will pass through the upper opening of the inlet pipe 2 to flow downward and finally form the lower water outlet 24 water flows into the toilet tank 9. The water level will gradually rise in the tank and, when the level has risen to beyond the bottom face of the disk member 13, water will flow from the intake hole 16b into the compartment c which is being surrounded by the rubber cap 53, permitting the level of water to rise gradually in the compartment.At the same time, a small volume of water will also flow via the small opening 43a at the center of the valve 43 to pass into the upper portion of the valve 43. When water level in the compartment c has gradually increased, the volume of space above the water surface will decrease accordingly and hence, the rub ber cap 53 will expand as a result of the air pressure present in that space. In this way, the lever 51 moves upward about the pivot pin which serves as a fulcrum at the terminal end and the release valve 46 which has been pressed down before is now raised up to close the air exit hole 45a by the force of the spring 48. Now, the space above the valve 43 forms into a sealed space, water continues to flow through the hole 43a into that space and water level rises up in the same level with that in the compartment c.In this way, water continues to increase in amount and pressure inside the said space thereby forcing the valve 43 to close the through hole 14a so that inflowing water stops when predetermined water level has been reached in the tank 9.

In flushing, the flush handle is pressed down to open the outlet valve (not shown in the drawings) whereby water from the tank will flow in a large amount through the water outlet into the bowl to effect flushing action there. Following a rapid falling in the water level in the tank, water from the chamber c flows out rapidly through the hole 1 6b and at the same time there is produced a suction action which makes the rubber cap 53 to withdraw. Following this action the free end of the lever 51 is likewise lowered down and against the force of the spring 48 by its basal end portion the lever 51 presses down the release valve 46 thereby opening up the air exit hole 45a. Accordingly, the pressure of the compressed gas disappears from the surface of water above the rubber valve 43 and only a small amount of water pressure is left on pressing that valve 43.However, as water pressure coming in through the central pipe 3 from the inlet pipe 2 is greater than the water pressure at the above of the valve 43, this valve 43 is opened by the infiowing water and supply of water proceeds again in the manner as described above. From the outlet 24 of the inlet pipe 2 water flows into the tank until full water level is attained.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention in which except the valve control device 5 which replaces the above mentioned rubber cap 53 with a hollow bottomed cylinder 54, all other components remain the same in construction. Under the circumstances, such a hollow bottomed cylinder 54 constitutes substantially a float which will ascend along with a rise in the water level and descend along with a fall in the water level in the compartment c and with that to raise or lower the lever 51 in order to control the closing or opening of the release valve 46.

When a full water level has been attained during the use of the intake valve of the invention, should there be a slight but continuous leakage of water due to some defect in leakproofness of the pipe fitting portion or improper closing of the drain valve in the tank, water level will gradually fall down in the tank and will continue to fall until there is no water left in the tank. When water level falls slowly no suction action is produced in the compartment c. Now, the valve control device 5 is still capable of preventing any wastage of water as the valve 43 will still close the through hole 14a tightly and no water will flow out, if when gravity composed on the side of the rubber cap 53 is not sufficient enough to overcome the pressure at the gas relief compartment and the summation tension force formed by the force of the spring 48 with the frictional force at the pivot portion, the lever 51 will not come down and the compartment will not relieve gas. During this time, there is no more water stored in the tank. Consequently when the user presses down the flush handle and no water flushes out, it foilows that the tank may possibly be leading and early repairs may then be carried out.If it is desired at this time that the inlet valve continues to discharge water, this may be accomplished by uncovering the tank and next pressing down the projecting pin 51a so as to open the release valve 46. By this action, water from inside the pipe 3 will rush open the valve 43 and flow out. In this way, it is still possible to refill the tank with water.

If on the other hand, it is so designed that the weight of the rubber cap 53 and the cylinder 52 contained in the preceding lever 52 is greater than the afore-said air pressure and the spring force so that it may not require suction action to lower the lever, then in the leak condition noted above this lever will not of course have the effect in sealing of water and as such there will be no necessity in the provision of a projecting pin 51a. Again, in the cylinder 52 of the valve control device 5 there is provided a small-size unidirectional valve 52f which when water enters the compartment c will allow small amount of water to be able to pass through the opening 52e into the cylinder so as to increase the weight of the cylinder 52 thereby delaying the ascending time of the lever 51, that is, delaying the opening time of the releave valve.

It will be appreciated that when the intake valve of the present invention has been mounted in the toilet tank, not only the valve main body 1 is adjustable in relation to the height of the inlet pipe 2 but rotatably adjustable in 360" as well, hence suitable for use in any type of the tanks.

It should further be appreciated that having a construction as noted above this invention provides a neat and compactly arranged inlet valve which is easy to assemble and mount, adjustment of water level thereof being simple, maintenance and repair easy, suitable for any conventional or newly designed toilet tank, inflow of water noiseless and the flow always kept constant, capable of reducing the time of supply of water and also of water saving.

Many alterations and modiifcations may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The presently preferred embodiments have been illustrated by way of example only and for the sake of clarity and are not intended to limit the scope and breadth of the following claims.

Claims (8)

1. A floatless intake valve for use in the toilet tank, comprising: a water inlet pipe having at its middle portion slightly toward the lower part an outwardly expanding flange, from said flange on the circumference of the pipe body at the upper section thereof being formed an annular retaining portion composed of spacings mostly in a definite arrangement and having sawtooth shape in cross section, said flange along the circumference of the pipe body at the lower section thereof being provided a threaded portion and said flange at slightly the upper portion thereof being defined at least one through hole;; a valve body including a dual sleeve tubular member having an inner and an outer pipes and the two pipes being in communication with each other and interconnected at the upper ends thereof, a disk portion extending outwardly from and slightly at right angle to the upper end of said dual sleeve tubular member and a cover member being detachably disposed on said disk portion to form a space therein and a lock means end being capable of vertically adjustably engaging with said water inlet pipe by the inner circumference of the outer pipe of said dual sleeve tubular member;; a valve device disposed on the top end of said dual sleeve tubular member and including a valve block the interior of which forms a valve chamber and a release valve, a rubber valve placed underneath said valve block and being closable and openable in respect of the opening at the upper end of said inner sleeve pipe and a lever support mounted on the upper part of said valve block; a valve control device including a control lever with the base end being vertically swingible and pivotally connected to the lever support of said valve device and the free end extending transversely toward the disk portion, a cylinder pivotally connected to the free end of said lever and an expansible and contractible rubber cap disposed on the outer circumference of said cylinder with the opening thereof downwardly directed;; a central pipe inserted in the center of said water inlet pipe, said central pipe being snugly engageable by its upper portion outer circumference with the inner circumference of the inner pipe of said dual sleeve tubular member, the lower end thereof being provided with a unidirectional valve and the upper end opening thereof opposing said rubber valve.

2. The floatless intake valve according to claim 1, wherein the dual sleeve tubular portion of said valve body is provided at its lower end with a lock means which is releasably lockable with the retaining portion of said water inlet pipe.

3. The floatless intake valve according to claim 1, wherein the disk portion of said valve body is provided in the center with a water through hole.

4. The floatless intake valve according to claim 1, wherein the circumferential walls at the lower end of said rubber cap closely abut against the circumferential walls of said disk portion and between said disk portion and rubber cap a compression chamber is formed.

5. The floatless intake valve according to claim 1, wherein the base end portion of said lever by the expansion or contraction of said rubber cap raises or lowers the lever in order to open or close said release valve to further open or close said rubber valve.

6. The floatless intake valve according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder of said valve control device is provided at the inside bottom thereof with a unidirectional water inlet valve.

7. The floatless intake valve -according to claim 1, wherein said valve control device includes a control lever whose base end is vertically swingible and pivotally connected to the lever support of said valve device and whose free end extending transversely towards said disk portion, a cylindrical float pivotally connected to the free end of said lever and a unidirectional water inlet valve provided at the inside bottom of said cylindrical float.

8. The floatless intake valve according to claim 1, wherein said valve device by the lock means provided on the circumference of the slide block is detachably lockable in the upper end portion of said dual sleeve tubular member.