JP5234497B2 - Ball chain tension lever - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lever provided in a toilet tank for pulling a ball chain. The lever of the present invention prevents a local bending load from being applied to the ball chain when the drain valve is opened and closed via the ball chain.

  A drainage lever for opening a drain valve of a water storage tank provided in a toilet is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). A drain valve is disposed at the bottom of the water storage tank, one end of the chain is connected to the drain valve, and the other end of the chain is connected to a drain lever disposed at a position higher than the water surface. When the drain lever is operated, the drain lever rotates to pull up the chain and pull up and open the drain valve. As the chain, a ball chain whose length can be easily adjusted during construction is preferably used.

JP 2007-046349 A

According to Patent Document 1 (FIG. 7), conventionally, in a water storage tank, when the drive shaft 2 is rotated by the handle 1, the ball chain pulling lever 3 rotates in conjunction with the rotation, and the ball chain is pulled upward. As a result, the drain valve 4 is opened, and the toilet flushing water in the water storage tank 1 is drained to the toilet. The ball chain includes a small washing side ball chain 5 connected to the small washing side drain valve and a large washing side ball chain 6 connected to the large washing side drain valve. One side is configured to be pulled upward. For example, when the handle 1 is rotated to the small washing side, the ball chain pulling lever 3 is rotated together with the drive shaft, the small washing side ball chain 5 is pulled up, and the small washing side drain valve is opened.
When the ball chain pulling lever 3 is rotated to the small washing side, the small washing side ball chain 5 that pulls up the small washing side drain valve at the connecting portion between the ball chain pulling lever 3 and the ball chain is within the range of the slit 7. It can move freely and can be tilted, and the ball chain is configured to remain straight (FIG. 9). However, when the ball chain tensioning lever 3 is rotated to the large washing side, the small washing side ball chain 5 does not have a sufficient range of slits 7 to freely move or tilt, so the ball chain tensioning lever 3 It is the structure which receives a bending load from (FIG. 10). The same is true for the large wash side ball chain 6. Therefore, the bending load that the ball chain receives from the ball chain tension lever 3 cannot be avoided, and there is a problem that the ball chain may break when used for a long time.

  The object of the present invention is to provide a conventional basic performance that the distance between the ball chain and the drain valve can be adjusted to a predetermined length at the time of construction, while the ball chain tension lever rotates to pull up the ball chain. Each time a load is applied to the ball chain, the ball chain is gradually deteriorated and prevented from being broken.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the lever for pulling the ball chain, a lever arm that rotates in accordance with the operation of the lever and a pair of left and right states sandwiching the rotation axis of the lever arm. Two chain attachment parts provided on the lever arm, so that the ball chain attached to the chain attachment part can be kept straight even when the lever arm is rotated in either the left or right rotation direction. The slit is provided in the chain attachment portion, and the slit is formed along the rotation direction of the lever arm, and has a concave shape that draws an arc along the trajectory along which the ball chain moves in accordance with the lever operation. By being characterized by being formed ,
Even if the ball chain tension lever is rotated in either the left or right direction, the ball chain is maintained in a straight state so that no load is locally applied to the ball chain from the ball chain tension lever. . Therefore, when a load is applied locally, it is possible to prevent the ball chain from gradually deteriorating and breaking.
Note that the straight state may be a state where the ball chain is bent gently, and the ball chain is not locally loaded from the ball chain pulling lever.

Further, slits, by which is characterized by being formed along a rotating direction of the lever arm,
By applying a load, it is possible to more reliably prevent the ball chain from gradually degrading and breaking.

Further, slits, by characterized in that the ball chain are formed in concave shape an arc along a trajectory that moves with the lever operation,
When the ball chain pulling lever is rotated, the slits are provided as much as the trajectory along which the ball chain moves, so the movement of the ball chain can be guided by the slit and moved smoothly.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, by the width of the slit of the lever arm rotation direction and vertical direction, characterized that you cord ball chain is provided with a minimum width movable ,
The area that receives the ball chain can be maximized, and when the ball chain tension lever is rotated to pull the drain valve, the ball chain can be more reliably prevented from coming off from the chain mounting portion.
In addition, the minimum width | variety which a string of a ball chain can move means the width which can move a ball chain without applying a load locally from a ball chain pulling lever.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, by characterized in that example Bei water draining means for draining provided in the vicinity of the chain attachment portion of the lever arm, the accumulated water droplets chain mounting portion ,
The possibility that the water droplets due to dew condensation wet the ball is suppressed, and the deterioration of the ball chain is more effectively prevented.

  According to the present invention, the ball chain pulling lever rotates to pull up the ball chain while having the conventional basic performance that the distance between the ball chain and the drain valve can be adjusted to a predetermined length at the time of construction. Each time a load is applied to the ball chain, it is possible to prevent the ball chain from gradually degrading and breaking.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

   FIG. 1 is a plan view of a ball chain tensioning lever according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the lever as viewed from the right side of FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view of the lever as viewed from the lower side of FIG.

   A ball chain pulling lever 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is attached to a water storage tank (not shown) for storing toilet flush water installed in a toilet, and the water storage It is connected to the other end of the ball chain, one end of which is connected to a drain valve (not shown) arranged at the bottom of the tank, and the drain valve is opened by pulling up the ball chain. Here, since the configuration of the water storage tank and the drain valve is not different from the conventional one, the description is omitted here.

   As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a ball chain tensioning lever (hereinafter referred to as a draining lever) 20 for opening a drain valve includes a cylindrical handle joint 22 and joint members 26 and 28 via the handle joint 22. And a lever arm 24 integrally coupled to each other. As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2, a rotary shaft 62 is coupled to a handle 60 for human operation, and the tip of the rotary shaft 62 is inserted into a hole 66 formed in a side wall 64 of the water storage tank. It is inserted from the outside and enters the water storage tank, and is inserted into the handle joint 22 of the ball chain tensioning lever 20 and fixed. The handle 60 is disposed outside the side wall 64 of the water storage tank. In a natural state where a person does not touch the handle 60, the ball chain tensioning lever 20 is stationary as shown in FIGS. When a person rotates the handle 60, the rotary shaft 62 rotates about its central axis, so that the drain lever 20 rotates about the rotary shaft 62, whereby the lever arm 24 of the drain lever 20 rotates. It rotates around the shaft 62.

  Chain attachment portions 34 and 36 are provided at two locations near the front edge of the lever arm 24, which are substantially farthest from the rotation shaft 62 in both directions orthogonal to the rotation shaft 62, respectively. Each ball chain is attached. For example, a ball chain for draining a small amount of water is connected to one chain mounting portion 34 shown on the left side in FIGS. 1 and 3, and the other chain mounting portion 36 shown on the right side is connected to, for example, A ball chain for draining a large amount of water is connected. These two ball chains hang down from the chain attachment portions 34 and 36, as indicated by alternate long and short dash lines 35 and 37 in FIGS. If the handle 60 is rotated counterclockwise, the left chain attaching portion 34 in FIG. 3 is lifted to pull up the ball chain connected thereto, and a small amount of water is discharged. On the contrary, if the handle 60 is rotated clockwise, the right chain attaching portion 36 in FIG. 3 is lifted and the ball chain connected thereto is pulled up, and a large amount of drainage is performed. The material of the ball chain may be made of metal or synthetic resin.

  Water guide grooves 30 and 32 are provided at two positions adjacent to the chain attachment portions 34 and 36 on the upper surface of the lever arm 24, respectively. Drain holes 38 and 40 are provided at the ends of the two water guide grooves 30 and 32 away from the chain attachment portions 34 and 36, respectively.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, one chain attachment portion 34 includes a ball receiving seat 42, a slit 44, ball retaining projections 45 and 47, and a string passage portion 46. Similarly, the other chain attachment portion 36 includes a ball receiving seat 48, a slit 50, ball retaining projections 51 and 53, and a string passage portion 52. Since the structures of the two chain attachment portions 34 and 36 are substantially the same except that the arrangement of the respective portions is symmetrical to each other, in the following, one of the chain attachment portions 34 will be taken up as a representative, The structure will be described in more detail.

  FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of the one chain attaching portion 34 shown in FIG. 1 as seen from the back. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

   As shown in FIGS. 4 to 5, the ball receiving seat 42 of the chain mounting portion 34 has a spherical concave surface on the inside and is generally bowl-shaped, and the ball chain is inside the spherical concave surface. One ball 72 in 70 is accommodated. The spherical concave surface of the ball receiving seat 42 is smooth, and supports the ball 72 of the ball chain 70 in a state where it can be easily rotated as the lever arm 24 rotates.

  The slit 44 is a through-slit formed continuously with the string passage portion 46 and provided along the trajectory of the ball chain that moves with the opening and closing of the drain valve. The shape of the slit 44 will be described in detail. The slit 44 has an arcuate concave shape toward the string passage portion 46, and is symmetrical with respect to the string passage portion 46 as an axis. The width of the arc is slightly larger than the diameter of the string 74, and as shown in FIG. 5, the slit 44 is pulled downward from the ball 72 supported in the ball receiving seat 42 (that is, the ball chain is pulled). The string 74 that has come out (in the direction opposite to the direction) passes. The lower end of the string 74 passes through the slit 44 and then hangs down and enters the water and is connected to the drain valve. As shown in FIG. 5, when the lever arm 24 rotates (particularly, in the direction of pulling up the ball chain 70 to open the drain valve), the string 74 of the ball chain 70 is moved relative to the lever arm 24. Thus, the lever arm 24 swings in a direction parallel to the rotational direction.

  The ball retaining protrusions 45 and 47 are protrusions that serve to retain the ball 72 in the ball receiving seat 42 so that the balls 72 of the ball chain 70 accommodated in the ball receiving seat 42 do not fall off the ball receiving seat 42. The string passage portion 46 is a slit having a width close to the diameter of the string 74 provided between the ball retaining protrusions 45 and 47. When the ball 72 of the ball chain 70 is put into the ball receiving seat 42 from the outside, or vice versa, the string 74 passes through the string passing portion 46.

  In the drain lever 20 configured as described above, when the lever arm 24 rotates, as shown in FIG. 5, the ball 72 of the ball chain 70 rotates in the ball receiving seat 42, and the ball chain 70. The string 74 swings with respect to the lever arm 24. Since the string 74 is swung in the area of the slit 44, the string 74 does not contact any part of the lever arm 24, and is always straight or gently bent even if it is not straight. It is kept in a state of being in a state, and it does not bend strongly. As a result, the string 74 does not bend strongly as in the conventional case even in a string that has lost its flexibility due to the water that has risen from the underwater portion of the ball chain 70 along the string 74, so that the string 74 deteriorates. It is difficult and difficult to cut. Such an effect can be obtained in the same manner in both of the two chain attachment portions 34 and 36.

  Further, even if water droplets adhere to the upper surface of the lever arm 24 due to condensation or other reasons, if the water droplets come near the chain attachment portions 34 and 36, the water droplets are introduced into the water guide adjacent to the chain attachment portions 34 and 36. It falls into the grooves 30 and 32 and is sent to the drain holes 38 and 40, and is dropped downward from the drain holes 38 and 40. In this way, water droplets due to condensation are eliminated from the vicinity of the chain attachment portions 34 and 36, so the frequency of wetting of the ball chain due to condensation is reduced, and the life of the string is extended.

  In the above-described slit 44 of the present embodiment, as an example, the case where the spherical concave shape is applied has been described. However, any shape may be used as long as the ball chain 70 does not come off from the chain attaching portion.

  Next, a connection structure between the drain valve and the ball chain 70 will be described. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a connection portion between the drain valve side connection portion 80 and the ball chain 70. The ball chain 70 is connected to a drain valve side connection portion 80 that communicates with a drain valve (not shown). A washer is integrally attached between the string 74 and the ball 72, and a sleeve 78 is passed through the outer periphery of the ball chain 70. Further, a drain valve side connection portion 80 is fitted between the balls 72. In the corner portion 80-a of the drain valve side connection portion 80, by changing the radius dimension of the inner side 80-b and the outer side 80-c, the lower end of the sleeve 78 on the outer periphery of the ball chain 70 and the radius of the corner portion outer side 80-c. Since the ball chain 70 does not move to the left and right due to interference with each other, it does not become the one-dot chain line state of FIG. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a load from being applied to the ball chain of the drain valve side connection portion and breaking. Furthermore, it can be considered that the ball chain 70 does not move beyond the range of the slit 44 shown in FIG.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this embodiment is only the illustration for description of this invention, and is not the meaning which limits the scope of the present invention only to this embodiment. The present invention can be implemented in various other modes without departing from the gist thereof.

It is a top view of the lever for ball chain tension concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is the side view of the lever seen from the right side of FIG. It is the front view of the lever seen from the lower side of FIG. The part of one chain attaching part 34 shown by FIG. 1 is expanded and shown. It is sectional drawing along the AA line of FIG. It is an expanded sectional view of a drain valve side connection part and a connection part of a ball chain. It is a perspective view of the conventional water storage tank. It is the top view of the conventional ball chain tension lever, and its partially expanded sectional view. It is the top view of the conventional ball chain tension lever at the time of rotating the ball chain tension lever to the small washing side, and its partially expanded sectional view. It is the top view of the conventional ball chain tension lever at the time of rotating the ball chain tension lever to the large washing side, and its partially expanded sectional view.

Explanation of symbols

20 ... Ball chain tension lever (drainage lever)
24 ... Lever arm 30, 32 ... Water guide groove
34, 36 ... Chain attachment portion 38, 40 ... Drain hole 42, 48 ... Ball seat 44, 50 ... Slit
45, 47, 51, 53 ... Claw projection
46, 52 ... stringing part
60 ... handle 70 ... ball chain
72 ... ball 74 ... string 78 ... sleeve 80 ... drain valve side connection portion 80-a ... corner portion 80-b ... corner portion inside 80-c ... corner portion outside

Claims (3)

In the lever for pulling the ball chain,
A lever arm that rotates in accordance with the operation of the lever;
Two chain attachment portions provided on the lever arm in a pair of left and right states across the rotation axis of the lever arm,
When the lever arm is rotated in either the left or right rotation direction, a slit is provided in the chain attachment part so that the ball chain attached to the chain attachment part can maintain a straight state ,
The slit is formed along a rotation direction of the lever arm, and is formed in a concave shape that draws an arc along a trajectory in which the ball chain moves with the lever operation. Ball chain tension lever. The width of the lever arm rotation and vertical of the slit, according to claim 1 Symbol placement of the ball chain tension lever cord of the ball chain, characterized in that it is provided with a minimum width movable. The water draining means for discharging | emitting the water droplet collected in the said chain attachment part provided in the vicinity of the said chain attachment part of the said lever arm is provided, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Lever for pulling ball chain.

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