JPH03100239A - Drainage device for flush toilet bowl - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To economize water consumption by installing a drainage controller which compulsorily closes a drain valve by driving a driving lever after a prescribed time from the knob operation for carrying out flushing action with the perfect opening of the drain valve. CONSTITUTION:A low tank 10 is constituted of a drain valve 20, knob 22, drainage controller 30, closure lever 32, and a driving lever 34. The drain valve 20 is perfectly opened by the operation of the knob 22, and flushing action is started by the stored water. After the lapse of a prescribed time, the starting switch of the drainage controller 30 is turned ON to revolve a motor 44, and a cam receiving plate 34c is sliding-moved by a half moon-shaped pin 42, which is demounted from the plate 34c. A second driving laver 34b is kicked up by a spring 48. Further, the rear edge of the closure lever 32 is pulled up through a chain 36 by a first driving lever 34a, in interlocking, and the drain valve 20 in the continuous flushing action is compulsorily closed. Therefore, water can be economized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a drainage device for a flush toilet bowl, and particularly to a drainage control device for flush water led from a low tank to a toilet bowl.

[Prior Art] After use, a flush toilet introduces slush water into the toilet bowl to clean the toilet bowl, and it is desired that the amount of flushing water used at this time be an optimal amount that is necessary and sufficient, and that an effective cleaning action is performed.

As is well known, low-tank type toilets are widely used as flush toilets, and in the former case, a predetermined amount of flush water is flushed into the toilet at once by turning the knob to the toilet side or the urination side after use. The latter has a structure in which flush water is sent into the toilet bowl only when the knob is operated.

In particular, in the case of feces, the amount of flushing water from the low tank in such low tank type flush toilets is usually set to far exceed the required minimum amount, and for this reason, it is often used in restaurants and other places where it is frequently used. In flush toilets,
There was a problem in that it led to wastage of urban water supply and the costs involved could not be ignored.

FIG. 8 shows the structure of a low tank in a conventional general flush toilet, and the low tank 10 has a water supply pipe 12.
Reserved water 100 is led from.

A float 14 is provided in the low tank 10, and this float 14 causes the float valve 1 of the water supply pipe 12 to
6 is opened and closed to keep the water level of the stored water 100 in the low tank 10 at a constant position.

On the other hand, a drain pipe 18 connected to a flush toilet (not shown) is provided at the bottom of the low tank 10, and a drain valve 20 is provided above the drain pipe 18.

A knob 2 provided on the side of the low tank 10
In case of feces, the drain valve 20 can be opened by rotating the
When the knob 2 is fully opened, all of the stored water 100 is discharged into the toilet bowl to perform a predetermined flushing action.
2 toward the urination side, the drain valve 20 is opened only during the rotation, and a predetermined amount of flushing water is sent into the toilet bowl.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, in such a low-tank drainage device, the amount of stored water is set to be larger than the required amount. If a drain valve closing mechanism is provided, even in the case of fecal flushing, the amount of water can be saved by closing the drain valve midway through without draining all of the stored water.

Such a closing device can be realized, for example, by forcibly closing the drain valve 20 of FIG. 8 using a motor-driven cam.

However, when such a device is configured, if the closing mechanism fails, the flush toilet may become unusable, and a safety mechanism is required in the event of such a failure.

In particular, when the user's manual knob operation and electrical closing operation coexist with conventional drain valves, the drain valve may not open when the automatic closing mechanism fails, and the manual operation may prevent the drain valve from opening. There is a problem that the knob rotation force increases significantly, and in either case,
This was not desirable as a drainage system for general users.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to prevent the flush toilet from becoming unusable even if a failure occurs in the electric drive device, and to reduce the operating force applied to the knob. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved drainage device capable of quickly eliminating the increase in water.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a flushing toilet drain device that opens a drain valve by operating a knob and directs water stored in a low tank to the toilet bowl, in which a drain valve is operated for a predetermined period of time after the knob is operated. A drainage control device is provided that later forcibly closes the drainage valve,
The drain control device includes a drive lever for forcibly closing the drain valve, a drive spring whose one end is connected to the drive lever and applies a closing force to the drain valve, and a drive lever that moves the drive lever in a drain valve closing direction. The drive lever includes an energy storage drive device that drives in a reverse direction to store closing force in the drive spring, a hold lever that holds the drive lever in a closing force accumulation state, and a release means that releases the hold lever. is characterized in that the state in which the closing force is accumulated is maintained by a hold lever.

[Operations] Therefore, according to the present invention, when performing the fecal flushing action by operating the knob, the flushing time can be shortened to a fixed time by the drainage control device to save water.

Further, in the event of a failure of the drainage control device, the drive lever is always held at the hold position at least during the next knob operation, so there is an advantage that flushing is not possible or a large load is not imposed on the knob operation.

[Example code] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration in which the drainage control device according to the present invention is incorporated into the low tank device shown in FIG. 8 described above,
Components that are the same as those in FIG. 8 are designated by the same reference numerals and their explanations will be omitted.

In the figure, the drainage control device 30 has a configuration in which a cam is driven by a motor to drive a closing lever 32 linked to the drainage valve 20, as will be described in detail later.

For this purpose, the drainage control device 30 has a drive lever 34 which is connected to the closing lever 32 by a chain 36 which is tensioned when pulled and relaxed against a force in the opposite direction.

Therefore, as is clear from FIG.
0 drives the closing lever 32 counterclockwise in the figure via the drive lever 34 and the chain 36 at a predetermined time, thereby forcibly closing the drain valve 20 to save water.

According to the present invention, the drainage control device 30 is reliably reset even in a malfunction state of the device, thereby eliminating the inconvenience of making the toilet bowl unusable or continuing to place a large load on the rotation of the knob 220. There is.

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the drainage system according to the present invention, with the chain 36 and drive lever 34 being the same as in FIG. 4 described above.

In the embodiment, the drive lever 34 includes a first drive lever 34a to which one end of the chain 36 is fixed, and a second drive lever 34b integrally provided therewith.

The second drive lever 34b has a cam receiver plate 34c at its tip, which receives the driving force of a cam plate 40 driven by a motor. The cam receiver is configured to come into contact with the plate 34c.

The cam plate 40 is connected to a motor 44 via a speed reducer 46, and is driven as shown by arrow A by the driving force of the motor 44.

Further, one end of a drive spring 48 is hooked to the second drive lever 34b, and when the second drive lever 34b is pushed down by the rotation of the motor 44, the drive force is applied to the drive spring 48 to close the drain valve. is stored.

Further, a stopper 5 is provided near the tail end of the second drive lever 34b.
0, which determines the stopping position when the drive lever 34 is released from the downward pressure by the half-moon bottle 42 and jumps upward by the drive spring 48, and also provides a shock-reducing effect when released. .

A motor off switch 5 is provided below the second drive lever 34b.
2 is provided, and the cam receiver turns off the main circuit of the motor 44 at a predetermined time when the plate 34C is moved downward by the half-moon pin 42, thereby stopping the rotation of the motor 44.

A characteristic feature of the present invention is that the second drive lever 3
4b is capable of holding the drain valve in the open position, and for this purpose, the hold end 34d of the second drive lever 34b is extended so as to be engageable with the hold lever 54.

The hold lever 54 is rotatably provided on a shaft 55,
A hold claw 54a provided at the tip thereof is provided so as to be engageable with the hold end 34d of the second drive lever 34b. This hold lever 54 is always urged clockwise in the figure by a hold spring 56, that is, in a direction that holds the second drive lever 34b in a held state, and furthermore, a magnetic plate 5 provided on the back side of the hold claw 54a
A release solenoid 6o is provided opposite to the release solenoid 8.

FIG. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the closing lever 32 provided below the chain 36, the closing lever 32 is rotatably supported on a shaft 62, and the rear end of the closing lever 32 is attached to the chain 36.
A closing piece 32 is connected to one end of 6 and is also provided at the front end.
A is provided so as to be able to come into contact with the upper surface of the drain valve 2°, and when the chain 36 is pulled up in the direction of arrow B in FIG. can be closed.

FIG. 3 shows the circuit configuration of the drainage control device, and the motor 44 and motor off switch 52 are the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 1.

A knob switch 6 is operated in conjunction with the manually operated knob 22.
4, and in the embodiment, this knob switch 64 is turned on when the knob 22 is operated toward the stool side. A control circuit 66 is connected to this knob switch 64, and when the knob switch 64 is turned on, that is, when the knob 22 is switched to the feces side to perform flush drainage, the control circuit 66 is operated for a predetermined period of time, for example, 2 seconds. The start switch 68 is turned on after the predetermined time has elapsed.
Turn on.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the release solenoid 60
is connected in parallel with the motor 44.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention has the above configuration, and its operation will be explained below.

FIG. 1 shows the flush toilet in a state where it is ready to drain water, and the low tank is filled with stored water and is waiting for the next flushing command.

By rotating the knob 22 toward the feces side, the drain valve 20 is fully opened as in the conventional case, and the flushing action by the stored water is started.

At the same time as this operation starts, the knob switch 64 is activated by the control circuit 66.
A well-known counter measures a predetermined time, for example, 2 seconds, and after this time elapses, the start switch 68 is turned on.

As a result, the motor 44 and the release solenoid 60 are simultaneously supplied with drive current from the power source, and the release solenoid 60 attracts the magnetic plate 58 of the hold lever 54 to release the second drive lever 34b into a movable state.

At the same time, the motor 44 starts rotating, the half-moon pin 42 slides on the plate 34c, and after a short period of time, the half-moon pin 42 and the cam receiver are removed from the plate 34c.

As a result, the second drive lever 34b is moved by the drive spring 48.
The first drive lever 34a moves clockwise due to the accumulated driving force, and the first drive lever 34a, which moves together with this, pulls up the rear end of the closing lever 32 via the chain 36, and as a result, the drain valve 20, which continues to flush, is activated. Forcibly close.

Therefore, the flushing action is completed in a predetermined time, and the flushing action is completed with some of the stored water 100 remaining in the low tank 10 without being completely discharged.

This interruption of the flushing action can significantly save the amount of water used in the stored water, and since the strong water flow from the low tank is reliably guided to the toilet bowl, the flushing action is reliably carried out, and the last wasted water is used when the water flow declines. Since only the flow of stored water is cut, efficient and highly water-saving drainage is achieved.

As the second drive lever 34b flips up, the motor off switch 52 is turned on, but at this time, the start switch 68 remains on and the motor 4 is turned on.
4 continues to be supplied with drive current.

The clock signal from the control circuit 66 then turns off the start switch 68 after a predetermined period of time, for example, about one second, but as described above, the motor off switch 52 is already in the on state at this time, so the motor 44 continues to rotate. do.

Then, the half-moon pin 42 again engages the cam receiver of the second drive lever 34b with the plate 34c, overcomes the biasing force of the drive spring 48, and returns the second drive lever 34b to the state shown in FIG.

When the second drive lever 34b returns to the state shown in FIG. 1, the motor off switch 52 is turned off, and as a result, the rotation of the motor 44 is stopped, and at the same time, the release solenoid 60 is deenergized, and the second drive lever 34b is turned off. An initial state is obtained that holds .

In the embodiment, the contact biasing force of the motor off switch 52 is applied to the second drive lever 34b together with the drive spring 48.
It is used as a driving force to flip up the spring, and the balance between both spring forces is set in advance.

As described above, when draining stool, the time-controlled drain valve closing action of the drainage control device is always performed, and unlike the normal flushing action using the full amount of the low tank, the stool flushing action that always leaves the water stored in the low tank is performed. This enables reliable water saving.

A characteristic feature of the present invention is that, in addition to the normal operation, the function of the flush toilet is not impaired even if some abnormality occurs in the drainage device, and for this reason, the hold lever 54 is While the hold lever 54 is not an essential element during the series of control operations described above to hold the operation of the control device, it does ensure that the device returns to its initial state in the event that the motor 44 stops during operation. Performs the function of restoring.

That is, if the series of operations described above is stopped due to an electrical failure or mechanical failure in the control circuit 66 or other parts, the drain valve 20 cannot be forcibly closed, but in this case, the conventional low tank storage Only a flushing action using a water tool is performed.

However, because the drive lever 34 of the present invention is mechanically coupled to the drain valve 20, when the knob 22 is rotated, the faulty drain control device is involved in the rotational action of the knob 22 as a load.

That is, when the knob is rotated for the first time, when the drain valve 20 is pulled up and released, the closing lever 32 must be rotated to overcome the spring force of the drive spring 48 and the motor off switch 52 to move the second drive lever 34b. .

However, at the time of this first knob rotation, the second drive lever 34b is latched and held by the hold lever 54, and the subsequent flushing operation does not apply any load to the knob 22, just like a normal flush toilet, and only 1. A single knob operation allows the electrical drainage control device to be completely separated from the usual mechanical knob operation device.

Therefore, the present invention has the advantage that even if some kind of failure occurs in the electrical drainage control device, the toilet can be immediately turned back into a normal flushing toilet without any loss in its flushing function.

As described above, the hold lever 54 performs an effective function only in the event of an abnormality such as a device failure. It is preferable that a relatively large gap G be provided between the drive lever 34b and the hold end 34d.

Therefore, there is an advantage that the hold lever 54 does not place a large load on the motor 44 during normal normal operation.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, the release solenoid 6
0 is connected in parallel with the motor 44, but since the excitation of the release solenoid 60 is not necessary after the second drive lever 34b is released from the half-moon bottle 42, a separate switch is provided to control the solenoid excitation current. It is also possible to reduce it.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to save water for flushing a flush toilet, and even in the event of a breakdown, it is possible to automatically return to normal operation without requiring special maintenance. Any structure can be selected for the flush toilet to which the invention is applied.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a ball-type drain valve 120, in which a chain 136 passes through the drain vibe 70 and is connected to the drain valve 120. Force the drain valve by pulling 1
20 can be closed.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 6, in which the drive lever 234 is connected directly to the drain valve 220 via a push rod 80. The push rod 80 includes a first push rod 82 , a second push rod 84 and a push ring 86 , and the drive lever 234
The downward movement of is used to force the drain valve 220 closed.

As is clear from the figure, the two pushers 82, 84 are freely movable relative to each other by a stroke indicated by S at their tips.

Then, when the drive lever 234 moves downward, the push ring 86 pushes the second push rod 84 downward, and the drain valve 2
20 can be forcibly closed.

The action of this push rod is shown in FIG. 7, and under normal conditions, the second push rod 84 is freely movable upwards by a stroke S, as shown in FIG. 7A. Therefore, even when draining urine as shown in FIG. 7B and draining stool as shown in FIG. 7C, the second push rod 84 freely moves within its stroke S, and the first push rod 82 remains fixed. A flash operation is performed.

On the other hand, the drainage control device 23
0 is driven by the above-described action, the push ring 86 pushes the second push rod 84 downward, as shown in FIG. 7D, and the drain valve 220 is forcibly closed.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, when the flushing toilet flushes feces, the flushing action can be forcibly interrupted to save water.

Even if a failure occurs in such forced closing, at least after the first knob operation after the failure occurs, this drainage control device should be disconnected from the flush drainage mechanism to prevent flushing or to place a heavy load on the knob operation. It is possible to reliably prevent this from occurring.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the internal structure of a drainage control device showing a preferred embodiment of the drainage device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a closing mechanism in this embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a circuit diagram in this embodiment. 4 is an overall explanatory diagram of a low tank to which this embodiment is applied, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another structure of a drain valve to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of another structure of a drain valve to which the present invention is applied. An explanatory diagram showing another embodiment, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional low tank. 10... Low tank 20... Drain valve 22... Knob 30... Drain control device 32... Closing lever 34... Drive lever 34a... First drive lever 34b... Second drive Lever 34c...Cam holder is plate 34d...Hold end 36...Chain 40...Cam plate Half-moon pin Motor drive spring Motor off switch Hold lever Release solenoid 4

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A drainage device for a flush toilet that opens a drain valve by operating a knob and guides water stored in a low tank to the toilet bowl, further comprising a drainage control device that forcibly closes the drain valve a predetermined time after the knob is operated, The drain control device includes a drive lever for forcibly closing the drain valve, a drive spring whose one end is connected to the drive lever and applies a closing force to the drain valve, and a drive lever that moves the drive lever in a drain valve closing direction. The drive lever includes an energy storage drive device that drives in a reverse direction to store closing force in the drive spring, a hold lever that holds the drive lever in a closing force accumulation state, and a release means that releases the hold lever. is a drainage device for a flush toilet, characterized in that the state is maintained by a hold lever when the closing force is accumulated.