US1328445A - Apparatus for flushing urinals - Google Patents

Description

D. NEWTON.

APPARATUS FOR FLUSHING URINALS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6. I918.

Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

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D. NEWTON.

APPARATUS FOR FLUSHING UHINALS.

APPl-lCATlUN FILED SEPT. 6, 1918. 1,328,445. Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

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l/VVE/VTDR DUDLEY NEWTON DUDLEY NEWTON, 0F BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

APPARATUS FOR FLUSHING UBINALS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

Application filed September 6, 1918. Serial No. 252,925.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DUDLEY NEWTON, a citizen of the United vStates, residing at Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Flushing Urinals, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide inconspicuous means for efi'ectively flushing urinals and water closets automatically with their use.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a broken front view of urinal stalls equipped with my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the same on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section through the flushing tank taken at right angles to Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a similar view; Fig. 5 is a broken front view of parts of the lower portion of the apparatus; Figs. 6 and 7 are broken front views of modifications of the invention; Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view through the line 88 of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a similar view of a modification; Figs. 10 and 11 are vertical sections at right angles to each other of a modified form of trap shown in Fig. 7 Fig. 12 is a cross section of the same; Fig. 13 is a view, similar to Figs. 6 and 7, of a further modification; Fig. 14 is a cross section of a modified form of trap; Fig. 15 is a side view, showing the invention applied to a water closet bowl. I

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates urinal stalls, in which the urinals 2 are flushed by water supplied from a common supply tank 3, having a supply pipe 4, an overflow pipe 5 to a vent or floor drain, not shown, and having a discharge pipe 6, communicating with branch pipes 7, leading to flushing tanks 9, a flap valve 8, best shown in Fig. 4, preventing the return movement of the water from each tank 9 to the supply tank 3. In eachof the tanks 9 is a siphon 10 having a cover 11 and an air inlet pipe 12, the longer member 13- of which siphon leads to, and is formed integral with, a trap 14 the outlet side of said trap communicating with a short pipe 15, communicating with a pipe 16. leading through the back of the urinal stall, and to the top of the fixture 2, the discharge outlet from said fixture leading through a trap 17 to a discharge pipe 18, said discharge pipe 18 communicating with the waste pipe 19. A small tube 21 extends from the outlet leg of the trap 17 and communicates with a tube 24 within the discharge pipe 18 to act as a siphon to drain the liquid from the outlet leg of said trap 17. From the inlet side of said trap 14 a small tube 20 leads downwardly to a trap 22 and the discharge leg of said trap 22 communicates by a pipe 23 with the tubes 21 and 24, and therefore discharges into the outlet leg of the trap 17. A pipe 25 is connected with the supply pipe 4 and is controlled by a valve 26 and leads to branches 27 leading to the respective flushing tanks, and having regulating valves 28, so that they can, if desired, be caused to drip water into said tanks, producing a flushing at intervals of, say, fifteen minutes.

The operation of my improved flushing device is as follows :Commencing from the time immediately after it has been actuated and when the flushing tank is empty, the water is left at the level of the outlet 16 from the trap 14 and the tube 20 drains the water from the inlet side of the trap 14, bringing the water from both sides of the trap 14 to the same level, namely, the top of tee tube 20. The tube 20 conducts the water from the trap 14 to the trap 22, from the upper end of the outlet leg of which it flows through the tube 23 and at the end of said tube 23 it is divided into two parts, one flowing through the tube 21 into the trap 17 and the other flowing through. the tube 24 into the waste pipe 18, the tubes 21 and 24 being sutliciently smaller than the tube 23 so that the stream of water in the tube 23 fills the tubes 21 and 24, so that they are thoroughly flushed and no coarse particles can get into them during the whole of the flushing of the trap 14. After the trap 14 is drained to the level of the top of the tube 20, the level of the water in the tube 20 descends until it reaches the level of the pipe 23, leaving the trap 22 full on both sides.- The water in the trap 17 is siphoned, leaving said trap full tothe level of the outlet of the tube 21.

This flush of the siphon pipe 21 is very important.

As the tank refills, it compresses the air under the cover 11 and in the tube 13 and the inlet end of the pipe 14 and in the tube 20. and consequently forces water from the outlet leg of the trap 22 by the pipe 23 into the pipe 21, thus constantly forcing away from the entrance to said pipe 21 any floating particles which might tend to enter said pipe 21 and moreover raises the level of the water in the trap 17 until it is above the entrance to the pipe 21, so that no floating particles can enter said pipe 21. This action is also important, as otherwise the pipe 21, being of very small diameter, could very quickly become clogged up if it were not flushed and afterward the water were caused to rise above the entrance.

In the modification of the invention shown in Fig. 6, a single flushing tank is used for two stall urinals, and it is therefore necessary to supply only one trap 14:, but two lower traps 17.

The trap 17 is, however, of a different form from that shown in Fig. 2, as are likewise the pipes 23 and 21, the latter being a tube open at both ends and closed by a plug 31 which can be removed to clean the tube.

In the modification shown in Fig. 9 are also shown pipes 23 and 24, the pipe 24 opening at the top, over which is a cover or tube 21 closed at the top, and which is screwed into the trap so that it can be re moved for the purpose of cleaning. In this case the pipe 24 discharges into a waste pipe 32.

In the modification of the invention shown in Figs. 7, 10, 11 and 12, the trap 1d" and the supply pipe to the fixture are shown as cast in one piece, the supply conduit to the fixture being designated by the numeral 15 and the two sides of the trap being designated by the numerals la and 1 t respectively. The air drawn in by means of the pipe 12 fills the cover 11, th upper part of the pipe 13, and the inlet side 1% of the trap 14:

In case the tank should be unusually high above the fixture, I supply a vent pipe 24 (Fig. 7) to open above the level of the water in the tank. This vent pipe prevents the water in the trap 14: from being drawn off at the end of the flush by the flow of a column of water of a great height.

Fig. 13 illustrates the invention as applied to a trough urinal, there being illustrated traps 14c and 17 of ordinary construction. The operation of this form of the invention is essentially the same as that of the form first described. When the trap 17 fills up to the pipe 21" and overflows through said. pipe, the contents of the trap 17 discharge through the pipe 21 and 24', and, after the discharge takes place, suction is produced in the pipe 28 and siphons the water in the trap 22 and flows over into the pipe 23", causing the water from the tank to flow into the trap 14" and flush the trough urinal. After the flush, the water is drained to the level of the entrance to the trap 22", but when the supply tank begins to refill, the pressure of air coming from under the cover 11 and in the pipe 18 causes the water to rise) in the outlet leg of the trap 14 and also in the trap 22, and to fall in the inlet side of said trap 1%, until the water rises from the outlet leg of the trap lt and is at the top of the trap 22". It will be seen that this is the same operation as pre viously described, but the air chamber, which formerly included the' pipe 13, the inlet side of the trap 14, and the pipe 20 is now confined to the pipe 13. It will be observed that part of the trap 14 serves also as part of the trap 22".

In Fig. 14- the waste pipe 21* discharges into the inside of the trap.

Fig. 15 shows the application of the invention to a water-closet bowl. In this form of the invention, the same arrangement of pipe is used as in Fig. 13, except that the pipe 23 corresponding with the pipe 23, is placed inside the outlet pipe of the trap 14V. The pipes 21 and 24 perform the same functions respectively as the pipes 21 and 24 in the form of the invention shown in Fig. 2.

t will be observed that, in my invention, the air in the air container, by which is meant the longer member 13 of the siphon 10, the inlet legs of the traps 14 and 22, and the tube 20, is always under compression from the time when the water has risen above the level of the top of the inlet end of the tube 12 until the water has been flushed out to the juncture of the legs of the siphon. The effectiveness of my flushing device is due to the considerable pressure of'this con fined air. Said pressure is exactly balanced by the difference in level between the outlet and inlet legs of the trap 22 and of the trap 14, and also by the head of water in the tank above the water under the air container. As soon as this balance is disturbed in the slightest degree by water being drawn out by suction from the outlet leg of the trap 22, the weight of the column of water in the trap 22 is no longer sufiicient to counterbalance the pressure of the air in the air container, and said compressed air in the air container expands, driving violently before it the water in the trap 22 and escaping, so that the head of water in the flushing tank immediately acts to siphon said tank, and to flush the fixture.

No prior devices, so far as I am aware, make any use of air under compression due to the head of the water in the tank, but rely wholly upon suction to empty the flushing tank.

The word bowl in the claims is understood to include any vessel for receiving liquid, as shown, for instance, in Figs. 6, 7, 13 and 15.

I claim 1. The combination of a flushing tank, an air container therein having a closed top, and an open bottom communicating leading from said trap to the siphon.

The combination of a bowl to be flushed, a tank for containing water, an air container therein having a closed top and an open bottom communicating with the remainder of the tank, means for regulating the height of the water in the tank, a conduit leading from the air container, a trap to which said conduit leads and communieating with the bowl, the air container, inlet leg of the trap, and conduit between them constituting a compressed air chamber, the height of the water in the tank above the water in the air container being equal to the difference in heights of the levels of the water in the legs of the trap, an outlet con duit from said bowl, a trap to which said conduit leads, a discharge pipe communicating with the outlet leg of the latter trap, a tube leadinp from said last-named outlet leg and discharging into said discharge pipe, a third trap, a tube leading therefrom to said first-named tube, and a tube leading from the compressed air chamber to the in let leg of said third trap and forming with said leg a part of said air chamber.

3. In combination with a flushing tank, a bowl to be flushed there-by and a trap for receiving the contents of the bowl, an air conduit between the flushing tank and the bowl, means whereby the air in said conduit sustains a pressure due to a head of water in the flushing tank, including trap between the air conduit and the bowl, the water in the leg of the trap leading to the bowl balancing the pressure of the air in the air conduit, and a trap communicating on one side with said air conduit and on the other side with the first-named trap, the level of the liquid in said other side being substantially the same as in the first-named trap, and the communication between the first and third-named traps being also at substantially the same level, and means for drawing off the liquid from the first-named trap connected therewith also at said level.

4:. The combination of a flushing tank, an air container therein having a closed top and an open bottom communicating with the remainder of the tank, means for maintaining a normal level of water therein, a conduit leading from the air container, a trap to which said conduit leads, a receptacle for receiving liquids, a siphon communicating with the receptacle, and a second conduit. communicating between the trap and the siphon.

5. The combination of a flushing tank, an air container therein having a closed top and an open bottom communicating with the remainder of the tank, means for maintaining a normal level of water therein, a discharge pipe leading from the air container, a trap to which said discharge pipe leads, the air container, the discharge pipe, and the trap forming a flushing conduit, a-receptacle adapted to receive liquid, a siphon communicating with the receptacle to drain liquid therefrom, a conduit between said siphon and flushing conduit, and a second trap in said last-recited conduit.

DUDLEY NEWTON.

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