US2106916A - Flush valve control - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 1, 1938. E F. MORKISCH FLUSH VALVE CONTROL Filed Jan. 21, 1937 [N l/E/VTOR ERW/N F. MORK/JCH A TTOR/V' YO HARR/s, K/ECH/ FOSTER at HARR/o Patented Feb. 1, 1938 vireo STATES PATENT OFFICE Application January 21,

17 Claims.

, My invention relates to tanks, more particularly to flush tanks for toilets and the like, and is directed to an improved form of valve control for such tanks. While my invention may be 5. adapted to any type of reservoir tank from which fluids are discharged, it is particularly applicable to toilet tanks, and the present disclosure, by way of illustrating the principles involved, will be devoted to a toilet tank construction.

The usual toilet tank has an inlet valve connected to the domestic water line and controlled by a arranged to cut off the valve when the tankis filled to a. predetermined level. The usual outlet valve is buoyant, generally of hollow rubber construction, and is adapted to be held seated in closed position by fluid pressure. An automatic cycle of tank discharge and refill is initiated by manipulating a handle to unseat the valve, whereupon the valve is moved upward by fluid pressure to permit discharge from the tank. When the fluid level lowers sufficiently to drop the valve back into its seat, the tank outlet is out off and the fluid level rises until the float turns off the inlet valve.

For the purpose of minimizing the number of models required, and of avoiding the necessity for adjustment and servicing after sale, toilet tanks are usually designed for the maximum capacity required for any normal installation, and the valve 3g control mechanism is arbitrarily set at nearly maximum capacity. Toilet bowls vary widely, however, in the volumes required for efficient flushing and not infrequently will operate satisfactorily with substantially less volume of fluid 3.; flow than provided by the arbitrary factory adjustment oi the valve mechanism.

An important object of my invention is: to achieve economies in the water consumption of such toilet tanks by providing means to reduce 4.0 the volume discharged regardless of the factory adjustment of the flush tank, and, further, to make such means conveniently adjustable.

Another object of my invention is to provide such a-volume-reducing means in the form of an 45 accessory that may be sold as a separate article of manufacture adapted for convenient installation in a standard toilet.

It may be observed that the pressure head of fluid discharge from such a tank progressive-1y 50 drops as the fluid level in the tank lowers, so that the efiectiveness of the initial flow is greatly superior to the efiectiveness of the later flow. It is a further object of my invention to confine the discharge of a toilet tank to the more e'lfective flow under the higher pressure heads.

1937, Serial No. 121,439

Economies may be had in the operation of a typical toilet, moreover, by arranging for controlled flexibility in the quantity of fluid discharged. Contemplating such a possibility, I have as: another object to provide selective operative 5 means whereby at the choice of the operator the tank may be caused to discharge one of at least two different volumes, and I further propose to achieve such discharge with a smooth and quiet mechanical action.-

Broadly described, my invention comprises the combination, with a buoyant outlet valve, of automatic means to move the valve into its seat when the liquid in the tank is at some predetermined level above that seat.

The above and other advantages of my invention will be apparent in my detailed description to follow and in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a toilet tank revealing mechanism incorporating one form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken as indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing the valve-seating means which is novel in. Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing a second form of my invention. incorporating a selective control, the parts being in the position that follows a minimum discharge cycle.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken as indicated by the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of parts of the mechanism of Fig. 3 taken during the discharge stageof a maximum discharge cycle.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 with the parts positioned just after the initiation of a minimum discharge cycle.

Fig. 7 is a partial plan view showing parts of the mechanism of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a similar view of the same mechanism shown in the positions of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged vertical section showing the construction of a selective control that may be incorporated in a third form of my invention, the control being in effective position to produce a minimum discharge.

Fig. 10 is a similar view showing the control in an inefi'ective position to permit a maximum discharge of the tank.

Figs. 1 and 3 show a typical tank I!) having the usual cover H. An inlet valve I2 controls a Water supply pipe l3 and discharges water through a nipple M that is downwardly disposed in the usual manner for silent filling of the tank. The inlet valve I2 is controlled in the usual manner by a hollow metal float I5 mounted on the end of a float arm I6 that is pivotally mounted near its end in a bracket II extending upward from the valve I2. The operative connections between the float arm I 6 and the valve I2 include a link I8 connected to the valve, and a lever I9 that is connected at an intermediate point to the link I8 and is connected at one end to the float arm I6 by means of a second link 20, the lever being pivoted at its other end to a bracket I So extending upward from the valve I2. At the position of the float I5, shown by full lines in Fig. 1, the valve I2 is closed, the valve opening as the float drops from that position.

The usual tank discharge pipe 2I communicates with both a discharge valve seat 22 and. the usual vertical overflow pipe 2 la. The well-known prevailing type of buoyant outlet valve 23, normally resting in the valve seat 22, has a hollow rubber valve member 24 open at the bottom, and a vertically disposed stem 25. The valve stem 25 has a ring 26, or other enlargement, at its upper end and is slidably mounted in a bracket arm 21 that is mounted in turn on the overflow pipe 2 la. Slidingly embracing the valve stem 25 is a loop 28 formed in a wire 29 that pivotally depends from the end of a valve-trip arm 30, the arm being pivotally mounted on a suitable pin 3I. This valve-trip arm 30 is manually operated from the exterior of the tank. For instance, a manually operable toilet handle 32 on the outside of the tank may be flxedto a suitable rock shaft 33 extending through the tank wall and carrying on the inside of the tank a cam means, such as a rocker arm 34, positioned to lift the valve-trip arm 30.

When the handle 32 is rotated counter-clockwise, the ring 28 engaging the ring 26 lifts the outlet valve 23 from its seat, and the unseated valve, by virtue of its buoyancy, moves upward, guided by the bracket arm 21. In the normal action of prior art toilet tanks, the valve 23 will remain elevated until dropped back into its seat by the receding water level when the tank is substantially empty. Once the valve is seated, water pressure is eifective only against its upper surface and the water level rises until the float I5 turns off the inlet valve I2, thereby completing a normal automatic discharge cycle.

The parts of the mechanism described to this point are typical of a large proportion of the present toilet tanks and are recognized as old in the art.

The part of the combination shown in the drawing that is contributed by the present form of my invention comprises means to operatively associate the float valve I5 with the outlet valve 23 for the purpose of seating the valve prematurely with respect to the usual discharge cycle. In other words, it is contemplated that the outlet valve will be automatically forced into its seat at a predetermined fluid level substantially above the level of the valve seat 22.

This means, in the form depicted by Figs. 1 and 2, may be a simple accessory attachable to the float arm I6. A suitable saddle 35 fits over the float arm I6, and the float arm is engaged between a set-screw 36 in the saddle and a horizontally disposed arm 31 that fits through suitable apertures in the legs 38 of the saddle. At the outer end of the horizontal arm 3'! is an engagement member 39 having, by preference, a cup-shaped lower face 40. The engagement member 46 may be adjustably mounted on the arm 31 by a stem M in threaded engagement with a sleeve 42 on the end of the arm. It will be apparent that the position of the engagement member 40 may be widely adjusted by virtue of its screw-threaded relation to the arm 37 and the slidable relation of the arm 3! to the float arm The discharge cycle of a toilet tank incorporating my accessory is initiated in the usual manner by manually rotating the handle 32 to unseat the outlet valve 23. By virtue of its buoyancy the outlet valve remains elevated until the engagement member 39 is moved downward by the descending float I5 and makes contact with the upper end of the valve stem 25. The combined weight of the float I5 and the float arm I6 is sufilcient to overcome the buoyancy of the valve 23, and consequently as the water level in the tank drops, the superimposed weight forces the valve 23 into its seat. By this action the water discharge is curtailed, for example, when the water in the tank drops to the level corresponding to the position of the float I5 in the dotted position of Fig. 1. Once the valve 23 is seated, it remains seated, since water pressure cannot be eifective against its lower surface. The valve 23 remains seated as the float I5 carried upward by the rising water level finally cuts off the valve I2 to complete the discharge cycle of the tank.

It will be noted that the extent to which the water level drops during this discharge cycle is determined by the adjustment of the engagement member 39 relative to the float arm I6, and that the average pressure head of discharge during the cycle is higher than the average pressure head of discharge without the use of my invention. The float I5 in the new combination has the dual function of both controlling the inlet valve I2 and closing the outlet valve 23 against liquid pressure.

A second and somewhat more elaborate form of my invention is illustrated in Figs. 3 to 8. In the figures in the drawing of this second embodiment, the valve assembly including the fluid control and the major portion of the outlet valve assembly including the overflow pipe and the buoyant outlet valve are the same as described above, corresponding parts being given corresponding numbers. The description of the mechanism will be confined to the novel portions thereof.

The means associated with the fluid arm I6 for closing the outlet valve 23 may be of the construction shown in Fig. 2, but as indicated in Fig. 4 may consist of simply an offset finger 44 secured to the float arm I6by a suitable saddle 45 and a set-screw 46. As the float arm I6 drops downward, this finger 44 is positioned to move into contact with a plunger 41, which plunger may be broadly termed an operative connection or connection member, since it serves to transmit forces from the finger to the valve stem 25. s

The plunger 41 has a flanged head 48 and an expanded lower end 49 which, by preference, has a concave lower face to engage the ring 26 of the valve stem 25. The plunger 41 is slidingly mounted in the end of an arm 56 that is adjustably secured by a set-screw 5| in a tubular radial extension of a collar 52. The collar 52 rotatably embraces the overflow pipe 2 la between two fixed rings 53 that are clamped to the pipe. The collar 52 has a second radial extension or arm 54 that is operatively connected to an arm 55 of a valve-trip cam 56, the operative connection being a bent wire 51 pivotally engaging the arm 54 by one of its ends and'at its other-endslidinglyengaging an arcuate slot 58 in the arm 55.

The cam 56 is mounted on a cam shaft 59 that is controlled from the exterior of the tank by a suitable toilet handle, not shown; identical with the toilet handle 32' above. The camhas'two cam arms, a shorter arm 60 disposed toward the pivot of the float arm I6, and a longer arm Bli disposed toward the outer end of the float arm IS, the cam arms being so proportioned that thesame degree of angular movement of the -con--- trol handle in either direction will have approximately the same lifting effect on the valve-trip arm 30 to unseat the valve 23. The slot58 in the arm 55 is of an approximate length corresponding to such rotation. I

The wire 51 and the collar 52 are 'so'constructed V and arranged thatwhen the wire engages theright end of the slot 58, the cam'56' being in itsnormal position, the plunger 41 is in effective registry with the valve stem 25, as-indicated in Fig. 3, so that the lowering of the float arm 16 moves the finger 44 against the plunger and thereby causes the valve 23 to be seated; and, on the other hand, when the wire is positioned at the left end of the slot'58, as'indicatedby Fig. 5, the collar 52 is rotated sufficiently to carry the plunger 41 out of effective registrywith the valve stem 25 and out of the path of the finger 44, so that the float I5 is permitted to drop undeterred'to the bottom of the tank for a full discharge cycle.

Considering the cam 56 in the position indicated. by Fig. 3, it is apparent that the cam may be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction to-unseat thevalve 23 withoutinterference from the wire 51 in the slot 58, the plunger 41 being in registry with the valve stem 25 throughout the counter-clockwise movement of the 'cam 56. If, however, starting with the parts in the position indicated in Fig. 3, the cam 56 is rotated clockwise sufficiently to unseat the valve- 23, the wire 51 is pulled over to such an extent that the plunger 41- is moved to its ineffective position, and the wire will be at the left end of the slot. 58 when the cam 55 returns to its normalp osition, as indicated by Fig. 5.

Considering the mechanism disposed as indi-'' cated by Fig. 5, it is apparent that the cam 56"- may be moved clockwise to unseat the valve 23- without interference from the wiregbutthat counter-clockwise movement of the cam-sufficient to unseat the valve returns the wireto the position indicated by Fig. 3, thereby moving theplunger 41 into eifective position in registry with the valve stem 25 and in the-path of the-finger 44.

It is apparent that by virtue of the arrangement set forth, regardless of the position of the wire 51 and the plunger 41 at the beginning oi rotation of the cam 56 from its normal position,- counter-clockwise movement of the toilet handle to initiate a discharge cycle ends with the plung er 41 in the effective position to provide a discharge cycle of minimum or reduced volume and, on the other hand, clockwise rotation of the cam 56 to initiate a discharge cycle ends with the plunger 41 displaced from its effective position, thereby permitting a discharge cycle of full volume, the tank then functioning exactly as if my invention were not incorporated therein.

When counter-clockwise movement of the toilet handle unseats the valve 23 to initiate a dis charge cycle of reduced. volume, theivalve 23 .by virtue of its buoyancy pushes upward, thestcnrr.

25 engaging thevlower end- 4910f the plunger 41' and moving the; plunger upward .to meet the descending finger 41, the parts thenbeing: dis.- posed as shown inFig. 6. Since the buoyancy of. the valve 23 causes operative contact to be established'between thevalve stem 25 and the plunger:

41 and between the plunger 41 and: the finger 44, the'subsequent mechanical action of the toilet is smooth and. silent without noticeable impact between cooperating parts. As the float I51- descends, the finger 44, acting through the plunger 41' in a progressivebut positivemanner, depresses the valve 23. into .its seat, thereby cutting off the. water. discharge and causingsthe float l5 theree after to move .upWardwith the rising water level until the valve .12 is .closed.

It is:apparent that the essential difference between thetwo embodiments resides inv the fact that. inxthe second form of my'invention I provide selective means. whereby the discharge of; the toilet tank may either approximate the maximum volume of the tank or apredetermihed-f but insteadof aaring. at the end of .its'valve stem 1 1 65 there is a control plate 36 hingedto the upper 1 end of the valvestemv by asuitable pin: 61, the 1 pin extending across: asultableslot'68 in the control plate. The dimensions and disposition of the control plate are such that-when the con:- trol plate is in the horizontalposition indicated by Fig. 9' it intercepts the arcuate path of; the engagement member 40 'on thelfloat arm l6; this arcuate. path being: indicated by the broken line 69, and when the control plate issuitably tilted, it clears-the-pathof the controlmember, as indi cated by Fig.- 10. A suitable-wire 10 similar to the wire 23, previously described, has the same function as the wire 29-in operatively connecting the valve stem 65with the valve-trip arm 30', the wire having a loop 1| slidableupon-thevalve stem for-the purpose of unseating the valve 23; The'control plate 66 has "a second slot 12 receiving the wire 1|] with sufficient clearance to permit the required tilting of the control plate.

The control plate 66 is, adapted for manuallyrelationship maybe achieved, for example, by 1 providing, an inclined cam member 13 on the bottom of the control plate 66, the cam member shown in the drawing being a simple strap bent to the proper configuration and having a suitable slot 14 to receive the valve stem 65 with sufiicient clearance to permit the requiredtilting of'the

Images