US2502086A

US2502086A - Flush tank valve operating means

Info

Publication number: US2502086A
Application number: US615942A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gertz Samuel
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-09-13
Filing date: 1945-09-13
Publication date: 1950-03-28
Anticipated expiration: 1967-03-28

Description

March 28, 1950 s, -r

FLUSH TANK VALVE OPERATING Isms Filed Sept. 1:5, 1945 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLUSH TANK VALVE OPERATING MEANS Samuel Gertz, Jamaica, N. Y.

. Application September 13, 1945, Serial No. 615,942

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to valve-operating mechanism for flush tanks.

Flush tanks such as are used for water closets have a discharge opening in the bottom of the tank, and have a buoyant valve for closing this discharge opening. The valve is held in closed position by the pressure of the water above it, but once the valve is raised so that water can rush in below it, the buoyancy of the valve causes it to float so that most of the water in the tank can flow out through the opening before the valve closes.

In order to permit the manually-actuated part of the valve-operating mechanism to return to its original posit on while the valve remains open, a lost-motion linkage is provided between the valve and the manually-actuated part of the mechanism.

It is an object of this invention to provide improved valve-operating means for flush tanks, and more especially to provide a combination that prevents sticking of the valve in open position. The lost-motion linkage construction commonly employed makes it necessary to apply the opening force to the valve along a line that does not coincide with the axis of the valve, and because of the non-alignment of the connected parts, the valve stem is usua ly given a bias one way or the other by the connecting link. This bias sometimes causes the valve to stick in open position if there is even a slight roughness of the valve stem or the valve guide.

Another object of the invention is to guide at least the valve end of the valve-operating link so that no bias can be imparted to a valve stem no matter how much out of line the connecting link may be. The invention provides positive guide means for the lost-motion connection so that the valve stem is always free to descend as the water level in the tank drops.

Another object is to provide guide means of the character indicated whichare of simple construction, economical to manufacture, and which can be combined with conventional valve-operating mechanism with a minimum of additional structure.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corre sponding parts in all the views,

Figure l is a front view, partly broken away, of a flush tank equipped with a valve and with valve-operating mechanism embodying this invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the valve-operating mechanism shown in Figurel.

Figure 3 is a perspective view, similar to Figure 2, but illustrating a modified form of the invention.

Figure 1 shows-a flush tank In with an outlet fitting Ii that extends through an opening in the bottom of the tank. The outlet fitting screws into a base l2 located within the'tank, and base I2 is clamped securely against the bottom of the tank by a nut I 4 that screws on the fitting I I immediately below the tank iii. A gasket or washer between the nut i4 and the bottom of the tank provides a liquid type seal.

A support I! extends upward from the base l2. This support I! is preferably a tube that serves as an overflow pipe for the tank l0, there being a passage in the base l2 through which water flowing down through the pipe I! flows into the outlet fitting The upper end of the opening through the outlet fitting I I serves as a seat for a buoyant valve comprising a valve element 20, and a valve stem 2| that extends upward from the valve along a line substantially coincident with the axis of the outlet through the fitting II. The valve stem 2| passes through a guide 24 supported by a bracket 25 that clamps on the standpipe l1. At the upper end of the valve stem 2|, above the guide 24, there is a head 21 on the valve stem, preferably formed by bending a loop in the upper end of the material from which the valve stem 2| is made.

The valve is operated by a handle on the outside of the tank ID. This handle 3|! connects with a main operating lever 3| within the tank, and the free endof the operating lever 3| is connected with the valve stem 2| by a connecting link 32. The link 32 has a hook portion 33 at its upper end extending through an opening in the free end of the main operating lever 3|. The lower end of the connecting link 32 has a straight extension 34 whichpasses through a guide slot 35 in the bracket 25. There is a loop portion 31 intermediate the ends of the link 32, and this loop portion passes around the stem 2| of the valve.

The opening through the loop portion 31 is large enough to permit the valve stem 2| to slide through it freely, but is smaller than the head 21 so that when the main operating lever 3| raises the link 32, the loop 31 comes in contact with the head :1 and raises the valve stem 2| 32 drops back to its starting position and leaves the valve stem 2| raised and tree to move downward slowly as the buoyant valve element 20 descends with the water level in the tank It.

The slot 35 extends in a direction substantially parallel to the general direction of the length of the main operating lever 3|. Since this operating lever 3| moves about a center, the upper end 01' the connecting link 32 travels in an are as it is raised. The slot 35 permits the lower end of the connecting link 32 to move lengthwise of the slot to compensate tor the arcuate movement of the upper end of the link, but the slot 35 is of such width that it does not permit any substantial transverse play of the lower exten sion 34 toward or from the valve stem. The opening in the operating lever 3|, through which the hook 33 of the link 32 passes, prevents the link 32 from turning through any substantial angle about the axis of the straight extension 34. This construction keeps the loop 31 in substantially the same position at all times with respect to the axis of the valve stem 3|.

A large head 21 is used so that the loop 31 can be made large enough to allow for considerable transverse variation in its position without danger of having the loop 31 bind against the valve stem 2| or push the valve stem 2| out of line with the axis of the guide 24. The construction shownguides the lower end of the connecting link 32 so that it cannot impart any bias to the valve stem 2|.

The portion of the link 32 above the loop 31 is. straight in Figure 2, but this is not essential, nor is it essential that the extension 34 of the link 32 be substantially in line with the portion of the connecting link above it. It is sufficient that the extension 34 b substantially parallel to the valve stem 2| and the axis of the guide 24.

Figure 3 shows a modified construction in which the main operating lever 3| is connected with the valve stem 2| by a connecting link 42. This connecting link 42 has a hook portion 43 that connects it with the main operating lever 3| in the same way as the link 32 is connected with the main operating lever 3| in Figure 2. The lower end of the link 42 has a loop portion 4'! that surrounds the valve stem 21, but the connecting link 42 beyond the loop 41 extends transversely and has an end formed into another loop 48 that slides up and down on a guide pin or stud 50.

The stud threads into a bracket 53 that corresponds to the bracket 25 of Figure 2, and this stud is held in position by a locknut 55. The loop 48 is somewhat larger than the stud 50 to allow for the fact that the upper end of the link moves along an arc instead of a straight line. 1 The axis of the stud 50 extends substantially parallel to the axis of the valve stem 2| and guide 24. V

The preferred embodiment, and one modification of the invention have been described, but changes and other modifications can be made, and some features of the-invention can be used without others without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

Iclaim as my invention; g

l. Valve-operating. mechanism foropening a buoyant valve of a flush tank, said mechanism comprising a main operating lever at a level i above the valve, 9. lost-motion linkage extending downward from said operating lever to a stem attached to the buoyant valve, two guide means 5 with spaced but parallel axes, one of the guide means being for the buoyant valve, and the other 01 said guide-means being for the lost motion linkage and having a bearing sumace in position to contact with the lower portion of the lost motion linkage for preventing said linkage from imparting side thrust to the valve stem.

2. The combination with a buoyant valve, of operating mechanism comprising a main lever, and motion transmitting connections between the main lever and the valve, said motion transmitting connections comprising two elements that have a sliding connection with one another and form in efiect a telescoping connection between the lever and the valve so that th lever can return to its starting position while the valve remains in open position, and independent guide means that contact with the respective elements, said guide means including'bearing surfaces in position to prevent transverse displacement of the respective elements at the region of their sliding connection with one another.

- 3. Apparatus for controlling the discharge of water from an outlet at the bottom of a flush tank, said apparatus comprising a buoyant valve element, a stem connected to the valve element and extending upward, a head at the upper end of the valve stem and larger than said valve stem, a fixed structure having a guide opening in which the valve stem slides, an operating lever at a level above the valve element, a link connecting the operating lever with the valve stem, said link including an eye with an opening smaller than the head of the valve stem and surrounding the valve stem below said head and above the guide, a downwardly extending portion of the link below the eye, and another guide in said fixed structure and in which said downwardly extending portion of the link slides. 4. Apparatus for controlling the discharge of water from an outlet at the bottom of a flush tank, said apparatus comprising a buoyant valve element, a stem connected to the valve element and extending upward, a head at the upper end of the valve stem .and larger than said valve stem, 9. fixed structure-having a guide opening in which the valve stem slides, an operatinglever at a level above the valve element, a link connecting the operating lever with the valve stem, 65 said link including an eye with an opening smaller than the head of the valve stem and surrounding the valve stem below said head and above the guide, and said link including a second eye transversely spaced from the first eye, and 60 a guide pin surrounded by the second eye and extending substantially parallel to the valve stem and the axis of the guide opening in which the valve stem slides, and means connecting said guide pin to the fixed structure within the tank. 5. The combination with a flush tank that has a bottom outlet and a buoyant valve commanding said outlet, of valve-operating means including a main operating lever supported adjacent one end by a fulcrum connected with a wall of 70 the tank, a manually actuated element outside of the tank and extending through the wall of the tank into operative relation with the said lever, a link connected to th lever adjacent the end of the lever remote from the fulcrum, a lost 75 motion connection between the lower end of the link and a stem extending upward from the valve-and guide means independent of the valve stem and including a bearing surface in position to contact with the lower portion or the link and by such contact to restrain the lower portion of the link against movement transverse of the direction oi movement of the valve stem.

6. The combination with a buoyant valve, of operating mechanism comprising a guide for a valve stem, a main lever, a downwardly-extending link connecting the lever with the valve stem, and guide means independent of the guide for the valve stem and including bearing means that REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the tile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,217,320 Romaine Oct. 8, 1940 2,440,389 Anderson Apr. 27, 1948