US2747198A

US2747198A - Guide apparatus for use with a toilet flushing mechanism

Info

Publication number: US2747198A
Application number: US467430A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gerald D Clapp
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1954-11-08
Filing date: 1954-11-08
Publication date: 1956-05-29
Anticipated expiration: 1973-05-29

Description

G. D. CLAPP May 29, 195

GUIDE APPARATUS FOR USE WITH A TOILET F'LUSHING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 8, 1954 accomplish their intended purpose.

GUIDE APPARATUS FOR USE WITH A TOILET FLUSHING MECHANISM Gerald D. Clapp, Santa Barbara, Caiif.

Application November 8, 1954, Serial No. 467,439

2 Claims. '(Cl. 4-57) The present invention relates generally to toilets and more particularly to a basic improvement in the flushing mechanism thereof.

The conventional toilet flushing mechanism includes a discharge pipe located within a flushing tank and formed with a valve seat whereupon is seated a buoyant stopper. The stopper is normally maintained seated upon the valve seat by the head of water contained in the flushing tank. When the handle of the toilet is operated to raise the stopper oil? the valve seat the stopper will float upwardly so as to leave the valve seat uncovered and permit the water in the flushing tank to rush downwardly through the discharge pipe. As the tank empties and the water level drops, the stopper will move downwardly so as to be reseated upon the valve seat and thereby close the opening of the discharge pipe. The stopper will remain seated upon the valve seat as the flushing'tank is refilled.

Stoppers for discharge valve apparatus of the above described type are generally provided with a wire stopper rod that extends upwardly therefrom and with a guide for guiding the rod in its vertical movement relative to the valve seat, the guide being rigidly secured to the overflow pipe that extends upwardly adjacent the discharge pipe. The intended purpose of this guide is to insure that the stopper will always descend substantially coaxial with the valve seat so as to land 'ina positive seating position thereupon. The stopper rod and guide do not always On some occasions the stopper rod will bind within itsguide and thereby hold the stopper in an elevated position relative to the valve seat. On other occasions the stopper rod'may be so loosely held within itsguide that it will assume an angular position relative to the vertical and as the stopper descends it will land in a position slightly displaced from its proper coaxial seating position.-

it is a major object of the present invention to provide a new and improved guide apparatus for the stopper rod of a conventional stopper which will assure that the latter always assumes a proper seating position upon the valve seat.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guide apparatus of the aforedescribed nature which will not interfere in any manner with the proper flushing of a toilet.

A further object is to provide a guide apparatus of the aforedescribed nature which may be readily installed within a flushing tank in a minimum amount of time and with a minimum amount of labor by the ordinary householder. Such installation requires no special tools.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a guide apparatus of the aforedescribed nature which may be installed upon the majority of toilet flushing mechanisms utilized today.

Yet a further object is to provide a guide apparatus of the aforedescribed nature which is usable as a replacement for the original guide furnished with the conventional toilet.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a t Patent guide apparatus of the aforedescribed nature that is simple of design and rugged of construction whereby it may provide a long and trouble-free service life.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of guide apparatus embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 44 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the preferred form of guide apparatus G embodying the present invention is adapted to be utilized in conjunction with a conventional flushing mechanism F that is disposed within the flushing tank (not shown) of a toilet. The flushing me'chanism'F includes a discharge pipe l0disposed within the lower portion of the flushing tank and connected at its lower end with the toilet bowl (not shown) in a suitable manner. The upper end of the discharge pipe 10 terminates in a coaxial valve seat 12 that receives a stopper '14. Formed below the valve seat 12 is a side extension 16 of the discharge pipe and rigidly supported thereby is an upstanding overflow pipe 18. The upper end of the overflow pipe 18 extends above the level of the water contained in the flushing tank.

The stopper 14 is of. conventional construction having an upwardly tapering frusto-conical top section 20 and an integral generally hemispherical bottom section 22. The interior of the stopper 14 is hollow and a downwardly facing opening (not shown) is centrally formed in the underside of the bottom section 22. The stopper will ordinarily be of rubber construction. An upstanding wire stopper rod 24 is rigidly secured to the upper end'of the stopper 14. The top of the stopper rod 24 is formedinto a loop 26.

The flushing mechanism F includes a generallyhorizontally extending lift lever 30 having its free-end formed with a plurality of apertures '32. The opposite end of the lift lever 30 (not shown) is operatively connected to the flushing handle (not shown) of the toilet.

The guide apparatus G includes a cylindrical frame, generally designated 34, that is fixedly secured to the discharge pipe 10 coaxial therewith, a semi-buoyant guide member, generally designated 36 which is axially slidably disposed within the frame 34, and a tension element 38 that interconnects the buide member 36 and the lift lever 30. The guide member 36 includes a bushing element or disc 40 that axially slidably maintains the stop rod 24 substantially coaxial with the valve seat 12.

The cylindrical frame 34 will preferably be fabricated primarily of corrosive-resistant lengths of wire, however it could be formed of other suitable materials, as for example, plastic. The upper end of this frame 34 is defined by a flanged collar 42, while the lower-end thereof is defined 'by a horizontally extending segment of a loop 44. A plurality of vertically extending bars 46 rigidly interconnects the collar 42 and the segment 44. A single nut element 50 is rigidly interposed between the lower end of each of the bars 46 and the lower segment 44.

The upper end of the frame 34 is secured to the upper portion of the overflow pipe 18 by means of a bracket 52. This bracket 52 includes a front half 54 rigidly secured at its mid-portion to the collar 42 and a rear half 55. The two halves are adapted to be clamped to the overflow pipe 18 by tightening a pair of screw elements 56, the latter being carried within aligned threaded bores 58 formed in the opposite end of this link being formed with threaded bore 70 having the same spacing as those of the nut elements 50. It should be particularly noted that the diameter of the circle defined by the lower segment 44 and the link 68 is larger than that of any of the discharge pipes found in the toilet flushing mechanism commonly being utilized. The lower endof the frame 34 may be fitted to any of these discharge pipes even though their diameter varies by proper manipulation of the screw elements 66. Such manipulation likewise permits exact centering of the frame 34 relative to the valve seat 12 of the discharge pipe upon which it is mounted. This facilitates the replacement of the guide means originally found on a toilet with one embodying the present invention.

The guide member 36 will preferably have an integral body 71 of hollow rubber construction, the lower portion '72 thereof being generally hemispherical in configuration and the upper portion thereof having upwardly and inwardly tapering walls 73. An opening 74 is centrally formed in the lower end of this body 71. The upper end of the body 71 is closed by the bushing element or disc 40, as indicated in Figure 2, this disc being formed with a peripheral groove 78 that is received by a lip 80 formed about the circular opening 76. The disc 40 may be formed of a suitable plastic material if desired. A vertical bore 82 is coaxially formed in the disc 40 and the stopper rod 24 is axially slidably carried therein. element 38 may consist of wire having its lower end formed with a horizontal portion 83 that is rigidly anchored in a suitable manner within a notch 84 formed in the disc 40, as indicated in Figures 2 and 3. The upper portion of this wire is bent into a loop 86 that may be inserted into one of the apertures 32 formed in the lift lever 30, as shown in Figure l. Preferably, the wire 38 will be so shaped that the point of connection of its upper loop 86 with the lift lever 30 will be aligned with the center of gravity of the combined guide member 36 and the wire 38. Conveniently, the wire 38 may be bent from a conventional stopper rod of the type designated 24 in the drawings. Preferably, a loop 87 shown in Figures 2 and 3 is formed at the free end of the horizontal portion 83, and the notch includes an enlarged pocket 89, indicated in these two figures. With this arrangement, the loop 87 may be removably wedged into the pocket 89 and replacement of the wire 38 may be readily accomplished.

In operation, the parts of the apparatus will normally be disposed as indicated in Figure 1, the stopper 14 being held seated upon the valve seat 12 by the pressure of the water disposed thereabove in the flushing tank. When it is desired to flush the toilet bowl the flushing handle is actuated so as to raise the free end of the lift lever 30. This will in turn lift the guide member 36 and once the loop 26 of the stopper rod 24 engages the upper surface of the disc 40, the stopper will be raised off the valve seat 12. The stopper is buoyant and will therefore float upwardly permitting the water in the flushing tank to rush downwardly into the discharge pipe 10. The guide member 36 is semi-buoyant and as the water level in the flushing tank drops it will descend within the cylindrical frame 34. The stopper 14 will fall with the level of the The tension water towards the valve seat 12. During such descent the stopper rod 24 will be guided substantially coaxially with respect to the valve seat 12 by its sliding engagement with the bore 82 of the guide members disc 40, the body 71 being maintained substantially coaxial with respect to the cylindrical frame 34 by the engagement of its outer periphery with the inside of the vertical bars 46. Inasmuch as the guide member 36 will be undergoing agitation due to the turbulence of the water in the flushing tank, the stopper rod 24 will always remain free relative to the bore 74. In this manner the stopper 14 will be guided substantially coaxially into the valve seat 12 whereby the stopper will always assume a positive seating position thereon.

While there has been described hereinbefore what is presently considered to be the preferred embodiment of the present invention it will be apparent that various modifications and changes may be made with respect thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Guide apparatus for use with a toilet flushing mechanism having a lift lever, a discharge pipe formed with a valve seat, an upstanding overflow pipe, a stopper that seats on said valve seat and an upstanding stopper rod, comprising: a cylindrical frame open at its upper end and formed at its lower end with a plurality of radially extending threaded bores; a scerw element disposed in each of said bores for engagement with said discharge pipe; means for securing the upper portion of said frame to said overflow pipe; a guide member that includes a hollow body having an outside diameter slightly smaller than the inside diameter of said frame, the bottom portion of said body being open, and a disc coaxially secured within the upper portion of said body; a vertical bore coaxially formed in said disc that axially slidably supports said stopper rod; and, a tension element interconnecting said disc and said lift lever.

2. Guide apparatus for use with a toilet flushing mechanism having a lift lever, a discharge pipe formed with a valve seat, an upstanding overflow pipe, a stopper that seats on said valve seat and an upstanding stopper rod, comprising: a cylindrical frame of open wire construction open at its upper end and formed at its lower end with a plurality of radially extending threaded bores; a screw element disposed in each of said bores for engagement with said discharge pipe; a bracket for securing the upper portion of said frame to said overflow pipe, said bracket having a split ring member which is clamped about said overflow pipe; a guide member that includes a hollow body having an outside diameter slightly smaller than the inside diameter of said frame, the bottom portion of said body being open, and a disc coaxially secured within the upper portion of said body; a vertical bore coaxially formed in said disc that axially slidably supports said stopper rod; and,'a wire interconnecting said disc and said lift lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 909,789 Hawks Jan. 12, 1909 1,536,078 Curtin May 5, 1925 1,784,944 Nordlund Dec. 16, 1930 1,814,604 Martindell July 14, 1931 1,890,281 Dollinger Dec. 6, 1932 2,668,960 Lennard Feb. 16, 1954 2,688,140 Schlatter Sept. 7, 1954