US3001205A - Flushing apparatus for a selfcontained closet - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 26, 1961 w, HICKS 3,001,205

FLUSHING APPARATUS FOR A SELF-CONTAINED CLOSET Filed Nov. 26, 1958 Uted The object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for flushing a closet of the type in which the flushing liquid is contained in a closed circuit connected with the closet pan, whereby certain disadvantages hitherto present in closests of such type will be avoided and which will afiord valuable advantages as hereinafter described.

Apparatus according to the invention comprises an air pump having means for its operation at the times desired and arranged to transmit pressure to a reservoir of flushing liquid and thereby impel such liquid into a flushing gallery located at the top of the pan, said reservoir being automatically replenished after each operation of the pump through a one-way valve connected with the pan or with a sump communicating with the latter.

There follows a more detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, as applied to a chemical closet suitable for use in aircraft and other vehicles, reference being made to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a partly sectional side elevation of the closet, together with the flushing system, and FIG. 2 is a section on the line H-H of FIG. 1.

In the drawings it will be seen that the closet pan, indicated by the reference numeral 10, is arranged to communicate by way of a non-return valve 11 (FIG. 2) with a substantial length of pipe 12 which is coiled about the base of the closet, and which constitutes the flushing liquid reservoir. Said pipe 12 is connected by an upright column 13 at one end to an annular duct or gallery 14 encircling the upper wall of the pan 10. The other end of the reservoir pipe 12 is coupled at 121 to the cylinder 15 of a single-acting reciprocating pump 15, 16, of which the piston 16 is pivotally connected through its piston rod 17 with an operating lever 18. Such lever 18 may be a manually-operated arm, or a pedal, pivotally mounted alongside the closet but, as in the present instance, said lever is more conveniently constituted by an extension of the lid 19 of the closet so as to be actuated when the lid is lowered from the open position.

The connection 121 between the aforesaid pipe 12 and the pump output port 151 is furnished with a non-return valve 20 to admit air into said connection automatically upon the return stroke of the pump, to replenish the air forced through the flushing system on the operating stroke. This valve 20 will operate when pressure in the pump connection is below atmospheric pressure, and will prevent admission of flushing liquid into the pump 15, 16.

The non-return valve 11 by which the reservoir pipe 12 is replenished from the pan after each flushing operation may, as shown in FIG. 2, be a simple ball valve 111 which, when pressure is applied by the pump, 15, 16, to the liquid in the pipe 12, is forced on to its seating 112 to close the valve, but which will open to enable liquid to pass from the pan 10 into the reservoir pipe 12 as soon as the pump pressure has been relaxed. This valve 11 is entirely automatic in its action, in that it will enable the Patent 0 3,001,205 Patented Sept. 26, 1961 reservoir pipe 12 to be filled with liquid from the pan 10 independently of the position of the operating lever 18. Being of simple construction, and preferably being furnished with filter 113, it will be free of any tendency to become choked by solid matter. The valve member 111 is conveniently made of a sufliciently resilient material to enable it to close upon its seating 112 even when a small object, such as a matchstick, is trapped in the above aperture.

It will be understood that the pipe 12 and valve 11 may be in communication with a sump into which the flushing liquid flows by gravity from the pan 10, instead of being directly connected to the pan 10 as shown.

It will be seen that the pump 15, 16, is dry, being used only to supply air pressure to the column of liquid in the reservoir pipe 12 thus, the clogging or corrosion of the parts of the pump are prevented. The location of the flushing mechanism entirely outside the closet pan facilitates cleaning of the latter.

Whilst this arrangement provides for a considerable volume and velocity of the flushing liquid through the annular gallery 14, the operating load may be light. Furthermore, the system is capable of operating satisfactorily when the liquid level in the pan 10 is low.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a flushing device, including a closet pan having a waste deflecting upper rim portion and a lower reservoir portion, a flushing gallery extending around the top of the waste deflecting upper rim portion and including a downwardly extending annular portion to direct liquid over said waste deflecting portion, duct means communicating with said gallery and said waste deflecting upper rim portion and extending outwardly of the pan and downwardly past the bottom of said pan, a one-way valve positioned in the bottom wall of said pan and communicating with the lower reservoir portion and operable for permitting flow only from said pan, pipe reservoir means extending from and communicating with the lower end of said duct means and travelling an extended path for providing a separate reservoir below said pan and communicating with said one-way valve means, said pipe reservoir including a portion extending therefrom and laterally with respect to said pan and upwardly with respect to said pan to extend adjacent the top portion thereof, an air pump supported adjacent the top of said pan and including a reciprocating piston and an air outlet port on one side thereof, the upwardly extending portion of said pipe reservoir communicating with the air outlet port of said air pump, an air intake port in the upper end of said upwardly extending portion of said pipe reservoir means and including one-way valve means for permitting inflow of air, and a lid member for said pan pivotally mounted at one end and connected at said one end to said reciprocating piston of said air pump on the other side thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 975,308 Wilson Nov. 8, 1910 1,198,057 Ribaysen Sept. 12, 1916 2,616,095 Stuckey Nov. 4, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,758 Great Britain June 6, 1843 141,741 Australia June 22, 1951 324,437 Great Britain Jan. 30, 1930

Images