US3019448A

US3019448A - Flush control device for toilet flush tank

Info

Publication number: US3019448A
Application number: US82011A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ulicni George
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1961-01-11
Filing date: 1961-01-11
Publication date: 1962-02-06
Anticipated expiration: 1979-02-06

Description

Feb. 6, 1962 G. ULICNI 3,019,448

FLUSH CONTROL DEVICE FOR TOILET FLUSH TANK Filed Jan. 11, 1961 INVENTOR.

iii/- illtd 3,019,448 FLUSH CONTROL DEVICE FOR TOILET FLUSH TANK George Ulicni, Gary, Ind. (6817 Harrison St., Crown Point, Ind.) Filed Jan. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 82,011 7 Claims. (Cl. 4-41) This invention relates to flush control devices for toilet flush tanks and may be described as an improvement over the invention set forth in my application Serial Number 52,725, filed August 29, 1960.

As stated therein, the flush tank commonly employed with a toilet bowl is conventionally provided with a discharge valve comprising an outlet pipe and astopper ball seated therein. A vertically disposed stem guided for axial movement is connected at one end to the stopper ball and the other end thereof is commonly formed with an eyelet for lifting engagement with a link which is connected to a lever and lifted thereby when said lever is pivotally moved. Said lever is pivoted by means of a handle outside the flush tank, When this linkage is actuated, the stopper ball is lifted from its seated position in the outlet pipe and the water in the tank is discharged through the outlet pipe into the toilet bowl and flushes the waste material through the goose neck or trap way of the toilet bowl into the sewer pipe. As the water level in the tank falls, the floating stopper ball is'guided toward'and falls against the seat of the outlet pipe closing said discharge valve and allowing the inlet water to accumulate in the tank preparatory for the next flushing.

It occasionally happens that the Waste in the toilet bowl will not pass through its trap way to the sewer pipe and the water will accumulate in the toilet bowl to an overflow level if the cover of the flushtank is not quickly removed and the stopper ball manually pushed into the seat of the outlet pipe thereby stopping the How of water from the tank to the toilet bowl. More often than not, the cover of the flush tank is used as a shelf for jars and other articles used in the toilet room and by the time it is realized that the water will overflow the toilet bowl, it will be too late to remove these articles from the cover and the cover itself before some flooding occurs. In the case with children, flooding occurs fre quently due to the injuclicious use of the toilet bowls and the inability to stop the water to the toilet bowl once the flush has started.

To avoid the above diificulties, various means may be used for stopping the flushing action of the tank. In my above pending application, a separate valve is employed to discharge the inflowing water directly into the tank during normal operation or to discharge the inflowing water into the tank by Way of the ring conduit when it is desired to seat the stopper ball into the discharge pipe to stop the flushing operation.

An object of the present invention is to provide a single unit flush control device which is more economical to manufacture and which may be more easily and quickly installed within a flush tank by the ordinary householder requiring no special tools.

Another object of my improved flush control device is to provide valve means within the spray unit which will operate automatically upon movement of a simple release means.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a flush control device which operates to prevent further flushing until the valve means is reset.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a flush control device which operates in such a manner to prevent the stopper ball from becoming jammed in its lifted position.

3,819,443 Patented Feb. 6, 1362 the valve means for the outlet tube;

FIGURE 4-is a side elevation of the ring conduit sectioned along line 4-74 of FIGURE 3, and shown in operative relationship Lwith. the stopper ball; and

FIGURE 5 is a front elevation of the ball release means. Y

Referring now to the drawings, numeral 2 designates a conventional flush tank having a discharge valve 4 including the usualoutlet pipe 6, an overflowpipe 8 communicating' with said outlet pipe 6 by means of a passage in connector 10 and a stopper ball 12 which when seated in the outlet pipe 6 closes the discharge valve 4 and when lifted from its seat opens said discharge valve. Said stopper ball 12 is lifted from its seat in the outlet pipe by means of stopper ball rod 14, link 16 and lever 18 when handle 20 is manually pivoted. As the water is discharged through the outlet pipe 6, float 22 lowers with the water level in tank 2, pivoting connecting arm 24 about is fulcrum 26, opening water inlet valve 28 to replenish the water discharged from the tank during the flushing operation. This is, of course, well known to those skilled in the art to which this invention portains.

In accordance with the principles of my invention, I provide a conduit or tube 30 connected at one end to the discharge end 32 of water inlet valve 28. The other end of tube 30 terminates in a spray ring 34,

Spray ring 34 is further provided with an outlet tube 36 located preferably within the same quarter sector containing the inlet tube 30. Spray ring 34 contains a ball 38 which is free to roll to the mouth of the outlet tube 36 and away therefrom. The bottom wall of spray ring 34 adjacent the mouth of the discharge tube 36 is pressed inwardly to form a ramp-like incline 4i). Crimp 42 is provided in the bottom Wall of spray ring 34 adjacent the mouth of the inlet tube 30. Incline 40 and crimp 42 contain the ball 38 within that sector of the spray ring between the inlet and

outlet tube

30 and 36, respectively.

I provide a hole 44 in the top Wall of the spray ring 34 adjacent the outlet tube 36. Said hole 44 slidably receives the lower end of rod 46. The insertion of rod 46 in said hole 44 is limited by shield 48 which rests on the top wall of spray ring 34. The top end of rod 46 is pivotally connected to one end of cross-link 50. Said link 50 is pivotally connected to stopper ball guide 52 by means of pin 54. The other end of cross-link 50 is provided with laterally extending portion 56 having an opening 58 therein through which passes stopper ball rod 14. The free end of said stopper ball rod 14 terminates in an eyelet 60. Link 16 connects lever 18 by hooking one end thereof into one of several holes 62 in the end of lever 18. The other end of link 16 terminates in an eyelet 63 which circles the rod 14 immediately below eyelet 60 and by engaging eyelet 60 of rod 14 lifts the stopper ball 12 from its seated position and by moving against the laterally extending portion 56 of cross-link 50, pivots said cross-link 50 on pin 54 to lift rod 46 sufificiently to release ball 38 in spray ring 34.

Spray ring 34 is positioned to concentrically receive stopper ball 12 when in the lifted position as: shown in FIGURE 4. Holes 64 are located in the spray ring 34 so that jets of water through said holes 64 strike the upper surface of stopper ball 12. The outlet tube 36 is bent so that the open end of the outlet tube is directed toward the bottom of tank 2. A hole 66 is provided at the bend in the discharge tube 36 into which is threadedly connected oneendof refill tube 68. The other end of refill tube 68 empties into overflow pipe 8.

The operation of my invention is as follows:

When the toilet bowl is flushed by manually turning handle 20 counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1, lever 18 and link 16 lift stopper ball 12 from its seated position in outlet pipe 6 to the spray ring 34 and remains concentrically positioned in said ring by its buoyancy. As the water discharges through the outlet pipe 6, the water level in the tank 2 lowers, lowering therewith float 22 thereby pivoting its connecting arm 24 about fulcrum 26, opening water inlet valve 28 which allows the water to flow through outlet 32, tube '30 connected thereto, through spray ring 34 and discharged into flush tank 2 through outlet tube 36. A ortio'n'of the water discharged through outlet tube 36 will pass through refill tube 68 into overflow pipe 8. A small amount of water may leak from hole 44 in the top wall of "ring '34, however this water will be deflected into the tank 2 by shield 48. Also a small amount of water will spray from holes 64 in ring 34 and Will impinge against the top of stopper ball 12 but not with suflicient force to overcome the force of buoyancy and to seat the stopper ball in discharge pipe 6. The spray of this small amount of water through holes 64 will actually have the effect of preventing the stopper ball from jamming into the spray ring 34. Assuming the flushing operation through the toilet bowl is accomplished satisfactorily, then as the Water level falls below the spray ring 34, the stopper ball 12 floats downwardly to its seated position to close the discharge valve 4 allowing the water in tank 2 to accumulate for the succeeding flush. However, if the flushing operation through the toilet bowl is not accomplished satisfactorily and for the probable reason that waste material cannot pass the trap way section of the toilet bowl, and the water in the bowl begins to accumulate to overflow level, handle 20 is manually turned in the opposite direction from that of a normal flush, that is, clockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1. This movement causes lever 18 to pivot downwardly, moving downwardly therewith link 16. Eyelet 63 of said link 16 will than abut against the laterally extending portion 56 of cross-link 5t], pivoting said cross-link 50 on pin 54 and causing rod 46 to lift thereby releasing ball 38 in spray ring 34. The flow of water through said ring 34 and outlet tube 36 will cause the ball 38 to seat itself against the mouth of outlet tube 36 and thereby prevent further discharge of water through tube 36. The water in said ring '34 will then be jetted through holes 64 of said ring 34 and strike the top surface of stopper ball 12 with suflicient force to seat the stopper ball 12 into the outlet pipe 6 and thereby stop the flushing operation of the flush tank 2. The Water continues to discharge in flush tank 2 through holes 64 of spray ring 34 until the water is replenished therein and float 22 is again raised closing inlet valve 28. When handle 20 is released (after the flushing operation is stopped) cross-link St} is free to pivot in the opposite direction allowing rod 46 to drop into ring 34 through hole 44 and thereby trap ball 38 on the water outlet side of said rod 46. This feature prevents any further flushing of the tank 2 until the cause of the flooding is remedied and rod 46 is again lifted in the manner above described allowing the ball 38 to roll down ramp incline 40 to the water inlet side of rod 46 and there be retained by rod 4-6 until again released.

While I have shown and described only certain preferred embodiments of the invention, it is apparent that modifications may arise. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the disclosure set forth but only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a flush tank of the class wherein liquid is discharged therefrom through a discharge valve when the closure of said valve is lifted from its seat by a manually movable linkage and wherein liquid is supplied to said flush tank through an inlet valve, the combination therewith; of a tubular conduit comprising an inlet portion connected to said inlet valve, a curved portion concentrically positioned over said closure, said curved portion having orifices directed to discharge liquid against said closure, an outlet portion for discharging liquid into said tank, and stopper means movable into said outlet portion to stop said liquid from discharging through said outlet portion; and means actuated by said manually movable linkage for releasably holding said stopper means away from said outlet portion.

2. In a flush tank of the class wherein liquid is discharged therefrom through a ball and seat valve when the hall of said ball and seatvalve is lifted from said seat by manually movable linkage restrained by guide means and wherein liquid is supplied to said flush tank through an inlet valve, the combination therewith; of a tubular conduit comprising an inlet portion connected to said inlet valve, a curved portion concentrically positioned over said ball, said 'curv'edlportion having orifices directed to discharge liquid against said ball, an outlet portion for discharging liquid into said tank, and stopper means movable into said outlet portion to stop said liquid from discharging through said outlet portion; and means pivotally supported by said guide means, said means actuated by said manually movable linkage for releasably holding said stopper means away from said outlet portion.

3. In a flush tank of the class wherein liquid is discharged therefrom through 'a ball and seat valve when the ball of said ball and seat valve is lifted from said seat by manually movable linkage restrained by guide means and wherein liquid is supplied to said flush tank through an inlet valve, the combination therewith; of a tubular conduit comprising an inlet portion connected to said inlet valve, a curved portion concentrically positioned over said ball, said curved portion having orifices directed to discharge liquid into said tank, an outlet portion for discharging liquid into said tank, and stopper means movable into said outlet portion to stop said liquid from discharging through said outlet portion; and means including a link member pivotally supported on said guide means, said link member actuated by said manually movable linkage, a second link member depending from said first named link member for releasably holding said stopper means away from said outlet portion.

4. In a flush tank of the classwherein liquid is discharged therefrom through a ball and seat valve when the ball of said ball and .seat valve is lifted from said seat by manually movable linkage restrained by guide means and wherein liquid is supplied to said flush tank through an mlet valve, the combination therewith; of a circular conduit concentrically positioned over said closure comprlsing, conduit means adapted for connection to said inlet valve to supply liquid to said circular conduit, said circular conduit having orifices directed to discharge liquid against said ball, a second conduit means for dischargmg liquid into said tank, a ball seating surface in said second conduit means, a ball in said circular conduit movable against said ball seating surface to obstruct said second conduit means and thereby prevent said liquid from discharging through said second conduit means, and means including a link member pivotally supported by said guide means, said link member actuated by said manually movable linkage, a second link member depending from said first named link member, the end of said secondlink member inserted through an opening in said circular conduit to releasably hold said ball away from the ball seating surface in said second conduit means.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said circular conduit is internally provided with a surface inclining toward said second conduit means and a projection adjacent said first conduit means to limit the movement of said ball therein between the first conduit means and said second conduit means.

6. A flush control device for a flush tank wherein liquid is discharged through a discharge valve opened by manually movable link members and liquid is supplied to said flush tank through an inlet valve, comprising a circular conduit, conduit means adapted for connection to said inlet valve to supply liquid to said circular conduit, said circular conduit having spaced orifices for spraying liquid therethrough, a second conduit means for discharging liquid from said circular conduit, stopper means movable in said circular conduit to obstruct said second conduit means and thereby prevent said liquid from discharging through said second conduit means, and means for releasably holding said stopper means away from said second conduit means.

7. A flush control device for a flush tank wherein liquid is discharged through a discharge valve opened by manually movable link members and liquid is supplied to said flush tank through an inlet valve, comprising a circular conduit, conduit means adapted for connection to said inlet valve to supply liquid to said circular conduit,

said circular conduit having spaced orifices for spraying liquid therethrough, a second conduit means for discharging liquid from said circular conduit, a ball seating surface in said second conduit means, a ball in said circular conduit movable against said ball seating surface to obstruct said second conduit means and thereby prevent said liquid from discharging through said second conduit means, an upset in the wall of said circular conduit forming a restriction to retain said ball, a second upset in the Wall of said circular conduit forming an incline to said second conduit means, said circular conduit having an opening in the Wall thereof, means for insertion through said hole for releasably holding said ball between said incline and said restriction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,527,909 Bowers Oct. 3, 1950 2,729,826 Downin Jan. 10, 1956 2,744,262 Boyd May 8, 1956