US3546715A

US3546715A - Toilet tank flush valve

Info

Publication number: US3546715A
Application number: US769335A
Authority: US
Inventors: William E Wustner
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1968-10-21
Filing date: 1968-10-21
Publication date: 1970-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 1987-12-15

Description

Dec. 15, 1970 w, E, WUSTNER 3,546,715

TOILET TANK FLUSH VALVE Filed oct. 21, 1968 60 l 53 )Mew/n ff f7 54 5y p51 #Wa/4M f. Wwf/Vm, l

United States Patent O "ice 3,546,715 TOILET TANK FLUSH VALVE William E. Wustner, 421 Sylvania Ave., Glenside, Pa. 19038 Filed Oct. 21, 1968, Ser. No. 769,335 Int. Cl. E03d 1/34 U.S. Cl. 4-67 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to adjustable toilet tank ush valves and more particularly to such valves with manual adjustment to provide reduced discharge from the tank if desired, and also with a control element to permit of full tank discharge if desired.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRIOR ART In some areas and at some seasons of the year water shortages are serious and it is desirable to conserve water to the maximum extent.

Various valves have heretofore been proposed to control the tank discharge so as to reduce unnecessary discharge of water from the toilet tank.

In my prior Patents Nos. 3,324,482 and 3,331,084 adjustable valves are shown in which the adjustment is made at the valve ball which controls the water delivery with provisions at the operating handle to select full discharge or reduced discharge as desired. These structures were however relatively complex to construct and assemble.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention an adjustable toilet tank flush valve is provided, with a simple Ibut effective adjustable venting control valve at the handle and selector member at the handle to render the venting control valve ineifective if desired.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a selectively operable toilet tank flush valve for partial or complete toilet tank discharge which is simple in construction but effective in operation.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toilet tank flush valve of the character aforesaid which can be readily installed on toilets now in use and which may be used on new installations.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toilet tank flush valve in which the operating handle has built thereinto an adjustable air flow control valve to limit the tank discharge and which has associated therewith a slidable control element for rendering the air flow valve ineffective and thereby permitting complete discharge of the toilet tank.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the description and claims.

scription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, in which:

3,546,715 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 FIG. l is a view partly in elevation and partly in vertical section of a toilet flush tank having a preferred embodiment of the present invention incorporated therein;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, enlarged, taken approximately on the line 2 2 of FIG. 1, and showing the setting for partial toilet tank discharge;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 2, showing the setting for complete tank discharge; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 with the adjustable valve positioned for cut of of air flow.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawings herein are illustrative merely, and that various modilications and changes can be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a toilet Hush tank 10 is shown having a rear wall 11, a front wall 12, side walls 13 and a bottom wall 14.

A fitting 15 of well known type is provided having a threaded section 16 held in place by a nut 17 engaging a washer 18 and having a delivery pipe 19 communicating with the hopper (not shown) of the toilet, below the Ivalve seat 20.

The fitting 15 has an upright overow pipe 22 of well known type carried thereby and connected below the valve seat 20 for discharge.

The tank 10 can have a water supply valve 26 with a water delivery pipe 27 carried thereby and controlled by a oat 28 in a well known manner, with a hush tube 29 extending down into the overflow pipe 22.

The fitting 15, as shown in FIG. 1, has a hollow valve ball 30, of rubber or the like, with a liexible carrying and seating plate 31 engageable with the valve seat 20 hingedly carried on a mounting ring on the pipe 22. The ball 30 has an opening 35 in the bottom thereof to permit the entry of water to the interior, depending on its venting, and discharge of water from the interior.

A valve ball actuator comprising a chain 37 for raising the seating plate 31 from the valve seat 20, is connected at its upper end to a lever 40.

The lever 40 is secured to a shaft 411 on which a handle 42 is mounted for manual actuation.

The shaft 41 is carried within a sleeve 44 which has an enlarged head 45 engaging the exterior of the front wall 12 and a threaded portion 46.

The sleeve 44 is held in place by a nut 47 which engages the threaded portion 46 and the interior of the wall 12.

The shaft 41 has secured therein the shank 49 of a valve body 50.

The valve body 50 has an internally threaded bore 51 with an enlarged outer end 52 for the reception of the threaded shank 53 of a screw 54 which serves as an adjustable valve plug. The screw 54 has a head 55 which is received in the end bore 52 and a transverse valve passageway 56 is controlled by the positioning of the screw shank 53. The screw head has a slot 57 for manual adjustment by a screwdriver.

The valve body 50` has an external cylindrical portion 58 with an outwardly extending terminal flange 59.

A slidable control member 60 in the form of a knob is carried on the cylindrical portion 58 and has an internal shoulder 61 for engagement with the flange 59 to limit the outward movement thereof. The control member 60` in its outer portion, as shown in FIG. 2, exposes the Valve passageway 56 and in its inner position as shown in FIG. 3 closes the passageway 56.

The valve body 50 has extending therefrom, through a bore 63, in the shaft 41, a flexible vent tube 64 which extends to the interior of the valve ball 30 for venting air therefrom.

The Inode of operation will now be pointed out.

Assuming that the flush tank is filled with water to a level determined by the float 28, the handle `42 can be turned to ush the toilet.`

It' it is desired to deliver the entire contents ot the tank 10 the control knob 60, prior to turning the handle 42, is moved inwardly to the position shown in FIG. 3 to close the passageway 56.

Upon turning the handle 42 and the shaft 41 to which it is connected the lever 40 through the chain 37 will raise the valve ball 30 from its seat 20 and permit water to be discharged through the fitting in a conventional manner.

The valve ball 30 will be buoyed up in the usual `manner and will fall with the falling water level in the tank 10. The valve ball 30 will not be vented and will'retain its maximum buoyancy.

If it is desired to discharge only part of the contents of the tank 10 and thereby conserve Water, the control knob 60 is moved outwardly to the position shown in FIG. 2, prior to turning the handle 42.

Upon turning of the handle 42 the valve ball 30 is raised from its seat as before. The valve ball 30 will, by reason of the positioning of the control knob 60 with respect to the valve passageway 56, have air discharged therefrom through the vent pipe 64, the bore 51 and the passageway 56.

At the same time, and dependent upon the setting of the shank 53 with respect to the passageway 56, water will enter the valve ball through the opening 35, and reduce the buoyancy of the valve ball 30. The valve ball 30 will thus move to closed position and engage the seat 20 before the entire contents of the tank 10 has been discharged.

The positioning of the shank 53 with respect to the passageway 56 permits of adjusting the rate of venting of the valve ball 30 and thus the rate of delivery of water into the interior of the valve ball 30 to reduce its buoyancy.

The position as shown in FIG. 3 is for non-venting and full discharge of water from the tank 110.

After the valve ball 30 has been seated on the valve seat 20 any Water therein will be drained out through the drain opening so that upon the next actuation of the handle 42 either maximum or limited flushing can be selected and carried out.

Upon the completion of the desired flushing action water will be supplied to the tank 10 through the water supply valve 26 to bring the level in the tank 10 to that determined by the float 28.

It will thus be seen that simple but effective apparatus has been provided for carrying out the objects and purposes of the invention.

I claim:

1. A toilet flush valve construction comprising a discharge valve tting having a seat,

a valve member for engagement with said seat and having a hollow interior portion and an opening in the bottom thereof,

manually operable members for moving said valve member from said seat including an actuating member connected to said valve member and an angularly swingable handle member connected to said actuating member and means for controlling the buoyancy of said valve member,

said means including an air vent connection to the interior of said valve member and extending through said handle member, and

members for controlling the delivery of water from the tank into the interior of said valve member,

said last members including an adjustable air vent valve in said air vent connection and carried by said handle member,

said air vent valve controlling a discharge passageway portion of said air Vent connection terminating at said handle member and an exteriorly accessible movable control member car-y ried by said handle member and selectively movable thereon to a position to close said discharge passageway and render said air vent valve ineffective.

2. A toilet flush valve as defined in claim 1, in which said manually operable members include a shaft to which said handle member and said actuating member are connected, and said air vent valve is carried by said shaft. 3. A toilet flush valve as defined in claim 2, in which said air vent has a valve body carried by said shaft with a threaded member therein,

said valve body has said discharge passageway therein and said passageway is controlled by the positioning of said threaded member with respect thereto, and

said movable control member is slidably mounted on said valve body and is movable thereon with respect to said discharge passageway for selectively opening or closing said discharge passageway.

4. A toilet ush valve as defined in claim 3, in which said air vent connection has a portion disposed in said shaft and communicating with said valve body.

5. A toilet flush valve as defined in claim 1, in which said air vent valve includes a threaded member rotatable for venting adjustment.

6. A toilet flush valve as defined in claim 5, in which said air vent valve has a valve body with a threaded member therein, and

said valve body has a vent passageway controlled by the positioning of said threaded member with respect to said passageway.

7. A toilet ush valve as defined in claim 6, in which said control member is lmounted on said valve body and is movable thereon for selectively opening or closing said discharge passageway.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,365,730 l/1968 Chiappetta 4-67(A) LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner R. I. SMITH, Assistant Examiner