WO2013011454A1

WO2013011454A1 - Drain system for a flushing tank

Info

Publication number: WO2013011454A1
Application number: PCT/IB2012/053637
Authority: WO
Inventors: Francisco Valneide FERREIRA
Original assignee: Valsir S.P.A.
Priority date: 2011-07-15
Filing date: 2012-07-16
Publication date: 2013-01-24
Also published as: EP2732105A1; ITMI20111321A1

Abstract

A drain system (1) of a flushing tank (2) comprises a drain (8), that extends along an axis (X) and has a drain opening (11) communicating with the inside of the tank (2) and is housed in a seat (6) delimited by a collar (7); and a drain tube (19), provided with an inner conduit (20) communicating with the drain (8); the conduit (20) has a vertical portion (21) that extends along the axis (X) and comprises at least one substantially cylindrical enlarged chamber (24), set along the axis (X) downstream of the drain (8) and radially widened with respect to the drain (8), and a section narrowing (25) set downstream of the enlarged chamber (24).

Description

DRAIN SYSTEM FOR A FLUSHING TANK

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a drain system of a flushing tank.

BACKGROUND ART

As known, a flushing tank is connected to the sanitary fixture to be flushed by means of a drain system which generally extends from a bottom wall of the tank and communicates with the tank by means of a drain opening on which a flushing valve acts; when the flushing valve is opened by the user, the water contained in the tank pours through the opening into the drain system and then into the sanitary fixture to be flushed.

In general terms, the drain system comprises a drain tube and possibly connection elements or tubular pieces.

For example, in a known solution, the tank has a cylindrical socket union which extends downwards from the bottom wall of the tank; the so-called "drain" is housed inside the socket union and consists of a cylindrical lower end portion of the support structure of the flushing valve; the drain is fluid- tightly coupled to the lateral wall of the socket union and has the drain ^opening cooperating with a shutter of the flushing valve. The socket union is connected at the bottom to the actual drain tube, which normally has a circular cross section and a curved shape.

In general, the inner section of the drain system is almost uniform; in particular, the drain and the drain tube have substantially equal inner diameter and therefore substantially have the same inner cross section. Indeed, it is sought to ensure, as far as possible, a substantially uniform course of the water flow, delimited by surfaces which are substantially continuous and free from discontinuity elements. Therefore, the initial edge of the drain tube substantially faces and is set very close to the free end of the drain.

For merely constructional reasons, as the drain is housed inside the socket union from which the drain tube departs, in some cases the drain tube is not uninterruptedly connected to (and in direct contact with) the free end of the drain, but is set a short distance therefrom, with a consequent variation of section of the drain system.

Drain systems of the above-mentioned type seem susceptible to improvements, especially in terms of operational effectiveness and reliability, and production simplicity and cost-effectiveness.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a drain system of a flushing tank which is improved with respect to prior art solutions; in particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a drain system which is particularly simple, fully effective and reliable, and which enables the performance of draining water from the tank to be improved.

The present invention thus relates to a drain system of a flushing tank as essentially defined in the appended claim 1, and for the preferred aspects thereof, in the dependent claims.

Basically, the drain system according to the present invention comprises a tubular drain, that extends along an axis and has a drain opening communicating with the inside of the tank and is housed in a seat delimited by a collar; and a drain tube, provided with an inner conduit communicating with the drain; the conduit has a vertical portion that extends along the axis and comprises at least one substantially cylindrical enlarged chamber, set along the axis downstream of the drain and radially widened with respect to the drain, and a section narrowing set downstream of the^' enlarged chamber.

In particular, the drain axially extends between an upper edge, that delimits the drain opening, and a lower edge, that is axially spaced apart from a free end edge of the collar that delimits the seat; and the- enlarged chamber is defined inside the seat by a difference of inner section and/or diameter between the drain and the seat .

The narrowing is advantageously defined by a flange substantially perpendicular to the axis and provided with a central hole, carried by a substantially vertical cylindrical sleeve that extends along the axis and is fitted radially outside and around the collar.

According to an aspect of the invention, the drain tube is removably fitted onto the collar by means of the sleeve, and is also rotatable with respect to the collar.

Due to its particular geometry, the inventive system enables particularly efficient conditions of drained water flow to be obtained; the drain system of the invention is thus characterized by high draining performance, contributing to increasing the overall efficiency of the drain device of the tank.

The system is also effective irrespective of the installation height of the tank which, with traditional drain tubes, is a factor that can compromise or in any case alter the draining performance .

According to further aspects of the invention, the inventive drain system, in addition to being easy to be assembled on the tank, can also be easily disassembled from the tank; and is also rotatable with respect to the tank, which further facilitates assembly and installation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described in detail in the following non-limiting embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a side cut-out view of a flushing tank provided with a drain system in accordance with the invention;

figure 2 shows a detail of the drain system in figure 1, on enlarged scale;

figure 3 shows the detail in figure 2 according to a variation of the invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In figure 1, numeral 1 indicates as a whole a drain system which connects a flushing tank 2, provided with a flush valve assembly 3, to a sanitary appliance (not shown) , e.g. a WC bowl.

Tank 2 comprises a hollow body 4, e.g. made of plastic or ceramic material, defining a water collecting vessel; a lower bottom wall 5 of tank 2 has a through seat 6; in the example shown (but not necessarily), seat 6 is delimited by a substantially cylindrical collar 7 having an inner diameter Dl and which extends downwards from the bottom wall 5 along an axis X (vertical, in use) .

A drain 8 is housed inside seat 6 and consists of a tubular element, in particular substantially cylindrical and having an inner diameter D2 (smaller than diameter Dl of seat 6 and collar 7) , fluid-tightly coupled, e.g. by means of one or more radial sealing rings 9, to an inner lateral surface of seat 6.

Drain 8 extends along axis X and is therefore coaxial with collar 7 and is provided, at respective axially opposite ends, with an upper edge 10 delimiting a drain opening 11, with which a movable shutter 12 of the flush valve assembly 3 cooperates, and with a lower edge 13 which is axially spaced apart from a free end edge 14 of collar 7.

The flush valve assembly 3 is substantially known per se and therefore not described or illustrated in detail for simplicity.

In general terms, shutter 12 of the flush valve assembly 3 is set at a lower end of an overflow tube 15 which extends and slides along axis X and is controlled by actuating members 16 in order to selectively open/close the drain opening 11.

With reference also to figure 2, drain system 1 comprises a drain tube 19 provided with an inner conduit 20 which extends substantially along and around an axis A, and connects the drain opening 11 to the sanitary- appliance to be flushed.

In the non-limiting example shown, axis A is a curved axis and conduit 20 comprises, starting from tank 2, a substantially vertical portion 21 (where axis A coincides with axis X) connected to tank 2, a curved portion 22, and a substantially horizontal portion 23 connected to the sanitary appliance to be flushed.

Conduit 20 comprises at least one radially widened chamber 24, set downstream (in the normal flow direction of the water in conduit 20, from the tank 2 of the sanitary appliance to be flushed) of drain opening 11, and a section narrowing 25 or bottleneck set downstream of the enlarged chamber 24. In particular, the enlarged chamber 24 is set along the vertical portion 21 of conduit 20 and downstream of drain 8, namely of the lower edge 13 of drain 8.

In the example shown, portions 21, 22, 23 of conduit 20 are defined inside a substantially vertical, cylindrical sleeve 27 (extending along axis X) , an elbow connector 28, and a substantially horizontal end tube 29, respectively; sleeve 27 and tube 29 are substantially orthogonal to each other and are connected by means of connector 28.

Advantageously (but not necessarily) , the drain tube 19 is a monolithic piece made of plastics, sleeve 27, connector 28 and tube 29 of which are respective portions.

Sleeve 27 is connected to collar 7; according to the preferred embodiment shown in figures 1-2, the sleeve 27 and thus the drain tube 19 as a whole are removably fitted onto collar 7 and are rotatable with respect thereto around axis X; in particular, sleeve 27 is fitted coaxially and radially outside and around collar 7, and one or more elastic sealing rings 30 are radially interposed between collar 7 and sleeve 27; the sealing rings 30 are preferably housed in respective circumferential grooves 31 formed on an outer lateral wall of collar 7 (i.e. of seat 6 which houses drain 8); sleeve 27 is mechanically coupled by interference to collar 7, e.g. due to the elasticity of the sealing rings 30.

Sleeve 27 has an annular flange 32 which is radially internal and substantially perpendicular to axis X; flange 32 has an inner peripheral edge 33 which delimits a central hole 34 having a diameter D3 similar (substantially equal or only slightly different) to the inner diameter D2 of the drain 8 and the drain opening 11.

Connector 28 extends from edge 33 and the portion 22 therein has a diameter substantially equal to hole In the embodiment in figures 1-2, the free end edge 14 of collar 7 substantially abuts against flange 32.

The enlarged chamber 24 is defined inside sleeve 27 and seat 6 by the difference of section (and of inner diameter) between drain 8 (and therefore drain opening 11) and seat 6 (i.e. collar 7 which delimits seat 6), and in that the lower edge 13 of the drain is axially spaced apart from the free end edge 14 of collar 7. Chamber 24 is substantially cylindrical, circular in section and has its (inner) diameter D2 greater than diameter Dl of drain 8 (and of the drain opening 11) . Therefore, chamber 24 has a cross-section (orthogonal to axis X) having a greater area than the cross-section of drain opening 11 and/or drain 8, in particular measured at lower edge 13.

Approximately, the cross-section -of chamber 24 has an area which is greater by at least about 10% than the cross-section of drain 8, i.e. about 10÷20%.

Chamber 24 has an axial length (measured along axis A) of at least about 5 mm, in particular of at least 10÷15 mm.

Narrowing 25 is defined by flange 32 provided with hole 34.

In the variation in figure 3, where similar or equal details to those already described are indicated with the same numbers, drain system 1 is completely similar to that previously described, but the free end edge 14 of collar 7 is axially spaced apart from flange 32; sleeve 27 is in fact longer than the example shown above. The length of sleeve 27 is determined according to the position where tank 2 is installed, and mainly according to the height of tank 2 with respect to the sanitary appliance to be flushed.

In this case, the enlarged chamber 24 comprises, upstream of narrowing 25, two substantially cylindrical, consecutive widened portions 41, 42 having a different diameter: a first widened portion 41 is defined by the section difference (i.e. inner diameter) between drain 8 and seat 6 in which it is inserted; a second widened portion 42 is defined by the section difference (i.e. inner diameter) between collar 7 and sleeve 27. The portion 42 having greater diameter is set downstream of the portion 41 having smaller diameter.

Also in this case, narrowing 25 is advantageously set on the vertical portion 21 of conduit 20 (like both the portions 41, 42 of chamber 24) and therefore upstream of the curved portion 22 (i.e. of the elbow connector 28) ; narrowing 25 is preferably set immediately before or at the beginning of portion 22, and defines a junction section between sleeve 27 and connector 28. Finally, it is apparent that further modifications and variations may be made to the drain system described and illustrated herein, without departing from the scope of the appended claims .

Claims

1. A drain system (1) of a flushing tank (2), comprising a tubular drain (8) , that extends along an axis (X) and has a drain opening (11) communicating with the inside of the tank (2) and is housed in a seat (6) delimited by a collar (7) ; and a drain tube (19) , provided with an inner conduit (20) communicating with the drain (8); the system being characterized in that the conduit (20) has a vertical portion (21) that extends along the axis (X) and comprises at least one substantially cylindrical enlarged chamber (24) , set along the axis (X) downstream of the drain (8) and radially widened with respect to the drain (8) , and a section narrowing (25) set downstream of the enlarged chamber (24) .

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the drain (8) extends axially between an upper edge (10) , that delimits the drain opening (11) , and a lower edge (13) , that is axially spaced from a free end edge (14) of the collar (7) that delimits the seat (6) ; and the enlarged chamber (24) is defined inside the seat (6) by a difference of inner section and/or diameter between the drain (8) and the seat (6) .

3. A system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the enlarged chamber (24) has inner cross section area and/or diameter greater than the drain (8) .

4. A system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the narrowing (25) is defined by a flange (32) substantially perpendicular to the axis (X) and provided with a central hole (34) .

5. A system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the drain tube (19) comprises a substantially vertical cylindrical sleeve (27) that extends along the axis (X) and is fitted radially outside and around the collar (7) .

6. A system according to claim 5, wherein the drain tube (19) is fitted removably onto the collar (7) by means of the sleeve (27) .

7. A system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the sleeve (27) is rotatable with respect to the collar (7) .

8. A system according to one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the sleeve (27) is mechanically fitted by interference to the collar (7) and one or more elastic sealing rings (30) are radially inserted between the collar (7) and the sleeve (27) .

9. A system according to one of claims 5 to 8 , wherein the sleeve (27) ends inferiorly with the narrowing (25) .

10. A system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the enlarged chamber (24) comprises, upstream of the narrowing (25) , two successive widened portions (41, 42) , substantially cylindrical and having different inner section and/or diameter.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein the widened portion (42) having greater section and/or diameter is set downstream of the other widened portion (41).

12. A system according to claim 10 or 11, wherein a first widened portion (41) is defined by the difference of inner section and/or diameter between the drain (8) and the seat (6) in which the drain (8) is housed; and a second widened portion (42) is defined by the difference of inner section and/or diameter between the collar (7) and a sleeve (27) of the drain tube (19) fitted onto the collar (7) .

13. A system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the narrowing (25) is set upstream of a curved portion (22) of the conduit (20) .

14. A system according to claim 13, wherein the narrowing (25) is set immediately before or at the beginning of the curved portion (22) .

15. Flushing tank (2), comprising a drain system (1) according to one of the preceding claims.