AU593135B2 - A urinal - Google Patents

Description

FORM LODGED AT SUBOF COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALI |l8 S8EP 18 SE 5? PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION 93135 wbo NW* S F Ref: 30290 &aoandmeqts amAde tundar Scion 49.

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(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE: Class Int. Class Application Number: Lodged: PH7907 8 September 1J86

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Accepted: Published: Priority: Related Art: I VENTY DOLLARS hIIUNOHE SName and Address of Applicant: P.A '-al Inventor: Address for Service: Caroma Industries Limited 176 Victoria Avenue Chatswood New South Wales 2067

AUSTRALIA

Stephen John Cummings, Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys, Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street, Sydney, New South Nales, 2000, Australia Complete Specification for the invention entitled: A Urinal The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us 5815/2 The present invention relates to urinals and, in particular, to a urinal which is able to be directly connected to a mains water supply.

Conventional urinals are provided with a cistern separate from the urinal and which is connected between the mains water supply and the water inlet of the urinal. The main purpose of the cistern is to provide a reservoir of water used to flush the urinal. However, an important public health function performed by the cistern is to ensure that there is not a direct connection between the urinal and the mains water supply. The reason for. this is that if there were a direct connection and a fault were to develop such that the urinal openings were in some way blocked so that water was dammed or otherwise held within the urinal and, at the same, the control valve or tap on the mains supply were Sto fail and remain in the open state, then it would be height such that there may be reverse syphoning of contaminated water from the urinal into the mains water supply.

,j1) With the advent of the AIDS virus this public health requirement is strictly enforced.

However, the cost of a cistern for each urinal, or V4 I group of urinals substantially increases the cost of the overall toilet installation. Substantial cost savings could be achieved if the need for an individual cistern, and its Sinstallation, could be overcome. It is the object of the present invention to provide a urinal which is able to be directly connected to a mains ,'il 2 1 1t I Swater supply without the need for an intervening cistern, and which still meets all public health requirements.

In accordance with the present invention there is disclosed a urinal having a water inlet able to be directly connected to a mains water supply, said urinal comprising a urine receiving bowl, a drain in the bottom of said bowl connected with and located above a drain outlet, a flushing chamberclocated behind an exterior surface of said urinal, below said water inlet to receive water therefrom, having a plurality of spaced apart flushing inlets located adjacent the bottom of said chamber and leading into the upper regions of said bowl, and having at least one overflow outlet located intermediate said water inlet and said flushing inlets; said overflow outlet(s) being connected to said drain outlet whereby in the event of blockage, of said flushing inlets, any water within said chamber cannot rise above the level of said overflow outlet(s) and thereby reach the level of said inlet.

I et .An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which; Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the urinal of the I, preferred embodiment, V. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the urinal of Fig. 1, S,'Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the urinal of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the urinal of Fig. 1 with the interior components illustrated, Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view through the upper portion of the urinal of Fig. 4, and 0e^, 3 4 Il

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r Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of Fig. 3.

As seen in Figs. 1 to 3, the urinal 1 of the preferred embodiment is formed from porcelain and is able to be mounted on a wall 11 (Fig. 5) without any fasteners being visible. The urinal is provided with a bowl 2 which receives urine and is provided with a drain 3 having a lock down grate 4 (known per se) as seen in Fig. 2.

The bowl 2 is provided with a downwardly sloping rim 5 and is flushed via a plurality of flushing inlets 6 which extend around the top of the bowl 2 as. best seen in Fig. 1, and also around the rim 5 .as seen in Fig. 6.

Turning now to Fig. 4 the drain 3 leads to a conventional P-trap 7 and thence to a drain outlet 8 which is connected to the sewer (not illustrated).

The urinal 1 is provided with an L-shaped pipe 9 which is connected to the mains water supply (not illustrated) 4 1 and the supply of water to the urinal 1 is controlled by a 4 44 solenoid valve 2 Located within the upper prtion of the urinal °2;11" Located within the upper portion of the urinal 1 .4 .4 4t4 4 tt is a flushing chamber 12 having a pair of side walls 13 and 14, a floor 15 and a front wall 16 formed by the exterior surface 17 (Fig, 1) of the urinal 1.

As seen in Fig. 4, the floor 15 of the flushing chamber 12 is provided with a plurality of flushing inlets 6 which lead directly into the top of the bowl 2.

The flushing chamber 12 is provided with an overflow outlet 21 which leads directly to the P-trap 7. As indicated 4 i i-ii-"--YI-'iiX~-I -iililitli--~l~ ~vm in Fig. 4, a second overflow outlet 23 is preferably also provided. As seen in Fig. 5, each overflow outlet 21 (and 23) is provided with a grommet 24 which seals the overflow outlet where it enters the flushing'chamber 12.

As seen in Fig. 6, the rim 5 is provided with a drainage channel 19 which includes regularly spaced flushing inlets 6 and which are connected directly with the flushing chamber 12.

In operation, when it is intended to flush the urinal 1, the solenoid valve 10 is operated for a predetermined period so as to allow mains water to flow through the pipe 9 and into the flushing chamber 12. As the flushing chamber 12 is filling with water, the flushing chamber 12 is simultaneously being drained with water which passes through the central flushing inlets 6 and into the drainage channel o 19 where it is distributed around the bowl 2. The water passes through the flushing inlets 6 in the drainage channel 19 and thence into the bowl 2. In the normal flushing I t operation, the flushing chamber which preferably holds from °4 2 2 litres to 2.5 litres, never has a water level which approaches the level of the overflow outlet 21.

c However, if all, or substantially all, of the Sflushing inlets 6 should be blocked by vandals, then when 2 the urinal 2 is next flushed, the rate at which water drains from the flushing chamber 12 is substantially reduced.

Accordingly, it is possible for the water level within the flushing chamber 12 to reach and slightly exceed the level of the overflow outlet 21.

i:-C In this circumstance, water from the flushing chamber 12 passes into the overflow outlets 21 and 23 where it is drained harmlessly away. Most importantly, because of the overflow outlets 21 and 23, the level of water within the flushing chamber 12 never reaches the height of pipe 9.

As a consequence, there is no possibility of water passing from the urinal 1 and its flushing chamber 12, into the pipe 9. In this way, the mains water supply cannot be contaminated. In order to ensure an adequate degree of safety in this regard, the pipe 9 is preferably located at least above the overflow outlet 21.

The worst case possible occurs when the solenoid valve 10 jams in the open position, and all the flushing inlets 6 are deliberately blocked. Even in this extreme circumstance, the water from pipe 9 drops into chamber 12 and flows down the outlets 21 and 23. Again no contamin-

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ation of the mains supply can occur.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art S that the abovedescribed arrangement includes a number of t t L features which render the urinal substantially tamperproof.

In particular, the water inlet andoutlet are hidden by the exterior surface of the urinal and the large number of flushing inlets 6 make it difficult for all, or substantially all of these inlets 6 to be simultaneously bloc:ked.

The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled I in the art, can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

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Claims (9)

1. A urinal having a water inlet able to be directly connected to a mains water supply, said urinal comprising a urine receiving bowl, a drain in the bottom of said bowl connected with and located above a drain outlet, a flushing ckozeA e Qf<ino\ Qjsec- chamber located behind an exterior surface of said urinal, below said water inlet to receive water therefrom, having a plurality of spaced apart flushing-inlets located adjacent the bottom of said chamber and leading into the upper regions of said bowl, and having at least one overflow outlet located intermediate said water inlet and said flushing inletp; said overflow outlet(s) being connected to said drain outlet whereby in the event of blockage of said flushing inlets, any water within said chamber cannot rise above the level of said overflow outlet(s) and thereby reach the level of said inlet.

2. The urinal as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bowl has a rim with a drainage channel extending around said rim and connected to said flushing chamber adjacent its bottom, It I. S and further ones of said flushing inlets are spaced around said rim and lead from said drainage channel to said bowl.

3. The urinal as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein each said overflow outlet is connected to said drain outlet via a P-trap located between said drain and drain outlet.

4. The urinal as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 i! wherein said exterior surface of said urinal forms a front wall of said flushing chamber.

The urinal as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said water inlet, flushing chamber, and overflow im C r 7 li~ 1 outlet(s) are all covered by said urinal exterior surface.

6. The urinal as claimed in any one of claims 1 to wherein said bowl drain is provided with a lock down grate (known per se).

7. The urinal as claimed in any one of claims 1 co 6 wherein said water inlet is directly connectable to said mains water supply via a solenoid operated valve.

8. The urinal as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein said inlet is spaced above said outlet(s) by at least 20mm and the capacity of said.flushing chamber is approximately 2 litres.

9. The urinal as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 and made from porcelain. A urinal able to be directly connected to a mains supply, said urinal being substantially as described with reference to the drawings. DATED this EIGHTH day of SEPTEMBER 1987 CAROMA INDUSTRIES LIMITED SI S( *I Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON FERGUSON 8