JPS6142057B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of liquid flush toilets, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for reducing the amount of cleaning fluid required during a flush cycle.

Hereinafter, a toilet that is flushed with water, that is, a flush toilet, will be described as a typical type of toilet that is flushed with liquid.

In the prior art, the amount of water is reduced by discharging the waste water from the bowl in a manner that minimizes the mixing of the flush water introduced and the waste water discharged, thereby minimizing the loss of water introduced into the drainage system. It is known to save on In conventional flushing systems that have come to do this, partial negative pressure is introduced into the drain trap of the toilet to begin the siphoning action of waste water from the toilet bowl, after which flush water is introduced. It is becoming more and more common. This type of cleaning system is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. It is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,883, which became a patent on September 26th. Devices of the type disclosed in these patents have the disadvantage that a check valve must be provided at the trap to prevent gas or liquid from flowing back from the sewer line.
Furthermore, the devices disclosed in these patents require other drive or control devices that are prone to failure during operation and are expensive to manufacture.

Efforts to reduce the required volume of wash water have taken various forms. One of these forms is called Ragot.
U.S. Patent No. 29, 1974
No. 3,843,978, and in the arrangement disclosed in that patent, a high pressure water jet is actuated within the trap to initiate the flushing action by an electrically actuated switch. A high pressure water jet is actuated within the bowl by a switch to create a whirlpool flushing effect. Electrical sensors are required to regulate and control these high pressure water jets and refills. This type of toilet therefore requires complex and expensive equipment.

Other cleaning configurations include Grasseschi
U.S. Pat. The first of the two phases has a high momentum and drains the bowl, and the second phase has a low momentum and refills the bowl. It is now possible to reseal the The device disclosed in this patent is also complex and expensive.

It is also known in the art to use cleaning systems in which a jet of water is used to drain the bowl and flush water flowing in parallel paths is used to flush the bowl. This type of cleaning system is called Wiggs.
U.S. Patent No. 28, 1961
Disclosed in No. 3010115. However, this cleaning system does not provide any flow regulation or metering which is important to reduce the amount of cleaning water to a minimum value so that cleaning water savings can be realized.

As is clear from the foregoing, prior art configurations can utilize conventional tank fill valves, flushing levers, and flushing spheres, and require the addition of other expensive and complex valve mechanisms and their control mechanisms. It does not disclose a simple form of cleaning system that can provide maximum cleaning water savings without requiring any. It is known to use tank fill valves that are positively opened and closed using the fluid pressure of the supply water. This type of valve is also used in embodiments of the present invention and is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat.
U.S. Patent No. 4065095, which became a patent on the 27th,
and US Pat. No. 4,180,096, issued December 25, 1979.

The object of the present invention is to provide a toilet and a method for flushing the same which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art and allows the use of conventional tank filling valve and flushing lever mechanisms. In the toilet and the cleaning method thereof according to the present invention, cleaning is performed so that accumulated liquid and waste materials in the bowl are effectively discharged, and then a cleaning liquid is introduced into the bowl, and the cleaning liquid and the waste material are introduced into the bowl. Mixing with waste material is minimized. The required amount of pool liquid is then introduced into the bowl. The introduction of this pooled liquid is most effective, without the need for special valve members or other expensive mechanisms that are prone to operational defects, and is the most efficient way to introduce the liquid required for a single flush. The amount can be minimized.

According to the invention, the toilet comprises a bowl, an outlet from the bowl and a flushing inlet to the bowl, through which liquid can be introduced to flush the bowl. and the toilet is further provided with a weir level at the outlet of the bowl to provide a weir level at a height sufficient to maintain a preselected liquid level in the bowl. and a cleaning device connected to the trapway and the wash inlet, the cleaning device introducing liquid into the trapway to initiate siphoning from the bowl. and a second device for introducing liquid into the bowl through the flush inlet in a time-delayed relationship with respect to the onset of siphoning of liquid from the bowl. The cleaning device includes an upper chamber, a lower chamber, and a cleaning mechanism for discharging liquid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber, and the second device comprises a first chamber portion of the lower chamber. the first device has a second chamber portion separate from the lower chamber;
The first chamber portion is adapted to begin collecting liquid in response to actuation of the first device, and the first chamber portion is in communication with the wash inlet via a siphon portion. , to the wash inlet until a time delay corresponding to the time required for the liquid stored by the first chamber section to fill to the flow level of the siphon section of the first chamber section has occurred. A toilet is provided that is configured to prevent the flow of liquid.

The invention also provides a toilet having a bowl with an outlet at the bottom and a trapway connected to the outlet of the bowl, the bowl containing a pool of liquid and waste material in the pool of liquid. a jet of liquid sufficient to initiate the evacuation of accumulated liquid and waste material from the bowl through the trapway, and to cause the jet of liquid to Thus, the cleaning liquid is caused to flow into the chamber section having the siphon portion in response to the initiation of said discharging, and the cleaning liquid flows into said chamber section after said discharging is started and before said discharging is completed. filling the siphon with a cleaning liquid to a flow level and discharging the cleaning liquid through the siphon into the bowl, thereby minimizing mixing of the cleaning liquid with the accumulated liquid and waste material; Provided is a toilet cleaning method characterized by:

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings, but before doing so, the following should be understood. That is, the present invention is not limited to its application to the details of the construction and construction of the parts shown in the accompanying drawings, but may be embodied in other embodiments and in various other embodiments. . It should also be understood that the terminology used below is for purposes of explanation and not limitation. It should be noted that the same members and parts are given the same numbers throughout the drawings.

The flush toilet 10 has a bowl 12 and a flush water tank 1
4. The bowl 12 has an outlet 16 at its bottom and an inlet cleaning nozzle 18 extending around its upper periphery. Wash nozzle 18 may be any type of conventional nozzle for discharging wash water into bowl 12. The top wall 22 of the bowl 12 is provided with an inlet port 20 for receiving wash water from the wash tank 14 and for transferring the wash water to the wash nozzle via a passageway 24. . trap road 2
6 is sealingly connected to the outlet 16 at a seal 28 to permit water and dirt to be discharged from the bowl 12. That trap road 2
6 provides a weir 28' for setting the desired weir level which determines the level of standing water in the bowl 12. Trapway 26 includes a siphon jet 30 configured to discharge water into the trapway adjacent bowl outlet 16 to initiate siphoning from the bowl. Water is directed to the siphon jet 30 by a passageway 32 communicating with an inlet port 34 in the top wall 22 of the toilet bowl 12. The passageway 32 also has a vent tube 36 that extends upwardly through the wash water tank 14 and has an upper end 38 that is connected to the atmosphere inside the wash water tank 14. As will be described later, it is designed to perform an air exhaust function.

The wash water tank 14 has a removable cover 42
It has a housing 40 equipped with. The front side wall of the housing 40 is provided with a conventional cleaning handle or lever 44 having a lever arm 46 connected thereto, the free end of which has a conventional cleaning bulb. 50
A chain 48 supporting the is connected. A pressurized water supply conduit 52 extends through the bottom wall of the housing 40 and is connected to a conventional water inlet or fill valve 54. The conventional tank inlet fill valve 54 utilizes the fluid pressure of the supply water to ensure the opening and closing of the main valve. The fill valve 54 measures water level with a diaphragm responsive to a head. When the diaphragm moves, the main valve is actuated to control the flow of water into the tank. Valve 54 is conventional in construction and is disclosed in U.S. Pat.
No. 4180096. For details of the construction of valve 54, please refer to the above-mentioned US patent. valve 5
4's primary function is to control the supply of water to the tank. Another function of valve 54 is to supply water to the wash tank bowl refill passage.
For this purpose, a refill pipe 56 is connected to the bypass water outlet device 58, which refill pipe 56
The purpose of the installation will be explained later. When valve 54 is opened, water is allowed to flow at a low flow rate through refill tube 56 and to the outlet of bypass water outlet device 58 .

The wash water tank 14 has an upper chamber 60 and a lower chamber 62. The tank filling valve 54 is connected to the upper chamber 6
0, and this upper chamber 60
Then, the water is filled up to a water level 64 as shown in FIG. Water in the upper part of the upper chamber 60 is forced into the lower chamber 62 when the cleaning lever 44 is driven to the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4 and the cleaning sphere 50 is lifted. By lifting the cleaning sphere 50, the discharge port 66 is opened. That is, lever 4
4, lever arm 46, chain 48 and cleaning sphere 5
By driving the cleaning mechanism consisting of 0, the cleaning water is caused to flow from the upper chamber 60 to the lower chamber 62.

The lower chamber 62 is equipped with a first device 67 which initially directs a sufficient amount of water through the siphon jet 30 to initiate siphoning of the water and waste contents from the bowl 12. and discharging the first metered amount of water. This first device 67 has a siphon jet metering chamber 68 which includes:
A restrictor passageway 70 is provided which communicates with passageway 32 having an end connected to siphon jet 30.

The lower chamber 62 is also equipped with a second device 71 adapted to discharge a second metered amount of water into the bowl 12 for rinsing the bowl. The second device 71 is responsive to the actuation of the first device 67 so that when the flush water flows into the bowl 12, a large portion of the water and waste contents have already been siphoned. The second amount of water is discharged into the bowl 12 with a time delay relationship as shown in FIG. This second device 71 has a bowl flushing delay chamber 72.
The bowl washing delay chamber 72 has an outlet section 74 forming a siphon section and an inlet section 76.
and an accumulator section 78. Water cannot flow out of the bowl flush delay chamber 72 until the water reaches the weir level 80 of the outlet section 74. When the siphon action is initiated, water flows out of the bowl flush delay chamber 72 and is transferred to the flush nozzle 18 until the water level in the bowl flush delay chamber 72 falls below the level 82 within the chamber 72.
A hole 84 is formed in the top wall of the lower chamber 62 so that when the water level falls below level 82, the siphon action is interrupted.

The amount of water discharged from the bowl flush delay chamber 72 is determined by the height of the lower end 86 of the regulating tube or vent tube 88.
It may be set to a selected level during initial installation and then adjusted during initial installation by cutting the upper end 90 of the vent tube 88 to the appropriate length. As can be seen from Figure 2, the ventilation pipe 88
The upper end 90 is open to the atmosphere and under these conditions the water level within the accumulator section 78 is free to rise until the lower end 86 of the vent tube 88 is covered with water. Thereafter, air is confined within the accumulator section 78, and therefore only a limited amount of water can flow into the chamber, corresponding to the magnitude of the pressure exerted on the air inside the accumulator section 78. Can not. After the water reaches this level, it rises more rapidly in the outlet 74 and when siphoning is initiated, a volume of water is discharged into the bowl 12 to flush the bowl.

Next, the operating sequence during washing will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8. FIG. 4 shows the bowl 12
The water in the upper chamber 6 is at the normal water level 92 and
A flush toilet is shown with zero water at a water level 64. In this state, the cleaning lever 44 is pushed down to the position shown by the two-dot chain line, and the cleaning sphere 5
0 is raised.

FIG. 5 shows that the cleaning sphere 50 has been raised to the raised position and water begins to flow from the upper chamber 60 into the siphon jet metering chamber 68, filling the metering chamber 68, the throttle passage 70 and the passage 32 with water. The state in which water begins to flow through the trap path 26 is shown. At the beginning of this phase of operation, the air trapped within the passageway 70 is allowed to flow upwardly through the vent tube 36.

FIG. 6 shows the flushing operation state when water overflows from the siphon jet metering chamber 68 to the bowl flushing delay chamber 72. The bowl flushing delay chamber 72 is eventually filled with water, and the outlet section 74, the inlet section 76 and the accumulator section 78 are filled with water.
The water level inside is forced to rise. The water level is 88 in the ventilation pipe.
Upon reaching the lower end 86, an air pocket is formed in the accumulator section 78 and the water level at the outlet section 74 rises rapidly.

FIG. 7 shows the outlet section 74 completely filled with water and the siphon action initiated to begin flushing the bowl. There is a time delay in the arrival of the bowl flush water at the wash nozzle 18 to keep the siphoning of water in the bowl 12 at the lowest possible level. In this way, less washing water is used. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the vacuum in the trap passage 26 has not yet been weakened.

In FIG. 8, upper chamber 60 is shown beginning to refill by actuation of valve 54 as bowl 12 continues to be flushed. The bypass water outlet device 58 is operative to allow a small amount of water to flow through the siphon jet metering chamber 68 so that the siphon jet is discharged as soon as the water level in the upper chamber 60 reaches the level shown in FIG. The remainder of the water from the et metering chamber is adapted to restore the water level in the bowl 12 to the water level 92 shown in FIG.

As is clear from the foregoing, the flush cycle can be performed completely noiselessly, without the use of any moving parts other than a conventional inlet fill valve and flush lever mechanism, and the amount of flush water used can be reduced. Bowl 1 can be maintained at an absolute minimum
The flushing water flowing through trapway 26 is adapted to simply displace the water and waste in bowl 12 with little mixing of the flushing water with the water discharged through trapway 26.

The above-mentioned cleaning device has at least
It can be used with conventional flush toilets having a capacity such that a minimum volume of 31/2 gallons is used, but only about 3425 ml, or less than the flush water usage of a conventional flush toilet. The cleaning operation can be carried out using only about 1/4 the amount of water. The cleaning operation can be performed silently in about 4 seconds.

The flow rate characteristics of the flush toilet according to the embodiment of the present invention will be briefly explained with reference to FIG. 9. first,
The volume of water contained in bowl 12 is 1600ml.
be equivalent to. Approximately 1/2 second elapsed from the time the flushing lever 44 was depressed at time zero until water siphon jet flow was initiated at the siphon jet 30. The flow rate through the siphon jet 30 then totals 1500 ml, as shown by the area under the line 100, from time 102 to time 104.
The flow continues for about 1.9 seconds. Thereafter, water continues to flow from the bypass water outlet device 58, as shown by line 106, and the amount of water is equal to approximately 325 ml.

The flow rate of water from the bowl flush lag chamber to the bowl 12 is shown by line 108;
shows that flow into the bowl begins at time 110 and continues until time 112. bowl 12
The amount of water flowing to is 1600 ml, as shown by the area under line 108. Therefore, tank 14
The total amount of water from is 1500ml + 325ml + 1600ml,
That is, the total amount is 3425 ml.

The total flow rate from the tank 14 is the trap path 26.
, which is indicated by the area under line 114. Trap Road 26
The flow of water through starts at time 116 and begins at time 11
Continues until 8. The siphon action within trap path 26 begins at the point indicated by line 120 and begins at line 122.
Stop at the point indicated by . Dotted line 124
indicates the amount of water corresponding to the area under line 100 that passes through siphon jet 30 to initiate siphon action. Therefore, the flow rate of water through the trapway 26 is less than the flow rate of the water through the siphon jet 30.
1500ml of water and 1600ml of standing water in bowl 12.
ml and 325 ml from the bypass water outlet device 58, or 3425 ml.

In the embodiment described above, the time delay provided for introducing flush water from the second device 71 after the siphon jet flow water is introduced from the first device 67 is approximately 1.9 seconds; The delay in the siphon jet flow water being introduced from the first device 67 and reaching the trap path 26 can be determined, for example, by moving the siphon jet flow line 100 to the right in FIG. 9 until it coincides with the line 124. As shown by , it is about 0.8 seconds.

Another feature of embodiments of the invention is a leak passageway 126 shown in FIG. This leak passage 126
are provided between the housing and the molded upper and lower chambers 60 and 62, so that when overflow occurs for some reason, the overflow water flows down into the bowl 12 through the overflow passage 128. It is becoming possible to do so.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a flush toilet according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is equipped with a flush tank and a toilet bowl, and FIG. The toilet bowl is shown in cross-section, and the toilet bowl is shown in vertical cross-section along line 2B--2B in FIG. is the second
It is a horizontal sectional view along the line 3-3 in the figure, and the fourth
Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 are reduced schematic cross-sectional views similar to Figure 2, showing the successive operating stages of the flush cycle; 2 is a graph showing the characteristics of the amount of water passing through the trap, the amount of water to the bowl, and the amount of water to the siphon jet, and is a graph illustrating the relationship between time and amount of water that occurs in an embodiment of the present invention. 10...Flush toilet, 12...Bowl, 14...Washing water tank, 16...Outlet, 18...Inlet washing nozzle,
20... Inlet port, 22... Top wall, 24... Passage, 2
6...trap road, 28...sealing section, 28'...weir, 3
0...Siphon jet, 32...Passway, 34...Inlet port, 36...Vent pipe, 38...Upper end, 40...Housing, 42...Cover, 44...Lever, 46...
Lever arm, 48... Chain, 50... Cleaning sphere, 5
2... Pressurized water supply conduit, 54... Filling valve, 56...
Refill pipe, 58... Bypass water outlet device, 60... Upper chamber, 62... Lower chamber, 64... Water level, 66... Discharge port, 67... First device, 68... Measuring chamber, 70...
Throttle passage, 71... Second device, 77... Bowl flush delay chamber, 74... Outlet section, 76... Inlet section, 78... Accumulator section, 80... Weir level, 82... Level, 84... Hole, 86... Lower end, 88 ...adjustment pipe or vent pipe, 90...upper end, 126...leakage passage, 128...
overflow passage.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A toilet comprising a bowl, an outlet from the bowl, and a flushing inlet to the bowl, through which liquid is introduced to flush the bowl. and the toilet is further provided with a weir level at the outlet of the bowl at a height sufficient to maintain a preselected liquid level in the bowl. and a cleaning device connected to the trapway and the wash inlet, the cleaning device for introducing liquid into the trapway and siphoning from the bowl. a first device for causing initiation of siphoning of liquid from the bowl; and a second device for causing liquid to be introduced into the bowl through the flush inlet in time-delayed relation to the initiation of siphoning of liquid from the bowl. It's hot,
The cleaning device includes an upper chamber, a lower chamber, and a cleaning mechanism for discharging liquid from the upper chamber to the lower chamber, and the second device includes a first chamber portion of the lower chamber. and wherein the first device has a second chamber portion separate from the lower chamber, the first chamber portion beginning to collect liquid in response to actuation of the first device. and the first chamber portion is communicated with the washing inlet via a siphon portion, and the liquid stored by the first chamber portion is connected to the flow of the siphon portion of the first chamber portion. A toilet according to claim 1, characterized in that the toilet is arranged so that no flow of liquid to the flushing inlet occurs until after a time delay corresponding to the time required to fill the toilet to level. 2. The toilet according to claim 1, further comprising a siphon jet configured to discharge liquid into the trap channel adjacent to the outlet of the bowl to initiate siphoning from the bowl. the second chamber portion of the lower chamber is relative to the first chamber portion such that liquid overflowing from the second chamber portion can flow to the first chamber portion of the lower chamber; and the communication between the second chamber portion and the outlet of the siphon jet is constricted, and the siphon action in the trap portion continues to drain the bowl. In the meantime, the restriction of the communication part is configured such that the liquid overflowing into the first chamber part from the second chamber part is filled up to the flow level of the siphon part of the first chamber part. 2. A toilet characterized in that: the degree of the first chamber portion, the size of the first chamber portion, and the height of the siphon portion are determined in relation to each other. 3. The toilet according to claim 2, wherein the first chamber portion of the lower chamber has an outlet portion forming the siphon portion and receives liquid overflowing from the second chamber portion of the lower chamber. It has an inlet section and an accumulator section,
The liquid received by the first chamber section can flow into the accumulator section, and the first chamber section is also provided with a regulating tube, the upper end of which is connected to the reservoir section. Open to the atmosphere, the regulating tube extends downwardly into the accumulator section a selected distance such that the level of liquid entering the accumulator section is above the level of liquid entering the accumulator section when it covers the bottom of the regulating tube. A toilet in which an air pocket is formed and the liquid level within the outlet portion is configured to rise rapidly. 4. In the toilet according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the cleaning device includes a cleaning liquid tank including the upper chamber, the lower chamber, and the cleaning mechanism. the tank has an outer housing, the upper chamber and the lower chamber being thermoplastic molded parts and inserted within the housing. 5. The toilet according to claim 4, wherein the bottom of the external housing is provided with a leak passage communicating with the bowl, and the molded member is disposed between the molded member and the housing. A toilet provided with an overflow passage for discharging liquid overflowing from the member into the leakage passage. 6. In the toilet according to claim 2 or 3, the cleaning device has a ventilation device that communicates with the atmosphere above the first and second devices, and the ventilation device communicates with the atmosphere above the first and second devices. The first device is in communication with the siphon jet at a level just above the trapway, and air is removed from the first device as liquid is caused to flow from the second chamber portion of the lower chamber to the siphon jet. A toilet configured to discharge. 7. A toilet having a bowl with an outlet at the bottom and a trapway connected to the outlet of the bowl,
The method of flushing the bowl while it contains stagnant liquid and waste material therein is sufficient to initiate draining of the stagnant liquid and waste material from the bowl through the trapway. a jet of liquid is introduced into the trap passage, and in response to the jet of liquid initiating the evacuation, cleaning liquid is caused to flow into the chamber portion having the siphon portion to initiate the evacuation. Afterwards and before this discharge is completed, the cleaning liquid flowing into the chamber section is filled up to the flow level of the siphon part, and the cleaning liquid is discharged into the bowl through the siphon part, and A method for cleaning a toilet, characterized in that mixing of the cleaning liquid with the accumulated liquid and waste material is minimized.