A pressurized water closet operating system comprises a water vessel, an external manifold mounted directly on said vessel, and an internally mounted flush valve assembly. The manifold comprises a water pressure regulator, an air induction system, and a manually operable flush valve actuator. The manually operable flush valve actuator controls the discharge of water under pressure from the water vessel into the toilet bowl.
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11. An improved pressurized water closet comprising
a water vessel; an annular valve seat in a lower portion of said water vessel defining a water outlet therein; a flush valve cylinder vertically aligned with said valve seat; and a pair of spaced segregated air chambers disposed on opposite sides of said flush valve cylinder above the water outlet in said water vessel for precluding water logging thereof; a manifold mounted directly on said water vessel; and means in said manifold for concomitantly venting said pair of spaced segregated air chambers and connecting a pressurized water source to said water vessel and said flush valve cylinder.
12. An improved pressurized water closet flushing system comprising;
a water vessel; an annular valve seat in a lower portion of said water vessel defining a water outlet therein; a flush valve cylinder vertically oriented above the water outlet in said water vessel; a piston in said flush valve cylinder defining an upper chamber therein and movable axially thereof solely by a water pressure differential thereacross; a flush valve on said piston normally seated on the valve seat of said water vessel for closing the water outlet therein; and a pressure relief valve on said piston openable on the occurrence of excessive pressure in the upper chamber of said cylinder to vent pressure therein to atmosphere.
1. An improved pressurized water closet comprising:
a water vessel; an annular valve seat in a lower portion of said water vessel defining a water outlet therein; a flush valve cylinder vertically oriented above the water outlet in said water vessel; a piston in said flush valve cylinder defining an upper chamber therein, said piston being movable axially of said cylinder solely by a water pressure differential on opposite sides of said piston; a flush valve on said piston normally seated on the valve seat of said water vessel for closing the water outlet therein; a manifold mounted directly on said water vessel; and means in said manifold for concomitantly venting the upper chamber of said cylinder and connecting a pressurized water source to said water vessel and to the upper chamber of said flush valve cylinder.
2. The water closet of
3. The water closet of
4. The pressurized water closet of
5. The pressurized water closet of
6. The pressurized water closet of
7. A pressurized water closet flushing system in accordance with
a disinfectant reservoir; a water supply conduit extending from said water vessel, to said reservoir; a disinfectant conduit extending from said reservoir to said water vessel; and means for controlling the amount of disinfectant injected into said water vessel upon each flush.
8. The pressurized water closet of
9. The pressurized water closet of
10. The pressurized water closet of
13. The pressurized water closet of
14. The pressurized water closet of
15. The pressurized water closet of
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This application claims priority from Provisional Application number 60/039,961 filed
As seen in
Water is supplied to the system 10 from a pressurized source (not shown) and flows upwardly without restriction through an inlet conduit 27 and vacuum breaker 28, thence laterally to the manifold 18. Water is free to flow through the conduit 27 to the manifold 18 at system pressure thence, after regulation, to both the flush valve assembly 16 and water vessel 14, as will be described.
The size of the water vessel 14 is dictated by energy requirements of the system 10. In the preferred constructed embodiment disclosed, the water vessel 14 comprises a pair of vertically stacked half sections 32 and 34. The upper section 32 of the water vessel 14 has a pair of downwardly extending partitions 35 and 36 that create isolated chambers 37 and 38, respectively as long as the water level is above the weld joint between the sections 32 and 34 of the water vessel 14, a typical condition between flushes, as will be described. Accordingly, because the compressed air in the chambers 37 and 38 which powers the system 10 is isolated, a leak in an upper portion of the flush valve assembly 16 will not result in the system 10 becoming waterlogged.
The manifold 18, comprising the water pressure regulator 24, air induction regulator 25 and flush valve actuator 22, is mounted on the upper section 32 of the water vessel 14.
As best seen in
The water pressure regulator 24 on the manifold 18 is of tubular configuration and has an end cap 64 thereon. A ball valve retainer 66 of cruciform cross section is disposed internally of the end cap 64 for support of a ball valve 68. The valve 68 is biased against an annular seat 69 on a tubular portion 70 of a pressure regulating piston 71 by system water pressure when pressure internally of the water vessel 14 is lower. Similarly, a second ball valve 72 is supported in a second retainer 74, of cruciform cross section. When pressure internally of the water vessel 14 drops below the predetermined pressure, the piston 71 moves away from the end cap 64 under the bias of a regulator spring 76, thereby allowing water to flow past the ball valve 68, thence past the ball valve 72 for distribution to the flush valve 16 and water vessel 14, as will be described.
In the event of pressure loss in the water supply, the ball valves 68 and 72 move to the left, as seen in the drawing, against annular seats 78 and 79, on the end cap 64 and piston 72, respectively to preclude backflow of water from the water vessel 14 to the system.
The manifold 18 also includes the flush valve actuator 22 which comprises a cylindrical housing 80 with a manually operable spool 82 disposed internally thereof that is slidably journaled in a sleeve 84. The spool 82 carries a valve 85 that is normally seated on a valve seat 86. A needle valve 87 is supported on one end of the spool 82 so as to extend into an orifice 88 in the housing 80 to define the area of an annular water inlet orifice that controls the flow of water to the flush valve 16.
Movement of the spool 82 of the flush valve actuator 22 against the bias of a spring 92 moves the valve 85 off its seat 86 to open communication between an upper chamber "C" of the flush valve 16, through an orifice 94 to a pressure relief tube 96 to initiate flush, as will be described. The tube 96 communicates with ambient pressure in the toilet bowl (not shown).
As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 5-7, and in accordance with a feature of the present invention, the flush valve assembly 16 comprises a vertically oriented flush valve cylinder 100 having an upper end portion 102 that abuts the manifold 18. A lower end portion 106 of the cylinder 100 terminates short of a conical valve seating surface 108 of a water discharge passage 109 in the lower shell 34 of the water vessel 14. Flow of water from the water vessel 14 through the passage 109 is controlled by an O-ring valve 110 that is carried by a stem 114 of a flush valve piston 116.
An upper end portion 118 of the piston 116 is of cup shaped configuration and extends upwardly to a predetermined proximity, for example, 0.4 inches, from the upper end 102 of the flush valve cylinder 100 whereby upward movement of the piston 116 is limited to 0.4 inches.
The flush valve piston 116 has an elastomeric piston ring 130 thereon that effects a seal against the cylinder 100 thereby to divide the cylinder 100 into an upper chamber 132 and a main chamber 134 of the water vessel 14. The piston 116 has a valve 136 disposed centrally thereof that normally seals an aperture 138 therein. Upon the occurrence of an over pressure condition in the upper chamber 132, the valve 136 opens against a spring 139 so as to vent the upper chamber 132. This slight venting of the upper chamber 132, at, for example, 45 PSI causes a pressure differential between the upper chamber 132 and the main chamber 134 of the water vessel 14. As a result, the flush valve piston 116 starts to lift which allows the pressure in the main chamber 134 of the water vessel 14 to be reduced. Initially, an oscillation occurs as a pressure differential is repeatedly created which is eventually equalized in both chambers, thus preventing the pressure in the main chamber 134 of the water vessel 14 from exceeding a predetermined level, for example 80 PSI.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, disinfectant is automatically injected into the toilet bowl (not shown) upon actuation of the pressurized flushing system 10. However, disinfectant does not reside in the water vessel 14 between flushes thereby to preclude attack of the vessel and seals, therein by the chemical disinfectant. The disinfectant container 26 containing, for example, water soluble disinfectant pellets 150 is connected to the manual actuator 22 on the manifold 18 by a water inlet conduit 152. One end 153 of the water inlet conduit 152 is connected to a nipple 154 on the actuator 22 which communicates with the valve 85 carried by the actuator spool 82. Sizing of the orifice in the nipple 154 combined with the time during which the nipple is exposed to pressured water, controls the amount of water flowing through the tube 152 to the disinfectant reservoir 26, as will be described. An opposite end 156 of the water inlet conduit 152 communicates with the reservoir 26. A disinfectant outlet conduit 158 has one end 160 connected to the cap 44 of the air inducer 25 above the ball valve 48 therein. An opposite end 162 of the conduit 158 extends downwardly into the reservoir 150 a predetermined distance, as will be described.
Prior to flush of the system 10, as best seen in
As flush progresses to the point seen in
As seen in
In operation, as seen in
As flush progresses, pressure in zone "E" begins to lower, allowing the regulator 24 to begin opening and flow to begin through zone "A" to zones "B" and "C", flow through zones "A" and "B" is at maximum when pressure within vessel "E" is zero.
As seen in
It is to be noted that the pressurized water closet of the present invention is fully operational without the use of the herein described disinfectant reservoir 26. From the aforesaid description it should be apparent that the water closet flushing system 10 of the present invention has many unique features. Specifically, the system 10 exhibits quiet discharge upon actuation since the flush valve piston 116 opens instantaneously but moves upwardly relatively slowly so as to gradually fill the water discharge outlet 109. This relatively slow opening movement is controlled by either the sizing of the flow path from zone "C" or the flow path to zone "D". It is to be noted that the size of the needle valve orifice 88 in conjunction with the needle valve 87 controls the flow rate of new water into the upper chamber "C" of the flush valve 16. In a constructed embodiment of the invention the annulus is 0.00078 in2. Clogging of the annulus by particles in the water supply system is minimized because, when depressed, the needle valve 87 clears any foreign matter that lodges in the orifice 88.
Refill volume of the toilet bowl can be varied by varying the diameter of either the orifice 52 or the orifice 88 in conjunction with the diameter of the tube 50 or needle valve 87, respectively, which varies the ratio of water passed into zones "B" and "C" respectively, thus speeding or slowing movement of the piston 116 and closure of the flush valve assembly 16 after flushing and/or the amount of bowl refill water passed through the water vessel 14 to the toilet bowl (not shown). As a result, the system 10 can be precisely tuned to different bowl configurations to obtain maximum water conservation and performance. Bowl refill volume can also be varied by changing the amount of water discharged from the upper chamber "C" of the flush valve 16. For example, if 0.4" lift is changed to 0.8" lift, the hold-open interval of the flush valve will be more than doubled because more water must flow into the upper chamber "C" to force the flush valve piston 116 back to its seat. This also increases total flush volume.
Internal back-check is achieved by the free floating ball valves 68 and 72 in the pressure regulator 24. Under negative pressure conditions, eg. water vessel 14 pressure higher than water supply, the ball valves 68 and 72 move against the seats 78 and 79 respectively, closing off reverse flow.
Yet another unique feature of the pressurized water closet flushing system 10 of the present invention is that the system consumes less water at higher supply line pressure (i.e. 50 to 80 psi) than at lower pressures (i.e. 20 psi). Stated in another manner, relatively high supply pressure causes the flush valve piston 116 to close relatively quickly after the vessel is flushed. Moreover, the system 10 exhibits a minimum differential in water consumption at varying pressures, for example, 20 to 80 psi.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it should be appreciated that the invention is susceptible of modification without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.
Beh, Thomas P., Martin, Raymond Bruce, Mrocca, Mark M.
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