US2963710A - Flush tank controls - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 13, 1960 c. M. CARTER FLUSH TANK CONTROLS Filed Dec. 3, 1959 INVENTOR/ CECIL MOFQJEN CART/ER AWORBEYS a u u United States Patent 2,963,710 Patented Dec. 13, 1960 ire FLUSH TANK CONTROLS Cecil Morden Carter, 230 Park Ave., Newmarket, Ontario, Canada Filed Dec. 3, 1959, Ser. No. 857,175

Claims. (Cl. 4-67) This invention relates to a control for a flush tank of a toilet. The invention relates more particularly to a control which is operable either to allow discharge of the complete contents of the flush tank into the toilet or to allow discharge of only part of the contents of the tank into the toilet. Such an arrangement finds utility where water is scarce and/or Where septic tanks are in use.

It is an object of the invention to provide an extremely simple control which may be fitted to existing flush tanks in place of a conventional control without requiring modification of the tank or valve structure.

Various proposals have been made for dual flush controls in the past but the majority of these have required either modification of the flush tank or a complicated system of dual valves within the tank. The present invention uses the valve system conventionally installed in the tank and does not require modification of the conventional tank structure.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away, of a flush tank incorporating the control according to the invention,

Figure 2 is a horizontal section through the control of Figure l with parts thereof in their first positions,

Figure 3 is a vertical section of the control of Figure 2 with parts thereof in their first positions,

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing parts of the control in their second positions and Figure 6 is a section on the line 66 of Figure 5.

Referring now to Figure 1, a flush tank is indicated generally at 10 and has a bottom 11, side walls 12, a front wall 13 and a lid 14. A water inlet pipe 16 is provided and the inlet of water is controlled by a conventional ball valve, not shown. An outlet pipe 17 leads to the bowl of the toilet and is secured in the bottom wall 11 by means of a sleeve 18 and a nut 19. Washers 20 are interposed between the sleeve and the bottom wall 11 and between the nut 19 and the wall 11 to provide watertight joints. The upper end of the sleeve 18 is flanged and is provided with a conical valve seat 21. A conical valve 22 of conventional design is arranged to co-act with the valve seat 21 and is operated by a pair of rods 23, 24 and an arm 25 in conventional fashion. The rod 23 is journalled in a bracket 26 secured to an overflow pipe 27. The arm 25 is operated by a flush tank control indicated generally at 28.

Referring now to Figure 2, the flush tank control 28 comprises a sleeve member 29 having a squared portion 30 which is received in the usual aperture 31 provided in the front wall 13 of the flush tank. The sleeve 29 has a threaded shank portion 32 at its inner end and is provided, at its outer end, with a flange 33 and an abutment indicated generally at 34. The sleeve member 29 is retained in position by a nut 36 threadably mounted on the shank 32 and a washer 35 is interposed between the flange 33 and the front wall 13 of the flush tank.

Mounted in a bore 37 of the sleeve member 29 is a shaft 38; the shaft is free to rotate in the bore 37 and also to slide axially therein. One end of the arm 25 is secured to the inner end of the shaft 38 by means of a pin 39; the inner end of the shaft has a counter-bore 40 to receive the end of the arm 25. A washer 41 embraces the arm 25 and a cotter pin 42 retains the washer 41 in position; the washer 41 and pin 42 limit movement of the shaft 38 towards the outside of the tank.

The outer end of the shaft 38 is threaded at 43 and receives a handle 44 having a hollow domed portion 45; the latter includes an internally threaded sleeve 46 which receives the threaded outer end of the shaft 38. The shaft 38 and handle 44 together constitute a handle member indicated generally at 47. The domed portion 45 is provided with a pair of spaced radial ribs 48 and 49, seen best in Figures 3 and 4; the rib 48 has an aperture 56 for a purpose hereinafter to be described. A compression spring '51 is interposed between the flange 33 at the outer end of the sleeve member and the free end of the sleeve 46 and urges the handle member 47 to a first position as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, movement of the shaft under the influence of the spring being limited by the washer 41 co-acting with the inner end of the sleeve member 29.

The abutment 34 at the outer end of the sleeve member 29 includes a projection 52 and a curved arm 53, seen best in Figures 3 and 4. The curved arm 53 is'so dimensioned as to be capable of passing through the aperture 50 in the rib 48 when the aperture is in register with the arm. The handle member 47 may be moved from the position shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4 to the position shown in Figures 5 and 6 by pushing the handle member towards the front wall 13 of the flush tank. In Figures 5 and 6 the handle member 47 is in its second position and the abutment 53 is in register with the aperture 50 and may pass therethrough.

The operation of the control will now be described. In normal flush tanks, when the valve has been raised to a certain extent it is maintained in its raised position by the flow of water across its undersurface. However, if the valve is not raised sufiiciently from its seat for the flow across its underside to lift it, once the valve is released it will fall onto its seat and close the outlet pipe. The arrangement provided by the present invention is such that in one position of the control the valve may be raised sufficiently high to be kept open by the flow of water across its underside, as in conventional practice, whereas in the second position the valve may only be raised sufficiently high so that as soon as it is released it will descend onto the valve seat. Thus in the first position of the handle member 47 as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, only limited rotational movement of the mem ber is available. As the member 47 is rotated, the end of the curved arm 53 will come into contact with the abutment constituted by the rib 48, since the arm 53 is out of register with the aperture 50 as shown in Figure 3, and rotation of the handle member and therefore movement of the arm 25 is limited by the co-action of the abutments 53 and 48. However, if the handle member 47 is now pushed towards the front Wall of the flush tank so that the handle member assumes its second position, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the abutment 53 is in register with the aperture 58 and therefore upon rotation of the handle member the abutment passes through the aperture and so clears the abutment 48 so that the valve 22 may be raised to a position in which flow of water across its underside keeps the valve open. In Figures 5 and 6 3 the end of the abutment 53 is shown as being received within the aperture 50.

The rotational movement of the shaft 38 permitted when the. handle member 47 is in its first position is only sufiicient to raise the valve 22 to permit water to flow out without supporting the valve so that as soon as the handle'is released the valve will close shutting off a further supply of water. Water will therefore be supplied only so long as the handle is depressed and therefore the amount of water used may be controlled. Conversely, when the handle member 47 is in its second position, the valve 22 maybe raised sufiiciently high by rotation of the handle so that the water flowing across the undersidewill keep the valve off its seat until all the water in the tank has been discharged whereby a full flush is obtained as in conventional practice.

It will be seen thatthe invention provides an extremely simple and efficient dual flush control which may be mounted in existing flush tanks without modification of the tank or valve system being necessary.

It will be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is a preferred example and that various modifications may be carried out without departing from the spirit of the inventionor the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A flush tank control comprising a sleeve member for insertion through the wall of a flush tank and having inner and outer ends; an abutment on the sleeve member adjacent to one of said ends thereof and projecting axially therefrom; a handle member having inner and outer ends and supported within the sleeve member to extend from said one end thereof and to be rotatable and axially slidable relative thereto; an abutment on the handle member adjacent to one of said ends thereof; the abutments on said members being at corresponding ends thereof; the handle member being slidable within the sleeve member between a first axial position, in which the abutments coact during rotation of the handle member in the sleeve member to limit said rotation, and a second axial position in which the abutments pass clear of one another during rotation of the handle member in the sleeve member; means at the inner end of the handle member to receive an arm connected to the valve of the flush tank; and elastic means interposed between the bandle member and the sleeve member to urge the handle member to one of said positions.

2. A flush tank control comprising a sleeve member for insertion through the wall of a flush tank and having inner and outer ends; an abutment on the sleeve member adjacent to the outer end thereof and projecting axially therefiom; a handle member having inner andouter ends and supported within the sleeve member to extend from the outer end thereof andto be rotatable and axially slidable relative thereto; an abutment on the handle member adjacent to the outer end thereof; the handle member being slidable within the sleeve member between a first axial position, in which the abutments coact during rotation of the handle member in the sleeve member to limit said rotation, and a second--axial position in which the abutments pass clear of one another during rotation of the handle member in the sleeve member; means at the inner end of the handle member to receive an arm connected to the valve of the flush tank; and elastic means interposed between the handle member and the sleeve member to urge the handle member to one of said positions.

3. A flush tank control comprising a sleeve member for insertion through a wall of a flush tank and having inner and outer ends; an abutment on the sleeve member adjacent to the outer end thereof and projecting axially therefrom; a shaft having inner and outer ends and being! journalled in the sleeve member to extend from the outer;

end thereof and to be axially slidable relative theretofl a handle secured to the outer end of the shaft; an abutment on the handle; the shaft being axially slidable within the sleeve member between a first axial position, in which the abutments coact during rotation *of the shaft in the sleeve member to limit said rotation, and a second axial position in which the abutments pass clear of one another during rotation of the shaft in the sleeve member; an arm secured to the inner end of the shaft for connection to the valve of the flush tank; and elastic means interposed between the handle and the sleeve to urge the shaft with the associated handle to one of said positions.

4. A flush tank control comprising a sleeve member for insertion through a wall of a flush tank and having inner and outer ends; an abutment on the sleeve member adjacent to the outer end thereof and projecting axially therefrom; a shaft having inner and outer ends and being journalled in the sleeve member to extend from the outer end thereof and to be rotatable and axially slidable relative thereto; a handle secured to the outer end of the shaft; a hollow domed portion on the handle arranged to fit over the outer end of the sleeve member; a rib within said domed portion to provide an abutment; the shaft being axially slidable within the sleeve member between a first axial position, in which the abutments coaot during rotation of the shaft in the sleeve member to limit said rotation, and a second axial position in which the abutments pass clear of one another during rotation of the shaft in the sleeve member; an arm secured to the inner end of the shaft for connection to the valve of the flush tank; and elastic means interposed between the handle and the sleeve to urge the shaft with the associated handle to one of said positions.

5. A flush tank control according to claim 4, wherein said rib is provided with an aperture and the abutment adjacent to the outer end of the sleeve member is a curved arm, and wherein when the shaft is in its second position the end portion of the curved arm passes through the aperture during rotation of the handle while in the first position of the shaft the end of the curved arm abuts the rib upon rotation of the shaft. I

No references cited.

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