WO1996003554A1

WO1996003554A1 - Flushing device for toilet bowls

Info

Publication number: WO1996003554A1
Application number: PCT/KR1995/000093
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ji Il Jung
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-07-25
Filing date: 1995-07-25
Publication date: 1996-02-08
Anticipated expiration: 1997-01-25
Also published as: KR960005256U; AU3121795A; KR960010611Y1

Abstract

An improved flushing device for toilet bowls is disclosed. This device discharges a predetermined amount of water from the flush tank into the toilet bowl using high water pressure sufficient enough to flush the toilet bowl when either the urine and feces lever is selectively operated in accordance with the kind of excrement to be washed away. The above device thus effectively flushes the toilet bowl with the appropriate amount of water and thereby saves water. The device has a bracket mounted to the top of the flush valve. A rotatable operating rod is coupled to and extends upwardly from the bracket. A floater arm cooperates with the operating rod to stop the descending motion of a floater at a predetermined position. A pair of operating links cooperate with the levers respectively.

Description

FLUSHING DEVICE FOR TOILET BOWLS

Technical Field

The present invention relates in general to a flushing device for toilet bowls and, more particularly, to a structural improvement in such a flushing device for cleanly flushing a toilet bowl using high water pressure by selectively operating either of two flush levers in accordance with the kind of excrement to be washed away.

Background Art A typical flushing device for toilet bowls has one flush lever cooperating with a flush valve installed in the bottom of a flush tank. In order to flush a toilet bowl having the above device after relieving oneself, the user operates the flush lever. In this case, the flush tank has been charged with water to a level limited by a floater in the tank. When the lever is operated as described above, a predetermined amount of water is discharged from the tank into the toilet bowl to flush the toilet bowl. That is, the above flushing device discharges a predetermined amount of water from its flush tank into the toilet bowl regardless of the kind of excrement when a user operates the flush lever after relieving oneself. Therefore, the above flushing device has a problem in that it wastes the large amount of water. In order to rectify the above problem, an improved flushing device has been proposed and used. This flushing device has two flush levers, that is, a feces lever and a urine lever, which cooperate with their associated flush valves separately installed in the bottom of the flush tank. When the feces lever is operated, the full amount of water is discharged from the tank to flush the toilet bowl. Meanwhile, when the urine lever is operated, only about half the water is discharged from the tank to flush the toilet bowl.

However, when the urine lever is operated, the water is discharged from the tank using low water pressure not sufficient to completely flush the toilet bowl. With the low water pressure, the operation of the urine lever may be often accompanied with the operation of the feces lever for completely flushing the toilet bowl. Thus, the above flushing device is problematic in that it wastes rather than saves water.

Disclosure of the Invention It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a flushing device for toilet bowls in which the above problems can be overcome and which discharges a predetermined amount of water from the flush tank into the toilet bowl using high water pressure sufficient enough to flush the toilet bowl when either the urine or feces lever is selectively operated in accordance with the kind of excrement to be washed away, the flushing device thus effectively flushes the toilet bowl with the appropriate amount of water and thereby saves water.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a flushing device for toilet bowls comprising first and second levers, further comprising an openable flush valve provided in a flush tank to selectively open a water outlet of the tank; a bracket mounted to the top of the flush valve; a rotatable operating rod rotatably coupled to and extending upwardly from the bracket, the rod being selectively lifted up in accordance with the opening motion of the valve and having both a key member at a given portion and a pair of rotating arms at a lower portion; a floater arm cooperating with the operating rod to stop the descending motion of a floater at a predetermined position, the floater arm having a guide member for slidably receiving the top portion of the operating rod and guiding the lifting motion of the rod; and first and second operating links cooperating with the first and second levers respectively, one end of each link being coupled to a lever body having the levers and the other end of each link being connected to an associated rotating arm of the operating rod by means of an associated wire.

Brief Description of Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the construction of a flushing device for toilet bowls in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing in detail the structure for coupling an operating rod to a bracket of the above flushing device; Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the above flushing device used for washing away feces;

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the above flushing device used for washing away urine; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the structure for coupling a pair of operating links to a lever body of the above flushing device.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the construction of a flushing device for toilet bowls in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 1, the above device 1 separately includes first and second flush levers, that is, a feces lever 16 and a urine lever 17, and has a bracket 4 which is mounted to the top of an openable flush valve 3. This valve 3 is installed in a flush tank 30 to selectively open a water outlet 2 formed in the bottom of the tank 30. A rotatable operating rod 5 having a key member 5a at the appropriate portion is coupled to the bracket 4 and extends upwardly from the bracket 4. The top portion of the above operating rod 5 in turn is slidably fitted in a guide hole 7b formed in a guide member 7a of a floater arm 7. Mounted to the free end of the arm 7 is a floater 6. The above operating rod 5 is rotatable in opposite directions as shown in Fig. 2.

The guide hole 7b formed in the guide member 7a is a key hole suitable for selectively receiving the key member 5a in accordance with rotation of the rod 5.

A biasing member 25, for example a coil spring, is coupled to a given portion of the floater arm 7 at one end thereof. The other end of the biasing member 25 is fixed to a water supply tower 26. The feces and urine levers

16 and 17 which are commonly coupled to a lever body 10 are mounted to the front wall of a porcelain flush tank 30 such that the levers 16 and 17 are exposed to the outside of the tank 30. The flushing device also includes a pair of operating links, that is, the first and second links 11 and 12 which cooperate with the two levers 16 and

17 respectively. Each link 11, 12 is coupled to the lever body 10 at one end thereof. The links 11 and 12 also have their holes 11a and 12a at their other ends. The holes 11a and 12a of the links 11 and 12 are connected to their associated wires, 8 or 9 respectively, at one end. The wires 8 and 9 are for feces and urine respectively. The other ends of the wires 8 and 9 are connected to the bracket 4.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing in detail the structure for coupling the operating rod 5 to the bracket 4.

As shown in the drawing, the bracket 4 mounted to the top of the flush valve 3 has a shaft hole 4a. The shaft hole 4a rotatably receives the lower portion of the operating rod 5. A pair of rotating arms 5b having their holes 5c and 5d are integrally formed on the outer surface of the lower portion of the rod 5. The arms 5b extend radially outward from the rod 5. When lower portion of the rod 5 is coupled to the bracket 4, the rotating arms 5b are disposed under the shaft hole 4a. The wires 8 and 9 extending from the holes 11a and 12a of the operating links 11 and 12 are coupled to the holes 5c and 5d of the rotating arms 5b respectively after passing a guide hole 4b formed in the bracket 4.

The operational effect of the above flushing device will be described hereinbelow.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the above flushing device used for washing feces away.

As shown in the drawing, when the feces lever 16 coupled to the lever body 10 is pushed down in order to wash away feces, the feces link 11 rotatably coupled to the lever body 10 is lifted up or turned about the body

10 counterclockwise in the drawing to pull up the feces wire 8.

When the feces wire 8 is pulled up as described above, the rotating arm 5b of the rod 5 coupled to the wire 8 is turned leftward or rightward, thereby letting the key member 5a of the rod 5 be aligned with the key hole part of the guide hole 7b. When the wire 8 in the case is continuously pulled up, the operating rod 5 is lifted up until a stopper 5a¹ provided in the bottom portion of the key member 5a is stopped by the guide member 7a having the guide hole 7b. Therefore, the flush valve 3 is lifted up to open the water outlet 2. When the water outlet 3 is opened, the water is discharged from the tank 30 using high water pressure. As the water is discharged from the tank 30, the floater 6 floating on the water surface naturally descends.

That is, when the key member 5a has been inserted in the key hole part of the guide hole 7b to a predetermined length, the stopper 5a' of the key member 5a is stopped by the guide member 7a. Therefore, the flush valve 3 is forcibly closed to stop flushing water before the buoyancy of the floater 6 has been completely consumed. In this regard, the above flushing device effectively saves water when the device is used for washing away feces.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the above flushing device used for washing away urine.

In the same manner as described for washing away feces, when the urine lever 17 coupled to the lever body 10 is pushed down in order to wash away urine, the urine link 12 coupled to the body 10 is turned about the body 10 to pull up the urine wire 9.

When the wire 9 is pulled up as described above, the rotating arm 5b of the rod 5 coupled to the wire 9 is turned in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rod 5 in the case of operating the feces lever 16. Therefore, the key member 5a of the rod 5 is located at a position which diverges from the key hole part of the guide hole 7b. The key member 5a in this state will not pass the key hole part of the guide hole 7b even when the rod 5 is lifted up.

When the wire 9 in this case is continuously pulled up, the operating rod 5 is lifted up until the top end of the key member 5a is stopped by the guide member 7a. Therefore, the flush valve 3 is lifted up to open the water outlet 2, thereby discharging the water from the tank 30 using high water pressure.

As the flushing device used for washing away urine discharges the water from the flush tank 30 until the top end of the key member 5a is stopped by the guide member 7a of the floater arm 7. Therefore, the above flushing device remarkably reduces the amount of water consumed when washing away urine. In the above flushing device, the biasing member 25 pulls the floater arm 7 and thereby makes the arm 7 operate more smoothly when water is supplied into or discharged from the tank 30.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the structure for coupling the two operating links 11 and 12 to the lever body 10 of the above flushing device. As shown in the drawing, the outer portion 20 of the cylindrical lever body 10 is fitted in the porcelain flush tank 30 and fixed to the tank 30 using a nut 21. The body's middle portion 22 which is coupled to the link 12 is connected to the lever 17, while the body's inner portion 23 which is coupled to the link 11 is connected to the lever 16. The middle and inner portions 22 and 23 of the lever body 10 are rotatable relative to the outer portion 20 fixed to the tank 30.

That is, when the lever 16 is pushed down, the inner portion 23 of the lever body 10 is rotated to lift up the operating link 11, thereby pulling up the wire 8 connected to the hole 11a of the link 11. Therefore, the flush valve 3 is opened to discharge the water from the tank 30 through the water outlet 2. On the other hand, when the lever 17 is pushed down, the middle portion 22 of the lever body 10 is rotated to lift up the operating link 12, thereby pulling up the wire 9 connected to the hole 12a of the link 12. The flush valve 3 is thus opened to discharge the water from the tank 30 through the water outlet 2. Industrial Applicability

As described above, the present invention provides a flushing device for toilet bowls which has two levers, that is, feces and urine levers, cooperating with their associated operating links. When either the feces or urine lever is selectively operated in accordance with the kind of excrement to be washed away, an operating link cooperating with the operated lever is lifted up to pull up an associated wire. When the wire is pulled up, an operating rod coupled to the flush valve is rotated and in turn lifted up to open the valve and thereby discharging the water from the flush tank using high water pressure.

Therefore, the above device completely flushes the toilet bowl with the appropriate amount of water in accordance with the kind of excrement to be washed away.

In this regard, the above device remarkably saves water.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

Claims :

1. A flushing device for toilet bowls comprising first and second levers for feces and urine, further comprising: an openable flush valve provided in a flush tank to selectively open a water outlet of the tank; a bracket mounted to the top of said flush valve; a rotatable operating rod rotatably coupled to and extending upwardly from said bracket, said rod being selectively lifted up in accordance with an opening motion of said valve and having both a key member at a given portion and a pair of rotating arms at a lower portion; a floater arm cooperating with the operating rod to stop a descending motion of a floater at a predetermined position, said floater arm having a guide member for slidably receiving the top portion of the operating rod and guiding the lifting motion of the rod; and first and second operating links cooperating with the first and second levers respectively, one end of each link being coupled to a lever body having the levers and the other end of each link being connected to an associated rotating arm of the operating rod by means of an associated wire.

2. The flushing device according to claim 1, wherein said bracket has a shaft hole for rotatably receiving the lower portion of said operating rod, and said rotating arms of the operating rod form a generally L-shaped contour and each rotating arm having a hole for connecting an associated wire.

3. The flushing device according to claim 1, wherein said key member of the operating rod is provided with a stopper at a lower portion thereof and axially formed with the operating rod into a single body.

4. The flushing device according to claim 1, wherein said guide member of the floater arm has a key hole corresponding to the key member of the operating rod.

5. The flushing device according to claim 1, wherein said lever body comprises: an outer portion fitted in and fixed to said flush tank using a fixing member; a middle portion coupled to both said second link and said second lever at both ends, said middle portion being rotatable relative to said outer portion; and an inner portion coupled to both said first link and said first lever at both ends, said inner portion being rotatable relative to said outer portion.