US2724838A - Dual flush control for toilets - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 29, 1955 D. WIRTH EI'AL 2,724,838

DUAL FLUSH CONTROL FOR TOILETS Filed Dec. 17, 1955 ,Hi l .1. O

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D/cK 14 JHCK ANDERSON J MILTON UROOKS. INVENTORS,

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Unite DUAL FLUSH CONTROL FoR TOILETS Dick Wirth and Jack Anderson, Shasta, and Milton Crooks, Trinity Center, Calif.

This invention relates to a dual flush control for toilets.

States Patent It is an object of the invention to provide such a device which can be included in a new toilet or quickly, easily and economically installed in an existing conventional toilet. When installed it provides two kinds of flushing with a single control.

At the present time, the average toilet consumes approximately five gallons of water each time it is flushed. In communities where water is in short supply, this represents a tremendous amount of water loss. It is an object of our invention to provide a device which will save a substantial amount of this water. With our invention, it is possible to flush the toilet bowl completely with a water consumption of only one and one-half gallons when the toilet has been used only for urination. At the same time, it is still possible, through use of the same flush control, to provide a full five gallon flush when needed.

It is a further object of our invention to provide such a device in which a single flush control provides a full flush when moved in one direction and a partial flush when moved in the opposite direction.

Our invention also comprises such other objects, advantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear and which are inherently possessed by our invention.

While we have shown in the accompanying drawings and described herein a preferred embodiment of our invention, it should be understood that the same is susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view of the flush control taken on line 1--1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the flush control;

Fig. 4 is a detailed perspective of the control rod.

A preferred embodiment which has been selected to illustrate our invention comprises a flat plate 10 which may be attached to the inside of a new or conventional toilet, adjacent the top of the flush tank. Mounted on the outside of the tank is a manually rotatable flush control 11, which may be marked as shown in the drawing, or in any other suitable manner for high and low flush. A lock nut 12, is positioned adjacent the fiat plate 10.

Rotatably connected to the flush control 11 is a control rod 13 which is moved in either an upward or a downward direction, depending upon the direction of rotation of the flush control 11. The control rod 13 in turn engages a lever 15, which is pivotally mounted on a fulcrum 16, which extends toward the inside of the flush tank. The control rod 13 has a pair of arms 17 and 18. Arm 17 strikes the lever 15 from the top between the fulcrum 16 and the lock nut 12. Arm 18 strikes lever 15 from the bottom on the opposite side of the fulcrum 16. When arm 18 strikes lever 15, the

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mechanical advantage provided by the length of the rod 13 and its nearness to fulcrum 16 results in much greater movement of the opposite end of lever 15 than occurs when lever 15 is struck by arm 17.

Attached to and extending downwardly from the opposite end of lever .15 is a chain 19, the opposite end of which is attached to a float 20, which may be formed of cork, metal, or plastic. Attached to and extending downwardly from the float 20 is a trip, rod 21, which is rigid and may preferably be formed of brass. A guide member 22 which is clamped on the conventional water pipe within the flush tank provides a seat for the float 2t) and also provides a pair of guide arms 23 and 24 in which the trip rod 21 is slidably mounted. Attached to the opposite end of the trip rod 21 is a standard rubber ball type valve 25, which is removably positioned in a seat 26.

In use, the flush tank is normally filled with water, which extends above the float 20. When the flush control 11 is moved in one direction for a short flush, control rod 13 is moved so that its arm 17 strikes lever 15. This moves the opposite end of lever 15 a short distance upwardly, exerting upward pressure on chain 19 to pull float 20, trip rod 21 and valve 25 a short distance upwardly. The short upward movement of the valve 25 from its seat 26 permits some water to flow out of the tank to flush the toilet bowl.

When the water level begins to fall, float 20 moves down, exerting downward pressure on the valve 25 through the trip rod 21. ,When the water level reaches the top of the guide member 22, the downward movement of the float 20 forces the valve 25 back into its seat 26 to stop the flow of water from the flush tank into the toilet bowl.

When the flush control 11 is moved in the opposite direction for a long or full flush, the control rod 13 is moved in the opposite direction so that its arm 18 strikes lever 15. Because of the mechanical advantage provided by rod 13 and the positioning of arm 18, this moves the opposite end of lever 15 a much greater distance upwardly than in the previously described flushing operation. This substantially greater'upward movement is carried to the chain 19, float 20, trip rod 21, and valve 25, to lift the valve 25 a substantial distance from seat 26 and permit a substantial amount of water to flow out of the flush tank into the toilet bowl.

When the water level begins to fall, the float 20 tends to move downwardly as before, but it cannot do so. This is because the greater upward movement of the valve 25 in this flushing operation reduces the amount of water which is positioned above the valve 25 and which exerts downward pressure on the valve 25 to hold it in seat 26. At the same time, the greater rush of water out of the flush tank increases the force tending to hold the valve 25 away from the seat 26. The result is that valve 25 cannot be returned to its seat 26 until substantially all of the water has been removed from the flush tank.

When this occurs, the valve 25 returns to its seat 26 and the flush tank is refilled with water. in the refilling operation, which begins at the bottom of the tank, the water exerts downward pressure on the valve 25, tending to hold it in seat 26. By the time the water level in the flush tank reaches the float 20, the downward pressure exerted by the water is suflicient to prevent any upward movement of the float 21} or the valve 25 until the toilet is flushed.

Instead of providing a normally vertical flush control 11, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, we may provide a normally horizontal flush control 11 of the type now in conventional use on toilets. The low flush would preferably be accomplished by raising the lever, while a high or full flush is accomplished by depressing the lever in the same manner in which the toilet is now flushed.

The flushing operation of our invention is completely automatic. Once the flush control is moved in either direction, it need not be held in such position but may be immediately released Without affecting the completion of the flushing operation.

We claim:

1. In a manually operable dual flush control for the tank of a toilet, a handle rotatably mounted on the outside of the tank, a rod connected to said handle, said rod extending substantially horizontally within the tank, said rod having a pair of spaced lateral flanges extending outwardly on one side thereof, a lever arm disposed within said tank and extending substantially parallel to said rod, said lever arm being pivotally mounted adjacent one end thereof on a fulcrum attached "to said tank, said fulcrum being disposed between the lateral flanges of said rod, one of said flanges extending above said lever arm on one side of said fulcrum toward said handle and the other of said flanges extending beneath said lever arm on the opposite side of said fulcrum, means adjacent the opposite end of said lever arm connected to the ball valve of the tank and adapted to move said ball valve upwardly when said opposite end of said lever arm is raised, said handle adapted when rotated in one direction to move said rod upwardly within said tank so that the flange disposed beneath said lever arm will exert upward pressure on said lever arm on the side of said fulcrum toward the opposite end of said lever arm to move said opposite end a greater distance upwardly, said handle adapted when rotated in the opposite direction to move said rod downwardly within said tank so that the flange disposed above said lever arm will exert downward pressure on said lever arm on the other side of said fulcrum to move the opposite end of said lever arm a shorter distance upwardly.

2. In a manually operable dual flush control for the tank of a toilet, a handle rotatably mounted on the outside of the tank, a rod connected to said handle, said rod extending substantially horizontally within the tank, said rod having a pair of spaced lateral flanges extending outwardly on one side thereof, a lever arm disposed within said tank and extending substantially parallel to said rod, said lever arm being pivotally mounted adjacent one end thereof on a fulcrum disposed between the lateral flanges of said rod, one of said flanges extending above said lever arm on the side of said fulcrum toward said handle and the other of said flanges extending beneath said lever arm on the side of said fulcrum away from said handle, said handle adapted through movement of said rod to raise the opposite end of said lever arm, said handleadapted when rotated in one direction to move said rod upwardly within said tank so that the flange disposed beneath said lever arm will exert upward pressure on said lever arm on the side of said fulcrum toward the opposite end of said lever arm to move said opposite end a greater distance upwardly, said handle adapted when rotated in the opposite direction to move said rod downwardly within said tank so that the flange disposed above said lever arm will exert downward pressure on said lever arm on the other side of said fulcrum to move the opposite end of said lever arm a shorter distance upwardly.

3. In a flushing mechanism for toilet tanks, a handle rotatably mounted on the outside of the tank, a rod connected to said handle, said rod extending substantially horizontally within the tank, a lever arm disposed within said tank and extending substantially parallel to said rod, said lever arm being pivotally mounted adjacent one end thereof on a fulcrum, said rod being operatively connected to depress said lever arm on the side of said fulcrum adjacent said end and to raise said lever arm on the opposite side of said fulcrum, said handle adapted when rotated in one direction to move said rod and exert upward pressure on said lever arm on one side of said fulcrum to move the opposite end of said lever arm a greater distance upwardly, said handle adapted when rotated in the opposite direction to move said rod and exert downward pressure on said lever arm on the other side of said fulcrum to move the opposite end of said lever arm a shorter distance upwardly.

4. In a flushing mechanism for toilet tanks, a handle rotatably mounted on the opposite of the tank and a substantially horizontal lever arm disposed within said tank, said lever arm beingpivotally mounted on a fulcrum, said handle being connected to a rod, said rod adapted to engage said lever arm on either side of said fulcrum, said handle adapted upon rotation in one direction to move said rod and exert upward pressure on said lever arm on one side of said fulcrum and upon rotation in the opposite direction to move said rod and exert downward pressure on said lever arm on the opposite side of said fulcrum to provide different degrees of lifting movement for the end of said lever arm adjacent the first named side of the fulcrum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 945,424 Tilden Jan. 4, 1910 1,890,281 Dollinger Dec. 6, 1932 1,992,381 Lyons Feb. 26, 1935 2,001,390 Lester May 14, 1935 2,532,977 White Dec. 5, 1950 2,674,744 White Apr. 13, 1954

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