US2988751A - Safety flush valve - Google Patents

Description

June 20, 1 961 Filed July 20, 1959 H. RUTHERFORD 2,988,751

SAFETY FLUSH VALVE 2 SheetsSheet 1 Fig] 1N VEN TOR.

fi. ,3 I 32 s fi " Harry Rutherford June 20, 1961 Filed July 20, 1959 H. RUTHERFORD v SAFETY FLUSH VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Harry Rutherford INVENTOR.

2,988,751 SAFETY FLUSH VALVE Harry Rutherford, 954 Jefferson Ave., Huntington, W. Va. Filed July 20, 1959, Ser. No. 828,232 6 Claims. (Cl. 4-56) This invention relates to plumbing equipment and more particularly to a safety device for a commode to prevent normal flushing operations in the event that the toilet bowl has an overabundance of water therein.

An object of the invention is to provide a fully automatic attachment for a toilet bowl-water closet assembly wherein the flush tank can discharge no water or at least, a minimum of water into the toilet bowl in the event that the water level in the toilet bowl is elevated beyond what is considered to be a safe operating level. Accordingly, should the toilet bowl become stopped or should the soil line become clogged and the water in the toilet bowl reach a high level, very little or no additional water is permitted to enter the toilet bowl in response to ordinary flushing endeavors.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment which may be used as original equipment with toilet ensembles or which may be applied as an attachment for existing installations to serve an identical purpose as set forth above.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a flush tank and toilet bowl, parts being broken away in section to expose the attachment.

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing the attachment in a position at which little or no additional water may enter the toilet bowl.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the attachment.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale and taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view showing the valve in FIGURE 5 in a second position.

In the accompanying drawings there is a conventional toilet bowl 10 and a conventional flush tank 12 equipped with a standard flushing mechanism 14. Plush tank 12 has a valve seat 16 in registry with a passage 18 that communicates with the water chamber 20 of the bowl 10 with the interior of the flush tank. Rim 22 of the toilet bowl has a number of apertures 24 which are part of a water manifold 26 in communication with chamber 20. The apertures function as orifices for the discharge of water into the toilet bowl.

Attachment 3t) exemplifies the principles of the invention and is applied as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, to the conventional flush tank and toilet bowl. The attachment is very simple in construction and consists of a ball-type valve 32 made of rubber or some other elastomeric substance and having an air cavity 34 with a lower discharge opening 36 therein. The construction of the ball valve element is very similar to a conventional flush ball and it is operated by the flush mechanism 14 in precisely the same way as an ordinary flush tank ball valve i.e. it cooperates with seat 16 to control water flow through passageway 18. However, the valve member 32 has a tube 38 attached thereto and extending axially into the air cavity 34. There is a group of air orifices 40 near the upper end of the tube and adjacent to the upper part of cavity 34. A thin lightweight United States Patent 0 F flexible tube 42 is joined to the lower end of tube 38. Tube 42 may be made of rubber or plastic and functions as an air conductor. The lower end of the tube 42 is connected to a nipple 44 protruding from valve body 46.

The valve body 46 (FIGURES 5-6) is simply a casing having a bracket 48 on its upper end and a transverse wall 50 at the lower end thereof. Central passage 54 is provided in wall 50 and a float stem 56 extends through the passage. A float S8, for instance a buoyant ball, is attached to the lower extremity of stem 56 and is on the exterior of the valve body 46. Valve 60 is attached to the upper end of stem 56 and is disposed above the upper casing wall 51 which also forms the top wall of valve chamber 47 enclosed by the valve body casing. Valve 60 may have various different shapes, one being a ball which is self-centering by cooperating with spherical seat 62 around air port 53 formed in the upper surface of wall 51.

Although other methods of installation are possible, a preferred manner of installing attachment 30 is to extend tube 42 through the center of passage 18, through chamber 20 and one of the apertures 24. The valve casing 46 is simply hung by bracket 48 over rim 22 so that the float 58 depends into the toilet bowl. It is to be understood that the flush ball valve 32 replaces the ordinary flush ball and in fact, may be a converted flush ball by installation of tube 38 therein. It is further to be clearly understood that the ordinary functioning of the toilet is in no way changed by the presence of attachment 30. The only change is under emergency conditions when the water in the toilet bowl 10 (FIG. 2) reaches what is considered to be an unsafe high level. The water level shown in FIGURE 2 is considerably above the water level in the trap of the toilet bowl and therefore, it is an abnormally high level, such as would be caused by a clogged trap or drain.

During normal operation of the commode the tank ball flush valve is raised from its seat by the operation of flushing mechanism 1-4 and is held in the raised position by air trapped within the ball. This causes the ball to float until the water'in the tank drains into the toilet bowl, after which the flush ball reseats by gravity and the tank refills with water to the normal level, depending on the setting of the float (not shown).

It the toilet bowl outlet becomes clogged with waste material or if for any other reason the level of water in the toilet bowl becomes sufficiently high to be deemed unsafe or at least, indicative of an unsafe condition in the plumbing drain system, the valve member 60 becomes unseated allowing air .to escape from the ball valve 32 by way of orifices 4t), tubes 38 and 42, cavity or chamber 47 and port 53. As the air escapes, the Water enters the tank ball valve 32, causing it to sink to the closed position on seat 16. This prevents the further flow of water from the tank into the bowl. After the tank ball valve 32 closes, the water which enters the ball, drains from the opening 36 in the bottom of the ball.

If there are subsequent fiushings of the commode, while the water level is high in the bowl (FIGURE 2) the tank ball valve 32 will close immediately with only a minimum amount of water escaping from the tank into the bowl. When the water level in the commode lowers to a normal operating level, valve 60 will again seat thereby closing off passageways 53. This allows the commode to operate in the normal manner.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. For use in a commode comprising a bowl and a flush tank having a discharge opening therein communieating with the bowl, a buoyant hollow ball valve operable in the tank and engageable in the opening for controlling the discharge of water therethrough, a vent tube communicating with the ball valve for destroying the buoyancy thereof, and a normally closed float valve in the bowl connected to the vent tube and adapted to be opened when the water rises to a predetermined level in the bowl.

2. For use in a commode comprising a bowl and a flush tank having a discharge opening therein communieating with the bowl, a buoyant hollow ball valve operable in the tank and engageable in the discharge opening for controlling the passage of water therethrough, means for manually opening the ball valve, a flexible vent tube passing through the opening and connected at one end to the ball valve and communicating therewith for destroying the buoyancy thereof, and a normally closed float valve connected to the other end of the vent tube and mounted in the bowl for actuation to open position when the water in said bowl rises to a predetermined level.

3. For use in a commode comprising a bowl and a flush tank having a discharge opening therein communicating with said bowl, a buoyant hollow ball valve operable in the tank and engageable in the opening for controlling the passage ofwater therethrough, said ball valve having an air chamber extending upwardly thereinto from the lower end thereof, a vent tube for destroying the buoyancy of the ball valve, said vent tube including an end portion extending upwardly into the ball valve and aflixed to the upper portion thereof and having communication with the air chamber, and a normally closed float valve on the other end portion of the vent tube mounted in the bowl and operable to open position when the water in said bowl rises to a predetermined level.

4. For use in a commode comprising a bowl and a flush tank having a discharge opening therein communicating with said bowl, a hollow ball valve operable in the tank and engageable in the opening for controlling the passage of water therethrough, and means in the bowl operable by water therein and connected to the ball valve for destroying its buoyancy when the water in said bowl rises to a predetermined level,

5. For use in a commode comprising a bowl and a flush tank having a discharge opening therein communicating with said bowl, a hollow ball valve operable in the tank and engageable in the opening for controlling the passage of water therethrough, means in the bowl connected to the ball valve for destroying its buoyancy when the water in said bowl rises to a predetermined level, said means including a flexible vent tube having one end connected to the ball valve in communication therewith and extending therefrom into the bowl, and a normally closed float valve on the other end of the vent tube mounted in the bowl above the normal level of the water therein.

6. For us in a commode comprising a bowl and a flush tank having a discharge opening therein communicating with said bowl, a hollow ball valve operable in the tank and engageable in the opening for controlling the passage of water therethrough, means in the bowl connected to the ball valve for destroying its buoyancy when the water in said bowl rises to a predetermined level, said means including a flexible vent tube having one end connected to the ball valve in communication therewith and extending therefrom into the bowl, a normally closed float valve on the other end of the vent tube mounted in the bowl above the normal level of the water therein said float valve comprising a vertical cylinder having an air chamber therein communicating with the vent tube and further having a port in its upper end, a vertical stern extending slidably through the cylinder, a valve member on the upper end of said stem engageable by gravity in the port for closing same, and a float on the lower end of the stem for opening said valve member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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