Discharge valve apparatus, flush water tank apparatus, and flush toilet

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10119260-B2
Application number	US-201514812107-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 29, 2015
Priority date	Jul 31, 2014
Publication date	Nov 6, 2018
Grant date	Nov 6, 2018

Abstract

A discharge valve apparatus attached to a reservoir tank in a reservoir tank apparatus for storing flush water. The discharge valve apparatus includes a valve body, attached to the top of a discharge opening provided in the bottom surface of a reservoir tank, for opening and closing the discharge opening by up and down movement thereof, a float, attached to the valve body, which drops in tandem with the drop in water level inside the flush water tank; and a variable drop start timing mechanism to make a drop start timing of the valve body variable.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A discharge valve apparatus attached to a reservoir tank in a reservoir tank apparatus for storing flush water, comprising:
a valve body, attached to a top of a discharge opening provided in a bottom surface of the reservoir tank, for opening and closing the discharge opening by up and down movement thereof;
a float, attached to the valve body, which drops in tandem with a drop in water level inside the reservoir tank; and
a variable drop start timing mechanism to make a drop start timing of the valve body variable, the variable drop start timing mechanism being a buoyancy adjustment mechanism disposed on the float, the buoyancy adjustment mechanism including a reservoir portion, disposed on the float, for storing flush water, and an adjustment portion for adjusting a volume of the flush water stored in the reservoir portion, whereby a time over which the flush water is discharged from the discharge opening can be changed, and a volume of the flush water discharged from the discharge opening can be changed;
wherein the reservoir portion of the variable drop start timing mechanism has a side wall erected on an outer perimeter side thereof, and the adjustment portion adjusts the flush water volume by changing a height of the side wall of the reservoir portion; and
the reservoir portion adjustment portion of the variable drop start timing mechanism comprises differing channel portions at multiple height positions formed on the float or on the side wall of the reservoir portion, and a projecting portion capable of insertion in the channel portions provided on the side wall or float.

2. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the reservoir portion side wall in the variable drop start timing mechanism enables storage of flush water up to a top edge portion formed around the entire perimeter thereof.

3. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a wall portion extending outward close to the adjustment portion is formed on the float or on the perimeter surface of the reservoir portion side wall, and the outside edge of the wall portion is positioned outside the adjustment portion.

4. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the wall portion is disposed to surround the adjustment portion.

5. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein movement in the circumferential direction of the wall portion is restricted so that the valve body does not rotate.

6. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the reservoir portion of the variable drop start timing mechanism is formed around the float.

7. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the discharge valve apparatus further comprises a guide portion for guiding the up and down motion of the valve body, the guide portion having a perimeter wall into which side walls of the reservoir portion are inserted, the perimeter wall being provided with openings for permitting flush water to flow out.

8. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein a top end of the guide portion opening is formed so that when the valve body reaches the highest position relative to the guide portion, it is positioned higher than a top edge of the reservoir portion side wall.

9. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the surface area of the guide portion opening is set to a size such that a water level inside the guide portion drops at essentially the same speed as a drop in the water level inside the flush water tank.

10. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the valve body comprises a seal portion for sealing the discharge opening, and a part of the valve body is positioned below the seal portion.

11. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the valve body comprises a bottom surface, in which a hole is provided.

12. The discharge valve apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the discharge valve apparatus further comprises a connecting member attachment portion, to which a connecting member for pulling up the valve body to the top surface of the valve body, and the connecting member attachment portion comprises a rotation-limiting portion for limiting the rotational direction of the connecting member to one direction.

13. A reservoir tank apparatus comprising;
a reservoir tank having a fluid outlet, and
a discharge valve apparatus according to claim 1 mounted within the fluid outlet.

14. A toilet comprising the reservoir tank according to claim 13 .

Assignees

• Toto Ltd

Inventors

• Shinohara Koki
• Tanimoto Hideki
• Kubozono Yukinori
• Hatama Kenji
• Koga Hisashi

Classifications

• E03D1/35

  Flushing valves having buoyancy · CPC title

• E03D1/33 Primary

  Adaptations or arrangements of floats (actuating-floats in general F16K33/00) · CPC title

• Y02A20/412

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02A20/40

  Protecting water resources · CPC title