Flush toilet

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10174490-B2
Application number	US-201715606991-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 26, 2017
Priority date	Jun 7, 2016
Publication date	Jan 8, 2019
Grant date	Jan 8, 2019

Abstract

A flush toilet includes a reservoir tank assembled from above or behind to a predetermined installation position on the rear side of the conduit of a toilet main unit; a connecting pipe member, one end of which is disposed on the conduit of the toilet main unit, and the other end of which is connected to a reservoir tank; a tank-side connecting portion, disposed on the front side of the reservoir tank and connected to a connecting pipe member; and a seal member, connected in a watertight manner between a connecting pipe member and a tank-side connecting portion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flush toilet configured to discharge waste by flushing the flush toilet with flush water supplied by a jet pump action, the flush toilet comprising:
a toilet main unit including a bowl configured to receive waste and a conduit configured to guide flush water to the bowl;
a tank assembled from a top side of the toilet main unit or a rear side of the toilet main unit to a predetermined installation position in the toilet main unit further to a rear than the bowl of the toilet main unit, the tank being configured to store a portion of the flush water supplied from a water supply source and to supply the flush water to the conduit in the toilet main unit, the tank including a jet pump unit disposed on an interior of the tank, at least a portion of the jet pump unit being submerged, wherein the jet pump unit includes a jet nozzle configured to spray the flush water supplied from the water supply source, and a throat pipe including a suction port at one end of the throat pipe and an outlet at other end of the throat pipe, the outlet of the throat pipe being configured to cause the flush water to flow out toward the conduit in the toilet main unit, wherein the jet nozzle is configured to induce the jet pump action so as to increase a flow volume of flush water flowing in the throat pipe more than a flow volume of flush water sprayed from the jet nozzle by jet spraying flush water from the suction port on the throat pipe toward an interior of the throat pipe so that increased flow volume of flush water is supplied from the throat pipe toward the conduit on the toilet main unit;
a toilet main unit-side connecting portion forming a toilet main unit-side connecting pipe path in the toilet main unit-side connecting portion, one end of the toilet main unit-side connecting portion being disposed either as a single piece or as a separate piece with the conduit of the toilet main unit, and other end of the toilet main unit-side connecting portion being connected to the tank;
a tank-side connecting portion disposed on a front side of the tank, the tank-side connecting portion being connected to the toilet main unit-side connecting portion so as to form a tank-side connecting pipe path configured to communicate with the toilet main unit-side connecting pipe path; and
a seal member disposed on either the toilet main unit-side connecting portion or the tank-side connecting portion, the seal member being configured to connect in a watertight manner between the toilet main unit-side connecting portion and the tank-side connecting portion with the tank assembled to the predetermined installation position from the top side or the rear side;
wherein when the tank is connected in a watertight manner to the toilet main unit, surroundings of the toilet main unit-side connecting portion and the tank-side connecting portion are covered such that a worker cannot directly access the surroundings of the toilet main unit-side connecting portion and the tank-side connecting portion; and
wherein the seal member is configured that when the tank is assembled from the top side or the rear side to the predetermined installation position, a push-in force acting on the seal member when the tank-side connecting portion is connected in a watertight manner to the toilet main unit-side connecting portion by pushing the tank into the toilet main unit-side connecting portion is set to be smaller than a pull-out force acting on the seal member when the tank-side connecting portion connected in a watertight manner to the toilet main unit-side connecting portion is pulled out and removed from the toilet main unit-side connecting portion.

2. The flush toilet according to claim 1 , wherein the seal member is a packing member formed in approximately a ring shape, and the packing member includes one or more flexible projecting portions on an outer circumferential surface of the packing member, the flexible projecting portion being formed so as to project radially and outwardly over an entire circumference on the outer circumferential surface of the packing member.

3. The flush toilet according to claim 2 , wherein the one or more flexible projecting portions are multiple projecting portions configured to be spaced apart in an axial direction on the outer circumferential surface of the packing member.

4. The flush toilet according to claim 2 , wherein the toilet main unit-side connecting portion and the tank-side connecting portion are configured to form a connecting pipe path communicating in a vertical direction when the toilet main unit-side connecting portion and the tank-side connecting portion are connected to each other; and
the flush toilet further comprises a force dispersion portion disposed to be able to support the toilet main unit-side connecting portion with the tank assembled from above to the predetermined installation position, the force dispersion portion being configured to disperse the push-in force from the tank-side connecting portion onto the toilet main unit-side connecting portion.

5. The flush toilet according to claim 2 , further comprises a horizontality maintaining portion configured to affix the tank to the toilet main unit so that an orientation of the tank is maintained in a horizontal state.

6. The flush toilet according to claim 1 , wherein the tank is assembled from the top side into the predetermined installation position further to the rear side than the bowl of the toilet main unit;
the toilet main unit-side connecting pipe path is formed to point upward;
the tank-side connecting pipe path is formed to extend upward from one end; and
the tank includes a stepped portion configured to project from a front surface of the tank rearward on the interior of the tank and to extend upward from a bottom surface of the tank;
wherein the stepped portion includes a top end, to which a throat pipe-side connecting portion forming the outlet of the throat pipe is connected, and on which a connecting port communicating with the tank-side connecting pipe path is formed; and the top end of the stepped portion is positioned above a full water level inside the tank so that when the tank is assembled from above to the predetermined installation position, a worker can perform a watertight connection operation to connect the toilet main unit-side connecting portion and the tank-side connecting portion in a watertight manner;
wherein the stepped portion is configured to connect the tank-side connecting portion through the seal member to the toilet main unit-side connecting portion in a watertight manner when the watertight connection operation is performed.

7. The flush toilet according to claim 6 , wherein the stepped portion is a sole stepped portion formed inside the tank so as to be positioned above a minimum water level inside the tank.

8. The flush toilet according to claim 7 , wherein the tank includes in its interior a supply valve configured to supply and cut off the flush water supplied from the water supply source to the jet nozzle; and
wherein the stepped portion is formed at the center portion in a left-right direction of the interior of the tank, and the supply valve and the throat pipe are disposed more on one side in the left-right direction of the interior of the tank so as to enable the watertight connection operation for a portion of the top end of the stepped portion.

9. The flush toilet according to claim 7 , wherein the top end of the stepped part includes an operating region surface and a front region surface, the operating region surface being formed in a left-right width direction region of the top end of the stepped part so as to enable the watertight connecting operation, and the front region surface being formed between the thro

Assignees

• Toto Ltd

Inventors

• Harashima Tatsunari
• Ishimaru Ryoko
• Nakamura Kenichi
• Imaizumi Shoko

Classifications

• E03D2201/40

  Devices for distribution of flush water inside the bowl · CPC title

• E03D5/01 Primary

  using flushing pumps · CPC title

• E03D1/26

  Bowl with flushing cistern mounted on the rearwardly extending end of the bowl (shape or material of the cistern E03D1/01; constructional features of the bowl E03D11/02 - E03D11/12) · CPC title

• E03D1/38

  Adaptations or arrangements of flushing pipes (noise-absorbing means in pipe systems F16L55/00 {; noise-reducing means in the flushing mechanism not in combination with flushing valves E03D11/00; provisions in the flushing pipe for evacuating leakage water from the cistern}) · CPC title