Flush toilet

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11473282-B2
Application number	US-202017025883-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 18, 2020
Priority date	Sep 27, 2019
Publication date	Oct 18, 2022
Grant date	Oct 18, 2022

Abstract

A flush toilet includes a toilet main body and a tank device, where the tank device includes a water supply part, a storage tank, a small tank, a pump, a float switch, and a controller, a collision part against which flush water that is supplied from the water supply part to the storage tank via the small tank collides is provided in the storage tank, and the collision part is formed to cause the flush water to fall onto a water surface on the float switch side in the storage tank after collision.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flush toilet for flushing and discharging waste with flush water, the flush toilet comprising:
a toilet main body including a bowl configured to receive waste, a rim portion formed on a top edge of the bowl, and a discharge trap configured to discharge the waste in the bowl; and
a tank device configured to supply flush water to the toilet main body, the tank device being provided behind the toilet main body,
wherein the tank device includes
a water supply part configured to supply the flush water that is supplied from a water supply source,
a storage tank main body provided behind the toilet main body, above a floor surface,
a small tank that is communicably connected to an upper part of the storage tank main body and to which a water supply pipe of the water supply part is connected,
a pump configured to feed the flush water flowing in from the storage tank main body to the toilet main body, the pump being provided downstream of the storage tank main body,
a float switch including a sensing unit that moves up and down according to a water level in the storage tank main body, the float switch being provided at an upper part in the storage tank main body, and
a controller configured to control the water supply part and a drive unit of the pump based on the water level detected by the float switch, and
a collision part provided inside the storage tank main body, the flush water supplied from the small tank being colliding against the collision part, the collision part being configured to cause the flush water after collision to fall onto a water surface on a side of the float switch in the storage tank main body from a collision positioned higher than the sensing unit of the float switch.

2. The flush toilet according to claim 1 , wherein the pump further includes a water passage pipe extending from the drive unit of the pump to an upstream side, the water passage pipe including an external water passage pipe connecting the drive unit of the pump and the storage tank main body and an internal water passage pipe connected to an upstream side of the external water passage pipe and provided inside the storage tank main body, and
the collision part is provided on the internal water passage pipe, and the controller is configured to control to drive the drive unit of the pump during supply of water from the water supply part to the small tank.

3. The flush toilet according to claim 2 , wherein the collision part is formed as a curved surface on an upper surface of the internal water passage pipe.

4. The flush toilet according to claim 2 , wherein the collision part is provided on an upper surface of the internal water passage pipe and is located below a communicating hole between the storage tank main body and the small tank, the collision part being located at a position higher than a lower end of the sensing unit of the float switch.

5. The flush toilet according to claim 2 , wherein the tank device further includes a suction pipe into which the flush water in the storage tank main body is suctioned by operation of the drive unit of the pump, the suction pipe being provided on an upstream side of the internal water passage pipe,
the collision part is provided on an upper surface of the internal water passage pipe horizontally extending in a left-right direction from a downstream end of the suction pipe to the external water passage pipe, and
the float switch is disposed on a side perpendicular to an axial direction of the internal water passage pipe.

6. The flush toilet according to claim 5 , wherein the discharge trap extends, in a plan view, in a front-back direction from an inlet connected to the bowl to an outlet behind the bowl, and
the storage tank main body is disposed in a manner surrounding an upper part of the discharge trap, the pump and the external water passage pipe from both left and right sides and from behind.

7. The flush toilet according to claim 5 , wherein the storage tank main body has a left-right asymmetrical shape including a large tank-main body section and a small tank-main body section, the large tank-main body section being a large-capacity side of the storage tank main body that is divided into two at a center in a left-right direction, the small tank-main body section being a small-capacity side of the storage tank main body that is divided into two at the center in the left-right direction, and
the collision part, the suction pipe, and the sensing unit of the float switch are each provided inside the large tank-main body section.

8. The flush toilet according to claim 7 , wherein the large tank-main body section includes a rear large tank-main body section that is disposed behind the discharge trap, a front large tank-main body section that extends forward from the rear large tank-main body section and that is disposed on one of left and right sides of the discharge trap, and a lower large tank-main body section that extends downward from the rear large tank-main body section,
the small tank-main body section includes a rear small tank-main body section that is disposed behind the discharge trap, and a front small tank-main body section that extends forward from the rear small tank-main body section and that is disposed on another one of the left and right sides of the discharge trap,
a front end of the front large tank-main body section is disposed more forward than a front end of the front small tank-main body section,
a bottom surface of the lower large tank-main body section is located at a position that is lower than a bottom surface of each of the rear small tank-main body section and the front small tank-main body section, and
the float switch is a single float switch that is provided at an upper part in the rear large tank-main body section.

Assignees

• Toto Ltd

Inventors

• Momoe Masaaki
• Kashirajima Shu

Classifications

• 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

• E03D1/33

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

• E03D1/32

  Arrangement of inlet valves (devices for reducing noise E03D9/14 {; noise-reducing means E03D11/00}) · CPC title

• E03D1/30

  Valves for high or low level cisterns; Their arrangement (inlet valves, valves in general F16K ){; Flushing mechanisms in the cistern, optionally with provisions for a pre-or a post- flushing and for cutting off the flushing mechanism in case of leakage (flushing valves E03D1/142, E03D1/186, E03D1/266, E03D1/286)} · CPC title

• E03D1/01

  Shape or selection of material for flushing cisterns · CPC title