Dual flush apparatus for water closets

A dual flush apparatus for selecting one flushing mode in which all the water in the toilet tank is drained or another mode wherein only a portion of the water is drained. A toilet valve actuating handle is bistable so that it is yieldably biased to two positions. It is linked to a toilet flushing valve so that it can open the valve and in one of its bistable positions apply a force on the valve and in the other not apply such a force. Depending upon the particular valve structure to which the handle is linked, the force which the handle applies, when applied either prevents or enables the premature closure of the valve at an intermediate water tank level. One flushing mode occurs when the handle force is applied and the other mode occurs when the force is not applied. A conventional pivotable ball valve is modified by providing an air escape hole into the ball below its valve seal to permit controlled entry of water into the valve so that its buoyancy changes at an intermediate water level allowing it to prematurely close if the valve actuating handle is appropriately positioned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a selective two-flushing system for bathroom 
water closets. 
With the ever increasing population and the drain on all of the natural 
resources throughout the world, water is becoming more limited and 
expensive as each year passes. 
Many mechanical devices, suggestions for saving water and new inventions 
such as shower heads, flushing devices and raised outlet adapters have 
been introduced by those who have been quick to recognize the importance 
of our dwindling water supply. 
The ordinary bathroom toilet tank is a notorious waster of our already 
limited water supply. In most cases the water which is wasted is not 
really toilet water but purified drinking water. 
Prior art shows many flushing systems for this purpose, some of which would 
appear to work quite well. However, some of these devices are difficult to 
install and for many people would require the services of a plumber to 
completely remove and reinstall the water tank. Other devices employ 
various types of springs, etc., which operate under water and can become 
corroded or limed up and eventually stick or fail to function properly. 
Some devices require dual valves, guide rods, dual outlets and all of the 
extra equipment that is needed for this type of system and would 
eventually require double replacement of parts and increase the risk of 
leakage. Other devices require the use of air lines with sophisticated air 
control valves in the valve ball or the handle or in both. Also many of 
these devices are not adaptable to a wide enough variety of existing 
equipment such as tanks which are very small and require total discharge 
of water at times. In addition, some tanks have a raised porcelain valve 
seat or are of unusual shape or design such as low silhouette and one 
piece units. 
These very small tanks require a particular type of valve ball such as that 
shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,773,268. This type of valve is capable of 
discharging approximately two inches more of water from the bottom of a 
tank than most of the ordinary flapper valves. In a very small tank this 
is of course vital. But it does not eliminate the need of a dual control. 
And finally there are some devices that are shown in prior art, such as 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,969,775 and 3,435,598, that have been simplified but then 
they are not fully automatic and would require guess work to operate which 
also makes them inconsistent in the use of water. 
Therefore, what is needed is a device which is simplified to the maximum 
and is still fully automatic and consistent in operation, easy to install 
in a large variety of existing tanks and low in cost. 
One of the objects of this invention is to provide a new and novel valve 
ball that may be adapted for use in most flush tanks. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a simple and practical way 
of selectively controlling this new valve as well as the type of valves 
which are used in very small water closets. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a novel valve actuator which 
permits convenient selection of either of two flush modes and provides 
automatic operation. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a simple flapper valve which 
does not contain any special sloped interior walls or any moving parts 
within its buoyancy chamber that must be manipulated in order to provide a 
second control. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a flushing apparatus which 
may be controlled without the assistance of any type of float affixed to 
the chain or elsewhere which might become entangled or obstruct the ball 
from always closing properly. Such floats which are buoyant enough to 
control and sustain the ball against the strong forces of water leaving 
the tank would, once the valve is closed, be constantly drawing or urging 
the ball directly upward and could possibly cause the tank to leak when 
the ball and valve seat become old and worn. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a one piece mount which is 
easily adjustable in two directions in order that the two way valve ball 
will properly fit a very large variety of existing tanks.

It should be understood that the filler valves which automatically control 
the intake of water into the flush tank are well known and commonly used 
and therefore have not been included in the drawings in order to eliminate 
unnecessary complications. 
DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Turning now to a consideration of the drawings and to FIG. 1 in particular. 
When the operating handle of a conventional tank has been pivoted as shown 
in this drawing, the valve ball is lifted from the discharge opening and 
assumes an upright position, somewhat less than vertical, which it 
maintains until the water level drops all the way down within the tank and 
reaches the level of the valve ball which then permits the ball to close 
and reseat itself. 
During the course of this action the handle 1 had returned to its original 
position almost immediately after rotating the valve ball 3 because the 
weight of the lift arm 2 was somewhat greater than that of the handle due 
partly to its extended leverage. 
The valve ball 3 was held in its upward position by its buoyant force 
because of the air that was trapped inside of its hollow body 9. 
This flushing action is the common practice for most flush valves of the 
flapper type. 
In accordance with this invention a double action concept is employed by 
making important changes in the ball 3 and in the handle 1. 
The valve ball 3 is provided with a small air hole 7 located slightly below 
the sealing flange 10 of the valve ball 3. 
When the ball 3 is activated, the air hole 7 is elevated to a topward 
position permitting air to escape into the discharging water. Since the 
air that is contained in the hollow portion of the ball 9 is released 
directly into the water through the small hole 7, its rate of discharge is 
fairly slow. This action is further controlled by the size of the opening 
8 in the bottom of the ball through which water enters the ball to replace 
air which escapes through the hole. 
The opening 8 is smaller than in conventional balls presently being used. 
For example, a ball that would have an air hole 7 of 1/8th inch diameter 
and a bottom hole 8 of approximately 1/4th inch diameter would permit 
about 31/2 inches of water to discharge from the tank before enough air 
would escape to allow the ball to drop to a closed position. It is not 
necessary that the air hole 7 be covered or contain any type of hose 
because once the ball flange 10 has been resealed to the valve rim 5, the 
air hole 7 is slightly below this seated area and is sealed off from the 
water contained within the tank. It is therefore impossible for this air 
hole 7 to cause the valve ball to leak water. 
This type of arrangement makes the valve ball very easy to manufacture as 
the two holes 7 & 8 can be cast into the rubber ball (or the like) and 
therefore provide the ball 3 with a very low cost self timer for the 
purpose of attaining limited flushing to conserve water most of the time. 
Consequently, it can be seen that the valve ball decreases in buoyancy as 
it fills with water so that at some intermediate water level, its buoyant 
force has substantially decreased. Under certain conditions described 
below, it can then fall to reseal the valve at this intermediate water 
level. 
FIG. 4 shows a small plastic adapter plug 11 which can be inserted into the 
hole 8 in the bottom of the ball to change the intermediate level at which 
the valve ball 3 descends for a different size tank. The plug 11 
accomplishes this by reducing or increasing the size of the ball opening 8 
to vary the rate of water flow into the ball. When the ball is activated, 
the slower that the water enters into the ball opening 8 the slower the 
air is forced upward and out of the air hole 7 and the longer it takes for 
the valve ball to descend to a closed position for limited flushing. 
The plastic adapter plugs 11 as shown in FIG. 4 can be included with the 
ball to accomodate various size tanks by containing holes of different 
diameter 14. They can also be color coordinated. For example, red might 
give the most water for a limited flush in a particular size tank, white 
might give 1/2 inch less and blue another 1/2 inch less and no plug at all 
would give still another 1/2 inch less water for various size or shaped 
tanks. In other words, the hole in the red plug 14 would be the smallest, 
the white plug would contain a slightly larger hole and the blue plug 
would have the largest hole 14 while no plug at all would give the ball an 
even slightly larger hole 8. 
This system affords a consistent and precise amount of water for a given 
size and shaped tank for limited flushing purposes and once the proper 
plug has been installed it acts as a valve governor and cannot come out of 
adjustment in the flushing of liquids and other limited flushing 
requirements. It is important to note that the vast majority of flushing 
in most situations does not require maximum flushing. So it is therefore 
more important to be exact in the amount of water used for minimum 
flushing. This is why a precise timing control for the limited flush is 
preferrable over a maximum flush control float which may turn or gradually 
creep out of adjustment. 
Also, the filler valve float rod or float cup can still be adjusted when 
desirable to control the amount of water required for maximum flushing to 
prevent septic tank problems that are sometimes caused by bottles or 
bricks or raised valve extensions being placed in a small water tank that 
has one adjustment for all purposes which may be slightly less than 
adequate and still waste water. 
It is also important to note that whenever the proper and adequate amount 
of water is used for flushing solids, considerably less water is needed 
for all other flushing, which is most of the time. 
As the size of a modern water closet is designed to release the precise 
amount of water necessary for maximum flushing needs so should the valve 
ball be designed to release the precise amount of water necessary for 
limited flushing requirements. 
If the amount of water being flushed for either maximum or minimum needs is 
substantially inadequate it can be noticed almost instantly. But if either 
of these amounts is too much it might go undetected for very long periods 
of time by simply providing a clean flush and no visible signs of trouble. 
The operation and control of the valve ball 3, which is within the water 
tank, from the handle 1 on the outside of the tank, is also a very simple 
operation. 
If a full or maximum flush is required, the handle 1 is merely pressed down 
just as it would be if the tank were not equipped with any selective 
flushing control. 
When a limited flush is desired, the handle 1 is pushed down in exactly the 
same way and then lifted back up to its original position by one of the 
index fingers in a follow-up motion. This is the only thing that is 
required for the limited selection and it is not necessary to hold the 
handle down or up and try to estimate when the tank valve should be shut 
off as the system is automatic in this respect for both controls. 
The handle lift arm 2 which is of light weight plastic or metal can be 
raised with very little effort. The handle 1 is a valve actuating member 
which is bistable. It has a pair of stable positions into which it is 
yieldably biased. In the preferred embodiment it contains a spring 6 which 
applies pressure within the handle that increases and decreases as the 
handle changes positions. When the handle, which contains this spring, is 
pressed down it stays down because of the bias of the spring 6. The force 
which this spring applies to the handle is not noticeable when the handle 
is pushed down because it is not much greater than that required to 
initially lift the flapper valve open from its sealed position; but the 
force is adequate to hold the lift arm 2 and the valve ball 3 in an upward 
position by means of the chain 4 and with the help of the water within the 
tank, even though all of the air has been released out of the hollow of 
the ball 9. 
However, when substantially all of the tank water is drained so that the 
water filled ball is not submersed in the water, its buoyant force is 
totally lost and its added weight overcomes the bias on the handle 
allowing the ball to drop and seal the valve. The ball drops and the 
pressure of the spring changes within the handle to release the lever 
completely to permit the ball to seat perfectly without any drag from the 
chain. 
With all of the air out of the hollow part of the ball 9 so that it is 
filled completely with water (whereas a conventional ball would contain 
some air and some water) its weight is increased when the level of water 
drops to the level of the ball 3. 
This additional weight of the valve filled with water, and acting as its 
own float, determines when the lift arm is pulled down to reseat itself. 
The weight of the water filled ball 3 combined with the leverage obtained 
from the lift arm 2 is more than adequate to override and shift the handle 
spring 6 and permit the valve ball to drop and properly seat itself. Once 
this has happened, the air hole 7 reverses its previous function and 
provides an air intake which assists the water to rapidly drain out of the 
valve outlet 8 even though this opening is smaller than that which is 
presently used in most conventional valve balls. 
When the handle 1 is pushed down and then raised for an early shut off 
(i.e., its other mode of operation), the spring 6 assures that it stays in 
this position and does not wander about because of its light weight and 
somewhat delicate balance. This in turn assures that the chain 4 contains 
all the slack that is necessary for the ball 3 to drop at the intermediate 
tank level and properly seat itself for a limited flush as soon as the 
ball is sufficiently filled with water. 
It should be clearly understood that the handle spring 6 can be inserted 
into the handle in various ways or at a different angle, for the ease of 
manufacturing if it is so desired; and also in order to accomodate various 
shapes and styles of handles such as the pushbutton type in which the 
spring mechanism could be moved to inside the tank if desirable and would 
still be capable of accomplishing its function by controlling the valve 
ball from a biased lift arm. 
This type of arrangement might entail one button that would utilize the 
spring or biased concept and another button that would by-pass the spring 
to activate the valve for a different flushing. 
Also the air hole 7 may consist of one or more holes strategically placed 
below the sealing flange 10 if this were to become preferable for any 
future timing purpose without departing from the scope of the invention. 
Turning now to FIG. 5 showing the working parts of the handle 1 with the 
handle depressed and the lever arm raised, it can be seen that the core 49 
is fixed to the wall of the toilet tank in a conventional manner. It is 
held in place against axial translation by the same bolt 46 that also 
secures the lever arm 2 to the handle 1. The handle 1 and the lever arm 2 
are fixed together and pivot together within the core 49. The handle 
mechanism contains mating stops 47-48 which limit the distance that the 
core 49 can turn within the handle. The core 49 also contains a small 
concave area 50 which contains a pin 40 (all of which can be molded into 
one piece) which holds one end of the compression spring 6. The other end 
of the spring 6 is mounted in a similar manner to a slideable lock 42 
which can be adjusted by the turning of a small bolt 44 which is retained 
by a solid section 43 within the handle. The slideable lock 42 adjustably 
slides axially of the bolt 44 to adjust the spring force exerted by the 
spring against the handle and the core 49. The handle 1 can have part of 
its end 45 left open for access to the adjustable bolt 44. If the handle 
is made for one specific type of tank and valve ball the bolt adjustment 
can be eliminated if so desired. The purpose of this adjustment is to 
compensate for the difference in weight and balance of various types of 
valve balls. Also, the lift arm does not necessarily have to be bolted to 
the handle as some manufacturing processes do not employ this technique. 
The handle and the lever arm 2, which it carries, are therefore bistable 
because when the handle is pushed downwardly to the depressed position 
illustrated in FIG. 5 and the lever arm is raised, they will be held in 
that position by the force applied by the spring 6 which is at an angle to 
a radius about which the handle pivots and consequently has a component of 
force applying a moment force against the handle 1. If the handle is in 
its raised position, the compression spring will be at an angle to the 
radius but on the other side of the radius so that it will apply a moment 
force in the opposite direction to releasably hold the handle in the 
raised position. 
In the operation of the preferred embodiment, the gravitational force of 
the valve urges the valve closed. The buoyant force of the valve urges the 
valve open or is applied in a direction to hold it open. The buoyant 
force, however, varies from the time that the valve is opened because of 
two phenomena. 
First, a part of the buoyant force of the valve results from the space 
within the valve which is occupied by air. However, after the valve is 
opened water begins to fill the valve and as time progresses and the valve 
fills this buoyant force becomes less. 
Secondly, as the water level lowers in the tank and the surface of the 
water falls below the uppermost portion of the valve, the portions of the 
valve that protrude above the surface no longer exert any upward buoyant 
force on the valve. Therefore, as water drains from the tank both upward 
buoyant forces decrease. This decrease does not occur all of a sudden but 
rather is a continuously changing decrease. 
When it is desired to flush the tank in the toilet, in a manner which 
conserves water, the handle is depressed and then raised to its initial 
raised position. In this state the lever arm 2 through the chain 4 will 
exert no upward or valve opening force on the valve. Therefore, as water 
fills the central portion of the valve and its buoyancy decreases the 
valve will close as soon as the buoyant forces become less than the 
gravitational forces. 
However, when a full flush is desired the handle 1 is depressed so that the 
lever arm 2 remains in its upward position. Therefore, closing of the 
valve is further delayed until the sum of the buoyant force and the force 
exerted by the spring through the lever arm 2 and the chain 4 becomes less 
than the total gravitational forces. 
One feature of this structure is that a conventional full flush is still 
performed by the conventional depression only of the handle. 
Thus, in either mode of operation the buoyant forces must decrease 
sufficiently far to permit gravity to close the valve. In the water 
conserving mode they must only decrease sufficiently to be less than the 
gravitational force of the valve. However, in the full flush mode the 
buoyant forces must decrease still further until the gravity force can 
overcome the force exerted on the valve by the spring acting through the 
lever arm 2 and the chain 4. 
Shown in FIG. 2 is a different type of valve which has a container 35 with 
a small hole located in its bottom area 36 for the purpose of timing the 
valve to stay open until the entire water tank has emptied; at which time 
this valve changes balance and drops to a closed position shown by water 
line 16. This action is possible only because the lever arm 2 has been 
lowered to provide slack in the chain 4 for the valve to travel all of the 
way rearward shortly after being activated. The embodiment of FIG. 2 also 
has a buoyant means 30, the buoyant force of which is applied to tends to 
open the valve but which decreases its buoyant force when the water level 
falls below it. 
The handle and arm shown in FIG. 1 and 5 can also be used to control this 
type of valve by operating the handle 1 in the exact opposite manner as 
used to control the new improved flapper such as shown in FIG. 1. If a 
partial flush is desired from this type of valve the handle 1 would be 
pressed downward. If a full flush is desired the handle would be pressed 
downward and raised to permit slack in the chain. 
Before fastening the lever arm 2 to the valve 25 shown in FIG. 2 the spring 
6 would first be tightened slightly. The chain 4 would be hooked into one 
of the holes 17, 18, 19 and 20 which are located close together for the 
purpose of finding the exact balancing point for the valve 25 to close 
when the water level 15 makes contact with the lower section of the float 
30. Because the valve is being held in this over balanced position by the 
lift arm 2 and tight chain 4, it drops forward to a closed position 
prematurely and before the weight of the container becomes dominant, 
thereby saving approximately 2 inches of water depending on the amount of 
slack which has been connectively permitted in the chain 4 and also 
depending on which of the holes 17, 18, 19 or 20 has been selected for 
use. 
FIG. 3 shows a one piece plastic type of mount which slides down onto the 
overflow tube and rigidly grips around the tube to hold itself in the 
correct position to permit the valve to seat exactly each time. The sleeve 
63 slides up or down slightly on the overflow tube to provide the 
conventional type vertical adjustment while turning of the bolt 60 moves 
the trunnions 61 & 62 forward or rearward for the second or exact 
horizontal adjustment. 
It should be appreciated that various alternative structures can be 
designed which embody the concepts of the present invention. For example, 
the handle or valve actuating member can be made bistable by means of an 
offset weight which pivots with the handle and has a top dead center 
position intermediate its two bistable positions. Shifting the handle and 
its weight one way permits the weight to apply a moment force holding the 
handle there while shifting it the opposite way yieldably biases it in its 
opposite position. 
As still another alternative, the valve actuating member can be biased into 
one or both stable positions by being forced by an operator into a catch, 
frictionally engaging clamp means or other detachable or yieldable 
fastener. For example, depression of the handle 1 in FIG. 1 can raise the 
arm into a frictionally engaging fastener where it is retained until 
substantially all of the water is drained from the tank whereupon the 
total weight pulls the arm from the fastener. When the arm 2 is in its 
lower position it may be biased merely by gravitational forces. 
In any case, the handle or lift arm is bistable and is linked to the valve 
so that in one position it applies a force to the valve and in its other 
position it does not. It is linked so that it also is used to open the 
valve by moving it to one of its stable positions. 
The force it applies in some embodiments, such as that of FIG. 1 prevents 
the loss of buoyancy at the intermediate level (i.e., the filling of the 
ball with water) from allowing the valve to close. In other embodiments, 
such as that of FIG. 2, the force applied by the bistable handle allows 
the valve to close at the intermediate level whereas otherwise, with no 
force from the bistable handle, it would not close at the intermediate 
level. 
It is to be understood that while the detailed drawings and specific 
examples given describe preferred embodiments of the invention, they are 
for the purposes of illustration only, that the apparatus of the invention 
is not limited to the precise details and conditions disclosed, that the 
handle can be used to control many other valves which have not been shown 
and that various changes may be made therein without departing from the 
spirit of the invention which is defined by the following claims.