Patent Publication Number: US-7913328-B2

Title: Toilet tank connector assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     Not applicable. 
     STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to toilets of the “two piece” type (tank and bowl are separately formed pieces). More particularly it relates to connector assemblies capable of linking such a toilet tank to a toilet base in a way that corrects for out of plumb supporting floor conditions. 
     During construction of a home or other building it is common for a bathroom floor to be slightly sloped. If a toilet base is installed on a sloped floor, and the tank which is mounted thereon has no way to correct for this out of plumb condition, the top of the tank will also have a slight tip to it. This condition may be aesthetically unacceptable, particularly where there is a plumb visual reference such as a nearby window molding or wall paper striping. Further, it is common for items to be placed on a toilet tank cover. An out of plumb condition uncorrected for could lead to such items not being properly supported on the tank cover. 
     Attempts to correct for an out of plumb condition by changing the slope of the floor can be very expensive and cause construction delays. Attempts to address the problem by adjusting the junction between the base and the floor could leave an undesirable gap between portions of the lower base and the floor, and in any event may be difficult to achieve depending on the sewer system used. 
     Another way of trying to overcome such an out of plumb condition is to provide a shim between the toilet bowl and toilet tank. However, shims are not normally included with a new toilet, and correctly shimming can be time consuming and require some carpentry or plumbing skill. Further, a typical installer is not likely to be pleased if they have to use shims. Even more problematic, a shimmed connection might lead to leakage at the joint between the outlet valve extension and the bowl inlet. 
     Unrelated to this concern it should be noted that most two-piece toilets have been connected to bowl rear extensions using bolts extending from inside the tank, through the tank bottom wall, and then into and through bowl rear extensions. These assemblies require special care to avoid leakage through the tank bottom wall along the bolt, and in any event complicate adjustments in the relative positioning of the tank with respect to the bowl. 
     A recent improved connector bracket is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,976, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. This bracket is positioned under the tank. It suspends attachment bolts that don&#39;t need to extend through the tank. This has the advantage of not requiring holes to be formed in the tank bottom wall for the bolts. However, it does not provide for correction for out of plumb conditions. 
     Hence, a need still exists for improved two-piece toilet assemblies where out of plumb support conditions can be readily corrected for. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect the present invention provides a toilet. There is a tank with an outlet valve, the outlet valve having an extension projecting through a lower wall of the tank. There is also a bowl having an upper rearward portion with an inlet suitable for receiving water from the tank through the valve extension. 
     The valve extension has mounted thereon a nut and a gasket. The gasket is positioned radially outward of the nut, the gasket having an outwardly curved sealing surface disposed at a lower radially outward edge of the gasket. The bowl inlet has an inwardly directed entry surface upon which the gasket outwardly curved sealing surface abuts and seals. 
     Because of these surfaces, the tank can be adjustably tilted relative to the bowl rearward portion forward-to-back and/or side-to-side, to correct for out of plumb conditions, without significantly compromising seal integrity. 
     In one preferred form the nut has an outwardly curved surface or cut away disposed at a radially outward edge of the nut so as to permit a lower edge of the gasket to flex inwardly under certain tilting conditions. The nut can also facilitate clamping of the outlet valve to the tank by extending both above and inward of the gasket. The nut also provides sealing support for the gasket. 
     In other preferred forms the gasket has a flat upper annular ring surface, and an outer circumferential vertically extending surface depending from said flat annular ring surface. Further, the radially outwardly curved edge of the gasket depends from said vertically extending surface. The nut also has a polygonal array of radially outward sides to facilitate tightening with a tool, and the gasket has a polygonal inner configuration suitable to tightly abut against said array. 
     In other preferred forms of the invention the inlet of the bowl has an upper inwardly dished surface linked to a somewhat lower outwardly dished surface, and the gasket is formed from a compressible material such as a rubber or a synthetic plastic open-celled foam. Alternatively, the bowl could have a simple chamfer. 
     While the present invention can be implemented in the context of bolting systems which project through the bottom of the tank wall, it is preferred to provide a bracket positioned between said tank and nut, the bracket being mounted on the valve extension and supporting fasteners that extend from above the bracket (albeit below the tank), through a portion of the rearward portion of the bowl. This permits out of plumb adjustability, without requiring connector bolts extending through the tank lower wall. 
     In another form the invention provides a gasket/nut combination suitable to facilitate sealing a connection between a toilet tank having an outlet valve, the outlet valve being of the type having an extension projecting through a lower wall of the tank, and an upper rearward inlet of a toilet bowl portion suitable for receiving water from the tank through the portion. The nut is suitable to be mounted on such an outlet valve extension, the nut having a threaded interior, an upper radially extending flange, and a polygonal side wall radially outer array. The gasket is suitable to be mounted on such a nut so as to be under the flange and radially outward of the side wall array, such that the lowermost portion of the nut is at essentially the same height as the lowermost portion of the gasket. 
     In still another form the invention provides a method of adjusting a tank of a toilet to essentially compensate for out of plumb floor support conditions. One obtains a toilet of the above kind and positions it on a floor that is out of plumb. One then tilts the toilet tank relative to its bowl to establish a more plumb configuration for the tank (while the extension projects into the entry of the bowl). One then tightens the fastener to fix the parts in place. 
     The present invention thus permits the adjustment of a toilet tank on a toilet bowl to correct for out of plumb conditions. One can place a level on top of the tank before the fastener is tightened, and position the tank as needed to provide the correct tilting to reach level on the toilet tank top. 
     This correction can be made with minimal labor, and does not require substantial plumbing or carpentry skill to achieve. Further, this system is adaptable to a wide array of two-piece type toilets. These advantages are achieved while maintaining a seal between the toilet tank and toilet bowl, even if the toilet tank is substantially tilted relative to the toilet bowl. 
     The gasket and nut of the present invention are inexpensive to manufacture and reliable for long-term use. Thus, their use does not significantly increase the cost of the toilet. 
     These and still other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings. What follows are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention. To assess the full scope of the invention the claims are looked to. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a left side elevational view of a toilet embodying the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a frontal, mostly exploded view thereof; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged perspective exploded view, partially fragmented, of a portion of the  FIG. 1  embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is a vertical cross sectional view taken through a portion of the tank/base junction area; 
         FIG. 5  is a view similar to  FIG. 4  but with the tank slightly raised relative to the base; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of a nut according to the present invention taken along line  6 - 6  in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a cross sectional view of a gasket according to the present invention taken along line  7 - 7  in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a frontal view of the toilet of  FIG. 1 , showing the base in a completely plumb condition side-to-side; 
         FIG. 9  is a view similar to  FIG. 8 , but showing the base out of plumb, side-to-side; 
         FIG. 10  is a fragmentary, partial cross sectional view of detail  10 - 10  of  FIG. 8 ; and 
         FIG. 11  is a view similar to  FIG. 10 , but a detail  11 - 11  of  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     There is shown in  FIGS. 1-4  a “two-piece” toilet  10  having a bracket  12  for attaching a water storage tank  14  to a rearward bowl portion  16  of a toilet bowl or base  18 . The bowl  18  (including its portion  16 ) can be made of conventional toilet materials such as vitreous porcelain or china casting. However, other materials can be used as well. 
     Rearward portion  16  is formed with an inlet aperture  20 , which leads to the bowl  18 . Tank  14  has a bottom wall  22  with a main flush outlet  24  through which extends an extension  26  of a conventional flush valve, and about which a washer  28  fits to seal the flush outlet  24  through the use of conventional flange  25 . 
     Nut  30  can be threaded onto the extension  26  from the underside of bracket  12 . Under that can be fit a sealing gasket  32 , which gasket contacts a sealing surface  34  of bowl portion  16 . Nut  30  includes a threaded inside diameter  36  complementary with a threaded outside diameter  38  of extension  26 . 
     Nut  30  also has a tank directed side  40  and a bowl directed side  42 . The bowl directed side  42  has a first outwardly curved/convex surface  44 . Gasket  32  includes a gasket sealing surface in the form of a downwardly and radially inwardly curved/convex surface  46 , for contact with an inwardly directed bowl sealing surface  34 . Gasket sealing surface  46 , bowl sealing surface  34  and nut  30  constitute essentially a ball and socket/universal joint arrangement (generally  48 ) which allows tank  14  to be adjusted side-to-side and front-to-back relative to bowl  18 , while still maintaining a fluidic seal. 
     Referring next to  FIG. 7 , note that gasket  32  has a flat annular ring surface  50 , an outer circumferential surface  52  approximately perpendicular with and extending from flat annular ring surface  50 , and convex surface  46  extending from the outer circumferential surface  52 . Gasket  32  preferably further includes an inner polygonal surface  54 , and can be made of an open cell foam, for example. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , note that nut  30  includes a flange  56  connected with an outer polygonal surface  58  complementary with inner polygonal surface  54  of gasket  32 . Surface  44  transitions from outer polygonal surface  58  to a perimeter surface  60  opposite flange  56 . 
     Gasket  32  also includes a flat surface  62  which extends from convex surface  46 , and when gasket  32  rests on nut  30  such that flat annular ring  50  contacts flange  56 , perimeter surface  60  extends approximately to, or as shown in  FIG. 1  for example, beyond (although slightly) flat surface  62 . In other words, height  61  of nut  30  is equal to or greater than gasket height  63  of gasket  32  (greater as shown). 
     One reason for this is to provide good lateral support for the seal. However, the cut away or curvature  44  (a downwardly and radially inwardly curved surface disposed at a radially outward edge of the nut) also allows the lowest outer surface of the gasket to flex inwardly if needed to maintain a seal. 
     Convex/outwardly curved surfaces  44  and  46  can be circular arcs, of the same, or different radii. Alternatively surfaces  44  and  46  can be elliptical, parabolic, hyperbolic, other complex shapes and/or combinations thereof. 
     One possible bowl sealing surface  34  includes an inner concave (inwardly dished) contour  64  transitioning to a middle convex contour  66 . Optionally there may also be an outer concave contour  68 . Alternatively the sealing surface could be sloped or otherwise inwardly directed. As shown in  FIG. 11  this will result in edge  44  being suitable to mate with inward dishing contour  68 , thereby creating a ball and socket joint. Alternatively the sealing surface could be sloped or otherwise inwardly directed. 
       FIGS. 8 through 11  illustrate how if the toilet base  18  is placed on a side-to-side sloped floor the tank  14  can be tipped back to plumb without compromising seal integrity. Specifically, there is shown a sloped floor  70  (relative to plumb line  72 ). In  FIGS. 8 and 10  the tank  14  is parallel with respect to bowl  18 , and thus not level with respect to plumb line  72 , or another extrinsic reference such as a window sill  74 . However, as depicted in  FIGS. 9 and 11 , tank  14  can be adjusted while on bowl  18  so that it becomes plumb while the base remains out of plumb. 
       FIGS. 1 and 4  illustrate a similar principle in the context of front-to-back sloping of the floor  76 . 
     It should be appreciated that given out of plumb conditions in both front-to-back and side-to-side sloping, an adjustment can be made to both. Hence, even though the drawings only depict one such adjustment at a time, multiple adjustments can be simultaneously made. 
     With particular reference to  FIG. 3 , it should be noted that bracket  12  is used with bolts  78  which are not required to pass through the bottom of the toilet tank. Rather, the heads of the bolt  78  are above the bracket with the bolts extending downward through holes in the bowl rear portion (not shown) to permit a clamping with the usual nuts. 
     In sum, the flush outlet valve extension assembly of the present invention is designed to interact with a prior art dished or sloped receptor surface of the bowl rear portion. The result is to provide an almost ball and socket type joint. 
     Preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above and depicted in the enclosed drawings. However, many modifications and variations to the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, which are within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the invention is not be limited to just the described embodiments. To ascertain the full scope of the invention, the following claims are referenced. 
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
     The present invention provides two-piece type toilets capable of correcting for out of plumb conditions.