Back to results
US 9,540,798 B2Granted
Drain lock for a flush valve reservoir
AssigneeFluidmaster, Inc.
InventorsJunSheng Chen, Joseph Han
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved flush system as described herein may comprise a reservoir with a drain opening for egress of liquids disposed in the reservoir into a surrounding toilet tank. A lock mechanism is slidably received by the reservoir so that the lock mechanism is translatable between one or more fixed positions on the reservoir. In turn, translating the lock mechanism into the reservoir at increasing depths causes a size of the drain opening to be reduced and therefore adjusted.
Claims14
A flush valve system, comprising:
- a reservoir comprising a drain opening for egress of liquids disposed in the reservoir into a surrounding toilet tank;
- a lock mechanism movably received by the reservoir, wherein the lock mechanism is translatable between one or more fixed positions on the reservoir, and wherein translating the lock mechanism into the reservoir at increasing depths causes a size of the drain opening to be reduced;
- a receiver coupled to the reservoir adjacent to the drain opening, wherein the receiver on the reservoir movably receives the lock mechanism, wherein the lock mechanism further comprises:
- one or more bias arms that extend longitudinally along one or more edges of the lock mechanism, each arm comprising an inwardly or outwardly facing projection, wherein one of the bias arms comprises a locking tab;
- a detent arm substantially parallel to one of the bias arms to receive the locking tab;
- wherein the receiver further comprises one or more grooves associated with the one or more bias arms to slidably receive the projections of the bias arms between the one or more fixed positions;
- and wherein the lock mechanism is locked in one of the fixed positions when the detent arm receives the locking tab.
4 more elements
A method of adjusting a drain opening in a reservoir of a flush valve system in a toilet tank, comprising:
- slidably inserting a lock mechanism into a receiver coupled to the reservoir, wherein the drain opening governs egress of liquids disposed in the reservoir into the surrounding tank;
- translating the lock mechanism between one or more fixed positions on the receiver by slidably inserting one or more bias arms of the lock mechanism into one or more grooves of the receiver, and wherein translating the lock mechanism at increasing depths into the receiver causes a size of the drain opening of the reservoir to be adjusted;
- fixing the locking mechanism in one of the one or more fixed positions by coupling a detent arm of the lock mechanism with one of the bias arms.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.