Water conserving flush valve for toilets

Claim 2

A flush valve for use in a toilet tank, said flush valve comprising: an overflow tube, having a base abutting against the bottom of the toilet tank and connected to an end of said overflow tube and extending to one side of said tube; a valve pivotting about the overflow tube and abuttingly seating against said base to assume a closed position or pivotting upward from said base to assume an open position thereby directing water from said tank in order to produce a flush, said valve having a control arm extending away from said overflow tube in a direction substantially opposite to that of said base; a flush handle, mounted to an outside surface of said tank, having an extension arm situated within said tank and extending towards said overflow tube; means situated about the overflow tube proximate to said valve and being responsive to rotational movement of the flush handle in a pre-determined direction for forcing the valve to a desired position, wherein the forcing means comprises: a cable connected at one end thereof to an end of the extension arm located near the overflow tube and connected at the other end thereof to said control arm, and a conduit having two legs and mounted to said overflow tube and through which said cable is routed, the first leg extending laterally over a top end of said overflow tube and the second leg extending vertically downward and along said overflow tube, wherein each leg has a telescoping section for independently and appropriately adjusting the length and/or orientation of that section so that the cable assumes a substantially vertical orientation as it extends upward from the end of said extension arm and into the first leg of said conduit, whereby the flush valve can be readily installed in a wide variety of toilets without changing the flush handle existing therein.

Claim 3

The flush valve in claim 1 wherein the second leg comprises two concentrically aligned tubular members which telescopically slide against each other.

Claim 4

The flush valve in claim 2 wherein the second leg is situated along a side of the overflow tube oppositely situated from said base.

Claim 5

The flush valve in claim 3 wherein the first leg comprises a rod, having a loop at one end thereof and through which said cable is routed, which slides within a tubular section into which said set screw is threaded.

Claim 6

The flush valve in claim 4 wherein the first and second legs are oriented at approximately a right angle with respect to each other.

Claim 7

The flush valve in claim 5 wherein each telescoping section comprises means for locking the section to a pre-determined length and/or orientation.

Claim 8

The flush valve in claim 6 wherein the locking means is a set screw threaded into a portion of each telescoping section.

Claim 9

The flush valve in claim 7 wherein the valve further comprises either a flapper-type or ball-type valve.

Claim 10

A water conserving flush valve for use in a toilet tank, said flush valve comprising: an overflow tube, having a base abutting against the bottom of the toilet tank and connected to an end of said overflow tube and extending to one side of said tube; a flush handle, mounted to an outside surface of said tank, having an extension arm situated within said tank and extending towards said overflow tube; a valve pivotting about the overflow tube and abuttingly seating against said base to assume a closed position or, in response to rotational movement of the flush handle in a first direction, pivotting upward from said base to assume an open position thereby directing water from said tank in order to produce a flush, said valve having a control arm extending away from said overflow tube in a direction substantially opposite to that of said base; means situated about the overflow tube proximate to said valve and being responsive to rotational movement of the flush handle in a second direction for pre-maturely forcing the valve to the closed position at any time during the flush thereby limiting the amount of water consumed during the flush, wherein the forcing means comprises: a cable connected at one end thereof to an end of the extension arm located near the overflow tube and connected at the other end thereof to said control arm, and a conduit having two legs and mounted to said overflow tube and through which said cable is routed, the first leg extending laterally over a top end of said overflow tube and the second leg extending vertically downward and along said overflow tube, wherein each leg has a telescoping section for independently and appropriately adjusting the length and/or orientation of that section so that the cable assumes a substantially vertical orientation as it extends upward from the end of said extension arm and into the first leg of said conduit, whereby the water conserving flush valve can be readily installed in a wide variety of toilets without changing the flush handle existing therein.

Claim 11

A water conserving flush valve for use in a toilet tank, said flush valve comprising: an overflow tube, having a base abutting against the bottom of the toilet tank and connected to an end of said overflow tube and extending to one side of said tube; a flush handle, mounted to an outside surface of said tank, having an extension arm situated within said tank and extending towards said overflow tube; a valve pivotting about the overflow tube and abuttingly seating against said base to assume a closed position or, in response to rotational movement of the flush handle in a first direction, pivotting upward from said base to assume an open position thereby directing water from said tank in order to produce a flush, said valve having a control arm extending away from said overflow tube in a direction substantially opposite to that of said base; means situated about the overflow tube proximate to said valve and being responsive to rotational movement of the flush handle in a second direction for pre-maturely forcing the valve to the closed position at any time during the flush thereby limiting the amount of water consumed during the flush, wherein the forcing means comprises: a cable connected at one end thereof to an end of the extension arm located near the overflow tube and connected at the other end thereof to said control arm, and a conduit having two legs and mounted to said overflow tube and through which said cable is routed, the first leg extending laterally over a top end of said overflow tube and the second leg extending vertically downward and along said overflow tube, wherein each leg has a telescoping section for independently and appropriately adjusting the length and/or orientation of that section so that the cable assumes a substantially vertical orientation as it extends upward from the end of said extension arm and into the first leg of said conduit, whereby the water conserving flush valve can be readily installed in a wide variety of toilets without changing the flush handle existing therein.

Claim 12

The flush valve in claim 9 wherein the second leg comprises two concentrically aligned tubular members which telescopically slide against each other.

Claim 13

The flush valve in claim 10 wherein the second leg is situated along a side of the overflow tube oppositely situated from said base.

Claim 14

The flush valve in claim 11 wherein each telescoping section comprises means for locking the section to a pre-determined length and/or orientaion.

Claim 15

The flush valve in claim 12 wherein the forcing means is approximately balanced about the overflow tube so as not to impose a rotational force on said flush handle whenever said flush handle is not rotated in said first or second direction.

Claim 16

The flush valve in claim 13 further comprised of appropriately sized weights mounted on said control arm in order to produce a balanced condition whenever said flush handle is not rotated in said first or said second direction.

Claim 17

The flush valve in claim 14 wherein the valve further comprises either a flapper-type or ball-type valve.

Claim 18

The flush handle in claim 15 wherein said forcing means is further comprised of a separate u-shaped member, to which said control arm is attached, which pivots about the overflow tube proximately above said flapper valve and abuts against the flapper valve and forces the flapper valve to a closed position whenever said flush handle is rotated in the second direction.