THE FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to flush valves of the type commonly used to operate toilets and urinals, and more specifically to an assembly which converts an existing valve from manual operation to automatic operation. The flush valve may be a diaphragm-type valve, such as that sold by Sloan Valve Company of Franklin Park, Ill., under the trademark "ROYAL," and which is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,730, or it may be a piston-type flush valve sold by Sloan Valve Company under the trademarks "GEM" and "CROWN" and shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,993.

The present invention is more specifically directed to a retrofit kit or assembly for a handle-operated flush valve in which the manual handle may be replaced by a pushbutton operator which in turn is actuated by a sensor-initiated drive motor. Such a retrofit assembly may be attached to the flush valve, after removing the handle, without disconnecting the water supply to the flush valve. All of the above types of flush valve have a handle which is mounted on the flush valve body for pivotal movement about a handle axis. Sloan Valve Company has in the past sold a pushbutton operator which replaces the manual handle for manual operation of the flush valve, but utilizing a pushbutton instead of a pivotal handle. The retrofit assembly of the present invention replaces the pivotal handle with a pushbutton assembly, with the pushbutton assembly being a part of a sensor-operated drive for actuating the flush valve.

The retrofit assembly includes the pushbutton assembly described and a housing which will be attached thereto and within which is mounted a drive for moving the pushbutton, a sensor and a battery, with the sensor connecting the battery to the drive for movement of the pushbutton, which in turn operates the flush valve. This provides conversion of a manually-operated flush valve to automatic operation.

Of particular advantage in the invention is the fact that conversion from manual operation to automatic operation can be completed, merely by removing the manual handle and mounting the pushbutton assembly and sensor housing thereto, all without disconnecting the water supply to the flush valve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to toilet flush valves and more specifically to an assembly for converting a valve of this type from manual operation to automatic operation.

A primary purpose of the invention is to provide a conversion assembly as described which may be installed without disconnecting the water supply to the flush valve.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide a conversion assembly of the type described which mounts on the flush valve body, utilizes a pushbutton assembly in place of the conventional pivotal flush valve handle, and adds a sensor operated drive for moving the pushbutton.

Another purpose is to provide a conversion assembly as described which is suitable for right or left hand operation.

Other purposes will appear in the ensuing specification, drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the following drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the flush valve assembly of the present invention with portions being in exploded form;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section through the mounting of the housing to the flush valve body; and

FIG. 3 is a wiring diagram.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention relates to a conversion assembly for manually-operated toilet room flush valves which may be of the diaphragm type or of the piston type. A diaphragm-type flush valve is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,730, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, and is sold by Sloan Valve Company, the assignee of the present application, under the trademark "ROYAL." The piston-type flush valve may be of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,993, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference and may be sold by Sloan Valve Company under the trademarks "GEM" or "CROWN."

The conversion assembly may utilize a sensor, which may be of the infrared type, and will be battery powered and may be as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,261, also owned by Sloan Valve Company, and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Sensor-operated, battery-powered flush valves are known in the art from the '261 patent and others. The present invention utilizes the technology in the '261 patent or similar technologies for infrared operation of a flush valve which may be of the types described in the above-referenced patents. The particular disclosure shown herein illustrates a valve of the "ROYAL" type, as it includes a diaphragm-operated valve assembly.

In the drawings, a flush valve is indicated generally at 10 and will have an inlet connection 12, and an outlet connection 14. In the "ROYAL" valve, as in the piston-operated valve of the "GEM" or "CROWN" types, there is a valve member which normally closes the water flow path between the inlet and the outlet. In the "ROYAL" type flush valve, this valve member is a diaphragm, whereas, in the "GEM" or "CROWN" valves, this member is a piston-operated valve assembly. In either case, there is what is known as a relief valve, shown in the above-identified patents, which extends down from the valve member and which will be tripped by the operation of the pivotally mounted manual handle on the side of the valve. The present invention removes the manual pivotally-operated handle and replaces it with a valve-operated assembly which makes the flush valve automatic. The conversion assembly which translates a manual valve with a pivotally-operated handle into an automatic valve is shown generally at 16 in FIG. 1.

Focusing on FIG. 2, the flush valve 10 has a flush valve body 18 which has a valve body opening 20 to which is normally attached the pivotally-operated handle. In the present instance, this handle is removed, without affecting any of the water connections to the flush valve, and the handle is replaced with the assembly 16.

The assembly 16 may be thought of as containing two components or sub-assemblies. The first is a pushbutton assembly, long sold by Sloan Valve Company as an alternative to the pivotally-operated handle. This pushbutton assembly is attached by a nut to the valve body opening 20. As shown herein, this pushbutton assembly consists of a nut 22 which has an interior thread 24 for use in attaching the assembly to the threaded end of the valve opening 20. Positioned within the nut 22 is a bushing 26 which is threaded to the nut, as at 28. Both the described threaded connections are interior, with the threaded connection 28 having a diameter slightly less than that of the connection 24. The bushing 26 may have a flange 30 which is held between a shoulder 32 on the valve body adjacent the opening 20 and a shoulder 34 on the nut 22.

The bushing has a central bore 36 within which is positioned a plunger pin 38, with the interior end of the plunger pin, when the assembly is attached to a flush valve, being positioned to trip the relief valve 39 of either a "ROYAL" type or "GEM" or "CROWN" type flush valve.

A spring 40 encircles a portion 42 of the bushing and has one end bottomed in a recess 44 of the adapter, with the other end bearing against a head 46 of the plunger pin 38. Thus, the spring 40 will normally urge the plunger pin to an outward position, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The nut 22 has a bore 48 within which is positioned a push element or push member or pushbutton 50. The button 50 has a head portion 52 which is in contact with the head 46 of the plunger pin and when the pushbutton 50 is moved in an inward direction, to the left as shown in the drawings, it will move the plunger pin against the force of spring 40 into a position to trip the relief valve.

Attached to the above-described pushbutton assembly is an electrical operator which includes a housing 54 within which is positioned an infrared sensor unit 58 connected to a battery 60 and to a drive motor 62. The drive motor, shown in FIG. 1 within the housing 54, when activated, will drive a first gear 64, which in turn drives a second gear 66. The small gear 68 on gear 66 will drive a cam member 70 having an outwardly-extending cam element 72. The cam element 72 is positioned to contact the end of pushbutton 50 which will in turn cause the above-described movement of the pushbutton, plunger pin, and ultimately the relief valve, of the flush valve.

The housing 54 is attached to the nut 22 by means of a threaded connection between a thread 74 on the end of the nut 22, which thread is exterior and has the smallest diameter of the three threaded areas on the nut. A nut 76 will be tightened down against a shoulder of the nut indicated at 78. There is a bracket 80 which is a part of the housing 54 which is used to actually attach the housing to the nut. Pressed into the bracket 80 is a sleeve bushing 82. The sleeve bushing 82 will permit a degree of relative rotation between the housing 54 and the nut 22 which attaches the assembly to the flush valve body. In effect, the nut 22 is free to rotate within the bushing 82 so that the nut 22 may be rotated when attaching the entire assembly to the flush valve body.

In assembling the described conversion kit it may be done in two steps or in one. If done in one step, the housing 54 and the described internal components will be attached to the nut 22 at the factory. The nut is free to rotate relative to the housing so that the entire assembly may be attached to the flush valve body. In the alternative, the nut 22 and its pushbutton sub-assembly may be attached first to the flush valve body, after which the housing 54 and its internal components may be attached to the nut. It is preferred that the conversion kit be assembled at the factory.

In operation, when the sensor detects the presence of a user of the flush valve, as is illustrated in the above-referenced patents, it will connect the battery 60 to the motor 62. The motor 62 through the described gears will rotate the cam member 70, which in turn will cause the cam 72 to contact and move the pushbutton 50. This moves the plunger pin inwardly into the flush valve body to trip the relief valve and flush valve operation will proceed from there.

Of particular importance is the fact that the conversion kit can be installed without opening the valve water chamber. It is only necessary to remove the pivotal handle and then attach the conversion assembly as described.

Whereas the preferred form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it should be realized that there may be many modifications, substitutions and alterations thereto.