Device for Actuating a Flushing System of a Toilet

Abstract

Device for Actuating a Flushing System of a Toilet ABSTRACT A device (1) for actuating a flushing system (2) of a toilet (3), comprising at least:-  a housing (4) having a plurality of mounting devices (5) for an actuator cartridge (6, 7) and-  at least one actuator cartridge (6, 7) for actuating the flushing system (2), wherein the at least one actuator cartridge (6, 7) can be disposed at various positions at or in the housing (4) using the plurality of mounting devices (5).Figure 3 

Description

Full specification Device for Actuating a Flushing System of a Toilet Field of the InventionThis invention relates to a device for actuating a flushing system of a toilet. Toilets of this type are used in particular to collect bodily waste. Background of the InventionToilets regularly comprise a toilet bowl that can be cleaned by a flushing system after use. For instance, the flushing system may comprise a toilet tank for receiving a flushing liquid, wherein a drain valve can be used to control a flow of the flushing liquid from the toilet tank into the toilet bowl. A user of the toilet can actuate the drain valve by pressing at least one of the actuating buttons of the device. The device is typically disposed in an inspection shaft in a wall and covered with an (in particular decorative) cover plate that comprises at least one actuating button. The at least one actuating button can be used to press a bellows, for instance, via an actuation mechanism. In this way, compressed air, which can be used to control the drain valve, can be generated. The design of the actuation mechanism depends on a design of the cover plate or on the arrangement of the at least one actuating button at the cover plate. If the design of the cover plate and / or the ar-rangement of the at least one actuating button on the cover plate is to be altered, the actuation mechanism and / or the guides for the actuation mechanism formed inside the device's housing have to be adapted. Due to space constraints, design flexibility is severely limited because the actuation mechanism is adapted to the housing and is therefore inflexible. To permit new design variants, therefore often new housings have to be designed, which involves a great deal of effort. Therefore, the invention addresses the problem of solving at least a part of the issues described with reference to the prior art and, in particular, of providing a device for actuating a flushing system, achieving a high design flexibility without much effort. In addition, the device can incor-porate many common parts and / or serve as a universal platform for various design variants. Summary of the InventionThis problem is solved by a device according to the features of the independent claim. Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims. It will be appreciated that the features listed individually in the claims may be combined in any technolog-ically useful manner and define further embodiments of the invention. In addition, the features indicated in the claims are further specified and explained in the description, wherein further preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated. A device for actuating a flushing system of a toilet, comprising at least the components listed below, contributes to solving the problem: - a housing having a plurality of mounting devices for an actuator cartridge; and - at least one actuator cartridge for actuating the flushing system, wherein the at least one ac-tuator cartridge can be disposed at various locations at or inside the housing using the plurality of mounting devices.  The toilet may be designed, in particular, as a (seat-type) toilet or a urinal. Furthermore, the toilet may comprise a toilet bowl that can be cleaned by a flushing system. Flushing is performed, in particular, by means of a flushing liquid, the release of which into the toilet bowl can be activated by pressing at least one actuating button of a device for actuating the flushing system of the toilet. The flushing system may comprise a toilet tank to receive the flushing liquid and / or a drain valve to control the discharge of the flushing liquid into the toilet bowl. The flushing system may be attached, at least in part, to a mounting frame of the toilet, which mounting frame can be used to attach the toilet to a wall of a building. Such mounting frames are known, for instance, as false-wall elements. These are attached to the wall of the building and then covered with a false wall. Wall cladding elements, such as tiles, can be attached to the false wall. An inspection shaft or a wall opening may be formed in the wall and / or the false wall. The device, or a housing of the device, may be disposed, in particular, at least partially inside the inspection shaft or inside the wall opening. The toilet tank of the flushing system may be disposed, in particular, behind the device in the wall or in a cavity between the wall and the false wall. The housing of the device may be at least partially made of plastic and / or metal. For instance, the housing could be an injection-molded plastic part. An installation space is formed inside the housing of the device. The installation space may extend into the housing from an installation space opening in the housing to the bottom of the housing. In the installed state of the device, the installation space opening may, in particular, be aligned with the inspection shaft or with the wall opening in the wall and / or the false wall. The installation space opening may extend orthog-onally to a longitudinal axis of the housing or of the installation space. The longitudinal axis of the housing may be the central axis of the housing or of the installation space. The longitudinal 10 axis of the housing may extend through the installation space, at least partially centered and / or concentrically with respect to the installation space. The longitudinal axis of the housing may extend, at least in part, centrally and / or concentrically through the opening in the installation space. The housing may have side panels that at least partially enclose the installation space. The housing comprises a plurality of mounting devices for an actuator cartridge. The housing may comprise a plurality of mounting devices. For instance, the housing may have 2 to 100 mounting devices, 9 to 100 mounting devices, 16 to 100 mounting devices, or 25 to 100 mounting devices. The mounting devices may be distributed throughout the housing and / or the installation space, disposed at various locations and / or (in particular, directly) next to each other. The mounting 20 devices may be disposed in rows and / or columns. The mounting devices may be disposed in a checkerboard pattern. The housing may have more mounting devices than actuator cartridges. The housing may have more mounting devices for actuator cartridges than the device has actu-ator cartridges. The mounting devices may be formed integrally with the housing. At least some of the mounting devices may be of the same design. The mounting devices are used to secure an actuator cartridge, in particular in the installation space. Every mounting device can be used to mount exactly one actuator cartridge. The mounting devices may be designed as a slot, a mount, and / or a socket. The mounting devices may each extend along a longitudinal axis of the mounting device. The longitudinal axis of the mounting device may extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing. Every mounting device may have a length (in particular parallel to the mounting device's longitudinal axis) of, for instance, 5 mm to 40 mm and / or a diameter (in particular or-thogonal to the mounting device's longitudinal axis) of 5 mm to 50 mm. The mounting devices may each have a round or square cross-section (in particular, orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the mounting device). Every mounting device may have a thread, such that the at least one actuator cartridge can be screwed into the respective mounting device(s). Alternatively, the at least one actuator cartridge may be secured in the mounting device(s), for instance, by means of a bayonet connection. The cross-section may, for instance, be triangular to decagonal, and in particular octagonal. The mounting devices may be formed at least partially honeycomb-shaped. The actuator cartridge can be inserted into the individual mounting device(s). The at least one actuator cartridge may have an outer contour that matches an inner contour of the mounting devices, such that the at least one actuator cartridge is, in particular, prevented from rotating inside the mounting device(s), for instance, by a form fit. The outer contour of the at least one actuator cartridge may, for instance, be triangular to decagonal, in particular octagonal. The in-dividual mounting devices, or the inner contour of the mounting devices, may be formed, at least in part, by at least one bar, in particular of the housing. The at least one actuator cartridge can be disposed in the mounting devices, in particular, such that the at least one actuator cartridge extends into the installation space, extends toward the installation space opening, extends at least as far as the installation space opening, and / or a longitudinal axis of a cartridge of the at least one actuator cartridge extends (substantially) in parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hous-ing and / or in parallel to the longitudinal axis of the actuating device. The device comprises at least one actuator cartridge for actuating the flushing system. The device may comprise a plurality of actuator cartridges, for instance, two actuator cartridges. The at least one actuator cartridge may be actuated by a user of the device, in particular via the at least one actuating button. In particular, at least one actuator cartridge may be used to actuate or control a drain valve. The actuator cartridges may be designed to be identical. The at least one actuator cartridge may be an air compressor and / or may comprise an air compressor. The at least one actuator cartridge may be or is connected to the drain valve in a manner that allows compressed air to flow therethrough. The at least one actuator cartridge may be an electrical or electronic signal transmitter. The at least one actuator cartridge may be or is connected to the drain valve in a manner that permits data transmission. The at least one actuator cartridge may comprise a cartridge housing. The cartridge housing may extend along a longitudinal axis of the cartridge and / or be at least partially cylindrical in shape. The cartridge housing may have (in particular orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge) at least a partially circular cross-section. The at least one actuator cartridge may comprise a push rod. The push rod may extend in parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge and / or be de-signed, at least in part, as a piston. The push rod may have, for instance, an X-shaped cross-section (in particular perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge). The push rod may be retractable into the cartridge housing (in particular, in parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge), for instance, by pressing the at least one actuating button. Compressed air can be generated by inserting the push rod into the cartridge housing. The at least one actuator cartridge may comprise a return spring for extending the push rod out of the cartridge housing or for re-turning it to its original position. The return spring can be a coil spring. The return spring may be disposed coaxially to the push rod. The stroke of the push rod may be adjustable, for instance, by means of an (in particular movable) stop for the push rod and / or by means of a spacer (in particular attached to the push rod). By adjusting the stroke of the push rod, the volume of the flushing liquid can be adjusted. A large stroke allows a large volume of flushing liquid to be dis-charged through the drain valve, while a small stroke allows a small volume of flushing liquid to be discharged through the drain valve. The at least one actuator cartridge may comprise a button mount for the at least one actuating button. The at least one actuating button may be attachable to the button mount. The button mount may be disposed at a first longitudinal cartridge end of the at least one actuator cartridge. The at least one actuator cartridge may have a compressed air output for the compressed air or an (electric) cable connection. The compressed air output or the cable connection may be dis-posed, in particular, at a second longitudinal cartridge end of the at least one actuator cartridge. The at least one actuator cartridge may have (in particular in parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge) a cartridge length of, for instance, 50 mm to 200 mm and / or (in particular, perpen-dicular to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge) a cartridge diameter of, for instance, 10 mm to 50 mm. The at least one actuator cartridge may comprise all functionally relevant elements of an actuation mechanism. The at least one actuator cartridge can be inserted into the housing through the installation space opening. Depending on the design of the cover plate, the design of the at least one actuating button, and / or the arrangement of the at least one actuating button (in particular at the cover plate), the at least one actuator cartridge can be disposed at various locations on and / or inside the housing using the plurality of actuation devices. The at least one actuator cartridge may be arranged, in particular, at a position on and / or inside the housing such that the at least one ac-tuating button can be connected to the at least one actuator cartridge and / or the at least one actuator cartridge is at least partially aligned with the at least one actuating button (in particular, toward the longitudinal axis of the housing). The plurality of mounting devices allows for a flexi-ble positioning of the at least one actuator cartridge inside and / or at the housing. In this way, the same housing and / or the same actuator cartridge can be used for different designs of the cover plate and / or of the at least one actuating button, which reduces the number of parts and lowers costs. The housing and the at least one actuator cartridge can form the basis of a modular system on which cover plates of various designs, in particular those having a standardized inter-face, can be mounted. The mounting devices may be formed on a bottom of the housing. The bottom may extend, in particular, orthogonally to the longitudinal axis of the housing and / or at least partially delimit the installation space. The mounting devices may extend over at least 30%, preferably at least 50%, and most preferably at least 75%, of the surface area of the bottom. The mounting devices may be designed to be identical. The mounting devices may be configured to accommodate at least one actuator cartridge. The housing may have an opening in the area of every mounting device. The opening may extend in particular through the bottom and / or be formed as a through-hole. If the at least one actuator cartridge is disposed in one of the mounting devices, the at least one actuator cartridge may extend at least partially through the opening of the respective mounting device. The at least one actuator cartridge may be secured to the mounting devices by means of a snap-fit connection or a snap connection. The at least one actuator cartridge may be attached to the mounting devices by means of the snap-fit connection. The at least one actuator cartridge may comprise a trigger for a flushing system. The trigger could be, for instance, a bellows, a sleeve, an output valve, or an electronic push button. The trigger may be actuated, for instance, via the push rod. For instance, the trigger can be used to generate compressed air. The trigger may be disposed inside the cartridge housing. The at least one actuator cartridge may comprise a port for a connecting line. The connecting line can be, for instance, a compressed-air hose or an electrical cable. The at least one actuator cartridge may be connected to the drain valve via the connecting line. Brief Description of the DrawingsThe invention and the technical environment are explained in more detail below with reference to the figures. It should be noted that the figures show particularly preferred variants of the em-bodiment of the invention, but the invention is not limited thereto. The same reference numerals are used for the same components in the figures. In an exemplary and schematic manner, Fig. 1 shows a perspective representation of a toilet having a first variant of a device for actuating a flushing system; Fig. 2 shows a perspective cross-sectional representation of a mounting frame of the toilet; Fig. 3 shows a perspective representation of the device having a first variant of the cover plate; Fig. 4 shows a perspective representation of the housing of the toilet; Fig. 5 shows a housing of the device having two actuator cartridges in a first configuration for the first variant of the cover plate; Fig. 6 shows the housing of the device with two actuator cartridges in a second configuration for a second variant of the cover plate; Fig. 7 shows an exploded representation of the device having the second variant of the cover plate; Fig. 8 shows a perspective representation of the actuator cartridge of the device; and Fig. 9 shows a second perspective rear view of the device. Detailed DescriptionFig. 1 shows a perspective representation of a toilet 3. The toilet 3 comprises a toilet bowl 19, which is attached to a wall 21 of a building by means of a mounting frame 20 shown in Fig. 2. The mounting frame 20 here shown in Fig. 2 is concealed in Fig. 1 by a false wall 22 and wall cladding elements 23, which are designed here as tiles. The mounting frame 20 is thus disposed in a cavity 24 between the wall 21 and the false wall 22. The false wall 22 has an opening, not visible here, that connects the cavity 24 to surroundings 25. The opening is covered by a first variant of a cover plate 26 of a device 1 for actuating a flushing system 2 of the toilet 3, as shown in Fig. 2. The first variant of the cover plate 26 comprises a first actuating button 13 and a second actuating button 14.  Fig. 2 shows the mounting frame 20 of the sanitary devices 3 shown in Fig. 1, without the false wall 22 and the wall cladding elements 23. The flushing system 2 of the toilet 3 is attached to the mounting frame 20 and comprises a toilet tank 28 for a flushing liquid. A drain valve (not visible here) is disposed in the toilet tank 28, which drain valve is used to control the flow of flushing 5 liquid from the toilet tank 28 to the toilet bowl 19 shown in Fig. 1. The drain valve can be actuated by a user (not shown here) using the first actuating button 13 and the second actuating button 14 on the first variant of the cover plate 26 of the device 1. By pressing the first actuating button 13, the toilet bowl 19 shown in Fig. 1 can be flushed with a small volume of flushing liquid. By pressing the second actuating button 14, the toilet bowl 19 shown in Fig. 1 can be flushed with a large volume of flushing liquid. Fig. 3 shows a perspective sectional representation of the device 1 for actuating the flushing sys-tem 2 (shown in Fig. 2) of the toilet 3 (shown in Fig. 1) with the first variant of the cover plate 26. The device 1 comprises a housing 4, in which a first actuator cartridge 6 and an actuator cartridge 7 are disposed. The first actuating button 13 is designed to be integrated in the first actuator cartridge 6 and the second actuating button 14 is designed to be integrated in the second actua-tor cartridge 7. Fig. 4 shows a perspective representation of the housing 4. The housing 4 extends in a tubular manner along a longitudinal axis 29 of the housing and has an installation space 32 in its interior. The housing 4 has an installation space opening 33 at a first longitudinal end 30 and a bottom 8 at a second longitudinal end 31. The installation space opening 33 can be covered by the cover plates 26, 27 shown in Figs. 3 and 7. To this end, the cover plates 26, 27 can be attached to the housing 4. A large number of mounting devices 5 are formed on the bottom 8, each extending from the base 8 into the installation space 32 along a longitudinal axis 34 of the mounting device in parallel to the longitudinal axis 29 of the housing. The mounting devices 5 are disposed on the bottom 8 in rows and columns, in particular directly next to one another (i.e., in particular in a checkerboard pattern). In the variant of the housing 4 shown here, the mounting devices 5 are disposed in five rows and five columns, i.e., the housing 4 has a total of 25 mounting devices 5. The mounting devices 5 are all identical and / or are designed as mounts 10 for the actuator car-tridges 6, 7 shown in Fig. 3. The mounting devices 5 extend over more than 30% of the surface area 9 of the bottom 8. Every mounting device 5 has an opening 11 that extends (completely) through the bottom 8 of the housing 4, in parallel to the longitudinal axis 34 of the mounting device. The actuator cartridges 6, 7 shown in Fig. 3 can each be inserted into a mounting device 5 through the installation space opening 33 of the housing 4, in parallel to the longitudinal axes 34 of the mounting devices 5, and can be secured in the respective mounting devices 5 using a snap-fit connection. Owing to the large number of mounting devices 5 distributed across the bottom 8, the actuator cartridges 6, 7 are disposed depending on the design of the cover plates 26, 27 shown in Figs. 3 and 7, and / or depending on the arrangement of the actuating buttons 13, 14 shown in Figs. 3 and 4, at various locations inside the installation space 32 of the housing 4. Fig. 5 shows the housing 4 with the two actuator cartridges 6, 7 in a first configuration for the first variant of the cover plate 26 shown in Fig. 3. In the first configuration, the actuator cartridges 6, 7 are disposed one above the other inside the housing 4. Fig. 6 shows the housing 4 with the two actuator cartridges 6, 7 in a second configuration for a second variant of the cover plate 27 shown in Fig. 7. In the second configuration, the actuator cartridges 6, 7 are disposed diagonally inside the housing 4. Fig. 7 shows an exploded representation of the device 1 with the second variant of the cover plate 27. In the second variant of the cover plate 27, the actuating buttons 13 and 14 are disposed diagonally in the second variant of the cover plate 27. Accordingly, the actuator cartridges 6, 7, as shown in Fig. 6, are disposed diagonally inside the housing 4 so as to be aligned with the actu-ating buttons 13, 14. Unlike the second variant of cover plate 27, in the first variant of cover plate 26 shown in Fig. 3, the actuating buttons 13, 14 are disposed one above the other. Fig. 8 shows a perspective representation of the first actuator cartridge 6. The first actuator car-tridge 6 comprises a cartridge housing 35 that extends along a longitudinal axis of the cartridge 36. The cartridge housing 35 is partially tubular in shape and has a circular cross-section (in par-ticular, orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge 36 and / or, in particular, in a tubular section). A push rod 39, featuring a button mount 12 for the actuating buttons 13, 14 shown in Figs. 3 and 7, is disposed at one end 37 of the first longitudinal cartridge end 6. By pressing the actuating buttons 13, 14, the push rod 39, which actuates a trigger 15 of the first actuator car-tridge 6, can be moved into the cartridge housing 35 in parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge 36. The first actuator cartridge 6 comprises a return spring 40 that allows the push rod 39 to return to its original position, that is, to move out of the cartridge housing 35 in parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge 36, when the user releases the actuating buttons 13, 14 shown in Figs. 3 and 7. The trigger 15 in this case is a bellows. When the push rod 39 is moved into the cartridge housing 35, the trigger 15 generates compressed air, which can be discharged through a compressed-air output 41 of a port 16 at a second longitudinal end 38 of the first ac-tuator cartridge 6. When the first actuator cartridge 6 is disposed in one of the mounting devices 5 of the housing 4 shown in Fig. 4, the port 16 protrudes through the corresponding opening 11 of the respective mounting device 5. The cartridge housing 35 has an outer contour 42 that matches an inner contour 47 of the mounting devices 5 shown in Fig. 4, such that the first actu-ator cartridge 6 in the mounting devices 5 cannot rotate (relative to the mounting devices 5) about the longitudinal axis of the cartridge 36. The first actuator cartridge 6 and the second ac-tuator cartridge 7 shown in Figs. 3, 5, 6, and 7 are identical in design. The description of the first actuator cartridge 6 is therefore applicable to the second actuator cartridge 7 as well. Fig. 9 shows a perspective rear view of the device 1 viewed toward the rear face 43 of the bottom 8. The actuator cartridges 6, 7 are disposed inside the housing 4 in the first configuration shown in Fig. 5 for the first variant of the cover plate 26. A first connecting line 17 is connected to the port 16 of the first actuator cartridge 6; this line connects the first actuator cartridge 6 to a shuttle valve 44. A second connecting line 18 is connected to the port 6 of the second actuator cartridge 7, linking the second actuator cartridge 7 to the shuttle valve 44. The shuttle valve 44 is connected to a drain valve 46 of the toilet tank 28 shown in Fig. 2 via a line 45. The connecting lines 17, 18, 15 and the line 45 are compressed-air lines. Via the connecting lines 17 and 18, the shuttle valve 44, and line 45, the compressed air generated by the actuator cartridges 6, 7 can be supplied to the drain valve 46 to actuate it. The shuttle valve 44 prevents compressed air generated by the first actuator cartridge 6 from flowing through the shuttle valve 44 to the second actuator cartridge 7, and prevents compressed air generated by the second actuator cartridge 7 from flowing through the shuttle valve 44 to the first actuator cartridge 6. This invention makes for a high degree of design flexibility for the cover plates 26, 27 without requiring any modification to the housing 4 or the actuator cartridges 6, 7. List of Reference Numerals and Terms  1device2flushing system 3toilet 4housing 5mounting device 6first actuator cartridge 7second actuator cartridge 8bottom 9surface area 10mount 11opening 12button mount 13first actuating button 14second actuating button 15trigger 16port 17first connecting line 18second connecting line 19toilet bowl 20installation frame 21wall 22false wall 23wall cladding elements 24cavity 25surroundings 26first variant of a cover plate 27second variant of a cover plate  28toilet tank29longitudinal axis of body30first longitudinal end31second longitudinal end 32installation space 33installation space opening 34longitudinal axis of the mounting device 35cartridge housing 36longitudinal axis of the cartridge 37first longitudinal cartridge end 38second longitudinal cartridge end 39push rod 40return spring 41compressed air output 42outer contour 43rear face 44shuttle valves 45lines 46drain valve 47inner contour   

Claims

1. A device (1) for actuating a flushing system (2) of a toilet (3), comprising at least:- a housing (4) having a plurality of mounting devices (5) for an actuator cartridge (6, 7) and- at least one actuator cartridge (6, 7) for actuating the flushing system (2), wherein the at least one actuator cartridge (6, 7) can be disposed at various positions at or in the housing (4) using the plurality of mounting devices (5). 2. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the mounting devices (5) are formed at a bot-tom (8) of the housing (4). 3. A device (1) according to claim 2, wherein the mounting devices (5) extend over at least 30% of an area (9) of the bottom (8).

4. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the mounting devices (5) are designed to be identical. 5. A device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the mounting devices (5) are designed as mounts (10) for the at least one actuator cartridge (6, 7). 6. A device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the housing (4) has an opening (11) in the area of each mounting device (5).  7. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one actuator cartridge (6, 7) can be secured to the mounting device (5) by means of a snap-fit connection.  8. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one actuator cartridge (6, 7) comprises a button mount (12) for an actuating button (13, 14). 9. A device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one actuator cartridge (6, 7) comprises a trigger (15) for the flushing system (2). 10. The device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one actuator cartridge (6, 7) has a port (16) for a connecting line (17, 18). 

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