Movable flange with hermetic sealing to the floor

Abstract

The invention relates to a flange for toilets or plumbing fixtures, which comprises a rigid ring and a flexible packing that comprises a discharge neck that helps improve the trap and the efficiency of the plumbing fixture by saving water, in addition to hermetically sealing with the floor and with the plumbing fixture and allowing the plumbing fixture to move in any direction that the pipework permits.

Description

[0001] MOBILE FLANGE WITH FLOOR-TIGHT SEAL

[0002] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] A. FIELD OF INVENTION

[0004] The present invention relates to flanges for connecting the outlet of a toilet to a drain pipe, and more particularly to a flange that simultaneously creates a seal with the floor and with the toilet or sanitary discharge, thus eliminating any possibility of water leaks and bad odors, in addition to allowing the location of the toilet or sanitary to be moved in any direction, and where its neck increases the discharge force by extending the siphon of the toilet or sanitary.

[0005] B. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

[0006] Currently, many flanges focus solely on securing the toilet to the floor, leaving the sealing to wax collars or gaskets that are purchased separately and fit independently to the flange. Others have rigid collars that require adhesive to attach to the drain pipe, but they don't seal effectively with the toilet or toilet's ceramic. There are also flexible collars that snap onto the inside of the pipe, but these don't allow the toilet or toilet to be moved because they collapse when flexed.

[0007] In order to overcome the disadvantages of currently available flanges, the applicant developed a movable flange with a floor-tight seal. This allows the toilet to be freely moved in any direction thanks to its gasket that allows it to seal tightly with the floor in any desired position within the movement limits of the drain pipe. This gasket also has a neck that extends the flush of the toilet or sanitary ware and improves the siphoning force, thus improving flushing efficiency and consequently reducing water consumption. Additionally, this neck prevents pipes from clogging, addressing the need to move the toilet, whether for aesthetic or functional reasons, and always maintaining a tight seal that prevents unpleasant odors or water from escaping from the drain.

[0008] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0009] Figure 1 is a top perspective view of the flexible packing of the hermetically sealed movable flange of the present invention. Figure 2 is a bottom perspective view of the flexible packing of the hermetically sealed movable flange of the present invention.

[0010] Figure 3 is a top perspective view of the rigid ring of the movable flange with hermetic seal of the present invention.

[0011] Figure 4 is a bottom perspective view of the rigid ring of the movable flange with hermetic seal of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 5 is a top perspective view of the hermetically sealed movable flange of the present invention with the flexible packing attached to the rigid ring.

[0013] Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the movable flange of the present invention showing the rigid ring attached to the flexible packing and screws for securing a toilet received in the curved elongated grooves of the rigid ring.

[0014] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] The present invention consists of a flange for installing sanitary ware that seals hermetically with the floor and with the toilet or sanitary discharge, it also allows its installation to be moved out of the center of the drainage pipe and consequently allows the location of the sanitary to be modified, it also has a neck at the end through which it discharges to the drain and with this it manages to extend the siphon of the toilet or sanitary and consequently improves the discharge force, allowing to reduce the amount of water required for the correct operation of the sanitary.

[0016] The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures and to a preferred embodiment thereof, wherein the movable flange with floor-tight seal comprises: a flexible packing (1) having a neck (2), an upper lip (3), an inner seat (4), a flat upper surface of annular shape (5), and at least two pairs of anchoring holes (6), wherein the flat upper surface (5) has at least two notches (7) open at one of its ends on the periphery of the flexible packing (1), each notch (7) having a generally quadrangular shape with the side walls curving outwards in the portion where said walls reach the periphery of the flexible packing (1) opening the notch to the outside and wherein each notch (7) is located in the annular space that is between anchoring holes (6) that belong to different pairs of anchoring holes (6);a rigid ring (8), having: at least two pairs of anchoring holes (9); at least two elongated curved slots (10), each opening into and communicating with an inlet section for a screw head (11 ), which has a width greater than the slot (10), said inlet section (11 ) located at one end of each slot (10) and each slot (10) located between two anchoring holes (9) of the same pair of anchoring holes (9); at least two radial slots (12), each radial slot (12) having a longitudinal axis oriented radially in the ring, wherein a first end (13) of each radial slot (12) is arrow-shaped and has a second end (14) open at the periphery of the rigid ring (8) and wherein the width of each radial slot (12) being smaller than the width of each notch (7) of the flexible packaging (1 );wherein the rigid ring (8) is joined to the flat, annular surface (5) of the flexible packaging (1) by means of an adhesive substance such that each anchoring hole (6) coincides with a respective anchoring hole (9) of the flexible packaging (1) and wherein each slot (12) coincides with a notch (7) of the flexible packaging (1) such that an open cavity is formed towards the outside;

[0017] In a preferred embodiment, on an upper surface of the rigid ring (15), the periphery of each anchor hole is designed to receive a countersunk head screw.

[0018] Although the rigid ring (8) may comprise a solid unit with completely flat upper and lower surfaces, in said preferred embodiment, the rigid ring (8) comprises: an upper wall (15), which is the one with the anchoring holes and the slots; a continuous inner annular wall (16) extending vertically downwards from the lower surface of the flat upper wall (15); at least two portions of outer annular walls (17), each extending downwards from the lower surface of the upper wall (15), each outer annular wall (17) extending longitudinally in an annular manner from the position where an anchoring hole (9) is located to another anchoring hole (9) of the same pair on the periphery of the rigid ring (8);at least four portions of side walls (18), each extending radially from each end of an outer annular wall (17) to the inner annular wall (16) and joined thereto, such that the side walls (18) together with the outer (17) and inner (16) annular walls form a single wall surrounding a pair of anchoring holes (9) and a respective elongated curved groove (10) in the lower surface of the upper wall (15), thereby leaving a space (19) between side walls joined to different outer annular walls (17), where a respective radial groove (17) is located; and a lower receptacle for anchor hole (20), each having a perforation and attached to the lower surface of the upper wall (15) coinciding with a respective anchor hole (9) and having two radial longitudinal supports (21, 21'), one attached to the internal annular wall (16) and another to an external annular wall (17).;

[0019] In said specific embodiment, the flexible packaging (1) has four pairs of anchoring holes (6) and four notches (7) and the rigid ring (8) has four pairs of anchoring holes (9), four curved elongated grooves (10) and four radial grooves (12). Proportionally, on the lower surface of the upper wall (15) of the rigid ring (8), the number of external annular walls (17) is four, each with two portions of side walls (18) attached to it, the number of spaces (19) between side walls of different external annular walls (17) is four and the number of lower receptacles for anchoring holes (20) is eight. In other embodiments the number of all said elements may be greater or less.

[0020] In other embodiments, the notches (7) of the flexible packaging may have other shapes than the open ends. Likewise, the ends of the radial grooves (12) of the rigid ring (8) may have a shape other than that of an arrow.

[0021] In all modalities:

[0022] • The respective anchoring holes of the flexible packing (1) and the rigid ring (8) when joined, coincide with each other and form a single hole that allows the flange to be fixed to the floor.

[0023] • The entry section for a screw head (11) of each radial groove (12) of the rigid ring (8) serves precisely to allow the entry of the head of a screw into the radial groove (12) for fixing the toilet to the flange.

[0024] • The upper lip (3) makes the seal with the floor of the toilet.

[0025] • The inner seat (4) seals with the toilet or sanitary flush. • The drain pipe can be perfectly centered with the flange, which means an installation in which it is not necessary to move the toilet in any direction.

[0026] • The neck through which the drain pipe is discharged can be tilted to either side, achieving a hermetic seal within the gasket area even if the flange or neck is tilted to either side, which would be equivalent to moving the toilet forward or backward, for example, leaving the gasket firmly seated.

[0027] • The rigid ring (8) houses and holds the screws to hold the toilet by tightening the nuts, thus achieving the hermetically sealing and fixing of the toilet to the flange and the floor by means of the screws.

[0028] • The flexible packaging (1) seals hermetically with the floor, thus preventing bad odors or liquids from the drainage pipe from escaping to the outside.

[0029] It should finally be understood that the floor-tight sealing flange of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and that those skilled in the art will be enabled by the teachings set forth herein to make changes to the floor-tight sealing flange of the present invention, the scope of which will be established exclusively by the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A floor-tight seal flange comprising a flexible packing having a neck, an upper lip, an inner seat, a flat annular upper surface and a rigid ring attached to the flat annular upper surface, characterized in that: the flexible packing has at least two pairs of anchor holes and the flat upper surface has at least two notches each having an open end on a periphery of the flexible packing, wherein each notch is located in the annular space between anchor holes belonging to different pairs of anchor holes; the rigid ring has: at least two pairs of anchor holes;at least two elongated curved slots, each slot opening into and communicating with an inlet section for a screw head, the inlet section being located at one end of each slot, and each slot being located between two anchor holes of the same pair of anchor holes; at least two radial slots, each slot having a longitudinal axis oriented radially in the ring, and having an open end at the periphery of the rigid ring, and wherein the width of each slot is smaller than the width of each notch of the flexible packing; and wherein the rigid ring is attached to the annular-shaped flat surface of the flexible packing such that each anchor hole coincides with a respective anchor hole of the flexible packing and wherein each slot coincides with a notch of the flexible packing such that an outwardly open cavity is formed; 2. Flange with a floor-tight seal according to claim 1, wherein each notch has a generally quadrangular shape with the side walls curving outward in the portion in which said walls reach the periphery of the flexible packaging, opening the notch to the outside.

3. Flange with floor-tight seal according to claim 1, wherein a first end of each radial groove is arrow-shaped.

4. Flange with floor-tight seal according to claim 1, wherein each anchor hole of the rigid ring is designed to receive a countersunk head screw.

5. Flange with floor-tight seal according to claim 1, wherein the lower surface of the rigid ring is flat.

6. Floor-tight seal flange according to claim 1, wherein the rigid ring comprises: an upper wall, which is the one with the anchor holes and the slots; a continuous inner annular wall extending vertically downwards from the lower surface of the flat upper wall; at least two portions of outer annular walls, each extending downwards from the lower surface of the upper wall, each outer annular portion extending longitudinally from the position where one anchor hole is located to another anchor hole of the same pair;at least four side wall portions, each extending radially from one end of an outer annular wall to the inner annular wall such that the side walls together with the outer and inner annular walls form a single wall surrounding a pair of anchor holes and a respective slot in the lower surface of the upper wall, thereby providing a space between side walls belonging to different outer annular walls where a respective slot is made in the upper wall; and a lower anchor hole receptacle, each having a perforation and attached to the lower surface of the upper wall coinciding with a respective anchor hole and having two longitudinal supports, one attached to the inner annular wall and another to an outer annular wall;

Images