Two-Way Adjustable Flapper Valve for Toilet Water Consumption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flapper valves in gravity-operated flush toilets lack easy-to-use, two-way adjustable functionality to control both air flow out of and water flow into the ballast, limiting their ability to balance buoyancy and water consumption across a wide range of flushing toilets.
Innovation Solution
A two-way adjustable flapper valve design featuring a rotatable vent band to control air flow and a rotatable snap-fit cap-like adjuster to control water flow, allowing separate adjustment of air and water flow into the ballast, made from elastomeric material with chemical resistance, enabling wide-ranging compatibility from 1.2 to 7.0 gallons per flush.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional flapper valves are used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the ability to control air flow and water flow into the ballast is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The flapper valve is divided into multiple functional components: a flapper body, a separate ballast, an air flow control mechanism with vent band, and a water flow control mechanism with adjuster. This segmentation allows independent adjustment of air and water flow while maintaining overall structural coherence and manufacturability.
Solution Approach 2:
The flapper valve incorporates dynamic adjustment capabilities through rotatable vent bands and adjustable caps that allow users to modify air flow and water flow rates in real-time. This dynamic functionality enables adaptation to different toilet models and flushing requirements without redesigning the entire valve.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the ballast size is increased to control buoyancy, then water consumption decreases, but the device becomes less adaptable to different toilet models
Solution Approach 1:
The flapper valve allows adjustment of critical parameters including air flow rate through the vent band, water flow rate through the adjuster, and ballast volume. These parameter changes enable optimization of buoyancy and water consumption for different toilet models ranging from 1.2 to 7.0 gallons per flush capacity.
3Manufacturing precision
If fixed aperture size is used in the ballast, then manufacturing is simpler, but the buoyancy control is less precise
Solution Approach 1:
The flapper valve includes self-adjustment mechanisms where users can directly modify the vent band position and adjuster settings to achieve desired air and water flow rates. This self-service adjustment capability provides precise buoyancy control without requiring complex precision manufacturing of fixed apertures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a flapper valve that minimizes water consumption and is adaptable to various toilet models, offering the widest range of 'gallons per flush' capacity, ensuring effective sealing and adjustable performance across different flushing volumes.
Implementation Method 1
The buoyancy of a flapper valve is an important function because it determines how much or how little water is used to empty the water tank upon flushing
Data Source
AI summary
An improved flapper valve has an elastomeric surrounding flapper valve top. A separate inverted dome-like structure, or cone, which is the ballast, is included for insertion into the flapper valve top. The improved flapper valve further includes a ring-like upper structure and a cap-like bottom structure. The ring-like upper “vent band” structure rotates about the cone relative to an air outlet aperture defined in the cone to control air flow from the cone. The bottom cap-like “adjuster” structure also rotates about the bottom of the cone to control water flow into the cone, also via apertures in both structures. Used together, the upper and bottom structures can minimize water consumption by the toilet. Further, the adjuster structure includes means for discretely changing settings with indicia to indicate to the user what the current setting is and means for maintaining that setting as may be desired or required.