Flush toilet
11624178 · 2023-04-11
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
E03D11/08
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
E03D1/012
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
E03D3/00
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
E03D2201/30
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
E03D1/26
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
International classification
E03D1/012
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
E03D1/26
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
E03D11/08
FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
Abstract
A flush toilet in which a comparatively large storage region that stores a functional unit can be formed in a region in more rear side than a bowl of a toilet main body, while improving designability of the whole flush toilet is provided. A toilet main body of a flush toilet includes a skirt and a rear function storage portion, the skirt includes an opening, the opening being formed in a portion of an upper part of an outer wall of the skirt, the opening allowing the rear function storage portion inside the skirt to open toward outside the skirt, and a part of the functional unit stored in the rear function storage portion forms an outer surface to close the opening.
Claims
1. A flush toilet which is flushed with flush water to discharge waste, the flush toilet comprising: a toilet main body made of ceramics and comprising a bowl that receives waste, and a water discharge trap portion wherein an inlet of the water discharge trap portion is connected to below the bowl and the water discharge trap portion discharges waste in the bowl, and a functional unit that is provided in a rear side more rear than the bowl of the toilet main body and that includes a function of controlling discharging and stopping of flush water to the bowl, wherein the toilet main body further comprises a skirt that forms an outer wall outside the bowl, and a rear function storage portion that is provided below an upper end of the skirt and in an inner side further inner than the skirt, and that is provided in a region in a rear side more rear than the bowl, and that is available for storing at least a part of the functional unit, the skirt comprises an opening formed in a portion of an upper part of the outer wall of the skirt, the opening allowing the rear function storage portion inside the skirt to open toward outside the skirt, and a part of the functional unit stored in the rear function storage portion forms an outer surface to close the opening above a lower end of the opening.
2. The flush toilet according to claim 1, wherein the functional unit in the rear function storage portion below the opening is disposed on an inner side than further than the outer wall of the skirt, and the functional unit comprises a protruding portion that protrudes from an interior of the rear function storage portion through the opening to outside the opening.
3. The flush toilet according to claim 1, wherein the functional unit comprises a cover portion that forms the outer surface to close the opening, and the cover portion comprises an inner part that extends from the outer surface to close the opening to inside of the outer wall of the skirt that forms the opening.
4. The flush toilet according to claim 3, wherein the cover portion further comprises a lower part that extends from the inner part to a lower side of a downward facing surface of the functional unit.
5. The flush toilet according to claim 1, wherein the opening is formed in the outer wall facing rearward in the skirt.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
(10) Next, a flush toilet according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, an entire configuration of the flush toilet according to the embodiment of the present invention will be schematically described with reference to
(11) Next, as shown in
(12) Next, as shown in
(13) Next, as shown in
(14) Next, the water discharge trap pipe 12 of the toilet main body 4 is configured to discharge waste from an interior of the bowl 8. The water discharge trap pipe 12 includes the inlet 12a provided at the bottom portion of the bowl 8, a trap ascending pipe 12b that ascends from the inlet 12a, and a trap descending pipe 12c that descends from the trap ascending pipe 12b, and a part between the trap ascending pipe 12b and the trap descending pipe 12c is made a top portion 12d. Also, as shown in
(15) Next, each structure of the flush water supply device 6 of the flush toilet 1 according to the present embodiment will be schematically described with reference to
(16) Furthermore, the flush water supply device 6 includes a controller 36. The controller 36 is capable of functioning as a controller that controls an opening-closing operation of an on-off valve (the electromagnetic valve 34) of the valve unit 28, a switching operation of the switching valve 18, and a rotational speed, an operation time, and the like of the pressure pump 22. The controller 36 includes an arithmetic device such as a CPU and a storage device such as a memory embedded therein and is capable of controlling electrically connected units according to predetermined control programs and the like. For example, the controller 36 stores, in the storage device, a control program for executing a function of controlling discharge and stopping of flush water as the above controller. The controller 36 is electrically connected to the electromagnetic valve 34, the switching valve 18, the pressure pump 22, and an operation unit or the like receiving user's operation input, in a wired or wireless manner. The controller 36 is provided to form an integrated functional unit with other structure in the flush water supply device 6, but is not limited to this example, and may be provided as another body at a position away from the other structure in the flush water supply device 6, in the upper side etc. of the toilet main body 4.
(17) Moreover, the fixed flow valve 30 of the valve unit 28 is for reducing flush water flowing from the stop cock 24 on the main water passageway 2 and through the splitter hardware 26 to or below a predetermined flow rate. Additionally, in a construction where the flush toilet 1 is provided with a private part washing device (not shown), a water supply pipe (not shown) for supplying flush water to the private part washing device (not shown) may also be connected to the splitter hardware 26. Furthermore, at the valve unit 28, when an opening operation is performed on the electromagnetic valve 34 by the controller 36, the main valve 32 is opened, and flush water passing from the fixed flow valve 30 and through the main valve 32 is supplied to the switching valve 18 at the branch part B on the downstream side of the main water passageway 2. The switching valve 18 is capable of supplying flush water from the main water passageway 2 to the rim-side water supply channel 2a and a tank-side water supply channel 2c at a same timing, and a ratio between water supplied to the rim side and water supplied to the tank side may be freely changed.
(18) Next, the flush water supply device 6 includes a tank device T that enables flush water supplied from the main water passageway 2 to be supplied to the toilet main body 4. The tank device T includes the storage tank 20 that is coupled to a rear side of the toilet main body 4 and that is for storing flush water supplied from the main water passageway 2, and the pressure pump 22 for feeding the flush water in the storage tank 20 to the toilet main body 4 under pressure. Furthermore, the rim-side water supply channel 2a that communicates with the rim conduit 14 of the toilet main body 4, and the tank-side water supply channel 2c that is connected to the storage tank 20 are provided in the downstream side of the branch part B in the downstream side of the main water passageway 2. Accordingly, flush water that is supplied from the main water supply source WO to the branch part B of the main water passageway 2 is used as water to be supplied to at least one of the rim-side water supply channel 2a and the tank-side water supply channel 2c.
(19) Furthermore, the flush water supply device 6 includes a pump water supply channel 2d that extends from a downstream side of the tank-side water supply channel 2c to the pressure pump 22, and the jet-side water supply channel 2b that extends on a downstream side from the pressure pump 22. Accordingly, with the flush toilet 1 of the present embodiment, flush water that is supplied from the main water passageway 2 and that is directly under tap water pressure may be supplied from the rim-side water supply channel 2a of the flush water supply device 6 to the rim spout port 14a, via the rim conduit 14 of the toilet main body 4, and water may thus be spouted from the rim spout port 14a (so-called “rim spouting”). Furthermore, the flush water supplied from the main water passageway 2 to the flush water supply device 6 may flow through the tank-side water supply channel 2c, the storage tank 20, the pump water supply channel 2d and the pressure pump 22 of the flush water supply device 6 and then be supplied from the jet-side water supply channel 2b to the jet spout port 16a, via the jet conduit 16 of the toilet main body 4, and water may thus be spouted from the jet spout port 16a (so-called “jet spouting”). That is, the flush toilet 1 of the present embodiment may function as a so-called hybrid flush toilet 1 that is capable of using, in combination, rim spouting that uses flush water that is supplied from the main water passageway 2 and that is directly under tap water pressure, and jet spouting that uses flush water that is from the storage tank 20 and that is pressurized by the pressure pump 22.
(20) Now, an upper float switch 38 and a lower float switch 40 are disposed inside the storage tank 20. A water level inside the storage tank 20 may be detected by these float switches 38, 40. For example, the upper float switch 38 is switched on when the water level inside the storage tank 20 reaches a predetermined water storage level, and the controller 36 detects an on state of the upper float switch 38 and causes the electromagnetic valve 34 to close. On the other hand, the lower float switch 40 is switched on when the water level inside the storage tank 20 falls to a predetermined water level below the predetermined water storage level that is detected by the upper float switch 38, and the controller 36 detects an on state of the lower float switch 40 and causes the pressure pump 22 to stop. Furthermore, the pressure pump 22 sucks the flush water stored in the storage tank 20 into the pump water supply channel 2d and pressurizing the flush water from the pump water supply channel 2d into the jet-side water supply channel 2b and discharges the flush water from the jet spout port 16a.
(21) With the structures described above, at a time of normal toilet flushing, the controller 36 detects an operation of a toilet flushing switch (not shown) by a user, for example, and causes the electromagnetic valve 34, the switching valve 18, and the pressure pump 22 to sequentially operate. Discharge of water from the rim spout port 14a and the jet spout port 16a is thus sequentially started, and flush water used to flush the bowl 8 is drained from the water discharge trap pipe 12, together with waste in the bowl 8. Furthermore, when flushing is over, the controller 36 opens the electromagnetic valve 34, and the switching valve 18 is switched to the tank-side water supply channel 2c side, and flush water in the main water passageway 2 is used to refill the storage tank 20. Then, when the water level inside the storage tank 20 rises and the upper float switch 38 detects a specified water storage amount, the controller 36 closes the electromagnetic valve 34, so that the main valve 32 closes the main water passageway 2, and supply of water is thereby stopped.
(22) Note that the controller 36 of the flush water supply device 6 may be disposed outside the rear function storage portion 44, for example, in a so-called sanitary washing device functional unit side, and may be electrically connected to the electromagnetic valve 34 and the like to perform wired or wireless communication.
(23) Next, a specific description of a structure of the toilet main body 4 and the flush water supply device 6 will be given with reference to
(24) The skirt 42 forms front, right, left, and rear exterior walls of the toilet main body 4. The skirt 42 is a skirt of a full skirt (total Hakama) type formed all around outside the toilet main body 4. In a case of forming the skirt 42 as the full skirt type, as compared with a case where the skirt 42 is provided only on the front side of the toilet main body 4, designability on appearance of the toilet main body 4 is improved, but when storing the functional unit inside the ceramic skirt 42, a size of the rear function storage portion inside tends to be restricted, because the skirt 42 is present all around. In the present embodiment, an inner storage space can be expanded, for example, by providing the opening 46 as described later. The skirt 42 basically forms a wall surface from a floor F on which the toilet main body 4 is installed to an upper part of the rim 10. The upper end of the skirt 42 is the upper part of the rim 10 and is formed at about the same height substantially all around the toilet main body 4 excluding a part of the opening 46. In the skirt 42, the opening 46 described later is formed, and an opening through which the drain pipe D or the like passes (e.g., a U-shaped opening below the opening 46 of
(25) As shown in
(26) A part of the flush water supply device 6 stored in the rear function storage portion 44 forms an outer surface 50a to close the opening 46. As shown in
(27) As shown in
(28) As shown in
(29) The outer surface 50a is formed in a shape corresponding to a shape of the opening 46. For example, the outer surface 50a has an outer shape formed substantially along at least the lower side portion 46c, a right side portion 46d, and a left side portion 46e of the opening 46. More specifically, a lower side portion 50c of the outer surface 50a and the lower side portion 46c are arranged in parallel and arranged in a range of a distance D1 from 4 mm to 10 mm, for example, substantially at the distance D1 of 6 mm. Also, a right side portion 50d of the outer surface 50a and the right side portion 46d are arranged in parallel and substantially arranged in a range of a distance D2 from 1 mm to 11 mm, for example, at the distance D2 of 6 mm. Further, a left side portion 50e of the outer surface 50a and the left side portion 46e are arranged in parallel and substantially arranged in a range of a distance D3 from 1 mm to 11 mm, for example, at the distance D3 of 6 mm. Furthermore, the outer surface 50a has an outer shape substantially along the virtual upper side portion 46b of the opening 46. More specifically, an upper side portion 50b of the outer surface 50a and the virtual upper side portion 46b are arranged in parallel and substantially arranged in a range of a distance D4 from 3 mm to 9 mm, for example, at the distance D4 of 5 mm.
(30) In front view seen from the rear side of the toilet main body 4, in most of the gap between the lower side portion 50c of the outer surface 50a and the lower side portion 46c, the cover portion 50 located in a further inner side than the gap can be seen. In most of the gap between the right side portion 50d of the outer surface 50a and the right side portion 46d, the cover portion 50 located in a further inner side than the gap can be seen. In most of gap between the left side portion 50e of the outer surface 50a and the left side portion 46e, the cover portion 50 located in a further inner side than the gap can be seen. Therefore, in front view seen from the rear side of the toilet main body 4, the cover portion 50 is formed to occupy a region in a range of preferably from 70% to 100%, a region in a range of more preferably from 80% to 100%, or a region in a range of further preferably from 90% to 100% of an open region inside the opening 46. Thereby, in front view seen from the rear side of the toilet main body 4, the cover portion 50 forms the outer surface to close the opening 46. Furthermore, the outer surface 50a of the cover portion 50 is formed to close the opening 46. In front view seen from the rear side the toilet main body 4, the cover portion is disposed to form a wall surface along which the outer surface 50a and the outer wall 48 are arranged, and the outer surface 50a forms a wall-shaped appearance that is continuous with the skirt 42, so that designability of the toilet main body can be improved.
(31) The outer surface 50a, with a panel-shaped member that forms the outer surface, is formed at a position in more rear side than a rearmost end 48a (see
(32) The cover portion 50 further includes a collar part 50f that is an inner part formed in one step forward side than the rearward facing surface in the rearmost side, the inner part extending to inside of the outer wall 48 of the skirt 42 below the opening 46, and a connecting part 50g extending toward a frontside from the outer surface 50a toward the collar part 50f. The collar part 50f is formed to spread vertically and forms the rearward facing surface. The collar part 50f extends from a front end of the connecting part 50g in right-left and downward directions of the outer surface 50a. As shown in
(33) The cover portion 50 further includes a lower side part 50h extending from the collar part 50f inside the outer wall 48 of the skirt 42 below the opening 46 to the lower side of a downward facing surface 6a (see
(34) As shown in
(35) Next, description will be given to operation of the flush toilet 1 according to the above embodiment of the present invention. First, according to the flush toilet 1 of the embodiment of the present invention, the skirt 42 includes the opening 46, the opening being formed in a portion of the upper part of the outer wall 48 of the skirt 42, the opening 46 allowing the rear function storage portion 44 inside the skirt 42 to open toward outside the skirt 42. A part of the flush water supply device 6 stored in the rear function storage portion 44 forms the outer surface to close the opening 46. Thereby, a part of the flush water supply device 6 can form the outer surface to close the opening 46, so that designability of the opening 46 formed in the skirt 42 of the toilet main body 4 can be improved, and designability of the whole flush toilet 1 can be improved. Also, a part of the flush water supply device 6 is formed to a position that forms the outer surface to close the opening 46, so that the flush water supply device 6 can be formed to a position that closes the opening 46. In this case, as compared with a case where the flush water supply device 6 is disposed in the rear function storage portion 44 inside the outer wall 48 in a state where the opening 46 is not formed in the outer wall 48 of the skirt 42, the larger rear function storage portion that stores the flush water supply device 6 can be formed, and the flush water supply device 6 can be disposed in a larger area from the interior of the rear function storage portion 44 to an opening 46 side. Further, it is possible to suppress degrading the designability of the whole flush toilet 1 by enlarging the whole toilet main body 4 to form the larger rear function storage portion 44. Even in the case of forming the comparatively large rear function storage portion 44, the designability of the whole flush toilet 1 can be improved. Furthermore, the flush water supply device 6 is disposed to close the opening 46, so that it is easy to access the flush water supply device 6 and to maintenance of the flush water supply device 6 through the opening 46.
(36) Also, according to the flush toilet 1 of the present embodiment, the flush water supply device 6 includes the cover portion 50 that protrudes from the interior of the rear function storage portion 44 through the opening 46 to outside the opening 46. Therefore, even in a case where the outer wall 48 of the skirt 42 is made of ceramics and the outer wall 48 has dimensional variation, the larger storage region of the flush water supply device 6 can be formed, and the flush water supply device 6 can be disposed in a larger area to outside the opening 46 irrespective of the outer wall 48. Also, it is possible to suppress degrading the designability of the whole flush toilet 1 to form the larger rear function storage portion 44, and also in the case of forming the comparatively large rear function storage portion 44 the designability of the whole flush toilet 1 can be improved.
(37) Furthermore, according to the flush toilet 1 of the present embodiment, the cover portion 50 of the flush water supply device 6 forms the outer surface 50a to close the opening 46, and the cover portion 50 includes the collar part 50f that extends from the outer surface 50a to inside the outer wall 48 of the skirt 42 that forms the opening 46. Thereby, it is possible to suppress entering dirt and water through the opening 46 on the flush water supply device 6 including the energized part, and an object can be inhibited from physically colliding through the opening 46 and causing damage to the flush water supply device 6. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the influence through the opening 46 onto the flush water supply device 6.
(38) Additionally, according to the flush toilet 1 of the present embodiment, the cover portion 50 further includes the lower side part 50h that extends from the collar part 50f to the lower side of the downward facing surface of the flush water supply device 6. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a risk that water enter from the opening 46 beyond the cover portion and to the flush water supply device 6 including the energized part.
(39) According to the flush toilet 1 of the present embodiment, the opening 46 is formed in the outer wall 48 facing rearward in the skirt 42. In this case, as compared with a case where the opening 46 is formed in the outer wall 48 facing sideways in the skirt 42, the opening 46 is formed in a position in a rear side that is inconspicuous to a user, and it is possible to suppress impairing designability of the whole flush toilet 1. Also, it is possible to suppress a possibility that dirt, water, objects, and the like act reach to the flush water supply device 6 through the opening 46, and it is possible to suppress the influence through the opening 46 to the flush water supply device 6.