Flush toilet for RV's and boats

{
  "publication_number": "US6584623B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Flush toilet for RV's and boats",
  "abstract": "A flush toilet having two nozzles located within its bowl. The two nozzles being oriented in opposite directions and alternately providing pulses of flush water into and around the bowl.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A flush toilet comprising: a bowl having an upper end and a bottom discharge outlet through which waste is flushed from said bowl, a valve mounted to said toilet for movement between open and closed positions with respect to said outlet, an actuation member connected to said valve causing movement of said valve between said positions; an actuator operable to move said actuation member; and a clutch associated with said actuator and said actuation member, said clutch providing slip between said actuation member and said actuator when an obstacle is in a position preventing opening or closing of said valve.",
    "2. The flush toilet of claim 1 wherein said actuation member includes a threaded member and a nut member, said nut member threadedly engaged on said threaded member and coupled to said valve so that rotation of said threaded member results in movement of said valve.",
    "3. The flush toilet of claim 1 wherein said clutch is a mechanical clutch.",
    "4. The flush toilet of claim 1 wherein said clutch is an electronic clutch.",
    "5. The flush toilet of claim 1 wherein said clutch comprises a driving plate and a driven plate, said driving and driven plates each having complimentary formed surfaces in engagement with one another.",
    "6. The flush toilet of claim 5 wherein said surfaces include ramped castilations protruding therefrom.",
    "7. The flush toilet of claim 5 wherein one of said driving and driven plates is biased axially toward the other of said plates by a biasing member.",
    "8. The flush toilet of claim 7 wherein said one of said driving and driven plates moves axially during slipping of said clutch."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to a low-water flush toilet and in particular to a toilet providing multiple pulse jets of flush water moving in opposite directions on ledges provided on the toilet bowl near its upper end. The flush water applied to the inner surface of the bowl is carefully controlled to produce consistent and repeatable flushing operations.\n\nWater shortages on RV's and boats lead to the use of low-water flush toilets. In some situations, in boats and RV's, conservation of water is essential. The new flush system of this invention is created by providing dual nozzles at the back of the toilet bowl for providing alternating pulses of water from each nozzle, directed so that the water will move along ledges which extends on the sides of the bowl to the front of the bowl, the movement of each pulse of flush water providing for uniformed wetting of one half of the bowl surface below the ledge. The nozzle are directed in opposite directions so that when viewed from above, one jet of flush water will be moving counter-clockwise (from the back of the bowl to the front of the bowl) and the other jet of flush water will be moving in a clockwise direction (from the back of the bowl to the front of the bowl). As a result, total wetting of the bowl will be achieved because each volume of pulsed water can be controlled so as to totally wet half of the bowl, in contrast to previous pulsed flush toilets in which the pulsed water must wet the entire bowl in one pulse.",
  "cpc": [
    "E03D 11/08",
    "E03D 2201/40",
    "E03D 3/00",
    "E03D 5/012"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "E03D 11/08",
    "E03D 3/00",
    "E03D 5/012"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Thetford LLC"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "George Grech",
    "John E. Hammond",
    "James Kenneth Miller"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2002-06-04",
  "publication_date": "2003-07-01",
  "grant_date": "2003-07-01",
  "priority_date": "2000-04-11",
  "application_number": "US-16253502-A",
  "family_id": "24183414",
  "cited_by_count": 19,
  "citations": [
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  ]
}