Drainage fitting for a toilet
A drainage fitting for use with a toilet having a toilet horn and with a toilet flange having a ledge upwardly adjacent an outlet includes an outer wall having a tapered-cylindrical or cylindrical configuration and defining a channel therethrough for receiving the horn of a toilet therein. The fitting includes an upper segment for receiving the horn and a lower segment configured to nest in the ledge of a toilet flange for interfacing the toilet with a plumbing drainpipe. The drainage fitting enables a toilet to be mounted to a drainpipe without using a wax ring. Alternatively, the drainage fitting may include an enlarged collar having upwardly extending toilet mounting bolts that eliminates the need to use a separate toilet flange.
This invention relates generally to a plumbing device and system and, more particularly, to a drainage fitting for a toilet that increases the speed, efficiency, and ease of toilet installation or replacement.
A toilet is typically installed using a toilet flange and a wax ring. The toilet flange is installed on the floor surface around the hole that gives access to the drain pipe. The wax ring is positioned on the flange and the toilet is lowered onto it to create a seal. The interface between the toilet and the wax ring is a potential source of leakage if not installed properly. Further, the wax ring must be replaced whenever the toilet itself is replaced or moved and ring replacement is a messy and undesirable task.
Various proposals have been made in the art for connecting two segments of pipe together. While assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing products and proposals do not provide a user-friendly fitting for efficiently installing a toilet upon a toilet flange or connecting to a toilet drain pipe without the use of a wax ring.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have drainage fitting for use with a toilet that efficiently interfaces a toilet flange with a toilet horn without a need for a wax ring and that seals this interface from leaking.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA general object of this invention is to provide a drainage fitting for efficiently mounting a toilet to a toilet drainage pipe.
Another object of this invention is to provide a drainage fitting, as aforesaid, that interfaces a toilet horn of a toilet fixture to a toilet flange connected to the drainage pipe.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a drainage fitting, as aforesaid, that eliminates the use of a wax ring when installing or replacing a toilet.
A further object of this invention is to provide a drainage fitting, as aforesaid, that integrates construction of the drainage fitting with a toilet flange.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a drainage fitting, as aforesaid, having a collar configured to support the fitting in an upright position when engaging the channel of a toilet flange or floor drain hole.
Accordingly, the unique drainage fitting described in more detail below satisfies the above stated objectives. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, embodiments of this invention/
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A drainage fitting for a toilet according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to
A collar 22 extends about the outer wall 12 of the fitting at a point between the top 14 and bottom 16 ends thereof for nesting the fitting in a toilet flange 5 (
A toilet flange 5 utilized with the fitting 10 disclosed herein includes a generally tubular configuration having a ledge 6 (
In use, a toilet flange 5 may be inserted into a standard toilet drain hole in the floor 1 of a home or business. Then, the drainage fitting 10 according to the present invention may be inserted into the channel of the toilet flange 5 such that the collar 22 nests in the lip 8 of the toilet flange 5. Then, a toilet 3 may be mounted to the upstanding bolts 9 of the toilet flange 5 without the conventional use of a wax ring. Specifically, the horn 4 on the underside of the toilet 3 may engage the upper segment 18 of the drainage fitting 10 such that the complementary configurations and O-ring seal 24 provide a watertight seal.
Another embodiment of the drainage fitting 30 is shown in
Use of the alternative drainage fitting 30 is best described with reference to
It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.
Claims
1. A drainage fitting for use with a toilet having a toilet horn and with a toilet flange having a ledge upwardly adjacent an outlet, said fitting comprising:
- a tubular member having an outer wall defining open top and bottom ends and defining a channel therebetween;
- a collar positioned between said top and bottom ends and extending outwardly from said outer wall for supporting said fitting in an upright configuration;
- wherein said channel has a top diameter at said top end that is larger than a diameter of said channel at said collar; and
- wherein the toilet horn is receivable in said channel top end.
2. The fitting as in claim 1 wherein said collar has a configuration complimentary to a configuration of the toilet flange ledge and said fitting bottom end has a configuration complimentary to a configuration of the toilet flange outlet, whereby said fitting is receivable in the toilet flange.
3. The fitting as in claim 2, further comprising a seal located in said channel for sealing said fitting to the toilet horn when the toilet horn is received in said channel top end.
4. The fitting as in claim 1, further comprising:
- a plurality of toilet attachment bolts extending upwardly from said collar;
- wherein said collar is attachable to a floor surface; and
- wherein said fitting bottom end is attachable to a drain pipe.
5. The fitting as in claim 4, further comprising a seal located in said channel for sealing said fitting to the toilet horn when the toilet horn is received in said channel top end.
6. The fitting as in claim 1, further comprising a seal located in said channel above said collar for sealing said fitting to the toilet horn when the toilet horn is received in said channel top end.
7. The fitting as in claim 6, wherein said seal is an O-ring.
8. The fitting as in claim 1, wherein:
- said collar separates said fitting into upper and lower segments; and
- said channel includes a constant diameter throughout said lower segment.
9. The fitting as in claim 1, wherein said top and bottom ends have annular configurations.
10. The fitting as in claim 8, wherein the toilet horn has a tapered configuration that is complementary to a configuration of said fitting upper segment for smooth reception therein.
11. The fitting as in claim 1, wherein the toilet horn has a cylindrical configuration.
12. A drainage fitting for use with a toilet having a toilet horn, said fitting comprising:
- a tubular member having an outer wall defining open top and bottom ends and defining a channel therebetween, said channel having a top diameter at said top end and a bottom diameter at said bottom end;
- a collar being positioned between said top and bottom ends and extending outwardly from said outer wall for supporting said fitting in an upright configuration and dividing said tubular member into upper and lower segments;
- wherein said channel has a tapered-cylindrical configuration at said upper segment and said channel has a cylindrical configuration at said lower segment, said channel top diameter being larger than a diameter of said channel at said collar; and
- wherein the toilet horn is receivable in said tubular member upper segment through said channel top end.
13. The fitting as in claim 12 for use with a toilet flange having a ledge upwardly adjacent an outlet, wherein said collar has a configuration complimentary to a configuration of the toilet flange ledge and said fitting bottom end has a configuration complimentary to a configuration of the toilet flange outlet, whereby said fitting is receivable in the toilet flange.
14. The fitting as in claim 12, further comprising:
- a plurality of toilet attachment bolts extending upwardly from said collar for attachment to the toilet;
- wherein said collar has a bottom face attachable to a floor surface; and
- wherein said fitting bottom end is attachable to a drain pipe.
15. The fitting as in claim 12, wherein the toilet horn has a configuration selected from the group consisting of cylindrical and tapered-cylindrical, said fitting further comprising a seal located in said channel above said collar for sealing said fitting to the toilet horn when the toilet horn is received in said channel top end.
16. A drainage fitting for use with a toilet having a toilet horn, said fitting comprising:
- a tubular member having an outer wall defining open top and bottom ends and a channel therebetween;
- a collar extending outwardly from said outer wall, said collar being positioned between said top and bottom ends for supporting said fitting in an upright configuration;
- wherein said outer wall includes a tapered configuration such that a diameter of said channel becomes smaller said top end to said collar; and
- wherein the toilet horn is receivable through said channel top end.
17. The fitting as in claim 16 for use with a toilet flange having a ledge upwardly adjacent an outlet, wherein said collar has a configuration complimentary to a configuration of the toilet flange ledge and said fitting bottom end has a configuration complimentary to a configuration of the toilet flange outlet, whereby said fitting is receivable in the toilet flange.
18. The fitting as in claim 17, wherein the toilet horn has a configuration selected from the group consisting of cylindrical and tapered-cylindrical, said fitting further comprising a seal located in said channel above said collar for sealing said fitting to the toilet horn when the toilet horn is received in said channel top end.
19. The fitting as in claim 16, further comprising:
- a plurality of toilet attachment bolts extending upwardly from said collar;
- wherein said collar has a bottom face attachable to a floor surface; and
- wherein said fitting bottom end is attachable to a drain pipe.
20. The fitting as in claim 19, wherein the toilet horn has a configuration selected from the group consisting of cylindrical and tapered-cylindrical, said fitting further comprising a seal located in said channel above said collar for sealing said fitting to the toilet horn when the toilet horn is received in said channel top end.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 14, 2005
Publication Date: Jan 18, 2007
Inventor: James Brooks (Moscow, TX)
Application Number: 11/181,349
International Classification: E03D 11/14 (20060101); E03D 11/00 (20060101);