Subject of the Invention

The invention relates to a flexible toilet bowl drain connection, which enables the connection of the movable toilet bowls with the wastewater piping systems.

State of the Art

Today, the toilet bowls are commonly used. The height of the toilet bowls that contact the floor is determined during the production and these have a standard height irrespective of the mounting. The height of the wall-hung toilet bowls may be determined preferably during the mounting; however, the possibility does not exist to change the height of the same after they are mounted. Since the positions of the toilet bowls and the wastewater piping system relative to one another will be fixed after the mounting, the fixed pipes are employed in such applications. The pipes manufactured from PVC are usually preferred as the toilet bowl drain pipe due to their smooth surface.

Today, the toilet bowls have been developed, the height of which may be adjusted after the mounting according to the preferences and the needs arising from the use. The height of such toilet bowls may be changed owing to a mechanism to which they are connected. In order to provide the ability to alter the height of the toilet bowls also after the mounting, it is necessary that the clean water and wastewater connections be able to move together with the toilet bowls. For the clean water connection, the hoses, which are flexible and which are of smaller diameter than the wastewater connection, are employed. Because the hoses have small diameters and are flexible enough, no problem associated with the relocation of the toilet bowls is encountered in performing the connection of the clean water plumbing. In the height- adjustable toilet bowls, the flexible corrugated pipes are frequently preferred. Since the solid wastes are also conveyed via such pipes, it is a necessity to opt for the pipes with larger diameter for the wastewater connection. Since the flexing capability is lower in the pipes with large diameter, the problems of clogging may arise in case such pipes are unable to flex by a sufficient extent as a result of the way in which they are used, while it is also possible for the bending that could occur in the pipe to cause the deformation and rupture of the pipe and the wastewater leakages. Due to the structure of said corrugated pipes, the water may remain within the same after the use, which may cause the quantity of the water within the siphon to increase and the undesired matter to become caught between the corrugations when the pipe is not suitably positioned.

The flexible toilet bowl drain connection according to the invention is a long-lasting and hygienic drain connection, which is suitable for use with the height-adjustable toilet bowls, is able to perform its function at any desired height of the toilet bowl and does not undergo deformation as a result of the position changes of the toilet bowl.

Object of the Invention

An object of the invention is to develop a flexible toilet bowl drain connection, which is compatible with the height-adjustable toilet bowls and which is able to elongate or shorten according to the height of the toilet bowl.

Another object of the invention is to develop a flexible toilet bowl drain connection, which does not affect the level of the siphon water depending on the height of the toilet bowl.

Another object of the invention is to develop a flexible toilet bowl drain connection, the cross- sectional area of which is not smaller than the cross-sectional area of the ceramic at any height of the toilet bowl.

Another object of the invention is to develop a flexible toilet bowl drain connection, which does not retain wastewater at any height of the toilet bowl.

Description of the Figures

Figure 1: A side sectional view of the flexible toilet bowl drain connection according to the invention.

Figure 2: A front view of the flexible toilet bowl drain connection according to the invention. Figure 3: A perspective view of the flexible toilet bowl drain connection according to the invention.

Figure 4: An exploded view of the flexible toilet bowl drain connection according to the invention. Figure 5: A sectional view of the flexible toilet bowl drain according to the invention in a state fitted to the toilet bowl and the wall.

Reference Numerals

1 : Toilet bowl connection piece

11 : Toilet bowl connection end

12 : Toilet bowl connection piece flexible portion connection end

2 : Flexible portion

3 : Wastewater piping system connection piece

31 : Wastewater piping system connection piece flexible portion connection end

32 : Wastewater piping system connection end

Detailed Description of the Invention

The invention relates to a flexible toilet bowl drain connection, which enables the connection of the movable toilet bowls with the wastewater piping systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a toilet bowl drain connection, which comprises a toilet bowl connection piece (1) fitted to the toilet bowl, a wastewater piping system connection piece (3) fitted to the wastewater piping system and a flexible portion (2), which flexes to provide the connection between the toilet bowl connection piece flexible portion connection end (12) and the wastewater piping system connection piece flexible portion connection end (31) at any height of the toilet bowl.

The flexible toilet bowl drain connection consists of three main components. One of these components is the toilet bowl connection piece (1) that is fitted to the toilet bowl. The toilet bowl connection piece (1) has two ends. Of these, the toilet bowl connection end (11) is connected to the wastewater outlet of the toilet bowl and the toilet bowl connection piece flexible portion connection end (12) is connected to the flexible portion (2). The other component of the flexible toilet bowl drain is the wastewater piping system connection piece (3). The wastewater piping system connection piece (3) also has two ends, namely the wastewater piping system connection piece flexible portion connection end (31) connected to the flexible portion (2) and the wastewater piping system connection end (32) connected to the wastewater piping system. The third component is the flexible portion (2), with one end connected to the toilet bowl connection piece flexible portion connection end (12) and other end connected to the wastewater piping system connection piece flexible portion connection end (31).

The position of the wastewater piping system connection that is arranged on the wall is fixed as in the case with the non-movable toilet bowls employed in the state of the art. On the other hand, the height of the wastewater outlet disposed on the toilet bowl increases or decreases depending on the height of the toilet bowl. Consequently, the distance between the toilet bowl connection piece (1) and the wastewater piping system connection piece (3) varies depending on the height of the toilet bowl, which is a situation introducing the necessity that the connection between said two pieces should be movable.

The connection between the toilet bowl connection piece flexible portion connection end (12) and the wastewater piping system connection piece flexible portion connection end (31), the distance between which varies depending on the preferred height of the toilet bowl, is provided by means of the flexible portion (2) capable of flexing to become longer or shorter. The flexible portion (2) preferably has a corrugated structure. The length of the flexible portion (2) changes according to the expansion and contraction of the corrugations. In other words, the flexible portion (2) only elongates and shortens, instead of bending, depending on the positions of the toilet bowl connection piece flexible portion connection end (12) and the wastewater piping system connection piece flexible portion connection end (31), and the angles of the ends with respect to the body do not change.

The central axes of the wastewater piping system connection on the wall and the toilet bowl wastewater outlet are parallel to each other. As a result, in order to connect together the wastewater piping system connection and the toilet bowl wastewater outlet, it is necessary for the flexible toilet bowl drain connection to perform a rotation through an angle of 90° at least two times. Since said angles of 90° will result in a decrease in the cross-sectional area of the flexible toilet bowl drain connection, the undesirable situations of clogging may develop. In order to eliminate this problem, the toilet bowl connection piece flexible portion connection end (12) and the wastewater piping system connection piece flexible portion connection end (31) of the flexible toilet bowl drain connection according to the invention are each given an angle preferably greater than 30°. Because the same angle is given to both ends in opposite directions, the toilet bowl connection piece flexible portion connection end (12) and the wastewater piping system connection piece flexible portion connection end (31) are parallel to each other. The ends of the flexible portion (2) also have the same angle. In this way, although the toilet bowl connection end (11) and the wastewater piping system connection end (32) each have a circular cross-section, the sections where they connect to the flexible portion (2) each have an oval cross-section instead of a circular one. The cross- sectional area of the toilet bowl connection piece flexible portion connection end (12) is larger than the cross-sectional area of the toilet bowl connection end (11). Likewise, the cross- sectional area of the wastewater piping system connection piece flexible portion connection end (31) is larger than the cross-sectional area of the wastewater piping system connection end (32). In this way, it is ensured that the cross-sectional area of the flexible toilet bowl drain connection will be larger than the cross-sectional area of the toilet bowl at any height of the toilet bowl and the cases of clogging associated with bending are prevented from occurring. The flexible portion (2) extends in an angled manner between the toilet bowl connection piece flexible portion connection end (12) and the wastewater piping system connection piece flexible portion connection end (31). In other words, the central axis of the flexible portion (2) does not perpendicularly intersect the central axes of the toilet bowl connection piece (1) and the wastewater piping system connection piece (3). In this way, the flow from the toilet bowl wastewater outlet to the wastewater piping system is enhanced as well as forming a space into which the corrugated sections of the flexible portion (2) may fit by way of folding.

The corrugated grooves of the flexible portion (2) are arranged in the direction of flow in the flexible toilet bowl drain connection according to the invention. In this way, the undesirable matter is prevented from staying within the flexible portion (2) in both the extended and folded positions of said flexible portion (2).

The toilet bowl connection piece (1) and the wastewater piping system connection piece (3) are preferably made from a hard polymeric material, whereas the flexible portion (2) is made from a soft polymeric material. Said three components are integrated with one another. Consequently, the occurrence of water leakage between the toilet bowl connection piece (1) and the flexible portion (2) and between the wastewater piping system connection piece (3) and the flexible portion (2) is not possible. The seals are used at the connection of the toilet bowl connection piece (1) with the toilet bowl wastewater outlet and at the connection of the wastewater piping system connection piece (3) with the wastewater piping system, thereby preventing the possible leakages.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the flexible portion (2) has more than one layer. In this way, the formation of a sharp edge is prevented during the flexing and the edges are enabled to have a more round structure. In the embodiments where it is desired to increase the durability of the flexible portion (2), the components to improve the strength, preferably in the form of metal strips, may be added into the flexible portion (2) that is made from a polymeric material.