| WO/2009/118618 | MULTI-FUNCTIONAL COLLECTOR FOR WASTE WATER |
| WO/2005/068734 | DEVICE FOR SAVING TAP WATER |
| WO/2010/022469 | DEVICE & METHOD FOR COMBINING WATER RESERVES |
GRANDE HERNANDEZ, Claudio (Selva 29, Llançà, E-17490, ES)
| CLAIMS 1 . Sanitary installation comprising a valve, a toilet and one or more sanitary facilities having a warm and a cold water branch, the valve comprising a valve body (1 ) having a first and second push-button (5, 5), a warm water entry (2), a cold water entry (3) and an exit (4), wherein the warm water entry (2) is connected to a warm water branch of a sanitary facility, the cold water entry (3) is connected to a cold water branch of a sanitary facility, and the exit (4) is connected to a tank (14) of the toilet, and wherein the first push-button is arranged such that upon pushing, water is allowed to pass during an amount of time from the warm water entry (2) through the valve body (1 ) to the exit (4), and the second push-button is arranged such that upon pushing, water is allowed to pass during an amount of time from the cold water entry (3), through the valve body (1 ) to the exit (4). 2. Sanitary installation according to claim 1 , wherein the tank of the toilet is normally maintained empty such that it can be filled by pushing of the first or second push-button. 3. Sanitary installation according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first and second push-buttons are manually adjustable to control the amount of time in which water is allowed to pass through the valve body (1 ) from the warm water entry (2) and the cold water entry (3) to the exit (4) respectively. 4. Sanitary installation according to any previous claim, wherein the valve body (1 ) is substantially prismatic. 5. Sanitary installation according to any previous claim, wherein the warm water entry (2), cold water entry (3) and exit (4) are all arranged on the same side of the valve body (1 ). 6. Sanitary installation according to any previous claim, wherein the warm water entry (2) and cold water entry (3) are arranged on one side of the valve body (1 ), and the exit (4) is arranged on the opposite side of the valve body (1 )- 7. Sanitary installation according to any previous claim, wherein the toilet tank has a single water supply, said supply being the exit (4) of the valve. 8. Sanitary installation according to any previous claim, wherein the sanitary facilities comprise a shower and the warm water entry (2) is connected to the warm water branch of the shower. 9. Sanitary installation according to any previous claim, furthermore comprising an additional valve, the additional valve comprising a valve body, an entry and an exit, the entry being connected to a warm water branch of a sanitary facility and the exit being connected to the toilet tank (14). 10. Sanitary installation according to any previous claim, wherein the sanitary facilities comprise a shower and/or a sink and/or a bidet. 1 1 . Sanitary installation according to any previous claim, wherein the valve body is built-in in a wall or mounted on a wall surface. 12. Use of a sanitary installation according to any of claims 1 - 1 1 comprising pushing the first push-button before a warm water faucet of one of the sanitary facilities is opened, such that the cold water which would exit initially from the warm water faucet passes through the valve body into the toilet tank. 13. Use of a sanitary installation according to any of claims 1 - 1 1 comprising pushing the second push-button before using a toilet, such that the toilet tank is filled with cold water. |
DESCRIPTION
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The present invention refers to a system for making use of water in a sanitary installation, and more specifically to the use of water that is lost when the hot water faucet is turned on in a bathroom, shower, kitchen sink, etc., until hot water comes out.
The object of the invention is to avoid that that cold water that comes out when the hot water faucet is opened and until hot water starts coming out is lost, using that water that would normally be lost to fill up the toilet tank.
PRIOR ART TO THE INVENTION
It's a known fact that every time a faucet is opened in the hot water position in order to shower, shave or wash something, there's a period of time in which cold water comes out that goes directly into the drain. This entails a considerable waste of water bearing in mind the amount of times that faucets are opened during the day and the time that one has to spend until hot water comes out; this means many liters of wasted water per year in each household.
There are other known complementary systems for household sanitary installations which use this needlessly wasted water, although these installations are complicated and hard to implement in already existing sanitary installations.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The herein described system is based on a sort of valve with two entries, one for hot water and the other for cold water, and an exit for its connection to the corresponding toilet tank. Both entries are each controlled by a respective push-button, in such a way that that sort of valve's purpose is to divert the cold water that comes out of the household faucet before reaching hot water, towards the toilet tank. For this to happen it is foreseen that the tank is maintained empty. This also avoids needless water loss, and the accompanying cost, when the sealing of the drain is not perfect.
The valve can be installed in a built-in manner, above the height of the tank, in such a way that the hot water connection will be taken as close as possible to the bathtub connection. In existing plumbing systems on the other hand, the valve will be installed above the toilet water entrance, connecting the hot water to the toilet or bidet.
In new constructions, it has also been foreseen that a simple valve model can be installed, i.e. with an entry, an exit and a controlling button, that can be installed in the sink connection.
In this way, every time a faucet is turned on of a toilet, bidet, boiler, etc., the water until it is warm is diverted towards the branch line of the shower to which the hot entry of the valve is connected. This entails that that cold water that comes out initially from any faucet is sent through the valve in question towards the corresponding toilet tank, filling it up.
The push-buttons are expected to be pressed in either case, every time before the faucets are turned on, whether they are from a sink, bidet, etc. with the main purpose of redirecting the water that was previously lost down the drain to the toilet tank, by reaching the valve and passing through it towards the mentioned tank.
The push buttons can be adjusted manually to close the water pass in a set period of time, preventing the water tank from filling up with hot water.
In this way, a considerable amount of water can be saved in every household.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
To complement the following description and with the purpose of allowing for a better comprehension of the characteristics of the invention, a set of illustrative and non-limiting drawings is included according to a special example of the practical realization of the invention, in which the following is shown: Figure 1 .- Shows the schematic view that corresponds to a sanitary installation of a household with the system of the invention.
Figure 2.- Shows a perspective view of the valve in question that is destined to be built-in in a wall.
Figure 3.- Shows another perspective view, in this case with a valve that is meant to be mounted on a surface.
Figure 4.- Shows another perspective view, in this case of a simple valve.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
As can be seen in figures 2 and 3, the valve that takes part in the system for making use of the cold water is made up of a main generally prismatic body with a hot water entry (2) and a cold water entry (3), as well as an exit (4). As seen in figure 1 , the entries (2 and 3) in the valve (1 ) are at the opposite side of the exit (4) since this valve body (1 ) is meant to be built-in in a wall. In figure 3 instead the hot water entry (2) and the cold water entry (3), as well as the exit (4), are all located on the same side of the main generally prismatic body.
In both cases there is a pair of push-buttons (5) the purpose of which will be described further on. These push-buttons (5) are different chromatically so that one can act over one or the other to carry out the meant operation.
Figure 4 shows the simple valve, which is also formed by a prismatic body (1 ) with only one entry (2) and one exit (4), as well as one push-button (5).
As shown in the installation of figure 1 , the branches of cold water and hot water respectively that feed e.g. a boiler (8), a bidet (9), a sink (10), a shower (1 1 ) and a kitchen sink (12), such that the valve body (1 ) is connected through a tube (13) to the warm water branch (7) of the shower (1 1 ). The exit of the valve body is connected, for example, to the toilet tank (14).
In accordance with these features, when the respective warm water faucet of, for example, a boiler (8), a bidet (9), sink (10), shower (1 1 ) or kitchen sink (1 1 ), is about to be opened because one plans on shaving, taking a shower, washing of objects etc., one of the push-buttons (5) will be pushed. All the water that otherwise would be lost and flushed down the drain, now, through the shower (1 1 ) reaches the tube (13) and passes through the valve body (1 ) and reaches the toilet tank (14). The toilet tank is thus filled given that it is normally empty. In this way, the cold water is used until warm water comes out.
If on the contrary, one is only going to use the toilet, the other push-button is pushed before using the toilet, so that it may be filled.
The push-buttons (5) can be controlled manually for closing the passage of water after a predetermined amount of time and avoiding that the toilet tank (14) is filled with warm water.
The advantages are obvious, and can be summarized as follows:
- the water that is normally lost when taking a shower, or shaving or when opening the faucet of a sink until warm water comes out is used.
- The toilet tank is always empty, such that when the sealing of the drain is damaged, there is no needless water loss and accompanying cost.
- The system can be installed in already existing installations, in case of the embodiment of figure 3, or rather in new installations in case of the embodiment shown in figure 2.
- In a new installation, the simple model of figure 4, can be positioned between the warm water branch (7) of the sink (12) and the exit of the valve body (1 ) can be connected to the warm water branch of the shower (1 1 ), in such a way that the simple model has its corresponding push-button (5) which is controllable in the same way as in the embodiments of the valve body depicted in figures 2 and 3.
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