Description

Field of the art

The present invention operates in the field of the production of devices associated with toilet cisterns, namely a counterframe for supporting concealed, and therefore walled-up, cisterns. Even more specifically, the invention relates to a counterframe for supporting concealed cisterns having four sides and a system of guides, the latter capable, thanks to particular retainer systems, of being able to allow, after the construction of the masonry, the adjustment and engagement of a cistern thereon, to the hydraulic/plumbing connections present, in a rapid, firm and efficient manner. The installation of the present invention not only greatly facilitates all the operations performed by the plumber for the hydraulic/plumbing connection of the cistern, but, being engaged during the construction of a masonry, effectively avoids having to dismantle the wall, at least in part, to make useful modifications for such connections to be made.

Known art

Various forms of ceramic flushing toilets are widely used today: in Western countries, seated toilets are commonly used, while floor toilets are widely used in East Asia. In most urban areas, the toilets are connected to the sewer system and in less built-up areas with septic tanks.

The first flushing toilet was proposed ahead of its time by SIR JOHN HARINGTON in 1596, but the lack of an internal sanitary system in most homes was an obstacle to its widespread use. 200 years later, ALEXANDER CUMMINGS added an S-shaped drain to the toilet, i.e., door between the bowl and the drain. Since then, the design and construction materials of toilets have undergone considerable changes; however, as usual, the drainage system and the toilet are installed in different places. Furthermore, they are placed at a distance from each other to exploit the force of gravity to create a cascading effect and are placed near each other in the form of a single block for aesthetic reasons, or alternatively, the drainage system is hidden inside the wall to increase the aesthetic quality of the environment in which the devices are installed.

There are also examples in which the cistern is integrated into the body of the bowl, thus providing the aesthetic appearance of a concealed cistern without the need for installation and maintenance in an empty space in the wall; however, this calls for an electrical connection for the air pressure supply, based on the technology of US patent 8615822. The patent claims a compressed air drainage system, in which the air supply system contains a channel for communication with atmospheric air, providing the free passage of air between the tank and the external environment when the ambient air supply system is turned off. In order to force the water from the tank to the cistern, there is a fitting at the water inlet for filling the cistern. Although this invention reduces the need for a complex installation of the drainage system in the wall cavity, it requires an electrical connection and, furthermore, the specified source must be located near the electrical network.

As regards some types of solutions which envisage the recessed frame, we can refer to patent application CN202981831U. The patent describes a wall-hung toilet with a concealed water tank. The wall-hung toilet consists of a body which connects to the water tank, which is also wall-hung, by means of a water inlet tube. The water tank is arranged within a frame concealed in a wall and is provided with at least a door. The door is movably connected to the frame. When there is a failure of the water tank accessories, maintenance can be carried out by opening the frame door without having to open the wall. The frame can act as a mirrored cabinet, so as to increase the attractiveness of a bathroom, achieve a storage function, overcome the shortcoming of a small bathroom, and increase the added value of the toilet itself.

The common problems characterizing the installation of a concealed cistern include:

• breaking the wall and producing rubble, which must be disposed of in landfills as special waste;

• trying to place the cistern with brackets and stops; • Attempting to position it properly level.

• The plumber who carries out the hydraulic/plumbing connection is constrained by the position of the cistern which has already been concealed.

The object of the present patent application is to overcome the aforesaid problems by proposing an innovative counterframe for supporting concealed toilet cisterns which can be used during the construction of the same masonry, which will subsequently be characterized by the presence of the cistern, quantitatively reducing the number of materials used for the construction of the same masonry and avoiding having to subsequently dismantle/modify the wall so that the plumber can correctly make the hydraulic/plumbing connections.

The invention can make the four sides fully adjustable independently, so as to allow a cistern to be engaged thereon quickly and firmly, immediately after the wall has been built, without further subsequent modifications being envisaged. The hydraulic/plumbing connections can be easily made by the plumber on each side of the cistern since each side of the frame can have a hose entry hole.

Description of the invention

According to the present invention, a counterframe for supporting concealed toilet cisterns is provided, having a system of guides and removable retainer systems, so as to allow the engagement of a cistern thereon in a rapid and firm manner: thanks to particular inlet holes of the tube, obtained on the surface of each side during production according to the customer's requirements, the plumber, adapted to perform the installation operations of the cistern, can efficiently make the hydraulic/plumbing connections present both from the lower and from the upper part of the cistern on both the left and on the right side.

The installation of the present invention not only greatly facilitates all the operations performed by the plumber for the hydraulic/plumbing connection of the cistern but, being engaged during the construction of a masonry, effectively avoids having to dismantle the wall, at least in part, as often happens, in order to make useful modifications so that such connections can be made: advantageously, by adjusting the sides of the invention and oscillating the cistern therein, the plumber can search for the suitable position so that no further modifications are made to the masonry after it has been constructed.

The feature of directly engaging the counterframe for supporting concealed toilet cisterns during the masonry construction step on the one hand means that fewer bricks are used for the construction thereof, and on the other hand, advantageously, that no building waste is produced: these factors result in an extremely less costly solution in terms of money and time with respect to what is usually carried out.

Once the masonry, characterized by a recess within which the present invention is placed, has been completed, the customer/plumber can immediately position the cistern.

The invention is characterized by a support structure of quadrangular shape, preferably rectangular, so as to recall the shape of the cisterns themselves and thus occupy as little space as possible inside the masonry.

Advantageously, the invention can be engaged within lightweight plasterboard walls/walls and for wall-hung toilets with the support of special brackets which ensure retention: in addition, the invention can provide integrated "butterfly" type systems which, when open, allow an easy fixing even with stop dowels or set screws for plasterboard.

Such a support structure allows the firm and secure engagement of the counterframe for supporting concealed toilet cisterns inside the recess in the wall by means of interlocking means and/or dowels.

Preferably, the support structure has a thickness comprised between 3 cm and 5 cm, so as to allow both an easier recessing of the toilet cistern and to facilitate plastering, when the wall has been constructed with small-sized perforated bricks having a width of 8 cm.

The sides of the support structure can each be advantageously provided with at least two screw systems, which, by means of screwing/unscrewing, allow each of the sides to be independently approached/distanced from each of the relative adjacent sides by pivoting on the wall itself: for example, if screwing/unscrewing operations are carried out on the screw systems engaged on the upper side of the support structure, the upper side will independently approach/di stance itself with respect to the right and left sides placed in contact; thereby the counterframe for supporting concealed toilet cisterns can advantageously adapt to different types/sizes of cisterns.

Preferably, the screw systems are provided with an electric motor and a screwing/unscrewing button, adapted to allow screwing/unscrewing the screw system, avoiding the use of external tools. In one of the preferred embodiments, the invention can be implemented with at least a laser distance measurer, one for each side, which measures the distance between the sides and the toilet cistern, when it is positioned inside the support structure: the laser distance measurer, being electrically connected to the screw systems provided with an electric motor, is capable of transmitting the detected data to the screw systems, mobilizing them until the optimal distance is reached for fixing the toilet cistern inside the support structure, without any type of effort and in a fully automated way.

Furthermore, the invention envisages at least a pair of guides, obtained along the length of at least two mutually opposite sides. Such a pair of guides are characterized, along their length, by a plurality of hooking pins spaced regularly from one another: such hooking pins allow the engagement, along the length of the guide, of a removable retainer system.

Each removable retainer system faces the interior of the support structure, and is engaged by interlocking with at least two of the hooking pins: it is thereby possible to adjust them along the length of each of the guides, taking advantage of the distance of the plurality of hooking pins.

The removable retainer system not only has the task of keeping the toilet cistern firmly inside the counterframe for supporting concealed toilet cisterns, but also of allowing the adjustment and leveling of the toilet cistern itself. Such a retainer system can be made in different forms, so as to be able to adapt to any type of toilet cistern existing on the market; furthermore, they are made of galvanized sheet metal so as to firmly maintain the position reached.

In one of the preferred embodiments, the removable retainer system is preferably coated with a soft plastic material, such as low-density polyethylene (LDPE), so as to preserve the integrity of the toilet cistern over time.

The invention is advantageously completed by at least an inlet hole for tubes, obtained on at least two of the sides, which allows the passage of the water tube useful for the hydraulic/plumbing connection with said toilet cistern during installation by the plumber.

In one of the preferred embodiments, the invention can advantageously comprise a humidity detector, which can be engaged in the inner part of the support structure, which detects the humidity present once the counterframe for supporting concealed toilet cisterns and the toilet cistern have been definitively walled in; in addition, the humidity detector emits an audible alarm signal if the humidity rate exceeds a predetermined threshold, indicating any leaks in the hydraulic/plumbing connections of the cistern, allowing for timely intervention on the problem.

The humidity detector can advantageously be connected, by means of a wireless network and/or Bluetooth, to external devices such as smartphones, so as to allow the humidity rate to be displayed on the connected external devices in real time and to send a notification thereto if the humidity detected exceeds a predetermined threshold.

The invention can preferably comprise a system of hooks, engaged externally to the sides of the support structure, which can allow the connection between multiple counterframes for supporting concealed toilet cisterns within the same masonry: thereby multiple toilet cisterns can be connected in series.

The advantages offered by the present invention are evident in the light of the description given up to now and will be even clearer thanks to the appended figures and the related detailed description.

Description of the figures

The invention will be described hereinafter in at least a preferred embodiment by way of non-limiting example with the aid of the appended figures, in which:

- FIGURE 1 shows a front view of the counterframe 100 for supporting concealed toilet cisterns engaged within a recess 201 when a wall 200 was built;

- FIGURE 2 shows a side perspective view of the counterframe 100 for supporting concealed toilet cisterns engaged inside a recess 201 when a wall 200 was built while a toilet cistern 300 is engaged therein; - FIGURE 3 shows a right side perspective view of the counterframe 100 for supporting toilet cisterns when a toilet cistern 300 is engaged therein.

Detailed description of the invention

The present invention will now be illustrated by way of a purely non-limiting or binding example, resorting to the figures which illustrate some embodiments with respect to the present inventive concept.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the main components of the counterframe 100 for supporting concealed toilet cisterns according to the present invention are shown. In particular: FIG. 1 shows, in a front perspective view, the wall 200 constructed with a recess 201 in which the counterframe 100 for supporting concealed toilet cisterns has been engaged; FIG. 2 shows a lateral perspective view of the counterframe 100 for supporting concealed toilet cisterns when a toilet cistern 300 is engaged therein and when the wall 200 has been built; and, finally, FIG. 3 shows a right side perspective view of the counterframe 100 for supporting concealed toilet cisterns, free from the engagement with the wall 200, when a toilet cistern 300 is engaged therein.

The invention consists of a support structure, rectangular in shape, formed by four interconnected sides 10-11-12-13 joined together. The support structure has an upper side 10 extending parallel and opposite to the lower side 11, and a right hand side 12 extending parallel and opposite to the left hand side 13.

The function of the support structure is to allow the firm and safe engagement of the counterframe 100 for supporting concealed toilet cisterns inside the recess 201 of said wall 200, while the latter is built, by means of interlocking means and/or dowels.

The sides 10-11-12-13 are, moreover, each provided with two screw systems 16; each pair of screw systems 16 related to one side allows, by screwing/unscrewing, the corresponding side

10-11-12-13 to be independently approached/distanced from the relative adjacent sides 10-

11-12-13 by pivoting on the wall 200, so as to enable the counterframe 100 for supporting concealed toilet cisterns to adapt to different types/sizes of toilet cisterns 300.

Along the length of the right side 12 and of the left side 13, a pair of mutually opposite guides 14' are formed, which in turn comprise, along their length, four hooking pins 14" spaced apart from each other.

The pair of guides 14' each allow the engagement of a removable retainer system 14, facing towards the interior of the support structure, by means of interlocking with two of the hooking pins 14". Each removable retainer system 14 allows the toilet cistern 300 to be adjusted and leveled inside the counterframe 100 for supporting concealed toilet cisterns, once the wall has been completed; in addition, each removable retainer system 14 is adjustable, along the length of each of the guides 14', taking advantage of the distance between the four hooking pins 14".

There is an inlet hole for tubes 15 obtained in the lower side 11, which allows the passage/introduction of the water tube/duct, useful for the hydraulic/plumbing connection with the toilet cistern 300: the inlet hole for tubes 15 is made, during the production step, by eliminating a portion of the lower side 11.

The invention is completed by two bubble levels 18-18', engaged perpendicularly to each other on the lower side 11 and on the left side 13, so as to allow the correct positioning/arrangement of the support structure within the recess 201 of the wall 200 during construction.

Finally, it is clear that modifications, additions or variations which are obvious to a person skilled in the art can be made to the invention described up to now, without thereby departing from the scope of protection provided by the appended claims.