AU2012203000B2 - A connector - Google Patents

Abstract

A CONNECTOR A connector (10) for connecting an S-trap type toilet flushing outlet to a sewer waste inlet. The connector includes a first part (12) and a second part (14). The first part (12) has an inlet end (16), adapted for connection to the toilet flushing outlet, and an s outlet end (18). The second part (14) has an inlet end (20), adapted for rotational connection to the outlet end (18) of the first part (12), and a second end (22), adapted for connection to the sewer waste inlet. The first part outlet end (18) is offset eccentrically relative to the first part inlet end (16) and the second part inlet end (20) is offset eccentrically relative to the second part outlet end (22). ,,14 Figure 3

Description

S&F Ref: P024158 AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name and Address Caroma Industries Limited, of Applicant: an Australian company, ACN 000 189 499, of 10 Market Street, Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia Actual Inventor(s): Johann Karunaratne Stephen John Cummings Address for Service: Spruson & Ferguson St Martins Tower Level 35 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 (CCN 3710000177) Invention Title: A connector Associated Provisional Application Details: [33] Country: [31] Appl'n No(s): [32] Application Date: AU 2011902223 06 Jun 2011 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 5845c(6302773_1) I A CONNECTOR Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector. s The connector has been primarily developed for connecting an S-trap type toilet flushing outlet to a sewer waste inlet and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use and, for example, is also able to connect a bath or basin waste outlet to a sewer waste inlet. 10 Background of the Invention An important step in the installation of a toilet in a room is the positioning of the sewer waste inlet in the floor of the room. Hitherto, a connector, having an inlet end that is fixed relative to an outlet end, is then used to connect the flushing outlet of the toilet to is the sewer waste inlet. The connector conveys waste from the toilet to the sewer. If the sewer waste inlet is not positioned accurately, then the toilet will not be positioned in the desired location. Repositioning an inaccurately installed sewer waste inlet is very difficult, time consuming and expensive. Such repositioning can entail changes to the flooring of the room, which may be solid concrete or include timber beams, and changes 20 to other plumbing components. Australian patent No. 784482 discloses a connector that has an eccentrically offset outlet end which can be rotated relative to the part of the connector that engages the toilet outlet. This attempts to solve the above problem by providing a range of positions for the toilet outlet relative to the sewer waste inlet. 25 A disadvantage of the connector disclosed in Australian patent No. 784482 is that, if the sewer waste inlet is incorrectly positioned relative to the toilet in a side to side direction, then adjusting the connector to address this issue will also change the front to back positioning of the toilet. Similarly, if the sewer waste inlet is incorrectly positioned in the front to back direction relative to the toilet, then adjusting the connector to address 30 this issue will also change the side to side positioning of the toilet. Object of the Invention It is the object of the present invention to substantially overcome or at least ameliorate the above disadvantage. 35 2 Summary of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention provides an S-trap type toilet flushing outlet to sewer waste inlet connector, the connector including: a first part with a substantially cylindrical inlet end, adapted for connection to the toilet flushing outlet and an outlet end; and a second part with an inlet end, adapted for rotational connection to the outlet end of the first part and a second substantially cylindrical outlet end, adapted for connection to the sewer waste inlet, wherein the first part outlet end is eccentrically offset by 25 mm relative to the first part inlet end and the second part inlet end is eccentrically offset by 25 mm relative to the second part outlet end. The first part inlet end preferably includes a seal for sealing relative to the toilet flushing outlet. The first part inlet end preferably includes a seal for sealing relative to the waste outlet. The first part outlet end preferably includes a seal for sealing relative to the second part inlet end. The first part outlet end is preferably snap engageable with the second part inlet end. The second part outlet end preferably includes a seal for sealing relative to the sewer waste inlet. The first part inlet end is preferably substantially circular in cross section and the first part outlet end is preferably substantially circular in cross section, with geometric centres eccentrically offset by said 25 mm. The second part inlet end is preferably substantially circular in cross section and the second part outlet end is preferably substantially circular in cross section, with geometric centres eccentrically offset by said 25 mm. The first part and the second part are preferably made from plastic, most preferably by injection moulding. The seals are preferably made from rubber, most preferably by injection moulding.

3 Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of an example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is perspective view of an embodiment of a connector; Fig. 2 is a side view of the connector shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the connector shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a side view of the connector shown in Fig. 1 installed adjacent a sewer waste inlet; Fig. 5 is a cross sectional top view of a toilet and the connector shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 6 is a partially cross sectional side view of a toilet connected to a sewer waste inlet via the connector shown in Fig. 1.

4 Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Figs. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of a connector 10 for connecting an S-trap type toilet flushing outlet to a sewer waste inlet. The connector 10 includes a first part 12 and a second part 14. As best shown in Fig 3, the first part 12 includes an inlet end 16 and an outlet end 18. The second part 14 includes an inlet end 20 and an outlet end 22. The first part inlet end 16 includes a seal 24, for sealing against the flushing outlet of the toilet, which is retained adjacent the first part 12 by a cap 26. The second part outlet end 22 includes a seal 28 for sealing against the sewer waste inlet. The first part outlet end 18 also includes an O-ring seal 30 for sealing against the second part inlet end 20. A flange 32 is provided adjacent the seal 30 which snap engages with four inwardly directed tongues 34 in order to snap-engage connect the first part outlet end 18 with the second part inlet end 20 with the seal 30 therebetween. The first part inlet end 16 and the first part outlet end 18 are cylindrically shaped, with circular cross sections, and are 25mm offset eccentrically from one another with the 5 longitudinal axis of the cylindrical region adjacent the first part inlet end 16 being offset eccentrically from the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical region adjacent the first part outlet end 18. Put another way, the geometric centre of the circular cross section of the first part inlet end 16 is 25mm offset eccentrically from the geometric centre of the first 5 part outlet end 18. Similarly, the second part inlet end 20 is 25mm offset eccentrically from the second part outlet end 22. The first part 12, the second part 14 and the cap 26 are injected moulded from plastic. The seal 24, the seal 28 and the seal 30 are injected moulded from rubber. The connector is assembled by pressing the seal 24 over the first part inlet end 16, 10 whereby it is retained by an internal flange 36 locating between external flanges 38. The cap 26 is then placed over the seal 24 and located by an internal flange 40 engaging within an external groove 42. The first part 12 is assembled with the second part 14 by placing the seal 30 adjacent the flange 32 and inserting the first part outlet end 18 into the second part inlet end 20 to a point where the flange 32 snap-engages with the tongues 34. is Finally, the seal 28 is slid over the second part outlet end 22 until it is retained by a flange 44. The use of the connector 10 shall now be described with reference to Figs. 4 to 6. Fig. 4 shows the connector 10 with the seal 28 of the second part outlet end 22 inserted within a sewer waste inlet 50. Fig. 4 also shows cistern bedding material 52 which is 20 relieved to accommodate the connector 10 adjacent a floor F and a wall W. The dimension X represents what is known as a "set out distance", being the distance between the centre of the toilet flushing outlet and the wall W. A typical measurement for this distance X is 140mm. Fig. 5 shows a cistern pan 54 with a flushing outlet 56. The side to side centre-line 25 of the cistern pan 54 is shown as line 58. The grey circular region 60 represents the range of possible locations of the sewer waste inlet 50 relative to the toilet flushing outlet 56 that can be accommodated by the connector 10, without effecting the desired location of the cistern pan 54. As the first part 12 of the connector 10 has an eccentric offset with a radius of 25mm and the second part 14 of the connector 10 has an eccentric offset with a 30 radius of 25mm, the waste inlet 50 can advantageously be positioned anywhere in a 50mm arc from the centre line 58 of the pan 54. Importantly, as the first part 12 can be rotated relative to the flushing outlet 56, the first part 12 and the second part 14 can be rotated relative to one another and the second part 14 can be rotated relative to the sewer waste inlet 50, then the connector can be used to accommodate front to back inaccurate 35 positioning of the sewer waste inlet 50 without effecting the side to side positioning of the 6 pan 54 and also to accommodate side to side inaccurate positioning of the waste inlet 50 without effecting the front to back positioning of the pan 54. In the example shown, if the set out distance X is 140mm then the dimension Y can be within the (large) range of 90 to 190mm. Accordingly, the sewer waste inlet 50 can be 5 positioned inaccurately and not effect the desired positioning of the cistern pan 54 within a room. Although the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms. For example, the connector is also able to connect a bath 1o or basin waste outlet to a sewer waste inlet.

Claims (11)

1. An S-trap type toilet flushing outlet to sewer waste inlet connector, the connector including: a first part with a substantially cylindrical inlet end, adapted for connection to the toilet flushing outlet and an outlet end; and a second part with an inlet end, adapted for rotational connection to the outlet end of the first part and a second substantially cylindrical outlet end, adapted for connection to the sewer waste inlet, wherein the first part outlet end is eccentrically offset by 25 mm relative to the first part inlet end and the second part inlet end is eccentrically offset by 25 mm relative to the second part outlet end.

2. The connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first part inlet end includes a seal for sealing relative to the toilet flushing outlet.

3. The connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first part outlet end includes a seal for sealing relative to the second part inlet end.

4. The connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first part outlet end is snap engageable with the second part inlet end.

5. The connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second part outlet end includes a seal for sealing relative to the sewer waste inlet.

6. The connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first part inlet end is substantially circular in cross section and the first part outlet end is substantially circular in cross section, with geometric centres eccentrically offset by said 25 mm.

7. The connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second part inlet end is substantially circular in cross section and the second part outlet end is substantially circular in cross section, with geometric centres eccentrically offset by said 25 mm.

8. The connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first part and the second part are made from plastic.

9. The connector as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first part and the second part are made by injection moulding. 8

10. The connector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the seals are made from rubber.

11. The connector as claimed in claim 10, wherein the seals are made by injection moulding. Caroma Industries Limited Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON & FERGUSON