Method of and Apparatus for Reducing the Risk of Clogging and Water Overflow from Water-Based Flushing-Type Toilet Systems

The present invention relates to new and improved methods and apparatus for using a water-based toilet to reduce clogging and water overflow operations.

Since the invention of the indoor first flush toilet, human society has applauded this great invention and rewarded plumbers who labor to install and maintain these systems in homes, offices, and all sorts of buildings around the world. During operation, the flush toilet, also known as a flushing toilet or water closet, human waste (principally urine and feces) is safely disposed of using the force of water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location for treatment, either nearby or at a communal facility, thus maintaining a separation between humans and their waste. Flush toilets can be designed for sitting or squatting. Most modern sewage treatment systems are also designed to process specially designed toilet paper.

Flush toilets are a type of plumbing fixture and usually incorporate an S-, U-, J-, or P-shaped bend called “a trap” that causes water to collect in the toilet bowl to hold human waste and act as a seal against noxious sewer gases naturally developing in any sewerage/drainage system. Today, most flush toilets are connected to a sewerage system that conveys wastewater to a sewage treatment plant, or alternatively, to a septic tank or composting system.

Along with the many benefits provided by the indoor flushing toilet system, human society has had to deal with the gross problem of toilet clogging and overflows. As everyone knows, such incidents can cause serious health issues, ranging from an unsanitary conditions requiring immediate clean up, to causing massive property damage due to water leakage entering in a home or office building. According to an IBHS study, toilet failure is the second leading cause of water damage. One-third of the property insurance claims reviewed are caused by overflowing toilets, which can lead to serious damage to floors, furniture and cabinetry. In 2024, the average property insurance claim results in a loss of more than $5,500. Clearly, there is a great need for new and improved ways of preventing toilet clogging and overflows in flush-based toilet systems deployed around the world.

After the outbreak of amebic dysentery at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, indoor plumbing and plumbing codes across the USA were revised and strictly enforced to help to curb the spread of diseases caused by cross-contamination of waste and water supplies. Since this 1933 incident, overyears ago, human society has made great progress in promoting better hygiene through the removal of human waste deposited in toilet bowl fixtures, and flushed into drainage/sewer systems using reliable water flushing operations disconnected from sources of potable (i.e. drinkable) water.

While many homeowners will focus on the shape and design of the toilet system, the wise and experienced plumber will always assess a toilet system by how well it flushes, and this involves assessing the technical performance of the toilet system. To understand the technical performance of any water-flushing toilet system, it will be helpful to understand how the modern toilet system works, andwill be helpful in this effort.

As shown in, each single-trap siphonic (flush) toilet systemhas a serpentine trap-way(′,″,′″) that is rounded and complicated and varies with each manufacturer's toilet system design. Regardless of the minor differences that may exist among different toilet models, they each have in common a common design feature, namely: each flushing toilet system requires all waste to flow freely through the entire trap-wayto the drain system. To enable this event to reliable happen with each flushing operation, each toilet is designed to flush an amount of water to force all the waste through the trap-wayand around many curves throughout the entire water flow passageway, from the toilet bowl regionto the drain pipeleading to the sewer/drainage system.shows a first prior art water-based toilet flushing system illustrating a first type of water flow trap pathway′ integrated into the structure of the water-based toilet flushing system.shows a second prior art water-based toilet flushing system illustrating a second type of water flow trap pathway″ also integrated into the structure of the water-based toilet flushing system.shows a third prior art water-based toilet flushing system illustrating a second type of water flow trap pathway″ integrated into the structure of the water-based toilet flushing system.shows the prior art water-based toilet flushing system of, illustrating the maximum water levelup to which the toilet bowl is engineered to fill during waste flushing operations, as determined by the height of the integrated water flow trap pathway.

Over the past thirty years, in the spirit of water conservation and environmental sustainability, the government (e.g. EPA in the USA) has mandated that people purchase toilets that use less water per flushing operation, initiated by depressing the toilet flush lever or pushing a toilet flush button. To do so, the government has required manufacturers to redesign their toilets. At first, standard toilets went from 5-gallon flush toilets to a required 3.5-gallon flush design. At that time, each manufacturer had to solve the problem of flushing with less water, using engineers and designers to figure out how to redesign the toilet so that it still cleared the waste through the entire flow trap pathwaywhile using less water during each flush. When toilets first went from the 5-gallon flush design to the 3.5-gallon flush design, many redesigned toilet products failed in the marketplace. It took almost a year, past the EPA government deadline, for manufacturers to finally get their redesigned water-conserving toilets to work correctly and properly and not clog and overflow with expected waste loading. Then, in 1992, the EPA created even greater technical challenges for toilet system engineers by changing government regulations once again, from the 3.5-gallon flush design to the 1.6-gallon flush design. Today, modern water-conserving toilets are tasked to move all size waste loads through their flow traps to the drain pipe, using no more than 1.6 gallons, which can present great technical challenges in many circumstance. Consequently, there are more toilet cloggings and overflows today than ever since the invention of the water flush toilet system.

Based on a careful research and analysis of modern flush-type toilet systems, there are two kinds of factors that contribute to the clogging and obstruction of water flowing along the trap pathwayduring toilet flushing operations: (i) design factors; and (ii) human factors. These design and human factors will be described in detail below.

The table ofdescribes prior art design factors contributing to clogging and obstruction of water flowing along the trap pathwayduring toilet flushing operations, namely: (i) toilet trap geometry and size can inhibit water and waste flow toward drain pipe, (ii) reduce water flushing design of modern toilet systems, for conservation purposes, has reduced the flushing performance in m any design instances, (iii) absence of glazing coatings along the water low trap pathway can create high friction surfaces which increases the likelihood of clogging during flushing operations, and (iv) reducing flushing performance can result in higher incidence of clogging and obstructions along the toilet trap pathway during flushing operation.

The table ofdescribes prior art human factors contributing to clogging and obstruction of water flowing along the trap pathwayduring toilet flushing operations, namely: (i) the nutritional state of, and medications/pharmaceuticals consumed by a human user can significantly influence the hardness of stools produced in the toilet bowl region, and result in clogging along the water flow trap pathway of the toilet flushing system, (ii) the diet, health condition, and lifestyle of a human user can produce excessive amounts of excrement beyond the water flushing capacity of the toilet system, and (iii) placement of excessive amounts of toilet paper in the bowl region of a toilet flushing system can exceed the water flushing capacity of the toilet system, and result in clogging and water overflow, and consequential damages to the home and/or building.

To prevent the clogging and overflowing of water from water flushing toilet systems, and number of prior art toilet tools have been developed over the years which will be summarized below.

shows a first prior art apparatusfor resolving the clogging and obstruction of a conventional water conserving toilet system. The apparatus is realized in the form of a hand-held toilet tooldisclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. US 2018/0030707 to Murphy. As shown, the hand-held toilet toolis provided with a hand-held portionA from which extends a thin flexible end portionB that can be pushed through the flow channelof the bottom of a toilet bowl, to unblock any stoolthat might be clogging the flow channel and flow pathwaytoward the drain pipe systemof the building in which the toilet bowl system is installed.

show the hand-held rigid stick-like toilet tool (i.e. “toilet sticks”)disclosed in US Patent Application No. 72012/0204334 to Floto, having a hand-held portionA which extends to a distal portionB while having a stick-like geometry along its body portionC with serrated edgeDs for providing cutting action on a deposited stool. As disclosed, these toilet sticks, stored in a holdermounted on the toilet tank, are used to break and chop up any hard stoolsthat produced by a human user in the bottom of the toilet bowl, before initiating any flushing operations, so that the smaller stool pieces can more easily flow along the flow channeland flow pathway toward the drain pipe systemof the building in which the toilet bowl system is installed, without the incidence of clogging or obstruction.

shows the third prior art apparatusand method of using the hand-held flexible snake-like (ramrod) tool disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. US 2013/0055493 to Miller. This third prior art toilet toolis a flexible snake-like structure having a hand-holdable proximal endA which extends through a middle sectionB and terminates into a distal end portionC. During use, the toilet unclogging toolis manually snaked through the toilet bowl regionand flow channelin any way possible, to break up any stooldeposited in the toilet bowl regionand/or the flow channel, and remove any clogs that might be produced along the flow pathway toward the drain pipe systemof the building, in which the toilet bowl system is installed.

While others have clearly addressed the problem of clogging and water overflow from water-based flushing toilet systems installed in diverse environments, there is clearly a great need in the art for a new and improved way of and means for effectively and proactively reducing the risk of toilet clogging and water overflow from water-based flushing toilet systems, while avoiding the shortcomings and drawbacks of prior art apparatus and methodologies.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method of and apparatus for reducing the risk of clogging and water overflow from water-based flushing-type toilet systems installed in residential and commercial environments, while overcoming the shortcomings and drawbacks of the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hand-held toilet tool that is designed to help society by alleviating the creation of unsanitary conditions created by clogged, overflowing toilets.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toilet tool and method of reducing toilet clogging and water overflow, and thus help to reduce costly homeowner insurance claims for damage caused by water leaking into finished ceilings.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toilet tool that is readily accessible and available to use to conveniently perform quick and easily proactive toilet clogging-prevention operations before commencing the next water flushing operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toilet tool that helps users reduce the risk of clogging and water overflow caused by attempting to flush hard, large bowel movements.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toilet tool that addresses the problem of toilet clogging and overflow at the core of the issue, in the bowl before a clog can occur.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toilet tool that is used to break the hard stool mass into smaller pieces that enables the toilet to more easily flush the waste down and out the sewer drain system as intended.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toilet tool that helps homeowners save money on needing to call a plumber to unclog their toilet after a clog.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toilet tool that can be used by live in or visiting nurse to help them avoid the stress and monetary burden caused by a constantly clogging toilet caused by the stools produced by their patients.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved manual, hand-operated device is intended for use to break up hard stool before flushing a toilet to prevent clogging issues.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a new and improved manual, hand-operated device which comprises a hand-held handle portion and a disposable cutting tip portion that can rapidly dissolve in water after use during stool chopping operations, before water flushing operations are initiated.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a new and improved manual, hand-operated device which comprises a hand-held handle portion and a disposable cutting tip portion that can be rapidly dispersed in water after use during stool chopping operations, before water flushing operations are initiated.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved hand-operated toilet tool having disposable cutting tip portions that are stored and dispensed from a cartridge like storage and dispensing container that can be mounted from the toilet tank for convenience.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toilet tool having a replaceable cutting tip portion that is contoured to fit into the bowl waste opening of the toilet to make it easier to break the hard stool up when it sinks to the bottom of the bowl.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toilet tool having a replaceable cutting tip portion having a cross style with a multi (i.e. four) blade cutting tool head design.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved replaceable head style tool will be a single use head, disposable and replaceable unit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hand-held toilet tool designed for preventing clogging and overflow, having a removable-style tool head that is adapted for quick installation and removal involving the push of a quick release button on the tool handle, preferably out of the way to prevent accidental head release prior to intended tool head ejection and disposal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved replacement cartridge containing a set of disposable cutting tip pieces that are made from environmentally-clean dissolvable materials, designed and intended to support stool chopping operations, and yet rapidly dissolve in water prior to initiating water flushing operations in the toilet bowl.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved holder for attachment to the tank portion of a toilet system, and adapted for holding the replacement head cartridge containing a set of disposable cutting tip portion for releasable attachment to a hand-held tool portion.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved replacement cartridge containing a plurality of disposable cutting tip portions, and, after depletion of dispensed cutting tips, can be quickly released and removed from the holder, and a new replacement cartridge quickly inserted for dispensing new disposable cutting tip portions for future use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved toilet tool that is aesthetically pleasing to users and non-intimidating.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved hand-held toilet tool employing biodegradable water-dissolving cutting tip components that are manufactured to have a corrugated surface construction that provides the added strength to the cutting tip component so that it can and will transmit forces from the distal portion of the hand-held handle portion of the toilet tool, downwards towards the cutting tip portion itself during stool chopping/cutting operations within the toilet bowel region of a water-flushing toilet system, prior to the initiation of water flushing operations caused by the depression of the toilet handle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a new and improved hand-held toilet tool employing biodegradable water-dissolving cutting tip components that, in addition to surface corrugations and laser-drilled holes formed in the surfaces of each disposable water-dissolvable cutting tip component to enhance water-dissolvability reactions, also has environmentally-safe, US EPA Safer Choice certified anti-bacterial and bowl cleansing biochemicals (e.g. Potassium Oxalate Monohydrate) infused into bio-degradable and water-dissolvable materials of each cutting tip component during manufacture, so as to provide disposable cutting tip portions for use with the toilet tool of the present invention that will also serve to self-clean toilet bowl surfaces each time the toilet tool is employed.

There and other objects of the present invention will become apparent hereinafter and in the Claims.

Referring to the figures in the accompanying Drawings, the various illustrative embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail, wherein like elements will be indicated using like reference numerals.

shows a conventional water-flushing toilet systemlike that used to illustrate the prior art toilet tools in. However, in, the toilet systemis featured to support a preferred method of the present invention for preventing the clogging and overflowing of the toilet during stool flushing operations.

As shown in, a novel toilet clogging/overflow prevention/reduction systemcomprising: a hand-held toilet toolhaving a hand-holdable handleA extending over a body portionB having a length ofor more inches, and terminating in a distal mounting portionC, upon which a replaceable cutting tool tip portionis releasably snap-fit mounted during cutting tip mounting operations, and dismounted upon depression of a thumb-depressible buttonduring cutting tip dismounting/ejection operations.

As shown in, the cutting tip portionhas multiple cutting surfacesA,B,C andD that are designed to easily break up any hard stoolsthat might be produced and deposited by a human being in the bottom of the toilet bowlbefore flushing, so that the multiple significantly smaller stool pieces can more easily and freely flow along flow channeland flow pathway toward the drain pipe systemof the building, in which the toilet bowl systemis installed.

Preferably, hand-holdable portionA has a semi-spherical splash guardmounted before the hand-depressible buttonto prevent any splashing from touching the user's hands and arms while using the toilet tool and carrying out the method of the present invention. Also, preferably, the replaceable cutting tip portionis biodegradable and fabricated from instantly water-dissolvable material. This way, after its use during stool chopping operations, the cutting tip portioncan be instantly ejected into the bowl of water within the toilet bowel, along with the chopped-up stool, and can then instantly (i.e. very quickly) dissolve and disperse in the water with the stool in the toilet bowl, and then be easily flushed down the drainwithout clogging or overflow, in accordance with the spirit of the present invention.

Different methods of manufacturing the disposable and replaceable cutting tip portions, and compact storage in a cutting tip storage and dispensing cartridge, will be described in greater technical detail hereinafter.

In, the hand-held toilet toolofis shown in greater detail, and is intended for use in conjunction with the cutting tip storage and dispensing cartridge (or container)that can be mounted on the tank portionof a toilet bowl system, or elsewhere in the bathroom as may be desired or required, providing quick and easy access to the toilet tool set before and during toilet flushing operations. As will be described in detail hereinafter, the storage and dispensing caseand adapted for storing and dispensing a supply of collapsed/packaged rapidly water-dissolvable/dispersible cutting tool tipsthat are specifically designed for releasable mounting on the distal portionC of the toilet tool, and ejection therefrom upon depression of the release buttonprovided on the hand-holdable portionA of the hand-held tool.

Referring to, the water flushing toilet system ofis used to support the method of the present invention using the novel hand-held toilet toolprovided with water-dissolvable tool tips. The details of this method will be described below.

As indicated in Stepof, the first step of the method involves producing a stoolinside the bowl portionof the water flushing toilet system.

As indicated in Stepof, the second step of the method involves releasably-mounting a rapidly water-dissolvable cutting tipon a hand-held tool handleA and then lowering the cutting tool tip into the toilet bowlcontaining the stool.