AT4134U1 - DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING A RAINWATER VALVE - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for automatically closing a rainwater collecting flap (1) pivotably mounted on a gutter downpipe (5) depending on the level of the water level (2) in a collecting container (3), comprising a bearing block that can be fixed on the downpipe (5) below the rainwater collecting flap (1) 4), on which a locking lever (6) is pivotally mounted about an axis (7) from an open position (I) to a closed position (II), a tension spring element (8), the first end (8a) of which is attached to the locking lever (6) and the second end (8b) of which is fastened to the bearing block (4) or can be fastened to the downpipe (5), the axis (7) being seen in the pivoting direction in front of the connecting line (8c) in the opening position (I) of the locking lever (6) lies between the two ends (8a, 8b) of the tension spring element (8) (= spring tension line), and a float (9) which can be attached to the water level (2) in the collecting container (3) and which is operatively connected to the locking lever (6) stands and the locking lever (6) is pivoted in the direction of its closed position (II) when the water level (2) rises.

Description

AT 004134 Ul

The invention relates to a device for automatically closing a rainwater collecting flap depending on the level of the water level in a collecting container.

A sufficient amount of rainwater, e.g. To have a garden available for irrigation, it is collected in a collecting container, usually called a rain barrel. Part of the water that reaches a roof of the house during rain is used to fill this container. For this purpose, the downpipe of the gutter system installed on the relevant house roof is equipped with a rainwater collecting flap. This is a channel-shaped component which is arranged on the downpipe in the region of an opening in the downpipe casing so as to be pivotable about a horizontal axis. In its closed position, the rainwater collecting flap runs vertically and therefore parallel to the downpipe jacket and closes said opening in the downpipe jacket. In its open position, the rainwater collecting flap runs approximately horizontally or diagonally downwards. On the one hand, the opening in the downpipe jacket is open, on the other hand, the section of the rainwater collecting flap lying in the closed position below its pivoting axis extends into the inside of the downpipe and thus directs part of the rainwater falling down the downpipe to the outside and into the area below the Flap located collection container.

With such a system for collecting rainwater in a collecting container, the manual actuation of the rainwater collecting flap is particularly problematic: if the collecting flap is not closed manually in good time, this leads to overflow of the collecting container, as well as flooding and contamination of the surroundings of the collecting container if there is continued precipitation.

Mechanisms have already been presented which cause an automatic closing of a rainwater collecting flap depending on the level of the water level in a collecting container.

The object of the present invention is to provide such a device for automatically closing a rainwater collecting flap depending on the level of the water level in a collecting container, which can be attached to an existing downpipe with rainwater collecting flap without having to change the downpipe and rainwater collecting flap.

This is achieved according to the invention by means of a bearing block which can be fixed on the downpipe below the rainwater collecting flap and on which a locking lever is pivotably mounted about an axis from an open position to a closing position, by a tension spring element, the first end of which is fastened to the locking lever and the second end of which is fastened to the bearing block or can be attached to the downpipe, with the axis in the opening position of the locking lever, seen in the pivoting direction, lying in front of the connecting line between the two ends of the tension spring element (= spring-tension line) and by a float that can be attached to the water level in the collection container and which can be operated with the locking lever in FIG. 2 AT 004 134 Ul

Operational connection is established and the closing lever is pivoted in the direction of its closed position when the water level rises.

This device can be installed by attaching only one component, namely the bearing block, to the downpipe of a gutter system. Only if the second end of the tension spring element is not fixed on the bearing block, this must also be attached to the down pipe. Further modifications to the existing downpipe or the existing rainwater collecting flap are not necessary, which is why the installation of the device according to the invention can be carried out very easily, in particular also by do-it-yourselfers. Because of the simple construction of the device according to the invention, it has a high level of functional reliability.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a release lever which is pivotably mounted on the bearing block and is operatively connected to the locking lever can be provided, at the free end of which the float is fixed.

All components of the device according to the invention are thus connected to one another, so that this device can be handled easily.

In a further embodiment of the invention, it can be provided in this connection that the release lever is mounted so as to be pivotable about an axis aligned with the axis of the closing lever.

The (pivoting) axes of the locking lever and release lever can thus be formed by a single component, for example by a cylindrical pin or a cylinder screw, which contributes to the simple maintenance of the structural design of the device according to the invention.

It has proven to be advantageous to have a pin fixed on the locking lever, on which the trigger lever comes to rest when pivoting.

The locking lever can be freely in this embodiment, i.e. without taking the trigger lever, pivot, whereby the entire force of the tension spring element is used to pivot the closing lever and to close the rainwater collecting flap, without a part of this force having to be used to carry the trigger lever.

In a further embodiment of the invention it can be provided that a stop is fixed on the locking lever, which comes to rest on the bearing block or on the downpipe in the open position of the locking lever.

The stop lever is held in a defined position by this stop in its open position.

Furthermore, it can be provided that the section of the bearing block which can be fixed on the downpipe is formed by a plate which is curved in accordance with the downpipe.

The bearing block thus lies over a large area on the downpipe, which leads to a particularly stable mounting of the (pivoting) axis of the locking lever and thus ensures reliable operation of the device according to the invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention it can be provided that the tension spring element is formed by a screw tension spring. 3 AT 004134 Ul

Such tension springs are inexpensive standard components, which generate tensile forces in amounts sufficient for the local application. They are also more resistant to environmental influences, e.g. Rubber bands, which could be used as an alternative to coil springs.

The invention is described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which particularly preferred exemplary embodiments are shown. It shows:

Fig.l a rainwater collecting flap 1 provided with a device according to the invention in the open state in elevation;

2 shows the rainwater collecting flap 1 according to FIG. 1 in the same representation in the closed state;

3 shows a device according to the invention fixed to a down pipe 5 in a schematic illustration in elevation without rainwater collecting flap 1, the closing lever 6 being in different pivoting positions and

4 that shown in FIG. 3, with the spring traction line 8c being arranged in a different way.

A device according to the invention for automatically closing a rainwater collecting flap 1, which is fixed on a gutter down pipe 5 so as to be pivotable about a horizontal axis 1 a, depending on the level of the water level 2 in a collecting container 3, comprises essentially four components. First, a bearing block 4 is provided, which can be attached to a gutter down pipe 5 below the rainwater collecting flap 1. The bearing block 4 can be fixed on the downpipe 5, in particular if both parts are made of metal, by soldering. As an alternative to this, the bearing block 4 can be screwed onto the down pipe 5 by means of blind rivets or with a hose clamp which surrounds the down pipe 5.

The structural design of the bearing block 4 is not essential to the invention and can therefore be chosen as desired. The bearing block 4, however, has to comprise at least one component, in particular a plate, on which an axis 7 for the pivotable mounting of a locking lever 6 can be fixed. Favorable, because it leads to a particularly simple to produce and intimate connection with the downpipe 5, it is, however, to form the section 4a of the bearing block 4 which can be fixed on the downpipe 5 by a plate curved in accordance with the downpipe 5.

Furthermore, a locking lever 6 is provided, which is mounted on the bearing block 4 so as to be pivotable about an axis 7. In this pivotable mounting, two end positions of the closing lever 6 are provided, namely the open position I shown in Fig.l and the closed position II shown in Fig.2.

Furthermore, a tension spring element 8 is provided, the first end 8a of which is attached to the closing lever 6. The second end 8b of the tension spring element 8 can be fastened to the bearing block 4 or can be provided for fastening to the downpipe 5. In the latter case, the second tension spring element end 8b is loose when the closing device according to the invention is not yet mounted on a downpipe 5 and has to be fixed to the downpipe 5 in a separate assembly step when mounting the closing device, e.g. screwed or 4 AT 004 134 Ul soldered on. The tensile forces exerted by this tension spring element 8 act along the connecting line 8c between the two ends 8a, 8b of the tension spring element 8, which connecting line 8c is also referred to below as the spring-tension line 8c.

Finally, the locking device according to the invention has one

Float 9, which can be applied to the water level 2 in the collecting container 3. This float 9 is operatively connected to the locking lever 6 and pivots this locking lever 6 when the water level 2 rises in the direction of its closed position II.

The bearing block 4 is to be fixed on the downpipe 5 in such a way that the closing lever 6 can pivot the rainwater collecting flap 1. In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the rainwater collecting flap 1 lies over the entire surface of the top of the locking lever 6. However, the automatic closing of the rainwater collecting flap 1 according to the invention by means of the closing lever 6 is also achieved when it only comes into contact with the rainwater collecting flap 1 with its free end.

However, the pivoting of the closing lever 6 into its closed position II shown in FIG. 2, which is required for completely closing the rainwater collecting flap 1, is not carried out entirely by the float 9, because the float 9 only starts the closing process. The execution of the closing process is the responsibility of the tension spring element 8, for which purpose it is arranged according to the invention as follows:

If the closing lever 6 is in the open position I, the axis 7 lies in front of the spring-pull line 8c when viewed in the pivoting direction. This can be seen in particular in FIG. 3, where, for the sake of a better overview, only the bearing block 4 and the closing lever 6 are shown in a simple embodiment, and the spring-pull line 8c. The pivoting direction of the locking lever 6 is shown here by the arrow 12 or the dashed arrow 13 through the axis 7. It can be clearly seen here that the axis 7 lies in front of the spring pull line 8c by the distance x in the pivoting direction. The closing lever 6 is biased here by the tension spring element 8 in the direction of its opening position I or held in this opening position I.

If the locking lever 6 is pivoted mm (slightly) by the float 9 in the pivoting direction, i.e. in the direction of its closed position II, then the spring pull line 8c is pivoted about the second end 8b of the tension spring element 8, likewise in the direction of the locking lever closed position. As soon as the spring traction line 8c exceeds the height of the axis 7 during this pivoting (cf. the position of the locking lever 6 shown in dashed lines in FIG. 3), that is to say lies in front of the axis 7 as seen in the pivoting direction 12, the tension spring element 8 pulls the closing lever 6 in the direction of its closed position Π or moves it abruptly into this closed position II. The rainwater collecting flap 1 resting on the upper side of the closing lever 6 is thereby suddenly pivoted into the vertical, that is to say brought into its closed position and held there by the tension spring element 8 (cf. Fig. L).

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the axis 7 is arranged between the downpipe 5 and the spring pull line 8c. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, on the other hand, the spring traction line 8c lies between the axis 7 and the 5 AT 004 134 Ul

Downpipe 5, nevertheless this embodiment works exactly like that of FIGS. 1-3, because here too the arrangement condition provided according to the invention for the arrangement of the spring-tensioning element 8 that the axis 7 lies in front of the spring-tension line 8c seen in the pivoting direction is fulfilled ( see distance y in Fig. 4).

The device according to the invention only automatically closes the rainwater collecting flap 1. If, after the automatic closing, rainwater is again directed into the collecting container 3, the rainwater collecting flap 1 must be opened by hand. During this opening, the closing lever 6 is simultaneously brought into its open position I and the device according to the invention is thus made ready for a new automatic closing of the collecting flap 1.

The operative connection between the float 9 and the locking lever 6 can be realized, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, 4, by a rod 14 connected at one end to the float 9, the other end of which is attached to the locking lever 6. When the locking lever 6 is pivoted into its closed position II, the rod 14 and the float 9 would be taken along or lifted out of the collecting container 3.

However, this operative connection is preferably implemented as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A release lever 15 is pivotally mounted on the bearing block 4, which is in operative connection with the closing lever 6 and the free end of which the float 9 is fixed.

This operative connection between the release lever 15 and the locking lever 6 is realized in the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 by a pin 16 fixed on the locking lever 6, which extends normal to the image plane of FIGS. 1, 2 and extends out of this. If the water level 2 rises, the float 9 is lifted up and pivots the trigger lever 15 counterclockwise. In the course of this pivoting, the release lever 15 comes to rest against said pin 16 and pivots the locking lever 6 over it. As soon as the spring pulling line 8c comes to rest in front of the axis 7 as seen in the pivoting direction, the abrupt pivoting of the locking lever already discussed takes place 6 and the closing of the rainwater collecting flap 1. The length and curvature of the release lever 15 are to be selected so that the sudden closing of the rainwater collecting flap 1 takes place while the water level 2 is still below the rim of the collecting container 3. In order to be able to fine-tune the device according to the invention to the specifically desired water level height, the release lever 15 can be moved from a manual, i.e. without special tools, deformable material, e.g. Copper or copper alloy. By bending the trigger lever 15, the water level height triggering the closing process can be adjusted.

The trigger lever 15 can be mounted at any point on the bearing block 4, as long as it is ensured that it can come into contact with the pin 16. However, it is expedient to mount the trigger lever 15 so as to be pivotable about an axis arranged in alignment with the axis 7 of the locking lever 6. The axis for both levers (locking lever 6 and 6 AT 004 134 Ul

Release lever 15) can be formed by a single component, in particular by a cylinder screw fastened to the bearing block 4.

As already mentioned above, the closing lever 6 is biased by the tension spring element 8 in the direction of its open position I. So that the locking lever 6 is brought into a defined position, a stop 17 is fixed on the locking lever 6, which comes into contact with the bearing block 4 in the open position I of the locking lever 6. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the locking lever 6 is designed in the form of a right-angled triangle, on the hypotenuse of which

Rainwater collecting flap 1 rests and the shorter cathete in the open position I runs parallel to the downpipe jacket.

The closing lever section lying in the region of this shorter cathete lies in the open position I on the section 4a of the bearing block 4 which is curved in accordance with the downpipe jacket and thus forms the abovementioned stop 17.If the curved section 4a had been omitted and the bearing block 4 had only been removed by one Formed normal to the downpipe jacket component, the shorter cathete and thus the stop 17 would come to rest on the section of the downpipe 5 below the bearing block 4.

The tension spring element 8 can be replaced by any elastic component, e.g. a rubber band must be formed. Preferably, however, the tension spring element 8 is formed by a screw tension spring, as shown in FIG. 1, 2. 7

Claims (7)

AT 004 134 Ul CLAIMS 1. Device for automatically closing a rainwater collecting flap (1) pivotably mounted on a gutter downpipe (5) depending on the level of the water level (2) in a collecting container (3), comprising a water level (2) float (9) which can be applied in the collecting container (3) and a bearing block (4) which can be fixed on the downpipe (5) below the rainwater collecting flap (1), characterized by a bearing block (4) about an axis (7) from an open position (I) in a closing position (II) pivotably mounted closing lever (6), by a tension spring element (8), the first end (8a) of which is attached to the closing lever (6) and the second end (8b) of which is attached to the bearing block (4) or to the downpipe ( 5) can be fastened, the axis (7) being seen in the pivoting direction in the open position (I) of the locking lever (6) in front of the connecting line (8c) between the two ends (8a, 8b) of the tension spring element (8) (= spring-tension line ), the float (9) is in operative connection with the locking lever (6) and pivots the locking lever (6) in the direction of its closed position (Π) when the water level (2) rises. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized by a on the bearing block (4) pivotally mounted, with the locking lever (6) in operative connection trigger lever (15), at the free end of which the float (9) is fixed. 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the release lever (15) is pivotally mounted about an axis aligned with the axis (7) of the locking lever (6). 4. Apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, characterized by a on the locking lever (6) fixed pin (16) on which the trigger lever (15) comes to rest when pivoting. 5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the closing lever (6) a stop (17) is fixed, which in the open position (I) of the closing lever (6) on the bearing block (4) or on the downpipe (5) Facility is coming. 8 AT 004 134 ul 6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the section (4a) of the bearing block (4) which can be fixed on the down pipe (5) is formed by a plate which is curved in accordance with the down pipe (5). 7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tension spring element (8) is formed by a helical tension spring. 9