High Efficiency Urinal Flushometer

The first product development project I worked on at Sloan was to create a high efficiency flush valve capable of reliably flushing a pint of water into a urinal. Similar efforts were done using electronic solenoids, however there was a demand for a manual, non‐battery‐operated product. Working with my mentor, John Wilson, we came up with this design for a modified version of an existing critical part in the flush valve assembly in order to regulate the flow. It has received great success since being introduced and has allowed Sloan to branch off into the ceramics market, starting with high efficiency urinals.

HE Urinal Kit

In order to achieve a repeatable flush of one pint, there were multiple refinements over previous designs to develop this version. The flush valve is a timing mechanism, set into motion by the pull of a handle. The device handles the vast majority of the plumbing variations in the market and it still able to accurately flush 16 oz of water every time. This is as low as you can go and still clean the fixture.

HE Urinal Refill Head Patent

Two critical components make up the HE urinal kit: the diaphragm and the refill head. The refill head is what controls both flow rate and friction to move water and land the kit back into the closing position. Similar designs were previously developed by Mr. Wilson and mass-produced at Sloan, and this was the next generation of product that we created.

HE Urinal Flush Valve

Putting it all together, the HE Urinal kit is interchangeable with all the other flush kits into the primary platform for diaphragm flush valves. It allows for mass customization of flush volumes and flush accuracy that has been the standard for flushometers for 100 years. The next task was to build a ceramic fixture to pair with this low flush volume as one did not exist.