William Elvis Sloan I invented the Flushometer

Flushometer

the Royal Flushometer is a product of the Sloan Valve Company that uses an inline handle to flush urinals. It was invented by William Elvis Sloan.-Function:...

 flushing mechanism, which is currently installed in millions of commercial, institutional and industrial restrooms worldwide.

Biography

He was born in 1867 in Liberty, Missouri

Liberty, Missouri

Liberty is a city in Clay County, Missouri and is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. At the 2007 population estimate, the city population was 29,993...

. In 1906, he founded Sloan Valve Company

Sloan Valve Company

Sloan Valve Company was founded in 1906 with the introduction of the Royal Flushometer, which is now widely used.The company was founded by William Elvis Sloan in Chicago, Illinois. When he initially sold his Royal flushometer in 1906, he only sold one at the time because customers were wary of...

, which is now headquartered in Franklin Park, Illinois

Franklin Park, Illinois

Franklin Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,800 at the 2004 census.-Geography:Franklin Park is located at ....

. With the exception of a period of time in the 1940s and early 1950s, Sloan Valve has been under the leadership of W.E. Sloan’s descendants. He had a grandson William Elvis Sloan II (1941-2001). He died in 1961.

Flushometer

His invention, the Royal Flushometer, is a diaphragm-type valve which was the original product of Sloan Valve Co. The valve’s fundamental hydraulic design and its working principle have not changed. Flushometer valves use pressure from the water supply system rather than the force of gravity to discharge water into the bowl of toilets and urinals. A topmost diaphragm separates a pressure chamber from the main water supply. A narrow passageway leads from the main water supply into the pressure chamber. It is the narrowness of this passage that meters the flow by slowing repressurizing of the pressure chamber after the action of a flush. The diaphragm technology allows the flush valve to open and let water into the bowl. A main cylinder valve operates up and down. A groove in this cylinder allows water from the main supply to flow through when it is in a mid position. The valve is shut off at both its top and bottom positions. A second valve, placed within the main cylinder valve, releases the water in the topmost pressure chamber when the flush lever is activated, sending the main cylinder valve shooting upwards. The topmost pressure chamber slowly refills through its narrow passageway, pushing the valve cylinder back down gradually. A flush occurs while it is in its open mid positions. Because the water is gradually shut off, slower water at the end of the cycle that will not activate the siphon serves to refill the bowl.

The valve cannot be kept open by holding the flush lever in the activated position, wasting water, because this only sends the main cylinder valve all the way up to its topmost shutoff position. A flush can only occur when the valve is in one of its mid positions.