AU2019204040A1

AU2019204040A1 - Improved toilet grab rail support

Info

Publication number: AU2019204040A1
Application number: AU2019204040A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Helen Joy Kelleher
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-03-05
Filing date: 2019-06-10
Publication date: 2019-06-27
Also published as: AU2016253547A1

Abstract

A grab rail assembly (1) for use with a toilet bowl has a mounting (3) adapted to be secured to the bowl of a toilet and two adjustable side rails (6) connected to the mounting (3). The side rails (6) are configured to connect to 5 the mounting in at least two different configurations. This may be by swapping the two side rails with each other. Fl(Ilia o- LcL

Description

IMPROVED TOILET GRAB RAIL SUPPORT

Field of Invention

This invention relates to a safety device which may be used to assist persons positioning themselves in a water closet of the type having a toilet bowl in which human body wastes are flushed down a drain by water from a cistern or the like. In water closets of this type, the toilet bowl is supported on the floor or from a wall and is usually provided with a toilet seat which has two pivotally connected portions, viz. a fixed portion mounted on the upper rim of the toilet bowl and a movable portion which may be pivoted from a generally horizontal or seating position to an upright or urinal position.

Background

In my Australian Patent No. 735503 I have provided a safety device in the form of a grab rail which can be rigidly mounted on a toilet bowl to make it easier and safer for persons to lower themselves onto and raise themselves from a toilet seat. Although the toilet grab rail may be used by anybody, it is particularly suitable for the aged, the disabled, the incapacitated and other handicapped persons who are at risk or face difficulties when attempting to use this type of toilet facility.

Previously many aids have been proposed to assist handicapped people to use toilet facilities unaided and without needing the attendance of a carer. A variety of aids for that purpose were discussed in my previous patent.

In my patent, I provide a toilet grab rail support for a toilet bowl having a seat held thereon by bolts passing through a fixed portion of the seat and through the toilet bowl. That grab rail support comprised a mounting portion adapted

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- 2 to be rigidly mounted on the rear portion of the toilet bowl and secured thereto by said bolts. Side rails are rigidly connected to the mounting portion so that, when the device is mounted on the toilet bowl, the side rails extend forwardly from the mounting portion so as to be spaced closely from the outer surface of the toilet bowl near the rim thereof. The side rails near the front of the toilet bowl curve upwardly and are configured to form rigid hand pieces which can be gripped by persons lowering themselves onto and raising themselves from the toilet seat.

A full description of that toilet grab rail support is contained in the specification of my patent. Although this toilet grab rail support has proved to be a success, there have been packaging, storage and transport problems due to its one-piece, somewhat bulky, 3-dimensional construction. These problems have been compounded by the fact that the market has encouraged various models of the toilet grab rail support to be produced. Examples are the two models described and illustrated in my patent. There are different models with different configurations of sides and handpieces. There are also different models with upright sides and splayed sides to cater for persons of different build.

Summary of the Invention

The toilet grab support of this invention is generally similar to the support described in my patent but it includes improvements designed to overcome the problems referred to.

In one broad form the invention provides a grab rail assembly for use with a toilet bowl comprising:

a mounting adapted to be mounted on a toilet bowl;

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- 3 at least handle having a connection portion connected to the mounting at a mounting location, the or each at least handle including a portion which can be gripped by persons lowering themselves onto and raising themselves from the toilet seat;

the at least one handle adapted to be connected to the mounting in at least two different predetermined orientations.

The orientation of the or each handle may depend on at least one of the handle and the mounting portion to which it is attached.

For each handle and mounting portion combination there may be a single orientation.

For each handle and mounting portion combination there may be at least two orientations.

One of the mounting and the at least one handle may have a male connecting portion that is received in a connecting female portion of the other.

The male and female connecting portions may have a substantially circular profile. Alternatively, the male and female connecting portions have a noncircular profile.

The grab rail assembly may include first and second handles and first and second mounting locations, and when the first handle is mounted on the first mounting location and the second handle is mounted on the second mounting locations the configuration of the handles is different to when the first handle is mounted on the second mounting locations and the second handle is mounted on the first mounting locations.

The first and second handles may be mirror images or each other.

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- 4 At least one of the handle and the mounting may have at least one recess or aperture and the assembly may include location means that engages at the least one recess or aperture to secure the at least one handle in at least one specific orientation relative to the respective mounting portion.

At least one of the handle and the mounting may have at least two recesses or apertures off-set with respect to one another.

The connecting portion of a handle may have at least one first recess or aperture that aligns with a corresponding number of second recesses or apertures of the respective mounting portion.

The locating means may include one or more a spring loaded pins or similar, each of which extends through a first and aligned second recesses or aperture.

One of the mounting and the handle may a tubular connecting portion with a substantially circular profile with first apertures the wall thereof.

The centre lines of the first and second apertures of a tubular portion are preferably not diametrically opposed. Preferably the centrelines are radial and extend relative to each other at an angle of between about 10 and about 20 degrees, more preferably between about 15 and 17 degrees and most preferably at about 16 degrees.

The foregoing features of the invention may be combined in any combination of features where features are not mutually exclusive.

The improvements will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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- 5 Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a view from the front of a grab rail assembly according to an embodiment of the invention in a first configuration.

Figure 2 is a perspective view from the above and front of the grab rail assembly of figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view from the front of a grab rail assembly according to an embodiment of the invention in a second configuration.

Figure 4 is a view from the front of a grab rail assembly according to an embodiment of the invention in a third configuration.

Figure 5 is a perspective view from the above and front of the mounting of the grab rail assembly of figure 1.

Figure 6 is a side view from the right of the mounting of figure 5.

Figure 7 is a front view of the mounting of figure 5.

Figure 8 is a cross sectional view taken along line AA of figure 6.

Figure 9 is a cross sectional view of a handle of the the grab rail assembly of figure 1.

Detailed Description of Preferred and other Embodiments

The toilet grab rail support comprises a preferably metallic base or mounting portion 1 which, in its fitted position, rests on the rear portion of the upper rim of a toilet bowl. Mounting portion 1 is provided with two vertical (when in position on a toilet bowl) holes 2 therethrough for receiving the bolts (not shown) which are normally used to hold the fixed portion of a toilet seat on

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- 6 the rear portion of the upper rim of a toilet bowl. When assembled in position, the bolts are tightened so that mounting portion 1 is rigidly held between the rear portion of the toilet bowl and fixed portion the toilet seat. For adjustment purposes, more than one pair of holes 2, or elongated holes, may be provided.

Rigidly connected to mounting portion 1 as by welding, and projecting forwardly therefrom, are two preferably tubular metal side rails 3 which, when the toilet grab rail support is mounted on the toilet bowl, are closely spaced from the outer surface of the sides of the toilet bowl adjacent the rim thereof. Alternatively, side rails 3 may be formed integrally with mounting portion 3. Each side rail 3 extends only to near the forward portion of the toilet bowl. As described in my earlier patent, side rails 3 near the forward end thereof are provided with bolts 4 to press against the exterior wall of the toilet bowl and lugs 5 to rest on the upper rim of the toilet bowl.

Connected to the free end of each side rail 3 is a handle 6. The configuration of a handle may differ to suit a particular user. Each handle 6 is movable with respect to side rail 3. In the embodiment illustrated, handle 6 is tubular and is rotatable around the longitudinal axis of side rail 3. Thus, for example, the free end of handle 6 may overlap the free end of side rail 3. The free of handle 6 may be split and surrounded by a tightening ring 7 which may be tightened to hold handle fixed with respect to side rail 3. By loosening ring 7, handle 6 may be rotated with respect to side rail 3 from an upright or standard position as illustrated in the top illustration to a fold down position 8 as shown in the lowest illustration. The fold down position is mainly used when a user has a carer and is convenient when transferring wheelchair patients onto the grab rail support. In the fold down position, it is not necessary to tighten ring 7. However ring 7 must be tightened if it is desired to hold the

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- 7 handles at an intermediate position. Instead of changing the entire grab rail support, it is only necessary to change handles to suit different users.

Preferably, the grab rail support is provided with additional holding means for holding a handle with respect to a side rail when used for long periods in, say, a standard position or in a splayed position. For example, each handle near the free end thereof may be provided with a spring loaded button adapted to pass through a corresponding hole in the surrounding free end of a handle. This will guard against any unwanted movement caused by accidental loosening of tightening ring 7.

So that the same apparatus could be used with handles in either the standard or the splayed position, the holes in each handle are off-set with respect to one another. Thus, a hole in the inner side of a handle may be positioned symmetrically with the horizontal diameter of the tubular handle and a hole in the outer side is positioned above or below that diameter. The spring loaded buttons on the free end of a side rail are correspondingly positioned. By interchanging handles with one another, the grab rail support can be changed from a standard rail to a splayed rail and vice versa.

Figures 5 to 9 show the mounting 1 and more particularly show the side rails 3 with holes 12, 14 in the circular side wall 16 of the side rail 3. The holes 12 on the outside of each side rail 3 have a centre line extending generally horizontally whilst the holes 14 on the inside of the side rails are not diametrically opposite the holes 12 but have a centre line angled to centreline of the holes 12 at about between about 10 and about 20 degrees, more preferably between about 15 to about 17 degrees and ideally at about 16 degrees. The exact orientation of the holes 12, 14 is not critical and the holes 12 could have a centre line extending at any angle, such as vertically.

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- 8 The handles 6 have holes 20, 22 in their free ends 24 corresponding to the holes 12, 14. The handles are effectively mirror images of each other. Thus when extending substantially vertically, as shown in figure 1, the right hand handle 6a has horizontal hole 20 on its right hand side whilst the left hand handle 6b has a horizontal hole 20 on its left hand side.

When the handles 6a, 6b are swapped it is necessary to rotate the handles so the holes align. Thus handle 6a is rotated anticlockwise (when viewed from the front) so that hole 20 of handle 6a aligns with hole 14b and hole 22 aligns with hole 12b. Similarly handle 6b is rotated clockwise so that hole 20 of handle 6b aligns with hole 14a and hole 22 aligns with hole 12a.

The same result may be achieved by use of non-circular portions. Rather than having two holes the mounting portions have flat portions, which are offset at an angle to the vertical. The side rails (not shown) have corresponding flats. In one orientation the side rails may extend substantially vertically but by swapping the side rails they may be caused to splay out sideways. A splined shaft or similar or a regular polygon may be provided with a corresponding socket, thereby providing for multiple configurations without the need for swapping side rails.

As a further alternative each side rail may be provided with two or more sets of first apertures and the mounting with a single set of second apertures and associated spring loaded buttons (or vice versa). By rotating the side rails about the longitudinal axis a different set of the first apertures may be aligned with the second set of apertures. Thus the side rails need not be swapped to achieve different configurations.

Other modifications are included within the scope of this disclosure.

Claims

The claims defining the Invention are as follows:

1. A grab rail assembly for use with a toilet bowl comprising:

a mounting adapted to be mounted on a toilet bowl;

at least handle having a connection portion connected to the mounting at a mounting location, the or each at least handle including a portion which can be gripped by persons lowering themselves onto and raising themselves from the toilet seat;

the at least one handle adapted to be connected to the mounting in at least two different predetermined orientations.
2. The grab rail assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the orientation of the or each handle depends at least one of the handle and the mounting portion to which it is attached.
3. The grab rail assembly of any one of the preceding claims wherein for each handle and mounting portion combination there is a single orientation.
4. The grab rail assembly of any one of the preceding claims wherein for each handle and mounting portion combination there are at least two orientations.
5. The grab rail assembly of any one of the preceding claims wherein one of the mounting and the at least one handle has a male connecting portion that is received in a connecting female portion of the other.
6. The grab rail assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein the male and female connecting portions have a substantially circular profile.

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7. The grab rail assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein the male and female connecting portions have a non-circular profile.
8. The grab rail assembly of any one of the preceding claims including first and second handles and first and second mounting locations, and wherein when the first handle is mounted on the first mounting location and the second handle is mounted on the second mounting locations the configuration of the handles is different to when the first handle is mounted on the second mounting locations and the second handle is mounted on the first mounting locations.
9. The grab rail assembly of any one of the preceding claims including first and second handles, the handles being mirror images or each other.
10. The grab rail assembly of any one of the preceding claims wherein at least one of the handle and the mounting has at least one recess or aperture and the assembly includes location means that engages at least one recess or aperture to secure the at least one handle in at least one specific orientation relative to the respective mounting portion.
11. The grab rail assembly of any one of the preceding claims wherein at least one of the handle and the mounting has at least two recesses or apertures off-set with respect to one another.
12. The grab rail assembly of any one of the preceding claims wherein the connecting portion of a handle has at least one first recess or aperture that aligns with a corresponding number of second recesses or apertures of the respective mounting portion.
13. The grab rail assembly of any one of the preceding claims wherein one of the mounting and the handle has a tubular connecting portion with a

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- 11 substantially circular profile with first apertures the wall thereof.
14. A grab rail assembly, substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings.