EP0306572B1 - Mechanised toilet seat - Google Patents

Mechanised toilet seat Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0306572B1
EP0306572B1 EP87307929A EP87307929A EP0306572B1 EP 0306572 B1 EP0306572 B1 EP 0306572B1 EP 87307929 A EP87307929 A EP 87307929A EP 87307929 A EP87307929 A EP 87307929A EP 0306572 B1 EP0306572 B1 EP 0306572B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
lid
seat
toilet
bag
housing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP87307929A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0306572A1 (en
Inventor
Denis Anthony Grant
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority to GB8701537A priority Critical patent/GB2187769B/en
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to ES198787307929T priority patent/ES2028093T3/es
Priority to DE8787307929T priority patent/DE3775063D1/de
Priority to EP87307929A priority patent/EP0306572B1/en
Priority to AT87307929T priority patent/ATE69940T1/de
Publication of EP0306572A1 publication Critical patent/EP0306572A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0306572B1 publication Critical patent/EP0306572B1/en
Priority to GR910402227T priority patent/GR3003940T3/el
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
    • A47K13/00—Seats or covers for all kinds of closets
    • A47K13/10—Devices for raising and lowering, e.g. tilting or lifting mechanisms; Collapsible or rotating seats or covers

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a toilet seat, with or without a hinged lid, which can be elevated into a generally vertical position by one mechanical action, and back into a generally horizontal rest position by another.
  • Toilet seats especially those used in a communal situation, are often regarded by the majority of users as objects which are suspect from the bacteriological point of view.
  • male users of communal toilets do not regularly lift the seat into the vertical position before urination, and as a consequence of this inaction there frequently occurs a degree of contamination of the seat which supplies the nutrients for subsequent bacterial growth.
  • a mechanism according to the pre-characterising part of claim 1 is described in United States Patent Specification 2,842,779.
  • the bag which raises the seat is located under the toilet seat at the rear. In this position the bag and associated tubing are largely exposed and located where they are very likely to become contaminated with urine when the seat is raised.
  • the invention may further comprise an additional actuating lever for connection to the flushing mechanism for the toilet; an inflatable bag operable to act on the lever to actuate the flushing mechanism; and means for supplying fluid under pressure to said bag, whereby the impulses in the pneumatic system can be further used to flush the water which has been stored in the cistern.
  • the mechanised toilet seat comprises one, or two housings in the form of, quadrant boxes 1 which are attached to a toilet bowl 7 by means of a pair of brackets 5 which are secured to the seat shaft bosses 2 with nuts 4 which engage the threaded studs of the bosses.
  • a common shaft 3 is provided with axle sleeves 6 at each end which are associated externally with the hinge movements of the toilet seat and lid respectively and internally with levers 9 disposed within the quadrant boxes 1.
  • the sleeves 6 are welded, as shown, to the hinges 6a of the seat and lid then the movement of the levers 9 in the quadrant boxes 1 is capable, when the suitably counterbalanced, of lifting the lid and seat in either one, or two operations as desired.
  • the position of the seat, or lid is shown upright at 8.
  • Figure 3 shows a side elevation of the quadrant box 1, with the cover removed, showing the pneumatic mechanism which freely moves the toilet seat, or lid, because the effort required has been greatly reduced by a counterbalancing action of the spring 14 which has been suitably tensioned by means of the adjustor 13.
  • the pneumatic medium is air which is fed to the quadrants by means of tubes 10 (Fig. 2) and acts upon the lever 9 by expanding the pleated rubber bags 11 and 12.
  • the inflation of bag 11 moves the lever past the dotted position near bag 12 to raise the seat or lid and the inflation of bag 12 acts to push the lever back to its original position and return the seat, or lid, to the rest position on the toilet bowl.
  • the metal air tube 10 penetrates well into the bag 11 in order to act as a rigid support for the bag along the straight wall of the quadrant box 1.
  • Figure 4 shows how the weight of the toilet seat or lid, on axle sleeves 6 is counterbalanced by means of the spring 14 the tension of which in practice, depending upon the weight of the seat used, can be finely adjusted by movement of screw device 13.
  • this spring means 14 the effort required to move the lever 9 is reduced to the minimum thus reducing the air pressure required to sufficiently inflate the bags 11 and 12 to render the mechanism operative.
  • FIG. 5 a means by which the mechanism can be attached to the now more common plastic toilet seat and lid.
  • the principle is the same as in the previous descriptions for the wooden seat except that the sleeves 6 which rotate on the shaft 3 and which were welded to the hinges 6a of the wooden seat and lid are instead serrated at 17 and fit into similar serrations which are provided in the plastic either as mouldings or as brass inserts.
  • the serrations 17 on the sleeves and plastic seat inserts can be of different pitches for the individual seal and lid parts.
  • Wooden toilet seats are now an up-market product and their water stability and hygene characteristics have been greatly improved by using plastic impregnated timbers.
  • this invention there is a preference for timber which has been impregnated with a thermosetting resin of the kind sold under the "Beetle” trade mark which has been low temperature polymerized, after impregnation, by the use of gamma radiation.
  • Very suitable timber is available from the Lignostone Company Limited of Church, near Accrington in England.
  • With wooden seats specially designed hinges are required for fitting to the quadrant box mechanism and such a hinge is illustrated in Figure 6 where the parts 15 rotate on the axle sleeve 6 and are inset into the wood of the seat and held by screws 16.
  • the reference 18 is the wooden seat and 19 is a plan projection of the metal hinge.
  • the invention can be attached to a toilet bowl in two different modes, depending on whether or not the two quadrant boxes on either side of the systems are activated with air bags and levers in each case.
  • each quadrant mechanism The air which is needed to activate each quadrant mechanism is readily obtained from neat hemispherical foot bellows which rest on the toilet floor and are connected by PVC tubing to the respective air inlet tubes 10 at each quadrant, or alternatively in large communal areas the system can be served from a central low pressure air supply via foot valves.
  • a further important use of the quadrant actuators of the invention is to render the entire action of the water closet fully automatic, as far as the user is concerned, by fitting a quadrant box to the handle of the flushing cistern.
  • the lid and seat of the toilet bowl can be either lowered or lifted by the use of foot bellows, or air valves, and ultimately the bowl can be flushed by a foot switch causing, in the manner already described in relation to the toilet seat and lid mechanism, rotation of the flushing handle axle of the cistern.
  • the mechanism consists of a quadrant box 1 housing a tap lever 9 having a return spring mounting 14.
  • the free end 9a of the tap lever 9 projects through a slotted portion 20 of the quadrant box 1 such that on depression of the lever 9 to open a water tap the lever may be manually engaged in any one of a number of slots 21 to hold the lever 9 in a depressed position against the spring pressure and the tap open at a particular setting complementary to the lever position.
  • a bag 11 with an air tube 10 is located within the quadrant box.
  • the bag 11 operates in the same manner as previously described - the air being sourced from a foot actuated air bellows.
  • the foot bellows is actuated to expand the bag 11 which acts to move the lever 9 out of the slot 21 to allow the lever 9 return under spring action to its original position to close the water tap.

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Public Health (AREA)
  • Toilet Supplies (AREA)
  • Non-Flushing Toilets (AREA)
EP87307929A 1986-03-07 1987-09-08 Mechanised toilet seat Expired EP0306572B1 (en)

Priority Applications (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8701537A GB2187769B (en) 1986-03-07 1987-01-23 Mechanised toilet seat
ES198787307929T ES2028093T3 (es) 1987-09-08 1987-09-08 Asiento mecanizado para inodoro.
DE8787307929T DE3775063D1 (de) 1987-09-08 1987-09-08 Automatischer heber fuer toilettendeckel.
EP87307929A EP0306572B1 (en) 1987-09-08 1987-09-08 Mechanised toilet seat
AT87307929T ATE69940T1 (de) 1987-09-08 1987-09-08 Automatischer heber fuer toilettendeckel.
GR910402227T GR3003940T3 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1987-09-08 1992-03-02

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP87307929A EP0306572B1 (en) 1987-09-08 1987-09-08 Mechanised toilet seat

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0306572A1 EP0306572A1 (en) 1989-03-15
EP0306572B1 true EP0306572B1 (en) 1991-12-04

Family

ID=8198024

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP87307929A Expired EP0306572B1 (en) 1986-03-07 1987-09-08 Mechanised toilet seat

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0306572B1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
AT (1) ATE69940T1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
DE (1) DE3775063D1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
ES (1) ES2028093T3 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GR (1) GR3003940T3 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE202015104406U1 (de) 2015-08-20 2015-10-22 Lena Marquardt Vorrichtung zur automatischen Betätigung eines schwenkbaren Toilettendeckels

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19533228C2 (de) * 1995-09-08 1997-12-18 Harald Domanski Toilettenbrille mit einer Befestigungsvorrichtung
DE102007001360B4 (de) 2007-01-08 2010-04-15 Gröbe, Karlheinz Vorrichtung zur elektronischen Betätigung von Toilettendeckeln

Family Cites Families (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR865595A (fr) * 1940-05-11 1941-05-27 Dispositif pour abaisser automatiquement un siège et un couvercle de water-closets et pour les relever sans les toucher
US2842779A (en) * 1957-06-26 1958-07-15 Bruno P Zulkoski Operator for toilet seat
FR1325717A (fr) * 1962-03-19 1963-05-03 Commande de water-closets
US3479087A (en) * 1967-08-28 1969-11-18 Wilbur A Burke Pneumatic powered seat erector for an invalid
US4103371A (en) * 1976-12-14 1978-08-01 Wilson Lester J Toilet seat lift
DE3332244A1 (de) * 1983-09-07 1985-03-21 Gebr. Bode & Co GmbH, 3500 Kassel Antriebsvorrichtung fuer eine drehsaeule, insbesondere zur bewegung von schwenktuerfluegeln an kraftfahrzeugen

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE202015104406U1 (de) 2015-08-20 2015-10-22 Lena Marquardt Vorrichtung zur automatischen Betätigung eines schwenkbaren Toilettendeckels

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
ATE69940T1 (de) 1991-12-15
DE3775063D1 (de) 1992-01-16
GR3003940T3 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1993-03-16
ES2028093T3 (es) 1992-07-01
EP0306572A1 (en) 1989-03-15

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