EP1292737A1

EP1292737A1 - Foldaway water-closet with cleaning, hygienizing and drying means

Info

Publication number: EP1292737A1
Application number: EP01949884A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Imperatore Gianni
Original assignee: PRODUCTION SpA
Current assignee: PRODUCTION SpA
Priority date: 2000-06-23
Filing date: 2001-06-25
Publication date: 2003-03-19
Also published as: AU7099401A; ITNA20000045A0; ITNA20000045A1; WO2002001011A1

Abstract

Foldaway water-closet which can be completely concealed in a suitable construction provided with a rigid or soft shutter. It is characterized by a shell receiving the bowl folded away so that the latter can be rinsed by suitable nozzles and then cleaned by an impeller which first hygienizes the bowl and its upper rim and then dries the same by a strong air jet.

Description

FOLDAWAY WATER-CLOSET WITH CLEANING , HYGIENIZING AND DRYING MEANS

Foldaway water-closets able to be turned over and used in particular applications to save room are widely known. They consist of a bowl which is hinged at a height and is able to be folded away to a shaped housing wall.

Such upsetting of the water closet occurs after its use and the next flushing, the latter being carried out when the water-closet is in the use position.

The present water-closets provide solutions allowing the lower portion of the sanitary appliance to be seen also in the closed position.

The present industrial invention seeks to provide a

W.C. that can be folded away so as to be completely concealed.

A further object of the invention is to carry out the flushing when the bowl is in its overturned position.

Another object of the invention is to allow the sanitary appliance to be also cleaned, hygienized, and dried.

The solution is to provide a water-closet that can be folded away into a suitable construction provided with closure means and fixed or moving nozzles which hygienize and dry the overturned bowl by strong liquid spouts and air jets. This solution will be better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings where there is shown an exemplary, not limiting embodiment.

Figs. 1 and 2 of sheet 1/5 show two perspective views of the object of the invention in the concealed and closed positions, i.e. with lowered and raised shutter, respectively;

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 of sheet 2/5 show the longitudinal, side and central sections, respectively;

Fig. 6 of sheet 3/5 shows the semi-closed bowl, Fig. 7 shows a completely opened bowl and the shutter in the lowering step, and Fig. 8 shows the shutter in the lowered position;

Fig. 9 of sheet 4/5 shows an exploded view of the parts which the whole construction consists of;

Figs. 10 and 11 of sheet 5/5 show front and side views of the shell into which the bowl is turned over.

With reference to the figures the object of the invention consists of a construction 1 which is essentially a piece of furniture with the shape of a parallelepiped in the depicted embodiment, the front surface of which extends in an upper frame 2. The sides of such front surface consist of two guides 3 and 4 which extend all over the height of frame 2 and in which panel 5 can slide. A shaped shell 6 is accommodated within such piece of furniture . The W.C. is hinged at the base of construction (1) . The base surface (8) of the water-closet is oblique and the upper surface has a circular rim (9) .

Panel (5) can take, as explained below, different positions to make the W.C. accessible or to conceal it. Shell (6) is provided with head (10) carrying nozzles (11) and holder (12) for supplying and supporting a suitably shaped impeller (13) , respectively. Such impeller consists of a pipe provided with holes formed at a distance from one another. Head (10) is located such that, when the W.C. is closed, the centre of . the bowl lies on the axis of the head.

With reference to the above, the operation of the sanitary appliance is self-evident. Under rest conditions the W.C. is raised and concealed in shell (6) . In such a position the shutter panel (5) is completely lowered so that, if the construction is embodied into a wall, it is aligned therewith. After the W.C. has been used, its folding back into the wall is operated, During this step, the W.C. is flushed, which is made easier by both the movement of the bowl and the increasing inclination thereof during its folding away.

During the latter step, the nozzles eject a strong water spout which is able both to dispose completely the rejections and to clean the bowl. The impeller (13) is then operated to sprinkle the rim of the water-closet and the bowl by delivering also a disinfectant. Thereafter, a strong air jet is provided by the impeller to dry the bowl. Therefore, according to the method described above, the bowl is cleaned perfectly as well as disinfected and, hen dried. When the W.C. has to be used, the shutter is raised by a suitable central control so that the compartment of the bowl is opened and the bowl is folded forward by its rotation about axis (14) of support base (15) . Thereafter, the shutter is lowered again just by a length sufficient to cover the back of the user, i.e. until the upper surface of the bowl is reached. The water-closet is also provided with a plumbing for the delivery of liquids and water by suitable pumps and with electrical motors for controlling the movements of the bowl and the shutter in addition to a control panel for controlling the different steps. Such devices are not described or illustrated as they are of the known type and may be located at will inside the construction or outside the same. From the foregoing the advantages of this invention are self-evident. It allows a W.C. to be installed in a very little space and to be completely concealed and perfectly cleaned and hygienized at every use.

It also allows the W.C. to be flushed during its folding away, such operation being facilitated by the increasing inclination of the bowl . The accompanying drawings show an embodiment of the invention which provides a parallelepiped container with shutter panel, however, a container with different shape may be used provided that it can conceal the bowl by also a non-rigid shutter panel . The cleaning, sprinkling, drying devices may be provided with both fixed and moving nozzles. Shape and structural modifications may also be made to the present invention without departing from its scope as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A foldaway water-closet which can be completely concealed in a suitable container or piece of furniture, characterized in that it is provided with several nozzles to clean, hygienize and dry the bowl after every use of the water-closet.

2. The water-closet of claim 1, characterized in that said piece of furniture containing the W.C. has a front panel able to close or open like a shutter in order to conceal or to make the bowl accessible.

3. The water-closet of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing piece of furniture includes a shell in which the bowl is folded back after every use.

4. The water-closet of the preceding claims, characterized in that said shell has a central head supporting several nozzles ejecting water spouts capable of flushing away the rejections and further rinsing the bowl under closed conditions.

5. The water-closet of the preceding claims, characterized in that located at the centre of the head is an impeller which is capable of ejecting a strong liquid spout for disinfecting the water-closet.

6. The water-closet of claim 5, characterized in that after the liquid spout said impeller eject also an air jet to dry the bowl .

7. The water-closet of the preceding claims, characterized in that the nozzles for sprinkling rinsing water can be disposed in the shell containing the bowl .

8. The water-closet of claim 5, characterized in that said impeller may also be replaced by fixed or moving nozzles disposed in the shell containing the bowl.