GB2187769A - Toilet-seat lifting mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

A mechanised toilet seat and lid has a pair of quadrant shaped boxes (1) fitted, one on each side, to the toilet pan with each box containing a moveable pedal which is directly connected to the separate hinge shafts of the toilet seat and lid. The pedals, which are used to either lift or lower the toilet seat and lid, are moved within the quadrant boxes by air inflation of a pair of pleated rubber bags, one of which is used for lifting and the other for returning the seat and lid to the rest position on the toilet pot. Wooden or plastic seats can be used with the system and the pedal movement of the quadrant boxes can be further employed to operate the flushing mechanism of the cistern and as actuators for the taps of wash basins. Foot bellows are used to activate the pleated air bags. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Mechanised toilet seat This invention relates to a toilet seat, with or without hinged cover, which can be elevated into a generally vertical position by one mechanical action and back again, 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. As a result of this aversion 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.

According to the present invention there is.

provided a mechanised toilet seat which allows rest positions in both the horizontal and vertical planes without the necessity of the user touching any of the moving parts, including the seat cover.

At the same time, if required, the impulses in the pneumatic system of the invention can be further used to flush the water which has been stored in the cistern of the closet.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows, in front and side elevations, the quadrant boxes fitted to the toilet pot and carrying the pneumatic mechanisms which activate the toilet seat and its lid or cover.

Figure 2 illustrates the mechanical connections between the pneumatic actuator in the quadrant boxes and the axel system of the toilet seat and lid or cover.

Figure 3 shows the actuator pedal within the quadrant box with the outlines of the large and small rubber air bags.

Figure 4 shows how the weight counterbalancing of the seat and lid system of the toilet pot is accomplished by means of screwdriver insertion into a spring tensioner.

Figure 5 shows how the pneumatics of the quadrant boxes can be connected into the axel systems of the now common all-plastic toilet seat and lids.

Figure 6 shows the type of metal hinge which is preferable for use with the sturdy wooden seats and lids of the communal toilet pot.

Referring to the drawings the mechanised toilet seat comprises one, or two, quadrant boxes 1 which are attached to a toilet pot 7 by means of a pair of brackets 5 which are held tight on the seat axel bosses 2 by way of nuts 4 on the screwed shafts of the bosses.

In Fig. 2 there is a common shaft 3 on which are mounted axels 6 which are associated externally with the hinge movements of the toilet seat and lid respectively and internally with the pneumatic pedals 9 of the quadrant boxes. When the axel sleeves 6 are welded, as shown, to the hinges of the seat and lid then the movement of the pedals 9 in the quadrant boxes 1 is capable, when suitably counterbalanced, of lifting the lid and seat in either one, or two, operations as desired. By way of further illustration the hinge of the seat, or lid, is given in the upright position by index 8.

Referring to Fig. 3 there is illustrated a side elevation of the quadrant box 1, with the cover removed, showing the pneumatic actuator 9 which freely moves the toilet seat, or lid, because the effort required has been greatly reduced because of the counterbalancing action of the spring 14 whch has been suitably tensioned by means of the adjustor 13. From the energy point of view the pneumatic medium is air which gains access to the quadrants by means of tubes 10 and acts upon the effort pedal 9 by the expansion of one or other of the pleated rubber bags 11 or 12. The inflation of bag 11 moves the pedal past the dotted position near bag 12 and the inflation of 12 returns the seat, or lid, to the rest position on the toilet pot.In this illustration it is important to note that 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.

In Fig. 4 there is illustrated details of how the weight of the toilet seat, or lid, on axel sleeve 6 can be counterbalanced by means of the spring 14 which in practice, depending upon the weight of the seat used, can be finely tensioned by the lateral movement screw device 13. By this means the effort required to move the pedal 9 is reduced to the minimum thus reducing the air pressure required to inflate the bags 11 and 12.

By way of further utility for the invention there is illustrated at 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 which rotate on the axel 3 and which were welded to the hinges of the wooden seat and lid are now serrated and fit into similar serrations which are present 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 seat and lid parts.

Wooden toilet seats are now an up-market product and their water stability and hygienic characteristics have been greatly improved by using plastic impregnated timbers.

In the development of this invention there is a preference for timber which has been impregnated with thermosetting resins of the "Beetle" (trade mark) type which have been low temperature polymerized, after impregnation, by the use of gamma radiation. Very suitable timbers are 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 Fig. 6 where the parts 15 rotate on the axel sleeve 6 and are inset with the wood of the seat and held by screws 16.

In this Figure the item 18 is the wooden seat and 19 is a plan projection of the metal hinge.

A considerable amount of experiment and design has been put into the manufacturer of a suitable rubber or polymer air bag for the actuation of the pedal 9 in the Figures and by way of example a suitable form is shown in Fig. 7 which illustrates the moulded expansion pleats in the bag and indicates the point 10 where the metal air pipe enters the sac.

The invention can be attached to a toilet pot in two different modes, depending on whether or not the two quadrant boxes on either side of the systems are activiated with air bags and pedals in each case. As can be gauged from a study of Fig. 2 it is possible to use the left hand quadrant 1 to raise and lower the toilet seat and allow the mechanism in the right hand quadrant to similarly control the movement of the toilet lid.

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 completely render the entire action of the water closet fully remote, as far as the user is concerned, by fitting a quadrant box to the handle axel of the flushing cistern. In this way the lid and seat of the toilet pot can be either lowered or lifted by the use of foot bellows, or air valves, and ultimately the pot can be flushed by a foot switch causing rotation of the handle axel of the cistern. In a similar manner the actuator can be made to open and close the wash-taps at soap basins.

Claims (8)

1. A mechanised toilet seat and lid comprising a quadrant shaped box attachment which is connected to the hinges of the seat and lid and move the latter from the horizontal or slightly past vertical positions by means of a pedal actuator in the quadrant boxes which is moved within the box by the action of inflatable air bags.

2. A mechanised toilet seat and lid as in Claim 1 in which the pneumatic effort required to be applied to the pedal actuator is held to a minimum by the use of counterbalance force which is obtained within the quadrant box mechanism by means of an adjustable tensioner which acts on a spring whose ends engage both the pedal surface and the tensioner.

3. A mechanised toilet seat and lid as in Claim 1 whereby the quadrant box mechanisms can be attached to all sizes of toilet bowls because the rotation sleeves of the actuators are fitted over a common shaft which is engaged through the boss uprights which fit conventional seat holes in all porcelain toilet pots as presently manufactured.

4. A mechanised toilet seat and lid as in Claims 1 and 2 whereby the working fluid of the pneumatic system as air and this is obtained either from a central low pressure supply or for individual stations from foot bellows on the toilet floor.

5. A mechanised toilet seat and lid as in Claims 1, 2 and 3 whereby an all plastic construction can be attached to the rotating mechanism of the quadrant boxes by the use of splined or serrated sleeves at the quadrant boxes by the use of splined or serrated sleeves at the quadrant boxes and identical serrated mouldings, or metal inserts, in the plastic seat and lid.

6. A mechanised toilet seat and lid as in any of the above Claims where the air bags of the quadrant boxes are moulded in a concentina conformation so that forward expansion and steady effort is applied to the actuator pedal when the bags are air activated.

7. A remotely operated water closet system whereby the toilet seat and lid are moved according to the above Claims and the water flushing cistern is activated by the use of a described pneumatically activated pedal fitted to the handle axel of the cistern either externally or internally of the cistern shell.

8. A mechanised toilet seat and lid or a remotely operated water closet system substantially as described herein with reference to Figs. 1-7 of the accompanying drawings.