GB2210913A

GB2210913A - W.C. seat assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2210913A
Application number: GB8900198A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Owen Morgan
Original assignee: CARADON TWYFORDS Ltd
Current assignee: CARADON TWYFORDS Ltd
Priority date: 1985-11-23
Filing date: 1989-01-05
Publication date: 1989-06-21
Anticipated expiration: 2005-11-23
Also published as: GB2183686B; GB8900198D0; GB2210913B; GB2183686A; GB8528898D0

Abstract

A w.c. seat assembly comprises a seat ring hinged or hingeable to a seat cover and mountings to mount the seat assembly to a w.c. basin, the seat assembly being such that when fitted to a w.c. basin the cover is readily detachable from the seat ring without removal of the mountings. When the cover 2b is generally at right angles to the ring 2a and each slide retainer 7 has been slid past the U-shaped portion of the pivot block 6 in a direction away from the end stop, then the cover may be moved towards a closed position leaving the U-shaped portion of the pivot block opening downwardly so that the cover can be removed from the ring by lifting the cover at the rear and thus the pivot blocks 6 from the cross pins. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING To WATER CLOSETS This invention relates to a water closet (w.c.) and is more particularly but not exclusively concerned with the seat assembly area in a 'close-coupled' w.c.

The term 'close-coupled' is a well recognised term in the art and generally refers to a w.c. in which the water supply cistern is separate from, but is secured to or rests on, the basin itself or an extension part of the basin.

In close-coupled w.c.'s the basin often has a raised rim which may in some cases be substantially flush with the bottom of the cistern but quite a large gap is left between the rear of the seat assembly and the raised rim and cistern bottom.

This gap provides access for cleaning around the rear upper part of the basin and possibly around the mountings of the seat assembly to the basin, which mountings are usually visible, at least to some extent, and possibly subject to the build-up of sol deposits giving rise to unsightly appearance. In any event, the aesthetics of the w.c. may be improved by covering the mountings from view.

The provision of such a gap may, therefore, be thought to be disadvantageous in at least some respects and accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a w.c. in which the appearance is given of a substantially continuous or gapless surface between the basin and/or cistern and the rear of the seat assembly.

According to the present invention there is provided a water closet (-vv.c.) comprising a basin, seat assembly and cistern, the basin and/or cistern having a rim which, on installation of the w.c., lies substantially flush with the rear of the seat assembly.

By the present invention a water closet may be provided which could be considered as more aestheticall-ç 'Aensing, with an outlvardly continuous surface being provided which extends from the rear of the seat assembly over the basin and/or cistern.

Usually, the basin will have a straight, raised rim and the seat assembly will include a cover and will be mounted to the basin by mounting means which are hidden from view with the rear of the seat assembly being substantially flush with said raised rim. Although there is then no apparent gap which could give rise to unsightly appearance in the manner as previously explained, it is still thought necessary for reasons of hygiene and other obvious reasons that access to the rear of the basin under the seat assembly and around the seat assembly mountings be as clear as conveniently possible and it is mainly in these interests that the cover is, preferably, readily detachable from the seat ring.Of course this may be advantageous in other respects since it allows the seat cover itself to be a conveniently replaceable part should it become damaged or require replacing for any reason, whilst the seat ring itself is still sufficient.

Although the raised rim is substantially flush with the rear of the seat assembly it extends, preferably, inclined at a small angle to the vertical (up to about 200 from vertical) to allow the hinging action of the cover relative to the seat ring, and to allow the cover to remain reliably in the open position, as well as to allow easier cleaning. Also in order to improve the design still further (in the interests of hygiene, space utilisation and aesthetics) the rear of the seat ring is, preferably, provided with a portion which is inclined downwardly towards the remainder of the ring.

The seat assembly may be mounted to the basin by any suitable mounting means but, preferably, the mounting means comprises two hinge brackets positioned in suitably formed holes in the basin on respective sides of the basin at the rear thereof. The hinge brackets may be attached to the basin by associated wing nuts or hexagon nuts in a manner generally known per se. The exact form of the hinge brackets may be varied to suit but it is thought most convenient if the hinge brackets are each provided with a relatively short cross pin, which cross pins together act to support the seat ring hingably on the basin about a common axis and which also hingably support the cover on the seat ring. Where the cover is detachable from the seat ring as aforesaid, the cover, preferably, has attachment means which may be locked and unlocked to the mounting means.The attachment means is, preferably, such that, from a closed position of the seat assembly, the cover may be pivoted about the rear to a position generally at right angles to the seat, said attachment means unlocked and the seat again pivoted to a closed position and then detached from the seat ring merely by lifting from the rear. Re-attachment of the cover, or attachment of a new cover, on the seat ring may be effected by a converse process.

In one embodiment the attachment means comprises saddle shaped pivot blocks which are fixed to integrally-moulded receiving portions on the underside of the cover (possibly by pins or screws). The pivot blocks co-operate with slide retainers (which may be channel-shaped), each preferably having an internal locking detent which may be slid into and out of gripping, locking contact with one of the pivot blocks. The slide retainers could be generally planar and co-operable with channel shaped pivot blocks.

Any convenient form of mechanism may be employed for slidably locking and unlocking the slide retainers to/from the cover.

Further according to the present invention there is provided a w.c. seat assembly comprising a seat ring hinged or hingable to a seat cover, mountings to mount the seat assembly to a w.c. basin, the seat assembly being such that when fitted to a w.c. basin the cover is readily detachable from the seat ring without removal of the mountings.

Still further according to the present invention there is provided a water closet (w.c.) basin and seat assembly, the basin having a raised rim, which, on mounting of the seat assembly to the basin, lies substantially flush with the rear of the seat assembly.

Still further according to the present invention there is provided a water closet (w.c.) with a profiled cistern and basin which in combination with a seat assembly of the w.c. co-operate to give the appearance of a substantially continuous upper surface to the w.c.

An embodiment of a w.c. and of a seat assembly in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of the w.c. in accordance with the present invention; FIGURE 2 shows a view similar to FIGURE 1 but with a cover of the seat assembly removed; FIGURES 3 and 4 show details of attachment means on the cover in unlocked and locked positions respectively; FIGURE 5 shows diagrammatically a split plan and underside view of a seat ring and cover of the seat assembly; FIGURE 6 shows a sectional side view of the seat assembly positioned diagrammatically in relation to remainder of the w.c; FIGURE E: 7 shows a mounting hinge bracket in orthographic projection; FIGURE 8 shows a pivot block of the cover in orthographic projection; and FIGURE 9 shows a slide retainer also in orthographic projection.

FIGEMlE 1 shows a water closet (Rs.c.) 1, of the close-coupled type, comprising a plastics seat assembly 2, a ceramic basin 3 and a contoured cistern 4. Advantageously, as shown, the basin 3 has a straight, raised rim 3a lying flush with the rear of the seat assembly 2, thereby giving the appearance of an outwardly, upper continuous or gapless surface, which is thought to be more aesthetically pleasing than previous designs having a relatively large gap at the rear of the seat assembly in between the basin and/or cistern.Since the appearance of a continuous surface is given, seat assembly mounting means 5 (see FIGURES 2 to 4 and 7) are hidden from view and also any unsightly soil deposit built up on the rear of the basin under seat assembly 2 and on the mountings is also hidden.

Advantageously, in order to allow greater all round access for cleaning, more particularly in between the raised rim 3a and the rear of seat ring 2a of the seat assembly 2, cover 2b is readily detachable from the seat ring. FIGURE 2 is a view of the w.c. 1 which is similar to FIGURE 1 but with the cover 2b having been detached from ring 2a.

FIGURE 3 shows a detail of one of a pair of attachment means 6,7 on the cover 2b (with the cover in a raised position at right angles to the seat ring 2a) which is in a locked position and FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but wiIri Saili one ;itt-chment means 6,7 being in an Inlocked position, allowing detachment of the cover 2b. In order to remove ;he cover 2b from the ring 2a, the cover is closed down to the position shown in FIGURE 1 with the attachment means 6, 7 remaining in the unlocked position. The cover 2b may then simply be detached from the ring 2a by lifting the cover from the rear in a manner which is described in more detail later on in this specification.

FIGURE 5 shows a longitudinally split plan and underside view of the cover 2b on the seat ring 2a. The upper half of FIGURE 5 shows a half-plan view of the cover 2b on ring 2a whilst the lower half of FIGURE 5 shows a half-underside view of the cover and ring.

FIGURE 6 shows a sectional side view of the seat assembly 9 positioned diagrammatically in relation to the outline C of the cistern 4 and the outline B of the basin 3. The bottom rirn of cistern 4 is indicated at R and in this embodiment is shown spaced from the rear of the seat assembly 2.

FIGURE 7 shows a mounting hinge bracket @ in orthographic projection, FIGURE 8 shows a pivot block 6 in ort'-nugrlphic projection and FIGURE 9 shows a slide retainer 7 in ort'tior-r-hic projection.

Figures 7 to 9 are drawn on a larger scale than Figures 5 and 6.

Referring to FIGURE 6 the raised rim 3a of the basin 3 extends inclined at a small angle (about 200) to the vertical to the main horizontal plane P1 occupied by the upper part of the basin so that the rear of the seat assembly is effectively nestled in the rear of the basin 3 and so that the cover can rest in the open position at a rearwardly-sioping angle of about 200 to the vertical. A slight clearance C is required so that the cover 2b can hinge freely on the seat ring 2a. The ring 2a has a rear downwardly inclined portion 2'a (see also FIGURES 2 to 5) which is connected at each side to the cover 2b and to the basin by way of hinge brackets 5, the pivot 'olocks 6 and slide retainers 7.Each hinge bracket 5 comprises a threaded stem 5a which is inserted from above into a suitably provided hole in the basin 3 in a manner generally shown per se, where it is secured to the basin 3 by a wing nut, hexagon nut or the like (not shown) screwed onto the free end of the stern 5a. Each hinge bracket has a serrated base Th to strip onto the basin 3) and a cross pin 5c.One end of the cross pin 5c extends into a receiving hole in the downwardly inclined portion 2'a of the seat ring 2a (see FIGURE 9) whilst the other end of L cross oifl 3 extends into attachment means 6, 7 on the cover 2b.

The recessed ;lre 5d of the bracket 5 is positioned adjacent the raised rim 3a of basin 3.

The cover 2b is formed with two integrally-moulded pivot block receiving portions 2'b, which receive associated generally saddleshaped pivot blocks 6. The receiving portions 21b are contoured to match the shape of the pivot blocs 6 and each block 6 is fixed in position on the receiving portions 2'b (see in particular FIGURES :3, 4 and 5) by two pins or screws P (one shown in FIGURE 3) in holes H in the receiving portions 2rs in a manner which should be apparent from the drawings. Each pivot block 6 has an end stop 6a to limit movement of the associated slide retainer 7. Each crosspin Sc may then be received in the U-shaped part of one of the pivot blocks 6 (see FIGURES 3 and 4).

Inherently resilient slide retainers 7 are provided which are mountable on the pivot blocks 6 as shown and which may be slid longitudinally relative to the pivot blocks to lock and unlock the attachment means 6, 7 (and therebv the cover 2b itself) to the cross pins Sc of the hinge brackets 5 and thus to seat ring 2a, whilst allowing the cover 2b to pivot relative to seat ring 2a about the common, aligned axes of the cross pins 5c. A double headed arrow 7a may be provided as shown on the slide retainers 7 to indicate the sliding direction for the locking and unlocking action (or alternatively to suit, a single headed arrow could be provided to indicate the locking or, alternatively, unlocking direction).

As shown each slide retainer is generally of channel-shape and has an internal, angled locking detent d which may be slid into and out of gripping, locking contact with the pivot block 6 as far as end stop 6a in a manner which should be evident. Detent d co-operates with ribs 6b, 6c, 6d in a manner which should be evident, the sloping edge d' of the detent engaging rounded rib 6b first in the locking direction (i.e. towards the end stop 6a). Once each slide retainer 7 has been slid past the U-shaped portion of the pivot 'olock 6 in a direction away from end stop 6a, when the cover 2b is generally at right angles to the ring 2a, the cover may be moved towards a closed position leaving the U-shape portion of the pivot blocks opening downwardly, so that the cover can be removed from the ring 2a by lifting the cover at the rear and thus the pivot blocks 6 from the cross pins Sc. It is 9 simple matter to re-attach the cover nb, by a converse process, once any desired cleaning operation of the area around the rear of the basin and seat ring na, 3 has been done.

buffers b of a form known per se.

The overall contour effect of both the cistern and W.C. as a whole as shown in the drawings is thought to be particularly advantageous both from an aesthetic and hygiene point of view.

In an alternative embodiment not shown the bottom rim R (see FIGURES 1, 2 and 6) of the cistern may be shaped to be flush with the rear of the seat assembly additionally, or alternatively, to the rim 3a. The attachment means 6,7 may perhaps be modified so that cover 2b may be removed from the seat ring 2a without closing the cover down, either a forward or backward tilting cf the cover may be required before lifting the cover off.

Claims

ZLXIr.lS

1. A water closet (w.c.) comprising a basin, seat assembly and cistern, the basin and/or cistern having a rim which, on installation of the w.c., lies substantially flush with the rear of the seat assembly.

2. A water closet as claimed in Claim 1 with an outwardly continuous surface being provided which extends from the rear of the seat assembly over the basin and/or cistern.

3. A water closet as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the rim is raised.

4. A water closet as claimed in Claim 3 in which the rim is straight.

5. A water closet as claimed in Claim 3 or Claim 4 in which the seat assembly includes a cover mounted to the basin by mounting means hidden from view with the rear of the seat assembly being substantially flush with said raised rim.

6. A water closet as claimed in Claim 5 in which the cover is readily detachable from the seat ring.

7. A water closet as claimed in Claim 5 or Claim 6 in which the raised rim extends inclined at a small angle to the vertical (up to about 200 from vertical).

8. A water closet as claimed in Claim 7 in which the rear of the seat ring is provided with a portion which is inclined downwardly towards the remainder of the ring.

9. A water closet as claimed in Claim 5, 6, 7 or 8 in which the mounting means comprises two hinge brackets positioned in suitably formed holes in the basin on respective sides of the basin at the rear thereof.

10. A water closet as claimed in Claim 9 in which the hinge brackets are attached to the basin by associated wing nuts or hexagon nuts.

11. A water closet as claimed in Claim 9 or 10 in which the hinge brackets are each provided with a relatively short cross pin, which cross pins together act to support the seat ring hingably on the basin about a common axis and which also hingably support the cover on the seat ring.

12. A water closet as claimed in Claim 6 or any claim dependent therefrom in which the cover has attachment means which may be locked and unlocked to the mounting means.

13. A water closet as claimed in Claim 12 in which the attachment means is such that, from a closed position of the seat assembly, the cover may be pivoted about the rear to a position generally at right angles to the seat, said attachment means unlocked and the seat again pivoted to a closed position and then detached from the seat ring merely by lifting from the rear.

14. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in any one of Claims 10 to 13 in which an arrow is provided on the slide retainers to indicate the sliding direction for the locking and/or unlocking action.

14. A water closet as claimed in Claim 12 or 13 in which the attachment means comprises saddle shaped pivot blocks which are fixed -to integrally-moulded receiving portions on the underside of the cover.

15. A water closet as claimed in Claim 14 in which the pivot blocks co-operate with slide retainers.

16. A water closet as claimed in Claim 15 in which each slide retainer has an internal locking detent which may be slid into and out of gripping, locking contact with one of the pivot blocks.

17. A water closet as claimed in Claim 15 or Claim 1G n wnich the slide retainers are channel shaped and the pivot blocks planar or vice versa.

18. A water closet substantially as herein described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings.

19. A w.c. seat assembly comprising a seat ring hinged or hingable to a seat cover, mountings to mount the seat assembly to a w.c. basin, the seat assembly being such that when fitted to a w.c. basin the cover is readily detachable from the seat ring without removal of the mountings.

20. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 19 in which the mountings are substantially as shown in FIGURES 2 to 7 and having attachment means as shown in FIGURES 3 to 6, 8 and 9 of the accompanying drawings.

21. A water closet (w.c.) basin and seat assembly, the basin having a raised rim, which, on mounting of the seat assembly to the basin, lies substantially flush with the rear of the seat assembly.

22. A water closet basin and seat assembly as claimed in Claim 21 and substantially as herein described with reference to FIGURES 3 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

23. A water closet (w.c.) with a profiled cistern and basin which in combination with a seat assembly of the w.c. co-operate to give the appearance of a substantially continuous upper surface to the w.c.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A w.c. seat assembly comprising a seat ring hinged or hingable to a seat cover. mountings to mount the seat assembly to a w.c. basin, the seat assembly being such that when fitted to a w.c. basin the cover is readily detachable from the seat ring without removal of the mountings 2. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 1 n which the mountings are hidden from view when the seat assembly is fitted to the w.c.

basin.

3. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 in which the rear of the seat ring is provided with a portion which is inclined downwardly towards the remainder of the ring.

4. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the mountings comprise two hinge brackets positionable in suitably formed holes in said basin on respective sides of the basin at the rear thereof.

5. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 4 in which the hinge brackets are attached in use to the basIn by associated wing nuts or hexagon nuts.

6. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 4 or 5 in which the hinge brackets are each provided with a relatively short cross pin, which cross pins together act, in use, to support the seat ring hingably on the basin about a common axis and which also hingably support the cover on the seat ring.

7. A w.c. assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the cover has attachment means which can be locked and unlocked to the mountings.

8. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 7 in which the attachment means is such that, from a closed position of the seat assembly, the cover may be pivoted about the rear to a position generally at right angles to the seat, said attachment means unlocked and the seat again pivoted to a closed position and then detached from the seat ring merely by lifting from the rear.

9. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 7 or 8 in which the attachment means comprises saddle shaped pivot blocks which are fixed to integrally-moulded receiving portions on the underside of the cover.

10. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 9 in which the pivot blocks co-operative with slide retainers.

11. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 10 in which each slide retainer has an internal locking detent which may be slid into and out of gripping, locking contact with one of the pivot blocks.

12. A w.c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 11 in which the locking detents co-operate with ribs in the pivot blocks.

13. A w. c. seat assembly as claimed in Claim 10, 11 or ;2 in which the slide retainers are channel shaped and the pivot blocks planar or vice versa.