US2266641A - Toilet seat - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 16, 1941. M. JOYCE ...TAL 2,266,641

TDILET SEAT Filed Feb. 2l, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 @Milly Ilm y Hlm. v

Dec. 16, 1941. VM JOYCE TAL 2,266,641

TOILET SEAT Filed Feb. 2l, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 16, 1941 TOILET SEAT Maurice Joyce and Hartwell F. Tucker, Washington, D. C.

Application February 21, 1941, seriaiNo. 380,040

(c1. 'Lr-235) 8 Claims.

`particularly to one embodying aniadapting device Yso that the seat may be used by children as well as adults.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a seating adapter for a modern toilet seat which is pleasing in appearance, and which may be easily manipulated by small children in order to permit them to use the toilet seat with utmost comfort.

The present invention proceeds upon the principle of providing a pair of symmetrically arranged curved plates upon the underside of a modern conventional oval-shaped toilet seat having a corresponding opening therein which may be decreased in size by the manipulation of the curved plates pivotally arranged on the opposite sides of the longitudinal median of thejseat in order to provide an opening which is. smaller than the principal opening in the toilet seat. The curved plates are pivotally mounted at the rear portion of the toilet seat Whereat the same interfere 'in no way with the hardware with which such seats are provided. These plates are disposed closely adjacent to the underside of the toilet seat, and since they are finished similarly to the toilet seat, arehardly perceptible when the same are swung in their open position, at the time that the toilet seat overlies these plates completely. It is a simple matter to swing the plates inwardly to provide an opening which is better adapted for a child and which may be easily manipulated by him. Y

It is the object of the present invention to arrange the parts so that the same may be conveniently assembled into an existing toilet seat, or which may be incorporated as part of the toilet seat in the course of manufacture of the latter, for only a small cost.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an assembly in which the constituent parts may be dismantled conveniently Yfor cleaning. This novel arrangement furthermore facilitates the initial assembly of the device, and in one form of the invention, the auX- iliary seat structure is combined with a holding member therefor in such a manner that the latter may be connected and disconnected from the toilet seat Without necessitating the use of any tools such as screw drivers, pliers or the like.

It is a further object of the invention to design the curved plates so that the same are sanitary and .so that they may be kept clean sleeves, jackets or skirts formed of material haveasily. The invention 'comprehends,thegusenof ing a high coefficient of friction for mounting upon the front extremities of the curved plates so that the frictional contact between the portions of these jackets in either of the alternate positions of the plates with the top of the toilet bowl and the underside of the toilet seat retains the plates in their adjusted positions.

Other objects and purposes will appear from the more detailed description of the invention following hereinafter, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a toilet seat in accordance with the present invention in which the seat is shown superposing a toilet bowl and showing, in solid lines, the curved plates in position for use by a child, and in dotted lines the position of the plates when swung outwardly and superposed completely by the toilet seat;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view along lines 2-2 of Fig 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the rearportion of the curved plate whereby the plate mountings are rendered easily detachable;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan View of a second embodiment of the invention wherein the curved plates and the holder therefor are mounted and detached from the toilet seat as a unit;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view along lines 6 6 of Fig. 5, and

Figs. 7 and 8 are perspective views showing constituent parts of the holding bracket shown in Figs. 5 and 6 to an enlarged scale.

An oval-shaped toilet seat I, provided with a corresponding opening I0, is provided with a pair of curved plates 2 and 3 mounted upon the plane underside 4 of the toilet seat. The plates 2 and 3 are preferably cut out at their front portions i9 in order to render the same sanitary in use, and do not affect the comfort afforded by these plates when they are used by children. A metallic connecting member 5 in the form of a strap extends transversely of the longitudinal median line of the seat at the rear portion thereof, and serves as the sole means to ilX the curved plates 2 and 3 to the underside of the seat 4 by means of fastening elements 6 in the form of screws. The plates 2 and 3 are symmetrically arranged with respect to the longitudinal median of the seat and are free to move from the limiting positions indicated in Fig. 1, to render the seat adaptable to be used alternately for children or adults, depending respectively whether a rey `strictedor full openingin the seat is desired. In

order to'n'ia'le certain thatl tliecurved plates will remain in their alternately adjusted positions, sleeves or jackets 22 and 23 are provided for the front extremities of the curved plates 2 and 3 respectively. These jackets are preferably formed of rubber, the surfaces of which may be roughened in order to increase the frictional contact between the plate terminals and the toilet bowl and seat contacting the opposite faces thereof. As shown in Fig. 1, the front portions of the jackets 22 and 23 are disposed between the seat and the bowl in the closed position of the plates, while the rear portions of the jackets are disposed between a portion of the bowl and the seat in the distended positions of the plates. The jackets may be made of any other materials having a desired high coecient of friction to obtain the necessary holding effect, for example sponge rubber, plastics, or other resinous products. The curved plates as well as the other elements of the assembly may be made of any suitable material such as wood, metal, plastics, or a composition, and the several parts may be made of different materials, if desired.

The provision of the pivots for the curved plates 2 and 3 at the rear portion of the seat presents many advantages, since the limited movement of the rear portions of the plates 2 and 3 does not interfere with the hardware with which the seats are normally provided. Thus the brackets I I mounted upon the underside 4 of the seat offer no impediment to the movement of the curved plates 2 and 3. These brackets are mounted upon the axle I2 which is maintained in fixed relationship upon the toilet xture by the brackets I3 rotatably mounted thereon and designed to be attached to the fixture by means of bolts and nuts. In addition, the brackets I'I attached to the cover 20 are rotatably mounted upon the axle I2.

In order to simplify the mounting and the cleaning of the curved plates 2 and 3, they may be provided with slots I6 having lateral offsets I6' at the inner ends thereof, whereby the curved plates may be engaged with the fastening elements 6 by sliding them in between the seat and the holding strap 5. The offsets I6 facilitate the pivotal movement of the plates while preventing the unintentional disengagement of the plates from between the holding strap and the toilet seat.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. to 8, the holding member for the curved plates is constructed as a unit with the latter, and the comb-ined unit may be conveniently mounted and dismounted from the toilet seat without the necessity of any tools in the mounting operation. The holding bracket is illustrated as formed of two relatively movable parts, each one of which is provided with at least one engaging member for the toilet seat, and the engagement of the holder with the toilet seat may be executed by the operation of a knurled nut. As shown in Fig 6, the member for engagingthe rear edge of the toilet seat 42 is formed of sheet metal and is provided with an upwardly extending clamping-surface 41, which may be suitably jacketed with rubber to prevent malng 0f the toilet seat cover. Member 42 has a downwardly vextending projection 43 provided with a circular opening 44 disposed between wings 4D and 4I extending adjacent the bottom surface of the seat. The cooperating clamping member is formed of sheet material bent in a U-shaped form for effectively retaining the curved plates. This member is shown in detail in Fig. 8. The clamps 36 embrace the front edge of the rear portion of the toilet seat and may be jacketed similarly to clamp 41. The wall 30 of the second member lies below and adjacent to the units 4U and 4I and a bolt 45 is mounted on the inside of the wall 32 and extends through aperture 33 in the latter in line with aperture 44 in the projection 43. The bolt 45 may be mounted integrally with the wall 32 if desired, as by a welding or soldering operation. Alternatively the bolt may be provided with a square shank adjacent to the head end for insertion in a squared aperture 33. The clamps may be tightened by the movement of the projection 43 towards the wall 32 as a result of the tightening action of the nut 46 on the bolt 45, as is clearly evident from Fig. 6. The apertures 34 in the plate 3| of the second clamping member are provided with suitable screw threaded bolts engaging threads in the apertures in order to fix the curved plates between walls 30 and 3| for pivotal movement. These connections permit a selective dismounting of the curved plates from the holding bracket. This holding member may be modif-led in several respects as long as the objectives of the detachable connection are attained. Ii desired, slots may be provided in the plates as shown in Fig. 4, for dismounting as described above on the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 4.

While we have described our invention as ernbodied in specific form and as operating in a specific manner for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that we do not limit our invention thereto, since various modications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of our invention, the scope of which is set forth in the annexed claims.

We claim:

1. An oval-shaped toilet seat provided with a corresponding opening and fitted with an adapting device for accommodating the seat for the use of children, said device comprising a pair of symmetrically arranged curved plates, each pivotally attached at one. end thereof to the rear portion of the underside of said seat while the front portion is freely movable between its limiting positions whereat the plate is either superposed completely by the seat or the plate extends normally beyond the inner sides of the opening in the seat to define a smaller opening therein ladapted for the use of children, and coverings of a material having a high coefficient of friction upon the front `portions of the curved plates for holding the plates in their adjusted positions.

2. An oval-shaped toilet seat provided with a corresponding opening and fitted with an adapting device for accommodating the seat for the use of children, said device comprising a pair of symmetrically arranged curved plates closely adjacent to the underside of said toilet seat, a holding member extending transversely of the longitudinal median of the seat at the rear portion of the underside thereof, and fastening elements extending therethrough and displaced from said median for detachably retaining the rear endsl of said curved plates for pivotal movement around said elements by the engagement of said fastening elements in open slots provided with lateral offsets at the inner ends of the Slots, the front ends of said curved plates being freely movable between their limiting positions whereat the plates are either superposed completely by the seat or the plates lextend inwardly beyond the inner sides of the opening ln the seat to define a smaller opening therein adapted for the use of children. l

3. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 2, provided with rubber sleeves detachably mounted upon the front portions of the curved plates for holding effectively the plates in either their closed or distended positions.

fl. An oval-shaped toilet seat provided with a corresponding opening and fitted with an adapting device for accommodating the seat for the use of children, said device comprising a pair of symmetrically arranged curved plates closely adjacent to the underside of said toilet seat, a holding member extending transversely of the longitudinal median of the seat at the rear portion of the underside thereof and fastening elements extending therethrough and displaced from said median for detachably adjusting the rear ends of said curved plates for pivotal movement around said elements, said holding member and fastening elements being the sole means of attachment of said curved plates to said toilet seat, the front ends of said curved plates being freely movable between their limiting positions whereat the plates are either superposed completely by the seat or the plates extend inwardly beyond the inner sides of the opening in the seat to define a smaller opening therein adapted for the use of children and the extremities of the plates are reduced in width to provide an enlarged opening at the front of the adapting device when the same is used by children and are fitted with rubber sleeves pressing against the bowl underlying the seat to retain the plates in adjusted positions.

5. An oval-shaped toilet seat provided with a corresponding opening and fitted with an adapting device for accommodating the seat for the use of children, said device comprising a pair of curved plates closely adjacent to the underside of said toilet seat, a holding member detachably mounted at the rear portion of the underside of said toilet seat, and fastening elements on said member displaced from the longitudinal median of said toilet seat for fixing the rear ends of said curved plates for pivotal movement around said elements on opposite sides of said median line, said holding member and fastening elements being the sole means of attachment of said curved plates to said toilet seat, the front ends of said curved plates being freely movable between their limiting positions whereat the plates are either superposed completely by the seat for the use of adults, or the plates extend inwardly beyond the inner sides of the opening in the seat to define a smaller opening therein adapted for the use of children.

6. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 5, wherein the curved plates are provided with rubber sleeves detachably mounted upon the front portions thereof for holding effectively the plates in either their closed or distended positions.

7. A device adapted to be mounted adjacent to the underside of a toilet seat comprising a pair of symmetrically arranged curved plates, holding means for detachably connecting said curved plates to the rear portion of the underside of the toilet seat with the front ends of said curved plates being covered with a material having a high coeicient of friction and being freely movable between a position whereat the plates are either superposed completely by the seat for the use of adults and a position whereat the plates extend inwardly beyond the inner sides of the opening in the seat to define a smaller opening therein adapted for the use of children, said covering material adapted to retain the curved plates in any adjusted position.

8. A device adapted to be mounted adjacent to the underside of a toilet seat comprising a pair of symmetrically arranged curved plates provided with open slots at the rear portions thereof, holding means for detachably connecting said curved plates to the rear portion of the underside of the toilet seat for pivotal movement comprising fastening elements displaced from the longitudinal median of the toilet seat on opposite sides thereof and engageable in said slots to function as axes for the pivotal movement of said plates', the front ends of said curved plates being covered with a material having a high coeicient of friction and being freely movable between a position whereat the plates are either superposed completely by the seat for the use of adults and a position whereat the plates extend inwardly beyond the inner sides of the opening in the seat to define a smaller opening therein adapted for the use of children, said covering material adapted to retain the curved plates in any adjusted position.

MAURICE JOYCE. HARTWELL F. TUCKER.

Images