US2937718A - Level adjusting device for articles or the like - Google Patents

Description

y 1960 c. u. LARSON ETAL 2,937,718

LEVEL ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR ARTICLES OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 21 men/0r 7542/ dgfla fa'on.

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May 24, 1960 c. u. LARSON ETAL 2,937,718

LEVEL ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR ARTICLES OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 2, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 35 J2 m I] 1 I W IT H W ITZ luml ll jazz/0715.

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Pe/er 5a (a vUnited States Patent LEVEL ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR ARTICLES OR THE LIKE Filed Jan. 2, 1958, Ser. No. 706,728

1 Claim. (Cl. 187-24) This invention relates to a structure for adjusting the level of an article or the like, and more particularly for permitting an adjustment in the height of a plumbing item such as a lavatory in the course of use thereof.

The difiiculty encountered by a small child in washing his hands, for instance, or of getting a drink of water or even of a grownup assisting a child in washing his hands in an ordinary lavatory is well known. It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a lavatory support which can be actuated as by means of push buttons to automatically raise or lower a lavatory to a desired height.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon proceeding with the following description read with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a preferred form of the present invention, a portion being shown broken away for clarity of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the electrical wiring for operation of the device.

Considering the illustrated device in detail and with reference particularly to Figs. 1 through 3, the numeral 1 designates the wall of a bathroom or the like in which the present device is installed, the numeral 2 indicating the floor line of the room. The present structure comprises a pair of upright supporting members 4 which may be of pipe stock, which members being supported by forwardly extending feet members 6 extending under the floor of the room. The supporting members 4 in turn receive upper and lower collar members 7 which are tightened onto the vertical supports by means of set screws 8 and onto which are secured a pair of flat cross members 9 and 10 respectively by means of screws 11.

The cross members are provided with upper and lower bearings 12 through which extend rotatable shafts 14 having threaded portions 15. Mounted on one of the cross members, preferably the lower one, is an electric motor 17 of a conventional alternating current, fractional horsepower type which has accompanying the same a gear reducer 18 and a pair of pulleys 19 on the shaft 20 extending from the gear reducer. The shafts 14 also are provided with pulleys 21 which are interconnected with pulleys 20 by rubber belts 22 as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Also mounted on the said shafts, and more particularly on the threaded portions thereof, are a pair of fabricated brackets 24 which contain threaded bores through the rearward portions 25 for axial movement along the shafts when the latter are rotated. The bracket members are adapted to extend through a pair of slots 26 in the wall of the bathroom or the like, which brackets support a curved strap member 28 which is horizontally disposed and adapted to receive a lavatory (not shown) for support of the latter. It should be understood that the strap member contacts the underside of the lavatory between the basin portion and the periph- 2,937,718 Patented May 24, 1960 ice eral rim. The design of this strap and indeed the entire supporting structure may be modified for support of various types of lavatories.

In order to operate the present device, an electrical system, see particularly Fig. 4, is provided. Should it be desired to cause the support member to raise the lavatory, the up button 31 mounted on the wall or other convenient place is pressed. Reference to the wiring diagram of Fig. 4 will show that this completes the up circuit and energizes the motor M so as to rotate the shafts 14 which causes an equal upward movement of the lavatory supporting brackets 24. Upon achievement of the desired height, the up button is released and the motor and operating mechanism comes to rest in a few seconds. Should the lavatory be desired to be lowered, as for instance when a child desires to use the same, the down button 32 is pressed completing the down circuit which causes the motor M to operate in the reverse direction and consequently the bracket members moved in the downward direction. This button is of course released when the lavatory is at the desired lower position and the latter accordingly comes to rest shortly thereafter.

Considering the wiring diagram with more particularity, it is seen that the ordinary volt alternating house current is employed coming in through the lines L1 and L2. This voltage is reduced by means of the transformer 34 to 24 volts for safety to the user of the push buttons 31 and 32. Depending on which of the push buttons is operated, either the up or the down circuit will be closed and one or the other of the up or down relays 35 and 36, respectively, will be brought into operation which boosts the current up to 110 volts. From the relays, the current passes through the switches 37 and 38 which are of the retarded action type. The purpose of these latter switches are to prevent immediate energization of the motor as soon as the down button for instance is pressed, while the operating motor and operating mechanism is still turning in an upward direction. When such down button should be pressed shortly after releasing the up button and while the motor mechanism is still moving upwardly under momentum the down switch 37 is not immediately closed, but rather remains open for a predetermined number of seconds suflicient for the motor and moving parts to come to rest, after which time the down switch operates to close the down circuit and operate the motor and parts in the opposite direction. It should be pointed out that as soon as the operators finger has released the up button for instance while perhaps immediately thereafter pressing the down button, the up switch 38 is immediately broken so that the operating mechanism coasts to a stop. Should the up button in turn be pressed immediately after release of the down button, the reverse operation would take place. In other words, the down switch 37 would immediately open but the up switch 38 would close after the passage of the predetermined time and the motor and moving parts have come to rest. The electric current passes from the switches 37 and 38 to the reversing relay 40 and from thence to the motor. The reversing relay causes a reversal of the relation of the starting winding of the motor with respect to the running winding in the well known manner for reversal of alternating current motors.

It is also evident from viewing the wiring diagram that should the lavatory be in the uppermost position the upper limit switch 41 would be engaged by the mechanism by means of the combined trip and crossbar 42, see Figs. 1 and 2, and be thrown open so that there could be no completion of the up circuit, to avoid damaging upward movement of the parts. On the other hand, should the lavatory be in the downward extreme position and in contact with the down limit switch 43, the latter would prevent closing of the down circuit and operation in the downward direction. It should of course be understood, that the limit switches also stop movement of the device when either of the end limits of movement has been reached and one of the buttons 31, 32 is continued to be depressed. No novelty is ascribed to the various component parts of which the wiring is composed as the various switches and operative elements thereof are conventional, their construction and operation being understood by those familiar with the art.

The above description is merely illustrative of the invention which is to be measured by the terms of the appended claim.

We claim:

A level adjusting device or the like comprising shaft means extending in an upward and downward direction, said shaft means being supported solely for rotation, sup porting means received on said shaft means, one of said shaft means and supporting means having threading thereon, the other of said shaft means and supporting means having means engaging said threading whereby to raise said supporting means upon predetermined rotation of said shaft means and to lower said supporting means upon reverse rotation of said shaft means, means for effecting the predetermined and reverse rotation of said shaft means including a reversible electric motor and circuit means for energizing the motor in the direction of rotation for effecting upward movement of said supporting means and circuit means for energizing the motor in the opposite direction of rotation for effecting downward movement of said supporting means, said first and second named circuit means each having a delayed action switch which assumes the circuit making condition after a predetermined time interval after initial energization thereof and a limit switch, a motor reversing relay in said first and second named circuit means, said first and second named circuit means each having circuit means connected to a source of electrical power, the circuit means of said first and second named circuit means each being connected to one of said delayed action switches for euergization thereof and to one of said limit switches in series, said first and second circuit means each having a circuit connected to a power source and between the delayed action switch of the circuit means and said reversing relay, each of the latter circuits being closed by the delayed action switch of the circuit means of which the circuit is a part after a predetermined time interval after initial energization of the switch, said limit switches being arranged to open respectively at predetermined upper and lower positions of said supporting means so as to deenergize the respective delayed action switches thus breaking the respective circuits of said first and second circuit meansand consequently halting energization of the motor, switch means closable for permitting current to flow through the circuit means of said first and second named circuit means when the limit switch of the circuit means intended to be energized is closed, said delayed action switches being constructed to open immediately upon interruption of energization thereof by means of said limit switches or said switch means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,564,536 Davis Dec. 8, 1925 2,207,544 Knudsen July 9, 1940 2,663,929 Carpenter Dec. 29, 1953 2,824,623 Nord Feb. 25, 1958

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