US3425066A

US3425066A - Personal hygiene attachment for toilets

Info

Publication number: US3425066A
Application number: US563591A
Authority: US
Inventors: Carl H Berger
Original assignee: CARL H BERGER
Current assignee: CARL H BERGER
Priority date: 1966-07-07
Filing date: 1966-07-07
Publication date: 1969-02-04
Anticipated expiration: 1986-02-04

Description

Feb. 4, 1969 I c. H. BERGER 3,

1 PERSONAL HYGIENE ATTACHMENT FOR TOILETS Filed July 7, 1966 A A I 1 INVENTOR. Z2 CarlHBer er BY 9 a mam 'ATTYS United States Patent Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A water spray nozzle, for personal hygiene, disposed in the bowl of a flush toilet; there being attachment means effective to mount such nozzle in said bowl without altering the toilet structure in any way.

This invention relates in general to conventional flush toilets, and in particular is directed to a personal hygiene device adapted to be attached to or incorporated in the toilet structure, and by means of which device a spray of water may be controllably directed by the user of the toilet against the region of the anus for cleaning said region.

Heretofore, such devices have either bee-n somewhat complicated and required a considerable amount of additional plumbing to be installed, or necessitated a partial reconstruction of certain parts of the toilet unit.

It is, therefore, the major object of this invention to provide a device for the purpose which avoids the above noted objectionable features, and which in the main comprises a water spray nozzle support in the form of an attachment adapted to be easily and quickly mounted in position in the toilet bowl by means of the seat-mounting fittings already provided with the toilet bowl unit.

No change of any kind need be made on the bowl unit itself when installing the present device; the only addition required being a manually controlled water valve interposed in the water supply system for the bowl unit.

The present device includes a water spray nozzle positioned in the rear of the toilet bowl, and another object of the invention is to mount the nozzle on its support so that said nozzle may be easily adjusted to direct the spray in different directions as may be desired by the user.

A further object of the invention is to provide a personal hygiene attachment for toilets which is designed for ease and economy of manufacture, and convenience of use.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a practical, reliable, and durable personal hygiene attachment for toilets and one which is exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects are accomplished by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.-

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side outline, partly broken out and in sec tion, of a conventional form of toilet bowl unit; the view showing the present device installed therein.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of the device, detached.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the device, detached.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the spray nozzle assembly of the device.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings and to the characters of reference marked thereon, a conventional toilet bowl unit, indicated generally at '1, includes a bowl 2, and a water tank 3 upstanding from the unit at the back of the bowl and to which water is supplied from a pipe 4 disposed to one side of the bowl unit. A seat 5 normally rests on top of the bowl 2; the seat being 3,425,066 Patented Feb. 4, 1969 mounted on the bowl unit 1 by means of a transverse hinge 6 which includes laterally spaced depending bolts 7. The bolts 7 each have an enlarged head 8 on the upper end normally clamped against the upper flat surface 9 of the bowl unit 1 between the back of the seat 5 and the front of the tank 3. All the above features are standard in a conventional toilet bowl unit 1, and are not changed when attaching the present device thereto.

Such device comprises a rigid but lightweight mounting plate indicated generally at 10. This plate is formed with a generally flat top 11 which, at the back at least, is wider than the spacing between the bolts 7. The flat top 11 is provided in its back portion with a pair of parallel slots 12 open to the rear end of said flat top, and which slots are of a size and transverse spacing such as to receive the bolts 7 therein.

The plate 10, at the front end of the fiat top 11, is formed with a relatively narrow downwardly and rearwardly extending curved portion 13, which is large enough in diameter to clear the inwardly projecting rim flange F of the bowl 2. A gradually downwardly narrowing portion 14 depends from the lower end of the curved portion 13 in tangential relation thereto, and with a slope to the rear; the depending portion 14 terminating at its lower end in a short vertical portion 15 disposed in the rear of the bowl 2. The total height of the mounting plate 10, from the flat top 11 to the lower end of the vertical portion 15, is such that said portion 15 will be well above the level of the water in the bowl 2 when said flat top 11 is engaged with the upper fiat surface 9 of the bowl unit 1.

Projecting rearwardly from and engaged against the back of the vertical portion 15 of the plate 10 is a relatively small, block-like body 16. Threaded into the front of the body 16 and projecting forwardly through said plate portion 15 is a tubular stem 17; said stem 17 being shouldered, as shown, to form a means to rigidly clamp both itself and the body '16 against such plate portion 15.

At its forward end the stem 17 is formed with a spherical head 18 which swivelly engages with a friction fit in a socket 19 formed in the hub 20 of a spray nozzle 21. The spray nozzle, as supported in the rear of the bowl, is thus capable of substantial tilting adjustment.

The body 16, rearwardly of the stem 17, is formed with a passage 22 which at one end communicates with the stem and at the other end terminates in an upstanding tubular fitting 23 on the body. A flexible tube 24 is coupled to fitting 23 and thence leads to connection with a manually operable normally closed valve 25. This valve is positioned where it is convenient for operation by a person seated on the toilet, and is connected to a fitting 26 interposed in the water supply pipe 4.

In order to guide the flexible tube 24 from the valve 25 over the flat surface 9 and into the bowl 2 to the fitting 23, the flat top 11 and at least a part of the curved portion 13 of the plate 10 are formed with a fore and aft groove 27 of a size to snugly receive the tube 24, as shown in FIG. 2; said groove being offset outwardly but opening inwardly from the plate.

To install the above described device, the seat bolts 7 areloosened and the heads 8 are raised from the flat surface 9 a distance sufficient to allow the flat top 11 of the plate 10 to be slid between the seat 5 and under the heads 8, with the slots 12 receiving the bolts 7. The bolts are then tightened so that the heads 8 firmly clamp the flat top 11 and consequently the whole plate 10 in position. It should be noted that there is always ample space beltween the seat 5 and the flat surface 9 for reception of the fiat top 11 and the groove-guided tube 24, as indicated in FIG. 1. Thus, the seat 5 may be raised and lowered without pinching and possibly distorting the device.

With the device mounted in position on the bowl unit 1, it is only necessary for the user to conveniently grasp and operate the valve 25 to obtain the water flow necessary to effect the desired spraying and cleaning action; the nozzle 21 being adjusted on the head 18 to provide the proper direction and angle of the spray.

The entire device is preferably manufactured from a suitable plastic and to the end that such device is inexpensive to manufacture, lightweight, relatively unbreakable, and easy to wash and maintain sanitary.

From the foregoing description, it will be readily seen that there has been produced such a personal hygiene attachment for toilets as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention, as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the personal hygiene attachment for toilets, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new and useful and upon which Letters Patent is desired:

1. A personal hygiene attachment for a toilet bowl unit which includes a bowl, a seat for the bowl, and means mounting the seat on the bowl; the attachment comprising a spray nozzle disposed in the bowl, means to connect the spray nozzle to a valve-controlled source of water under pressure, a plate having a shaped portion depending into the bowl and on which depending plate portion the nozzle is mounted, and means included in the seat-mounting means rigidly clamping the plate directly to the bowl.

2. An attachment, as in claim 1, in which the seatmounting means includes a pair of vertical transversely spaced bolts extending into the back of the bowl from the upper face thereof, and each bolt having an enlarged head initially engaging said face; the plate including a generally flat, rearwardly projecting top adapted to extend beneath the seat in flush engagement with said upper face of the bowl and under the bolt heads whereby said top is clamped against such face by said bolt heads.

3. An attachment, as in claim 1, in which the plate includes a generally fiat, rearwardly projecting top adapted to extend beneath the seat in flush engagement with the upper face of the back of the bowl; the seat-mounting means clamping such fiat top against said upper face of the back of the bowl, and the depending portion of the plate extending downward into the bowl at an acute rearward angle to said flat top of the plate whereby to dispose the nozzle in the rear of said bowl.

4. An attachment, as in claim 1, in which the plate includes a generally fiat, rearwardly projecting top adapted to extend beneath the seat in fiush engagement with the upper face of the back of the bowl; the seatmounting means clamping such flat top against said upper face of the back of the bowl, and the means to connect the nozzle to a source of water under pressure including a flexible tube to supply water to the nozzle from a point rearwardly of the flat top of the plate, said flat top being formed with a fore and aft groove open to the rear edge of said plate portion and to the underside thereof, the tube running through the groove, and the latter being of a size to snugly receive the corresponding portion of the tube in guiding relation thereto.

5. An attachment, as in claim 4, in which the plate at the front end of the flat top thereof includes a downwardly extending rearwardly facing curved portion to encompass the rim flange of the bowl, and said curved portion being formed with a continuation of said tubereceiving groove.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,838,356 12/1931 Berry 47 1,874,169 8/1932 Campus 47 1,977,758 10/ 1934 E ler 47 3,195,148 7/ 1965 Merkel 4--7 3,310,813 3/1967 Jonsson 47 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

H. K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner.