US3471874A

US3471874A - Easily removed toilet seat

Info

Publication number: US3471874A
Application number: US692989A
Authority: US
Inventors: Farris E Dixon
Original assignee: American Standard Inc
Current assignee: Trane US Inc
Priority date: 1967-12-22
Filing date: 1967-12-22
Publication date: 1969-10-14
Anticipated expiration: 1986-10-14

Description

Oct. 14, 1969 F. E. DIXON 3,471,874

EASILY REMOVED TOILET SEAT Filed Dec. 22, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet l INYHYTOH,

PAP/PIS E. D/XOA/ A 'ITORNEH Oct. 14, 1969 F. E. DIXON EASILY REMOVED TOILET SEAT 4 SheetS Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 22. 1967 FIG.3

FIGA

INVENTOR.

FARRIS E. DIXON ATTORNEY Oct. 14, 1969 F. E. DIXON EASILY REMOVED TOILET SEAT 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 22. 1967 FIG.8

ATTORNEY Oct. 14, 1969 F. E. DIXON EASILY REMOVED TOILET SEAT 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 22. 1967 FIG.IO

FIG.9

FIG.

3,471,874 EASILY REMOVED TOILET SEAT Farris E. Dixon, Louisville, Ky., assignor to American Standard Inc, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 692,989 Int. Cl. A47k 13/12 US. Cl. 4-240 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention embodies a toilet seat and cover combination which may be easily installed on the toilet bowl and easily removed whenever desired for cleaning or other purposes and then just as easily re-installed. The seat is readily separated from the cover and just as readily rejoined to the cover.

The toilet seat has a back extension having a doubleended pintle integrally formed therein. Each end of the pintle has two flat sides and two circular sides. The cover embodies two U-shaped brackets to receive the two ends of the pintle. The two seat posts of the toilet bowl are also U-shaped so that they may also receive the two ends of the pintle.

This invention relates to toilet seats and covers therefor. More particularly, this invention relates to a combination toilet seat and cover which is simple in construction, low in cost and readily installed and just as readily removed whenever desired so that the toilet seat and cover may be cleaned and then re-installed into their original positions with respect to a toilet bowl.

Although the conventional toilet seat and cover combination is mounted on the toilet bow-l so as to be removable, usually the seat and cover combination may be removed only by a fairly skilled person of considerable strength, with the aid of a wrench or pliers or both, and, because of this difiiculty, the removability feature of the combination has seldom been used by the average user, such as the housewife. Furthermore, the separate removal of the seat or the separate removal of the cover was quite difficult if not impossible to accomplish in the average or conventional construction and installation.

According to the present invention, a toilet seat and over combination has been devised and constructed so that the toilet seat and cover as a combination, may be readily removed whenever desired for cleaning or other purposes and thereafter reinstalled with equal ease. The arrangement of this invention will be such that the typical housewife, for example, who may have little or no mechanical aptitude or skill, or who may have too little physical power to manipulate a fair sized screw driver or a wrench, will be able to go through the simple routine whenever desired for detaching the toilet seat and cover combination from the bowl and also thereafter separating the toilet seat from the cover so that either or both of these may be washed, for example, and then replaced as a combination on the toilet bowl without the employment of any tools or appliances, and without the necessity for special skills, and without the application of a large amount of physical or manual power.

It will be readily apparent that a toilet seat and cover combination which may be readily detached and just as readily reinstalled would have great advantages and appeal, not only for the average housewife, but also for administrators of hospitals, sanitaria and other institutions where cleanliness is a necessity throughout the institutions. The combination toilet seat and cover of this invention, as will be further explained hereinafter, is easily removable from the specially designed seat posts of the toilet bowl and is just as easily re-attachable; and there are no parts nitcd States Patent 0 other than the usual parts required to install the combination toilet seat and cover on the seat posts of the toilet bowl, so that the seat and cover may be quickly and easily removed and then re-installed.

One of the features of this invention resides in a special pintle which has a unique cross section and is an integral, non-removable component of the toilet seat.

Another of the features of this invention resides in a U-shaped bracket which is an integral non-removable component of the cover of the toilet seat and cover combination, the bracket having two spaced sides so designed that the pintle of the seat may be inserted between the two spaced sides of the bracket and, after insertion therebetween, the pintle may be rotated within the U-shaped bracket. This enables the seat to be moved relative to the cover as often as is desired, or vice versa.

Still another of the features of this invention resides in a special seat post for the toilet bowl which may be permanently afiixed to the toilet bowl in the usual manner, and which embodies a U-shaped construction so that the pintle of the toilet seat may be inserted between the jaws of the U-shaped member to retain the pintle therebetween and still allow the pintle to be rotated with respect to the seat post. The pintle of the seat may be removed from its normal position between the jaws of the bowl seat post whenever desired so that the combination toilet seat and cover may be temporarily removed for cleaning or other purposes and later re-installed.

A further feature of this invention resides in the employment of a back extension for the seat of the combination so arranged that the pintle is an integral part of the seat extension and the pintle is double-ended, the crosssectional shape of each end being fiat on two parallel sides to permit ready slidability and circular on two remaining (longer) sides to permit ready rotatability. The two ends of the pintle may be separately or simultaneously inserted between the two corresponding U-shaped brackets of the cover and also between the two cor-responding Ushaped formations of the toilet seat posts. These U-shaped units are so shaped as to be installed readily and to be maintained in position until it is desired to remove the combination from the seat posts. The removal from the seat posts may be accomplished by simply turning the combination through a predetermined angle with respect to the openings in the toilet seat posts and having the two ends of the pintle separately or simultaneously removed from the jaws of the seat posts. Furthermore, the seat may be likewise removed from its associated cover by turning the seat through a predetermined angle with respect to the cover so that the two ends of the pintle may be separately or simultaneously removed from the U-shaped brackets of the cover.

This invention, as well as its various objects and features, will be better and more completely understood from the more detailed description hereinafter following, when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 shows a perspective of the toilet seat and of the cover separated from each other to illustrate some of the features of the invention; FIG. 2 illustrates the toilet seat and cover coupled to each other; FIG. 3 shows a rear end view, partly in section, of the seat and cover mounted on a toilet bowl in which the cover is formed to provide an apron; FIG. 4, illustrates a rear end view of a modified form of seat and cover combination mounted on a toilet bowl, in which the cover of the combination does not have an apron; FIG. 5 is a rear end view showing an enlargement of a part of the combination of this invention; FIG. 6 shows a section taken along the line 66 of FIG. 5; FIG. 7 depicts a perspective of a toilet seat, partly broken away, mounted on the seat posts of a toilet bowl; FIG. 8 is a side view of the toilet seat and cover combination, the cover being partly broken away; FIGS. 9 and 10 show two forms of the seat post, both in perspective, the former having a closed U-shaped gap, and the latter an open U-ShflJPCd gap; and FIGS. 11 and 12 show perspectives of the seat with relation to the seat post, the pintle of the seat being partially removed in FIG. 12. The same reference characters will be used throughout the drawing to represent the same or similar parts throughout the various figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, the reference character designates the

toilet seat

10 and 20 the cover therefor. They are mounted within

toilet seat posts

30 and 40 at the rear of the toilet bowl designated 50. The rear part of the toilet seat, designated 12, embodies a transverse pintle or hinge pin having two oo-

linear parts

15, 15a, which are integrally formed in the back extension 12. One part of the hingle pin or pintle, 15, protrudes from one side of the back extension 12, while the other side of the hinge pin or pintle, 15a, protrudm from the other side of the back extension. The cross-section of each of the

pintles

15, 15a are four-sided, two of the sides, 17 and 17a, being parallel to each other while the other two sides, which are longer, 18 and 18a, are circular in shape, but other shapes may be employed. The cover 20 embodies two brackets, 22, 22a, which may be formed as integral parts of the cover 20. As observed in the drawing, each

bracket

22, 22a has a U-shaped opening 19, preferably circular in shape, as shown and two

jaws

21, 21a, which extend to the opening 19. Each pintle 15 is insertable within the

jaws

21 and 21a of the cover bracket 22.

FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 show the general combination or assembly of the arrangement of this invention. The toilet bowl 50 has two seat posts and mounted at the rear of the bowl. The cross-section shown in FIG. 6 shows in greater detail the configuration of the seat post 30. The seat post 30 is U-shaped, having an opening 31 and two jaws 32, 32a; and the inner wall of the U-shaped portion is circular. 'Ilhe latter circularity enables the pintle 15 to be rotatable within the inner wall. The

posts

30, 40 are fastened to the rear of the bowl by means of nuts, 35, 45, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Two forms of the seat post to be used in this invention are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The form of the seat post shown in FIG. 9 is closed at one end 60, so that the end of the pintle 15 will be maintained at all times within the U-shaped inner Wall of the seat post. On the other hand, the form of the seat post of FIG. 10 is open at both ends so that the free end of the pintle will protrude the end wall of the seat post.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show the seat post, which may be of the form 70 indicated in FIG. 10, in its relation to the pintle 15a of the seat 10. In FIG. 12 the pintle 15a is shown between the jaws 32 of the seat post 70 but partly above the nadir of the U-shaped inner wall. In this position the pintle 15 may be considered as about to slide further between the jaws into the inner wall or, alternatively, the pintle may be viewed as about to slide further out of the space between the jaws 32 to disassociate the pintle 15a (and the seat 10 of which it is a part) from the seat post 70. In FIG. 11 the pintle 15a is fully engaged within the inner wall of the seat post 70. In this position the seat 10 is substantially in its horizontal position.

In FIG. 7 the pintle 15 is shown physically locked in position between the seat posts 30, 40. FIG. 8 shows a side view of the seat 10 and cover 20 in their respective horizontal positions, this view showing bumpers 78 as spacing the seat 10 from its cover 20.

FIG. 8 also shows the bracket 22a of the cover 20, the

jaws

21, 21a and the pintle 15. By rotating the seat 10 relative to the cover 20 into the realtive positions shown in the dotted lines of this figure, the seat 10 and its pintle 15a are properly aligned to enable the seat and pintle combination to be removed and disassociated from the bracket 22a of the cover 20.

According to this invention, the toilet seat 10 and the cover 20 are easily removed from the toilet bowl 50 for cleaning or other purposes whenever desired. No tools, gadgets or other appliances are needed to disassociate the units from the toilet bowl. As already noted, the pintle 15 is preferably an integral part of the composite seat unit 10. Further, the

U-shaped brackets

22, 22a are preferably integral parts of the composite cover unit 20. The

open jaws

21, 21a of the brackets permit the pintle to be slid easily and conventiently into or out of these jaws to install or remove the seat unit 10 and the cover unit 20, or to remove the seat unit from the cover Iunit. Unskilled personnel can perform the simple operations without assistance. Furthermore, the seat and cover combination is easily installed on the seat posts 30, 40 of the bowl or removed therefrom merely by rotating the combination into the proper angular position and sliding the pintle 15 into the opening 31 between the jaws 32, 32a of the seat posts 30 and 40 or by sliding the pintle out of the openin 31.

One of the principal instrumentalities used to practice this invention is the slotted device which provides a channel through which the flattened (or fiat-sided) pintle may be moved to position the pintle at the desired location, that is, the center, of a U-shaped device to install the toilet seat cover combination on the toilet bowl. The key device for that installation is the open-ended

seat post

30 or 40. Similarly, another like open-ended or slotted device such as 22, which is affixed to or is an integral part of the cover 20, serves to provide a gap for receiving the same flattened or flat-sided pintle to couple the seat to the cover. Merely by sliding the pintle out of the same gap (after some angular rotation), the seat 10 may be separated from the cover 20 or the seat and cover combination may be separated from the bowl. The invention thus resides in the geometry of the pintle 15, the seat post 30 and the bracket 22. "llhe angular position of the gap of the seat post 30 and of the bracket 22 will determine the angle through which rotation may be required to couple or decouple the several parts.

All of the above mentioned parts, that is, the seat 10, the cover 20, the pintle 15, the bracket 22 and the seat post 30 may, if desired, be made of plastic materials of sufficient strength, but obviously any conventional materials would be suflicient for the intended purposes of this invention.

It will be apparent that the relative position of the seat 10 and cover 20 combination for removal is necessarily determined by the relative location of the jaw openings in the seat posts 30, 40. A vertical opening, such as 31 (see FIG. 6), or any other opening extending from that vertical position to a position about 15 degrees from the horizontal position, may be the preferred angular displacement of the opening. An appropriate opening will virtually prevent the seat and cover combination from being accidentally dislodged or disengaged from the bowl structure.

While this invention has been shown and described in certain particular arrangements merely for the punpose of illustration and explanation, it will be apparent that the invention and its features may be applied to other and widely varied organizations without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. 'llhe combination of a toilet seat, two co-linear pintles extending outwardly in opposite directions from the back of the seat, and a cover having two U-shaped brackets between the jaws of which the pintles may be inserted to assemble the cover on the seat so that the seat may be rotated about the pintles and from which the pintles may be withdrawn to disassemble the cover from the seat.

2. The combination recited in claim 1 in which the U-shaped brackets have rounded inner walls and the pintles lhave rounded sides so as to be rotatable within the inner walls of the brackets.

3. The combination recited in claim 1 in which the U- shaped brackets have rounded inner walls and the pintles have two flat parallel opposite walls so as to be slidable between the jaws of the brackets and two circular opposite walls spaced further apart than the two flat walls so as to be rotatable within the inner walls of the brackets.

4. The combination of a toilet bowl, two separate U- shaped posts mounted on the rear of the bowl, the jaws of said posts extending upwardly from said bowl, and a toilet seat having two co-linear pintles extending outwardly in opposite directions from the back of the seat, said pintles being slidable into the jaws of the posts whenever the seat is in itn vertical position to be assembled on the bowl, said pintles being also rotatable within the inner walls of the posts so that said seat may be mounted on said bowl, said seat being removable from the jaws by being slid therefrom when it is in a vertical position, the inner sides of said U-shaped posts retaining the seat substantially fixed in position when said seat is resting on said bowl.

5. The combination recited in claim 4 in which each pintle has four sides two of which are flat and parallel to each other and the other two rounded about a common axis.

6. The combination of a toilet bowl, two U-shaped posts mounted on the rear of the bowl, a toilet seat having two outwardly and oppositely directed pintles mounted colinearly at the rear of the seat, a cover having two U- shaped brackets, the pintles being insertable between the jaws of the U-shaped brackets so as to assemble the seat with respect to the cover, the pintles also being insertable between the jaws of the U-shaped posts so that the seat and cover combination may be assembled on the pants of the bowl.

7. The combination recited in claim 6 in which the pintles form an intgral apart of the seat, each pintle having four sides, two of which are fiat and parallel and the other two of which are circular about an axis which coincides with the axis of the pintles.

8. The combination recited in claim 7 in which the U- shaped brackets and the U-shaped posts have circular inner walls to facilitate the rotation of the pintles within said inner walls.

9. The combination recited in claim 8 in which the jaws of the brackets and of the posts are spaced apart sufficiently to enable the two flat sides of the pintle to be slid therebetween.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,496,466 6/1924 Jackson 16-171 2,333,732 11/1943 Morris 4-240 FOREIGN PATENTS 922,795 4/ 1963 Great Britain.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner HENRY K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.