WO1991003974A1

WO1991003974A1 - A douche unit for a toilet suite

Info

Publication number: WO1991003974A1
Application number: PCT/AU1990/000441
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Constantinos
Original assignee: Michael Constantinos
Priority date: 1989-09-22
Filing date: 1990-09-24
Publication date: 1991-04-04

Abstract

A douche unit (10) for a flushing toilet suite has a body (11) mountable on a bathroom wall or casing (101) concealing hot and cold water pipes (103). A mixer unit (15) is connected to the water pipes (103) and its outlet (18) is connected to a hand-held spray head (25) by a flexible hose (23). A button (36) controls the flow of water (and liquid soap and/or perfumed) in a container (26) to a removable spray rose (43). The spray head (25) is of substantially Z-shape in side view to enable the user to insert the distal end of the spray head (25) into the sanitary bowl of the toilet suite to enable the user to direct the water from the spray rose (43) onto his/her genital region. The douche unit (10) can be installed in a bathroom without any modification to the flushing toilet suite.

Description

TITLE: "A DOUCHE UNIT FOR A TOILET SUITE"

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the invention

This invention relates to a douche unit for a toilet suite. The unit is designed to enable the toilet suite to be operated in the manner of a bidet.

2. Prior Art

Bidets are commonly used in Europe for personal hygiene and more recently in the fight against sexually transmitted diseases. Usually a bidet unit is provided in a toilet adjacent the conventional flushing toilet suite.

Because of the additional cost of the bidet unit, and the floor space which they occupy, bidets have had limited acceptance and use outside Europe.

To reduce the cost and floor space factors, there have been a number of proposals for enabling conventional toilet suites to be operated as bidets.

AU-32658/78 (501068) (Fulford); AU-16448/76 (502203) (Umann); US 4,829,606 (Hirashiba et al) ; GB2,208,121 A (Gormley) all disclose flushing toilet suites which have been modified to incorporate bidet units. These arrangements have required modifications to the sanitary bowl or the replacement of the toilet seat with a modified seat. In addition the bidet spray heads are fixed and many users find this less than satisfactory.

International Publication O81/02319

(=PCT/CH81/00017) (Loriot Ansalt) discloses a unit which has a hand-held shower or spray head but again the unit is mounted on the sanitary bowl and is not suitable for existing toilet suites.

US4,596,058 (Nourbakhsh) discloses a bidet attachment for a conventional sanitary bowl but this requires modification to the flushing cistern. Finally, US 4,510,630 (Osgood) discloses a bidet unit, with a hand-held shower or spray-head, where the water supply is drawn from a bathroom sink and where the spray head is mounted on the sanitary bowl when not in use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a douche unit which enables a conventional flushing toilet suite to be used as a bidet without any modification to the toilet suite.

It is a preferred object to provide such a unit which is directly connected to the hot-and-cold water supply lines and which can supply water at a desired temperature from the spray head. It is a further preferred object to provide a unit where the hand-held spray head is angled for easier use and which is provided with easily interchangeable spray nozzles or roses.

It is a still further preferred object to provide such a unit where soap and/or perfume can be added to the water from the spray nozzle or rose.

It is a still further preferred object to provide a unit which is easy to install and use and which can be easily cleaned and maintained. Other preferred objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions.

In a broad aspect the present invention resides in a douche unit for a toilet suite to enable the toilet suite to be operated as a bidet, including: a wall-mountable body; a mixer unit in the body having a pair of water inlets connectable to respective hot and cold water supplies, and a water outlet; a spray nozzle or rose at or adjacent one end of the spray head; flexible hose means connecting the other end of the spray head to the water outlet; and flow control valve means on the spray head to regulate the flow of water through the spray nozzle or rose.

The body may be mounted on a wall, where the hot and cold water pipes are concealed in the wall or on a casing which conceals the pipes externally fixed to the wall. Preferably the mixer unit has respective valves means which control the flow of hot and cold water through the water inlets to the water outlet. The mixer valve means may be adjustable or preset.

Preferably the spray head has an elongate tubular body and the spray nozzle or nose is mounted in an end portion inclined to the body. Preferably the spray nozzle or rose is screw-threadably received in the end portion but may alternatively be releasably secured by a bayonet-type coupling. Preferably the flow control means includes a finger or thumb operated button on the tail of the spray head which operates a slidable valve member to control the flow of water into the spray head and thereby out of the spray nozzle or rose. Preferably a replaceable container, preferably of transparent plastic material, is mountable in the body and contains a supply of liquid soap and/or perfume which is mixed into the water supplied to the spray head. Preferably the liquid soap and/or perfume is siphoned from the container and the supply of the liquid soap and/or perfume may be selectively controlled by an

"on-off" switch, which may selectively close the hose or tube interconnecting the container to the water outlet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To enable the invention to be fully understood, a preferred embodiment will now be described, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the unit installed in a bathroom adjacent a conventional flushing toilet suite;

FIG. 2 & 3 are respective front perspective views of the unit;

FIG. 4 is an "exploded" front perspective view of the unit showing its components; FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the interior of the unit;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of the interior of the unit;

FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of the spray head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, the douche unit 10 is shown installed in a bathroom 100 adjacent a flushing toilet suite 110, comprising a sanitary bowl 111 and cistern 112. The unit 10 is mounted on a casing 101 which conceals the hot-and-cold water pipes (not shown) which are fixed externally to the bathroom wall 102.

Referring to FIG. 4, the body 11 of the douche unit 10 is moulded in plastic in three parts, a base unit 12 fixed to the bathroom wall 102 or casing 101, a front cover 13 and a removable top cover 14.

A mixer unit 15 is mounted in the base unit 12 and has respective hot & cold water inlets 16, 17 connected to respective hot-and-cold water pipes, hot water pipe 103 only being shown. The pipes extend through a hole 104 in the bathroom wall 102 (if the pipes are concealed in the wall) or in the front of the casing 101. Flow of water to the central water outlet pipe 18 is controlled by rotary mixer valves 19, 20, fitted with respective knobs 21, 22. A flexible hose 23 is attached at one end to a fitting 24 on the water outlet pipe 18 and at the other end to the spray head 25 to be hereinafter described in more detail. A liquid soap container 26, moulded from transparent plastic material, is releasably mounted in the body 11 of the unit behind the removable top cover 14 and the level of the liquid soap and/or perfume in the container 26 can be viewed through a slot or window 27 in the top cover 14.

The container 26 has a removable cap 28, through which extends a hose or tube 29, connected at its lower most end to the water outlet pipe 18. As water flows through the water outlet pipe, liquid soap and/or perfume in the container 18 is siphoned from the container and fed to the water in the water outlet pipe 18 and mixed therewith. The flow of the liquid soap and/or perfume may be controlled by a push-button 30 which operates a valve 31 which selectively crushes the hose or tube 29 to shut off the flow therethrough (see FIGS. 2 & 5) .

Referring particularly to FIGS. 4 & 7, the spray head 25 has a hollow body 32 of moulded plastic material. At a tail end, an inlet 33 is externally screw-threaded to receive the hose 23 and communicates with an inlet chamber 34 which has exhaust ports 35.

A thumb-operated button 36 is slidably mounted on the body 32 and is connected to a tubular valve member 37. The valve member has inlet ports 38 communicating with an exhaust port 39 which cummunicates with the interior of the hollow body 32.

A spring 36a urges the button 36 to an extended position (as shown in FIG. 7), where the valve member 37 prevents fluid flow from the hose 23 to the spray head 25. When the button 36 is depressed, the intake ports 38 progressively open the exhaust ports 35 and allow flow through the valve member 37.

The intermediate portion 40 of the spray head

25 is inclined to the tail portion 41, while the head portion 42 is inclined to the intermediate portion 40 in the opposite direction so that the spray head 25 has a modified Z-shape in side elevation as shown.

A spray rose 43 has a rearwardly directed rim 44 screw-threadably engaged in a complementary socket 45 in the head portion 42.

When not in use, the spray head 25 may be supported on the body 11 of the unit 10, the spray head

25 being received in a channel 46 in the front cover 13, a tongue 47 on the front cover being engaged in a socket 48 in the underside of the intermediate portion 40 of the spray head 25.

In use, the person sits on the sanitary bowl 111 and lifts the sprayhead 25 from the body 11 and inserts the top and intermediate portions 42, 40 of the spray head 25 into the interior of the sanitary bowl 111 and on pressing the button 36, directs water (and selectively, liquid soap and/or perfume) onto the genital region. The shape of the spray head 25 allows the person to accurately and easily direct the spray onto the genital region. The temperature of the water is set by selective adjustment of the rotary mixer valves 19, 20 (via knobs 21, 22) and the flow of liquid soap and/or perfume (from the container 26) is controlled by valve 31 via push-button 30. The window 27 allows the level of liquid soap and/or perfume in the cotnainer 26 to be easily monitored and the top cover 14 allows an empty container

26 to be quickly and easily replaced with a fresh container. The spray hose 43 can be easily interchanged with a spray nozzle, or each user can have their own spray nozzle 43 which they fit to the spray head 25 before use.

In certain installations, a supply of hot water may not be readily available. A heater unit (not shown) may be provided within the body and heated water from the heater is controlled by the valve 19.

Alternatively, the casing 101 may conceal a pipe or hose connected to the hot water tap of the hand basin in the bathroom. As will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee, the douche unit 10 provides all the advantages of a bidet, without requiring modification to the toilet suite 110, or the additional floor area requirement or greater cost of a separate bidet unit. Various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described and illustrated without departing from the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A douche unit for a toilet suite to enable the toilet suite to be operated as a bidet, including: a wall-mountable body; £t mixer unit in the body having a pair of water inlets connectable to respective hot and cold water supplies, and a water outlet; a spray nozzle or rose at or adjacent one end of the spray head; flexible hose means connecting the other end of the spray head to the water outlet; and flow control valve means on the spray head to regulate the flow of water through the spray nozzle or rose.

2. A douche unit according to Claim 1 wherein: the spray head has an elongate tubular body with a central portion inclined at an angle to a tail portion to which the hose means is connected and a head portion inclined at an angle to the central portion so that the spray head has a modified Z-shape in side view, the spray nozzle or rose being releasably mounted in the head portion.

3. A douche unit according to Claim 2 wherein: the spray nozzle or rose is screw-threadably mounted in a socket in the head portion of the spray head.

4. A douche unit according to Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein: the flow control means includes a button on the tail portion of the spray head operably connected to a slidable valve member in the tail portion.

5. A douche unit according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein: the body is mountable on a wall, where the hot and cold water pipes are concealed in the wall, or on a casing which conceals the pipes externally fixed to the wall.

6. A douche unit according to anyone of Claims 1 to 5 wherein: the mixer unit includes mixer valve means selectively controlling the flow of water from each water inlet to the water outlet.

7. A douche unit according to any one of Claims 1 to 5 wherein: a replaceable container is mountable in the body and contains a supply of liquid soap and/or perfume which is mixed with the water supplied to the spray head.

8. A douche unit according to Claim 6 wherein: a tube connects the container to the water outlet of the mixer unit, the liquid soap and/or perfume being siphoned from the container by the flow of water through the water outlet, and controlled by a switch which selectively closes or crushes the tube.

9. A douche unit according to any one of Claims 1 to 7 wherein: a socket is provided on the spray head and a complementary tongue is provided on the body to enable the spray head to be supported on the body when not in use.

10. A douche unit for a toilet suite substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.