Improvements in or relating to toilet seats

Abstract: A raised toilet seat is formed from plastics material as a single member by injection moulding and comprises a seat surface (10) from which inner and outer flanges (12,14) depend downwardly to form an open bottomed channel in which are located integral strengthening webs (18) the lower surface (20) of which provides toilet bowl engaging means, three point clamping means (22,24) formed integrally with the flange (14) being provided and comprising a front downwards extension and a pair of rear clamping screw members (38) mounted in threaded passages (36) in extensions from the outer flange.

Description: The present invention concerns improvements in or relating to toilet seats and a method of manufacturing such a seat. It has been found that the height from the floor of a normal toilet seat presents difficulties to certain users and these difficulties can be mitigated if the seat is raised. In the past there have been provided a number of different designs of toilet seats intended to replace standard toilet seats and to provide a raised seating surface. One such prior design has been disclosed in European Patent Application No. 0161352A which discloses a raised toilet seat according to the preamble of claim 1. It is fabricated from plastics from a number of components which are fixed together by gluing, screwing or any other suitable means. Such seats have been relatively expensive to produce. It is important that, in use, the toilet seat is held against movement on the toilet bowl and as a result, it is necessary to provide clamping means. The raised toilet seat disclosed in European Patent Application No. 0161352 provided a four point adjustable clamp assembly. These adjustable clamping means have been provided by brackets which are adjustably and releasably mounted to the underside of the toilet seat. Each clamping means includes a first downwardly extending leg which abuts the inner rim of the toilet bowl and a second outer displaceable leg which is drawn into contact with the outer rim of the bowl by a screw passing through the outer leg and engaging in a threaded passage in the inner leg, the screw being located above the level of the rim of the toilet bowl. It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate disadvantages exhibited by prior toilet seats. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a raised toilet seat comprising a toilet seat surface, downwardly depending flanges extending from the outer and inner periphery of the surface to define a downwardly opening channel below the seat surface, toilet bowl engaging means in said channel by which the seat can be supported on a toilet bowl and clamping means adapted to engage the toilet bowl to hold the seat against displacement, characterised in that said seat is manufactured in one piece by injection moulding from a plastics material, in that the outer flange is intended in use to be generally on a level with the level of the top of the toilet bowl and is provided at its front with a downwardly directed extension intended, in use, to project below the level of the top of the toilet bowl and define a clamping means and in that two further downwardly depending extensions from the outer flange are provided on either side of the seat in the region of the rear of the seat to define further clamping means, each further extension including a passage for accommodating a threaded member adpated to abut the sides of the toilet bowl, thereby clamping the seat to the toilet bowl. Preferably each threaded passage comprises one or more upper semi-circular segments each having a void therebelow for injection molding tool withdrawal and one or more lower semi-circular segments each having a void thereabove for injection moulding tool withdrawal, the void or voids being spaced in the axial direction of the passage relative to the void or voids and arranged adjacent thereto. Preferably the toilet bowl engaging means comprise a plurality of webs formed between the outer and inner flanges, the webs extending from the underside of the seat surface and terminating on a plane which is generally parallel to the plane of the seat surface. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a raised toilet seat as described in the preceding three paragraphs includes forming the threaded passages during the injection moulding process by the injection moulding tool, the two components of which are split in plane which is substantially parallel to the plane of the toilet seat surface so that the tool components can move away from each other in a direction perpendicular to said plane to release a moulded toilet seat. Preferably threaded members for engagement in said passages are manufactured by injection moulding by a two part separable tool, the member comprising three circumferentially spaced segments, separated by co-planar grooves, the grooves permitting tool withdrawal after moulding. An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a perspective view from the front, one side and above; Fig. 2 shows a perspective view from the front, the other side and below; Fig. 3 shows a top plan view; Fig. 4 shows a front elevation; Fig. 5 shows a sectional elevation on the line III-III of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 shows a view from below; Fig. 7 shows a side elevation; Fig. 8 shows a sectional elevation on the line II-II of Fig. 3; Fig. 9 shows an elevation of a clamping screw; and Fig. 10 shows a cross-section on the line X-X of Fig. 9. A raised toilet seat for fitment to the top of a normal toilet bowl comprises a toilet seat surface 10 which is generally similar to a normal toilet seat surface but has depending downwardly from its outer and inner peripheries continuous flanges or skirts 12,14. The depth of the inner flange 12 is such that its lower edge 16 projects into the toilet bowl whereas the depth of the outer flange 14 is such that it, in use, it is level with the upper edge of the toilet bowl. The seat surface 10 and flanges 12,14 thus define an inverted channel. The gap between the outer and inner flange is spanned by a plurality of strengthening webs 18, the lower surfaces 20 of which are intended, in use, to support the seat on the upper edge of the toilet bowl. As a result of this, the lower edges of the webs 18, or at least the majority of the webs 18 lie on the same, in use horizontal, plane. A downwardly extending extension 22 is provided on the forward end of the outer flange 14 and, in use, this extension prevents movement of the seat towards the rear of the bowl. Further movement of the seat is prevented by a pair of opposed clamping assemblies 24 arranged on further extensions 28 of the outer flange 14 in the region of the rear of the toilet seat. Each extension 28 comprises a double wall, one of which 30 is a downward extension of the outer flange 14, the other of which 32, takes the form of a cowling which commences from a position part way up the outer flange 14 and bulges outwardly and downwardly so that its lower edge corresponds with the lower edge of the extension 30. As can be best viewed from Figs. 2 and 5 the block of material 34 extends between the cowl 32 and the inner extension 30 and includes a threaded passage 36 for reception of a threaded clamping member 38. The raised toilet seat can be clamped on the bowl against movement laterally thereto and upwardly thereof by screwing the threaded members 38 into the passages 36 until they abut the sides of the toilet bowl. The ends of the threaded members 38 may be provided with protective pads 40 of a rubber or resilient plastic material and the outer ends may be provided with wings 42 or knobs 44 to assist in their movement. For ease of manufacture and economy the raised toilet seat is manufactured from a plastics material by an injection moulding operation involving only two tool components, the plane of the split between the tools being substantially parallel to the plane in which the toilet seat surface 10 lies, that is the in use horizontal plane. It will be observed that the configuration of the toilet seat surface 10 and the downwardly depending flanges 12,14, as well as the strengthening webs 18, present no problems in the separation of the tool halves but care has to be given to the formation during the moulding operation of the two threaded passages 36 for the clamping screws 38 as these passages run perpendicularly to the direction of tool separation. Each threaded passage is formed using the same tooling by forming three upper semi-circular segments 50 (Fig. 5) having three voids 52 (Fig. 2) for tool removal formed in the section of the block 34 therebelow. Two lower semi-circular segments 54 (Figs. 2 and 5) are provided alongside but in staggered relationship with the upper segments 50 and each has a void 56 for tool removal formed in the block 34 thereabove. A portion of a continuous female thread is formed on each semi-circular segment 50,54 and, in use, receives the threaded member 38 which, in consequence is not embraced by a thread continuously round its periphery, rather it is engaged at five mutually spaced semi-circular threaded segments. The threaded member 38 may also be formed from the same plastics material by an injection moulding technique involving a two-part separable tool. The threaded member does not have a continuous circular circumference but comprises an upper segment 60 having projecting from its outer surface thread portions 62 and two lower segments 64 each carry thread portions 66 which along with the thread portions 62 form a continuous thread which is engageable with the threads in the threaded passage. The segment 60 is separated from the threaded segments 64 by two effectively removed segments 68 and the segments 64 are separated from each other by a further removed segment in the form of an upwardly directed channel 70. Downwardly projecting grooves 72 extend into the segment 64 from the removed segment 68 and it will be appreciated, especially by considering Fig. 10 that the threaded member 38 can be formed by a two-part injection moulding tool the top part of which is separable from the lower part along the plain S-S shown in Fig. 10. The plastics material from which the raised toilet seat is moulded is chosen such that it can withstand the heat of autoclaving. Various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. In one modification a lid may be fitted over the open base of the channel formed between the flanges 12 and 14. To facilitate fitment of the lid ledges 74 are formed at the base of the flanges. In a further modification the threaded passages could be formed by normal thread forming techniques involving the use of a threaded mandrel which, at separation of the mould halves is rotated to cause its withdrawal without destroying the threads.

Claims: A raised toilet seat comprising a toilet seat surface, downwardly depending flanges extending from the outer and inner periphery of the surface to define a downwardly opening channel below the seat surface, toilet bowl engaging means in said channel by which the seat can be supported on a toilet bowl and clamping means adapted to engage the toilet bowl to hold the seat against displacement, characterised in that said seat is manufactured in one piece by injection moulding from a plastics material, in that the outer flange (14) is intended in use to be generally on a level with the level of the top of the toilet bowl and is provided at its front with a downwardly directed extension (22) intended, in use, to project below the level of the top of the toilet bowl and define a clamping means and in that two further downwardly depending extensions (28) from the outer flange (14) are provided on either side of the seat in the region of the rear of the seat to define further clamping means, each further extension (28) including a passage (36) for accommodating a threaded member (38) adapted to abut the sides of the toilet bowl, thereby clamping the seat to the toilet bowl. A raised toilet seat as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that each threaded passage (36) comprises one or more upper semi-circular segments (50) each having a void (52) therebelow for injection moulding tool withdrawal and one or more lower semi-circular segments (54) each having a void (56) thereabove for injection moulding tool withdrawal, the void or voids (56) being spaced in the axial direction of the passage relative to the void or voids (54) and arranged adjacent thereto. A raised toilet seat as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that the toilet bowl engaging means comprise a plurality of webs (18) formed between the outer and inner flanges (12,14), the webs extending from the underside of the seat surface (10) and terminating on a plane which is generally parallel to the plane of the seat surface (10). A method of manufacturing a raised toilet seat according to one of the claims 1 to 3, whereby the threaded passages are formed during the injection moulding process by the injection moulding tool, the two components of which are split in plane which is substantially parallel to the plane of the toilet seat surface (10) so that the tool components can move away from each other in a direction perpendicular to said plane to release a moulded toilet seat. A method of manufacturing a raised toilet seat as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that threaded members (38) for engagement in said passages are manufactured by injection moulding from a mouldable material by a two part separable tool, each member (38) including three circumferentially spaced segments (60,64) separated by co-planar grooves (72) the grooves permitting tool withdrawal after moulding.

Inventors: ELLIS WILIAM EDWIN GORDON, ELLIS, WILIAM EDWIN GORDON
Applicants: GORDON ELLIS & CO, GORDON ELLIS & CO.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: A47K13
IPC codes: A47K13