TOILET SEAT AND TOILET PROVIDED WITH IT.

Abstract: The invention relates to a toilet seat, comprising a seat portion (20), a cover portion (21) and a mounting portion (22a, b) and gas pressure springs (10a, b) bringing the seat portion (20) in vertical position after use and also serving to control the downward motion to the horizontal position of the cover (21) and seat portion (20). The velocity of the movement will be substantially constant and an end damping will provide for a minimal impact load. On use in the vertical position, the seat portion (20) can not be dirtied.

Description: Toilet seat and toilet provided with it. The invention relates to a toilet seat, comprising a seat portion and a mounting portion provided with a pivot, at least one of said portions being pivotably mounted to the pivot, as well as an actuating system. Dutch patent application no. 9002115 describes a toilet seat in which after using the toilet, the toilet • seat is brought into a vertical position with the help of weights positioned behind the pivoting axis. The disadvantage of this construction is that an undesired enlargement of the seat is required for mounting the weights as counterweight section. It is also a disad¬ vantage that the toilet seat acquires an accelerated motion, which is to be braked by means of stop cams at the end of its stroke in order to prevent constructional damage. In addition, this known construction does not provide a solution to a toilet seat with might be provided with a cover, for being able to close the toilet after use, which is desirable from a hygienic point of view. Another toilet seat of the type described above is shown in the international patent application no. WO 93/06765. It describes a toilet seat being able to be biased upwards and being provided with a pivoting portion having a built-in locking. By means of the locking, the seat can be disposed above the toilet bowl in an almost downward intermediate position. After a certain period of time, the seat is unlocked from the intermediate position by means of tensioning of a spring and the seat comes up in the vertical position. This invention has a number of important disadvantages. Firstly, the seat portion is brought into a vertical position by means of torsion springs. The spring characte¬ ristic of a torsion spring shows that during the angular rotation of the spring, the torsional force becomes stron- ger. The disadvantage of this spring characteristic is that the seat portion goes up with an increasing velocity, as a consequence of which measures for preventing an undesired high impact load are necessary. Secondly, the large number of parts and the complicated mounting of the parts can be considered as being less reliable and increa- sing the costs and in case of wear or breakage, these parts are difficult to replace. Thirdly, removing the toilet seat from the toilet bowl is indeed relatively easy, but dismounting the individual parts for cleaning • purposes is not easy. Finally, the fact that use of said intermediate position requires an extra action is conside¬ red as a difficulty of said construction. The object of the invention is to provide a construc¬ tion which obviates all said difficulties of the known constructions. To that end, the invention aims at providing a uni¬ form springing of the toilet seat from the horizontal position to the vertical position. According to the inven¬ tion this is obtained by providing that the seat is lifted by at least one, and preferably two gas pressure springs, each of them at one end engaging the mounting portion of the toilet bowl and at the other end engaging the toilet seat. When the seat portion is in its vertical position, it can not be soiled when the toilet is used. The new toilet seat is generally applicable on toilet bowls and can also be made suitable for application on toilet bowls having deviating shapes. By using two gas pressure springs, the tolerance of the extension force is halved and the reliability in operation is improved. Gas pressure springs have a long life and are generally obtainable on the market. Gas pressure springs of the brands Stabilus, Holland Gasspring and Winco among others can be applied. The desired spring characteristic of the gas pressure spring provides for that during the stroke of the piston rod of the gas pressure spring, the spring force will not increase and the extension force will be substantially constant. Such an end damping is chosen that at the end of the in- or outgoing stroke, the impact loads on the cover portion, the seat portion, the mounting portion, the toilet bowl and the rearward flushing unit, either the rear wall, are reduced to a minimum. The low velocity provides for that an intermediate position and/or a delay mechanism are superfluous. The user does not experience any hindrance and need not perform any additional actions to bring the seat into the vertical position. On both the mounting portion and the seat portion, the gas pressure springs are clamped into cup-shaped recessions, as a result of which the parts are easily mountable. After use of the toilet, the gas pressure springs will bring the seat portion into the vertical position. In order to close the toilet bowl, after a short guidance by the user, the gas pressure springs will guide the cover and seat portion in a downward movement to the horizontal position, in which the velocity will be substantially constant and in which there will be an end damping. Due to this, the impact load on the toilet bowl and accompanying annoying sound will be reduced to a minimum. The sum of the weights of the cover and seat portion exerts a force being greater than the opposed force of the gas pressure springs, as a consequence of which the cover and seat portion remains in the horizontal position. The cover portion, the seat portion, the mounting portion and the gas pressure springs can be simply manu¬ ally removed from the toilet bowl. Now it is possible to clean the parts of the toilet seat and the toilet bowl. The invention also relates to a toilet provided with the toilet seat according to the invention. In the following, the invention is further explained by means of the enclosed drawings. The figures show a possible embodiment of the invention described above. Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of the toilet seat according to the invention; Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a part of said toilet seat mounted on a toilet bowl, according to the line II-II in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows a detail of an engaging point between a gas pressure spring and a mounting portion, on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4 shows a side view of said toilet seat in the operational position; Fig. 5 shows a side view of said toilet seat in the vertical position; and Fig. 6 shows a side view of said toilet seat in the horizontal position. In Fig. 1, the seat portion is indicated by 20, the cover portion by 21; each of the mounting portions by 22" and 22 b , respectively, and the gas pressure springs by 10" and 10 , respectively. Each of the mounting portions con¬ tains three slots 1" and l b , respectively. Depending on the position of the holes in the toilet bowl, a mounting bolt 2* and 2 , respectively, is positioned in one of said three slots, so that the mounting portion can be mounted on the toilet bowl 23, see Fig. 2, in a way known per se. The seat portion 20 is provided with cams 4" and 4 , the cover portion 21 with cams 5" and 5 , and the mounting portions with cams 6" and 6 b . A pivot pin and 7 b , respec- tively, connects the cams 4, 5 and 6, as a consequence of which the seat portion and the cover portion can pivot around the pivot pin. A locking ring 3" and 3 b , respective¬ ly, locks the pivot pins. In the Figs. 2 and 3 it can be seen that each gas pressure spring 10 consists of a cylinder 11 and a piston rod 12. The spherical outer end of the cylinder is sunk into the cavity-shaped recession 15 in the seat portion 20. The spherical outer end and the cavity-shaped recessi¬ on form a pivot point. The piston rod 12 has a spherical outer end 13. The spherical outer end is clamped into a cup-shaped recession 14 in the mounting portion 22. The spherical outer end and the cup-shaped recession form a pivot point as well. When the piston rod 12 moves outward¬ ly from the cylinder 11, an angular rotation of the seat portion takes place in respect of the horizontal position. When the piston rod is fully extended the angular rotation of the seat portion in respect of the horizontal plane will be approximately 90°. The extension 16 at the bottom side of the cover portion 21 provides for that the cover and seat portion remain in the vertical position. The gas pressure springs are of a type in which the spring characteristic is such, that the velocity of moving in and moving out is substantially constant during the stroke of both gas pressure springs and the movement of both gas pressure springs is damped at the beginning and/or the end of the stroke. Fig. 4 shows the position of seat and cover portion in operational position. The force F symbolizes the weight of the user. Fig. 5 shows the vertical position of the toilet seat. The arrow indicates the angular rotation of the seat portion, after the user of the toilet has stand up. Fig. 6 shows the horizontal position of the toilet seat. The arrow indicates the angular rotation of cover and seat portion, after a short guiding by the user. - claims -

Claims: C L A I M S 1. Toilet seat, comprising a seat portion and a mounting portion provided with a pivot, at least one of said porti¬ ons being pivotably mounted to the pivot, as well as an actuating system, characterized in that the actuating system comprises at least one gas pressure spring. 2. Toilet seat according to claim 1, characterized in that the spring system conprises preferably two gas pres¬ sure springs. 3. Toilet seat according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the gas pressure spring has a spring characteris¬ tic in which the velocity of moving in and moving out is substantially constant during the stroke of the gas pres¬ sure spring. 4. Toilet seat according to claim 3, characterized in that the stroke motion of the gas pressure spring is damped at the beginning and/or the end of the stroke. 5. Toilet seat according to one of the claims 1-4, cha¬ racterized in that the gas pressure spring(s) is/are pivotably clamped under pressure between cup-shaped reces¬ sions in the mounting portion and the seat portion. 6. Toilet seat according to one of the claims 3-5, cha¬ racterized in that the gas pressure springs press the unloaded seat portion from the horizontal to the vertical position. 7. Toilet seat according to one of the claims 3-6, cha¬ racterized in that a downward movement of cover and seat portion to the horizontal position is controlled by the gas pressure springs, in a way in which the velocity is substantially constant. 8. Toilet seat according to claim 7, characterized in that the cover portion, the seat portion, the gas pressure springs and the mounting portion can be manually mounted and dismounted. 9. Toilet provided with a toilet seat according to one of the preceding claims.

Inventors: ERICH JURGEN CLEMENS, VERHOOG DIRK JACOB WILLEM, ERICH, JURGEN, CLEMENS, VERHOOG, DIRK, JACOB, WILLEM
Applicants: ERICH JURGEN CLEMENS, VERHOOG DIRK JACOB WILLEM, ERICH, JURGEN, CLEMENS, VERHOOG, DIRK, JACOB, WILLEM
Application year: 1996
Main classification: A47K13
IPC codes: A47K13