Abstract:
A new sanitary toilet seat apparatus for permitting a user to raise and lower a toilet seat without having to touch the toilet seat directly. The inventive device includes a toilet seat member which is pivotally coupled to a toilet bowl apparatus. At least one counterweight member is coupled to or extends outwardly from the back end of the toilet seat. A lid or cover member of for said toilet seat counterbalances the seat and is provided with a handle for ease of operation well away from the normal contamination areas of the toilet seat.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to toilet seat lifting devices and more particularly pertains to a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus for permitting a user to raise and lower the toilet seat without having to touch the toilet seat directly. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   The use of toilet seat lifting devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, toilet seat lifting devices heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfilment of countless objective and requirements. 
   Known prior art toilet seat lifting devices include U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,063; U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,165; U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,810; U.S. Pat. No. Des 351,550; U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,570 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,017. 
   While these devices fulfill their respective particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus. The inventive device includes a toilet seat which is pivotally coupled to a toilet. At least one counterweight member is coupled to or extends outwardly from the back end of the toilet seat. 
   In these respects, the sanitary toilet seat apparatus according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of permitting a user to raise and lower a toilet seat without having to touch the toilet seat directly. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of toilet seat lifting devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus construction wherein the same can be utilized for permitting a user to raise and lower a toilet seat without having to touch the seat directly. 
   The general purposed of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the toilet seat lifting devices mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new toilet seat apparatus which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art devices, either alone or in any combination thereof. 
   To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a toilet seat which is pivotally coupled to a toilet bowl for rotation about a first axis. At least one counterweight member extends from the back end of the toilet seat. A lid or cover is pivotally mounted to the counterweight member for rotation about a second axis which lies parallel and adjacent to the first axis of rotation of the counterweight member and provides means for raising or lowering the seat member. The lid or cover member may be used to manually raise or lower the seat member. 
   There has been outlined rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
   In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustration in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
   As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposed of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
   Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark office and the public generally, and especially scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way. 
   It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus and method which has many advantages of the toilet seat lifting devices mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art toilet seat lifting devices, either alone or in any combination thereof. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed. 
   It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus which is of a durable and reliable construction. 
   An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus which may be manufactured at a low cost with regard to both materials and labor, and accordingly may be sold at a lower price to the consuming public, thereby making such sanitary toilet seat apparatus economically available to the buying public. 
   Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus for permitting a user to raise and lower of toilet seat apparatus without having to touch the toilet seat directly. 
   Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus which includes a toilet seat which is pivotally coupled to a toilet bowl. At least one counterweight member is coupled to the back end of the toilet seat. Also a second counterweighted member such as the lid or cover member is mounted in parallel adjacent relationship to the first counterweight member and thereby in pivotally coupled relation to the toilet bowl. The toilet lid may be raised and lowered separately and independently of the toilet seat. 
   Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new toilet seat apparatus that allows easy raising and lowering of the toilet seat by using only an upper extremity of the lid or cover member to provide leveraging movement of the toilet seat apparatus by contacting only such lid or cover member with little or minimal physical force. 
   These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective top view of a toilet incorporating the new sanitary toilet seat apparatus according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic enlarged first side view of the present invention showing the toilet seat apparatus mounted on the toilet and in the closed position; 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic enlarged second side view of the present invention showing the toilet seat and lid member in partially open position; 
       FIG. 4  is a fragmentary perspective view of the toilet seat with a pair of fastening elements for connecting the seat to the toilet bowl apparatus; 
       FIG. 5  is an enlarged fragmentary view of the toilet seat and lid pivotally coupled to the toilet bowl and to each other; 
       FIG. 6  is a schematic view of the toilet seat apparatus with the toilet seat and lid in a fully opened position. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 6  thereof, a new sanitary toilet seat apparatus embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and is generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described herein. 
   As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 6 , the sanitary toilet seat apparatus  10  generally comprises a toilet seat  12  and lid  21  which are pivotally coupled to a toilet bowl  18 . A counterbalanced or counterweight member  15  is coupled to and extends outwardly from the back end  17  of the toilet seat  12  (FIG.  5 ). As shown in  FIG. 4 , a pair of fastening members  16  and  17  are used to connect the toilet seat  12  to the toilet bowl apparatus  18  which is rigidly and securely fastened in place in a conventional fashion. 
   The toilet seat  12  is pivotally coupled to the toilet bowl apparatus  18  at a pivot point  30  by the pair of L-shaped fastening members  16  and  17 . The counterweight member  15  extends outwardly from the back  17  of seat  12  and beyond pivot point  30 . The lid  21  is pivotally coupled to the end  15   a  of the counterweight member  15  at pivot point  31   FIG. 1  shows the lid  21  in its raised position in a perspective view.  FIG. 2  shows the toilet seat  12  and the lid or cover member  21  in their closed positions over and covering the toilet bowl apparatus  18 . 
     FIG. 5  shows in an enlarged fragmentary view, the pivot point  30  of the seat  12  and the lid  21  both pivotally coupled to the toilet bowl apparatus  18 . The lid  21  is coupled to the balanced seat  12  and the lid  21  may be raised or lowered independently and the seat  12  may be raised or lowered when the lid  21  is in the raised or fully open position. 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , both the seat  12  and lid  21  are closed above the toilet bowl apparatus  18  to essentially reside in a flat plane.  FIG. 3  shows the seat  12  and lid  21  in partially raised positions above the toilet bowl apparatus  18 .  FIG. 6  shows the seat  12  and lid  21  fully raised. When the lid  21  is at least partially raised, the seat  12  may be raised independently by applying minimal downward pressure toward pivot point  31  (as shown by Arrow A in  FIG. 3 ) to the upper end  35  of the lid  21 . When it is desired to lower seat  12  independently, the user applies a minimal pulling force in the opposite direction to Arrow A. Such placement of minimal lifting force to the upper end  35  of the lid  21  permits raising and lowering of the seat  12  and lid  21  as desired without the use of excessive lifting force to the seat  12  and lid  21 . This action may be easily-actuated by elderly or disabled persons who may have difficulty in lifting the seat  12  and/or lid  21 . 
   The prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,896 to the same discloses an elongated vertical handle member which is pivotally coupled to a counterweight member. The upper end of the handle member is operated vertically to raise and lower the toilet seat. The present invention is substantially different in construction and operates differently from the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,896. 
   The present invention utilizes a double hinge construction at the back ends  17 ,  27  of the seat  12  and lid  21 , respectively, to effect movement of the seat  12  and lid  21 . The two pivot points  30  and  31  of seat  12  and lid  21  respectively are located in essentially the same plane and adjacent to each other. The sequential movement at the two pivot points  30  and  31  permits the seat  12  and lid  21  to be moved sequentially by slight vertical movement of the lid upper end  35 . Contacting only the upper end  35  of the lid  21  and moving same vertically downwardly toward pivot point  31  only a short distance (as shown by Arrow “A” in  FIG. 3 ) allows both the seat  12  and lid  21  to be vertically raised (as shown by Arrow “B”). Only slight vertical movement of the lid  21  such as by a hand designated by the numeral  32  permits seat  12  and lid  21  to be raised. The partial rotation of the pivot point  31  in a clockwise direction about pivot point  30  permits elevation of the seat  12  and lid  21  as desired. It will be seen from  FIG. 2 , when the seat  12  and lid  21  are in a closed position, pivot point  31  lies vertically further from the upper surface  18   a  of bowl  18  than does pivot point  30 . It will be see from  FIG. 6 , that when seat  12  and lid  21  are in a fully open position, pivot point  31  lies vertically closer to the upper surface  18   a  of bowl  18  than does pivot point  30 . 
   In use, the user utilizes the upper end  35  of the lid  21  to both raise and lower the toilet seat  12  relative to the toilet bowl apparatus  18 . When pivoting the toilet seat  12  from the lowered or closed position ( FIG. 2 ) toward the raised position where the lid  21  lies adjacent the tank  37 , the user pushes downwardly, in the direction of Arrow “A” and toward pivot point  31  on the upper end  35  of the lid  21 . Conversely, when pivoting the toilet seat  12  and lid  21  from their raised or fully open positions to the lowered positions where the toilet seat  12  lies adjacent the upper surface  18   a  of toilet bowl apparatus  18 , the user pulls upwardly on the lid upper edge  35  in the opposite direction to Arrow “A”. 
   Seat  12  is preferably manufactured from durable moldable thermoplastic material such as polyethylene, polystyrene or polyurethane material having balanced front and rear portions which surround the pivot point  30 . Thus, the seat  12  is easily rotatable about the pivot point  30 . 
   It is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relations for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to those skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
   Therefore, the forgoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, and it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described herein.