Abstract:
A lifting toilet chair having arm rests which are utilized to provide a leveraging action to allow the user to control the ascent and descent of a pivoting toilet seat as well as to assist the user in raising himself/herself from a sitting to a standing posture.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates to a toilet chair for use by people with disabilities and, more particularly, to such a toilet chair which utilizes the strength of the user&#39;s arms to assist the user in sitting down and standing up.  
         [0002]     As a person ages, his or her physiological functions gradually degrade. Such aging results in spongy bones and reduced bone and muscle supportability. Thus, an older person often finds it difficult to sit down and stand up. Sitting down and standing up are two movements that necessarily occur when a person uses a toilet. For certain older people and persons who have decreased use of their legs, it may be necessary to have an attendant help them sit down and stand up in the course of using the toilet. However, most people would prefer to use the toilet alone without an attendant being present. Fortunately, even people with decreased use of their legs often still retain strength in their arms. It would therefore be desirable to have a toilet chair which makes use of a person&#39;s arms to assist the person in sitting down and standing up.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     According to the present invention, there is provided a lifting toilet chair comprising a base frame including an upstanding framework having a generally rectangular horizontal open space at its upper end defined by peripheral members and at least one support member overlying the base frame. The support member is pivotally connected to a top front of the base frame and extends rearwardly beyond a top rear peripheral member of the base frame defining the open space. A toilet seat overlies the open space and is mounted to the support member, and a pair of arm rests laterally flank the toilet seat. Each of the arm rests is coupled at a rearward first point to the support member and is pivotally connected at a forward second point to the base frame, and each of the arm rests has a hand grip portion extending forwardly beyond the second point. Accordingly, when a person is sitting on the toilet seat and desires to stand up, he/she grasps the hand grip portions of the arm rests and presses down, thereby initiating a lever action which causes the toilet seat to pivot upward about the top front of the base frame and press against the person&#39;s buttocks to assist in raising the person to a standing posture.  
         [0004]     In accordance with an aspect of this invention, the support member is yieldably biased to pivot upwardly away from the base frame. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]     The foregoing will be more readily apparent upon reading the following description in conjunction with the drawings in which like elements in different figures thereof are identified by the same reference numeral and wherein:  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a top front perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a lifting toilet chair constructed according to the present invention with the toilet seat in a lowered configuration;  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a view similar to  FIG. 1  with the toilet seat in a raised configuration;  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the inventive chair;  
         [0009]      FIG. 4  is a bottom plan view of the inventive chair;  
         [0010]      FIG. 4   a  is an enlarged detail of a portion of  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0011]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the inventive chair with the toilet seat in a lowered configuration;  
         [0012]      FIG. 6  is a side view of the inventive chair with the toilet seat in a raised configuration; and  
         [0013]      FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b  are enlarged cutaway views showing a latch for maintaining the seat in its lowered configuration. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]     Referring now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  shows a lifting toilet chair, designated generally by the reference numeral  10 , constructed according to this invention. The chair  10  may be used by placing it directly over an open toilet (not shown) or by suspending an appropriate receptacle (not shown) from its underside. As shown, the chair  10  includes a base frame  12 , preferably formed of round tubing and having an upstanding framework with a generally rectangular horizontal open space  14  at its upper end defined by peripheral members  16 , 18 . The upstanding framework includes legs  20 , 22 , 24 , 26  spaced so that they can straddle a conventional toilet. Preferably, the legs  20 , 22 , 24 , 26  are telescopically adjustable so that the height of the chair  10  may be varied to accommodate users and toilets of different size.  
         [0015]     A pair of support members  28 , 30  overlie the base frame  12 . Each of the support members  28 , 30  is formed of a flat, rigid plate strip. The support members  28 , 30  extend front-to-back parallel to each other and are each pivotally connected to the top front peripheral member  16  of the base frame  12 . The pivotal connection of the support members  28 , 30  to the base frame  12  is provided by the strips  32 , 34 . Each of the strips  32 , 34  is formed with a respective arcuate portion  36 , 38  which partially encircles the top front peripheral member  16  of the base frame  12 . Each of the strips  32 , 34  is also formed with flat extensions  40 , 42 , 44 , 46 , respectively, which are fixedly secured to the forward end of a respective support member  28 , 30 .  
         [0016]     The toilet chair  10  also includes a toilet seat  48  which is fixedly secured to the support members  28 , 30 . A pair of arm rests  50 , 52  laterally flank the toilet seat  48 . Preferably, the arm rests  50 , 52  are formed unitarily from a single length of tubing and are connected together by a joining portion  54 . As will be described hereinafter, the arm rests  50 , 52  are coupled at their lower rearward ends, through the joining portion  54 , to the support members  28 , 30  and are pivotally coupled at their lower forward ends  56 , 58  to the base frame  12 . Each of the arm rests  50 , 52  has a respective elevated hand grip portion  60 , 62  which, as best shown in  FIG. 5 , extends forwardly beyond the respective point of connection  56 , 58  to the base frame  12 . As shown, each of the arm rests  50 , 52  has its hand grip portion  60 , 62  on a central portion of the arm rest between a front end and a back end of the central portion. Each of the arm rests  50 , 52  also has a forward portion extending upwardly and forwardly to the central portion front end from the pivotal connection  56 , 58  to the base frame  12 , and a rearward portion extending upwardly and forwardly to the central portion back end from the joining portion  54 . This design of the arm rests  50 , 52  provides a leveraging action when the user sits down and stands up.  
         [0017]     For reasons which will be explained hereinafter, it is desirable to yieldably bias the toilet seat  48  into its raised position where it is pivoted away from the base frame  12 . Accordingly, a pair of helical springs  64 , 66  ( FIG. 4 ) are provided. The springs  64 , 66  surround the top front peripheral member  16  of the base frame  12 . The spring  64  has first and second straight ends  68 , 70 , with the first end  68  contacting the support member  28  and the second end  70  contacting the peripheral member  18  of the base frame  12 . Likewise, the spring  66  has first and second straight ends  72 , 74 , with the first end  72  contacting the support member  30  and the second end  74  contacting the peripheral member  18  of the base frame  12 . The springs  64 , 66  are not strong enough to lift the toilet seat  48  with a user supported thereby, but are sufficiently strong to pivot the unoccupied toilet seat  48  upwardly away from the base frame  12 .  
         [0018]     According to the present invention, the pivoting of the support members  28 , 30  (and the toilet seat  48 ) upwardly away from the base frame  12  is limited to an angle of about forty-five (45) degrees to the horizontal. This is accomplished by forming each of the support members  28 , 30  with an elongated slot  76  near its rearward end, as best shown in  FIG. 4   a . The slot  76  extends in a front to back direction rearwardly beyond the top rear peripheral tubing  18  of the base frame  12 . The coupling of the pair of arm rests  50 , 52  to the support members  28 , 30  is provided by a pair of rod members  78 , which may be in the form of bolts, each secured at a first end to the joining portion  54  and extending through a respective support member slot  76  for sliding movement therealong. As the toilet seat  48  pivots upwardly, the bolts  78  travel forwardly along the slots  76 . Accordingly, when the bolts  78  reach the forward ends of the slots  76 , this terminates the pivoting of the toilet seat  48 . Preferably, the slots  76  are dimensioned so that the bolts  78  reach the forward ends of the slots  76  when the toilet seat  48  has pivoted upwardly to an angle of about forty-five (45) degrees to the horizontal.  
         [0019]     When not in use, the chair  10  is as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 6 , with the toilet seat  48  pivoted upwardly to an angle of about forty-five (45) degrees, due to the yieldable biasing force of the helical springs  64 , 66 . A user would then approach the chair  10  and turn so that his/her buttocks are against the toilet seat  48  and his/her hands are on the hand grip portions  60 , 62  of the arm rests  50 , 52 . By pressing on the hand grip portions  60 , 62 , the user keeps the toilet seat  48  up and prevents a sudden falling. As the user starts to lower himself/herself, continued pressure on the hand grip portions  60 , 62  controls the descent of the toilet seat  48  and, consequently, the user. When the user desires to stand up from the chair  10 , downward pressure on the hand grip portions  60 , 62  raises the toilet seat  48  and assists in raising the user to a standing posture.  
         [0020]     There may be times when it is desired to prevent the toilet seat  48  from pivoting upwardly, for example, when shipping the chair  10  or when using the chair  10  without requiring the lifting action. Accordingly, there is provided a latch  80  ( FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b ) which is pivotably secured to the underside of the toilet seat  48  along a side thereof. The latch  80  includes a hook  82  which is engageable with the peripheral tubing member  18  of the base frame  12  in a snap-fit manner when the toilet seat  18  is fully lowered to maintain the toilet seat  48  in the fully lowered orientation until the hook  82  is disengaged from the tubing  18 . Hooks  82  may be provided on both sides of the toilet seat  48  to more firmly secure the toilet seat  48  in its lowered orientation.  
         [0021]     Accordingly, there has been disclosed an improved lifting toilet chair. While an exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed herein, it will be appreciated that various adaptations and modifications to the disclosed embodiment are possible, and it is therefore intended that this invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.