Abstract:
In order to control the rotational torque of opening/closing bodies, such as seats and lids for Western-styled lavatory stool, allowing them to be easily opened, stopped and held stably in an opened state, and preventing them from dropping abruptly when they are closed, the present invention provides an opening/closing device with a pair of brackets fitted on two sides at the upper end of the rear part of a lavatory stool and a pair of cases, one for each of the pair of brackets, for bearing and holding one side of a corresponding bracket. A holder housing receives each of these cases, and has a fitting part for a lavatory lid, and is disposed rotatably between the pair of brackets. A pair of supporting members for the lavatory is positioned outside the brackets, and is borne and held by the cases. A rotating shaft with a rotation controller is provided within each case, one of these rotating shafts being disposed so as to rotate together with the holder and the other being disposed so as to rotate together with the supporting members.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an opening/closing device for opening/closing bodies such as a wooden seat or lid opening and closing vis-a-vis a Western-styled lavatory stool, and more particularly to an opening/closing device suitable for an opening/closing body whose abrupt drop in the course of closing is desired to be prevented. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Wooden seats and lids have been publicly known for use with Western-styled lavatory stools. 
     A wooden seat or lid, which is heavier than a plastic one, if dropped abruptly, may make a noise loudly or injure the user&#39;s hand if caught between it and the stool, and is heavier to open. 
     Accordingly, there is a keen requirement for an opening/closing device which could allow a wooden lavatory seat or lid to be easily opened and to steadily hold itself in an upright position and, when the seat or lid is to be closed, prevent it from dropping abruptly. As the users&#39; requirements as well as the dimensions and weight of the seat and lid are diverse, it a case having a rotating shaft on which rotation control means having various torque curves is caused to act, and is fitted replaceably, a single opening/closing device can conveniently meet the users&#39; diverse needs and the different dimensions and weights of seats and lids, and serves to reduce the cost. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A first object of the present invention is to provide an opening/closing device which can control the rotational torque of an opening/closing body, such as a lavatory seat or lid, and has a simple configuration which allows a lavatory seat or lid to be easily opened and to steadily hold itself in an open position and, when the seat or lid is to be closed, prevents it from dropping abruptly. 
     A second object of the invention is to provide an opening/closing device for an opening/closing body, enabled to create diverse torque covers merely by replacing a case having a rotating shaft on which rotation control means is caused to act. 
     In order to achieve the aforementioned objects, according to the invention, there is provided an opening/closing device consisting of a pair of brackets fitted on two sides at the upper end of the rear part of a lavatory stool; a pair of cases, one for each bracket of the pair of brackets, for bearing and holding one side of the corresponding bracket; a holder housing for receiving part of each of these cases, having a fitting part for a lavatory seat or lid, and disposed rotatably between said pair of brackets; and a pair of supporting members having a fitting part for the lavatory lid or seat positioned outside said brackets, and borne and held by said cases; wherein a rotating shaft, on which rotation control means is caused to act, is provided within each of said cases, one of these rotating shafts being disposed so as to rotate together with said holder and the other being disposed so as to rotate together with said supporting members. 
     In this configuration, the invention enables part of said pair of cases to be detachably borne and held by said pair of brackets, the remaining part of said pair of cases to be detachably housed in said holder, and said pair of supporting members to be detachably borne and held by said pair of brackets and/or cases. 
     According to the invention, there is also provided an opening/closing device consisting of a pair of brackets fitted on two sides at the upper end of the rear part of a lavatory stool; a pair of cases, each for one bracket of the pair of brackets, for bearing and holding one side of the corresponding bracket; a holder housing for receiving part of each of these cases, having a fitting part for a lavatory seat or lid, and disposed rotatably between said pair of brackets; and a pair of supporting members having a fitting part for the lavatory lid or seat positioned outside said brackets, and borne and held detachably by said cases; wherein a rotating shaft, on which rotation control means is caused to act, is provided within each of said cases, one of these rotating shafts being disposed so as to rotate together with said holder and the other being disposed so as to rotate together with said supporting members, and each of the rotation control means caused to act on said rotating shafts is a torsion spring caused to act between said rotating shaft and cases. 
     According to the invention, there is further provided an opening/closing device consisting of a pair of brackets fitted on two sides at the upper end of the rear part of a lavatory stool; a pair of cases, each for one bracket of the pair of brackets, for bearing and holding one side of the corresponding bracket; a holder housing for receiving part of each of these cases, having a fitting part for a lavatory seat or lid, and disposed rotatably between said pair of brackets; and a pair of supporting members having a fitting part for the lavatory lid or seat positioned outside said brackets, and borne and held by said cases; wherein a rotating shaft, on which rotation control means is caused to act, is provided within each of said cases, one of these rotating shafts being disposed so as to rotate together with said holder and the other being disposed so as to rotate together with said supporting members, and said rotation control means caused to work on each of said rotating shafts is composed of a fixed cam provided within the case, a rotating-sliding cam, opposite to this fixed cam, fitted so as to freely slide on the rotating shaft and to rotate together with the rotating shaft, and a spring pressing this rotating-sliding cam toward the fixed cam. 
     According to the invention, there is further provided an opening/closing device consisting of a pair of brackets fitted on two sides at the upper end of the rear part of a lavatory stool; a pair of cases, for the pair of brackets, for bearing and holding one side of the corresponding bracket; a holder housing for retaining part of each of these cases, having a fitting part for a lavatory seat or lid, and disposed rotatably between said pair of brackets; and a pair of supporting members having a fitting part for the lavatory lid or seat positioned outside said brackets, and borne and held by said cases; wherein a rotating shaft, on which rotation control means is caused to act, is provided within each of said cases, one of these rotating shafts being disposed so as to rotate together with said holder and the other being disposed so as to rotate together with said supporting members, and one of said rotation control means caused to work on each of said rotating shafts is composed of a torsion spring caused to act on said rotating shaft, while the other is composed of a fixed cam provided within the case to let said rotating shaft penetrate rotatably, a rotating-sliding cam, opposite to this fixed cam, fitted so as to freely slide on the rotating shaft and to rotate together with the rotating shaft, and a spring provided between this rotating-sliding am and the fixed cam, wound around said rotating shaft, and pressing said rotating-sliding cam toward said fixed cam. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a plan of an opening/closing device for opening/closing bodies according to the invention being applied to an opening/closing body such as the seat, lid or the like of a Western-styled lavatory stool. 
     FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional profile of the device illustrated in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan of the internal structure of an opening/closing device for opening/closing bodies according to the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view of an opening/closing device for opening/closing bodies according to the invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional plan for describing the operation of rotation control means A of an opening/closing device for opening/closing bodies according to the invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional plan for describing the operation of rotation control means B of an opening/closing device for opening/closing bodies according to the invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a plan of an opening/closing body, such as a lavatory seat, lid or the like opened to an angle of 90°. 
     FIG. 8 is a profile of the state shown in FIG. 7. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Whereas a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which represents an application thereof to opening/closing bodies, such as the seats, lids or the like of Western-styled lavatory stools, is described below, the invention is not limited to this embodiment, but is applicable to a broad range of opening/closing bodies. 
     In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a pair of brackets each consisting of a fitting section 1a and a bearing section 1b, and the fitting sections 1a are fastened to the upper end of the rear part of a Western-styled lavatory stool 2 at a prescribed spacing between them with bolts 3. In a keyhole-shaped bearing hole 1c provided in each of the bearing section 1b is borne a cylinder-shaped case 4 or 5, with one of its ends inserted into the hole. The cases 4 and 5 themselves are non-rotatably borne and held by the brackets 1 as due to the engaging of projections 4a and 5a, provided on the circumferences of the cases 4 and 5, respectively, with grooves 1d provided in the bearing holes 1c. 
     On the external sides of the brackets 1 are arranged a pair of supporting members 7 for a wooden lavatory seat 6, fixed to fitting sections 7a of these supporing members 7, at the rear end of the seat. Supporting shafts 7c and 7d projecting from bearings 7b of the numbers 7, extend into holes 1e, these shafts being borne by shaft holes 8a and 9a bored into a bearing cylinder 8 and a rotating cylinder 9 in the cases 4 and 5. The configuration of these constituent elements is such that, while the left-side supporting shaft 7c and the shaft hole 8a to accommodate the shaft 7c have circular cross sections, the right-side supporting shaft 7d and the shaft hole 9a to accommodate the shaft 7d have substantially oval cross sections so that, though the supporting shaft 7c and the left-side supporting member 7 do not rotate together with the bearing cylinder 8 but rotate independently, the supporting shaft 7d and the right-side supporting shaft 7 do rotate together with the rotating cylinder 9. 
     Between the brackets 1 is arranged a holder 10 comprising a cylindrical section 10a and a pair of fitting sections 10b projecting from the middle part of the cylindrical section 10a in its radial direction with a prescribed spacing between them. The cases 4 and 5 are housed in accommodating holes 10c and of the cylindrical section 10a. To the fitting sections 10b is fastened the rear end of a lavatory lid 11. The fitting sections 7a and 10b of the seat 6 and the lid 11, respectively, may as well be disposed in a reverse way to the above-described embodiment, i.e. the rear end of the lid 11 being fitted to the fitting sections 7a for the seat 6 and that of the seat 6 being fitted to the fitting sections 10b for the seat 11. 
     Next is described rotation control means, first A on the left side in FIG. 4. A side part of the above-described bearing cylinder 8 is rotatably housed in a side part of the left-side case 4 borne and held by the bearing part 1b of the bracket 1, and around this bearing cylinder 8 is wound a torsion spring 12, of which one end is held onto the case 4 and the other end, to a collar 13. Incidentally, reference numeral 14 denotes an O ring. The collar 13 is engaged with one end of a rotating shaft 15, and fastened to it with a fitting screw 16 so that it may not come off. The rotating shaft 15 is housed rotatably in the case 4 in its axial direction by having a diaphragm 4b bearing a side part of a deformed axial part 15a and a large diameter part 15b provided at the other end borne within the case 4. Incidentally, reference numeral 15c denotes another O ring. To this rotating shaft 15 are fitted a fixed cam 17 and a rotating-sliding can 18a with its deformed axial part 15a penetrating or engaging with a penetrating hole 17a and a deformed hole 18, and while the fixed cam 17 is non-rotatably fixed to the diaphragm 4b by fitting projections 17b into holding holes 4c bored in the diaphragm 4b, the rotating-sliding cam 18 rotates together with the rotating shaft 15 and is free to slide. Between this rotating-sliding cam 18 and the large diameter part 15b is elastically provided a compression spring 19, wound around the rotating shaft 15, to constantly press the rotating-sliding cam 18 to slide toward the fixed cam 17. The fixed cam 17 and the rotating-sliding cam 18 are respectively provided with pairs of concave parts 17c and 18b and convex parts 17d and 18c in mutually opposite positions. 
     A holding hole 15d having a substantially oval cross section is provided on the large diameter 15b side of the rotating shaft 15, and a supporting shaft 10f having a substantially oval cross section, projecting from a partitioning wall 10e within the holder 10 in the axial direction, is inserted and held in this holding hole 15d, so that the rotating shaft 15 rotate together with the holder 10. 
     Next is described rotation control means B on the right side in FIG. 4. A side part of the above-described rotating cylinder 9 is rotatably housed in a side part of the right-side case 5 borne and held by the bearing part 1b of the bracket 1, and around this rotating cylinder 9 is wound a torsion spring 21, of which one end is held onto to the case 5 and the other end, to a collar 22. Incidentally, reference numeral 23 denotes an O ring. The collar 22 is engaged with a deformed axial part 9b protecting from one end of the cylinder 9, and this deformed axial part 9b is fit into a deformed holding hole 24c provided in the shaft core part of a large diameter part 24b of a rotating shaft 24 in the axial direction, and fastened with a fixing pin 25 compressedly inserted in the radial direction of the large diameter part 24b so that the large diameter part 24b may not come off. The rotating shaft 24 is housed rotatably in the case 5 in its axial direction by having a diaphragm 5b bearing a side part of a deformed axial part 24a and the large diameter part 24b provided at the other end borne within the case 4. The rotating shaft 24 is also held onto a diaphragm 5b with a fitting screw 29 so that it may not come off. To the rotating shaft 24 is fitted a fixed cam 26 and a rotating-sliding cam 27 with its deformed axial part 24a penetrating or engaging with a penetrating hole 26a and a deformed hole 27a, and while the fixed cam 26 is non-rotationally fixed to the diaphragm 5b by fitting projections 26b into holding holes 5c bored in the diaphragm 5b, the rotating-sliding cam 27 rotates together with the rotating shaft 24 and is free to slide. Between this rotating-sliding cam 27 and the large diameter part 24b is elastically provided a compression spring 28, wound around the rotating shaft 24, to constantly press the rotating-sliding cam 27 to slide toward the fixed cam 26. The fixed cam 26 and the rotating-sliding cam 27 are respectively provided with pairs of concave parts 26c and 27b and convex parts 26d and 27c in mutually opposite positions. 
     As the large diameter part 24b of the rotating shaft 24 and the rotating cylinder 9 are engaged with each other as stated above, the rotating shaft 24 is so disposed as to rotate together with the supporting member 7 on the right side of the seat 6 via the rotating cylinder 9. 
     Next is described the operation of the rotation control means A on the left side of FIGS. 4 and 5. 
     When the lid 11 is opened or closed, the holder 10 rotates together, and the rotating shaft 15 rotates with the rotation of the holder 10 as the case 4 is held onto the bracket 1 and the rotating shaft 15 is held onto the supporting shaft 10f of the holder 10. 
     First, when the lid 11 is in a closed state, the torsion spring 12 is wound to the limit as illustrated particularly in FIG. 4, and the fixed cam 17 and the rotating-sliding cam 18 are in a state wherein the convex parts 17d and 18c of their respective cam parts 17e and 18d are in contact with each other, and the compression spring 19 is also compressed to the maximum. 
     When the lid 11 in this state is opened, because the torsion spring 12 is pressing the lid 11 in the opening direction and the convex part 18c of the rotating-sliding cam 18 slides into the concave part 18b from the convex part 17d of the fixed cam 17, the lid 11 can be opened without causing the user to feel its real weight. When it is opened to an angle of 90°, the winding force of the torsion spring 12 drops with the result that the convex part 18c of the rotating-sliding cam 18 fully falls into the concave part 18b of the fixed cam 17 to stabilize the lid 11 and to prevent it from falling naturally. The lid 11 can be opened beyond this angle of 90° up to about 110° and, it there is a stopper (not shown), for instance a stopper installed between the circumference of the collar 13 and the inner wall of the case 4, the lid 11 will be stopped by this stopper or, if there is a water tank (not shown) behind the stool 2, it will be stopped as it hits this water tank. 
     When the opened lid 11 is to be closed, its motion is decelerated by the resistance working on the convex part 18c of the rotating-sliding cam 18 which has to climb a slope from the concave part 17c against the elasticity of the compression spring 19 and the repulsive force of the torsion spring 12 being wound, and the lid 11 is prevented from dropping abruptly. 
     Next is described the operation of the rotation control means B on the right side of FIGS. 4 and 6. 
     When the seat 6 is opened or closed, the holder 10 does not rotate together. Nor does the case 5 as it is held onto the bracket 1. However, the rotating shaft 24, as it is configured so as to rotate with the supporting member 7 of the seat 6 via the rotating cylinder 9, rotates with the opening/closing action of the seat 6 via the rotating cylinder 9. 
     First, when the seat 6 is in a closed state, the torsion spring 21 is wound to the limit as illustrated particularly in FIG. 4, the fixed cam 26 and the rotating-sliding cam 27 are in a state wherein the convex parts 26d and 27c of their respective cam 26e and 27d are in contact with each other, and the compression spring 28 is also compressed to the maximum. 
     When the seat 6 in this state is opened, because the torsion spring 21 is pressing the seat 6 in the opening direction and the convex part 27c of the rotating-sliding cam 27 slides into the concave part 27b from the convex part 26d of the fixed cam 26, the seat 6 can be opened without causing the user to feel its real weight. When it is opened to an angle of 90°, the winding force of the torsion spring 21 drops with the result that the convex part 27c of the rotating-sliding cam 27 fully falls into the concave part 26b of the fixed cam 26 to stabilize the seat 6 and to prevent it from falling naturally. The seat 6 can be opened beyond this angle of 90° up to about 110° and, if there is a stopper (not shown), for instance a stopper installed between the circumference of the collar 22 and the inner wall of the case 5, the seat 6 will be stopped by this stopper or, if there is a water tank (not shown) behind the stool 2, it will be stopped as it hits this water tank. 
     When the opened seat 6 is to be closed, its motion is decelerated by the resistance working on the convex part 27c of the rotating-sliding cam 27 which has to climb a slope from the concave part 26c against the elasticity of the compression spring 28 and the repulsive force of the torsion spring 21 being wound, and the seat 6 is prevented from dropping abruptly.