Patent Publication Number: US-6665886-B1

Title: Toilet seat

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a toilet seat, and more particularly to a toilet seat provided with restoring and transmission mechanisms to move a set of shielding panels between a closed and an opened position to close or open a central opening of the toilet seat. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     FIGS. 1 and 2 are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, of a conventional flush toilet  1  that includes a toilet bowl  2  and a toilet seat  12  and a toilet seat lid  11  pivotally connected to a rear side of the toilet bowl  2 . The toilet seat lid  11  is provided at a rear side with two holes  111  adapted to receive two shafts  121  sideward projected from a rear side of the toilet seat  12 , so that the lid  11  is pivotally connected to the toilet seat  12  to cover the latter. 
     After the lid  11  and the toilet seat  12  are assembled together through engagement of the holes  111  with the shafts  121 , they are further connected to the toilet bowl  2 . 
     When a male user wants to relieve himself, he would usually lift the lid  11  and the toilet seat  12  first. However, there are times some male users do not lift the toilet seat  12  before relieving themselves and therefore smudge the toilet seat  12 . 
     Another problem with the conventional toilet seat  12  is it is possible for some people to carelessly drop some item into the toilet bowl  2  via a central opening of the toilet seat  12  when the lid  11  is not closed onto the toilet seat  12 . 
     It is therefore desirable to develop an improved toilet seat to eliminate the drawbacks existed in the conventional toilet seat. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A primary object of the present invention is to provide a toilet seat that would automatically remind a male user to lift it before relieving himself. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a toilet seat that prevents foreign matters from undesirably dropping into the toilet bowl. 
     To achieve the above and other objects, the toilet seat of the present invention includes an upper and a lower seat for a predetermined number of sets of restoring mechanism, transmission mechanism, and shielding panel to mount between them. When the upper seat is subjected to a downward force, the restoring mechanism is compressed and the transmission mechanism is caused to move the shielding panel horizontally from a closed position closing the central opening of the toilet seat to an opened position opening the central opening. And when the toilet seat is not in use, a restoring force of the compressed restoring mechanism pushes the upper seat and the transmission mechanism upward, and the shielding panel is brought by the transmission mechanism to move from the opened position to the closed position again. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional flush toilet having a conventional toilet seat; 
     FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a toilet seat according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line A—A of FIG. 4 with shielding panels included in the toilet seat in a closed position; 
     FIG. 5A is an enlarged view of the encircled area of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 5B is a partially enlarged view showing the state of an elastic element included in the toilet seat when the shielding panels are in the closed position; 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line A—A of FIG. 4 showing the shielding panels are moving to an opened position; 
     FIG. 6A is an enlarged view of the encircled area of FIG. 6; and 
     FIG. 6B is a partially enlarged view showing the elastic element included in the toilet seat is compressed when the shielding panels are in the opened position; 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to FIGS. 3 and 4 that are exploded and assembled perspective views, respectively, of a toilet seat  3  according to the present invention, and to FIGS. 5 and 6 that are sectional views taken along line A—A of FIG.  4 . As shown, the toilet seat  3  includes an upper seat  34  and a lower seat  35 , and is provided between the upper and the lower seat  34 ,  35  at predetermined positions with two shielding panels  33 , with which restoring mechanisms  31  and transmission mechanisms  32  are associated for the shielding panels  33  to move between a closed position, in which the shielding panels  33  close a central opening defined by the toilet seat  3 , and an opened position, in which the shielding panels  33  open the central opening of the toilet seat  3 . 
     As can be most clearly seen from FIG. 3, the restoring mechanism  31  includes a locating rod  311  connected at an upper end to a lower side of the upper seat  34 , an elastic element  312  mounted around the locating rod  311 , and a sleeve  313  vertically movably receiving a lower end of the locating rod  311  therein. More specifically, the locating rod  311  includes an upper shaft portion  311   a  and a lower engaging portion  311   b . The lower engaging portion  311  is a conic body having a transversely extended central slit  311   c ; and the sleeve  313  includes a hole  313   a  defined at an upper end thereof, and a pivotal pin portion  313   b  downward projected from a lower end thereof. 
     FIG. 3 also shows that the transmission mechanism  32  includes a transmission element  321  having trapezoidal external threads provided thereon and being connected at an upper end to the lower side of the upper seat  34 , and a gear  322  mounted on the transmission element  321  and having trapezoidal internal threads provided thereon to mesh with the trapezoidal external threads of the transmission element  321 , such that the gear  322  is vertically movable on and relative to the transmission element  321 . 
     The shielding panel  33  is provided at two opposite ends with a horizontally extended recess  331  each, in which a rack  332  is mounted to mesh with the gear  322 . The shielding panel  33  is also provided near the two opposite ends immediately above the two recesses  331  with a slide slot  333  each. The slide slot  333  is vertically communicable with the recess  331  and extends almost a full width of the shielding panel  33 . 
     The upper seat  34  of the toilet seat  3  is provided along a lower peripheral edge with a first hooking rim  341 , and the lower seat  34  is provided along an upper peripheral edge with a second hooking rim  351  adapted to engage with the first hooking rim  341  and thereby connect the upper seat  34  to the lower seat  35  to provide the whole toilet seat  3  an esthetic appearance. 
     To assemble the restoring mechanism  31  to the toilet seat  3 , first put the elastic element  312  around the shaft portion  311   a  of the locating rod  311 , and then take advantage of the slit  311   c  to force the engaging portion  311   b  of the locating rod  311  into the hole  313   a  at the upper end of the sleeve  313 . Thereafter, connect the upper end of the locating rod  311  to the lower side of the upper seat  34  at a predetermined position, and extend the pivotal pin portion  313   b  at the lower end of the sleeve  313  into the slide slot  333  on the shielding panel  33 . Meanwhile, allow the transmission element  321  of the transmission mechanism  32 , which has been connected at the upper end to the lower side of the upper seat  34  beforehand, to extend a lower end through the slide slot  333  and the gear  322  that has been pre-positioned in the recess  331  below the slide slot  333 . Through meshing of the trapezoidal external threads of the transmission element  321  with the trapezoidal internal threads of the gear  322 , the gear  322  is held in the recess  331  of the shielding panel  33  to mesh with the rack  332  mounted in the recess  331 . Repeat the above steps to assemble other restoring mechanisms  31 , transmission mechanisms  32 , and shielding panels  33  to the lower side of the upper seat  34 . Finally, the lower seat  35  of the toilet seat  3  is connected to the upper seat  34  through engagement of the second hooking rim  351  with the first hooking rim  341 . 
     FIG. 5 shows the shielding panels  33  assembled to the lower side of the upper seat  34  are normally located at a closed position to shield a central opening of the toilet seat  3 . A male user has to lift the toilet seat  3  with the closed central opening before he can relieve himself. Thus, It is possible to always keep the toilet seat  3  clean and sanitary for use. FIG. 5A is an enlarged view of he encircled area of FIG. 5 to better show the positions of the restoring and the transmission mechanisms  31 ,  32  relative to the shielding panel  33  when the latter is in the closed position. And, FIG. 5B is an enlarged view showing the position of the elastic element  312  relative to the locating rod  311  when the shielding panel  33  is in the closed position. 
     On the other hand, FIG. 6 shows the shielding panels  33  in an opened position to open the central opening of the toilet seat  3 . When a user sits on the toilet seat  3 , the upper seat  34  is subjected to a downward force to move downward relative to the lower seat  35 . At this point, the locating rods  311  connected to the lower side of the upper seat  34  are also lowered to extend deeper into the sleeves  313 , as can be better seen from an enlarged view in FIG. 6A, and the elastic elements  312  put around the shaft portions  311   a  of the locating rods  311  are compressed between the upper seat  34  and the sleeves  313 , as can be clearly seen from an enlarged view in FIG.  6 B. Meanwhile, the transmission elements  321  connected to the lower side of the upper seat  34  also lower along with the downward moved upper seat  34 . At this point, the gears  322  meshed with the transmission elements  321  are caused to rotate while moving upward along the transmission elements  321 . Since the gears  322  are located in the horizontal recesses  331  of the shielding panels  33  to mesh with the racks  332  mounted in the recesses  331 , the gears  322  push the racks  332  forward when they rotate and move upward on the transmission elements  321 , and accordingly bring the shielding panels  33  to move outward and upward relative to the central opening of the toilet seat  3  under guiding of the slide slots  333 . The shielding panels  33  are therefore finally opened. 
     When the toilet seat  3  is not in use, the upper seat  34  is not subjected to the downward force and is pushed upward by a restoring force of the compressed elastic elements  312  of the restoring mechanisms  31 . The restoring force of the compressed elastic elements  312  also acts on the sleeve  313  to therefore move the shielding panels  33  downward by a certain distance. At this point, the gears  322  meshed with the rack  332  mounted in the horizontal recesses  331  of the shielding panels  33  are brought by the downward moved shielding panels  33  to lower. Due to the mutually meshed trapezoidal external and internal threads on the transmission elements  321  and the gears  322 , respectively, the gears  322  rotate while they are lowering. Moreover, since the gears  322  mesh with the racks  332 , the rotation and the downward movement of the gears  322  brings the shielding panels  33  to move inward and downward relative to the central opening of the toilet seat  3  under guiding of the slide slots  333 . The shielding panels  33  are gradually moved to finally close the central opening of the toilet seat  3 , as shown in FIG.  5 . 
     With the shielding panels  33  normally closing the central opening of the toilet seat  3 , the risk of having any item carelessly dropped into a toilet bowl  4  below the toilet seat  3  can be avoided. Moreover, with the shielding panels  33  provided on the toilet seat  3 , it is possible to omit the conventional toilet seat lid  11  from the toilet seat  3 . 
     It is noted that the shielding panels  33  for the above-described toilet seat  3  are not limited to two in number and may be increased or decreased. However, it is most preferable that the shielding panels  33  are at least two in number. 
     The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.