Patent Publication Number: US-6212695-B1

Title: Water closet pan with arm rests

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to water closet pans having arm rests for aiding the user, in particular for persons of defective musculature, ie persons with a muscular system which is not completely efficient, such as elderly persons and paraplegics. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Specifically, the invention concerns the technical problem of fixing and supporting the arm rests on the pan which, being typically of ceramic material, itself presents technical problems with regard to the arm rest fixings and with regard to the stresses to which it is subjected by the weight of the user. The said technical problem is solved by the invention, as characterised in the claims. 
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention comprises a retention means, arranged to be positioned in a completely hidden manner within the rear part of the pan, and to be rigidly fixed to the floor or wall in such a manner as to be supported thereby. The pan is arranged to be fixed to the floor or wall without loading the retention means and vice versa, and has a pair of holes provided in the vertical side walls of its rear part, through which holes the end of the arm rests is fixed to the retention means without loading the pan. A pair of pins of transverse horizontal axis are fixed to the lateral walls of the retention means, and emerge from the pan through said holes provided in the vertical side walls of the rear part of the pan. Close to one of its ends, each arm rest possesses a bush arranged to rotatably engage with a respective said pin. 
    
    
     The invention is described in detail hereinafter with the aid of the accompanying figures, which illustrate a non-exclusive embodiment thereof. 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a water closet pan with arm rests, according to the invention, in the version with the pan fixed to the floor. 
     FIG. 2 is a section on the vertical longitudinal plane of symmetry of the pan of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a view from the rear in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is a plan view taken from above in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 5 is a section on the plane V—V of FIG. 3, which shows a first embodiment of the fixing means between the arm rest and retention means. 
     FIG. 6 is a section on the plane VI—VI of FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 7 is a view from above of the retention means of the preceding figure. 
     FIG. 8 is a view in accordance with the arrow VIII of FIG.  7 . 
     FIG. 9 is a side view of the retention means of FIG.  7 . 
     FIG. 10 is a section similar to FIG. 5 of a second embodiment of the fixing means between the arm rest and retention means. 
     FIG. 11 is a section on the plane XI—XI of FIG.  10 . 
     FIG. 12 is a section on the vertical longitudinal plane of symmetry of a water closet with arm rests, according to the invention, in the wall-mounted suspended pan version. 
     FIG. 13 is a view form the rear, in FIG.  11 . 
     FIG. 14 is a front facing view of the retention means of FIGS. 12 and 13. 
     FIG. 15 is a rear facing view of FIG.  14 . 
     FIG. 16 is a section on the plane XVI—XVI of FIG.  15 . 
     FIG. 17 is a view taken from above in FIG.  1   
    
    
     According to the invention, there is provided a retention means  10  arranged to lie in a position in which it is completely hidden within the rear part of the water closet pan, and to be rigidly fixed to the floor or wall in such a manner as to be supported thereby. In addition, the pan  2  is arranged to be fixed to the floor or wall without loading the retention means  10  and vice versa. 
     In the version in which the pan  2  is of the floor-mounted type, said retention means  10  has the overall form of a vertically extending shell, for positioning within the rear part of the pan  2 , and having a base  12  to be fixed to the floor and two vertical facing lateral walls  11  close to the vertical side walls  4  of the rear part of the pan. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the retention means  10  substantially comprises two parallel, substantially flat vertical lateral walls  11 , and a base  12  consisting of the profiled flat plate which joins together the lower ends of the lateral walls  11 . 
     Finally a U-shaped upper member  13  with its concavity facing forwards is provided to join together the upper portions of the lateral walls  11 . 
     The upper member  13  is in line with the walls  11  and is substantially coplanar with the rear ends of the side walls  4  of the pan  2 . 
     The form and dimensions of the retention means  10  are such that, whereas the base  12  rests on the floor, the two lateral walls  11  face each other and are close to the vertical side walls  4  of the rear part of the pan. 
     In the lower part of the retention means  10  below the member  13  there is housed the rear end of the discharge conduit  5  of the pan  2 , which in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-4 is of the type which leaves horizontally, passing below the member  13 , to connect to a port provided in the wall. 
     Alternatively (embodiment shown by dashed lines in FIG. 2) the discharge  5 ′ descends downwards to pass behind a cut-out provided in the rear side of the base  12 . The retention means  10  is typically of metal and is strengthened by suitable ribs  15  between the walls  11  and the member  13  and by ribs  16  on the base  12 . The base  12  of the retention means  10  is fixed to the floor together with usual fixing screws by which the pan  2  is also fixed. 
     The base  12  is fixed to the floor, together with angle pieces placed on the base  12 , by usual screws and expansion plugs  17  which are positioned through through holes  122  provided in the base  12 . The pan  2  is fixed to the angle pieces  18  by horizontal screws  181  inserted from the outside, to pass through appropriate holes formed in the sides of the pan  2 , and engage in threaded holes provided in vertical walls of the angle pieces  18 . 
     In the vertical side walls  4  of the rear part of the pan  2  there are provided a pair of holes  41  by which the end of two arm rests  20  is fixed to the retention means  10  without loading the pan. 
     The pan arm rests  20  are fixed to the retention means  10  by a pair of pins  21  which pass through said holes  41  provided in the side walls  4  of the rear part of the pan, and are each fixed, with their horizontal axis lying transversely, to an upper portion  111  of the walls  11 . 
     Each pin  21  has an axial hole  23  through which a screw  22  passes to engage in a threaded hole  28  provided in the respective portion  111 , so as to fix the pin  21  to said portion. 
     To prevent the pin  21  rotating about the axis of the screw  22 , each pin possesses two axial pegs  24 , each of which is inserted as an exact fit partly into a respective through hole provided in the portion  11  and the remainder into a respective dead hole provided in the pin  21  to the side of the hole  23 . 
     Each arm rest  20  comprises a rigid strong core  27  covered for example with softer polyurethane material. 
     At one end of the arm rest  20  there is provided a bush  31  rigidly fixed to the core  27  and comprising an axial hole  32  engaging as an exact fit with the pin  21 , in such a manner as to form a rotary pair which enables the arm rest  20  to rotate about the axis of the pin  21 . 
     In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, each pin  21  comprises a groove  33  having two flat opposing radial faces, and a base surface  33 ″ which extends for a determined angle about the pin axis. Said surface  33 ″ is flat. 
     Each bush  31  is secured to the respective pin  21  by a threaded transverse peg  34  which engages in a transverse threaded hole provided in the bush  31  and has its inner end portion projecting into the groove  33 . The diameter of the peg  34  is substantially equal to the width (ie the axial dimension) of the groove  33 , with the result that the bush  31  is axially constrained to the pin  21 . 
     Moreover, the inner end of the peg  34  abuts perpendicularly against the base surface  33 ″ of the groove when the arm rest is in a lower angular position, ie corresponding to the normal arm rest utilization position. On rotating the arm rest  20  upwards (to aid the user in sitting on and rising from the pan) the peg  34  rises from the surface  33 ″ for a certain angular distance, then again returns into contact with it (as shown by dashed lines in FIG. 6) to determine the completely raised position of the arm rest  20 . The pin  21  emerges from the pan  2  through a respective hole  41  provided in the wall  4  and of diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the pin  21  to prevent their mutual contact. 
     In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, each pin  21  comprises a groove  53  having an outwardly facing open side. Said groove has a base surface  53 ″ which extends through a determined angle about the axis of the pin  21 , each bush  31  correspondingly comprising a radial projection  54 , positioned within its cavity to define two abutment faces  54   a  and  54   b  opposing the base surface  53 ″. These two faces  54   a  and  54   b  abut against the base surface  53 ″ when the arm rest  20  is in two different angular positions about the axis A of the pin, so as to define two limiting angular positions of the arm rest, namely the lower utilization position of the arm rest and its raised position respectively. 
     In this embodiment, the pin  21  comprises a second groove  55  extending through 360° and having two parallel opposing flat radial faces, each bush  31  being constrained axially to the respective pin  21  by a threaded transverse peg  56  which is engaged in a transverse threaded hole provided in the bush  31  and has an end portion projecting into the second groove  55 . 
     In both embodiments of the pin  21 /bush  31  combination, the bush  31  remains entirely external to the pan  2 , with its free end arriving close to the wall  4  but without however touching it. 
     Consequently the arm rests  20  are completely supported by the retention means  10 , to which the thrusts produced by the user on the arm rests are transferred, these thrusts then being transferred to the floor. Moreover the pan does not come into contact with the movable parts of the arm rests. 
     The pan hence in no way experiences the stresses and constraints caused by the arms  20 . 
     FIGS. 12-17 show an embodiment of the retention means  10  relative to a pan  2  of suspended type, which is wall-mounted. In this embodiment, the retention means  10  comprises a short cylindrical wall  61  to be traversed by the horizontal discharge conduit  6  of the pan  2 , and two lugs  62  which are upperly joined to the wall  61  and by which it is fixed to the wall. 
     A usual support bracket  63  is incorporated into the wall and floor to support the suspended pan. The support bracket  63  has an L-shaped profile with a portion  63   a  embedded in the floor P 1  and a vertical portion  63   b  embedded in the wall P 2 . To this support  63  there are fixed two pins  64  to which the retention means  10  is fixed by the two lugs  62 . To the side of the pins  64  the support bracket  63  carries a further two pins  65  to which the pan  2  is directly fixed by two lugs  66  provided on it. 
     Numerous modifications of a practical and applicational nature can obviously be made to the invention, but without leaving the scope of the inventive idea as hereinafter claimed.