Patent Publication Number: US-6338167-B1

Title: Detachable toilet seat

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of the prior filed U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/109,372 filed on Nov. 23, 1998. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to fasteners for detachably connecting a removable member, such as a toilet seat, to a stationary member, such as a toilet bowl. 
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is frequently desirable to securely attach a removable member to stationary member in a way that positively secures the removable member but also allows the removable member to be quickly detached from and re-attached to the stationary member. For example, an improved mechanism for easily attaching and removing a toilet seat from a toilet bowl would facilitate installation, maintenance and cleaning, thus lowering costs and promoting sanitation. 
     It is accordingly a principle object of the present invention to positively secure a removable member, such as a toilet seat, to a stationary member, such as a toilet bowl, while permitting the removable member to be quickly detached and quickly re-installed. 
     It&#39;s a further object of the present invention removably attach a toilet seat to a toilet bowl without requiring the use of complex structures employing multiple moving parts, levers, bolts, slide mechanisms etc., thus reducing the cost of a removable toilet seat. 
     It is still another object of this invention to quickly and easily adjust the frictional force which must be applied in order to detach and re-install a toilet seat, so that the seat is effectively held in place during normal use but is also be easily removed to facilitate cleaning. 
     It is still a further object of the invention to convert a conventional toilet seat into a removable toilet seat by simply replacing the conventional fastener with a special fastener which permits the seat to be easily detached, without requiring any modification to either the seat or the toilet bowl. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a simple, positive-acting, long-lasting, maintenance free, inexpensive fastener for interconnecting two members which incorporates manually operable means for force needed to attach and release of the two members. 
     In accordance with a feature of the invention, a novel fastener is employed for detachably connecting first and second members, such as a toilet seat and a toilet bowl. The fastener employs an elongated pin secured at one end to the first member and hollow elongated pin ptacle secured to the second member, the receptacle having deformable side walls which, when subjected to a constricting force, deflect inwardly to clamp and retain the pin within the receptacle. Means are preferably employed for adjusting the constricting force to vary the friction between the receptacle and the pin, thus adjusting the force that must be applied to attach and separate the two members. To provide the needed variable constricting force, the exterior of the pin receptacle is preferably threaded to receive and mate with a manually rotatable member which includes a bearing surface that adjustably engages with the deformable side walls when rotated. 
     The principles of the invention may be used to modify a conventional toilet bowl and toilet set assembly, allowing the seat to be readily removed from the bowl, and promoting sanitation by allowing the toilet seat and bowl to be more easily and completely cleaned. The conventional fasteners which are normally installed through seat mounting holes in the toilet bowl and in the toilet seat are replaced with the new detachable fasteners which use the same mounting holes. One end of an outwardly extending pin is secured to each mounting hole in the toilet seat, and a mounting receptacle is attached to each corresponding mounting hole in the toilet bowl. In accordance with the invention, a constricting force is applied to deflect the receptacle side walls to clamp each pin in place, and a manually adjustable bearing member is employed to adjust the constricting force to vary the friction between the receptacles and pins which secure the toilet seat to the toilet bowl. 
     These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention may be better understood by considering the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the course of this description, frequent reference will be made to the attached drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side-elevational view of a conventional toilet seat to which the pin portion of the detachable fastener has been secured; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a conventional toilet bowl, shown partially in cross-section, to which the pin receptacle portion of the detachable fastener has been secured; 
     FIG. 3 is a side-elevational view showing the toilet seat attached to the toilet bowl by means of the detachable fastener; 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 are end and side views respectively of the pin; 
     FIGS. 6-8 are first end, side and second end elevational views, respectively, of the pin receptacle; 
     FIGS. 9-10 are cross-sectional and end elevational views respectively of the captivation nut; and 
     FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the assembled fastener showing the pin in its captured position within the receptacle. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention is a detachable fastener, two of which may be used to advantage to removably attach a toilet seat to a toilet bowl. Each fastener consists of three specially-formed parts (a pin, a pin receptacle, and a captivation nut) which are attached to the toilet seat and bowl using two standard threaded hardware nuts. 
     The detachable fastener may be used with a conventional toilet assembly consisting of a seat  25 , a seat lid  27 , a lid hinge  29  and a toilet bowl  30  as seen in FIGS. 1-3. Conventional deformable seat bumpers  31  and lid bumpers  33  support the seat and lid when attached to a toilet bowl  40  as seen in FIG. 3. A pair of conventional mounting flanges seen at  32  extend outwardly from the lid hinge  29  to define seat mounting holes which align with corresponding mounting holes  34  in the toilet bowl  30  as seen in FIG.  3 . In accordance with the invention, the conventional plastic nut-and-bolt fasteners (not shown) which are normally inserted through these mounting holes to secure the seat assembly flanges  32  to the bowl  30  may be advantageously replaced by the detachable fastener contemplated by the present invention in order to facilitate the removal and cleaning of the seat assembly and toilet bowl. 
     As seen in FIG. 1, a pin  40  is permanently attached to the flange  32  by a standard plastic flare-headed nut  42 . The configuration of the pin  40  is depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5. Pin  40  is shaped to define an annular flange  44  near a first end of its ends, and is threaded between the flange  44  and that first end to receive the nut  42 . The pin  40  is also preferably formed from a standard moldable plastic material similar to that used in to form the fasteners used by conventional toilet seats for permanent attachment. The distal and threaded portions of the pin  40  preferably have a 0.25 inch diameter. The annular flange  44  preferably has a diameter of 0.625 inches. 
     A pin receptacle assembly is attached to the toilet bowl  30  with a standard flare-headed nut  51  and receives the distal end of the pin  40 . The receptacle assembly, shown attached to the toilet bowl  30  in FIG. 2, includes a hollow receptacle  54 , shown separately in FIGS. 6-9, defines a central bore which receives the pin  40 . The receptacle  54  is formed to include head flange  52  at one end whose outer face is provided with a transverse screwdriver slot  53  used when tightening the nut  51 . The hollow receptacle  54  is tapered at its other end at  55 . Four slots  57  are cut through the wall of receptacle  54  at the tapered end  55  to permit the receptacle to be inwardly deformed to adjustably clamp the pin  40  as described below. The receptacle  54  preferably has an overall length of 2.5 inches, a 0.175 inch inside diameter (before deformation), a 0.36 inch outside diameter. The diameter of the head  52  is preferably 0.95 inches. 
     Similarly, the receptacle  54  has exterior threads which mate with the threads of the conventional flare-headed nut  51  seen in FIGS. 2 and 11. The receptacle  54  is inserted through the mounting hole  34  in the toilet  30  so that, when the nut  51  is tightened, the adjacent section of the toilet bowl  30  is tightly clamped between the nut  51  and receptacle&#39;s head flange  52 , firmly securing the receptacle  50  to the bowl  30 . Note that, at the time of first installation, the nut  51  is preferably fully tightened only after the seat and lid assembly are in place with the two pins  40  inserted into the two corresponding receptacles  54 , thereby insuring that, when the nut  51  is tightened, the receptacles and pins will be properly aligned. 
     FIGS. 9 and 10 shows the design of a plastic captivation nut  70  which, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 11, screws onto and engages with the threaded, slotted end of the hollow receptacle  54 . The captive nut  70  is provided with two outwardly projecting wing flanges at  72  which allow the nut  70  to be manually tightened to clamp the pin  40  against the inner sidewalls of the threaded receptacle  54 . When the nut  70  is tightened, as seen in FIG. 11, the tapered end  55  of the receptacle  54  are drawn into contact with bearing surface defined by the interior bevel  73  (best seen in FIG.  9 ), deflecting the sidewalls of receptacle  54  axially inward to clamp the pin  40 , thereby adjusting the frictional force required to slide the seat assembly secured by the fastener pin  40  onto the bowl secured receptacle. 
     The amount of force required to insert or remove the fastener pin  40  is adjusted by adjusting how far the captivation nut  70  is screwed onto the receptacle  54 . Accordingly, the force required to attach or to remove the seat from the bowl can be varied by properly adjusting the tightness of the nut  70 . In this way, the seat assembly may be secured against any lateral movement yet may be removed from the toilet bowl by applying only a moderate force to raise the seat assembly vertically, pulling the pair of seat fastener pins  40  out of two bowl receptacle receptacles  54 . When the seat assembly is to be returned, the pins  40  may be reinserted and fully seated within the hollow receptacles  54  by applying a similar moderate downward force. 
     The detachable fastener shown in the drawings may be used to convert an existing toilet seat into a detachable toilet set. The conventional pair of plastic nuts and bolts normally used to attach the seat hinge to the bowl are simply removed and replaced with two detachable fasteners of the type described above. To attach each fastener, the nut  42  which secures the pin  40  to the lid hinge flange  32  is rotated into place, but initially left un-tightened. Similarly, the nut  51  which secures the receptacle  54  to the toilet bowl is also initially left un-tightened. After the seat assembly is in place, with the pins  40  inserted into the receptacles  54 , which serves to align the pins and receptacles, the nuts  52  and  51  are tightened to secure the pins  40  and receptacles  54  respectively in their proper positions with respect to the seat and bowl. The captivation nut  70  is then tightened sufficiently to clamp the pin  40  against longitudinal movement within the receptacle  54  by applying a constricting force which deflects the sidewalls of receptacle  54  into tight frictional engagement with the pin  40 . Once the captivation nut is rotated to the proper position to provide the desired frictional force, no further adjustment is necessary during normal use, and the seat may be periodically removed for cleaning and then replaced by simply disengaging and re-engaging the pins and pin receptacles. 
     It is to be understood that the preferred embodiment of the invention described above is merely one illustrative application of the principles of the invention. Numerous modifications may be made to the arrangement and procedures described without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.