Patent Publication Number: US-6658672-B2

Title: Hinge of toilet bowl seat and toilet bowl cover

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is related to a hinge of toilet bowl seat and toilet bowl cover, including a sleeve fitted around a column of the subplate. It is very convenient to install the hinge and the hinge is not easy to loosen. 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 show a conventional hinge of toilet bowl cover. The hinge includes a circular subplate  71  locked on top face of the toilet bowl  72  by a fixing bolt (not shown). An upright column  73  is disposed on the subplate  71 . A bolt  74  is upward passed through the subplate from lower side thereof and screwed into the column to fix the column on the subplate  71 . A pivot shaft  75  is transversely passed through the top section of the column  73 . Two hinge plates  76  are respectively pivoted on two ends of the pivot shaft  75 . One of the hinge plates is connected with the toilet bowl cover  77 , while the other is connected with the toilet bowl seat  78 . By means of the hinge plates  76 , the pivot shaft  75  and the column  73 , the toilet bowl seat and the toilet bowl cover can be pivoted up or down. 
     The bolt  74  is upward passed through the subplate  71  from the bottom face thereof. Therefore, after the subplate  71  is mounted on the toilet bowl  72 , the bolt head  741  is hidden on inner side of the subplate  71 . When replacing the toilet bowl seat or toilet bowl cover and it is necessary to slightly turn the column  73  to aim the hinge plate  76  at the thread hole  781  of the toilet bowl seat (or toilet bowl cover), a user needs to entirely crouch on the floor to untighten the fixing bolt (not shown) to detach the entire hinge assembly. Thereafter, the bolt  74  can be untightened to adjust the column  73 . This is quite inconvenient to the user. 
     The pivot shaft  75  is transversely passed through the top section of the column  73  so that it is impossible to directly downward pass the bolt  74  through the subplate  71 . 
     FIGS. 6 and 7 show another type of conventional hinge. Two sides of the column  81  are respectively provided with two pivot sections  82 . Two sides of an end of each hinge plate  83  are provided with two connecting sections  831  corresponding to the pivot sections  82  for connecting therewith. The bolt  84  is downward passed through the column from the top section thereof and then screwed in a thread hole  851  of the subplate  85 . 
     Such structure overcomes the problem of inconvenience in adjustment and detachment. However, the column  81  is directly locked on the subplate  85  only by one single bolt  84 . When pivoting the toilet bowl seat and toilet bowl cover, the column  81  and the bolt  84  also suffer external force and tend to loosen due to shocking force. Once the bolt is loosened, the column and the hinge plates connected therewith will also loosen. As a result, the toilet bowl seat and toilet bowl cover can be hardly reliably connected on the toilet bowl. 
     Furthermore, the subplate  85  has a limited thickness so that the pitch number of the thread hole  851  of the subplate  85  is limited. Therefore, the bolt  84  is locked on the subplate  85  only by the limited thread  841  at the end of the bolt  84 . Therefore, the bolt  84  cannot be firmly tightened. Moreover, the thread  841  is easy to break due to the shock caused by pivoting the toilet bowl seat or toilet bowl cover. As a result, the bolt is easy to loosen. 
     In addition, the column  81  and the two hinge plates  83  are first assembled and then entirely mounted on the subplate  85 . Therefore, the total weight of the column and the hinge plates makes the assembly thereof considerably heavy. As a result, it is harder for a user to aim the column at the thread hole of the subplate and tighten the bolt therein. Especially, such kind of hinge is generally metal-made. When placing the column  81  onto the subplate  85 , the bottom of the column tends to slip from the subplate. Accordingly, it is quite difficult for the user to on one hand stably aim the column  81  at the thread hole  851  and on the other hand fit the bolt into the column. Therefore, it is quite inconvenient for the user to complete the assembly. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a hinge of toilet bowl seat and toilet bowl cover. The subplate is integrally formed with an upright column. A sleeve is fitted around the column and then a bolt is screwed into the column to fix the sleeve on the subplate. The subplate is fixed on the toilet bowl by a fixing bolt. In case the bolt is loosened, only the sleeve will be slightly loosened, while the stability of the subplate is not affected. Moreover, the sleeve is fitted around the column and supported thereby so that the sleeve is not easy to detach from the subplate. Accordingly, the hinge is firmly connected with the toilet bowl without easy loosening. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above hinge of toilet bowl seat and toilet bowl cover. When assembled, once the through hole of the sleeve is aimed at the top end of the column, the sleeve can be downward fitted onto the column. Therefore, even though the bolt is not yet tightened, the sleeve is substantially stably mounted on the subplate. As a result, it is very convenient to tighten the bolt. 
     It is still a further object of the present invention to provide the above hinge of toilet bowl seat and toilet bowl cover. After the sleeve is downward fitted around the column of the subplate, the bolt is locked at the top sections of the column and the sleeve and exposed to upper side of the toilet bowl. Therefore, when untightening the bolt to adjust the hinge, a user only needs to bow without crouching on the floor. 
    
    
     The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein: 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective assembled view of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line  3 — 3  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective assembled view of a conventional hinge of toilet bowl cover; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective exploded view of the conventional hinge of toilet bowl cover according to FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective assembled view of another type of conventional hinge of toilet bowl cover; and 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line  7 — 7  of FIG.  6 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Please refer to FIGS. 1 to  3 . The hinge of toilet bowl seat and toilet bowl cover of the present invention includes a subplate  1  and a sleeve  2 . 
     The subplate  1  is locked on the top face of the toilet bowl  5  by a fixing bolt (not shown). The subplate  1  is integrally formed with an upright column  11 . The top end of the column  11  is formed with an inner thread section  111 . 
     The sleeve  2  has an axial through hole  21  corresponding to the column  11 . The sleeve  2  can be fitted around the column  11  with the top edge of the through hole  21  higher than the top edge of the column  11 . The sleeve is locked on the subplate  1  by a bolt  3 . The bolt  3  corresponds to the inner thread section  111  of the column  11  and has a head section  31 . The outer diameter of the head section  31  is larger than the inner diameter of the through hole  21 . The bolt  3  is downward fitted into the through hole  21  of the sleeve  2  and screwed into the inner thread section  111  of the column  11 . The head section  31  of the bolt  3  is stopped at the top edge of the through hole  21  to fix the sleeve  2 . 
     Two pivot shafts  22  respectively integrally project from two opposite sides of the sleeve  2 . Two hinge plates  4  each is respectively pivoted on a corresponding one of the two pivot shafts  22 . The hinge plates  4  are respectively connected with the toilet bowl seat  51  and the toilet bowl cover  52 . 
     Referring to FIG. 3, the bolt  3  is tightened in the column  11  to fix the sleeve  2 . The subplate  1  is fixed on the toilet bowl by a fixing bolt. In case the bolt  3  is loosened, only the sleeve  2  will be slightly loosened, while the stability of the subplate  1  is not affected. Moreover, the sleeve  2  is fitted around the column  11  with the inner circumference of the sleeve  2  snugly attaching to the outer circumference of the column  11 . Therefore, the sleeve  2  is not easy to detach from the subplate  1 . Accordingly, the toilet bowl seat  51  and the toilet bowl cover  52  can remain well usable. 
     In addition, when assembled, once the through hole  21  of the sleeve  2  is aimed at the top end of the column  11 , the sleeve  2  can be downward fitted onto the column  11 . Therefore, even though the bolt  3  is not yet tightened, the sleeve  2  is substantially stably mounted on the subplate  1 . As a result, it is very convenient to tighten the bolt  3 . 
     Furthermore, the bolt  3  is locked at the top section of the column  11  and exposed to upper side of the toilet bowl  5 . Therefore, when untightening the bolt  3  to adjust the hinge plates, a user only needs to bow without crouching on the floor as in the prior art. 
     The above embodiment is only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiment can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.