Patent Abstract:
There is provided a toilet seat hinge which allows different seats to be quickly replaced or substituted and which will adapt to different manufacturers&#39; bowls. This is accomplished by providing removable hinge pins to secure the seat to the hinge, and adjustable connections from the hinge base to the toilet bowl. The base of the hinge may also be integral with the toilet bowl.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0001]    The invention relates to the field of toilet seats, and more particularly to a hinge for securing the toilet seat and cover which is adaptable to different seats and different toilets.  
         BACKGROUND  
         [0002]    Currently toilet seats and seat covers are connected to two hinges which are each secured to the toilet bowl by a threaded bolt which extends through a hole provided in the bowl and is secured by a nut. The bolts may either be integral with the seat hinge or may be separate and extend through holes in the seat hinge. It is therefore difficult to replace or substitute a seat or cover with a different seat or cover since the entire hinge assembly must generally be replaced. Further, different manufacturers may use different spacing for the hinges and bolt holes, so seats are not interchangeable among manufacturers. A specialized toilet seat, such as the Combination Toilet Seat disclosed in the present inventor&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,781 may be suitable for one manufacturer&#39;s toilet bowl but may not fit another&#39;s. There is therefore a need for a toilet seat hinge which allows different seats to be quickly replaced or substituted and which will adapt to different manufacturers&#39; bowls.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0003]    The present invention provides a toilet seat hinge which allows different seats to be quickly replaced or substituted and which will adapt to different manufacturers&#39; bowls. This is accomplished by providing removable hinge pins to secure the seat to the hinge, and adjustable connections from the hinge base to the toilet bowl. The base of the hinge may also be integral with the toilet bowl.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0004]    In drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention:  
         [0005]    [0005]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention attached to a toilet seat and cover, with the hinge partially cut-away to illustrate the bolt attachment;  
         [0006]    [0006]FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the invention mounted on a toilet with an attached toilet seat;  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 3 is a top view of the invention mounted on a toilet with an attached toilet seat, with hinge pins removed for illustration;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 4 is a top view of the invention mounted on a toilet with an attached toilet seat, with hinge pins removed for illustration in which a second embodiment of the hinge pin is illustrated;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of a further embodiment of the invention, with the hinge integral with the toilet bowl;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 6 is a top view of the hinge pin used with the invention;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 7 is a top view of the hinge pin used with the invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 8 is a right end view of the hinge pin used with the invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 9 is a side elevation view of the hinge;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 10 is a top view of the hinge;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 11 is a front view of the hinge;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 12 is a bottom view of the hinge;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 13 is a side elevation view of the preferred bolt used with the hinge;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 14 is a top view of the nut used with the invention; and  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 15 is a cross-section of the nut taken along lines A-A of FIG. 14.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION  
       [0020]    Throughout the following description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention. However, the invention may be practiced without these particulars. In other instances, well known elements have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive, sense.  
         [0021]    With reference to FIG. 1, the hinge of the invention is generally designated as  10 . A toilet seat  12  is hingedly connected to hinge  10  by hinge lugs  14 ,  16  which are secured to the toilet seat  12  by screws or the like and which have cylindrical bores for receiving hinge pins  18 ,  20 .  
         [0022]    Toilet seat cover  22  is hingedly connected to hinge  10  by hinge lugs  24 ,  26  which are secured to the toilet seat cover  22  by screws or the like and which have cylindrical bores for receiving hinge pins  18 ,  20 . Hinge  10  has flanges  28 ,  30  which have cylindrical bores for receiving hinge pins  18 ,  20 . Hinge  10  has a base portion  32  having tracks  36  adjacent either end, as described in further detail below, and a central cylindrical block or body portion  34 . Attachment bolts  40  have nuts  42  and heads  44  which slide in tracks  36 .  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 illustrates hinge  10  attached to toilet  50  having toilet bowl  52 , tank  54  and bowl flange  56 . Hinge  10  is secured through holes  58 , shown in dotted outline, through bowl flange  56 . In FIG. 3 a second child&#39;s seat  22 ′ is shown substituted for the seat cover  22  although a three-part Combination Toilet Seat having two nested seats and a cover, as disclosed in the present inventor&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,781, may also be used. Hinge pins  18 ,  20  extend through cylindrical passages in connectors  14 ,  26 ,  16 ,  24 , cylindrical passages in flanges  28 ,  30  and into holes  33  in body  34 .  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 shows a variant of the hinge pin  19  in which the length of the pin is reduced by reducing the length of the cylindrical portion  21 .  
         [0025]    The second variant  19  is useful where a two-part seat is used. Where a three-part seat such as the Combination Toilet Seat disclosed in the present inventor&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,781 is used the longer cylindrical portion  21  as in hinge pin  18  is required since the pin extends through an extra pair of lugs. The hinge pin  18 , shown in more detail in FIGS. 6, 7 and  8 , is also described in the present inventor&#39;s U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,781 which is incorporated herein by reference. It is formed of a hard but resilient material such as plastic and has cylindrical body  21  having a grasping flange  60  extending from one end and elongated pin  62  extending from the other end. Pin  62  has a central slot  64  cut out along the central axis of pin  62  which causes pin  62  to have some diametric resiliency in a direction perpendicular to the length of the pin and the direction of the slot. A rounded camming protrusion  66  is provided on pin  62  to hold the pins in place in the manner described below.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIGS. 9 through 12 illustrate in further detail the hinge base  32 . It has a lower surface  37  which bears against the upper surface of toilet bowl  52  and may have a cut-out  35  to reduce the amount of material required for manufacture. Flanges  28  and  30  have an outer rectangular aperture  31  and an inner cylindrical aperture  29 . Body  34  also has two cylindrical apertures  33 . Apertures  29  and  33  have a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of pin  62  so they can receive the end  63  of hinge pin  18 . Apertures  29  and  33  have a diameter slightly less than the diameter of protrusion  66  so that protrusion  66  is prevented from extending beyond aperture  31 . The height of aperture  31  is slightly greater than the diameter of protrusion  66  but the width is slightly less. This permits the portion of hinge pin  18  with protrusion  66  to enter aperture  31  freely when the protrusion  66  is aligned with the longer dimension of the aperture  31 , but when rotated 90 degrees, the protrusion  66  is cammed against the vertical sides of aperture  31  which compresses pin  62  due to the presence of slot  64 , causing protrusion  66  to bear against the vertical sides of aperture  31  with a friction fit. The apertures in hinge lugs  14 ,  16  are preferably oblong in shape, with a longer dimension slightly greater than the diameter of protrusion  66  and a width greater than pin  62  but less than the width of aperture  31 , so that when the toilet seat  12  is in the position shown in FIG. 1, hinge pin  18  can be inserted through connectors  14  and  16  and when rotated, protrusion  66  is cammed against the sides of aperture  31  and prevented from being withdrawn through the apertures in connectors  14  and  16 . The apertures in connectors  26  and  30  may be cylindrical and have a diameter slightly greater than that of pin  62 .  
         [0027]    As shown in FIGS.  13 - 15 , nut  42  has a central threaded passage  45  which threadedly engages threads  47  on bolt  40 . Nut  42  has a head  49  with angled teeth  41  to securely engage the underside of flange  56 .  
         [0028]    In operation, heads  44  of bolts  40  are slid along tracks until the spacing appropriate to the spacing of holes  58  in bowl flanges  56  is determined. Bolts  40  are then extended through the holes  58  and secured in place with nuts  42 . The toilet seat  12  and toilet seat cover  22  are then installed on the hinge  10  as described above.  
         [0029]    According to a further embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 5, the toilet bowl  52  is provided with flanges  28 ,  30  and body  34  on a hinge base  57  integral with the toilet bowl  52 . Preferably the base  57  and flanges  28 ,  30  and body  34  are built into the bowl itself by molding or casting. This removes the need for securing by bolts  40  and nuts  42  and similarly no tracks  36 , cut-out  35  or holes  58  are present. The structure of flanges  28 ,  30 , body  34 , with apertures  29 ,  31 ,  33  and hinge pins  18 ,  20  are otherwise the same as described above.  
         [0030]    As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8