Abstract:
A chair has a chair frame, and a seat plate mounted on the chair frame. The seat plate has hole that is wider at the front than at the rear. The chair further includes a container mounted below the hole, and a cushion positioned above the seat plate. The cushion has an opening that is aligned with the hole, with the opening being wider at the rear than at the front. The chair also includes a lid that is fitted inside the opening and supported by portions of the seat plate.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a chair with a toilet sink, and in particular, to a chair with a toilet sink having a lid which can be easily removed and replaced. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     To help physically challenged or elderly persons, or persons having difficulty in using a toilet on their own, wealthy households take advantage of the availability of nurses. Since employing nurses-can be difficult or expensive, various companies have introduced chairs that are designed for conveniently answering nature&#39;s call, to be used by a patient who leaves the bed and has a certain degree of mobility. 
     One example of such chairs is illustrated in FIG. 6, which shows a chair  90  having a seat plate  91  with a hole  92  provided therein. A toilet sink  93  is mounted below the hole  92  for collecting the excreta and urine. Although this design provides a certain degree of convenience, the existence of the uncovered hole  92  means that the patient will not be able to stay seated on the seat plate  91  for an extended time. 
     FIG. 7 illustrates another example. To provide more comfortable seating, a cushion or a lid  94  is placed on the seat plate  91 , which covers the hole  92  so that the patient can sit comfortably on the cushion  94 . Although the chair shown in FIG. 7 allows the patient to answer nature&#39;s call as well as to move around comfortably, it suffers from the following shortcomings: 
     1. When the patient wants to relieve himself or herself, a nurse has to help her or him up, open the lid  94 , and carry the patient back on the chair. 
     2. After usage, the nurse has to lift up the patient again and close the lid  94  to bring the patient back onto the chair. 
     3. If the patient is an adult person, her or his body is relatively heavy and may not be easy to move. In practice, it is difficult for other persons to lift the patient up from the lid  94  and to put her or him back on the lid  94 , as described above. 
     4. If the lid  94  is not closed, the patient will sit directly on the seat plate  91 , which is both uncomfortable and impairs blood circulation in the patient&#39;s body. 
     Thus, there remains a need for a seat that can be used by a patient to answer the call of nature, which avoids the drawbacks set forth above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a chair with a toilet sink having a lid which a patient is able to open on her or his own, or with the assistance of a nurse, without having to leave the chair. 
     It is another object of the present invention is to provide a chair with a toilet sink having a lid which a patient is able to close on her or his own, or with the assistance of a nurse, without having to leave the chair. 
     In order to accomplish the objects of the present invention, the present invention provides a chair having a chair frame, and a seat plate mounted on the chair frame. The seat plate has hole that is wider at the front than at the rear. The chair further includes a container mounted below the hole, and a cushion positioned above the seat plate. The cushion has an opening that is aligned with the hole, with the opening being wider at the rear than at the front. The chair also includes a lid that is fitted inside the opening and supported by portions of the seat plate. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a chair having a toilet sink according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the chair of FIG. 1 shown with the lid removed. 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the seat plate, the cushion and the lid of the chair of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the seat plate of the chair of FIG. 1 according to another embodiment thereof. 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the cushion and the lid of the chair of FIG. 1 according to another embodiment thereof. 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional chair having a toilet sink. 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another conventional chair having a toilet sink. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating general principles of embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the chair with a toilet sink of the present invention is embodied in the form of a chair  80  having a frame  81  with legs, as well as a front side, lateral sides and a rear side. The chair  80  has a seat plate  10  (or a frame  10 A as shown in FIG. 4) having a hole  11 , a toilet sink  20  mounted below the hole  11 , a cushion  30  adapted to be provided on the seat plate  10  or the frame  10 A and having an opening  31  which is narrow at a front edge and widens towards the rear, and a lid  40  adapted to cover the opening  31  to allow a patient to sit comfortably on the chair. In particular, the seat plate  10  is mounted on the chair  80  and can be a regular plate of hard material or a grid frame. The hole  11  is wide at the front edge and narrows towards the rear. The toilet sink  20  is mounted below the seat plate  10  and can be removed from the front side, either of the two lateral sides, or the rear side, of the chair  80 . Preferably, a distance of about  15  cm is provided between the rearmost point  16  of the hole  11  and the rear edge  17  of the seat plate  10 , as shown in FIG.  3 . 
     The cushion  30  is placed on the seat plate  10  or the frame  10 A. The opening  31  in the cushion  30  is narrow at the front edge and widens towards the rear. One possible configuration for the opening  31  is to have a generally circular section  32  at about the center of the cushion  30 , with a longitudinal section  33  extending from the circular section  32  through the front edge of the cushion  30 . The opening  31  of the cushion  30  has a rearmost point  34  that is farther away from the rear edge  35  of the cushion  30  than the distance between the rearmost point  16  of the hole  11  and the rear edge  17  of the seat plate  10 . As a result, inserting the lid  40  is made more convenient. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, when the cushion  30  is laid on the seat plate  10 , lateral segments  13 ,  14  of the seat plate  10  adjacent the hole  11  are exposed. 
     The lid  40  can have the same configuration as the opening  31  to fit and cover the opening  31 , having a circular section  42  and a longitudinal section  43 . The lid  40  can be a body that has a narrow front part (e.g., at  43 ) and a wider rear part (e.g., at  42 ), covering the opening  31  of the cushion  30 , thereby allowing the patient to sit on the chair  80 . When the lid  40  is inserted in the opening  31  of the cushion  30 , the narrow front part thereof rests on the front edge of the seat plate  10 , and the wider rear part thereof is supported by the lateral segments  13 ,  14  of the seat plate  10 . As a result, when the patient sits on the cushion  30 , the lid  40  will not sink in or slide forward. 
     In addition, a depression  15  can be in the front edge of the seat plate  10 , which provides an easier access of user fingers to lift up and remove the lid  40 . 
     In use, when a patient sits on the chair and wants to relieve himself or herself, he or she slightly spreads the legs, uses his or her hand to lift the front edge of the lid  40  and removes the lid  40  in a forward pulling movement. After finishing the bowel movement, the lid  40  can be replaced by the patient slightly spreading his or her legs, then setting the lid  40  at the rear thereof on the rear of the opening  31  of the cushion  30 , and then lowering the lid  40  on the front of the cushion  30  until the opening  31  is completely covered. Of course, if the patient moves his or her body slightly to the rear on the cushion  30 , it will be easier to pull out and replace the lid  40  since there will be more room to facilitate a smoother movement of the lid  40 . 
     Furthermore, if during use, the patient moves his or her bottom slightly forward to position the bottom right above the opening  31  (like sitting on an actual toilet seat), the cushion  30  will be kept clean. 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate another embodiment according to the present invention. For example, FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative frame  10 A that can be substituted for the seat plate  10 . The frame  10 A can be made of a plurality of rods or ribs, leaving a hole  11 A that is wide at the front edge and narrows towards the rear. In addition, FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative cushion  30 A and an alternative lid  40 A that can be substituted for the cushion  30  and the lid  40 . The cushion  30 A has an opening  31 A that can have a similar configuration as that of opening  31 , except that a bar  37 A extends across the longitudinal section  33 A and closes the opening  31 A. The lid  40 A is also essentially the same as the lid  40 , except that a groove  44 A is provided along the front edge of the longitudinal section  43 A. The groove  44 A is adapted to be engaged by the bar  37 A, and to pivot about the bar  37 A. 
     The present invention can be used with either a regular chair or a wheelchair. 
     The present invention has the following advantages: 
     1. Due to the shape of the lid  40  being narrow at the front and wider at the rear, there is no risk of the lid  40  sliding when the patient is sitting on the cushion  30  and the lid  40 . 
     2. The shape of the lid  40  being narrow at the front and wider at the rear, and the shape of the opening  11  of the seat plate  10  having being wider at the front and narrower at the rear, ensures that the lid  40  will not sink. 
     3. The patient, without having to leave the chair, is able to conveniently replace the lid  40  by herself or himself or with the help of a nurse. 
     While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present invention.