Improvements in and relating to Seats for Water Closets.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Seats for Water Closets.
We, GEORGE Pocock and PERCY ROGERS Pocock, trading together as Pocock
Brothers, of 235, Southwark Bridge Road, S.E., in the County of London, Boot
Manufacturers, and WILLIAM NEVETT, of the County Asylum, Stafford, in the
County of Stafford, Clerk of Works, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:-
This invention relates to seats for water closets, and has reference more par-
ticularly to seats of that kind or class which are hinged or pivoted, and are pro-
vided with means for automatically raising them into a vertical position so as to
uncover the pan of the water closets, the latter being usually of the pedestal type.
Heretofore the means employed for thus automatically raising the seats have
consisted of counter-balancing weights connected to rearwardly extending lever
arms at the back of and below the level of the seat.
Now such means are not only clumsy and unsightly but they are very liable
to be interfered with and thrown out of order by mischievous persons, and it is
the purpose of the present invention to overcome these objections, and to provide
means of a simple and reliable character which can be secured in position on
some part of the water closet cover, where they are not liable to be interfered
with.
According to the said invention I employ for the purpose of giving the neces-
sary force to raise the seat, a spring bolt or plunger which works longitudinally
in a suitable casing and which is so arranged that when the seat is turned down
it is compressed to such an extent that it will serve by its reaction to raise the
seat when the latter is released.
The bolt, which may be formed of brass and have its outer extremity rounded
off, may be acted upon by a stout helical wire spring arranged behind it in its
casing. This casing may be let into the under side of the fixed part of the cover
by screws or otherwise so that the bolt projects from the front edge of such part,
and abuts against the rear edge of the seat. At the place where the said bolt
bears against the edge of the seat the latter is provided with a metal plate to
receive the thrust.
The adjacent edges of the seat and of the fixed part to which it is attached,
are bevelled or inclined rearwardly and downwardly at an angle of 45 degrees or
approximately so. The
of this is to enable the bolt while moving in a
purpose
straight horizontal line to constantly act on and turn the seat upward to the
required extent, for it will be readily understood that in this movement of the
seat, the thrust plate on the bevelled rear edge thereof will move only from a
rearwardly inclined position to a forwardly inclined position, and will not move
out of the path of the spring bolt as it would do if the rear edge of the seat were
cut off square instead of being bevelled.

page_text: To prevent the bolt being shot out of the casing by the spring, it is provided
with a stud or projection working in a slot in its outer casing.
The seat may advantageously be hinged at its rear corners, by means of pivot
pins or studs projecting from cheek plates secured to it, and engaging in eyes
formed in corresponding lugs or cheek plates at the sides of the rear or fixed part
of the cover. The lugs in which the eyes are formed may be provided with
stops or projections to arrest the movement of the seat, and to serve for it to
rest against with a slight rearward inclination when raised. These stops serve
also to prevent the seat striking and damaging the flush pipe or wall of the water
closet.
Our invention is especially applicable to seats for water closets of the pedestal
type fitted in public institutions, lunatic asylums and other places where any
conspicuous moving parts are liable to be tampered with or injured.
Obviously the construction may in some cases be modified by causing a suit-
able spring to act directly against the bevelled rear edge of the seat or against
a suitable arm or projection secured to the seat, the longitudinally moving bolt
in such cases being dispensed with.
Dated thin 1
. . 1
1000
Improvements in and relating to Seats for Water Closets.
We, GEORGE Pocock and PERCY ROGERS POCock, trading together as Pocock
Brothers, of 235, Southwark Bridge Road, S.E., in the County of London, Boot
Manufacturers, and WILLIAM NEVETT, of the County Asylum, Stafford, in the
County of Stafford, Clerk of Works, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to hinged or pivoted seats for water-closets, and has
reference more particularly to those that are provided with means for automati-
cally raising the seats into an upright position, so that the pan of the water-closet
normally remains uncovered. The means heretofore employed for this purpose
have usually consisted of counter-balancing weights connected to rearwardly
extending lever-arms at the back of and below the level of the seat.
Now such means are not only both clumsy and unsightly but are capable of
being easily interfered with and thrown out of order by mischievous persons, and
it is the purpose of the present invention to overcome these objections, and to
provide means of a simple and reliable character that can be secured in position
on some part of the water-closet seat, in such a manner that they are not liable
to be interfered with.
The
For this purpose we employ a spring-bolt or plunger which is so arranged that
when the seat is turned down, the spring compressed to such an extent that it
will serve, by its reaction, to raise the seat when the latter is released.
nose or outer extremity of the bolt is curved or cam-shaped to act upon the seat
near its pivot, such portion of the seat being suitably formed for the bolt to
act on and provided with a metal plate to receive the thrust.
The hinging of the seat may advantageously be effected by means of pivot pins
or studs projecting from cheek-plates secured to the sides of the hinged seat and
engaging in eyes formed in corresponding lugs or cheek-plates at the sides of

page_text: the rear or fixed part of the seat. The lugs in which the eyes are formed may be
provided with stops or projections to arrest the upward movement of the seat, and
to retain the latter in its raised position.
Our invention is particularly applicable to seats for water-closets of the
pedestal type intended for use in public institutions, especially lunatic asylums
and such other places where any conspicuous moving parts are liable to be tam-
pered with or injured by the inmates."
In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried
into effect, we will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to the
accompanying drawings in which:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 an underside view of a portion of a
water-closet seat with our spring-bolt applied thereto.
A is the movable portion of the seat hinged to the rear portion A' which is
fixed by brackets to the wall of the water closet or otherwise supported as is well
understood. B is the spring-bolt contained within a metallic casing 6 which is
provided with a detachable cover 6' for enabling access to be had to the said bolt
when desired. Against the rear or inner end of the said bolt, one end of the
helical spring 62 bears, its other end bearing against the end of the recess 63 in
the said casing b. The bolt is provided with a stud or projection 6 which works
in a slot in the cover of the casing, to limit the extent of rectilinear move-
ment of the bolt and also to prevent it from turning axially. The rear edge a
of the hinged seat and the adjacent edge a¹ of the fixed part A¹ to which it is
attached, are bevelled or inclined-rearwardly and downwardly at an angle of
45 degrees or approximately so. The nose or outer extremity of the bolt is also
formed with a curved portion 56 to bear against the said rear inclined edge
the hinged seat, such portion being provided with a metallic plate to receive the
thrust of the bolt and avoid wear of the seat at this part. This construction of
the bolt and of the adjacent edges a a¹ enables the bolt, while moving in a
straight horizontal line, to constantly act on and turn the hinged seat upward
to the required extent, for it will be readily understood that in this movement
of the hinged seat, the thrust-plate on the bevelled rear edge thereof will move
only from a rearwardly inclined position to a forwardly inclined position, and
will not move out of the path of the spring-bolt, as it would do if the rear edge
of the seat were square instead of bevelled.
a of
C is one of the hinge-pins with which the hinged seat A is provided at its
opposite side edges near the rear, such pins forming part of cheek-plates c firmly
screwed to the said side edges of the hinged seat. The side edges of the fixed
portion A¹ of the seat are provided with cheek-plates c¹ having eyes to receive the
aforesaid hinge-pins C. These cheek-plates c are also provided with stops
against which the hinged seat A bears when in its raised position and by which the
extent of upward movement of the seat is limited. By filing the active face of these
stops, to remove more or less of the surface thereof, at the time of applying the appa-
ratus to the seat, it will be obvious that the extent to which the hinged portion
of the seat is permitted to turn upwardly can be easily adjusted to avoid the
seat's coming into contact with the rear wall of the closet or the flush-pipe by
which the water passes to the closet-pan. Damage to these parts by the hinged
seat is thus prevented.
If desired the said spring-bolt may be constructed with a finger-piece in the
form of a radial arm extending therefrom, and the casing may have a notch to
receive the arm when the bolt is retracted, in an analogous manner to an ordinary
door-bolt, so as to permit said spring-bolt to be retained in its retracted position
and the apparatus to be thus temporarily thrown out of action when the seat is
being cleaned, repaired, or otherwise operated on. It is preferable however for
our purpose, to construct the spring-bolt without this arm.
It will be obvious that the aforesaid spring-bolt may be adapted to act upon a
suitably arranged arm or projection on the hinged seat, instead of upon the

page_text: bevelled edge of the seat as above described. It will also be obvious that the
said bolt need not of necessity always be constructed to move in a rectilinear
manner but may in some cases be adapted to move in a circular or other path.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that
what we claim is:
1. The combination with a hinged water-closet seat of a spring-bolt or plunger
for the purpose specified.
2. The spring-bolt constructed substantially as described with reference to the
accompanying drawings for the purposes specified.
3. The cheek-plates ce¹ for pivotally connecting the movable portion of the seat
to the fixed portion and the construction of such cheek-plates with stops for
limiting the upward movement of said movable portion of the seat for the purpose
specified.
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HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London. W.C., Agents for the Applicants.