A Self Acting Device for Closing the Opening in the Seat of Water Closets or Earth Closets, also Applicable to Urinals or other Closets.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1388
Specification Accepted, 2nd Mar., 1888
A Self Acting Device for Closing the Opening in the Seat of Water
Closets or Earth Closets, also Applicable to Urinals or other
Closets.
1, GERHARD BÜCKEN, metal founder in Hochfeld-Duisburg, Rhenish Prussia,
Germany, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The cover usually employed for closing the seat of water-closets, earth-closets,
urinals or other closets requires, as is hitherto the case, to be raised and lowered by
hand.
The lowering of the cover is frequently neglected, and the opening, remaining
disclosed, allows an escape of gas to take place.
The object of my invention is to avoid the above mentioned inconvenience and to
effect automatically the opening and closing of the hole in the seat.
In the accompanying drawing, fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of fig. 4 on the line A B;
fig. 2 is a front elevation; fig. 3 is a rear elevation & fig. 4 a top view; fig. 5 shows
the application of the invention to a urinal.
Fig. 6 is a portion of the mechanism on a larger scale.
The round or square cover V is connected to an axis a by means of one or more
arms b. The axis a is fitted in two bearings secured to the seat S and at each end
it carries a crank C. Each crank C is connected to a rod h pivoted at e by means of
a link d. Both rods h carry a set of boards or planks and form a platform pivoted
at e upon which the person treads. At its underface, the cover V has a soft rubber
ring acting to produce a hermetical closing; the said ring conjointly with a
knob K lessens the noise produced when raising or lowering the cover.
A spring acting against the cover V and secured to the seat S tends to constantly
keep the cover down, that is to say it exerts a sufficient pressure against the said
cover from left to right, fig. 1, to cause it to reclose by its counterbalance. To the
front side of the seat S is secured a cross piece g which is higher than the seat S and
is connected with the rods carrying the platform, by means of two rods ii fig. 2
which are guided at m. The slots, at the front side, for the rods h, as well as the
openings made for the mechanisms in the seat, are rendered tight by means of felt or
such like material bearing against the rods. Instead of making the knob K of soft

page_text: rubber, it can also be made of wood or other suitable material; in such case, I apply
a buffer of rubber or other elastic material against the wall.
latter is depressed and the
The axis a is turned by
While the closet is being
The ends of the links d which are above, the seat S, the bearings and the cranks C
are enclosed in suitable casings; the said casings can serve simultaneously as a means
for hermetically closing the openings for the rods d.
Operation. The person treads onto the platform; the
rods are moved downwards, pivoting on their axis e.
means of the links d and cranks C and the cover rises.
used, the cover remains raised, because the feet exert a constant pressure upon the
platform, and the rods remain in their depressed position. In order that the
apparatus may act with little persons whose feet would not touch the platform, I have
applied a crossbar or cross piece g against the seat. When sitting down, the said
crossbar is bound to be depressed and it then, by itself or conjointly with the platform,
keeps the rods down and retains the seat uncovered. When the person leaves the
closet, the pressure upon the levers h ceases, the axis a is caused to turn by means of
the spring f and the cover V, being overbalanced, turns down and closes the opening
in the seat S.
As shown in fig. 5, the hereinbefore described arrangement is also applicable to
urinals; in such case, the crossbar g and both rods ii are done away with.
Fig. 7 is a vertical section and fig. 8 a top view of a modification. In this modi-
fication, the links d and rods h of fig. 1 to 6 are suppressed and replaced by a
mechanism arranged completely at the outside of the closet. The cover V is secured
to the axis a by means of a lug b; the axis a is fitted in bearings and carries, at
one or both ends, a chain wheel or other pulley c¹ over which passes a thin wire rope s
attached, by one of its ends, to the said pulley. The rope is led over a roll d¹,
downwards and is fastened to the vertically moving rod i guided by pieces m and
operated by the platform or rod h. The rope or ropes s lies either in a groove of the
seat or is otherwise concealed by a suitable casing u.
The object of the cross bar g has
ment.
thence
been explained in regard to the previous arrange-
This modified self-closing device operates as follows: upon the platform being
depressed by the weight of a person, the rods are moved downwards and carry with
them the rod i as well as the rope s. The pulley e executes a partial revolution
whereby the axis a is rotated and the cover is raised. In moving, the cover over-
comes the pressure of the spring of which acts to return the cover to its closed position
as soon as the person leaves the closet.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
First. A self-acting device for closing the opening in the seat of water closets or
earth closets, also applicable to urinals, and other closets in which the weight of the
person causes the scat S to be uncovered and remain open and to be covered again,
either, by means of the device composed of the platform, rods h, links d, cranks C
and axis a or in combination with the crossbar or cross piece y connected to the rods h
by means of the rods i i.
Second. As a substitute for the links d and cranks C referred to in claim 1, the
employment of one or more wire or other ropes s secured to pullies c¹ and passing.
over pullies or rolls d', the said ropes being fastened to the rods i i.
Dated this 16th day of January 1888.