Patent Description:
Suspended sanitary fixtures have been used for many years. These sanitary facilities are supported, generally hidden in the sanitary facility, on holding elements which are fastened in a cantilever manner on a supporting wall so that the sanitary facility does not stand on the floor.

It is known to use improved fixing devices for fixing sanitary furniture items to a wall. In the attachment of a sanitary furniture item, such as a water closet and the like, to a wall, a fixing mount is used with an affixing stud fastened on the wall, and the fixing mount is fastened on the wall, at the desired position, by means of an adjustment member therein.

It is becoming increasingly widespread to use wall-hung toilets, which is advantageous for the user in terms of hygiene due to the lack of contact with the ground. It is also preferred by the users for easy cleaning. Since the wall-hung toilets/water closets do not have contact with the ground, it is expected that the fixing devices thereof are more durable.

For the installation of the wall-hung toilets, appropriate cavities must be formed on the toilets/water closets in order to attach the closet to a worm gear protruding from the wall. This may cause an extra cost in terms of production. Many wall-hung toilets have an integral hole so as to match with the worm gear. These holes both increase the cost in terms of production and make the assembly difficult after possible minor deviations. In addition, possible fixing mismatches result in gaps, thereby causing sagging and breakage in the product mounted.

Document <CIT> shows a fixing device comprising two wedge elements sliding on each other by turning a screw being connected to one of the wedge elements. Another fixing device is disclosed in <CIT>.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fixing device that enables solving the problems described above and existing in the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fixing device that provides a robust and durable connection, which avoids any possible wobbling and oscillation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fixing device wherein the water closet can be connected to the wall through the closet cover assembly holes without requiring the fixing holes that must be drilled on the sides of the sanitary furniture items, while it is facilitated to remove the rear inner side of the closet - in a fully empty state - in the production of the water closets, reducing the cost and increasing the production efficiency.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fixing device in which possible dimensional differences are prevented and possible compatibility problems in terms of assembly are avoided.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a fixing device in which the need for assembly holes is eliminated that is very difficult to drill in the wall-hung toilets made of ceramic material.

The present invention relates a fixing device according to claim <NUM>, for fixing a sanitary furniture item, said fixing device comprising a clamping body for attaching against an inner wall of the sanitary furniture item; an adjustment member and an adjustment housing for inserting the adjustment member into the clamping body for adjustment purposes; a lower body arranged to be coupled with an affixing stud mounted on a wall; and a fixing member arranged to pass through an assembly hole of the sanitary furniture item and to be fixed in a through-hole in the clamping body. Said fixing device comprises an upper contact surface on the lower body that is inclined with respect to a longitudinal axis of the fixing device. Moreover, said clamping body is positioned to slide on the inclined upper contact surface; and the lower body comprises an inclined adjustment surface on which an adjustment member lower end is slidably moved by rotating said adjustment member in the adjustment housing. The present invention also proposes a sanitary furniture item comprising said fixing device.

The fixing device of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings for better understanding thereof, which drawings are attached for better explaining the present invention and are not limiting the invention, in which:.

The invention will herein be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and the list of the part numbers used in the figures is as follows:.

The fixing device (<NUM>) presented within the scope of the present invention is arranged to be used in sanitary furniture items (<NUM>). The fixing device (<NUM>) is specially arranged to use for connecting wall-hung toilets -especially for hung sanitary fittings- to a wall and a built-in reservoir.

The present invention relates a fixing device (<NUM>) for fixing a sanitary furniture item (<NUM>), said fixing device (<NUM>) comprising a clamping body (<NUM>) for attaching against an inner wall (<NUM>) of the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>); an adjustment member (<NUM>) and an adjustment housing (<NUM>) for inserting the adjustment member (<NUM>) into the clamping body (<NUM>) for adjustment purposes; a lower body (<NUM>) arranged to be coupled with an affixing stud (<NUM>) mounted on a wall; and a fixing member (<NUM>) arranged to pass through an assembly hole (<NUM>) of the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) and to be fixed in a through-hole (<NUM>) in the clamping body (<NUM>). Said fixing device (<NUM>) comprises an upper contact surface (<NUM>) on the lower body (<NUM>) that is inclined with respect to a longitudinal axis of fixing device (X). Moreover, said clamping body (<NUM>) is positioned to slide/move on the inclined upper contact surface (<NUM>); and the lower body (<NUM>) comprises an inclined adjustment surface (<NUM>) on which an adjustment member lower end (<NUM>) is slidably moved by rotating said adjustment member (<NUM>) in the adjustment housing (<NUM>). The adjustment member lower end (<NUM>) is a portion partially above the bottom of the adjustment member (<NUM>). The present invention also proposes a sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) comprising said fixing device (<NUM>).

As illustrated in <FIG>, the lower body (<NUM>) comprises an adjustment surface (<NUM>) inclined with a first angle (α1) of <NUM>° to <NUM>° (preferably <NUM>°) relative to the longitudinal axis of the fixing device (X) and integral with the lower body (<NUM>). Similarly, the lower body (<NUM>) also comprises the upper contact surface (<NUM>) inclined with a second angle (o2) of <NUM>° to <NUM>° relative to the longitudinal axis of the fixing device (X) and forming an upper part of the lower body (<NUM>). In this way, by moving the adjustment member, the user moves the clamping body (<NUM>) and the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) to which it is connected, especially with respect to the fixed lower body (<NUM>), and pulls them towards the wall, thereby providing a robust and non-wobbling connection.

As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, there is an engagement protrusion (<NUM>) on the upper contact surface (<NUM>) of the lower body (<NUM>) that extends along its longitudinal axis as a protrusion. The engagement protrusion (<NUM>) extends in a linear axis, and have a certain height and thickness. There is also an engagement channel (<NUM>) at the bottom of said clamping body (<NUM>), which is shaped and sized according to the engagement protrusion (<NUM>) and allows the clamping body (<NUM>) to move only linearly in an inclined manner. As shown in <FIG>, the engagement channel (<NUM>) in the form of a U cross-section groove surrounds said engagement protrusion (<NUM>). The upper surface of the engagement protrusion (<NUM>) that is to be contacted with the engagement channel (<NUM>) has a larger cross-section. Similarly, the upper surface of the engagement channel (<NUM>) also has a larger cross-section and provides a more robust engagement. In addition, it limits the movement of the clamping body (<NUM>) in an upward and downward direction.

Again, as illustrated in <FIG>, the clamping body (<NUM>) has a plurality of abutment protrusions (<NUM>) arranged at the same height and at certain intervals of the clamping body (<NUM>). The abutment protrusions (<NUM>) in the form of rounded protrusions abut on the inner wall (<NUM>) of the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) to which it will be attached. Thus, the imposed pressure load is properly distributed. The inner wall (<NUM>) is preferably inside the uppermost end, when in use.

The fixing device (<NUM>) mainly comprises two main parts, the first one of which is the lower body (<NUM>), which is to be securely held by the affixing stud (<NUM>) in the form of a worm gear that is connected to the wall, and the other one is the clamping body (<NUM>) that is partially moved on the adjustment surface (<NUM>) on the lower body (<NUM>). When the user desires to use the fixing device (<NUM>), (s)he first places the adjustment member (<NUM>) into the appropriate adjustment member housing (<NUM>) in the clamping body (<NUM>). Then, the female engagement channel (<NUM>) and the male engagement protrusion (<NUM>) slides over each other so that the lower body (<NUM>) and the clamping body (<NUM>) are connected to each other. In this way, an optimum linear movement is obtained. As best seen in <FIG>, suitable fixing members (<NUM>) are passed through the assembly holes (<NUM>) on the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) and are fixed to the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) by being passed through a through-hole (<NUM>) in the clamping body (<NUM>).

A cylindrical and partially threaded retaining member (<NUM>) can be used to be fitted into the through-hole (<NUM>) on the clamping body (<NUM>) in order to install the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) in an easier manner. As illustrated in <FIG>, the retaining member (<NUM>) is connected to the clamping body (<NUM>) and is adjusted to correspond to the appropriate assembly holes.

On the lower body (<NUM>), there is a stud hole (<NUM>) through which said affixing stud (<NUM>) is to be passed, and a nut (<NUM>) to fix said affixing stud (<NUM>). Then, the affixing stud (<NUM>) is first passed through the lower body (<NUM>), followed by a sub-assembly of a nut (<NUM>) and preferably a washer (<NUM>). Thereafter, said retaining member (<NUM>) is removed from the through-hole (<NUM>) where it is located, and the fixing member (<NUM>) is inserted into this hole in order to complete the fixing process. In the through-hole (<NUM>), there are teeth housings so as to be engaged by the teeth of the fixing member (<NUM>). When the fixing member (<NUM>) is in use, it has a wide hole that extends along its middle portion so as to allow access to the adjustment member (<NUM>).

As illustrated in <FIG>, the adjustment member (<NUM>) is rotated in its housing in the direction of compression by means of a suitable rotation apparatus in order to pull the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) towards the wall and prevent it from wobbling. A suitable Allen key is first passed through the fixing member (<NUM>) and then into the adjustment member (<NUM>). At this stage, the adjustment member lower end (<NUM>) forming an end portion of the adjustment member (<NUM>) contacts the inclined adjustment surface (<NUM>) in the lower body (<NUM>). As the user rotates the adjustment member (<NUM>) in the appropriate direction (preferably to the right), the adjustment member lower end (<NUM>) moves on the adjustment surface (<NUM>), and the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) is pulled towards the wall and tightened against it with a sliding movement of the clamping body (<NUM>). Thus, the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) is securely connected and possible vibrations, any play resulting from a possible gap are prevented.

Said adjustment member (<NUM>) may be a set screw suitable to be tightened by being rotated clockwise with a suitable Allen key. Said fixing member (<NUM>) comprises an inner hole allowing access to the adjustment member (<NUM>).

Claim 1:
A fixing device (<NUM>) for fixing a sanitary furniture item (<NUM>), e.g. a wall-hung toilet, said fixing device (<NUM>) comprising:
a clamping body (<NUM>) for attaching against an inner wall (<NUM>) of the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>);
an adjustment member (<NUM>) ; an adjustment housing (<NUM>) of the clamping body (<NUM>) for inserting the adjustment member (<NUM>) into the clamping body (<NUM>) for adjustment purposes;
a lower body (<NUM>) arranged to be coupled with an affixing stud (<NUM>) mounted on a wall;
a fixing member (<NUM>) arranged to pass through an assembly hole (<NUM>) of the sanitary furniture item (<NUM>) and to be fixed in a through-hole (<NUM>) in the clamping body (<NUM>);
an upper contact surface (<NUM>) on the lower body (<NUM>) that is inclined with respect to a longitudinal axis of fixing device (X), wherein
said clamping body (<NUM>) is positioned to slide on the inclined upper contact surface (<NUM>); characterised in that
the lower body (<NUM>) comprises an inclined adjustment surface (<NUM>) on which an adjustment member lower end (<NUM>) of the adjustment member (<NUM>) is slidably moved by rotating said adjustment member (<NUM>) in the adjustment housing (<NUM>).