Patent ID: 8082604

Claim:
A hands-free mechanism ( 120 ) for lifting and lowering a seat ( 102 ) of a toilet ( 100 ) situated within an enclosure, the mechanism being actuated by pressure from a user's foot, the mechanism comprising: a first, movable rigid beam ( 105 , 107 ) having a first end bearing an actuating pedal ( 104 ) located above a floor of the enclosure and a second end including a first pivot means ( 108 ) shared with a first end of a connecting rod ( 109 ), the first rigid beam having a first bend ( 106 A) located intermediate between the first end and the second end, said first bend being at or near a second pivot means ( 106 ) allowing an axis of rotation of said first rigid beam in a vertical plane, said second pivot means being held at a fixed position in space; and a second fixed rigid beam including a first part ( 118 ) and a second part ( 117 ), said second rigid beam having a second bend ( 106 B) located intermediate between the first part ( 118 ) and the second part ( 117 ), the second bend being at or near the second pivot means ( 106 ), the second part ( 117 ) having a third end ( 121 ) for being placed in contact with a rear wall ( 122 ) of the enclosure, and the second beam having a fourth end fixed in a radial aspect on to an end of a hollow shaft ( 119 ) that is rotatably mounted by mounts ( 204 , 204 A) to a bowl ( 101 ) of the toilet, said second beam arranged to hold the second pivot means ( 106 ) in space without any contact with a floor of the enclosure, a second end of the connecting rod ( 109 ) being pivotally linked, by a third pivot means ( 110 ), to a free end of a crank ( 111 ) fastened at an angle with respect to the toilet seat ( 102 ) to a rotatable shaft ( 112 ) passing through the hollow shaft ( 119 ), the rotatable shaft having attached thereto at least one radially extended mounting means ( 115 , 116 ) fastened to the toilet seat ( 102 ), wherein, when in use, a downward force operationally applied to the pedal is coupled through first beam ( 105 , 107 ) and through connecting rod ( 109 ) to the crank ( 111 ), thereby causing rotation of the rotatable member ( 112 ) resulting in the seat ( 102 ) being rotated.