Patents by Inventor William H. Mercier

William H. Mercier has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6523185
    Abstract: A device is described for automatically lowering a toilet seat. The device includes a fluid chamber with a sidewall; a replaceable insert with an arcuate inner face and parallel seat-raised and seat-lowered edges against the sidewall. A vane with a seat-attached shaft, pivotal around a horizontal axis on the opposite side of the chamber, includes a shaft-attached paddle with a flexible distal end in brushing engagement with the insert. The distance between the insert wall and the horizontal axis decreases from the seat-raised edge to the seat-lowered edge increasing the resistance to pivoting of the vane, and thereby to lowering of the toilet seat as the seat descends. Different inserts can be used for different weight seats. The device can also include an adjustable seat stop to compensate for non-level toilets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2003
    Inventors: Randolph J. Moore, William H. Mercier
  • Patent number: 5279000
    Abstract: An automatic toilet seat lowering hinge assembly for automatically lowering a toilet seat from a raised position to a lower position above the toilet seat includes a housing having a chamber through which a shaft is disposed therein. The shaft is releasibly attached to the toilet seat. The housing has a baffle extending from the inner surface of the housing to the surface of the shaft and a descent paddle extends from the shaft outwardly toward the inner surface of the housing to partition the chamber into two compartments. A vent controls the transfer of fluid between the partitioned chamber compartments so that the toilet seat pivots from the raised position to the lower position in a predetermined amount of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 18, 1994
    Inventors: William H. Mercier, Roger R. Mercier