Family toilet seat and cover assembly having fluid damped slow-close hinges for all hinged components
An improved family toilet seat and cover assembly has easy-open, slow-close, fluid-damped hinges for all hingeable components, including the adult toilet seat, the cover for the adult toilet seat which also incorporates a child toilet seat, and a lid for the child toilet seat, which is hinged to the cover for the adult toilet seat. The adult toilet seat and adult toilet seat cover are hingeably attached to a pair of hinge posts, which are attached with bolts to the toilet bowl. Each hinge post contains one fluid-filled rotational dampener that is rotationally coupled to either the adult seat or adult seat cover/child seat. The child seat lid is rotationally coupled to a fluid-filed rotational dampener that is installed within a dampener housing molded into either the child toilet seat or the child toilet seat lid.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in toilet seat/cover units which can be used by both adults and children, and more particularly, to the incorporation of slow close fluid damped hinges in those units.
2. Description of Prior Art
Various commode seat constructions are utilized in prior art for use with children, such as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,341 to Boardman, et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,461,046 and RE 32,807 to Adams (1984 & 1988), and U.S. Pat. No. 2,461,160 to Joyce (1947). Such a multiple toilet seat assembly permits the selective use of an appropriate sized opening for the selective use by a particular adult or child. Each of these devices features an adult seat, an adult seat cover, a child seat incorporated within the adult seat cover, and a child seat cover.
For those whose peace of mind is easily shattered by sudden loud noises, such as the slamming of a toilet seat, cover, or both down onto the toilet bowl, the recent development of the slow close toilet hinge is a godsend. U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,286 to Sorimachi (1997), which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a fluid-filed rotational dampener mechanism for supporting a toilet bowl mounted seat or seat lid. Each rotational dampener mechanism has a case comprising a vessel and a top cover which together form a generally cylindrical inner chamber. A generally cylindrical drive shaft passes through the case and is rotatable within the inner chamber. A gap between the drive shaft and the walls of the chamber is sealably filled with a viscous fluid, such as silicone grease or jelly. A pair of radial partitions extend from the main body and divide the inner chamber into two compartments. Likewise, a pair of radial vanes extend from the generally cylindrical drive shaft. Each of the radial vanes incorporates a one-way valve. Thus, the drive shaft is able to rotate within the chamber, with each radial vane movable within one of the compartments through the viscous fluid. When the core is rotated in one direction, both one-way valves open and permit the passage of the viscous fluid from one side of a compartment, through the valve to the other side. Conversely, when rotated in the opposite direction, both one-way valves close, thereby damping rotational movement in that direction. A hinge pin is inserted through the drive shaft of each rotational dampener mechanism. One rotational dampener is associated with the adult toilet seat; the other with the adult toilet seat cover/child toilet seat. The hinge pivot pin is rotationally locked within the cylindrical drive shaft of its associated rotational dampener mechanism, and within a pivot pin aperture in the component associated with that rotational dampener. Thus, each component which hinges from the rear of the toilet bowl, whether it be the toilet seat or the toilet seat cover, is directly coupled to the core of one of the rotational dampeners. Undamped rotation is thus provided in one direction through an arc of about 120 degrees, and damped rotation in the opposite direction through the same arc. When incorporated into a toilet seat hinge, the one-way valving on the radial vanes, permits the seat and/or cover to be easily lifted to a generally vertical position with the valves open. When gravity returns the seat and/or cover to a horizontal position, rotation is slowed in that rotational direction so the seat and/or cover does (do) not slam down on the toilet bowl.
Bemis Manufacturing Company, the largest manufacturer of toilet seats in the world, has designed a toilet seat having hinges that are fluid damped to that the seat and lid both close slowly and without slamming. The Bemis rotational hinge dampener is a derivative of the Sorimachi device, the primary difference being the design of the one-way valves on the vanes. Whereas Sorimachi used flapper valves positioned in a groove in the end of the vane, Bemis uses a flapper valve positioned on one side of the vane and held in place by a clip passing through a slot in the tip of the vane. In any case, the seat of the Bemis product is controlled by a hinge/dampener associated with one of the hold-down bolts, while the lid is controlled by a hinge/dampener associated with the other hold-down bolt. As an interesting note, Bemis has also designed the seat assembly hinges so that the toilet seat assembly may be quickly and easily removed by rotating a cam on each of the fasteners which attaches the toilet seat assembly to one of the hold-down bolts, thereby releasing the fasteners and seat assembly. This feature is covered by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,933,875 and 6,070,295, both of which are assigned to Bemis Manufacturing Company.
Providing slow close hinges with fluid dampeners for the lid of the child seat on one of the family seats disclosed in one of the patents referred to above is not a trivial task, as there is no third hold-down bolt associated with the child seat cover. As a child is probably more likely than an adult to slam toilet seats and lids, what is needed is an improved family toilet seat with slow-close, fluid-damped hinges not only for the adult seat and lid, but for the child seat lid as well.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides an improved family toilet seat and cover assembly having slow-close, fluid-damped hinges for all hingeable components, including the adult toilet seat, the cover for the adult toilet seat which also incorporates a child toilet seat, and the lid for the child toilet seat, which is hinged to the adult toilet seat cover. The adult toilet seat and adult toilet seat cover are hingeably attached to a pair of hinge posts, which are attached with bolts to the toilet bowl. Each hinge post contains one fluid filled rotational dampener that is installed with a dampener housing that is keyed so that the dampener case will not rotate.
The focus of the present invention is primarily the inclusion of a slow-close hinge on the cover of the child's toilet seat. Rather than the main body of the rotational dampener being anchored to the toilet bowl, it is installed on the adult toilet seat cover/child toilet seat or on the child toilet seat lid. For both embodiments, the child toilet seat is provided with a lid mounting recess and cutout at the rear thereof.
For the preferred embodiment of the invention, a rotational dampener housing is molded into the bottom of the child toilet seat on one side of the lid mounting recess and cutout and adjacent thereto. The housing is shaped to prevent rotation of the rotational dampener case. On the other side of the mounting recess and cutout and adjacent thereto, a pivot aperture is molded into the child toilet seat. The child toilet seat cover is sized to cover the child toilet seat opening and also has a rear extension unitary with the cover, that fits within the mounting recess and cutout of the child toilet seat. The rear extension has at least one pivot pin opening molded unitary with the rear extension. With the rotational dampener unit installed within the rotational dampener housing, and the child toilet seat cover positioned with the at least one pivot pin aperture between and coaxial with the pivot aperture and the axis of the rotational dampener core, a pivot pin is pressed through the dampener core, through the at least one pivot pin opening and into the pivot aperture. The pivot pin, core aperture, pivot pin opening, and pivot aperture are sized so that the pivot pin is rotationally locked within the core aperture and within at least one pivot pin opening, and free to rotate within the pivot aperture. In this way, the child toilet seat cover is rotationally coupled to the dampener core. Hence, it downward rotational movement is damped by the rotational dampener installed within the rotational dampener housing molded into and beneath the child toilet seat.
For the alternative embodiment where the rotational dampener is installed on the child toilet seat lid, a rotational dampener housing is molded into the bottom of a rear extension of the child toilet seat lid. As with the other rotational dampener housings, the housing is shaped to prevent rotation of the rotational dampener case. A hinge pivot pin is non-rotatably anchored to the child toilet seat so that the core of the rotational dampener does not rotate. Only the case of the rotational dampener rotates as the lid is raised and lowered. For this application, the rotational dampener must be reversed to provide damping as the lid is lowered.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention is an improved family toilet seat and cover assembly having slow-close, fluid-damped hinges for all hingeable components, including the adult toilet seat, the cover for the adult toilet seat which also incorporates a child toilet seat, and the lid for the child toilet seat, which is hinged to the adult toilet seat cover. The invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawing. It should be understood that the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale and merely serve an illustrative function. Nevertheless, the detail of the drawings is sufficient to convey a full appreciation for the construction and function of the invention.
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Referring now to FIGS. 13 to 18, the child toilet lid 1300 is shown in various views. The child toilet seat lid 1300 has a generally oval cover portion 1301 and a rear extension 1302 of generally rectangular shape, that is unitary with the oval cover portion 1301. The rear extension 1302 fits within the lid recess and is positioned above the central cutout 703 of the child toilet seat 700 when the lid is in a lowered position. When the lid is in a raised position, a portion of the rear extension 1302 swings into the central cutout 703. A pair of bumpers 1303A and 1303B are molded into the lower surface of the oval cover portion 1301. In addition, left and right hinge brackets 1304L and 1304R are molded beneath and unitary with the rear extension 1302. It will be noted that both the left hinge bracket 1304L and the right hinge bracket 1304R have square central apertures 1305A and 1305B, respectively, which permit rotational coupling, via a portion of the child toilet seat lid pivot pin that is of square cross section, of the child toilet seat lid 1300 to the rotational dampener that is installed within the rotational dampener housing that is molded into the lower surface 706 and laterally adjacent the central cutout 704 of the child toilet seat 700.
Referring now to FIGS. 19 to 21, a generally L-shaped left seat assembly toilet bowl mounting support 1900 is shown. The left support 1900 includes a rear aperture 1901 through which the left support 1900 is bolted to the bowl. The left support 1900 also has a keyed rotational dampener recess 1902. The rotational dampener recess 1902 is shaped so that the case of the rotational dampener 2500 will be prevented from rotating once it is installed within the recess 1902. The rotational dampener recess 1902 has an core access aperture 1903 sized to receive a bottom extension of the rotational dampener.
Referring now to FIGS. 22 to 24, a generally L-shaped right seat assembly toilet bowl mounting support 2200 is shown. The right support 2200 includes a rear aperture 2201 through which the right support 2200 is bolted to the bowl. The right support 2200 also has a keyed rotational dampener recess 2202. The rotational dampener recess 2202 is shaped so that the case of the rotational dampener (not shown in this view) will be prevented from rotating once it is installed within the recess 2202. The rotational dampener recess 2202 has a pivot pin insertion aperture 2203.
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Although only a single embodiment of the family toilet seat and cover assembly having fluid damped slow-close hinges for all components is shown and described herein, it will be obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
Claims
1. A toilet seat and cover assembly comprising:
- an adult toilet seat;
- a cover for said adult toilet seat formed of molded material and provided with an opening therein for accommodating the seating of a child thereover;
- a lid for said cover opening also formed of molded material, said lid being hingeably coupled to said adult toilet seat cover at a hinge axis positioned below both an upper surface of said lid and an upper surface of said cover; and
- a first fluid-filled rotational dampener rotatably coupled to said lid and having an axis of rotation coaxial with said hinge axis, such that said first rotational dampener providing greater resistance to rotary motion when said lid is lowered to a closed position than when it is raised to an open position.
2. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 1, which further comprises:
- a second fluid-filled rotational dampener rotatably coupled to said adult toilet seat, and providing greater resistance to rotary motion when said adult toilet seat is lowered to a closed position than when it is raised to an open position; and
- a third fluid-filled rotational dampener rotatably coupled to said adult toilet seat cover, and providing greater resistance to rotary motion when said adult toilet seat cover is lowered to a closed position than when it is raised to an open position.
3. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 2, wherein each of said rotational dampeners is filled with a silicon-based oil.
4. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 2, wherein said second and third rotational dampeners are each located within one of a pair of mounting supports that anchor the toilet seat and cover assembly to a toilet bowl.
5. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 1, wherein said first rotational dampener includes a case containing a rotatable core, said first rotational dampener is installed within a dampener housing molded beneath and unitary with said adult toilet seat cover, and said rotatable core is rotatably locked to a hinge pivot pin that rotates with said lid and within at least one bearing aperture in said adult toilet seat cover.
6. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 1, wherein said first rotational dampener includes a case containing a rotatable core, said first rotational dampener is installed with a dampener housing molded beneath and unitary with said lid, and said rotatable core is rotatably locked to a hinge pivot pin that is non-rotatably affixed to the adult toilet seat cover so that the dampener housing and dampener case are rotatable with said lid.
7. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 1, wherein said adult toilet seat cover has a recess and an adjacent cutout, said lid comprises a cover and a rear extension, said rear extension being unitary with said cover portion, said rear extension fitting within said recess and above said adjacent cutout when said lid is in a lowered position, closed, and a portion of said rear extension fitting within said adjacent cutout when said lid is in a raised position.
8. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 7, wherein said rear extension is of generally rectangular shape.
9. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 1, wherein said adult toilet seat, said cover for said adult toilet seat and said lid are molded of at least one polymeric material selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, polyethylene, polyamides, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyesters, polycarbonate, and poly(methyl methacrylate).
10. A toilet seat and cover assembly comprising:
- an adult toilet seat;
- a cover for said adult toilet seat formed of molded material and provided with an opening therein for accommodating the seating of a child thereover;
- a lid for said cover opening also formed of molded material, said lid being hingeably coupled to said adult toilet seat cover at a hinge axis positioned below both an upper surface of said lid and an upper surface of said cover; and
- first, second and third fluid-filled rotational dampener rotatably coupled, respectively, to said lid, said adult toilet seat and said adult toilet seat cover, each rotational dampener providing to its coupled component, greater resistance to rotary motion when said component is lowered to a closed position than when it is raised to an open position.
11. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 10, wherein said second and third rotational dampeners are each located within one of a pair of mounting supports that anchor the toilet seat and cover assembly to a toilet bowl.
12. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 11, wherein said first rotational damper includes a case containing a rotatable core, said first rotational dampener is installed within a dampener housing molded beneath and unitary with said adult toilet seat cover, and said rotatable core is rotatably locked to a hinge pivot pin that rotates with said lid and within at least one bearing aperture in said adult toilet seat cover.
13. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 11, wherein said first rotational dampener includes a case containing a rotatable core, said first rotational dampener is installed with a dampener housing molded beneath and unitary with said lid, and said rotatable core is rotatably locked to a hinge pivot pin that is non-rotatably affixed to the adult toilet seat cover so that the dampener housing and dampener case are rotatable with said lid.
14. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 10, wherein said adult toilet seat cover has a recess and an adjacent cutout, said lid comprises a cover and a rear extension, said rear extension being unitary with said cover portion, said rear extension fitting within said recess and above said adjacent cutout when said lid is in a lowered position, closed, and a portion of said rear extension fitting within said adjacent cutout when said lid is in a raised position.
15. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 14, wherein said rear extension is of generally rectangular shape.
16. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 10, wherein said adult toilet seat, said cover for said adult toilet seat and said lid are molded of polymeric material selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, polyethylene, polyamides, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyesters, polycarbonate, and poly(methyl methacrylate).
17. The toilet seat and cover assembly of claim 10, wherein each of said rotational dampeners is filled with a silicon-based oil.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 18, 2005
Publication Date: Jul 20, 2006
Inventor: Douglas Myers (Woodland Hills, UT)
Application Number: 11/039,670
International Classification: A47K 13/00 (20060101);