Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Opener or closer for a closet seat or lid – Fluid mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-15
2001-02-13
Fetsuga, Robert M. (Department: 3751)
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Opener or closer for a closet seat or lid
Fluid mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
active
06185754
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toilet assemblies and more particularly pertains to a new automatic toilet seat for automatically lowering a toilet seat upon flushing of an associated toilet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of toilet assemblies is known in the prior art. More specifically, toilet assemblies heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,814; U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,571; U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,936; U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,230; U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,411; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,117,663.
In these respects, the automatic toilet seat according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of automatically lowering a toilet seat upon flushing of an associated toilet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of toilet assemblies now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new automatic toilet seat construction wherein the same can be utilized for automatically lowering a toilet seat upon flushing of an associated toilet.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new automatic toilet seat apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the toilet assemblies mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new automatic toilet seat which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art toilet assemblies, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a toilet having a bowl portion with an open top having an upper peripheral edge. Also included is a lid with a generally planar circular configuration and an annular seat with a generally planar O-shaped configuration. A rear tank portion extends upwardly from a rear of the bowl portion. Further, coupled to a bottom surface of the rear tank portion is a water intake line. In use, the toilet is adapted to accept water from the water intake line upon being flushed.
FIGS. 8 & 9
show a first mounting assembly including a base having a bottom face coupled to the upper peripheral edge of the bowl portion of the toilet. An inner face of the base is equipped with a dowel extending therefrom for pivotally receiving an eyelet of an inboard end of an inner arm. Such inner arm has an outboard end fixedly coupled to the lid of the toilet. An outer face of the base has a substantially cylindrical shaped recess formed therein. The first mounting assembly further includes a hollow substantially cylindrical rotator rotatably mounted within the recess of the base and extending outwardly therefrom. The rotator has a radially extending flange with a threaded bore formed therein, as shown in FIG.
8
. An outer arm of the first mounting assembly has an inboard end fixedly connected to the flange of the rotator and an outboard end connected to the seat of the toilet. A disk-shaped cap is rotatably mounted within the flange of the rotator and selectively fixed by way of a set screw. A coil spring has a first end connected to the base and a second end connected to the cap for urging the seat of the toilet into a lowered orientation. With reference now to
FIGS. 3-7
, a second mounting assembly is provided including a base having a bottom face coupled to the upper peripheral edge of the bowl portion of the toilet. An inner face of the base has an inner dowel extending therefrom for pivotally receiving an eyelet of an inboard end of an inner arm. The inner arm of the second mounting assembly has an outboard end fixedly coupled to the lid of the toilet. An outer face of the base of the second mounting assembly has an outer dowel extending therefrom for pivotally receiving an eyelet of an inboard end of an outer arm. Such outer arm has an outboard end fixedly coupled to the seat of the toilet. For reasons that will soon become apparent, the eyelet of the outer dowel has at least one recess formed therein. As shown in
FIGS. 3 & 4
, the outer face further includes a compartment having an O-ring mounted adjacent to an open end thereof. The second mounting assembly further includes a piston with an inboard end having a gasket mounted thereon for sliding within the compartment in a sealed manner. An outboard end of the piston is equipped with a hemispherical configuration which is slidably extended through the O-ring. Positioned about the piston is a coil spring that is coupled between the O-ring and the gasket. The coil spring is employed to return the piston to an initial position, and is especially effective for ensuring piston return in situations where low water pressure is encountered. When sufficient water pressure is present, the presence of the coil spring is not required since water pressure in the compartment will also act to return the piston to the initial position. Finally, a fluid splice is connected to the water intake line with a tube connected to a conduit formed in the second mounting assembly. As shown in
FIGS. 5 & 6
, the conduit resides in communication with the compartment for releasing fluidic pressure upon the toilet being flushed. The piston is thus urged out of engagement with the recess of the eyelet, thereby allowing the spring of the first mounting assembly to urge the seat into the lowered orientation.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new automatic toilet seat apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the toilet assemblies mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new automatic toilet seat which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art toilet as
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