Toilet bowl ventilating apparatus

Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Ventilation – Electric-motor pump

Reexamination Certificate

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Reexamination Certificate

active

06233750

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a toilet bowl ventilating apparatus.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Canadian patent 1,012,305 discloses a several embodiments of toilet that are modified to include in their construction a ventilating apparatus. The ventilating apparatus is intended to draw contaminated air and odours from the toilet bowl. Each embodiment includes a hollow toilet seat which serves as a conduit for drawing contaminated air from the toilet bowl. Two alternative mounting positions are illustrated for a blower which promotes the movement of air. One mounting position discloses a toilet tank which is modified by the addition of a partition to create a watertight compartment in which the blower is positioned. Another mounting position discloses a separate blower compartment positioned beneath the toilet tank. The problem with the ventilating apparatus disclosed in Canadian patent 1,012,305, is that it is not capable of being readily retrofit onto an existing toilet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,741 (Hunnicutt Jr.) discloses a toilet bowl ventilating apparatus that consists of a mounting arm with a housing secured in cantilever fashion to the mounting arm. The Hunnicutt ventilating apparatus is more readily adaptable to an existing toilet by securing the mounting arm to toilet seat mounting bolts of a toilet bowl. When retrofitting existing toilets there are often space constraints encountered that require the housing of Hunnicutt to be positioned to one particular side of the toilet. This requires Hunnicutt to either maintain an inventory of both left-handed and right-handed model, or to restrict his sales to either left-handed or right-handed models.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
What is required is a toilet bowl ventilating apparatus that has greater adaptability when retrofitting existing toilets.
According to the present invention there is provided a toilet bowl ventilating apparatus which includes a housing having an interior cavity forming an air flow channel. The air flow channel has an inlet and an outlet. A receptacle is provided for filter medium positioned across the air flow channel between the inlet and the outlet, such that air flowing from the inlet to the outlet must pass through filter medium positioned in the receptacle. A fan communicate with the air flow channel. A power supply is provided. A switch is provided for selectively supplying power from the power supply to the fan, whereby the fan moves air in the inlet, along the air flow channel through the filter medium and out the outlet. An elongate plinth-like mounting arm is provided having a first end and a second end. The first end is secured substantially symmetrically at a mid-point of the housing. The mounting arm has an air flow passage communicating with the inlet and extending from the first end toward the second end. The mounting arm has at least one bolt receiving aperture extending therethrough whereby the mounting arm is mounted to toilet seat mounting bolts of a toilet bowl. The mounting arm has an outwardly and downwardly extending elongated intake passage intersecting the air flow passage, such that the intake passage extends down into the toilet bowl. The intake passage is flexibly adjustable over 180 degrees to a selected orientation, thereby enabling the intake passage to change orientation depending upon whether the housing is positioned on the left side or the right side of the toilet bowl.
The toilet bowl ventilating apparatus, as described above, is readily mounted by means of the feed duct/mounting arm onto the toilet seat mounting bolts of virtually any style of toilet bowl. It is preferred that the power supply be in the form of a battery mounted in the housing with a low voltage battery charging unit periodically recharging the battery. Once the basic teachings is understood, additional features can be added to enhance the performance of the ventilating apparatus. One such additional feature is the provision of a receptacle for receiving fragrance. This receptacle is positioned along the air flow channel downstream of the filter medium. This enables air flowing through the air flow channel to be imbued with fragrance after filtration and prior to discharge back into the room. It is preferred that the filter medium be provided in a removable cartridge.


REFERENCES:
patent: 997442 (1911-07-01), Diffenderfer
patent: 2129048 (1938-09-01), Davis
patent: 2214200 (1940-09-01), Lowther
patent: 2846969 (1958-08-01), Herriott
patent: 3523309 (1970-08-01), Munden
patent: 3849808 (1974-11-01), Olson et al.
patent: 3857119 (1974-12-01), Hunnicutt, Jr.
patent: 4375704 (1983-03-01), Smith
patent: 5488741 (1996-02-01), Hunnicutt, Jr.
patent: 1012305 (1977-06-01), None
patent: 214098 (1987-03-01), None
patent: 2136030 (1984-09-01), None
Select Point, 200 Shower Toilet, Product Brochure, 2 Pages, Undated.

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