US3828395A

US3828395A - Toilet seat retainer

Info

Publication number: US3828395A
Application number: US00281147A
Authority: US
Inventors: M Grady
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-08-16
Filing date: 1972-08-16
Publication date: 1974-08-13
Anticipated expiration: 1991-08-13

Abstract

A device readily attached to toilets without tools or special skills to frictionally engage the transverse rear edge of a toilet seat and retain it open when it otherwise would fall down as a result, for example, of the presence of a thick, decorative cover on the toilet lid.

Description

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,828,395 Grady 1 Aug. 13, 1974 TOILET SEAT RETAINER 2,083,140 6/1937 Brantingson... 16/140 2,535,789 12 1950 D B 11 16 191' [751 Invent: Mlchae' Grady Annapdls, 2,768,571 10/1956 Pzarsin 161 140 z A 3,178,762 4/1965 Whiting 16/140 [73] Asslgnee g gfi fi f g sg g i g 3,391,420 7/1968 Anderson... 16/ 139 3,615,035 8/1969 Newton l6/DIG. 13 [22] Filed: Aug. 16, 1972 211 App], 231,147 Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay

Assistant Examiner-Kenneth J. Dorner At A P [52] US. (:1 16/137, 4/236, 16/140 21232, & igfg Scmene' [51] Int. Cl. E05d 11/08, A47k 13/24 [58] Field of Search 16/137, 138, 139, 140, [57] ABSTRACT 0 13; 4/236 240; 24/73 VA A device readily attached to toilets without tools or i special skills to frictionally engage the transverse rear [56] References Cited edge of a toilet seat and retain it open when it other- UNITED STATES PATENTS wise would fall down as a result, for example, of the 452,685 5/1891 Webster.. 4/236 presence of a thick, decorative cover on the toilet lid. 689,201 12/1901 Koester 16/191 2,005,841 6/1935 Kulp et al. 24/73 VA 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures TOILET SEAT RETAINER This invention relates to toilet seats and more particularly to means for releasably retaining a toilet seat in raised position.

The majority of home toilets include a lid and a seat with these two being hinged on a common axis at the rear of the toilet bowl. The hinge is so arranged that when the lid and seat are raised to open position both are capable of passing slightly past vertical so that they may rest in open position against the flush water tank positioned to the rear and above the toilet bowl.

This arrangement is satisfactory except that it has become the widespread practice to encase the lid in a decorative cloth cover which is usually quite thick. Though the cover allows the lid to be raised to a position where it remains open, the space needed for the seat to move past vertical is often taken up by the'cover material so that it is impossible to retain the seat in raised position in the usual way and one must hold it open with a hand or leg which is awkward and often embarrassing.

The broad object of the present invention is to provide a device which may be sold separately in hardware stores and the like and may be readily releasably fastened to the rear of a toilet in -'a position where it can be frictionally engaged by the seat to retain it in open position after it has been moved thereto.

The invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a broken top plan view showing one type of toilet seat hinge commonly in use with-one embodiment of the invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2, is a broken vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 2 except showing the lid and seat in raised position;

FIG. 4 isa cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a broken top plan view showing another type of hinge arrangement in common use, with a second embodiment of the present inventionyand FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5, but showing the seat portion in raised position.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, the toilet seat hinge arrangement shown there is in widespread use and comprises a transverse shaft 10, each end of which extends through a bearing opening in the annular upper end 11 of a bracket 12 extending forwardly from an integral base 14 carrying a threaded rod 16 which extends downwardly through an opening in a flange at the rear of the toilet bowl 17 to receive at its lower end a nut (not shown) whereby the bracket is securely fixed to the bowl.

Pivotally carried on the shaft on opposite sides of the annular upper end 11 of the bracket 12 are a pair of

hinge members

18, 20, each having a respective forwardly extending

leaf part

22, 24 screwed to the underside of the toilet lid 26 and toilet seat 28, respectively. The toilet seat has a straight transverse lower rear edge 30 which is joined to the upper part of the seat by a smooth arcuate profile 32. As can be seen in FIG. 3 the lid 26 may be raised independently of the seat 28 to a vertical position and when in this position, or slightly past vertical, the lid remains in raised position against the toilet tank (not shown), it being noted that when vertical, the center of gravity of the lid acts rearwardly of the axis of the shaft 10 so that the lid tends to fall counter clockwise to the left or to its open position in the drawing. In short, the lid can even lean slightly to the right in the drawings, that is to say, toward the closed position and because of the hinge arrangement, the lid still tends to fall to the left so that there is seldom any problem in retaining the lid open even when it is provided with a quite thick decorative cover.

.On the other hand, the hinge arrangement for the seat is such that the center of gravity of the seat when it is in a vertical position acts very nearly directly over the axis of the shaft as can be clearly seen in FIG. 3. Consequently, in order for-the seat to remain vertical, there must be a finite space at 33 between the raised lid and seat in order to permit the seat in open position to move at least slightly past the vertical if theseat is to remain open merely by resting against the open lid. Obviously, if this space has been taken up due to the cover material intervening between the tank and the lid, the seat simply cannot remain in raised position and will invariably fall back to closed position by gravity unless separate means are provided for retaining it open. Prior to the present invention, except for, expensive friction hinges, the only means for retaining the seat open have consisted of the hand or leg of the user which is most unsatisfactory.

The present invention overcomes the foregoing problem by the provision of a simple snap-on member which may be inserted over the bracket part 12 of the hinge member which is bolted to the toilet bowl. In accordance with the invention, the snap-on member presents a friction surface which spirals into or converges with the arcuate path described by the rear edge of the seat as it is moved from its lowered to its raised position.

Referring now to the drawings it will be seen that the snap-on unit comprises a molded plastic member 40 of nylon or the like having a rear part 42 provided with a pair of side flanges 44 which are preferably biassed towards each other but may be spread apart by the action of pushing the unit downwardly against the bracket 12 until the inner face of the rear part 42 engages the back of the bracket whereupon the side flanges conform with the configuration of the sides of the bracket. These may be slightly recessed even though the bracket in horizontal cross-section is almost universally of a somewhat wedged configuration as shown in FIG. 4.

Extending forwardly of the rear part and side flanges of the device is a hooked part 46 which snaps over the annular upper end 11 of the bracket containing the bearing opening for the shaft 10. As can be seen, the free end of the hooked part 46 encompasses slightly more than of the annular part 11 of the bracket so that the device is firmly anchored in position by the combined action of the hook part and the side flaps 44.

The upper surface 47 of the hook part unit is molded in a shallow spiral presenting a face which converges with the path described by the rear edge of the back of the seat as it is moved to its raised position. When the seat is fully raised, it engages the unit with maximum frictional force with this being sufficient toprevent the seat from returning to its lower position by gravity alone. Because the friction force required to retain the seat in raised condition is in factquite small, only very slight effort is required by the user to return the seat to its lowered position.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the adaptation of the concept of the invention to another type of hinged lid and seat which is also in widespread use. In this type, the seat 50 has an integral rearwardly extending transverse projection 52 pivotally mounted on a hinge pin 54 which extends through the projection as clearly seen in FIG. 5. The ends of the pin are supported on brackets 56 bolted to the toilet bowl 58 in the usual manner and pivotally mounted on the pin 54 between the brackets 56 and the side faces on the projection 52 are limbs of L-shaped hinge members 60 whose other limbs are screwed to the inner face of the toilet lid 61 which is shown in open position in FIG. 5.

The means for retaining open the seat of the type shown in FIGS. 5 and.6 comprises a member 62 of molded plastic or the like which is preferably rectangular in plan as shown in FIG. 5 and equipped on its lower face with two or more suction cups 64 for securely fixing the member to the upper face of the toilet bowl S8. The upper part 66 of the member 62 is of block-like form and consists of rubber or plastic material whose rear face 67 is profiled on a substantially spiraled or arcuate line adapted to converge with and extend into the path described by the rear edge of the seat projection as the seat is raised from its lowered to its open position of FIG. 6. Desirably, the arcuate or spiraled face 67 is provided with a plurality of transversely extending ribs or serrations 68 which positively engage with the lower rear edge 70 of the seat to provide it with sufficient support when in its raised position to prevent the seat from falling down by gravity.

In lieu of or in combination with the suction cups, the embodiment of the invention of FIGS. 5 and 6 could be provided with a pair of rearwardly extending hooks capable of snapping over or otherwise engaging the upstanding parts of the respective brackets 56 below the hinge pin 52. Any other fastening means which cooperate with the brackets or the rear of the toilet bowl should be considered within the purview of the invention.

The manner of use of the devices of the invention should be apparent from the foregoing description. The unit of FIGS. 1 through 4 would desirably be sold in pairs if the home owner has the type of seat hinge to which the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4 is especially adapted. If the home owner has the type of hinge illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, then naturally he would select that particular variety. In either case, the embodiment of the invention solves an annoying problem in modern day homes at a minimum of expense and requires that no part of the existing toilet be disturbed, that is, dismantled or rearranged, and that no skill or tools are needed to install the device.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible of a wide variety of modifications and changes without departing from the scope and spirit of appended claims.

I claim:

1. For use on a conventional toilet for retaining its seat in raised position, the invention which comprises a body of resilientmoulded material, means carried by said body for detachably mounting the same to a toilet in a fixed position adjacent the transverse rear edge of the toilet seat, said mounting means being constructed and arranged to enable said body to be engaged in its position of use with a part of said toilet without disturbing said part, said body having an upper transversely extending face which is profiled on a substantially spiraled line such that when said body is mounted in its position of use said face converges with the path described by the rear edge of the seat as it is moved to its substantially vertical position, said face extending into said path as said seat approaches its vertical position for wedging engagement by said rear edge with a force which retains said seat in its substantially vertical position after it has been moved thereto.

2. The toilet seat retainer of claim 1 wherein said body includes an upper part and wherein the means for detachably fastening said body to a toilet comprises a pair of transversely spaced side parts and a forwardly extending hook part integral with said upper part, the inner sides of said parts defining a space complementary in shape with a toilet seat hinge bracket so that the body member may be snapped thereover, said profiled face comprising an upwardly facing outer surface of said upper part shaped to spiral upwardly and rearwardly and converge outwardly into the path of the rear edge of said seat for engagement thereby when said body member is mounted in its position of use and said seat is in its substantially vertical position.

3. The toilet seat retainer of claim 1 wherein said body comprises a block-like member, said fastening means including means for detachably fixing said block-like member on a toilet bowl between the hinge brackets for said seat, said profiled face comprising a rearwardly and upwardly facing, transversely extending arcuate surface on saidblock-like member, said surface being shaped for wedging engagement by the rear edge of a toilet seat when said body is fixed in its position of use and said seat is in its substantially vertical position.-

4. The retainer of claim 3 wherein said detachable fastening means comprises suction cups attached to the underside of said block-like body member.

5. The retainer of claim 3 including transverse ribs on the arcuate face of the block-like member.

Claims

1. For use on a conventional toilet for retaining its seat in raised position, the invention which comprises a body of resilient moulded material, means carried by said body for detachably mounting the same to a toilet in a fixed position adjacent the transverse rear edge of the toilet seat, said mounting means being constructed and arranged to enable said body to be engaged in its position of use with a part of said toilet without disturbing said part, said body having an upper transversely extending face which is profiled on a substantially spiraled line such that when said body is mounted in its position of use said face converges with the path described by the rear edge of the seat as it is moved to its substantially vertical position, said face extending into said path as said seat approaches its vertical position for wedging engagement by said rear edge with a force which retains said seat in its substantially vertical position after it has been moved thereto.

3. The toilet seat retainer of claim 1 wherein said body comprises a block-like member, said fastening means including means for detachably fixing said block-like member on a toilet bowl between the hinge brackets for said seat, said profiled face comprising a rearwardly and upwardly facing, transversely extending arcuate surface on said block-like member, said surface being shaped for wedging engagement by the rear edge of a toilet seat when said body is fixed in its position of use and said seat is in its substantially vertical position.