Method of molding a toilet seat assembly

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6748611
  • Patent Number
    6,748,611
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, April 24, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 15, 2004
    20 years ago
Abstract
A toilet seat assembly 10 includes a toilet seat 12 having a seat skin 14 defining the exterior surfaces thereof and a seat core 16 disposed within and surrounded by the seat skin 14 and a cover 18 having a cover skin 20 defining the exterior surfaces thereof and a cover core 22 disposed within and surrounded by the cover skin 20. The assembly is characterized by the cores 16, 22 each comprising a waste material. The waste material may be a single polymer wasted in the process of making other products. Alternatively or in combination therewith, combining a plurality of different materials (including different polymers) from different sources may be employed to formulate the waste material.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The subject invention relates to a toilet seat assembly including a seat and a cover and, more specifically, to molded toilet seat assemblies.




2. Description of the Prior Art




Toilet seat assemblies include a seat and cover coupled together by a hinge mechanism that also connects the assembly to a toilet. These toilet seat assemblies have been fabricated from materials such as wood and plastic, some with a solid core surrounded by polymer material. Examples of such prior art techniques are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,277 to Harrison; U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,789 to Blount; U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,935 to Wang and U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,892 to Hogue.




In all prior systems there has been the continuing objective to reduce the cost of fabricating the toilet seat assemblies.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND ADVANTAGES




It is, therefore, an object of the subject invention to produce a toilet seat assembly at a reduced cost. This is accomplished by a method of molding a toilet seat and cover comprising the steps of forming a seat having a seat core surrounded by a seat skin, and forming a cover having a cover core surrounded by a cover skin. The method is characterized by forming the cores of a waste material suspended in a carrier.




The waste material may be collected from the processes for making other products and mixed into a flowable material that solidifies into the cores. By accumulating and using such waste materials, the cost of the assembly is greatly reduced.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a toilet seat assembly formed in accordance with the subject invention;





FIG. 2

is a mold for molding the toilet seat assembly of the subject invention; and





FIG. 3

is a schematic view of the method of the subject invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, a toilet seat assembly fabricated in accordance with the subject invention is generally shown at


10


in FIG.


1


. The toilet seat assembly


10


includes a toilet seat, generally indicated at


12


, having a seat skin


14


defining the exterior surfaces thereof and a seat core


16


disposed within and surrounded by the seat skin


14


. The assembly


10


similarly includes a cover, generally indicated at


18


, including a cover skin


20


defining the exterior surfaces thereof and a cover core


22


disposed within and surrounded by the cover skin


20


. Appropriate and well known hardware


23


hingedly interconnect the seat


12


and cover


18


and mount the assembly


10


on a water closet or toilet.




The assembly is characterized by the cores


16


,


22


each comprising a waste material. The waste material may be a single polymer wasted in the process of making other products. Alternatively or in combination therewith, combining a plurality of different materials (including different polymers) from different sources may be employed to formulate the waste material.




The method of fabricating the toilet seat


12


and the cover


18


comprises the known steps of forming the seat


12


having a seat core


16


surrounded by a seat skin


14


and forming the cover


18


having a cover core


22


surrounded by a cover skin


20


, but is characterized by forming the cores


16


,


22


of a waste material. As illustrated in

FIG. 2

, this may be accomplished by simultaneously injecting the polymer for the seat skin


14


into a seat mold cavity


24


and into a cover mold cavity


26


, both of which are defined by a mold comprising the mold bottom


28


and mold top


30


. Although the top


30


is shown perpendicular to the bottom


28


, the two parts are disposed in parallel planes when in use and are opened and closed in the manner well known in the art. The seat


12


and cover


18


molding the seat


12


and cover


18


are molded in the same mold


28


,


30


having an interconnecting gate defined by grooves


32


and


34


in the respective mold halves


28


and


30


and interconnecting the seat and cover mold cavities


24


and


26


.




The method is perfected by injecting a waste material into the seat mold cavity


24


and into the cover mold cavity


26


to fill the skin polymer. Actually, the polymer material for the skin is co-injected with the waste material into the mold cavities


24


,


26


. This may be accomplished by injecting the waste material in a tube


34


concentrically within a cylinder


32


of the skin polymer, i.e., a jet within a jet. A plurality of such injectors may be disposed about the mold halve


28


. The waste material could include a mixture of waste polymers from different sources, such as other injection processes making other parts. Often products molded from polymers have imperfections and must be discarded. These discarded scarp products can be ground up into granules that can be mixed with granules from other scrap products to provide the waste material. In other words, the method may be further defined as collecting solidified polymers from molding processes for products other than toilet seat assemblies, dividing the solidified polymers into a granular mix, heating the granular mix into a flowable mix, and injecting a waste material including the flowable mix. In some cases the waste material may include particles of wood. As shown in

FIG. 3

, the waste may also include recyclable materials, or even paper.




As alluded to above, the waste or recycled material may include a mixture of a polymer and particles of other waste products having different physical characteristics (e.g., melting temperature) such as wood (sawdust) shredded carpet, etc. It has been found important that the main recycled or waste material be mixed with a sufficient volume of carrier material, such as the polymer having the requisite flow characteristics. In other words, the waste material is suspended in a carrier material and injected into the mold cavity to form the core. The carrier is in the range of 10 to 30 percent by volume of the core, i.e., the waste material is 10 to 90 percent by volume of the core material. In the case of sawdust the ratio is 70% sawdust and 30% polymer, whereas shredded carpet is 90% shredded carpet and 10% polymer. The waste material occupies a majority of the volume of the core and the carrier material occupies a minority of the volume of the core. Preferably, the carrier is a polymer which enhances the flow of the core material, i.e., renders the flow characteristics of the core closer to that of the skin than the flow characteristics of the waste material per se.




Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. The invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described within the scope of the appended claims, wherein that which is prior art is antecedent to the novelty set forth in the “characterized by” clause. The novelty is meant to be particularly and distinctly recited in the “characterized by” clause whereas the antecedent recitations merely set forth the old and well-known combination in which the invention resides. These antecedent recitations should be interpreted to cover any combination in which the incentive novelty exercises its utility. In addition, the reference numerals in the claims are merely for convenience and are not to be read in any way as limiting.



Claims
  • 1. A method of fabricating a toilet seal (12) and cover (18) comprising the steps of;forming a seat (12) having a seat core (16) surrounded by a seat skin (14), forming a cover (18) having a cover core (22) surrounded by a cover skin (20), said method characterized by forming said cores (16, 22) of a waste material occupying a majority of the volume of the core and a carrier material occupying a minority of the volume of the core.
  • 2. A method as set forth in claim 1 further defined as suspending the waste material in a polymer carrier to enhance the flow characteristics of the core closer to the flow characteristics of the skin than that of the waste material per se.
  • 3. A toilet seat assembly comprising;a toilet seat (12) including a skin defining the exterior surfaces and a core disposed within and surrounded by said seat skin (14), a cover (18) including a cover skin (20) defining the exterior surfaces thereof and a cover core (22) disposed within and surrounded by said cover skin (20), said assembly characterized by said cores (16, 22) each comprising a waste material occupying a majority of the volume of the core and a carrier material occupying a minority of the volume of the core.
  • 4. An assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein said skins comprise a polymer and said waste material includes a mixture of a polymer as a carrier and a waste material suspended in the carrier.
  • 5. An assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein said waste material includes particles of wood suspended in a carrier polymer to define said core.
RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 10/037,828, filed Jan. 3, 2002.

US Referenced Citations (18)
Number Name Date Kind
749083 McElroy Jan 1904 A
848043 McCord et al. Mar 1907 A
1290611 Lussier Jan 1919 A
2047480 MacDonald Jul 1936 A
2155286 Winding Apr 1939 A
2185169 Romanoff Dec 1939 A
3331085 Potosky Jul 1967 A
3517396 Wert Jun 1970 A
3671981 Smith Jun 1972 A
3863277 Harrison Feb 1975 A
3988789 Blount Nov 1976 A
4318213 Blount Mar 1982 A
5192809 Jones et al. Mar 1993 A
5209968 Sweeney May 1993 A
5648431 Demuth et al. Jul 1997 A
5791103 Coolman et al. Aug 1998 A
5991935 Wang Nov 1999 A
6154892 Hogue Dec 2000 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number Date Country
2221930 Feb 1990 GB
2002088212 Sep 2000 JP
Continuation in Parts (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 10/037828 Jan 2002 US
Child 10/422889 US