Patent Grant
8336130
The present invention is directed to a toilet, more particularly to a toilet comprising a hydraulic lift system to allow the toilet bowl and toilet seat to be lifted and lowered according to a user's needs.
Some individuals, such as elderly or disabled persons, may have difficulty lifting themselves on an off a standard toilet. The present invention features a toilet device that has the ability to be lifted and lowered to enable a user to easily use the toilet.
Any feature or combination of features described herein are included within the scope of the present invention provided that the features included in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description and claims.
The following is a listing of numbers corresponding to a particular element refer to herein:
Referring now to
The toilet device 100 resembles a conventional toilet. For example, the toilet device 100 comprises a toilet bowl 105, a toilet seat 106, a toilet reservoir 107, and a water supply line 108. The toilet device 100 can move between an up position and a down position. In the down position, the toilet bowl 105 is lowered close to the floor.
In the up position, the toilet bowl 105 is raised upwardly away from the floor to increase the height of the toilet device 100.
The toilet device 100 comprises generally flat base 110. The base 110 has a top surface 115 and a bottom surface 116. The toilet bowl 105 is raised above the base 100 via a hydraulic lift cylinder 140. The hydraulic lift cylinder 140 can move the toilet bowl between the up position and the down position. Such hydraulic lift cylinders are well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. In some embodiments, the hydraulic lift cylinder 140 is oriented near a first side edge of the base 110. In some embodiments, the hydraulic lift cylinder 140 is oriented near a front edge of the base 110. The lift cylinder 140 is not limited to these locations with respect to the base 110. They hydraulic lift cylinder 140 is operatively connected to a power source.
In some embodiments, the toilet bowl 105 has a top edge, a side, and a bottom region 109. In some embodiments, the first end 141 of the hydraulic lift cylinder 140 is attached to the toilet bowl 105 near the side and the second end 142 of the hydraulic lift cylinder 140 is attached to the top surface 115 of the base 110.
In some embodiments, one or more support rods 160 support the toilet bowl 105 above the base 110 (e.g., the top surface 115 of the base 110). In some embodiments, the support rods 160 are constructed from an inner bar telescopically received in an outer bar. The inner bar can slide up and down inside the outer bar when the toilet bowl is moved to the up position or to the down position, respectively. Such support rods are well known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
A waste pipe 210 fluidly connects the toilet bowl 105 (e.g., the bottom region 109 of the toilet bowl 105) and the waste line 201 of the plumbing system (see
In some embodiments, an outer cover 340 surrounds the hydraulic lift cylinder 140 and the waste pipe 210. The outer cover 340 may be attached to the toilet bowl 105 and/or the base 110 via an attachment means. An attachment means may include a fastener 345, a hook-and-loop fastener, a zipper mechanism, a hook mechanism, a button mechanism, the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the outer cover 340 is constructed from a material comprising corrugated rubber bellows. The outer cover 340 is not limited to being constructed from corrugated rubber bellows.
The toilet device 100 can be moved between the up position and the down position via a control device, for example a pedal 240 or a switch 250. The hydraulic lift cylinder 140 may be operatively/electrically connected to the control device (e.g., pedal 240 and/or switch 250). The control device can move between a first position and a second position. In some embodiments, the first position corresponds to causing the hydraulic lift cylinder 140 to move the toilet bowl 105 to the up position. In some embodiments, the second position corresponds to causing the hydraulic lift cylinder 140 to move the toilet bowl 105 to the down position.
The following the disclosures of the following U.S. Patents are incorporated in their entirety by reference herein: U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,417; U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,446; U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,617; U.S. Pat. No. 3,060,458; U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,552; U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,780; U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,174; U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,703; U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,585.
Various modifications of the invention, in addition to those described herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Such modifications are also intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. Each reference cited in the present application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Although there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made thereto which do not exceed the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention is only to be limited by the following claims.
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