Bidet toilet seat

Abstract

A bidet toilet seat wherein the seat incorporates sitz bathing or flushing apparatus associated with the seat and having flushing nozzles discharging inwardly of the seat adjacent the front and rear thereof, which nozzles are adjustable vertically by external control means including means to adjust the discharge angle of the nozzles and individually regulate the flow of water to both nozzles.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of plumbing apparatus wherein bidet type flushing devices have usually taken the form of special floor mounted bowls having built-in piping for discharging the flushing water in an upwardly directed arc which was adjustable only to the extent afforded by regulating the force of the flowing water under control of valves mounted on the bowl. Such apparatus, while of a more or less deluxe type, were expensive and necessitated an additional floor mounted bowl in a bathroom already occupied by a similar toilet bowl. Some of these prior floor mounted bowls did not provide for a flowing stream of water but merely provided valves and a drain closing arrangement which enabled the bowl to be filled with water for hand washing operations. This was not as sanitary as the flowing stream of water and too, was expensive and occupied additional floor space. Some prior art devices provided hoses and apparatus for use with the usual toilet bowl but these were unsightly in a family bathroom and did not contribute to the desired sanitary conditions.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is the primary purpose of this invention to combine a bidet flushing apparatus with a standard or typical bathroom toilet bowl installation.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a toilet having a hinged seat which incorporates water lines or conduits and flushing nozzles for bidet type flushing operations under complete control of an occupant.

An important object of the invention is to provide a toilet seat which incorporates bidet type flushing apparatus with controls for regulating water flow and adjusting the discharge angle of flushing nozzles.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a toilet seat having bidet type flushing apparatus associated therewith and having external controls operable by an occupant to regulate the flow of water and adjust the angular positions of discharge nozzles.

A further object of the invention is to provide a toilet seat having front and rear bidet type flushing nozzles with externally actuated controls for adjusting the angular position of either or both nozzles.

A still further object of the invention comprehends the provisions of a toilet seat incorporating bidet type flushing apparatus including adjustable front and rear discharge nozzles with controls means for adjusting the nozzles individually and for regulating the flow of water to each nozzle.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hinged toilet seat incorporating a bidet type flushing apparatus with associated external controls for regulating the flow of water through front and rear discharge nozzles and for adjusting the respective positions of the nozzles and wherein the flushing apparatus is operatively connected to existing plumbing facilities through a mixing valve to maintain the water through the discharge nozzles at an even temperature.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are attained by the apparatus and arrangement illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of a bathroom toilet installation including a hinged toilet seat incorporating the bidet flushing apparatus of this invention and showing the apparatus operatively connected to the existing plumbing facilities;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the external control mounting for the bidet flushing apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the external control device;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the external control device;

FIG. 5 is a detail bottom view to larger scale of the external control device partially in section;

FIG. 6 is a detailed sectional view through the external control device taken on the line 6--6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a detail sectional view through a portion of the external control device taken on the line 7--7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 also is a detail sectional view through a portion of the external control device taken on the line 8--8 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a general plan view of the hinged toilet seat with the associated external control device;

FIG. 10 is also a plan view of the toilet seat showing the seat in section to reveal the bidet flushing apparatus incorporated in the seat;

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view through the toilet seat taken on the line 11--11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a transverse sectional view through the toilet seat taken on the line 12--12 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view through one side of the toilet seat taken on the line 13--13 of FIG. 10 showing the operative front to rear connection for adjusting the front nozzle; and

FIG. 14 is an inside elevational view of the front portion of the toilet looking from the position indicated by the line 14--14 in FIG. 11 and showing the front discharge nozzle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention avoids the necessity for providing a separate bidet bowl in the average bathroom but includes this facility without requiring any additional space for the convenience of enjoying the sanitary bathing apparatus. This device affords all of the advantages of a special deluxe bowl type bidet but may be simply and easily provided in the usual bathroom arrangement without displacing any of the standard fixtures and without affecting the normal operation of such facilities. The invention provides a toilet seat which is interchangeable with the standard toilet seat and which is hingedly mounted on the usual toilet bowl in place of the original seat. The new toilet seat incorporates bidet flushing apparatus built into the seat and generally concealed from view in the normal use of the toilet. The bidet apparatus includes flushing nozzles located both front and rear of the seat adapted to direct the flow of flushing water in the direction of the center of the toilet bowl but which are individually adjustable to vary the angle of the discharged stream of water from the respective nozzles.

A control panel or bracket is provided outwardly of the toilet seat and includes means for regulating each stream of water from the respective flushing nozzles and for varying the positions of each nozzle. This external bracket for the controls is provided as an included element of the new toilet seat. The bidet flushing apparatus is adapted to be operatively connected into the regular bathroom plumbing system for obtaining hot and cold water through a mixing valve adapted to provide a steady flow of flushing water at the desired temperatures without variation of the temperature. These plumbing connections are made without affecting the normal supply of water to the other fixtures in the bathroom.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the drawings a replacement toilet seat is indicated at 10 and which includes a hinged cover 11 as shown in FIG. 1. The toilet seat and cover are illustrated as mounted on a typical toilet bowl 13 having the usual flush tank 14. The toilet seat 10 is hingedly mounted on the toilet bowl 13 as by hinge means 15. The toilet 13 is of a more or less standard type and is shown as being located in a bathroom 16 containing the usual facilities including a lavatory 17 having a cabinet enclosure 18 which conceals hot and cold water supply pipes 19 and 20 that furnish water to the mixing faucet 21 on the lavatory. The supply pipes 19 and 20 each include a T-connection 22 and 23 respectively and water lines 24 and 25 are operatively connected into these T-connections with shut-off valves 26 and 27 in the respective lines. The water lines 24 and 25 supply hot and cold water through a combined check valve and mixing valve 28 which maintains the flow of water from the respective water lines without allowing either to dominate or flow back into the other in the event that the pressure in one or the other of the water lines should vary. The mixing valve 28 delivers the water to a water line 29 which is comprised of a flexible material such as rubber or neoprene or the like for a purpose hereinafter to appear.

The toilet seat 10, as disclosed herein, is fabricated in two pieces comprising an upper seat forming member 30 and a lower base member 31. The two members, when secured together by cementing or any other suitable means, comprise the complete toilet seat 10 and while the present disclosure utilizes a two piece seat it is contemplated that the toilet seat may be comprised of a single seat member incorporating all of the features of the invention. As best shown in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13, the upper seat forming member 30 is provided with an underside that is hollow, as at 32, while the lower base member 31 is provided with an upwardly opening groove 33 at one side of the central seat opening and which runs continuously from front to rear of the base member between the front and rear nozzle locations. The base member 31 is also provided with an upwardly opening groove which is formed in three parts 34, 35 and 36 which are continuous and run along three sides of the seat base member. The groove portion 34 extends across the front area of the base member while the groove portion 35 extends from the groove 34 around the side area of the base member to connect with the groove portion 36 which extends across the back portion of the base member. When the upper seat member 30 is mounted on the base member 31 the grooves 34, 35 and 36 become covered over so that they are fully enclosed.

The base member 31 and the seat member 30 are both formed with an integrated bracket member 37 and 38 respectively which complement each other when the upper and lower seat and base members are secured together. The groove portion 36 extends continuously through the bracket member 37. A conduit 39 for conducting water into the toilet seat is mounted in the groove portion 36 and this conduit is comprised of an inner pipe section 40 and an outer pipe section 41. The inner pipe 40 at its inner end passes through the wall of the outer pipe and terminates in a nozzle 42 located at the rear of the toilet seat. Where the pipe 40 passes through the wall of the outer pipe the joint around the pipe is soldered or brazed to avoid any possibility of leakage.

The outer pipe 41 supplies water to a nozzle 43 located at the front of the toilet seat and for this purpose a flexible tube 44, which may be rubber or the like, is secured onto the end of the pipe 41 by suitable clamp means as shown in FIG. 10 and this tube extends through the groove portion 35 around the side of the base member and is secured at its opposite end onto a pipe section 45 also by suitable clamping means. This pipe section is mounted in the front groove portion 34 of the base member and the front nozzle 43 is mounted in this pipe section. Thus it will be seen that the pipe 40 supplies water to the rear nozzle 42 and the pipe 41, tube 44 and pipe 45 supply water to the front nozzle 43.

The conduit 39, tube 44 and pipe 45 are free to rotate in the respective grooves 36, 35 and 34 and the conduit 39, containing the inner and outer pipes 40 and 41, is rigidly secured at its outer end to a control panel member 46 containing appropriate valving to supply a controlled flow of water into the conduit 39 from the supply pipe 29. The control panel 46 being rigidly mounted with respect to the inner and outer pipes 40 and 41 it will be seen that when the control panel is pivoted about its axis, which is coincident with axis of these pipes, the pipes will be rotated therewith and therefore the rear nozzle 42 will simultaneously be tilted or inclined upwardly at the rear of the toilet seat.

Means are provided for tilting the front nozzle 43 upwardly at the same time as the rear nozzle and by the same pivotal motion of the control panel 46 as best shown in FIG. 13. It will be seen here that the pipe section 45 at the front of the toilet seat in the groove portion 34 is provided with an upwardly extending lever arm 47 while the conduit 39 located in the groove portion 36 at the rear of the toilet seat is provided with a downwardly extending lever arm 48. These lever arms are operatively connected by a mechanical link member 49 which is disposed in the groove portion 33. The link 49 is flexible but is designed to function both in compression and in tension so that when the control panel 46 is rotated upwardly the conduit structure 39 will be similarly rotated to pivot the lever arm 48 in a counter-clockwise direction to move the link 48 in a forward direction under compression against the lever arm 47 to rotate the pipe section 45 in a clockwise direction. Thus it will be seen as the conduit 39 is rotated counter-clockwise and the pipe section 45 is simultaneously rotated in a clockwise direction the rear nozzle 42 will be tilted upwardly and the front nozzle at the same time will be inclined upwardly to the same extent. The nozzles 42 and 43 normally are biased downwardly and are adapted to be inclined upwardly only when the control panel 46 is pivoted upwardly when operated by an occupant of the toilet seat. A tension spring 50 suitably anchored at 51 in the base member 31 is connected at is opposite end to the lever arm 48 and thus exerts a force on this arm to move it clockwise and through the link 49 pulls the lever arm 47 counter-clockwise whereby both of the nozzles 42 and 43 are lowered to the full line positions illustrated in FIG. 11 where they are maintained normally.

Adjustment of the front and rear flushing nozzles upwardly and downwardly is obtained simultaneously by the occupants actuation of the control panel 46 but the flow of water to the respective nozzles may be had to either the front nozzle or to the rear nozzle or to both nozzles simultaneously. Thus it is possible to utilize only the front nozzle for flushing purposes or the rear nozzle may be used alone or both nozzles may be caused to flush at the same time. Reference is now made to FIGS. 5 through 8 for a full disclosure of the control panel and valving arrangement for regulating the flow of water to the nozzles 42 and 43. The water supply line 29 connects into the control panel at 52 by means of a fitting 53 to which the line 29 is secured by suitable clamping means. Temperature of the incoming water is adjusted under the control of the shut off valves 26 and 27 in the hot and cold water lines ahead of the combined check valve and mixing valve 28 so that the water entering the control panel is of the desired temperature as selected by the user.

From the entering point 52 the incoming water is diverted through passages 54 and 55 to spring loaded valves 56 and 57 which communicate respectively with the inner pipe 40 leading to the rear nozzle 42 and with the outer pipe 41 leading to the front nozzle 43. The water passages from the respective valves are indicated at 58 to the inner pipe 40 and at 59 to the outer pipe 41. The control valves are spring loaded normally to close and shut off the flow of water and are adapted to be actuated for admitting water to one or the other or to both of the pipes 40 and 41 by control levers 60 and 61 pivotally mounted on the control panel. The levers 60 and 61 are substantially identical, the lever 60 being slightly longer than lever 61 in order to position the finger button 62 further forward than the finger button 63 on the lever 61 so that the user can more readily identify and operate the separate controls for the respective nozzles.

The lever 60 actuates valve 56 directing water through nozzle 42 when opened and the lever 61 actuates valve 57 to direct water through the front nozzle 43 when that valve is opened. The finger button 62 for the front nozzle, as indicated, is located in front of finger button 63 on the control panel 46 for the ready identification of the controls for actuation of the respective nozzles whereby the user may quickly identify the finger button 63 for directing the flow of water through the rear nozzle 42 for that type of flushing action and just as easily identify the finger button 62 for directing the flow of water to the front nozzle 43 for front flushing action from that nozzle. The finger buttons 62 and 63 may be actuated simultaneously for causing the water to flow through both of the front and rear nozzles 42 and 43 at the same time for the combined flushing action obtained in this manner. These various flushing actions are obtained while the control panel 46 is tilted at the same time by the user to obtain the desired angle of the flushing nozzles to direct the streams of water for the most effective washing actions.

As best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the actuating levers 60 and 61 pass through the lower end of the respective valves and then the rear end of each lever is pivotally mounted as at 65 in a bearing member 64 provided for that purpose on the underside of the control panel 46. The actuating levers, except for the portions thereof engaged by the user to operate the flushing action, and the valve mechanism are normally concealed by a removable cover 66 secured in place by a screw 67. The valves 56 and 57 are spring loaded to close in a downward direction so that an upward pressure on the respective finger buttons 62 and 63 opens the valve for regulating the flow of water under the control of the user and similarly an upwardly directed force on the control panel 46 pivots that member about its axis and thereby changes the angle of the flushing nozzles 42 and 43 in accordance with the desires of the user.

The valves 56 and 57, being spring loaded, shut off automatically when the finger controls 62 and 63 are released by the operator. These valves, of course, may be released one by one or simultaneously and when released they have the effect of shutting off the flow of water immediately. In the usual plumbing system this would cause the "hammering" encountered when shutting off a faucet or other valve controlling the flow of water. However, in the present system of plumbing connections this pounding of the plumbing is avoided. As previously described, the line 29 connecting this bidet toilet seat to the existing water lines is made of rubber or neoprene or the like. When the valves 56 or 57 are released to shut off the flow of water to the flushing nozzles a build-up of pressure occurs immediately but pounding of the plumbing is avoided by the corresponding expansion of the resilient line 29 afforded by the material of which the line is made. This expansion occurs instantly upon the build-up of water pressure when the valves are shut off and effectively prevent this objectionable pounding which otherwise would be encountered under these conditions.

From the foregoing it can readily be seen that a bidet type flushing device has been provided which is incorporated into a toilet seat that can be substituted for the usual toilet seat found in the average bathroom and which provides a front flushing nozzle as well as a rear flushing nozzle with control means for flowing water through either nozzle to obtain a flushing action from either direction as a separate flushing operation or from both directions simultaneously to provide a combined flushing operation and wherein the angle of the flowing water may be varied during the flushing operation by changing the angle of the discharge nozzles under the control of the user and wherein the controls for the flushing action and the adjustment of the angularity of the flushing nozzles are mounted on the bidet toilet seat.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A toilet seat having discharge nozzles pivotally mounted respectively adjacent the front and rear of the seat for generally vertical angling movements and directed inwardly thereof at relatively variable angles generally in opposing relation, conduit means in the seat supplying water to said nozzles, means operatively connecting the front and rear nozzles to adjust the vertical angularity of the nozzles simultaneously, and control means on the toilet seat to regulate the flow of water through said conduit means and nozzles and to adjust the angularity of said nozzles.

2. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 1 wherein said conduit means supplies water respectively to the rear nozzle and to the front nozzle and said control means regulates the flow of water to each nozzle individually for directing the flow of water to either nozzle or through both nozzles.

3. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 1 wherein a control panel is provided externally of the seat and said control means are located in said panel.

4. A toilet seat having discharge nozzles located respectively adjacent the front and rear of the seat and directed inwardly thereof generally in opposing relation, conduit means in the seat supplying water to said nozzles, means to adjust the vertical angularity of the nozzles, control means on the toilet seat to regulate the flow of water through said conduit means and said nozzles and a control panel provided externally of the seat and said control means being located in said panel and said control panel is mounted on the seat and said means to adjust the nozzles is operated from said panel, said control panel being pivotally mounted and pivotal movement of the panel effecting the adjustment of said front and rear nozzles.

5. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 4 wherein said respective nozzles are initially directed in a downward direction by spring pressure means and said means to adjust the vertical angularity of the nozzles operates against said spring pressure.

6. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 2 wherein said conduit means has an operative connection to an existing water supply providing hot and cold water, and a combined check valve and mixing valve is disposed between said water supply and the conduit means.

7. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 6 including means for hingedly mounting the seat on a typical toilet bowl as a replacement for the standard toilet seat.

8. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 6 wherein said control means includes a separate valve for regulating the flow of water to each of said nozzles and said valves are actuated from said control means by an occupant of said seat.

9. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 8 wherein separate conduit means are provided from each of said valves to the respective nozzles and said existing water supply is operatively connected to both said conduit means.

10. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 5 wherein said conduit means includes a flexible tube portion operatively connecting the front and rear nozzles and said flexible tube portion flexes with the adjustment of the nozzles, and a positive connection from the rear nozzle to the front nozzle to effect adjustment of the front nozzle simultaneously with adjustment of the rear nozzle.

11. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 10 wherein said positive connection includes an upwardly disposed lever arm on the front nozzle, a downwardly disposed lever arm on the rear nozzle, a link member operatively connecting said lever arms, and said spring pressure means is connected to said downwardly disposed lever arm.

12. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 6 wherein said operative connection to an existing water supply includes a flexible conduit adapted to expand on an increase in water pressure.

13. A toilet seat as set forth in claim 12 wherein said flexible conduit is comprised of rubber or neoprene or the like.