The present invention relates to a toilet seat assembly and flushing system for use in a toilet, in particular a flushing system for ensuring that the toilet seat assembly is in the down position when the toilet is vacant and a toilet seat for eliminating the "sneeze effect".

Toilet flushing mechanisms are well known and are typically activated by either a push button on a top surface of the cistern or a depressible lever extending from the side of the cistern, which means that they can readily be flushed with the toilet seat assembly in the raised position. Thus, a constant annoyance with toilets having such flushing mechanisms, particularly with females, is that when the lavatory is visited the toilet seat assembly is left in the raised position. Furthermore, there are a number of reasons why the toilet seat should be lowered after use: a raised seat assembly looks unsightly; it is a proven fact that, when a toilet is flushed, microorganisms are released into the atmosphere that can contaminate toothbrushes, soap, flannels, towels, contact lenses etc, some of which may be a health hazard; before most users are able to use the facilities, the toilet seat assembly needs to be lowered; it has been known for pets to drink from a toilet pan and this can spread bacteria; children have been known to play with the water in the toilet bowl and there is a danger of the raised toilet seat assembly falling on them; and a toilet seat assembly in the down position is more likely to control odour and the spread of microorganisms. In particular, every time a toilet is flushed a "sneeze effect" or fine mist is created which sees germs propelled out of the pan and into the atmosphere, and, even with a closed lid, germs can be detected at head height above the toilet.

It is an object of a first aspect of the present invention to provide a toilet seat assembly with a hermetic seal that helps prevent odours and microorganisms from escaping the toilet bowl via the "sneeze effect".

According to this first aspect of the present invention there is provided a toilet

seat assembly comprising a seat member and a lid member, the assembly, in use, being hingedly attached to a toilet bowl such that the seat member is engageable with a rim of the toilet bowl to provide a seat upon which a user can sit, and the lid member being engageable with the seat member so as to overlie it, at least one of the seat member and the lid member having a seal provided on its underside which, in use, forms a substantially hermetic seal with the underlying bowl rim or seat member respectively.

A toilet seat assembly in accordance with the first aspect of the invention has the advantage of that, in use, due to the hermetic seal created between the seat member and/or lid member and the underlying bowl rim or seat member respectively, the sneeze effect (also known as the aerosol effect) and odour/noise escape from the toilet bowl are marginalized when the toilet is flushed with the seat assembly in the down position.

Preferably, each of the seat member and the lid member has a seal provided on its underside, the seal on the lid forming a substantially hermetic seal with the upper surface of the seat, and the seal on the seat, in use, forming a substantially hermetic seal with the rim of the bowl when the seat is lowered to overlie the bowl. This has the advantage that it prevents the spread of microorganisms via the sneeze effect and further reduces odour and noise escape from the toilet bowl when the toilet is flushed with the seat assembly in the down position.

In a further advantageous development, the or each seal is an annular seal which extends entirely around the periphery of the toilet assembly member on which it is provided. Said at least one seal may be of unitary construction, either being mounted directly onto the underside of the assembly member or having recesses for locating moulded stops or feet mounted thereon. Alternatively, however, the at least one seal may be formed of a plurality of annular segments,

whereby each segment extends, preferably arcuately, between moulded stops or feet mounted on the underside of the assembly member.

In yet a further advantageous development, the at least one seal is radially inset from the edge of the assembly member on which it is provided. In this way, a region is formed which is protected from contamination during flushing and which may be used to raise and lower the seat and lid members. In particular, the at least one seal substantially adjacent to the inner rim of the seat member or bowl rim with which, in use, it forms a seal. In this way, the extent of the region on the seat and/or lid member that is protected from contamination during flushing is maximized.

In still a further development, the at least one seal is manufactured from silicon, which is advantageously impervious to ammonia found in uric acid, but it will be understood that it could alternatively be manufactured from rubber, plastic or any other know sealing material.

In one development, the at least one seal comprises an in-built, longitudinally extending bead, which forms a buffer for mamtaining a gap between the seat member and lid member and/or the seat member and bowl rim, and a web which extends over said bead so as to be upstanding therefrom in an unbiased position, said web in particular being flexible, flaring laterally upon being compressed towards the bead so as to provide a broader sealing surface with the seat member and/or bowl rim. Preferably, said bead extends along the entire length of the at least one seal and said at least one seal furthermore advantageously comprises studs for mounting itself to the lid and/or seat member via recesses located within said members. However, the skilled person will additionally realize that a wide range of known seals could be used to from the at least one seal.

Indeed, in a preferred alternative development, the at least one seal does not comprise an in-built bead and is instead tubular such that it likewise flares upon being compressed. Preferably, the tubular cavity extends along the entire length of the at least one seal, which also advantageously comprises studs for mounting itself to the lid and/or seat member via recesses located within said members. In particular, the lid member is advantageously provided with a tubular seal having an engaging face that is inclined to the plane of said lid member, the seal being mounted on the lid member such that, in use, said engaging face engages with the inner rim of the seat member and flares to form a particularly effective seal therewith. Preferably, said seal has a substantially right-angled, triangular cross- sectional form and a correspondingly shaped tubular cavity, wherein, in use, the hypotenuse of the triangular cross-section forms the engaging face. The seat member, on the other hand, is advantageously provided with a tubular seal having a substantially triangular cross-sectional form and a correspondingly shaped tubular cavity, wherein, in use, the apex of the triangular cross-section engages with the bowl rim such that it laterally flares to provide a particularly effective, broad seal therewith. Preferably, said seal has an isosceles-shaped, triangular cross-sectional form and a correspondingly shaped cavity.

Additionally, the lid member of the toilet seat is advantageously made of transparent material so that any "debris" remaining after flushing can be detected. Furthermore, the lid member preferably includes a means for mounting an air freshening device to its underside and, advantageously, an air freshening device integrally formed therewith such that, in use, the environment within the bowl can be freshened. Preferably, the means for mounting the air freshening device is an appropriate bracket, although it will be understood that any other known mounting means could be used such a tapped holes, screws, adhesive or magnets.

The present invention also provides a toilet seat assembly comprising a

toilet bowl and a seat assembly according to the first aspect of the invention pivotally assembled thereto.

It is an object of a second aspect of the present invention to provide a flushing system that ensures that it is inconvenient to flush the lavatory with the seat in a raised position.

According to this second aspect of the present invention there is provided a toilet assembly comprising a bowl, a seat assembly and a cistern having a flush mechanism and an actuator for actuating said flush mechanism, the seat assembly being hingedly mounted to the bowl for pivotal movement between a lowered position in which the seat assembly extends across the bowl and a raised position in which the seat assembly is upstanding from the bowl, and the actuator being located so as to be concealed behind the seat assembly when it is in its raised position such that flushing of the toilet is prevented with said seat assembly raised.

A toilet assembly in accordance with the second aspect of the invention has the advantage that it makes it inconvenient for the toilet to be flushed whilst any part of the seat assembly is in a raised position. Rather, it encourages the toilet only to be flushed when the seat assembly is in a down position, resting on the rim of the bowl, which, in turn, ensures that the spread of microorganisms via the sneeze effect and odour/noise escape from the toilet bowl are again considerably reduced by the barrier formed by the seat assembly.

Preferably, the actuator is located on a front face of the cistern, the seat assembly extending across said first face when in its raised position so as to overlie said actuator and thereby prevent access to it.

Advantageously, the actuator is also located above the waterline of the flushing system and is furthermore preferably a push button which is, in particular, located on

a front elevation of the cistern, where it can easily be hidden by any part of the seat assembly that is lifted into a raised position, ready for use. In a further development, the flush mechanism includes a linkage for converting longitudinal movement of the push button into vertical movement for initiating the flush mechanism of the flushing system, said linkage in particular including a cam arrangement that converts the transverse movement of the button to the required vertical movement.

Alternatively, the actuator may be a rotating lever or a vertically pivoting lever, which is advantageously located in a recess that is preferably in the front face of the cistern so as to ensure that the toilet seat stays in a raised position when this is required during use. In a development of this alternative, the arrangement for converting the movement of the lever into vertical movement for initiating the flush mechanism of the flushing system is a simple pivot lever arrangement that converts the rotational movement to the required vertical movement. Furthermore, the skilled person will realise that a wide range of known actuation means and flushing mechanisms, including pneumatic, electrical, cable operated and other mechanical mechanisms, could alternatively be employed in order to initiate a flush cycle of the flushing system.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the toilet assembly of the second aspect is used in combination with the seal assembly of the first aspect of the invention.

This has the advantage that it provides a total system that ensures safety, hygiene and neatness. In particular, the flushing system has the advantage of ensuring that the seat assembly is in a down position, resting on said rim, when the toilet is flushed, which, when combined with the hermetically sealing nature of the seat assembly, ensures that the "sneeze effect" created by flushing the toilet is

substantially eliminated and odour escape from the toilet bowl is considerably reduced.

In order that the invention may be well understood, there will now be described an embodiment thereof, given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 shows the location of the flushing device when the toilet seat and members are in the down position;

Figure 2 shows the location of the flushing device and how it is covered by the toilet seat members when they are in the raised position;

Figure 3 is a view of the underside of the lid member of the toilet seat, showing the seal thereon;

Figure 4 is a view of the underside of the seat member of the toilet seat, showing the seal thereon;

Figure 5 is a side view of the lid member of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a side view of the seat member of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a cistern showing the locating aperture for flushing devices;

Figure 8 is an example of a transverse button flush activation mechanism;

Figure 9 is a further of example of a transverse button flush activation mechanism;

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view of a seal for an alternative embodiment of the seat assembly;

Figure 11 is a cross-sectional view of the seal of Figure 10 under pressure;

Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view of a seal for a particularly preferred embodiment of the lid member; and

Figure 13 is a cross-sectional view of a seal for a particularly preferred embodiment of the seat member.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a toilet 1 comprising a bowl 2, forming a base of the toilet, with a cistern 4, extending from the back of the bowl, in

which is housed a flushing system. A toilet seat assembly 3, comprising an annular seat member 5 and a solid lid member 6, is pivotally mounted onto the bowl rim 7 by means of a hinge in a well known manner so as to enable pivotal movement of each of the seat member 5 and the lid member 6 between a lowered position in which each extends across the breadth of the bowl 2 and a raised position in which each upstands from the bowl and extends along a front face of the cistern 4, the lid member 6 being raisable independently of the seat member 5 and the seat member 6 being lowerable independently of the lid member 6. An actuating button 10 for initiating a flush cycle of the flushing system is provided on the front face of the cistern at a location which is overlaid by the toilet seat assembly when in its raised position, and in particular is concealed behind the lid member 6 when in its raised position, thereby preventing flushing of the toilet with the lid raised.

Further referring to Figures 3-6, the seat and lid members 5, 6 of the seat assembly 3 are of similar size to each other and the rim 7 of the toilet bowl 2 such that the seat member 5 rests securely on the rim 7 when in its lowered position, a plurality of feet 26 provided on the lower surface thereof maintaining said seat member 5 in a slightly spaced apart position relative to the rim 7. The central opening of the seat member 5 is furthermore aligned with the mouth of the bowl when in the lowered position so as to enable debris to pass into the bowl 2. The lid member 6 similarly has a plurality of feet 26 provided on its lower surface so as to maintain it spaced apart relatively from the seat member 5 when both are in then- lowered positions with said lid member 6 covering the central opening of said seat member 5.

In the illustrated embodiment the seating assembly 3 is pivotally attached to the bowl by means of a pair of brackets (not shown), which extend from a rear edge of each of the seat and lid members 5, 6, each said bracket having a hole

therein which aligns axially with the other holes on a common pivot axis and through which extends a hinge bar attached at each end to the bowl. In this way, the seat and lid members 5, 6 can be pivoted between the raised and lowered positions as is appropriate.

Due to the feet 26 respectively maintaining the seat member 5 in a slightly spaced apart relationship from the bowl 2, and the lid member 6 in a slightly spaced apart relationship rrom the seat member 5, the space between the feet 26 form gaps in the lower assembly through which debris may pass upon flushing of the toilet. The lower face of each of the lid and seat members 5, 6 is therefore provided with an annular seal 13, 14 which extends between the feet 26 and is positioned to engage the upper surface of the seat member 5 and bowl rim 7 respectively when the seat assembly is in its lowered position so as to eliminate the aforementioned spaces. More particularly, a first seal 13 is mounted on the inside of the seat member 5 and a second seal 14 is mounted to the underside of the lid member 6 such that, in use, when both toilet seat members 5, 6 are in the down position, the first seal 13 forms a hermetic seal between the seat member 5 and the rim 7 of the bowl 2 and the second seal 14 forms a hermetic seal between the lid member 6 and the seat member 5 above which it rests. To enable such hermetic seals to be formed, the seals 13, 14 are of unitary construction and extend entirely around the periphery of the underside of each member 5, 6, the first seal 13 aligning with the upper face of the rim 7 of the bowl 2 and the second seal 14 aligning with a raised contour on the upper face of the seat. In this way, the hermetic seals totally block the escape of debris, microorganisms and the like from the bowl 2 during a flush cycle when the whole seat assembly 3 is in its lowered position. In addition, the outer edge of each seal 13, 14 is radially inset a small distance from the outer edge of the undersides of the members 5, 6 to which they are attached so that the outer radial edges of the lid 6 and seat 5 are isolated from the debris which gathers on the radially inner edge of the seal during flushing. In

this way, a user may use said outer edge of the underside of the members 5, 6 to lift said members without the risk of contaminating their fingers during the process. Alternatively, however, it will be understood that the seals 13, 14 can advantageously be mounted substantially adjacent to the inner rim of the seat member 5 and bowl rim 7 with which they respectively form a seal. In this way, the area of the underside of the lid and seat members 5, 6 that are isolated from the debris, which gathers on the radially inner edge of the seal during flushing, is maximized.

As will be clearly appreciated, the above-described system is only effective if the seat assembly is lowered when flushing takes place. As previously described, the actuating button 10 of the toilet 1 is located on the front face of the cistern 4 at a location which is concealed behind the lid member 6 when in the raised position, thereby forcing a user to lower the lid member 6 prior to flushing.

In the illustrated embodiment, the flush mechanism includes a cam arrangement which converts the transverse movement of the button into vertical movement of an actuating mechanism which operates in a conventional manner to initiate a flush cycle. More particularly, as shown in Figure 9, the flush mechanism comprises a button 17, a spring 18, a pivot 19, a stop 20 and a lever 21, wherein transverse movement of the button 17 causes the spring 18 to exert a force on the lever 21, which acts as a cam, converting said movement into a vertical movement for initiating the flush cycle of the toilet 1. Furthermore, referring to Figure 10, there is shown a further of example of a transverse button flush activation mechanism comprising a button 22, a lever 23, a pivot 24 and a stop 25, wherein transverse movement of the button 22 causes the lever 23 to tilt about the pivot 24 and hence convert the transverse movement of the button 22 into vertical movement for initiating the flush cycle of the toilet 1.

In one embodiment of the seat member 3, the seat and lid members 5, 6 again do not have feet 26 provided on their lower surfaces but are instead each provided with a seal 27, as shown in Figure 10, mounted directly on to said lower surfaces via studs 28 that locate and secure it in associated recesses within the seat and lid members 5, 6. In particular, the seal 27 is formed with an integral bead 29 that runs along the entire length of the seal and acts as a buffer such that the seal 27 that is mounted on the lid member 6 maintains a gap between the seat member 5 and said lid member 6, and the seal 27 which is mounted on the seat member 5 maintains a gap between the bowl rim 7 and said seat member 5. A web 30 of flexible material additionally extends over the bead 29 of the seal 27 so as to be upstanding therefrom in an unbiased position, flexing of said web 30 causing it to flare laterally so as to provide a larger contact area and therefore broader sealing surface, as shown in Figure 11, when said seal 27 is under pressure. As a result, an effective seal is formed between the bowl rim 7 and seat member 5 and the seat member 6 and lid member 6 when the seat assembly 3 is in the lowered position. The skilled person will realize, however, that a wide range of known seals could alternatively be used in accordance with the invention, either in conjunction with, or in the absence of, the feet 26.

Indeed, in a particularly preferred embodiment of the seat assembly 3, the lid member 6 and seat member 5 again do not have feet 26 provided on their lower surfaces but are instead provided with tubular seals 31 and 35 respectively, which each comprise studs 32, 36 for mounting themselves to the appropriate seat or lid member 5, 6 via corresponding recesses located therein. Referring to Figure 12, the tubular seal 31 has a substantially right-angled, triangular cross-sectional form and a correspondingly shaped tubular cavity 33 running along its entire length. Furthermore, said seal 31 is mounted on the lid member 6 such that, in use, an engaging face 34, which forms the hypotenuse of its triangular cross-sectional form, locates on the inner rim of the seat member 5 so as to form a particularly

effective seal therewith. Referring to Figure 13, the tubular seal 35 has a substantially isosceles-shaped, triangular cross-sectional form and a correspondingly shaped tubular cavity 37 running along its entire length. Furthermore, said seal 35 is mounted on the seat member 6 such that, in use, its apex 38 engages directly with the bowl rim 7 and flares laterally to form a particularly effective seal therewith.

Finally, it will be appreciated, that many different variations of the described embodiment are possible. For example, the actuating means could be a handle, rather than a button, with suitable linkage to enable flushing to take place - it is merely important that the lid member covers said actuating means when it is in a raised position, the seals could be mounted directly onto the underside of the seat and lid members rather than over moulded stops, and the cistern could have any known flushing mechanism within it.