TOILET SEAT AND COVER OF POLYURETHANE WITH REINFORCEMENT TECHNICAL FIELDS

The scope of the invention are the seat and cover of toilet bowl with water flushing. The seat and cover are made of elastic polyurethane which inner side is porous and external surfaces are smooth. These both parts are reinforces with ring reinforcement of steel rods pressed in the same. According to the seventh edition of the International Classification of Patents, the invention belongs to the fields of technique marked with the marks: A47K13/00 - seats or covers for all types of toilets, A47K13/02 - seats or covers of plastic materials,

A47K13/28 - seats or covers with adjustment possibility.

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

When using the toilet, the human body comes into direct contact with the toilet bowl seat. As the seat is basically a solid, this contact is accompanied by feelings of comfort or discomfort. Feelings of discomfort are frequently caused by differences between mechanical and thermal characteristics of contact surfaces of the seat and human body.

Rigidity and elasticity are mechanical characteristics of the seat, mostly affecting the accompanying experience of its user. The feeling of discomfort is proportional to the rigidity of a seat, resp. feeling of comfort is proportional to the softness or elasticity of the seat and its possibility to adapt elastically to the part of human body coming in contact with it. Therefore it is necessary for the seat to be elastically deformable under the weight of the upper part of a human body and sufficiently firm to bear the highest predictable loads. The temperature of contact surfaces of a seat is approximately equal to the temperature of surrounding air, whereas temperature of a healthy human body is constant and amounts approximately to 37 ⁰ C. In unheated rooms, particularly in winter, the difference between the temperature of the seat and the temperature of a human body may bi significant. The feeling of discomfort is proportional to the size of temperature difference between contact surfaces of a seat and human body. The contact of a warm human body with the cold seat may cause in the human the thermal shock.

The invention solves technical problems of manufacturing the economic seat and cover for toilet bowls that are elastically deformable, which thermal characteristics are satisfying and which have satisfying sanitary and antialergic characteristics. BACKGROUND ART The majority of today's seats and covers for toilet bowls that are used, are made of artificial, mainly plastic materials or natural materials as it is the wood. The seat and cover are made in pair of one type of the mentioned, mainly the same materials. These are solids that do not meet the mentioned technical requirements regarding mechanical and thermal adequacy for contact with the human body. Although they have relatively low level of thermal conductivity, in the practice they proved to be materials which regarding thermal characteristics, are not suitable for manufacturing these part of sanitary equipment. In order to solve, or at least to reduce problems appearing in contact of human body with the existing rigid seats, there are used various embodiments of protective covers, covering the same. Covers may be made of polymer materials, textile or paper. By the purpose they may be reusable or for one-way use. These covers solve only partly the technical problem of mechanical and thermal unsuitability of today's seats for contact with a human body. Technical problem of thermal unsuitability of today's seats is more successfully solved by building in the system of electrical heating the seats, by which this problem is solved in the whole, however by this building in the final product becomes significantly more expensive.

In patent documents No. JP200300466, JP2000287884, FR2725608, US4244764, US4248646 and US3949432 there are described various embodiments and procedures for making seats for toilet bowls, made of polyurethane foam.

The patent document No. JP200300466 describes the seat for disabled persons, with changeable cross-section, made of polyurethane foam on the base of ABS, serving as reinforcement of the seat. The patent document No. JP2000287884 also describes a seat for disabled persons, made of polyurethane foam without external or internal reinforcements. The rigidity of a seat was achieved by significant enlargement of cross-section of the seat.

The patent document No. FR2725608 also describes the seat for disabled persons, made of polyurethane foam without external or internal reinforcements that is injected in one-piece or two-piece PVC-shell. The rigidity of the seat is also achieved by significant enlargement of the seat's cross-section. Patent documents No. US4244764, US4248646 and US3949432 describe various embodiments and processes of manufacturing seats for toilet bowls of the same inventor, made of polyurethane foam. In these solutions there are represented various external reinforcements and shells of seats. The patent document No. EP1325804 describes the design and process of manufacturing the seat and cover, consisting of internal core and external, superficial layer. Cores of the seat and cover are made of one or more kinds of waste polymer materials and their superficial layers of the other polymer material. Similar solutions with the core of one material and external cover of an other material are described in other patent documents as well. As core materials there are used cellulose, wood and various reinforced polymer materials and as materials of the cover various not reinforced polymer materials. ESSENCE OF THE INVENTION

The seat and cover according to the invention are made of elastic polyurethane which interior is porous and external surfaces are smooth. These characteristics of polyurethane parts are the result of original composition and the process of polyurethane processing that is known in the whole. These both parts are reinforced by at least one ring reinforcement of steel bar that is pressed in the seat and the cover. The ring reinforcements follow forms of external edges of the seat and the cover and are in the vicinity of their external edges. To the rear, plane parts of reinforcements there are inseparably connected by welding steel elements in the form of threaded nuts serving for mutual connecting the seat and the cover and connection of the seat and cover to the toilet bowl by means of two standardized joint mechanisms. The seat and the cover may have usual plane plate form and may be also specially formed. The seat and the cover according to the invention have satisfying mechanical characteristics with reference to rigidity, firmness and elasticity. The rigidity of these parts is achieved by steel reinforcement and softness and elasticity by polyurethane mass. Arrangement of the ring reinforcement in the vicinity of the

external edge, the seat and the cover obtain satisfying firmness and elasticity in the whole. In this way, the elasticity of the seat is increasing from the external edge towards the internal edge of opening of the seat, which makes it additionally suitable for use. Polyurethane is thermal insulating material which good thermal insulating characteristics have been proven in application. With polyurethane plates there are covered surfaces in civil engineering and industry on places where it is necessary to prevent transmission of heat, however also not heated surfaces coming in direct contact with the parts of human body as there are not heated surfaces of toilet rooms or not heated seats of cable railways and public transportation facilities.

In relation to seats and covers described with mentioned patent documents, the seat and cover according to the invention differ in the following constructional details: ^■ Outer and inner reinforcements of described seats are made of natural or polymer materials of lower mechanical characteristics, because of which these reinforcements have significantly larger cross section that steel reinforcements used for seats and covers according to the invention.

^■ Inner reinforcements are arranged in the centre of cross section of described seats and covers, whereas reinforcements of seats and covers according to the invention are arranged in the vicinity of their outer edges.

^■ Because of low mechanical characteristics of materials of which described seats with reinforcements are made and without them, their cross sections are significantly larger than cross section of the seat according to the invention and because of increased consumption of material they are also more expensive. Described seats have special allotted outer forms differing from usual forms and are intended primarily for the small part of the market with emphasized health needs.

^■ Constructional solution of the seat and cover according to the invention enable manufacturing these parts of toilet equipment in existing, standard forms for wholesale market that are at the same time acceptable also for demanding part of the market with emphasized health needs.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Fig. 1 shows the layout of the system of toilet seat and cover of polyurethane with the reinforcement and hinges.

Fig. 2 shows the side view of the system of toilet seat and cover of polyurethane with the reinforcement with partly cross section showing the way of connecting the seat and cover with the joint mechanism.

Fig. 3 shows the layout of the cover with section A-A referred to in fig. 4. Fig. 4 shows the section B-B of the cover referred to in fig. 3. Fig. 5 shows the layout of the seat with section C-C referred to in fig. 6. Fig. 6 shows the section D-D referred to in fig. 5. DESCRIPTION OF THE DESIGN

The toilet seat and cover of polyurethane with reinforcement is the system of sanitary equipment for toilet bowls with water flushing consisting of the seat and cover, mutually connected with two joint mechanisms connecting the complete system to the toilet bowl.

The seat of polyurethane with reinforcement is shown in more detail on figures 5 and 6. The seat 1 is the lower part of sanitary equipment system for toilet bowls with water flushing consisting of the body 2 made of polyurethane providing to the seat 1 the outer form and steel reinforcement 3 with connecting elements 4 with which it is pressed into the body 2 of the seat 1. The body 2 of the seat 1 is made of elastic polyurethane which interior is porous and outer surfaces are smooth. The body 2 has basically the form of flat oval ring with uniform thickness which outer and inner contours follow the outer and inner contoures of the toilet bowl opening. On the lower surface of the body 2 of the seat 1 there are arranged more projections 5 that are its component parts and by which the seat 1 is leant against the toilet bowl. Thanks to the fact that projections 5 are the component parts of the body 2, the seat 1 has good stability on the bowl. The upper outer edge and upper edge of the opening of the body 2 of the seat 1 are more rounded because of contact with the human body. The reinforcement 3 is made of one or more steel bars with circular cross-section which ends are mutually welded to the ring form. The reinforcement 3 has basically the form of a flat oval closed ring which form follows outer contoures of the body 2 of the seat 1. The medium axis of the reinforcement 3 is arranged

approximately in the central plane dividing the body 2 by the height. The maximum cross-section diameter of the reinforcement 3 may be equal to one third of the thickness of the body 2 of the seat 1. The reinforcement 3 is arranged in the vicinity of the outer edge of the body 2 in the outer half of its cross-section at approximately equal distance. The form of the reinforcement 3 and its position in the outer half of the cross-section of the body 2 renders the seat 1 special rigidity and elasticity. From the outer edge towards the edge of the opening, the rigidity of the seat 1 decreases and elasticity increases. In this way it is achieved, that mostly loaded zones of the seat 1 round the edge of its opening are the softest. Binding elements 4 with threads are welded to the reinforcement 3 on its rear side. They serve for connecting the seat 1 to the toilet bowl by means of two standard joint mechanisms. Number, form and position of connecting elements 4 is defined by the construction of joint mechanisms and position of holes on the toilet bowl for fastening the joint mechanisms. The joint mechanism itself is not the scope of this invention.

The described design of the seat of polyurethane with the reinforcement represents the example of manufacturing the seat having the form of seats mostly represented on the modern market. By this example of design it is presented the possibility of manufacturing the seat of polyurethane with the reinforcement in the form of existing seats with uniform thickness that are at the same time acceptable for the demanding part of the market with emphasized health problems as well. In addition to existing forms of seats, it is possible to manufacture seats with various new cross-sections and various other positions of the reinforcement within the body of the seat. The cover of polyurethane with reinforcement is shown in more details on figures 3 and 4. Its design is similar to the design of the seat. The cover 6 is the upper part of the sanitary equipment system for toilet bowls with water flushing, consisting of the body 7 made of polyurethane rendering to the cover 6 the outer form and steel reinforcements 8 with connecting elements 4 by which it is pressed into the body 7 of the cover 6. The body 7 of the cover 6 is also made of elastic polyurethane which interior is porous and outer surfaces are smooth. The body 7 has basically the form of flat oval plate of uniform thickness which outer contoures follow outer contoures of the toilet bowl opening, resp, outer contoures of the seat 1. On the

lower surface of the body 7 of the cover 6, in its front part, there are two projections 9 which are its component parts and by which the cover 6 is leant against the seat 1. The upper outer edge of the body 7 of the cover 6 is stronger rounded because of the contact with the human body. The form and position of the reinforcement 8 of the cover 6 is similar to the form and position of the reinforcement 3 in the seat 1. The reinforcement 8 is also made of one or more steel bars with circular cross-section which ends are mutually welded into the ring form. The reinforcement 8 has also basically the form of flat oval closed ring which form follows the form of outer contoures of the body 7 of the cover 6. The medium axis of the reinforcement 8 is arranged approximately in the central plane dividing the body 7 by height. The maximum diameter of the cross- section of the reinforcement 8 may be equal to one third of the thickness of the body 7 of the cover 6. The reinforcement 8 is arranged in the vicinity of the outer edge of the body 7 at approximately same distance from it. In this a way it is achieved, that the mostly loaded zone round the edge of the cover 6 have the maximum strength.

Connecting elements 4 with threads of the same kind as on the reinforcement 3 of the seat 1 are also welded to the reinforcement 6 on its rear side. They serve for connecting the cover 6 to the toilet bowl through the same joint mechanisms by which the seat 1 is also connected.

The body 2 of the seat 1 and the body 7 of the cover 6 are made of polyurethane mass of the same composition, consisting of two polyol components. The first component is diphenylmethane diisocyanate, CAS No. 9016-87-9 ahd the second tetrafluorethane, CAS No. 811-97-2. The polyurethane mass contains approximately 30% share by weight of diphenymmethane diisocyanate and approximately 70% shares by weight of tetrafluorethane. The polyurethane mass of this composition formed in moulds for forming the seat and the cover provides work-pieces with smooth surfaces and elastic and porous inner structure. Technological procedure of manufacturing seats and covers is the same for both of these parts. The procedure is performed in such a way that polyol components are heated in separated containers which are connected to the high-pressure machine for dosing, mixing and pouring the polyol components. The blend of precisely dosed components is injected by the high-pressure machine into the

closed mould to which it is previously put the reinforcement with connecting elements. The blend is expanded and fills in the hollow of the mould forming thus the body of the work-piece within which there is the reinforcement with connecting elements. The expanded blend is then cooled and hardened. After hardening the blend, the mould is opened and out of it is taken the final work-piece with the reinforcement. The described technological process is known and is not the scope of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF APPLICATION Because of excellent mechanical and thermal characteristics and low price, the toilet seat and cover of polyurethane with reinforcement may be used in all types of toilets with bowls. It is not necessary to cover the seat with a protective covers nor to heat it additionally regardless of microclimatic conditions in which there is the toilet and the level of health needs of the user. Therefore they may be used in toilets for healthy users, as well as in toilets for users with emphasized health needs.