The present invention is concerned with toilet seat risers. Such devices may be used to increase the height of the seat on a toilet, to enable use by those with mobility difficulties.

Users with decreased mobility, such as the elderly or infirm, can find it difficult to use standard household fittings. In particular, users who have difficulty bending at the hip (e.g. due to a hip replacement operation) can find it difficult to use a toilet of standard height. Such toilets generally consist of a floor-mounted porcelain bowl which is connected to a water cistern to enable flushing of waste material into the sewerage system. To provide user comfort, the toilet is typically fitted with a seat made from a thermally-insulating material, such as wood or plastic. The seat is typically mounted to the toilet via a hinge, allowing the seat to be lifted for cleaning or for standing urination. Typically, the toilet seat is further provided with a hinged lid.

It is known to make use of toilet seat risers to increase the effective height of a toilet seat, enabling users with mobility problems to sit down on and stand up from a toilet seat more easily. For example, it is known to provide a raised toilet seat which is fitted on top of an existing toilet to raise the height by the desired amount, and which is securely attached to either the existing toilet seat or to the porcelain bowl. However, such a device presents a number of difficulties. The presence of the seat riser is visually obvious, which may cause the user of the seat riser embarrassment if the toilet is also used by others. Whilst the seat riser may be removed, regular removal and refitting of the seat riser increases the possibility of incorrect fitting, and the likelihood of injury or distress if the seat riser slips off the toilet during use. Finally, the presence of the seat riser prevents closure of the toilet seat lid, or in most cases, raising of the toilet seat for standing urination. It is also known to make use of toilet seat risers which aim to entirely replace the functionality of the existing toilet seat. Such risers may be fitted using the existing seat mounting holes in the porcelain bowl, requiring the complete removal of the existing toilet seat. Alternatively, the toilet seat riser may be fitted to the rim of the porcelain toilet bowl, requiring the existing seat to be placed in the raised position. In both cases, many of the problems identified above will apply.

Finally, an example (shown in US Patent 5,251,338) is known in which the toilet seat riser is fitted between an existing toilet seat and the porcelain toilet bowl. Despite utilising the existing toilet seat, this seat riser remains highly visible, retaining the possibility of embarrassment for the user. Furthermore, the device requires the use of extension bolts to enable fitting of the device, and of the original toilet seat, to a toilet bowl.

The invention has been conceived with the above problems in mind.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a toilet seat riser for fitting between a toilet bowl and a toilet seat, comprising a seat riser platform; the seat riser platform having a mounting portion defining at least two mounting holes therein to enable the mounting bolts of a toilet seat to pass therethrough, and a peripheral portion comprising at least one peripheral member extending at least partially around a central void and suitable for overlying the rim of a toilet bowl; and wherein the toilet seat riser is no more than 6 cm thick.

It will be understood that the features of the toilet seat riser facilitate connection of the toilet seat riser between the toilet bowl and the toilet seat in a secure manner without a requirement for additional fixing mechanisms, and minimise the visual impact of the device to reduce embarrassment.

In one embodiment, the toilet seat riser is between 2 and 6 cm thick. In a further embodiment, the toilet seat riser is between 2 and 4 cm thick. In a still further embodiment, the toilet seat riser is 2.5 cm thick. In one embodiment, the peripheral portion comprises a single peripheral member which extends around the entirety of the central void.

In an alternative embodiment, the peripheral portion comprises two peripheral members which together extend only partially around the central void. In a further embodiment, the two peripheral members are arranged symmetrically at either side of the central void.

In one embodiment, each of the mounting holes is defined within a mounting plug located in the seat riser platform; each mounting plug being rotatable with respect to the seat riser platform; and the mounting hole being spaced apart from the rotation axis of the mounting plug. This feature enables the precise location and separation of the mounting holes, relative to the seat riser platform and to each other, to be adjusted by rotation of the mounting plugs.

In one embodiment, the central void has substantially the same aperture as a standard toilet bowl. As used herein, the features of a 'standard' toilet are those in accordance with British Standards BS 1254:1981 (Specification for WC seats (plastics)), BS EN 997:2003 (WC pans and WC suites with integral trap), BS 5503-3:1990 and BS 7358:1990.

In one embodiment, the toilet seat riser may be stacked vertically with other toilet seat risers to provide a composite toilet seat riser having an increased thickness. In a further embodiment, the seat riser platform is adapted to engage with the seat riser platform of a similar toilet seat riser when the toilet seat riser and the similar toilet seat riser are stacked vertically.

According to a second embodiment of the invention, there is provided a toilet seat riser for fitting between a toilet bowl and a toilet seat, comprising a seat riser platform; the seat riser platform having a mounting portion defining at least two mounting holes therein to enable the mounting bolts of a toilet seat to pass therethrough, and a peripheral portion comprising at least one peripheral member extending at least partially around a central void and suitable for overlying the rim of a toilet bowl; and wherein each of the mounting holes is defined within a mounting plug located in the seat riser platform; each mounting plug being rotatable with respect to the seat riser platform; and the mounting hole being spaced apart from the rotation axis of the mounting plug.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a toilet seat riser for fitting between a toilet bowl and a standard toilet seat connectable to the toilet bowl by means of a standard fixing, wherein in use the toilet seat riser extends substantially around the rim of the toilet bowl and is held in place by means of the standard fixing.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying Figures, in which:

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a toilet seat riser in accordance with the present invention; and

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the toilet seat riser of Figure 1 fitted between a toilet bowl and a toilet seat.

Referring to Figure 1, a toilet seat riser 10 comprises a seat riser platform 12 having a mounting portion 12a and a peripheral portion comprising two peripheral members 12b. The peripheral members 12b are arranged symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis of the seat riser platform 12 and define between them a central void 14; it will be seen that the peripheral members 12b do not extend around the entirety of the central void 14, but instead are separated by a gap 16 at their ends distal to the mounting portion 12b.

Two mounting plugs 20 having circular cross-sections are located within corresponding holes 22 in the mounting portion 12a of the seat riser platform 12. Each mounting plug 20 has a mounting hole 24 passing vertically (in use, and as shown) therethrough, each mounting hole 24 being offset from the axis of the mounting plug 20. The mounting plugs 20 are each rotatable relative to the seat riser platform 12, in order to adjust the positions and spacing of the mounting holes 24. Each mounting plug 20 is provided with a rib (not shown) that enables the mounting plug to be securely located in the corresponding hole 22 in the seat riser platform 12.

Two anti-slip pads 26 are attached to the underside of each peripheral member 12b, in order to improve grip of the seat riser 10 on the rim of a toilet bowl.

The toilet seat riser 10 may be injection, blow or rotation moulded from any suitable material as known to the man skilled in the art, such as high density polyethylene.

Referring to Figure 2, in use, the seat riser 10 is attached between a toilet bowl 40 and a standard toilet seat 42. It will be understood that the same toilet seat 42 may, in the absence of the present invention, be attached directly to the toilet bowl 40 in the known manner, through use of the seat bolts 44. To attach the seat riser 10, the standard toilet seat 42 is therefore removed from the toilet bowl 40. The mounting plugs 20 are rotated within the seat riser platform 12 to adjust the spacing of the mounting holes 24 to correspond with that of the seat bolts 44, and to ensure that the mounting holes 24 are positioned such that the edges of the toilet seat 42, when fitted, correspond most closely with the shape of the peripheral members 12b.

The toilet seat riser 10 and the standard toilet seat 42 are then arranged on the toilet bowl 40 such that the seat bolts 44 pass through the mounting holes 24 in the toilet seat riser 10 and into the mounting holes (not shown) in the toilet bowl 40. The seat bolts are then attached to the toilet bowl 40 in the normal manner, such as through the use of wing nuts. The standard toilet seat 42 remains moveable between lowered (as shown) and raised (not shown) positions, and the attached lid 46 remains useable. The toilet seat riser 10 has increased the effective height of the toilet seat 42 by 2.5 cm. The seat bolts 44 provided with a standard toilet seat 42 are typically long enough to accommodate this increase in height without requiring extension.

It will be seen that the toilet seat riser 10 is largely covered by the standard toilet seat 42 so that it is not readily visible to a casual glance. The embarrassment associated with having such a device fitted to one's toilet is therefore reduced. In addition, the mounting system shown utilising the existing toilet seat bolts 44 is secure, reducing the risk of movement between the toilet seat riser 10 and the toilet bowl 40. The use of a 'horseshoe' design, with two peripheral members 12b having a gap 16 between their distal ends, enables the toilet seat riser 10 to be used with a variety of shapes and sizes of toilet bowls 40.

In some variants, the upper (in use) surface of the peripheral members 12b may be provided with indentations corresponding to the positions of the anti-slip pads 26 on the lower surface. Thus, when several of the toilet seat risers 10 are stacked together (to achieve a greater raise of the toilet seat height), the interaction of the indentations with the anti-slip pads 26 increases the grip between the individual toilet seat risers 10, preventing lateral relative movement.