METHOD THEREOF

Subject of the Invention

The invention relates to a water closet seat which comprises a material with low heat transmission coefficient and the surface of which gives a warm feeling when contacted by the users, and to the production method for said water closet seat.

Present State of the Art The fact that the water closet seats give a cold feeling especially in the winter months disturbs the users. Water closet seats used today, which are made of urea formaldehyde, cause the user to get a cold feeling from the surface upon contacting therewith as urea formaldehyde has a high heat transmission coefficient.

As the materials with high heat transmission coefficient rapidly transmit heat, the water closet seats produced with the materials having high heat transmission coefficient rapidly transmit the body heat of the user onto the surface of the water closet. Therefore, as the body heat is rapidly transmitted onto the surface of the water closet when the users touch these water closet seats, they feel the cold in their body. Especially during the winter months, this feeling of cold disturbs the users much more. For these reasons, the feeling of cold in the water closet seats is one of the most complained issues in the user surveys.

Several solutions have been produced for eliminating this problem in the present state of the art. Use of systems with electric resistance is one of these solutions. However, the use of electric resistances is not adequate for eliminating said problem as there is no electric connection in the section of the constructions where water closet is connected and the users do not prefer high-voltage products in the bathroom.

The publication no. JP2013066595 (A), titled "Warm toilet seat" can be given as an example to the present state of the art. The invention given as an example contains a toilet seat having a seating surface and a transparent seat heater disposed on the seating surface. In

l said invention, with the use of a heater apparatus on the seating surface, the user gets a warm feeling from the toilet seating surface.

Again the publication no. JP2004216076 (A), titled "Human body heating apparatus" can be given as an example to the present state of the art. In the invention given as an example, a warm feeling is provided for the user by sending hot air to the buttocks and waist of said user using the toilet seat. In this invention, a hot air generating device and ports providing hot air transmission are provided. However, an electrical connection is required for the operation of the invention given as an example. Thus, the invention given as an example is totally different from the invention according to the application. The publication no. TR 2007/03325, titled "Bidet water and toilet seat heating system" can be given as an example to the present state of the art. With the invention given as an example, the current central heating system is utilized for heating the toilet seat and the water flowing through the bidet noz2le of the flush toilet and it is aimed to heat the bidet water and the toilet seat by connecting the coils to the system. As seen with the invention given as an example, in order to provide heating of the toilet seat a method different from the invention according to the application is utilized. Moreover, the invention given as an example is disadvantageous because central heating system is required to be installed in the area where the toilet is present. For these reasons, the invention according to the application is different from the invention given as an example. In the invention according to the application, however, instead of the warm feeling of the water closet seat surfaces felt by the users by active heating, the water closet seats are produced by using materials with low heat transmission coefficient and therefore, body heat of the user is slowly transmitted onto the surface of the water closet seat when contacting with the water closet seat, and it is ensured that the user gets a warm feeling from the surface. As the materials with low heat transmission coefficient transmit the heat slowly, body heat of the users are transmitted from the water closet seat to the surface of the water closet very slowly. Thus, users get a warm feeling from the surface of the water closet. Thanks to the method developed within the scope of the invention and the water closets produced with this method, the safety problems existing in the current heated systems are also eliminated. References:

1: Layer containing urea formaldehyde and aerogel granule or powder mixture Description of the Figures:

Figure 1: The figure showing the water closet seat developed within the scope of the invention

Object of the Invention

The object of the invention is to develop a production method of water closet seat with the use of materials having low heat transmission coefficient, which eliminates the feeling of cold on the water closet seats disturbing the users and a water closet seat which is produced with this method, which has low heat transmission property, and which gives a warm feeling to the users when the surface thereof is contacted.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The invention relates to a water closet seat which comprises a material with low heat transmission coefficient and the surface of which gives a warm feeling when contacted by the users, and to the production method for said water closet seat.

As aerogels are the materials with low heat transmission coefficient, in the method developed within the scope of the invention the use of aerogel is preferred as a material having low heat transmission property in the structure of the water closet seats. Within the scope of the invention the use of resorcinol formaldehyde aerogels is preferred but the use of a different aerogel is also possible. Resorcinol formaldehyde aerogels used are synthetized with sol-gel method. For the synthesis, first resorcinol formaldehyde, catalyst and water are mixed in appropriate amounts. In order to increase strength of the wet gel obtained after the ongoing reactions ageing process is performed. During this process, curing is realized with appropriate solvents at certain temperatures. This process is quite significant in terms of improving the mechanical characteristics of the gel and replacing the liquid within the pore with a solvent dissolved in a supercritical carbon dioxide. The water inside the gel, the strength of which is increased, is replaced with acetone. Afterwards, solvent removal process is performed with the use of any of the methods including heat treatment, supercritical method, drying under room conditions, and vacuum freeze drying methods. These aerogel layers obtained can be used by crushing into powder by grinding and can also be used in the form of granules. Thereby, aerogels having low heat transmission coefficient are obtained in the invention according to the application. The method for obtaining aerogel is explained in detail below.

Resorcinol formaldehyde aerogels (RFA) are synthesized using sol-gel method. The preparation of RFA can be divided into four main steps; Polymerization, Aging, Solvent Exchange and Drying. The aim of the first part of the synthesis is to prepare the resorcinol formaldehyde gel. First resorcinol is dissolved in an appropriate solvent which is commonly water; however organic compounds such as methanol, ethanol or acetone can also be used. Resorcinol is a phenolic tri-functional compound, which is capable of adding formaldehyde in its aromatic ring. In order to activate the aromatic ring of resorcinol, a catalyst usage is required. For that usually a basic catalyst, sodium carbonate (Na ₂ C0 ₃ ) is used. When resorcinol and Na ₂ C0 ₃ are mixed in water medium, resorcinol is deprotonated as shown in Figure 1. With the deprotonation resorcinol becomes reactive towards formaldehyde. Once the formaldehyde is added in to the mixture, a reaction occurs and it leads to the formation of hydroxyl methyl derivatives (-CH ₂ OH) in the ring. The base catalyst further cause the deprotonation of the hydroxyl methylated resorcinol and it leads to very reactive intermediate. Then through the reactions shown in the Figure 2, methylene (-CH ₂ -) and methylene ether (-CH ₂ OCH ₂ -) bridges are formed. With the formation of these bridges, polymer clusters starts to aggregate together. Thus this leads to condensation and formation of the gel. This process is called the polymerization part of the sol-gel process. After this reaction, the container of the reactants are sealed and placed in oven for several days. With the help of the heat provided by the oven, polymerization reaction rate is fastened and completed in several days. This step is usually called the aging step.

Figure 1: RFA synthesis, primary reaction

Figure 1: RFA synthesis secondary part of the polymerization reaction

The concentration of the reactants and the amount of solvent used during the synthesis has an effect on the structure of the RFA. 1:2 molar ratio of resorcinol and formaldehyde is used in the reaction based on the stoichiometry of the reaction which is shown in the figure 1. Using excess formaldehyde would lead to occurrence of a dilution effect which causes the particle size to increase. By manipulating the molar ratios of resorcinol (R) to water (W) and resorcinol (R) to catalyst (C), it is possible to obtain aerogels with different densities, pore diameters, porosities and surface areas. Changing these structural properties of the aerogel will lead to a change in the heat capacity and thermal conductivity of the aerogel. Below in table 1, two different synthesis recipes are presented. The change of the physical properties with the change of the reactant conditions can be seen in this table. Both recipe can be used in formation of aerogel. Table 1: Different synthesis routes ofRF gels

Once the gels are obtained, their pores are filled with water since the water is used as the reaction medium. In order to obtain an aerogel form a gel, the liquid in the pores of the gel must be removed without causing the collapse of the pores. This could be achieved by a process called supercritical drying. Most commonly carbon dioxide is used for supercritical drying. Since the solubility of water is very low in supercritical carbon dioxide, the water in the pores of RF gel is replaced by a liquid which has a high solubility in supercritical C0 ₂ . This step is called solvent exchange step and water is usually replaced with acetone. Once the pores of the gels are filled with acetone, supercritical drying is performed to replace the acetone in the pores with air. At the end of the supercritical drying process, resorcinol formaldehyde aerogel is obtained.

This material obtained is added into the surface of the water closet seat in the form of powder or granule with the method developed within the scope of the invention in the production line of water closet seats.

A mixture is formed by adding aerogel in the form of powder or granule which is produced by using sol-gel method for the production of water closet seat having low heat transmission property into urea formaldehyde granules. A composite material is produced by pressing of this mixture. Water closet seat containing this composite material has a low heat transmission property. Production of the seats having low heat transmission coefficient with the method developed within the scope of the invention is described below in detail.

Urea formaldehyde granules and aerogel granules or powders thereof are taken from different silos at desired ratios by automatic dosing system and mixed in the main vibrating silo until homogenization and discharged from the silo into a plastic container. Before urea formaldehyde and aerogel granule or powder mixture transferred into the plastic container are formed by molding, they are kept in a high frequency preheating machine (HF) at a temperature about 40-60°C for 40-60 seconds for the preheating process. Aerogel and urea formaldehyde mixture taken from the preheating process is discharged into containers. Within the mold, according to the product form pressing process is applied to the aerogel and urea formaldehyde mixture between 200-250 seconds under 100-200 bars pressure. During this process, the mold temperature is kept between 100-150°C. Thus, pressing process is completed for the product. After the rough burrs of the product taken from the mold are cleaned, the product is loaded in the vehicles and transferred to the deburring unit for further deburring process. In this section, deburring process is performed manually or by means of a robot. If required, protective coating is applied to the surface of the deburred product contacting with the user, namely to the surface containing composite material according to the invention so as to increase the resistance against stain and liquids.

Thanks to the method developed within the scope of the invention, the production of water closet seats having a low heat transmission coefficient and giving a warm feeling to the user when the surface thereof is contacted is performed.

The water closet seat developed within the scope of the invention and the layer (1) containing urea formaldehyde and aerogel granule or powder mixture are seen in Figure 1.