Technical Field

The invention relates to dampers used in the sanitary ware industry for controlled slow closing of the toilet seats.

The invention relates to particularly the toilet seat damper, which eliminates the problem of quick and uncontrolled closing of the toilet seat by transferring and compress the viscous fluid between the damper chambers by means of the sweeper blades, and which provides the desired falling speed on the toilet seat by using the rear adjusting screw.

State of the Art

Toilet seat dampers are widely used to prevent the uncontrolled and quick closing of the toilet seats and to eliminate contact time of the users with the toilet seat due to hygiene reasons. Said dampers ensure the slow closing of the toilet seat by controlling the passage of the viscous fluid contained in the body thereof between the damper compartments, allowing the toilet seat to fall freely by its own weight, thereby creating an circular deceleration in the toilet seat.

The state of the art toilet seat dampers in use, since the body containing viscous fluid is not well sealed, the viscous fluid enabling the toilet seat to be closed by deceleration during the use of the lid leaks through and flows out the body. This causes the damper to have a short service life and the toilet seat to close quickly, thereby eliminating functionality and benefits.

Another problem in the toilet seat damper used in the state of art is the adjustment errors resulting from the use of a pin rotor to compress the viscous fluid by means of the rotation movement inside the body. Said pin rotor is tightened on the body by means of a nut, which requires making adjustment according to the weight of the toilet seat in which the damper is used. As each of the dampers is subjected to 100% adjustment process during production, significant labor and time losses are experienced during the assembly phase. In addition, due to the adjustment errors caused by the operators, the problem of acceleration just before the closing occurs during the use of the toilet seats by the end consumer. This causes the slowing motion expected from the closing speed of the toilet seat not to be performed at the desired level.

Patent Application No. TR2016/19439 may be shown as an example of the state of the art as a result of the research conducted on the literature. Said document relates to a system that allows the lower and upper components of the toilet seat to be closed slowly. In the above-mentioned invention, a pin rotor is placed into the main body, which is filled with a fluid with a certain viscosity, and the said pin rotor is connected to the main body by a washer and nut. However, although the o-ring is used to provide sealing in said system, it is inevitable that the viscous fluid will eventually flow and leak through the main body after using the system for a certain period. In addition to this, due to the use of pin rotors in the system, it is required to make adjustments according to the weight of the toilet seat in which the system is used. This causes loss of labor and time in production, as well as problems resulting from the system not performing its function correctly during operation due to adjustment errors.

Consequently, the foregoing problems and insufficient solutions thereof require to make an improvement in the related technical field.

Object of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toilet seat damper which eliminates the foregoing disadvantages and offers novel advantages to the related technical field.

The main object of the invention is to ensure that the viscous fluid contained in the body is fully sealed and eliminate the problem of quick closing of the toilet seat by coupling the body filled with viscous fluid with a top seat by means of ultrasonic welding method.

The object of the invention is to extend the service life of the damper by ensuring that the viscous fluid is sealed.

Another object of the invention is to ensure that the upper or lower rotor decelerating the toilet seat by compressing the viscous fluid by means of the sweeper blades placed thereon in the body, is fixed onto the body without using any connection elements and connected to the toilet seat without making any adjustments.

Another object of the invention is to prevent labor and time losses in production, and possible errors in the adjustment process by eliminating the use of the connection elements to fix the upper or lower rotor onto the body and the extra adjustment process.

Another object of the invention is to ensure that upper and lower rotors operate steadily in the body without making an extra adjustment and to eliminate the problem of quick closing of the toilet seat.

Another object of the invention is to prevent the damper from separating from the toilet seat by fixing the damper to the toilet seat by means of the fixing pin connected on the body of the plug body that connects the damper and the toilet seat by being attached to the hinge connected to the toilet. In order to achieve all the objects that may arise from the above-mentioned and detailed explanation, the invention relates to a damper used for slow closing of the upper and lower part of the toilet seats in the sanitary ware industry, comprising of an upper outer body or an lower outer body that the inner surface thereof is filled with viscous fluid; an upper or lower rotor that provides the controlled movement of viscous fluid between the sections on the inner surface of the upper outer body or lower outer body by means of the rotational movement in said upper outer body or lower outer body and decelerates the toilet seat during the closing thereof; and a sweeper blade that is located between the upper or lower rotor and upper outer body or lower outer body, and creates friction force by controlling the passage of viscous fluid between the sections on the inner surface of the upper outer body or lower outer body, wherein it comprises:

- an adjusting screw allowing the pressure of the viscous fluid to be adjusted by being connected to one end of the upper or lower rotor,

- an outer lid ensuring that the viscous fluid is sealed by being connected onto the upper outer body or lower outer body,

- a plug body coupling the damper and the toilet by being connected to the end of the upper or lower rotor extending outward from the opening located on the outer lid.

The structural and characteristic features and all the advantages of the invention will be understood more clearly by reference to the following figures and the detailed explanation thereof. Therefore, the evaluation should be made by taking these figures and detailed explanations into consideration.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1a: is the perspective view of the disassembled damper

Figure 1b: is the perspective view of the disassembled damper in an alternative configuration

Figure 2a: is the perspective view of the assembled damper

Figure 2b: is the perspective view of the assembled damper in an alternative configuration

List of the Reference Numbers 10a. Upper outer body 10b. Lower outer body 20. Upper or lower rotor 30. Sweeper blade 40. Small o-ring 50. Adjusting screw 60. Large o-ring 70. Washer 80. Middle o-ring

90. Outer lid

91. Opening

100. Plug body

101. Slot

102. Hole 110. Fixing clip 120. Cap

Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description, the preferred alternatives of the damper of the present invention are merely explained for a better understanding of the subject of the invention, which is not intended to be limiting in any way.

Figures 1 a and 1b show the exploded views of the damper of the invention. Accordingly, the damper basically comprises of: an upper outer body (10a) or lower outer body (10b) that the inner surface thereof is filled with viscous fluid; an upper or lower rotor (20) that provides the controlled movement of viscous fluid between the sections on the inner surface of the upper outer body (10a) or lower outer body (10b) by means of the rotational movement in said upper outer body (10a) or lower outer body (10b) and decelerates the toilet seat during the closing thereof; a sweeper blade (30) that is located between the upper or lower rotor (20) and upper outer body (10a) or lower outer body (10b), and creates friction force by controlling the passage of viscous fluid between the sections on the inner surface of the upper outer body (10a) or lower outer body (10b); an adjusting screw (50) allowing the pressure of the viscous fluid to be adjusted by being connected to one end of the upper or lower rotor (20); an outer lid (90) ensuring that the viscous fluid is sealed by being connected onto the upper outer body (10a) or lower outer body (10b); a plug body (100) coupling the damper and the toilet by being connected to the end of the upper or lower rotor (20) extending outward from the opening (91 ) located on the outer lid (90); a fixing clip (110), which is connected onto the plug body (100) and fixes the damper to the toilet seat; and a cap (12) which is covered onto the plug body (100).

An upper or lower rotor (20) making a rotational movement is placed inside the upper outer body (10a) or lower outer body (10b), which forms the main structure of the damper of the invention, and a viscous fluid is filled into the said upper outer body (10a) or lower outer body (10b).

The upper or lower rotor (20) ensures the controlled movement of the viscous fluid between the sections on the inner surface of the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b) and decelerates the toilet seat by making a rotational movement within the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b) with the axial movement that occurs during the closing of the toilet seat by releasing it to free fall. During the rotational movement of the upper or lower rotor (20) inside the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b), sweeper blades (30) are placed between the upper or lower rotor (20) and the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b) for controlling the passage of viscous fluid between the sections on the inner surface of the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b) and also for creating a friction force. Thus, during the rotational movement of the upper or lower rotor (20) in the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b), the sweeper blades (30) located between the upper or lower rotor (20) and the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b) create friction force by sweeping the inner surface of the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b) and thereby the viscous fluid and the upper or lower rotor (20) decelerates the toilet seat with the effect of this friction force due to fluid compression.

At least one small o-ring (40) that seals the viscous fluid is placed at one end of the upper or lower rotor (20) and an adjusting screw (50) is connected to the said end of the upper or lower rotor (20), which enables the pressure of the viscous fluid to be adjusted.

At least one large o-ring (60) that seals the viscous fluid and at least one washer (70) made of metal supporting the large o-ring (60) are placed at the other end of the upper or lower rotor (20) extending outwardly through the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b). At least one middle o-ring (80) is positioned on the washer (70), which ensures that the viscous fluid is sealed, and the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b) is connected by ultrasonic welding method by being covered with an outer lid (90). There is an opening (91) on the said outer lid (90) through which the end of the upper or lower rotor (20) extending outwards from the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b) passes. The viscous fluid is sealed, with connecting the outer lid (90) to the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (1 Ob) by ultrasonic welding.

A plug body (100) made of plastic is fixed to the end of the upper or lower rotor (20) extending outwards through the opening (91) of the outer lid (90). Said plug body (100) has at least one slot (101 ) having the form of a recess located around the entire surface thereof and a hole (102) that fits into the hinge connected to the toilet bowl. The plug body (100) couples the damper and the toilet by being attached to the hinge connected onto the toilet by means of the hole (102). The coupling of the damper to the toilet seat is provided by the fixing clip (110) inserted into the slot (101) on the plug body (100). Said fixing clip (110), together with the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b), is placed inside the seat of the toilet seat and prevents the damper from separating from the toilet seat by ensuring that it is fixed onto the toilet seat.

As seen in Figures 2a and 2b, the working principle of the damper of the invention is as follows: By releasing the open toilet seat to free fall, upper or lower rotor (20) rotates inside the upper outer body (10a) or lower outer body (10b). During the rotational movement of the upper or lower rotor (20), the sweeper blades (30) located between the upper or lower rotor (20) and the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b) sweep the viscous fluid between sections on the surface of the upper outer body (10a) or the lower outer body (10b) and creates a friction force. The upper or lower rotor (20) provides the deceleration of the toilet seat by the effect of the friction force created by the sweeper blades (30) due to fluid compression.