Toilet seat joint arrangement

Abstract

Toilet seat joint arrangement with a joint body which, as a joint axis, can be inserted at least in sections into fastening tabs (20, 22) of a toilet seat (4) or a toilet lid (2) and which is detachably connected via a pin (24) to a support plate (28) which is provided for resting on a ceramic (8), wherein the pin (24) is fixedly connected to the joint body and detachably connected to the support plate (28) and in the process dips into a receptacle (42) of the support plate (28), characterized in that the receptacle (42) is designed to be continuous and is widened towards a support-side opening by a shoulder (44) to form a demoulding section (46), wherein the pin (24) has an annular groove (38) into which a radially projecting locking means is inserted, which can be brought into locking contact with the shoulder (44) and the radial extent of the shoulder (44) is less than the depth of the Ring groove (38), wherein the ring groove depth is greater than the diameter of the locking means.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a toilet seat joint arrangement according to the preamble of patent claim 1 and a toilet seat fitting with such a toilet seat joint arrangement.

[0002] The basic structure of such toilet seat fittings is known, for example, from the applicant's European patent EP 1 199 020 B1. This solution has practically become the standard for attaching soft-close toilet seat fittings. Hydraulic dampers are arranged in the fastening tabs of the toilet seat fitting, or more precisely, the toilet seat and the toilet lid. Each of these dampers is connected to an adapter for rotation. The adapter has a recess into which a pin, attached to the ceramic side, is inserted. The connection between the pin and the adapter can be secured with a lock.

[0003] Such a locking mechanism can be achieved, for example, by a latch. Solutions are also known in which the locking mechanism can be released using a push button or similar device.

[0004] The documents DE 20 2014 101 077 U1 and DE 10 2014 105 342 A1 show seat joint arrangements in which the adapter is supported on an annular shoulder of a support bushing of a support plate fastened on the ceramic side, in which the pin is also fastened.

[0005] Particularly with small damper diameters, it can be problematic to design the receptacle with the associated locking mechanism for the pin in the adapter. To overcome this disadvantage, the applicant's patent application WO 2016 / 102 608 A1 proposes an inverse solution in which the pin is secured in the adapter, damper, or other joint body and is inserted with its radially projecting end section into a receptacle of a ceramic-side support plate. This receptacle is also provided with locking elements to lock the pin. The pin can be supported at its end against a base or an annular surface of the receptacle.

[0006] In a very simply constructed embodiment, according to WO 2016 / 102608 A1, the receptacle is designed to be continuous, so that the pin is supported directly on the ceramic.

[0007] Similar solutions are shown in EP 2 803 308 B1 and DE 20 2015 103 716 U1.

[0008] Further prior art can be found in EP 3 158 906 A1.

[0009] In these known solutions, a locking device, such as a spring washer, is attached to the pin for locking. This locking device can snap into an annular groove in the holder to fix the pin in the axial direction. To remove the toilet seat hinge assembly, it is then pulled off against the preload of the spring washer.

[0010] Typically, such support plates are manufactured as a single piece, for example, by injection molding. With such single-piece manufacturing processes, the formation of the annular groove in the holder is extremely complex, as a core that forms the annular groove must be forcibly demolded.

[0011] In contrast, the invention is based on the object of creating a toilet seat joint arrangement and a toilet seat fitting designed with such toilet seat joint arrangements, which can be manufactured with reduced device-technical expenditure.

[0012] This problem is solved with regard to the toilet seat joint arrangement by the combination of features of patent claim 1 and with regard to the seat assembly by the combination of features of the independent patent claim 10.

[0013] Advantageous further developments of the invention are the subject of the subclaims.

[0014] The toilet seat joint assembly - hereinafter referred to as the seat joint assembly - has a joint body which, as a joint axis, can be inserted at least partially into fastening tabs of a seat or lid and which is detachably connected to a ceramic-side support plate via a pin. The pin is preferably firmly connected to the joint body and detachably connected to the support plate according to the inverse concept described above. The pin inserts into a receptacle in the support plate, which is designed to be continuous according to the invention and is widened by a shoulder towards a support-side (ceramic-side) opening to form a demolding section. The pin is designed with an annular groove or the like into which a radially projecting locking means is inserted, which can be brought into locking engagement with the shoulder.The radial extension of the shoulder is preferably less than the annular groove depth, which in turn is greater than the diameter of the locking means, preferably the spring ring, so that the locking means can be inserted flush into the annular groove for removal.

[0015] In other words, the receptacle formed in the support plate is open towards the ceramic, with the ceramic-side opening of the receptacle having a larger diameter than the joint-body-side section of the pin receptacle. This measure allows the locking means to be supported on the shoulder forming an undercut, whereby the manufacture of this shoulder is significantly simpler than the annular grooves mentioned above. For example, it is possible to produce the support plate by injection molding, whereby the injection molding tool has a significantly simpler design, since the continuously extended demolding section can be easily formed using a two-part core of the injection molding tool coming from both sides (see below).

[0016] The solution according to the invention thus makes it possible to produce the seat joint arrangement, in particular the support plate, with comparatively little tooling effort.

[0017] In a preferred solution of the invention, the shoulder is designed as a radial shoulder, wherein the diameter of the demoulding section from this radial shoulder to the ceramic-side mouth has a larger diameter than the pin.

[0018] In a variant of the invention, this locking means is designed as a spring ring.

[0019] In a particularly preferred embodiment, the pin is supported on the ceramic at its front end.

[0020] Alternatively or additionally, the support plate can be designed as an extension of the holder with a support bushing which has a support surface for the joint body on the front side.

[0021] This support surface can, for example, be rounded, with the rounding being adapted to the joint body diameter or the joint body profile.

[0022] To avoid damage to the ceramic, a support disc can be provided which is arranged between a pin face and the ceramic.

[0023] The joint body can, for example, be designed with a rotary damper. However, in principle, it is also possible to design the seat joint without a rotary damper or the like in very simple designs.

[0024] As explained above, the support plate is preferably manufactured in one piece by injection molding or the like. The receptacle with the shoulder and the demolding section is formed by a two-part core, the core elements of which are guided coaxially and moveable toward one another in an injection mold to form the shoulder—forced demolding as in the prior art is not required.

[0025] Preferred embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to schematic drawings.

[0026] They show: Fig. 1 a highly schematic sectional view of part of a toilet seat according to the invention. Fig. 2 a detailed view of a seat joint arrangement for an embodiment according to Fig. 1; Fig. 3 the seat joint arrangement according to Fig. 2 in locked state and Fig. 4 a detailed view of the seat joint arrangement according to Fig. 3.

[0027] In Fig. 1 shows a part of a toilet seat assembly 1 with a toilet lid 2 and a toilet seat 4. The toilet seat assembly 1 is attached to a ceramic 8 via two toilet seat joints 6 (toilet seat joint assemblies). In the illustration according to Fig. 1 only shows one of the toilet seat joints 6.

[0028] As described in the prior art explained above, the toilet seat joint 6 has a damper assembly 10 with a fluid-damped rotary damper 12, whose housing 14 is connected to an adapter 16 in the illustrated embodiment. In reverse kinematics, a rotary piston 18 can of course also be connected to the adapter. In principle, a seat joint can also be designed without a damper, in which case the adapter is designed as a joint body corresponding to the outer contour of the damper.

[0029] In the illustrated embodiment, the housing 14 and the adapter 16 are arranged at least in sections in a fastening tab 20 of the toilet seat 4. The Fig. 1 rotary piston 18 projecting to the right is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to a fastening tab 22 of the toilet lid 2.

[0030] In the illustrated embodiment, a pin 24 is attached to the adapter 16, which projects approximately radially from the adapter 16. The damper assembly 10 has an approximately cylindrical basic shape. When assembled, the pin 24 engages a support bushing 26 of a support plate 28, which is attached to the ceramic element 8. The entire toilet seat assembly 1 can thus be inserted into the two support bushings 26 via the two pins 24, so that it is fixed in position on the ceramic element 8.

[0031] The Fig. 1, the other (left) damper assembly 10, not shown, is then connected to the toilet lid 2 in a correspondingly rotationally fixed manner by its rotary piston, while there is no rotationally fixed connection between the rotary piston 18 and the left-hand fastening tab of the toilet seat 4. Accordingly, one damper of each of the two damping assemblies is responsible for damping the toilet seat 4 and the toilet lid 2, respectively.

[0032] Of course, the adapter 16 and the actual rotary damper 12 can also be formed as a single piece. As mentioned above, the adapter piece can be constructed in multiple parts. The adapter piece can also be connected to the rotary piston 18 in a rotationally fixed manner. In principle, other damper designs are also possible.

[0033] The support plate 28, which enables reliable support on the ceramic 8, can be connected to it, for example, by gluing or screwing.

[0034] Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of a seat joint 6 for a seating set 1 according to Fig. 1.

[0035] As explained above, the seat joint 6 has a support plate 28 which is connected to the ceramic 8 ( Fig. 1). This screw 30 is inserted into a recess in the ceramic 8 and is secured there by means of a lock nut or the like. In order to be able to adjust the support distances of different WC seat fittings and the recess distance of the ceramic relative to each other, the screw 30 is guided via a radial guide 32 in the support plate 28. The above-described support bushing 28 is formed on this, the Fig. 2 upper support surface 34 is rounded according to the outer contour of the adapter 16, so that a flat contact of the support surface 34 with the outer circumference of the adapter is ensured. In the illustration according to Fig. 2, the adapter 16 is covered by a cover cap 36, which is pushed onto the adapter 36 in the axial direction and has an elongated hole through which the pin 24 extends. This cover cap 36 can be provided with a metallic layer to improve its appearance. As further shown in Fig. 2, the pin 24 has an annular groove 38 into which a locking means, in this case a spring ring 40, is inserted.

[0036] According to the compilation in Fig. 3, the pin 24, when the seating set 1 is placed on the ceramic, enters a receptacle 42 of the support bush 26 and is locked there.

[0037] This locking and the support of the seating on the ceramic is determined by the Fig. 4, which shows a partial view of the seat joint 6 in the locked state. In this illustration, it can be seen that the cover cap 36 partially encompasses the adapter 16 and downwards (view according to Fig. 4) is opened through the aforementioned elongated hole, so that the pin 24 extends through this elongated hole. As mentioned, the pin 24 is either connected to the adapter 16 as an insert during injection molding or is glued into it or secured in some other way. In the locked state, the adapter 16 can rest on the support surface 34 of the support bushing 26 along an outer circumferential section exposed by the aforementioned elongated hole.

[0038] However, it is currently preferred not to provide a direct support, so that the support surface 34 - as in Fig. 4, indicated by dashed lines, runs at a distance from the outer circumference of the adapter 16. This support surface profile is shown in the Fig. 4 is provided with the reference number 34'.

[0039] In the locked state, the radially projecting end section of the pin 24 engages in the previously described receptacle 42 of the support plate 28. This receptacle 42 is in the Fig. 4 upper area is adapted to the outer diameter D of the pin 24 so that it can be used with a sliding guide or a small amount of play.

[0040] As shown by Fig. As explained in Figure 3, the pin 24 has a circumferential annular groove 38, which in the illustrated embodiment is designed as a rectangular groove—of course, other groove geometries are also usable. A circumferential annular groove 30 is not necessarily required.

[0041] The spring ring 40 is inserted into this annular groove 30. In the unloaded state, this spring ring 40 has a diameter F that is larger than the diameter D, so that the spring ring 40 projects radially beyond the outer circumference of the pin 20 and the receptacle 42.

[0042] According to the presentation in Fig. 4, the receptacle 42 is extended via a shoulder 44 to form a demoulding section 46, the diameter E of which is greater than the diameter D and preferably also greater than the diameter of the spring ring 40 in the relaxed state.

[0043] The free length of the pin 24, ie the length of the part that projects radially from the adapter 16, is selected so that the pin 24 can be brought into direct or indirect contact with the ceramic 8 with an end face. To avoid damage to the ceramic 8, as in Fig. 4 with a double-dotted line—a support disc 50 can also be arranged between the end face 48 and the ceramic 8. This support disc 50 can be inserted into the demolding section 46 or can also serve as a support for the support plate 28 and thus essentially have the same diameter.

[0044] In simpler solutions, the pin 24 rests directly on the ceramic via the end face 48. To avoid an over-determined support system, it is preferable—as mentioned above—to arrange the support surface 34 at a distance from the adapter 16.

[0045] In the Fig. In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the support plate 28 does not rest on the ceramic 8 over its entire surface, but only with a circumferential support edge 52 that encompasses a central, axially recessed region 54. The end face 48 of the pin 24 preferably lies in the plane of the circumferential support edge 52 of the support plate 28.

[0046] When placing the seat assembly 1 onto the ceramic 8, the pins 24 of the two seat joint arrangements each engage in a receptacle 40 of the two ceramic-side spring plates 28. During the further insertion movement, the spring rings 40 are clamped inwards into the annular groove 38 and slide along the peripheral wall of the Fig. 4 upper peripheral area of ​​the receptacle 42. When the predetermined immersion depth is reached, ie when the support surface 48 runs onto the ceramic 8 or onto the support disc 50, the spring ring 40 enters the demoulding area 46, so that the spring ring 40 returns to its basic position (view according to Fig. 4) snaps back, in which it has the diameter F. The spring ring 40 engages behind the radially extending shoulder 44, so that the two pins 24 and thus the seat assembly 1 are detachably connected to the ceramic 8. To remove the seat assembly, a sufficient tensile force is then applied to pull the pin 24 out of the receptacle 42 while radially reducing the diameter of the spring ring 40.

[0047] In the illustrated embodiment, the shoulder 44 is designed as a radial shoulder. In principle, a certain conical angle toward the support surface 34 is also possible, thus facilitating removal. However, with such a variant, the holding force is reduced.

[0048] The manufacture of such a joint arrangement is significantly simpler than in the prior art, since a comparatively simple injection mold can be used for the one-piece formation of the support plate 28, in which a core is provided from below, i.e., from the ceramic side, and a further, coaxial core is provided from above, from the adapter side, in order to form the receptacle 42, the annular shoulder 44, and the radially expanded demolding area 46. The latter does not necessarily have to be cylindrical, but can also be slightly conical to facilitate demolding.

[0049] The actual radial guidance of the pin 24 takes place in the area of ​​the receptacle 42 that is approximately designed with the diameter D. In the demolding area 46, there is no or a significantly lesser radial guidance of the pin 24.

[0050] The diameter F and also the diameter d of the spring ring wire can be selected depending on the forces required for fitting and removing the fitting.

[0051] The previously described shoulder 44 (step) determines the force jump during disassembly of the seating assembly 1. In the case where the seating assembly 1 is additionally supported by the support surface 34, this also determines the force jump during assembly of the seating assembly. Preferably, however, this force jump is essentially determined by the contact of the end face 48 of the pin 24 with the ceramic 8 or the support disc 50.

[0052] The pin 24 is preferably made of stainless steel. The adapter 16 and the housing 14 of the damper 10, as well as the support plate 28, are preferably made of plastic by injection molding. The cover cap 36 can also be made as an injection-molded part, although it is then metallized to improve its appearance.

[0053] Disclosed are a toilet seat joint arrangement and a toilet seat fitting constructed with such toilet seat joint arrangements, in which a pin is anchored on the joint side and is locked in a receptacle of a support bushing. List of reference symbols: 1 toilet seat set 2 toilet lids 4 toilet seats 6 Toilet seat joint / seat joint arrangement 8 Ceramics 10 dampers 12 rotary dampers 14 housings 16 adapters 18 rotary pistons 20 mounting tab 22 Mounting tab 24-pin 26 Support bushing 28 backing plates 30 screw 32 Radial guide 34 Support surface 36 cover cap 38 ring groove 40 spring ring 42 recording 44 switches 46 demoulding section 48 frontal area 50 support disc 52 Support edge 54 Area (backing plate)

Claims

[1] Toilet seat joint arrangement with a joint body which can be used as a joint axis at least in sections in fastening tabs (20, 22) of a toilet seat (4) or a toilet lid (2) and which is detachably connected via a pin (24) to a support plate (28) which is intended to rest on a ceramic (8), wherein the pin (24) is firmly connected to the joint body and detachably connected to the support plate (28) and thereby immerses in a receptacle (42) of the support plate (28), characterized by in that the receptacle (42) is continuous and is widened towards a support-side mouth by a shoulder (44) to form a demoulding section (46), wherein the pin (24) has an annular groove (38) into which a radially projecting locking means is inserted, which can be brought into locking contact with the shoulder (44) and the radial extent of the shoulder (44) is less than the depth of the annular groove (38), wherein the annular groove depth is greater than the diameter of the locking means. [2] Seat joint arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the shoulder (44) is a radial shoulder, wherein a diameter (E) of the demolding section (46) is greater than a diameter (D) of the pin (24). [3] Seat joint arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the locking means is a spring ring (40). [4] Seat joint arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the pin (24) is supported on the end face directly or indirectly on the ceramic (8). [5] Seat joint arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the support plate (28) has, in extension of the receptacle (42), a support bushing (26) which has a support surface (34) for the joint body on the end face. [6] Seat joint arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the support surface (34) is rounded, said rounding being adapted to the joint body contour. [7] Seat joint arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, with a support disc (50) which is intended to be inserted between an end face (48) of the pin (24) and the ceramic (8). [8] Seat joint arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the joint body is a rotary damper (12). [9] Seat joint arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the support plate (28) is produced by injection molding, wherein the receptacle (42) with the shoulder (44) and the demolding area (46) is formed by a two-part core, the core elements of which are guided coaxially to one another and movable towards one another. [10] Toilet seat fitting with a toilet seat (4) and a toilet lid (2) which are connected to a ceramic (8) via two seat joint arrangements according to one of the preceding claims.

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