Toilet seat

Abstract

To provide a toilet seat with a high design property.SOLUTION: There is provided a toilet seat 4 comprising a main body part 40, and a pair of hinge parts 6 extending rearward from the main body part 40. The main body part 40 has on its lower surface: a horizontal part 422 formed substantially horizontally; an inclined surface part 423 which is arranged on a rear side relative to the horizontal part 422, is interposed between the pair of hinge parts 6, and is inclined upward and rearward; and a curve surface part 421 which is interposed between the horizontal part 422, the hinge parts 6 and the inclined surface part 423, and is curved in a downward / rearward salient state. The curvature radius of the curve surface part 421 is smaller on the outside of the toilet seat 4 than on the inside of the toilet seat.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to toilet seats. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, toilet seats have been disclosed in which the underside is formed with a curved portion either below or below the rotation axis for rotatably mounting the toilet seat to the toilet device (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The purpose of having a curved portion on the underside of the toilet seat is to enable the toilet seat to rotate smoothly and to ensure space for arranging functional parts. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-35182 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] If the radius of curvature of the curved surface at the toilet seat side end is large, a large gap will be formed between the toilet seat and the toilet bowl portion located below the toilet seat. If this gap is large, it will not only impair the design of the toilet bowl side, but it may also allow dust and other foreign matter to get in and flushing water to splash out.

[0005] When the toilet seat opening is formed in a front-rear position such that the rear end of the toilet seat opening is located on the curved surface, a concave portion is formed downward as if the lower end of the rear end is carved upward. In this case, if the radius of curvature of the curved surface portion at the lower end of the rear end is small, the concave portion will be prominently formed, which will impair the design. Furthermore, when the toilet seat is manufactured by welding the seat front member and the seat back member, cutting and grinding the concave portion will make it deeper, which will further impair the design. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present disclosure provides a toilet seat having a main body portion and a pair of hinge portions extending rearward from the main body portion, wherein the main body portion has, on its underside, a horizontal portion formed approximately horizontally, an inclined surface portion positioned rearward of the horizontal portion and interposed between the pair of hinge portions and inclining toward the upper and rearward, and a curved surface portion interposed between the horizontal portion and the hinge portions and the inclined surface portion and curved so as to be convex toward the lower and rearward, wherein the radius of curvature of the curved surface portion is smaller on the outside of the toilet seat than on the inside. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toilet device. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a toilet seat. [Diagram 3] FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the rearmost end portion of the opening of the toilet seat. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] Hereinafter, a toilet apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, when the toilet seat 4 is horizontally disposed on the top of the toilet bowl 15, the side of the pair of hinge units 6 is referred to as the rear, and the side opposite the pair of hinge units 6 is referred to as the front. The left and right directions when facing rearward are referred to as the left and right directions or lateral directions.

[0009] 1, the toilet apparatus 100 is an integrated toilet apparatus comprising a toilet body 10, a functional unit 1, a first remote control device 20 that consolidates frequently used functions, a second remote control device 21 that can operate more functions than the first remote control device 20, and a control unit 3. The first remote control device 20 and the second remote control device 21 are disposed on the wall surface of the toilet room in which the toilet apparatus 100 is provided, and the second remote control device 21 can be stored in a storage unit 14 inside the toilet body 10.

[0010] The toilet body 10 includes a toilet seat 4, a toilet lid 12, a top cover 13, a storage section 14, and a toilet bowl 15. In addition to the above, the toilet body 10 also includes a tank and the like (not shown).

[0011] The toilet seat 4 is the part on which the user sits, and is disposed over the annular opening of the toilet bowl 15, and has an annular shape. The toilet lid 12 is a lid that covers the toilet seat 4 and the opening of the toilet bowl 15 in an openable and closable manner. The top cover 13 is a member that covers the upper part of the functional unit 1. The storage section 14 is a recess formed inside the toilet body 10, and is capable of storing the second remote control device 21. The second remote control device 21, which is used less frequently, can be stored in the storage section 14 when not in use. The toilet bowl 15 opens upward, and has a drain at the bottom. The toilet bowl 15 is a member made of, for example, ceramic.

[0012] The functional unit 1 is placed on the upper rear part of the toilet 15, and has a toilet flushing device and a human body part cleaning device inside. The functional unit 1 is controlled by the control unit 3 described below, and performs various functions such as a toilet flushing function, a human body part cleaning function, and opening and closing the toilet seat 4 and toilet lid 12. The functional unit 1 may have all of these functions, or may have at least one of these functions.

[0013] In a toilet apparatus 100 with multiple functions, the functional part 1 has many functional components inside, and it is preferable to design the volume of the functional part 1 to be large. There is also a conflicting demand for a compact design of the toilet apparatus 100. In order to achieve both the volume of the functional part 1 and a compact design of the toilet apparatus, a part of the functional part 1 is also located below the hinge part 6 of the toilet seat 4.

[0014] The remote control device 2 is a device capable of remotely controlling various functions of the toilet device 100. It transmits signals to the functional unit 1 or other remote control devices using a communication method such as infrared communication or BLE (registered trademark) to remotely control various functions. The remote control device 2 has an operation unit on its outer surface, as well as a control unit and a communication unit. The remote control device 2 may be battery-operated or rechargeable battery-operated. It may be rechargeable when hung on a wall via the bracket 30 or when housed in the housing unit 14.

[0015] The control unit 3 is housed inside either the functional unit 1 or the toilet body 10 (not shown). The control unit 3 receives signals transmitted from the first remote control device 20 and the second remote control device 21, and controls the operation of the functional unit 1 based on the received signals.

[0016] The toilet seat 4 is composed of a main body 40 and a pair of hinge parts 6 protruding rearward from both left and right ends. The toilet seat 4 is connected to, for example, the functional part 1 via a rotating shaft member of an electric motor inserted into the hinge parts 6. This allows the toilet seat 4 to be rotatably attached to the functional part 1.

[0017] As shown in Fig. 2, the toilet seat 4 is formed of a seat cover member 41 and a seat back member 42, and a toilet seat heater 5 is housed between the two. The toilet seat heater 5 is disposed in contact with the back side of the seat cover member 41. This is to efficiently transfer heat to the seat cover member 41 and improve the heating efficiency of the toilet seat 4.

[0018] The seat cover member 41 is a member with an opening, and is composed of an annular seat surface that is formed substantially horizontally when a user of the toilet device 100 is seated, and side walls that are formed by extending downward from the inner and outer circumferential ends of the annular seat surface. A hollow toilet seat 4 is formed by joining an annular seat back member 42 to the lower end of the side wall portion so as to cover it.

[0019] The seat back member 42 is a substantially flat annular member, and as described above, is joined to the seat top member 41 to form the toilet seat 4. The seat back member 42 has a support portion 43 having three bosses extending toward the seat top member 41 side.

[0020] The support portion 43 is a hollow portion inside the toilet seat 4 that extends from the bottom to the top and supports the toilet seat 4 in the up-down direction. The support portion 43 distributes the load applied to the toilet seat 4 by the user sitting on it, improving the strength of the toilet seat 4. There is no particular limit to the number of bosses, and it is preferable for there to be three or more. The greater the number of bosses, the greater the strength of the toilet seat 4.

[0021] 2 and 4, the seat back member 42 is composed of a horizontal portion 422, an inclined surface portion 423, and a curved surface portion 421. The horizontal portion 422 is a portion located forward of the curved surface portion 421, and the inclined surface portion 423 is a portion located rearward of the curved surface portion 421. A straight line M in FIG. 3 indicates the center position of the toilet seat 4 in the left-right direction.

[0022] The horizontal portion 422 is formed substantially horizontally on the underside of the toilet seat 4, and is located directly above the toilet bowl 15. The inclined surface portion 423 is located rearward of the horizontal portion 422, and is interposed between the hinge portions 6. The inclined surface portion 423 is configured to be inclined toward the rear and upward. The curved surface portion 421 is interposed between the horizontal portion 422, the hinge portions 6, and the inclined surface portion 423, and is curved to be convex toward the rear and downward.

[0023] As shown in Fig. 3, the toilet seat 4 is formed so that the lower end of a portion of the opening outer periphery is located on the curved surface portion 421. Hereinafter, of the opening outer periphery of the toilet seat 4, the portion where the lower end of the portion of the opening outer periphery is located on the curved surface portion 421 will be referred to as the opening rear end portion 45. As described above, the curved surface portion 421 is configured so that it becomes higher from the boundary with the horizontal portion 422 toward the rear and upper side, and therefore the lower end of the opening rear end portion 45 is configured at a position higher than the horizontal height of the horizontal portion 422 by the height H of the curved surface portion 421. Therefore, the lower end of the opening rear end portion 45 is formed into a downwardly concave shape.

[0024] Hereinafter, as shown in Fig. 4, the center position side in the left-right direction of the toilet seat 4 will be referred to as the inside, and both side end sides will be referred to as the outside. The center position in the left-right direction of the toilet seat 4 is represented by a straight line M. The concave shape of the opening rear end 45 is formed so that the height H increases toward the inside. This is because the opening of the toilet seat 4 opens all the way to the rear as it moves inward on the rear side, and therefore the opening rear end 45 is located further back as it moves inward.

[0025] It is preferable that the toilet seat 4 has at least one or more legs 44, which come into contact with the toilet bowl 15 when the toilet seat 4 is down, on the horizontal portion 422 or the curved portion 421. The legs 44 are made of an elastic material such as rubber, and can cushion collisions with the toilet bowl 15 when the toilet seat 4 is opened or closed.

[0026] The toilet seat heater 5 is composed of a heat transfer sheet and a heater wire. The toilet seat heater 5 is arranged in contact with the back side of the seat cover member 41, and heats the seat surface of the toilet seat 4. The heat transfer sheet is configured in contact with the heater wire, and is used to receive heat from the heater wire and transfer it to the seat cover member 41.

[0027] The heat transfer sheet is preferably made of a material with high thermal conductivity, for example, a metal such as aluminum foil. The heater wire is the heat source of the heated toilet seat, and is preferably evenly distributed over the entire heat transfer sheet. The heater wire can be a commercially available electric heating wire such as nickel-chrome wire or iron-chrome wire, and the diameter and material are not particularly limited.

[0028] As shown in Figure 4, the radius of curvature of the curved portion 421 is smaller on the outside of the toilet seat 4 than on the inside. As a result, as shown in Figure 5, a horizontal portion 422 that is approximately horizontal up to the vicinity of the rear functional portion 1 is formed on the outside of the toilet seat 4, so the gap between the toilet seat 4 and the toilet bowl 15 can be made small, improving the design of the toilet apparatus 100. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent foreign objects from entering through the gap and splashes of flushing water from splashing out, and heat retention is also improved when the heated toilet seat function is used.

[0029] The radius of curvature of the curved surface portion 421 is larger on the inside of the toilet seat 4 than on the outside. This allows the concave shape of the lower end of the opening rear end 45 of the toilet seat 4 to be smoothly formed, improving the design. This will be described in detail.

[0030] As shown in Fig. 4, curved surface portion 421, which is formed in a rearwardly downwardly convex shape, extends upward as it goes rearward. As the radius of curvature increases, the length of the arc required to reach the same height upward increases. Therefore, the width L of curved surface portion 421 in the front-to-rear direction gradually increases from the outside to the inside of toilet seat 4, excluding the opening portion. For example, as shown in Fig. 4, width L2 of the second portion of curved surface portion 421 is greater than width L1 of the first portion, which is located outside the second portion.

[0031] If the front-to-rear width L of curved portion 421 is large, the front-to-rear position range in which curved portion 421 is formed is wide, and therefore the left-to-right range in which the lower end of the opening outer periphery of toilet seat 4 is located on curved portion 421 is wide. That is, opening rear end 45 is formed wide in the left-to-right direction. Furthermore, the lower end of opening rear end 45, which is formed wide in the left-to-right direction, gradually becomes higher toward the inside where the radius of curvature of curved portion 421 is large, so that the concave shape of the lower end of opening rear end 45 is smoothly formed and not noticeable, improving the design.

[0032] Therefore, by forming the radius of curvature of curved surface portion 421 smaller on the outside of toilet seat 4 than on the inside, the design of the side surface and open rear end portion 45 of toilet seat 4 can be improved.

[0033] Furthermore, the radius of curvature of the curved portion 421 on the inside of the toilet seat 4 is preferably formed to be large enough so that the concave shape of the lower end of the opening rear end 45 is smooth and inconspicuous as described above, but small enough so that the functional part 1 cannot be seen through the opening when the user faces the toilet apparatus 100. This is because if the radius of curvature of the curved portion 421 is small, the lower end of the opening rear end 45 will be positioned low, making it difficult to see the functional part 1. This improves the design of the entire toilet apparatus 100.

[0034] Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line M at the rear part of the opening of the toilet seat 4. The area indicated by diagonal lines in Fig. 5 represents the end surface on line M. On this end surface, point P represents the lower end part of the rear end 45 of the opening of the toilet seat 4, and point Q represents the lower end part of the functional part 1. Line PQ represents the boundary of the range in which the functional part 1 is visible when the user faces the toilet apparatus 100. In other words, point Q is blocked by the toilet seat 4 and cannot be seen from a position above line PQ.

[0035] When point P is located low at the rear of the opening of the toilet seat 4, the angle that line PQ makes with the horizontal is small, narrowing the range in which the functional part 1 is visible. This makes it difficult to see the part above point Q, which is the bottom end of the functional part 1, when facing the toilet apparatus 100, improving the design.

[0036] The radius of curvature may change stepwise from the outside to the inside of the toilet seat, or may change continuously. In this embodiment, the radius of curvature of curved surface portion 421 increases continuously from both side ends toward straight line M. By changing the radius of curvature continuously, the width of curved surface portion 421 changes smoothly, improving the design of the underside of toilet seat 4, which can be seen when toilet seat 4 is lifted.

[0037] It is preferable that the rear end of curved surface portion 421 is formed to be aligned in a substantially straight line in the left-right direction, since this allows the front end of inclined surface portion 423 to be formed with a neat appearance, improving the design.

[0038] The toilet seat 4 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above. The toilet seat 4 provides the following advantages.

[0039] The toilet seat 4 of this embodiment has a main body 40 and a pair of hinges 6 extending rearward from the main body 40, and the main body 40 has, on its underside, a horizontal portion 422 formed substantially horizontally, an inclined surface portion 423 disposed rearward of the horizontal portion 422 and interposed between the pair of hinges 6 and inclined rearward and upward, and a curved surface portion 421 interposed between the horizontal portion 422 and the hinges 6 and the inclined surface portion 423 and curved so as to be convex rearward and downward, the radius of curvature of the curved surface portion 421 being smaller on the outside of the toilet seat 4 than on the inside. This allows the gap to be reduced on the side of the toilet seat 4, and the concave shape of the lower end of the opening rear end 45 is smoothly formed and not noticeable, improving the design.

[0040] The radius of curvature of curved portion 421 changes continuously along a straight line connecting both ends of curved portion 421 in the left-right direction up to midpoint position M of said line. This allows the width of curved portion 421 to change smoothly, improving the design of the underside of toilet seat 4.

[0041] The curved surface portion 421 has a rear end formed in a substantially straight line extending in the left-right direction, thereby improving the design of the rear surface of the toilet seat 4.

[0042] Although a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 100...toilet device, 1...functional part, 10...toilet body, 12...toilet lid, 13...top cover, 14...storage part, 15...toilet, 2...remote control device, 20...first remote control device, 21...second remote control device, 30...bracket, 3...control part, 4...toilet seat, 40...main body, 41...seat surface member, 42...seat back member, 421...curved surface part, 422...horizontal part, 423...inclined surface part, 43...support part, 44...leg part, 45...toilet seat opening, 5...heater, 6...hinge part

Claims

1. A toilet seat having a main body and a pair of hinge portions extending rearward from the main body, The main body has a lower surface, A horizontal portion formed substantially horizontally; an inclined surface portion that is disposed rearward of the horizontal portion, is interposed between the pair of hinge portions, and is inclined rearward and upward; a curved surface portion interposed between the horizontal portion, the hinge portion, and the inclined surface portion and curved so as to be convex downward and rearward, A toilet seat, wherein the radius of curvature of the curved portion is smaller on the outside of the toilet seat than on the inside.

2. The toilet seat according to claim 1 , wherein the radius of curvature of the curved surface portion changes continuously along a straight line connecting both side ends of the curved surface portion in the left-right direction up to a midpoint of the straight line.

3. The toilet seat according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the curved portion has a rear end formed in a substantially straight line extending in the left-right direction.

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