Flush toilet with matte and stain-resistant surface

Abstract

To provide a flush toilet bowl having a matte surface and an antifouling surface, which has a good appearance and is difficult to stain. [Solution] When forming a matte surface and anti-fouling glaze layer in a flush toilet, the boundary position is set with a focus on functionality as well as appearance, adding value to the toilet. By locating the boundary between the anti-fouling glaze layer in front of the user and the matte glaze layer lower, the matte appearance of the toilet is not affected, urine running up is effectively suppressed, and the toilet is less likely to get dirty.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a flush toilet having a matte surface and a stain-resistant surface. [Background technology]

[0002] The appearance of sanitary ware is generally glossy, evoking a sense of luxury and cleanliness. However, matte sanitary ware, the opposite of glossy ware, is highly rated in the market. This is because a matte finish enhances the appearance (design) of the product and allows it to harmonize with the texture of the walls and fixtures in the same space, thereby expanding the variety of designs.

[0003] In flush toilets, a type of sanitary ceramic product, the exterior has a matte surface, but the bowl-shaped area that receives waste is coated with a stain-resistant glaze layer (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-046364 (Patent Document 1)). This creates a boundary between the matte glaze surface and the stain-resistant glaze surface. Proposals have been made to prevent this boundary from detracting from the appearance and design of the toilet (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2023-034495 (Patent Document 3)). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-046364 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-062798 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-034495 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The inventors have now discovered that when forming a matte surface and an anti-fouling glaze layer in a flush toilet, the boundary position between them can be set with a focus on functionality as well as appearance, thereby adding value to the toilet. Specifically, a toilet with a good appearance and resistance to soiling has been realized. The present invention is based on this discovery.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a flush toilet with a matte surface and a stain-resistant surface, which has a good appearance and is difficult to stain. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The flush toilet according to the present invention comprises: A flush toilet bowl with a ceramic base and a glaze layer on the surface, The flush toilet is a bowl-shaped waste receiving surface for receiving waste; a rim portion extending upwardly at the upper edge of the waste receiving surface; and a bowl portion having the glaze layer comprises an antifouling glaze layer and a matte glaze layer, the antifouling glaze layer and the matte glaze layer being in contact with each other to form a boundary, The antifouling glaze layer is provided at least on the dirt receiving surface and the rim portion, In a flush toilet, the matte glaze layer is provided on at least the rim portion, When a user sits on the flush toilet, the direction in front of the user is defined as the front, and the direction behind the user is defined as the rear. The antifouling glaze layer and the matte glaze layer in the rim portion are formed so that the distance from the upper end of the rim portion at the most forward position to the boundary between them is greater than the distance from the upper end of the rim portion at the most rearward position to the boundary between them. It is characterized by the following.

[0008] Furthermore, a flush toilet according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: A flush toilet bowl with a ceramic base and a glaze layer on the surface, The flush toilet is a bowl-shaped waste receiving surface for receiving waste; a rim portion extending upwardly at the upper edge of the waste receiving surface; and a bowl portion having the glaze layer comprises an antifouling glaze layer and a matte glaze layer, the antifouling glaze layer and the matte glaze layer being in contact with each other to form a boundary, The antifouling glaze layer is provided at least on the dirt receiving surface and the rim portion, In a flush toilet, the matte glaze layer is provided on at least the rim portion, When a user sits on the flush toilet, the direction in front of the user is defined as the front, and the direction behind the user is defined as the rear, and the height is determined based on the flat surface of the location where the flush toilet is installed. The antifouling glaze layer and the matte glaze layer in the rim portion are formed so that the boundary between them at the most forward position is lower than the boundary between them at the most rearward position. It is characterized by the following.

[0009] Furthermore, a flush toilet according to another aspect of the present invention comprises: A flush toilet bowl with a ceramic base and a glaze layer on the surface, The flush toilet is a bowl-shaped waste receiving surface for receiving waste; a rim portion extending upwardly at the upper edge of the waste receiving surface; and a bowl portion having the glaze layer comprises an antifouling glaze layer and a matte glaze layer, the antifouling glaze layer and the matte glaze layer being in contact with each other to form a boundary, The antifouling glaze layer is provided at least on the dirt receiving surface and the rim portion, In a flush toilet, the matte glaze layer is provided on at least the rim portion, When a user sits on the flush toilet, the direction in front of the user is defined as the front, and the direction behind the user is defined as the rear. At least at the front end of the rim portion, an overhang portion that protrudes toward the inside of the bowl portion is provided on the upper edge of the rim portion, and the frontmost position of the boundary is located closer to the center of the inside of the bowl portion than the rearmost position. It is characterized by the following. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a schematic cross-sectional view of a flush toilet 1 according to the present invention. The flush toilet 1 comprises a bowl portion 2, which has a bowl-shaped waste receiving surface 3 for receiving waste, and a rim portion 4 extending upward from the upper edge of the waste receiving surface. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating how a flush toilet 1 according to the present invention is manufactured by joining the lower bowl portion 5 and the upper bowl portion 6, including the rim portion, at the pre-fired body stage. Figure 2 is an SEM image of the glaze surface of Example 2. [Figure 3] This is a conceptual diagram of a flush toilet bowl according to the present invention that has a stain-resistant glaze layer and a matte glaze layer applied to the surface indicated by dashed line 11, and a stain-resistant glaze layer indicated by dotted line 12 applied to the waste receiving surface 12. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the boundary position between the stain-resistant glaze layer and the matte glaze layer in the present invention. [Figure 5] This figure shows that a matte glaze layer shown by dashed line 11 is provided on the rim portion 4, with line 13 as the boundary, and an anti-fouling glaze layer shown by dotted line 12 is provided on the dirt receiving surface 12 side. [Figure 6] 1 is an enlarged view of the most forward position 15. FIG. [Figure 7] 1 is an enlarged view of the rearmost position 14. FIG. [Figure 8] 1 is a diagram illustrating the positional relationship between a rearmost position 14 and a frontmost position 15 of a line 13. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Basic structure of a toilet A schematic cross-sectional view of a flush toilet 1 according to the present invention is shown in Figure 1. Flush toilet 1 comprises a bowl portion 2, which has a bowl-shaped waste receiving surface 3 for receiving waste, and a rim portion 4 extending upward from the upper edge of this waste receiving surface. Flush toilet 1 is generally manufactured by joining a lower portion 5 of the bowl portion and an upper portion 6 of the bowl portion including the rim portion, as shown in Figure 2, at the pre-fired body stage.

[0012] In this specification, when a user sits on a flush toilet, the direction in front of the user is referred to as the front (direction A in Figure 1), and the direction behind the user is referred to as the rear (direction B in Figure 1). Also, when referring to height in this invention, height is defined based on the plane of the location where the flush toilet is installed.

[0013] A flush toilet according to the present invention has a glaze layer applied to the surface of the ceramic base, which is divided into an anti-fouling glaze layer and a matte glaze layer. These two glaze layers may be applied partially overlapping, or may be applied in separate areas with different glazes applied, but the two are provided adjacent to form a boundary. Figure 2 shows the flush toilet according to the present invention, with the anti-fouling glaze layer and matte glaze layer basically being applied to the area that determines the appearance of the toilet, with the matte glaze layer being applied to the waste-receiving surface 3 of the bowl 2 that may come into contact with waste. Figure 3 is a conceptual diagram of a flush toilet with an anti-fouling glaze layer and a matte glaze layer applied in this way, with the matte glaze layer applied to the surface indicated by dashed line 11, and the anti-fouling glaze layer indicated by dotted line 12 being applied to the waste-receiving surface 2.

[0014] In the present invention, an anti-fouling glaze layer is provided on at least both the waste receiving surface and the rim, and a matte glaze layer is provided on at least the rim, with this anti-fouling glaze layer and matte glaze layer coming into contact to form a boundary. The flush toilet of the present invention is characterized by the setting of the boundary between the anti-fouling glaze layer and the matte glaze layer. In other words, in the flush toilet of the present invention, the anti-fouling glaze layer and the matte glaze layer in the rim are formed so that the distance from the top of the rim at its most forward position to the boundary between them is greater than the distance from the top of the rim at its most rearward position to the boundary between them.

[0015] Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the boundary position between the stain-resistant glaze layer and the matte glaze layer in the present invention. Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the bowl of a flush toilet according to the present invention, showing that the rim 4 is formed to extend upward at the upper edge of the waste-receiving surface 3. Line 13 on the inner surface of the bowl of this rim 4 is the boundary. On this boundary line 13, the boundary position at the rearmost position of the flush toilet 1 is indicated as 14, and the frontmost position of the flush toilet 1 is indicated as 15. Figure 5 shows that on the rim 4, with line 13 as the boundary, a matte glaze layer, indicated by dashed line 11, is provided, and a stain-resistant glaze layer, indicated by dotted line 12, is provided on the waste-receiving surface 12 side.

[0016] Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the forward-most position 15. Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the rearmost position 14. In Fig. 6, the point where the curvature changes from the flat upper surface region of the rim portion 4 toward the interior of the bowl portion is designated as 5. In Fig. 7, the point where the curvature changes from the flat upper surface region of the rim portion 4 toward the interior of the bowl portion is designated as 6. In this invention, point 5 is called the forward-most upper end of the rim portion, and point 6 is called the rear-most upper end of the rim portion. A flush toilet according to this invention is characterized in that the distance from this forward-most upper end 5 to boundary 15 is greater than the distance from the rear-most upper end 6 to boundary 14; in other words, the anti-fouling glaze layer and matte glaze layer are formed on the rim portion so that this distance is longer.

[0017] The surface of the matte glaze layer has more irregularities and higher surface resistance than the surface of the anti-fouling glaze layer. Therefore, when a person urinates while sitting at the front of the rim portion 4, the matte glaze layer forms a longer surface, effectively preventing urine from running up and making the toilet less likely to get dirty. In addition, the rear portion has a higher proportion of anti-fouling glaze than the front portion, which helps prevent dirt from adhering to the rear portion.

[0018] First Aspect According to the first aspect of the present invention, the antifouling glaze layer and the matte glaze layer on the rim are formed so that the boundary 15 between them at their most forward position is lower than the boundary position 14 between them at their most rearward position. This configuration effectively prevents urine from running up when urinating while sitting, thereby preventing soiling. Furthermore, since the proportion of antifouling glaze is higher in the rear than in the front, adhesion of dirt to the rear can be prevented.

[0019] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the boundary includes a portion where its height is approximately constant. In Fig. 4, in the rear region, the boundary 13 does not change its height. By providing a boundary between the stain-resistant glaze layer and the matte glaze layer in this manner, it is possible to suppress the sense of incongruity caused by the different appearance of the two glaze layer surfaces in the region that is easily visible to the user.

[0020] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the height of the boundary changes in a relatively forward region. In Figure 4, boundary 13 changes in height in a relatively forward direction. By providing a boundary between the stain-resistant glaze layer and the matte glaze layer in this way, when a user stands in front of the flush toilet with the valve seat open, the front is less visible to the user than the rear, thereby reducing the sense of incongruity caused by the different appearance of the two glaze layer surfaces.

[0021] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the area of ​​the stain-resistant glaze layer on the inner surface of the bowl's rim 4 is larger than the area of ​​the matte glaze layer. By providing a boundary between the stain-resistant glaze layer and the matte glaze layer in this way, it is possible to improve the appearance while suppressing the adhesion of dirt through the stain-resistant glaze layer.

[0022] Second Aspect According to a second aspect of the present invention, at least at the forward end of the rim portion, the upper edge of the rim portion is provided with an overhang portion that protrudes toward the inside of the bowl portion, and the forward-most position of the boundary is located closer to the center of the inside of the bowl portion than the rearmost position.

[0023] FIG. 8 illustrates this embodiment. In FIG. 8, a line 16 is drawn connecting the forward-most and rear-most positions at the boundary between the bowl-shaped waste receiving surface 3 and the rim portion 4. A perpendicular line 17 is drawn through the center of this line 16. The forward-most position 15 is closer to this perpendicular line 17 than the rear-most position 14 on line 13. More specifically, perpendicular lines 18a and 18b are drawn at the forward-most and rear-most positions, respectively, at the boundary between the waste receiving surface 3 and the rim portion 4. Furthermore, perpendicular lines 19a and 19b are drawn through the rear-most position 14 and the forward-most position 15 on line 13. The distance between perpendicular lines 18b and 19b is greater than the distance between perpendicular lines 18a and 19a. This configuration, like the first embodiment, effectively prevents urine from running upward, resulting in less soiling.

[0024] Preferred embodiments of the flush toilet according to the second aspect of the present invention include an embodiment in which the boundary in the first aspect includes a portion where the height is approximately constant, an embodiment in which the height of the boundary changes in a relatively forward region, and an embodiment in which the area of ​​the stain-resistant glaze layer on the inner surface of the inside of the bowl part of the rim is larger than the area of ​​the matte glaze layer.

[0025] Combination of the first and second aspects The present invention also encompasses combinations of the first and second aspects described above. That is, the scope of the present invention also includes flush toilets in which the boundary between the anti-fouling glaze layer and the matte glaze layer on the rim is formed so that the boundary between them at its forward-most position is lower than the boundary between them at its rearmost position, and at least the front end of the rim has an overhanging portion on the upper edge thereof that protrudes toward the inside of the bowl, and the rearmost position of the boundary is located closer to the center of the inside of the bowl than the forward-most position.

[0026] Matte glaze layer and stain-resistant glaze layer In the present invention, examples of the matte glaze layer include those described in JP-A-6-211541, JP-A-2-229736, and JP-A-2012-046364. In the present invention, examples of the antifouling glaze layer include those described in WO99 / 061392.

Claims

1. A flush toilet bowl having a ceramic base and a glazed layer on its surface, The aforementioned flush toilet, - A bowl-shaped waste receiving surface that receives waste, - The rim portion extending upward at the upper edge of the waste receiving surface and It comprises a bowl section having the following The aforementioned glaze layer comprises a stain-resistant glaze layer and a matte glaze layer, and the stain-resistant glaze layer and the matte glaze layer are in contact, forming a boundary. The antifouling glaze layer is provided at least on the dirt receiving surface and the rim portion, In a flush toilet in which the aforementioned matte glaze layer is provided at least on the rim, When a user sits on the flush toilet, the direction in front of the user is defined as the front, and the direction behind the user is defined as the rear. The upper end of the rim is defined as the point where the curvature of the rim changes from the upper surface area toward the inside of the bowl at the foremost and rearmost positions of the rim, respectively. The antifouling glaze layer and the matte glaze layer in the rim are formed such that the distance from the upper end of the rim at the foremost position of the rim downward in the vertical direction to the boundary between the two is greater than the distance from the upper end of the rim at the rearmost position of the rim downward in the vertical direction to the boundary between the two. A flush toilet characterized by the following features.

2. The flush toilet according to claim 1, wherein the front and rear ends of the rim portion are provided with an overhang portion that protrudes toward the inside of the bowl portion at the upper edge of the rim portion.

3. The flush toilet according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the area of ​​the anti-fouling glaze layer on the inner surface of the bowl portion of the rim portion is larger than the area of ​​the matte glaze layer.

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