Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02707839 2010-06-25
Patent Application of
Kishor Desai
for
TOILET FOR THE DISABLED
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Not Applicable
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH Not Applicable
SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM Not Applicable
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns toilets specifically designed
for handicapped persons, as well as anyone having difficulty using
a conventional toilet but can, of course, be used by able-bodied
and disabled alike.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Toilets that exist which are available to consumers and
builders through retail and wholesale hardware stores and other
outlets to install in homes, public restrooms, hospitals and
schools or in ships, planes or recreational motor vehicles or any
other locations, whether portable or fixed, are in one respect all
of one kind/standard format that will be termed herein as
CA 02707839 2010-06-25
2
PATENT APPLICATION OF KISHOR DESAI FOR
TOILET FOR THE DISABLED [Continued]
"conventional toilets". That is to say, that where the seats are
anything other than symmetrical from front to rear, they are all
arranged with the broader part of the seat, the part on which the
user sits/places their buttocks, positioned at the rear, meaning
nearest to the cistern/flushing tank and the seat narrows towards
the front. This is true for toilets, whether close-coupled or not,
and whether for the able-bodied or for the physically or mentally
disabled. For disabled toilets a handlebar may be provided to
assist them in moving to and from the toilet, but this is normally
positioned extending in a plane parallel to the front-rear axis of
the toilet at the right and/or left-hand side of the toilet.
For those with physical or mental disabilities such as
Muscular Dystrophy, Alzheimer's, spinal injuries or amputees, they
generally have no choice but to use these conventional toilets
since there are no options available to them. They are, however,
far from ideal for the disabled. A major problem with the
conventional toilet design is that when a wheelchair-bound disabled
person wants to use the toilet, it is difficult for him/her to get
off the wheelchair to transfer onto the toilet. The wheelchair
user must turn himself/herself around through 180 degrees and
finally maneuver onto the toilet set.
Even for those who care for wheelchair users, it is hard for
the caregiver to get the wheelchair user off the wheelchair, carry
them to the toilet, turn them around and put them on the toilet
CA 02707839 2010-06-25
3
PATENT APPLICATION OF KISHOR DESAI FOR
TOILET FOR THE DISABLED [Continued]
seat. It is a cumbersome process and a back-breaking job for the
caregiver.
A large number of U.S. patents issued for toilets have been
reviewed including, for example, the ten listed below:
(1)D353,450(12/1994)Folke Anderson, et al., Ornamental design only
(2)3,986,216(10/1976)Robert B. Davis, et al., Relates to low-volume
flush
(3)3,939,501(02/1976)Frank T. Sargent, Relates to portable toilets
(4)3,565,106(02/1971)Baumbach, Diaphragm-type control valve
(5)3,801,991(04/1974)Fulton, et al., Self-contained portable toilet
(6)3,858,249(01/1975)Howard, Self-contained sanitary closet
(7)3,994,028(11/1976)Johan Victor, Sealable container
(8)3,798,681(03/1974)Abom Johansen, High-water closet
(9)3,883,903(05/1975)Broek, et al., Water closet
(10)3,905,409(09/1975)Stokes, Toilet with pump
None of the above or other prior art reviewed addresses the
aforementioned problems of access and convenience for the
wheelchair user and it is amongst the objects of the present
invention to address those problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a toilet which comprises a toilet bowl and cistern,
wherein the bowl and seat is rotated through 180 degrees relative
to the conventional, meaning where the seat is oval or at least
CA 02707839 2010-06-25
4
PATENT APPLICATION OF KISHOR DESAI FOR
TOILET FOR THE DISABLED [Continued]
tapers in the front to rear axis of the toilet, the narrow part of
the seat is rearmost, meaning adjacent to the toilet cistern, and
the wider part of the seat for the user to sit on, accommodating
the users buttocks, is forward-most, meaning away from the toilet
cistern.
This arrangement provides the wheelchair user with the ability
to slide from a wheelchair directly onto the toilet seat without
needing to turn around on moving from the wheelchair.
The toilet constructed according to this invention does not
substantially exceed the manufacturing cost of the conventional
toilet and yet provides greatly improved comfort and ease of use by
the wheelchair user.
Persons using the toilet will face the tank, in which the tank
will have either a left or right side flush handle and suitably the
cistern is adapted to allow either configuration to facilitate easy
flushing of the unit. The user will not be required to turn around
after using the toilet to flush it.
A support handle/handlebar is suitably provided on the toilet
at the rear of the toilet bowl but preferably in front of the
cistern. This preferably extends horizontally across the rear of
the toilet and suitably has a leg or legs mounted in one or a pair
of mounting sockets that are provided in a pedestal of the cistern
or on the rear of the toilet bowl or coupling there between the
handle/handlebar preferably rising above the top of the cistern.
CA 02707839 2010-06-25
PATENT APPLICATION OF KISHOR DESAI FOR
TOILET FOR THE DISABLED [Continued]
The handle/handlebar preferably spans the rear of the toilet at
5 points between where the flush lever handle may mount to the
cistern. Suitably the handle is a padded handlebar.
The user faces the tank in front of him/her and though this
may require some adjustments from the previous mindset, most users
will quickly adjust to this new approach. Thereafter, it will be
as easy as riding a bicycle and prove to be a very comfortable and
pleasant experience.
In order to make the invention clearer, the following
description is included along with illustrations.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be
more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference
to the accompanying drawings. Please note that closely-related
figures state the same number but provide different alphabetic
suffixes.
Fig. 1 comprises a perspective view of the preferred
embodiment of toilet with integral, close-coupled cistern as viewed
from the top, front left side;
Fig. l(a) shows the toilet with support handlebar removed and
showing two sets of mounting sockets for the handlebar, which may
be drilled or cast-formed/integrally-formed in the bottom tank
support (cistern pedestal) or otherwise provided therein or
thereon;
CA 02707839 2010-06-25
6
PATENT APPLICATION OF KISHOR DESAI FOR
TOILET FOR THE DISABLED [Continued]
Fig. 1(b) shows the inserted handle, but this time in the
outer/side-mounted square, tubular handle-mounting sockets;
Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the toilet;
Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the toilet;
Fig. 4 is a left side (elevation) view of the toilet;
Fig. 5 is a right side (elevation) view of the toilet;
Fig. 6 is a front (elevation) view of the toilet;
Fig. 7 is a rear (elevation) view of the toilet;
Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the removable support
handle, and
Fig. 9 is a schematic view that shows a wheelchair user
approaching or departing and also seated on the toilet using the
support handlebar.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to Fig. 1, the preferred embodiment of the toilet
comprises a close-coupled integrated toilet bowl and cistern,
wherein the bowl and seat is rotated through 180 degrees relative
to the conventional, meaning where the seat is oval or at least
tapers in the front to rear axis of the toilet, the narrower part
of the seat is rearmost, meaning adjacent the toilet cistern and
the wider part of the seat for the user to sit on, accommodating
the users buttocks, is forward-most, meaning away from the toilet
cistern.
The toilet cistern/flush tank is supported by a pedestal that
CA 02707839 2010-06-25
7
PATENT APPLICATION OF KISHOR DESAI FOR
TOILET FOR THE DISABLED [Continued]
is suitably a solid block to support the weight of the water-filled
tank and to provide an anti-tip counterweight should, for example,
any anchoring bolts for the toilet fail due to fatigue or their
porcelain sockets crack or break.
In the solid block support/pedestal under the cistern/flush
tank behind the toilet bowl there are a set of sockets for
insertion of the feet of a long-legged supportive handle/handlebar
that provides support to the user while standing up, rising and
lowering during/after use of the toilet. The handlebar support may
be inserted in the drilled pair of socket holes in the block that
are illustrated in all Figures or in the wider spaced pair of
tubular support sockets formed onto the sides of the block
support/pedestal as shown in Fig. 1(b) onwards. The handlebar has
an inverted U-shaped form comprising an upright pair of legs with
the padded handle-hold spanning between the legs at the upper end.
The height of the handlebar is, as illustrated, such as to rise a
few inches (centimeters) above the top of the cistern and has
lateral clearance for ease of access by the seated user to the
flushing handle, whether the flushing handle is mounted on the left
or right side of the front face of the cistern/toilet flushing
tank.
There are suitably one or two pairs of holes provided for
toilet seat and lid attachment to the toilet bowl. Figs. 4 and 5
show in elevation view where each leg of the support handle is
CA 02707839 2010-06-25
8
PATENT APPLICATION OF KISHOR DESAI FOR
TOILET FOR THE DISABLED [Continued]
inserted and Fig. 6 shows in elevation view where the flush handles
may be installed on either side, although preferably these are
spaced clear from where the legs of the handlebar pass.
Fig. 6 shows in front elevation the laterally protruding
tubular support sockets for the feet of the handlebar legs. These
sockets are an alternative to sockets drilled in the block or
socket holes could be provided during the casting process of
manufacturing the toilet bowl and pedestal. The manufacturing
process will dictate the cheapest and best method. The support
handle/handlebar may be demountable or in a further variant may be
fixed in place.
Fig. 8 shows the removable handle in two variants having two
different leg/feet end profiles - round or square in end profile -
to suit correspondingly-shaped mounting sockets.
Fig. 9 demonstrates the ability to easily slide onto the
toilet from a wheelchair and slide backwards onto the wheelchair
from the toilet seat.
ADVANTAGES
From the description above, a number of advantages of the new
toilet become evident, including the following:
(1) No turning around at all for the user or caregiver;
(2) The ability to easily slide onto the toilet from the
transportation device for user. Some individuals will not need a
caregiver for this task and, therefore, be less dependent;
CA 02707839 2010-06-25
9
PATENT APPLICATION OF KISHOR DESAI FOR
TOILET FOR THE DISABLED [Continued]
(3) The ability to easily slide backwards onto the
transportation device from the toilet after use;
(4) Flush handle in front of the user, hence no turning
around after use of the toilet. The flush handle could be
installed on the left or right-hand side, which will be
advantageous for persons with limited arm use;
(5) Hand support provided while standing up or sitting down,
and
(6) The unit is very user-friendly.
Accordingly, the reader will see that the new toilet is
convenient and easier for the wheelchair user to use when compared
to the conventional toilet. Once an individual becomes used to the
new toilet, its use will be natural/instinctive [like riding a
bicycle.]
