The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 30, 2000
Filed:
Sep. 04, 1998
Naokazu Suzuki, Kanagawa, JP;
Katoh Electrical Machinery Co., Ltd., Kanagawa, JP;
Abstract
A semi-automatic toilet bowl seat and seat lid operator, comprising a hinge case to be installed to a toilet bowl body; a rotating shaft to support a seat and seat lid of the toilet bowl openably and closably; an output gear mounted on the rotating shaft; a fluid damper having a damper gear in mesh with the output gear; a reduction gear coupled to the output gear by means of a torque limiter; a motor coupled to the reduction gear; and a drive circuit to drive the motor in a range from an opened angle, to a predetermined closed angle, of the seat and seat lid. The drive circuit is provided with a sensor to detect an operation made to open the seat and seat lid, and a timer which is turned on by the sensor to turn on the drive circuit in a predetermined time after the sensor is turned on. The seat and seat lid of the toilet bowl can be opened and closed by hand, and the opened seat and seat lid can be automatically closed slowly with the semi-automatic operator.