Monday, May 2, 2016

Million-Dollar Idea: Spring-Loaded Toilet Seats


Million-Dollar Idea: Spring-Loaded Toilet Seats
No more urine-soaked public toilet seats!

A low-tension spring would keep the toilet seat up out of the way until it's needed to be sat on. If so, the user could just push it down, sit on it, and then it raises back up automatically when the person is finished.

19 comments:

  1. That'd work about as well as the auto-flushers.

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  2. Sam Hetchler Excellent...those usually work pretty well.

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  3. We have self cleaning ones in Germany, not every where but they do a good job.

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  4. Auto-flushers never flush for me 'cause I'm invisible (or may as well be!)

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  5. Part of me really wants to know where you found this photo. The search terms I've been using make me question turning safesearch off.

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  6. Consistently shortly after the afternoon cleaning, one of the toilets in the ladies' at work autoflushes on me 4-6 times while I'm still sitting.  It's embarassing.  Last week I discovered it does this to others too.
    Considering we still have drought-related water restrictions in California, it's not easy to think of this as "working well".  (No pun intended.)

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  7. Julia Piatt In contrast, the autoflusher at work regularly empties the bowl at least twice before I even reach for the toilet paper >.<

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  8. And yes, the solution to this eternal argument is put the cover-lid down.

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  9. Squattie Pottie solves everything.

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  10. During Scout camps in a building, the women's restroom is shared by the adults while the young boys use the men's restroom. (Not at the same time, of course, we used velcro-loaded signs saying "In use" and "Not in use".)

    After day 1, there were complaints from the young women about the pictured issue. Probably nowhere near as bad, but bad enough. I told the guys, "Look, if you want to make sure it never happens again, sit down."

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  11. My elementary school had spring-loaded toilet seats, when I was a kid, decades ago. They were up unless you were sitting on them. Sorry, you can’t invent them. :)

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  12. Or... stop teaching men that they have to stand to pee.  It's much better for everyone if they just sit like the other half of humanity.  :/

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  13. Just like Jeremy Nixon​ said. That kind of toilet seat already exists. I thought they were scary when I was a kid. I somehow thought it would "close on me".

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  14. Another fun fact: Men will splatter themselves and the surrounding area unless they're less than 4 inches from the urinal, which is surprisingly close. The 2 BYU fluid dynamics researchers who determined that distance both now sit down at the toilet.

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  15. Dean Reimer You mean that opening is not for laying back and washing your hair......................

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  16. you still have to clean the open end and whatever piss is on the floor in front.

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  17. Jeremy Nixon I'm glad someone had the idea before me.

    Benjamin Cobb What if the urinals are in use? What if it's a small kid who can't "reach" the urinals? What if someone is shy or wants some privacy? Think outside your own skin.

    Terry Walker Never! Standing up to pee is the right my Y-chromosome granted me and I will exercise it whenever I want (which is to say, sometimes...sometimes it's nice to sit, but I like options).

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  18. Invent a toilet seat with no gap in the front that, if down while urine is being dispensed and there is no weight on it, immediately snaps upward!

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Now I&#39;m doubly intrigued!

Now I'm doubly intrigued!