Lifting toilet chair

1. A lifting toilet chair, comprising:

a base frame including an upstanding framework having a generally rectangular horizontal open space at its upper end defined by peripheral members;

at least one support member overlying said base frame, said at least one support member being directly pivotally connected to a top front of said base frame and extending rearwardly beyond a top rear peripheral member of said base frame defining said open space;

a toilet seat overlying said open space in a substantially horizontal orientation and being fixedly secured to said at least one support member so that said toilet seat pivots to a substantially vertical orientation relative to said base frame as said at least one support member pivots relative to said base frame; and

a pair of arm rests laterally flanking said toilet seat, wherein each of said arm rests is coupled at a rearward first point to said at least one support member and is pivotally connected at a forward second point to said base frame, and wherein each of said arm rests has a hand grip portion extending forwardly beyond said second point.

2. The lifting toilet chair according to claim 1 further comprising:

means for yieldably biasing said at least one support member to pivot upwardly away from said base frame.

3. The lifting toilet chair according to claim 2 wherein:

said base frame is formed of round tubing; and

said biasing means includes a helical spring surrounding the top front tubing of said base frame, said spring including first and second straight ends with a first end contacting said at least one support member and a second end contacting said base frame.

4. The lifting toilet chair according to claim 2 further comprising means for limiting the upward pivoting of said at least one support member away from said base frame to an angle of about forty-five (45) degrees to the horizontal.

5. The lifting toilet chair according to claim 2 further comprising a latch selectively coupled between said toilet seat and said base frame for retaining said toilet seat in a lower orientation adjacent said base frame against the biasing force of said biasing means.

6. The lifting toilet chair according to claim 1 wherein each of said arm rests includes:

a central portion having a front end and a back end with said hand grip portion being between said front and back ends;

a forward portion extending upwardly and forwardly to the central portion front end from the pivotal connection to said base frame; and

a rearward portion extending upwardly and forwardly to the central portion back end from the coupling to said at least one support member.

7. The lifting toilet chair according to claim 6 wherein:

said pair of arm rests are joined by a joining member extending between the distal ends of the rearward portions of said pair of arm rests; and

said pair of arm rests and said joining member are all unitarily formed from a single length of tubing.

8. The lifting toilet chair according to claim 1 wherein:

said base frame is formed of round tubing;

each of said at least one support member comprises a respective plate member; and

the pivotal connection of each of said at least one support member to said base frame is provided by a respective strip formed to at least partially encircle tubing of the top front of said base frame, said strip including at least one flat extension fixedly secured to a forward end of a respective plate member.

9. The lifting toilet chair according to claim 8 wherein:

there are two parallel plate members each adjacent a respective lateral side of said open space;

each of said parallel plate members is formed with an elongated open slot extending in a front to back direction rearwardly beyond the top rear peripheral tubing of said base frame;

said pair of arm rests are joined by a joining member extending between the rearward ends of said pair of arm rests and below said parallel plate members;

said pair of arm rests and said joining member are all unitarily formed from a single length of tubing; and

the coupling of said pair of arm rests to said at least one support member is provided by a pair of rod members each secured at a first end to said joining member and extending through a respective parallel plate member slot for sliding movement therealong.

10. A lifting chair, comprising:

a base frame including an upstanding framework having a generally rectangular horizontal open space at its upper end defined by peripheral members;

at least one support member overlying said base frame, said at least one support member being directly pivotally connected to a top front of said base frame and extending rearwardly beyond a top rear peripheral member of said base frame defining said open space;

a seat overlying said open space in a substantially horizontal orientation and being fixedly secured to said at least one support member so that said seat pivots to a substantially vertical orientation relative to said base frame as said at least one support member pivots relative to said base frame; and

a pair of arm rests laterally flanking said seat, wherein each of said arm rests coupled at a rearward first point to said at least one support member and is pivotally connected at a forward second point to said base frame, and wherein each of said arm rests has a hand grip portion extending forwardly beyond said second point.