Patent Application
20120181405
The present invention generally relates to bottle mounting systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a bottle mounting system including a bottle holder that is separable from a clamp. The bottle holder will hold a bottle that retains product that is to be made available for end users. Though this invention is not limited to any particular product, the bottle mounting system will be particularly useful for the provision of hand hygiene products, and, though this invention is not to be limited to any particular environment, this invention will find utility in health care facilities and other facilities where hand hygiene is important.
It is well known that health care facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care facilities can suffer from a lack of satisfactory hand hygiene practices. As the workers within these facilities move from room to room and patient to patient, it is important that they maintain good hand hygiene practices in order to avoid transferring germs, bacteria and viruses and the like throughout the facility. Products such as soaps and sanitizers, if properly and often used, can serve to promote a hygienic environment in which transmission of germs, bacteria and viruses and the like is kept to a minimum. Thus, these facilities can benefit from the implementation of good hand hygiene practices.
One way in which to promote good hand hygiene practices in such facilities is to make soaps and sanitizers readily available to the working staff and patients. Thus, many hospitals provide hand soap and/or hand sanitizer dispensers near or within the different rooms of these facilities. Most such dispensers are permanently mounted, typically wall-mounted, as for example in the wall-mounted dispensers of U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,642. Thus, even when such dispensers are positioned near or within every room in the facility, their use might be avoided simply because the working staff does not take the time to access them at their permanently-mounted location. The art might benefit from bottle mounting systems in which bottles containing soaps or hand sanitizers can be selectively mounted to various surfaces within the facility, thus allowing the working staff to place these hand hygiene products at a more readily accessible locations, even transferring a given bottle of hand hygiene product to different locations at the desire of the worker.
In light of this need, the present invention provides a bottle mounting system that includes a clamp and a bottle holder that selectively mounts to that clamp. Thus, the bottle holder can be mounted anywhere a clamp can be mounted, and the staff is not limited to using permanently-mounted product dispensers. Though mention has been made of health care facilities and the like, it should be appreciated that this bottle mounting system is not limited to use in any particular environment, and the bottle mounting system of this invention might be employed anywhere found to be beneficial by the end users. Additionally, though mention has been made of bottles holding hand hygiene products, it should be appreciated that this bottle mounting system might be employed to mount bottles holding any desired product for any desired activity. For example, the bottle might hold lotions or surface treatment products, such as surface disinfectant and the like.
This invention provides a bottle mounting system including a bottle holder and a clamp. The bottle holder includes a bottom wall having a top surface and a bottom surface, and a sidewall having a front surface and a rear surface. A bottom mount is provided at the bottom surface of the bottom wall, and a rear mount is provided at the rear surface of the sidewall. The clamp includes a first jaw providing a first clamp surface and a clamp mount. The bottom mount and the clamp mount selectively mate to mount the bottle holder to the first jaw in a bottom-mounted orientation, and the rear mount and the clamp mount selectively mate to mount the bottle holder to the first jaw in a rear-mounted orientation. The clamp further includes a second jaw providing a second clamp surface. The second jaw mates with the first jaw and the first jaw slides relative to the second jaw. The first clamp surface moves with the first jaw and the second clamp surfaces moves with the second jaw such that the first and second jaws interact to mount the clamp to a support member by squeezing the support member between the first and second clamp surfaces. The clamp further includes a releasable locking member that has a locking position wherein it locks the first jaw and second jaw in relative position to each other so as to prevent the first jaw and second jaw from moving apart from each other. The releasable locking member also has a non-locking position wherein it permits the first jaw and second jaw to move apart from each other.
In particular embodiments, when the first and second jaws are mounted to the support member such that the clamp mount is presented in a vertical surface of the first jaw, the rear mount selectively mates with the clamp mount to present the bottle holder in the rear-mounted orientation, with the top surface of the bottom wall extending generally horizontally such that a bottle is selectively received on the top surface in its proper orientation for use. Additionally, when the first and second jaws are mounted to the support member such that the clamp mount is presented in a horizontal surface of the first jaw, the bottom mount selectively mates with the clamp mount to present the bottle holder in the bottom-mounted orientation, with the top surface of the bottom wall extending generally horizontally such that a bottle is selectively received on the top surface in its proper orientation for use.
In other embodiments, the bottom mount and the clamp mount selectively mate to mount the bottle holder to the first jaw in a bottom-mounted orientation, and the bottom mount and clamp mount are configured so that the bottle holder can be mounted to the clamp mount in different orientations rotated about a vertical axis of the bottle holder. Similarly, the rear mount and the clamp mount selectively mate to mount the bottle holder to the first jaw in a rear-mounted orientation, and the rear mount and clamp mount are configured so that the bottle holder can be mounted to the clamp mount in different orientations rotated about a horizontal axis of the bottle holder.
The present invention also provides a method for providing a desired product for use at a desired location within a facility. The method includes the steps of providing a plurality of clamps, each clamp being mounted to a support member at a distinct location within the facility; providing a plurality of bottle holders, each bottle holder retaining a bottle holding a desired product for use in the facility, each bottle holder being selectively mountable to any one of said plurality of clamps; and providing individuals within the facility one of said plurality of bottle holders, wherein the individuals carry that bottle holder to a given distinct location where one of said plurality of clamps is located and selectively mount that bottle holder to that clamp so as to provide the bottle of product retained therein at a desired location for use.
A bottle mounting system in accordance with the present invention is shown in
The bottle holder 12 is better appreciated with reference to
In an embodiment of this invention, the gate 30 is designed such that the latch 34 and its interaction with the catch 35 is not readily noticeable. More particularly, because the latch 34 and catch 35 are not readily noticeable, individuals that are not familiar with the bottle mounting system and the use thereof will be unlikely to know how to release the bottle B from gate 30 that helps to secure it to the bottle holder 12. This will frustrate attempts to steal the bottle B from the holder and may therefore be a desirable feature. In other embodiments, the latch 34 and catch 35 interact such that the gate 30 must be first pushed inwardly, toward the catch 35, and then downwardly to disengage the latch 34 and catch 35. This might also be desired to again frustrate easy release of the bottle B from the bottle holder 12.
The bottle holder 12 may be formed of any suitable material, and, for ease of manufacture can be formed from multiple manufactured parts fitted together. This is shown in the embodiment of
Realizing that it may be beneficial to receive different types of bottles in the bottle holder 12, in some embodiments, an adapter 46 is provided to securely fit over the top surface 18 of the bottom wall 16 to provide a differently-shaped concavity 22b such that the bottle holder 12 can receive a bottle of a second type, different from the bottle B intended for receipt in the concavity 22.
In order to selectively mate the bottle holder 12 with a clamp mount portion of the clamp 14, the rear surface 28 of the side wall 24 includes a rear mount 50, and the bottom surface 20 of the bottom wall 16 includes a bottom mount 52. In this particular embodiment, the rear mount 50 includes opposed tracks 51 and, similarly, the bottom mount 52 includes opposed tracks 53. Within the length of the tracks 51 is provided a releasable rear latch 54, and, at the entrance to the tracks 53 is provided a releasable bottom latch 56. In the particular embodiment shown, the releasable rear latch 54 and the releasable bottom latch 56 are formed as part of the bottom half 38 of the bottle holder 12, and the bottle holder 12 is formed of a resilient material, such as plastic, such that the releasable rear latch 54 and releasable bottom latch 56 pivot on living hinges. The functioning of the releasable latches 54 and 56 and their interaction with a clamp mount on the clamp 14 will be described more fully herein below, after first describing aspects of the clamp 14 in more detail.
The clamp 14 is more particularly shown in
As seen in
In this pawl and ratchet embodiment, a pawl 92 is provided by the second jaw 62 and ratchets over a ratchet 94 as the first jaw 60 and second jaw 62 slide relative to one another so as to bring the clamp surface 66 closer to the clamp surface 64. The pawl 92 is normally biased to engage the ratchet 94, but is resilient enough to ratchet over the multiple teeth 96 of the ratchet 94 as the clamp surfaces 64 and 66 are brought closer together. The linear rack 98 of the ratchet 94 provides the multiple teeth 96 having sloped surfaces 97 over which the pawl 92 ratchets during linear movement to bring the clamp surfaces 64 and 66 closer together, and further includes vertical (in the orientation of
Thus, it can be seen that the clamp 14 can be mounted to a support member by squeezing the support member between the clamp surfaces 64 and 66, and the clamp 14 can be removed from a mounted position on a support member by pressing the switch 100 to release the releasable locking member 90 and permit the first and second clamp surfaces 64 and 66 to move apart. It will be appreciated that the mouth 110 defined by the distance of separation of the clamp surfaces 64 and 66 will have a maximum width (in the orientation of
A hand-tightening can be employed to initially secure the clamp 14 to a support member. Particularly, the mouth 110 of the clamp 14 can be placed over the support member, and an individual can squeeze the first and second jaws 60, 62 so as to bring the clamp surfaces 64, 66 into engagement with the support member. Because some individuals may not have the hand strength to adequately squeeze the clamp 14 to secure it to a support member in a stable manner, hand pressure may be found insufficient to suitably secure the clamp 14 to a support member. Thus, a micro-adjusting member 120 is provided to further tighten the clamp 14 onto the support member after initial macro-adjustment is performed by hand by squeezing the first and second jaws 60, 62 toward one another. In the embodiment shown, the micro-adjustment member 120 includes a threaded screw 122 to which the clamp surface 66 is secured. This threaded screw 122 extends through a threaded bore 124 in the second jaw 62 such that the threaded screw 122 can be selectively rotated to adjust the positioning of the clamp surface 66 relative to the clamp surface 64. A knob 126 is provided for the purpose of rotating the threaded screw 122, and rotating the screw 122 in one direction causes the clamp surface 66 to move toward the clamp surface 64, and rotating the threaded screw 122 in another direction causes the clamp surface 66 to move away from the clamp surface 64.
A clamp mount 80 extends from the first jaw 60, more particularly opposite the clamp surface 64. The clamp mount 80 interacts with either the rear mount 50 or the bottom mount 52 so that the bottle holder 12 can be mounted to the clamp 14. Thus, the bottom mount 52 and the clamp mount 80 selectively mate to mount the bottle holder 12 to the first jaw 60 in a bottom-mounted orientation, and the rear mount 50 and the clamp mount 80 selectively mate to mount the bottle holder 12 to the first jaw 60 in a rear-mounted orientation.
In this embodiment, the clamp mount 80 is a male mount that includes a post 82 and a flange 84 extending therefrom. The post 82 raises the flange 84 off of the mount side 61 of the first jaw 60 such that the flange 84 can be received into either one of the tracks 51, 53 of the rear mount 50 and bottom mount 52. More particularly, the clamp 14 can be mounted to a support surface, and the bottle holder 12 can be mounted thereto by sliding the bottle holder 12 onto the clamp mount 80 at one of the tracks 51, 53. Although the particular embodiment disclosed herein shows a male mount at clamp mount 80 and female mounts at tracks 51 and 53, it should be appreciated that the bottom mount may be selected from a male mount and a female mount, and the rear mount may be selected from a male mount and a female mount, with the proviso that the rear mount and the bottom mount are selected to be the same, and the clamp mount is selected from a male mount and a female mount, with the proviso that, if the bottom and rear mounts are selected to be male mounts, the clamp mount is selected to be a female mount, and, if the bottom mount and the rear mount are selected to be female mounts, the clamp mount is selected to be a male mount.
Referring now to
In
Further versatility is illustrated in
Thus, the clamp mount 80 is selectively received in the rear mount 50 in multiple orientations so as to allow the bottle holder 12 to be mounted to the clamp mount 80 in the rear-mounted orientation in various positions rotationally offset one from the other. And, similarly, the clamp mount 80 is selectively received in the bottom mount 52 in multiple orientations so as to allow the bottle holder 12 to be mounted to the clamp mount 80 in the bottom-mounted orientation in various positions rotationally offset one from the other. With the particular system employed in the embodiment shown herein, having mating male and female mount members it is possible to mount the bottle holder in a significant number of orientations simply by rotating the bottle holder 12 relative to the clamp mount 80.
More particularly, the flange 84 of the clamp mount 80 has a periphery with outermost edges that define a regular polygon having an even number of sides (in this case, a square). Either of the opposed sides of this polygon (square) can be received in the tracks 51 or 53 such that a first set of two opposed sides of the regular polygon are selectively received in either tracks 51 or 53 in a first orientation or a second orientation offset 180 degrees from the first orientation, and a second set of two opposed sides of the regular polygon are selectively received in either tracks 51 or 53 in a third orientation or a fourth orientation offset 180 degrees from the third orientation. The bottle holder 12 can be mounted in different orientations offset at 90 degree increments. It should be appreciated that this concept can be applied to male mount flanges having peripheries that define regular polygons with a greater number of sides, though preferably even in number so that the various opposed sides of the polygon are all the same length apart and therefore able to be received in the tracks provided by the female mount. In the case of a male mount flange having a periphery that defines a 6-sided regular polygon (i.e. a hexagon), the bottle holder 12 can be mounted in different orientations offset at 60 degrees increment, and, with a male mount flange defining a 8-sided regular polygon (i.e., an octagon), the bottle holder 12 can be mounted in different orientations offset at 45 degree increments.
It should be noted that though the male mount is shown on the clamp 14 (in the form of a post and flange) and the female mount is shown in the bottle holder 12 (in the form of opposed tracks), these positions could be switched. That is, the bottle holder 12 could provide male mounts at the rear and bottom, and the clamp could provide a female mount to selectively receive on of the male mounts at the rear or bottom of the bottle holder.
When the bottle holder 12 is mounted to the clamp mount 80 at the rear mount 50, the clamp mount 80 slides over the sloped surface 130 of the releasable rear latch 54 and then is held in place in the rear mount 50 by the stop surface 132 of the releasable rear latch 54. The releasable rear latch 54 readily moves due to its living hinge 134, moving out of the path of the clamp mount 80 as the bottle holder 12 is mounted, and then moving into the path to prevent removal of the bottle holder 12 once it is slid fully into position. When mounted at the rear mount 50, the releasable rear latch 54 is pressed to force the stop surface 132 out of the path of removal of the clamp mount 80, and the bottle holder 12 can be dismounted from the clamp 14. Similarly, when the bottle holder 12 is mounted to the clamp mount 80 at the bottom mount 52, the clamp mount 80 slides over the sloped surface 136 of the releasable bottom latch 56 and then is held in place in the bottom mount 52 by the stop surface 138 of the releasable bottom latch 56. The releasable bottom latch 56 readily moves due to its living hinge 140, moving out of the path of the clamp mount 80 as the bottle holder 12 is mounted, and then moving into the path to prevent removal of the bottle holder 12 once it is slid fully into position. When mounted at the bottom mount 52, the releasable bottom latch 56 is pressed to force the stop surface 138 out of the path of removal of the clamp mount 80, and the bottle holder 12 can be dismounted from the clamp 14.
With the bottle mounting system of the present invention, it will be possible to place multiple clamps 14 at various locations in a facility, and one or more bottle holders 12, with associated bottles holding a desired product, can be carried around by staff at the facility to be mounted to a given clamp 14 as needed. For example, in a hospital, clamps 14 could be mounted in every patient's room and on IV stands and in bathrooms and surgery rooms and hallways (virtually anywhere), and the hospital staff can carry around their own bottle holder with associated bottle of hand sanitizer, and mount the bottle of hand sanitizer at a given room, bathroom, hallway, etc., as needed. In this way, a bottle of desired product, in this case sanitizer, can be readily available to a given staff member, and it is not necessary to permanently mount bottles or dispensers at a multitude of locations. The clamps, being relatively inexpensive, especially as compared to permanently mounted bottles and dispensers, can be mounted to a great number of support members, and a lesser number of bottle holders and associated bottles can be carried around to be mounted and used as desired.
In light of the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the present invention significantly advances the art by providing a bottle mounting system that is structurally and functionally improved in a number of ways. The bottle mounting system may be found to be particularly useful for presenting bottles of hand hygiene product at selected areas to promote the use thereof, and patient care and food industries may specifically benefit from the use of the bottle mounting system. Indeed, the pole-mount capabilities of the bottle mounting system may be found particularly useful for mounting a bottle of product at a patient's IV stand. However, the present invention is not limited to any particular product or any particular environment.
