Patent Grant
10624507
The present invention relates to toilet paper dispensers and more particularly pertains to a new toilet paper dispenser that provides protection from damage and/or unwinding by cats.
A47K 10/38 Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means the web being rolled up with or without tearing edge.
The use of toilet paper dispensers is known in the prior art. More specifically, toilet paper dispensers/holders heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new toilet paper dispenser/holder.
Most traditional toilet paper dispensers/holders are meant to just dispense and/or hold a single roll of toilet paper and to dispense it conveniently and to provide an easy means of roll replacement, once the roll is empty. Of all the prior art examples provided above, none of them provide a totally sealed enclosure for the toilet paper that will keep the toilet paper roll out of sight and in a safe location that cats cannot access when closed and which also provides an easy means of use as well as ease of changing out the empty roll when the door is open.
None of the prior art examples provide a warning statement, when the door is open, stating that the unit is not cat-proof when the door is open.
None of the prior art examples feature a removable front face plate that can be customized with graphics and/or text.
None of the prior an examples appear to be easily made by either 3D printing or using injection molding technology.
Muscarello's dispenser was designed to be “child proof” but this design is very cumbersome; and does not provide full protection from damage and/or unwinding by cats.
Price's, Hope's, Gul/Hyup's, Ciuci's, Crim's, Muscarello's, Ogden's, Paul/Williams' and Rios' dispensers do not provide a flat surface on top of the unit as a convenient location to set small objects, such as a cellular telephone.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of toilet paper dispensers now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new toilet paper dispenser construction wherein the same can be utilized for dispensing/holding toilet paper and providing protection of the toilet paper from damage and/or unwinding by cats when the front portion is in the down/closed position while at the same time providing a convenient surface to place small objects. When in the open position, the door provides a warning statement to the user that the unit is not cat-proof when the door is open.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new toilet paper dispenser apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the toilet paper dispensers/holders mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new toilet paper dispenser which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art toilet paper dispensers, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a roll of toilet paper in a housing unit. The toilet paper has sufficient strength to be selectively unrolled. A housing has a front door component and a back base component. Each of the front and back components has a first side wall, a second side wall, a top wall and a bottom wall. The top walls are pivotally coupled together by two hinges. This coupling allows the front door component to be rotated upwards 180 degrees from the down/closed position to the up/open position. Four screws penetrate through four holes, with one in each corner of the partial back wall of the back base component support the housing on the vertical wall. Each of the screws is located in a corner of the partial back wall of the rear base component and each is attached to the vertical wall. A spindle is removably extended into two chamfered pockets which are located in each of the side walls of the back base component. The spindle extends through the roll of toilet paper. The front door component has a panel, which is attached by four screws, that can be customized with wording or graphics and can be removed and replaced. This panel can be seen through a square window in the front wall of the front door component. While the front door component is in the open position, the preferred wording, which consists of a warning statement relays to the user that the dispenser is not cat-proof when the door is open. This statement can be seen by the user only when the front door component is in the up/open position. The front door component has two soft rubber bumpers located in the lower corners which touch the back portion that soften the impact when the front portion is closed. The front door component is attached to the rear base component by two hinges. Each hinge is attached to the front door component and the rear base component by a total of eight fasteners. Each fastener is a flush screw and flush self-locking nut. Each of these self-locking nuts are countersunk into the front door and rear base components to eliminate the possibility of snagging the toilet paper during the dispensing process. The front door component, the rear base component, and the removable door panel are manufactured using 3D printing methods but can also be fabricated using injection molded plastic methods.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter, and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing summary is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The summary is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description refers to the annexed drawings wherein.
With reference now to the drawings, and specifically to
As best illustrated in
A housing has two main components, the front door component (item 1) and the rear base component (item 2) and each have a top wall, a bottom wall, a first side wall and a second side wall. The housing is divided into a front door component and a back base component along a vertical plane extending through the top and bottom walls. The top wall of the front door component (item 1) is pivotally coupled to the top wall of the back base component (item 2). The pivoting capabilities of the front door component (item 1) is facilitated by two metal hinges (item 6) attached to the top surfaces of the front door component and the rear base component (items 1 and 2). Each of these hinges is attached to the front door component and the rear base component using flush screws on the top (item 7) and recessed self-locking nuts (item 10). The self-locking nuts (item 10) are recessed enough so that they are flush with the lower surface of the upper walls of both the front door component and the rear base component.
Four supports (item 8) support the housing on a vertical wall. Each of the supports (item 8) includes a fastener which penetrates through a hole located in each of the four corners of the partial back wall of the rear base component (item 2) Each of a plurality of fasteners (item 8) extends through the corner of the partial back wall of the back base component (item 2) and into a vertical wall (item 9).
A spindle (item 4) is removably extended into a chamfered pocket located on each of the side walls of the rear base component (item 2). The spindle (item 4) extends through the roll of toilet paper (item 3) such that the toilet paper is rotatably positioned on the spindle. The spindle (item 4) is a conventional type used for dispensing toilet paper.
The front door component (item 1) has a separate panel (item 5) that is attached by four fasteners (item 11) that can be viewed by the user through a window in the front portion when in the down/closed position (see
In use, the toilet paper dispenser is used as a conventional toilet paper dispenser when the front door unit (item 1) is in the upper/open position, but when the front door component (item 1) is in the down/closed position (see
As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new toilet paper dispenser apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the toilet paper dispensers mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new toilet paper dispenser which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art toilet paper dispensers, either alone or in any combination thereof.
Other advantages of one or more aspects will be apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
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| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2070568 | Sep 1971 | FR |
