Patent Application
20060168713
Restroom facilities, particularly public facilities, can be unsanitary. The commodes in restroom facilities can harbor a wide variety “germs,” some of which can be disease causing. People are required to use these facilities because they are commonly away from a more reliable and clean restroom environment. There is a long-felt need for an improved means to provide a generally cleanly or protected commode use.
The present invention offers a number of advantages:
1. It is a public or private cleanliness assurance product.
2. It is easy to use, convenient and disposable.
3. It is a shield for the male organ.
4. It is a possible means to reduce the spread of disease from, by, or with the male organ during intimate and/or bathroom activities with that organ.
The above advantages as well as other advantages not specifically enumerated are achieved by a sanitation unit for use with a commode. The sanitation unit has a thin portion, and a thick portion. The thin portion and the thick portion are detachably connected. There is also provided a method of making a bathroom facility generally more hygienic. The method includes providing a sanitation unit having a thin portion, and a thick portion, the thin portion and the thick portion being detachably connected.
Various advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/539,648, filed Jan. 29, 2004.
Preliminarily, it should be noted that certain terms used herein, such as for example “left”, “right”, “above”, and “below”, are used to facilitate the description of the invention. Unless otherwise specified or made apparent by the context of the discussion, such terms and other directional terms should be interpreted with reference to the figure(s) under discussion. Such terms are not intended as a limitation on the position in which the invention or components may be used. Indeed, it is contemplated that the components of the invention may be easily positioned in any desired orientation for use. Likewise, numerical terms such as for example “first”, and “second” are not intended as a limitation or to imply a sequence, unless otherwise specified or made apparent by the context of the discussion.
Referring now to the drawings, there are illustrated sanitation units, indicated generally at 10, in accordance with the present invention. Each sanitation unit 10 includes a comparatively thin portion 15 (to the right for both sanitation units 10 in
The thin portion 15 and the thick portion 20 may be generally squared as shown. The thin portion 15 and the thick portion 20 may be secured at a first seam 25. The first seam may be a perforation. The term “thick” may be understood to include a structure having or being of relatively great depth or extent from one surface to its opposite. The term “thin” may be understood to include a structure having relatively little depth or extent from one surface to its opposite.
The thick portion 90 and/or the curved portion 100 may be comparatively stiff and/or rigid in comparison to the thin portion 85. The term “stiff” is understood to include a degree in difficulty to bend. The term “stiff” is understood to include a state of being relatively firm and/or inflexible.
In operation, the sanitation units 10, 50, 80, 110 may be positioned on a commode (not shown), a latrine (not shown), or other suitable restroom facility. The invention may be employed to make a bathroom facility, or other facility, generally more hygienic. For example, the invention may be employed to make a commode generally more hygienic. The term “hygienic” here is understood to include conditions or practices, such as for example those of cleanliness, conducive to health.
The sanitation units 10, 50, 80, 110 may be positioned in any suitable manner. For example, the sanitation units 10, 50, 80, 110 may be positioned such that the thick portions 20, 60, 90 contact a convenient portion, such as for example the rim, of the commode. The curved portion 100 of the sanitation unit 80 may be of particular use in grasping the commode and/or positioning the sanitation unit 80. In such a positioning, the thick portions 20, 60, 90 are relatively distal from the user (not shown) seated on the commode while the thin portions 15, 55, 85 are relatively proximal to the user.
It will be appreciated that the thick portions 20, 60, 90 may be adapted to be secured to the commode. It will be understood that the term “secured” as being used here is understood to include a positioning and/or fixing which somewhat reduces the likelihood of movement and/or falling. It will be understood that the term “secured” as being used here is understood to include a positioning and/or fixing directed to stabilizing.
The user may be a male person. Proper positioning of the sanitation units allows for the male user to position one or more portions of his penis (not shown) substantially across the thin portions 15, 55, 85 of the sanitation units 10, 50, 80, 110 while the male is seated on and/or using the commode. The penis may or may not extend onto the thick portions 20, 60, 90 of the sanitation units 10, 50, 80, 110 depending on anatomical and seating considerations.
Any suitable material(s) may be employed for production of the present invention. The materials used in production of the sanitation units 10, 50, 80, 110 may be germicidal or include a germicidal composition. For example, the materials may be impregnated or coated with a composition able to kill or inhibit the growth or infective ability of a wide variety of microorganisms. Antiviral, antibacterial and/or other antimicrobial compositions may be employed for this purpose. It will be appreciated that the sanitation unit may be configured to have antimicrobial properties. Similarly, the materials may include, or may be impregnated and/or coated with, a suitable soap, conditioner or the like.
Alternate embodiments of the sanitation units 10, 50, 80, 110 may be employed. For example, the thin portions and the thick portions need not be about the same size or have about the same area. Likewise, the thin portions and thick portions need not have generally straight edges, though the thin portions and thick portions shown here do have generally straight edges. For ease of transport and use, the sanitation units 10, 50, 80, 110 may be packaged, dispensed and/or carried in a manner similar to feminine napkins or tissues. The thin portions and the thick portions may be integrally formed, thus having no seam or perforation or connection—or may be connected at a seam. The thin portions and the thick portions may generally taper together.
The following U.S. patents or publications are hereby incorporated by reference herein as if fully reproduced;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,495 to Han, Jun. 28, 1994 “Discardable toilet pad for use in water closets”
U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,906 to Snuggs, Aug. 1, 1995 “Sanitary toilet seat covers”
U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,096 to Gardner, Sep. 3, 1996 “Disposable toilet seat cover apparatus”
U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,764 to Lin, Sep. 21, 1999 “Sanitary toilet bowl seat envelope”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,518 to Akazawa, May 9, 2000 “Toilet seat sheet holding structure”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,841 to Parviainen, et al., May 16, 2000 “Sanitary toilet seat cover”
The principle and mode of operation of this invention have been described in its preferred embodiments. However, it should be noted that this invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its scope.
