The present invention is related to the field of portable, disposable, sanitary toilet seat covers of the kind that when placed in situ effectively isolate an individual's skin from any contact with the toilet seat, and is easily disposable following use.
In this day and age when transmissible infections and diseases are rife, the need for increased hygiene is of paramount importance.
Of course, the use of sanitary disposable toilet seat covers is well known in hospitals and other medical establishments and generally such covers are provided in roll form such as to be easily deployed from a suitable dispenser.
Equally, portable sanitary disposable toilet seat covers are also available, particularly for travelers when prevailing conditions may be less than hygienic and where such covers prove to be at least a primary barrier against contamination through contact with toilet seats.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,247,360 to Besner et al discloses one such sanitary, portable and disposable toilet seat cover with an attached wipe. Although apparently effective in terms of preventing contact between the user's skin and the toilet seat and sides thereof, its simplicity neglects to address the total issue in terms of disposing of the cover after usage. In this respect, it is equally important to ensure continued isolation of an individual's skin from contaminant media and this earlier proposal fails to provide a complete solution to the problem.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved portable and disposable sanitary toilet seat cover.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved portable and disposable sanitary toilet seat cover.
An advantage of the present invention is that the cover affords a complete all-embracing hygienic insulation for the individual's skin from the whole of the toilet seat. In this respect, the toilet seat cover of the present invention is so formed as to encompass the totality of the seat form at its inner and outer peripheries.
A further advantage of the present invention is that the cover provides a collapsible feature enabling the cover to be compressed into a relatively small dimension following use, and the cover is typically made out of biodegradable material such as plastic, recycled paper or the like, and preferably pre-sanitized.
A still further advantage of the present invention is that seat cover provides a glove formation integral with the cover and deployable once use of the cover is completed and at the instant of preparation for disposal.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the cover provides an invertible glove to ensure that no contact between the individual's skin and the used seat cover occurs during preparation for disposal and disposal per se.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable and disposable sanitary toilet seat cover comprising:
The seat cover of the invention may be of double thickness with the boundaries suitably bonded together either thermally or adhesively. The material from which the seat cover is made may be of medical hygienic standard and may be transparent or opaque.
Both the inner and outer skirts of the annulus are pleated to provide an effective curtain hanging over the inner and outer aspects of the toilet seat. The pleating may conveniently be achieved by forming slits radially extending from the respective inner and outer boundaries of the annulus. Such pleating enables ease of accommodation of differently shaped toilet seats and to ensure adequate coverage over the totality of the toilet seat. The skirts may be flared if so desired.
The annulus is so formed as to provide a looped path for the drawstring, the loops being formed of pairs of short slits, the drawstring being threaded through these loops.
The glove may be of transparent material and is formed with a neck connecting it to the annulus, the neck being suitably perforated in line with the said slits of the looped path whereby the drawstring may also pass therethrough. The glove is initially formed into a rolled, stowed form. The perforation of the neck is conveniently weaker than the slits and accordingly permits rupture upon actuation of the drawstring to enable release of the glove into an unravelled user condition whereby a hand can be inserted therein.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of using the portable and disposable sanitary toilet seat cover of the first aspect, the method comprises the steps of:
The crumpled mass of the annulus and the skirts are thus encased within the now inverted glove to protect the wearer from any contamination.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided herein, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided herein, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings, in which similar references used in different Figures denote similar components, and wherein:
a is a plan view of a blank form of a of the cover, in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
With reference to the annexed drawings the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be herein described for indicative purpose and by no means as of limitation.
Now referring to
Adjacent the outer boundary 10 the material from which the seat cover 1 is made is further punctured with relatively smaller pair of substantially radial parallel drawstring retainer slits 14, which form outer loops through which a drawstring 18 is threaded with the ends 19 collected at the front 20 of the cover 1.
At the rear 22 of the seat cover 1 as depicted in
Referring now to
In use, the seat cover 1, 1′ is applied to a toilet seat 50 conventionally hinged to the top of a toilet bowl 52 having a base 54 and a cistern 56 for holding and dispensing flush water, these elements comprising a toilet 60. As can be seen from
In deploying the seat cover 1, 1′ in this way, the whole of the seat 50 is covered including the usual gap (not shown) between the underside of the seat 50 and rim 53 of the bowl 52, both inside and outside. It will be understood that the cover 1, 1′ is relieved at the rear 22 as at 23, 23′ to accommodate the cistern 56 and conduit 57 leading to the bowl 52.
Referring now to
This encasement seeks to ensure that the skin of the individual does not come into contact with any part of the used seat cover 1, 1′. Accordingly the seat cover 1, 1′ encased as aforesaid may be disposed of in a safe and sanitary fashion protecting not only the user but also others who subsequently visit the toilet.
It will be understood that the material from which the toilet seat cover is made may be any suitable kind, preferably pre-sanitized.
Further the material is preferably such as to allow folded stowage for ease of portability. Conveniently, a dispenser may be provided with a charge of seat covers for use during travel or indeed in the home or office.
Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the disclosure has been made by way of example only and that the present invention is not limited to the features of the embodiments described and illustrated herein, but includes all variations and modifications within the scope and spirit of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20110271433 A1 | Nov 2011 | US |