The disclosure relates to mechanical maintenance signage.
When a toilet is clogged, plugged, or otherwise out of order, a maintenance person must provide some type of indication that the toilet is not in proper working condition or risk patrons continuing to use the toilet. Currently, the indication is generally wasteful, cumbersome, or both. Indications include placing plastic garbage bags over the toilet, creating a hand-written sign, or using some sort of caution tape, each of which must be disposed after being installed.
In general, the disclosure is directed to a temporary maintenance sign for a toilet including a first adherence mechanism and a second adherence mechanism, such as a suction cup or a locking suction cup that includes a pressure lever. The temporary maintenance sign further includes a flexible body that connects to the first adherence mechanism on a first end of the flexible body and connects to the second adherence mechanism on a second end of the flexible body. The flexible body may be made out of a semi-rigid metal, a semi-rigid plastic, a semi-rigid fiberglass, a semi-rigid rubber, a flexible metal, a flexible plastic, a flexible fiberglass, or a flexible rubber, among other things.
When installed, the first adherence mechanism may adhere to a first surface of a toilet, and the second adherence mechanism may adhere to a second surface of the toilet. When both adherence mechanisms are adhered to the respective surfaces of the toilet, the flexible body may pass over or in front of an opening of the toilet. In some instances, the flexible body may include mechanisms to receive an out-of-order sign, bringing additional awareness to users that the toilet is not in proper condition for use.
The temporary maintenance sign produces a number of benefits over the disposable and cumbersome temporary signs described above. By using the adherence mechanisms described herein, the temporary maintenance sign is easy to install on the smooth, hard surfaces provided by the glazed ceramic, metal, plastic, vitreous china, or porcelain toilets. The temporary maintenance sign is also reusable, reducing costs and reducing waste. Additionally, by protruding over an opening of the toilet, the temporary maintenance sign provides an adequate physical barrier to dissuade patrons from utilizing the toilets to which the temporary maintenance signs are attached.
In another example, the disclosure is directed to a method for installing the temporary maintenance sign, the method including adhering the first adherence mechanism to a first surface of the toilet and adhering the second adherence mechanism to a second surface of the toilet, wherein, when the first adherence mechanism is adhered to the first surface of the toilet and when the second adherence mechanism is adhered to the second surface of the toilet, the flexible body spans across an opening in the toilet.
In another example, the disclosure is directed to a system including a toilet and the temporary maintenance sign.
The details of one or more examples of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
The following drawings are illustrative of particular examples of the present invention and therefore do not limit the scope of the invention. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, though embodiments can include the scale illustrated, and are intended for use in conjunction with the explanations in the following detailed description wherein like reference characters denote like elements. Examples of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings.
The following detailed description is exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides some practical illustrations for implementing examples of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many of the noted examples have a variety of suitable alternatives.
In the example of
Flexible body 6 may be made of any number of suitable materials. These materials could include any one or more of a semi-rigid metal, a semi-rigid plastic, a semi-rigid fiberglass, a semi-rigid rubber, a flexible metal, a flexible plastic, a flexible fiberglass, and a flexible rubber, among other materials. Given the area of installation, flexible body 6 may ultimately be any material that is rigid enough to extend across an opening in a toilet to form a physical and visual barrier between the toilet and the area where a user would typically be present if they were to use the toilet.
Given this described configuration of flexible body 6, adherence mechanisms 4A and 4B may use alternate forces other than suction to temporarily adhere to a toilet. For instance, adherence mechanisms 4A and 4B may be flat or textured rubber, silicone, plastic, fiberglass, or any other material that can create friction against ceramic, plastic, or metal toilets. For instance, flexible body 6, after being bent for installation, may create elastic forces on adherence mechanisms 4A and 4B pushing inward as flexible body 6 is straightened to go around the toilet. With these elastic forces, adherence mechanisms 4A and 4B may not require a force as strong as suction to successfully install temporary maintenance sign 2. Rather, adherence mechanisms 4A and 4B may only need to be a flat or textured material that, when the elastic forces are applied to adherence mechanisms 4A and 4B, create enough friction that temporary maintenance sign is held in place. In addition to the materials described above, adherence mechanisms 4A and 4B may be of certain shapes, such as circular, square, X-shaped, cross-shaped, triangular, rectangular, pentagonal, or any other shape, and of an adequate size to create the appropriate steadying forces.
Flexible body 6 may have many configurations. For instance, as shown in
In other instances, such as the instances of
In such instances, flexible body 6 may include a locking mechanism to secure first portion 6A and second portion 6B. For instance, hollow section 20 of second portion 6B of the flexible body may include one or more holes 16A-16C (collectively, “holes 16”). The section of first portion 6A of the flexible body may include a push button spring clip 18. As such, when the section of first portion 6A of the flexible body is inserted into hollow section of second portion 6B of the flexible body, push button spring clip 18 protrudes through one or more of holes 16, such as hole 16C in
In other instances, hollow section 20 may be a third physically separate portion of flexible body 6. In other words, flexible body 6 may include first portion 6A that includes the first end, second portion 6B that includes the second end, and a separate hollow section 20, or a hollow connector, structurally similar to hollow section, except for hollow section/connector 20 not being physically attached to second portion 6B. In such instances, hollow section/connector 20 of flexible body 6 slidably receives both a section of first portion 6A of the flexible body and a section of second portion 6B of the flexible body.
The separate hollow section/connector 20 may also include holes 16, with the section of first portion 6A of the flexible body including push button spring clip 18. When the section of first portion 6A of the flexible body is inserted into hollow section/connector 20 of flexible body 6, push button spring clip 18 may protrude through one or more of holes 16, such as hole 16C, of hollow section/connector 20 to lock the section of first portion 6A of the flexible body into place. While not pictured, second portion 6B of the flexible body may also include a push button spring clip 18 to lock second portion 6B to hollow section/connector 20 in a same manner as first portion 6A.
In the example of
In other instances, out-of-order sign 8 may attach to flexible body 6 using one or more self-adhering attachment points, such as hook and loop straps, clamps, rope ties, mechanical clips, or any other type of strap or attachment mechanism to secure out-of-order sign 8 around flexible body 6. In still other instances, flexible body 6 may include one or more hooks, and out-of-order sign 8 may include one or more eyelets. In such instances, out-of-order sign 8 may attach to one or more of the one or more hooks included on flexible body 6 through the one or more eyelets in out-of-order sign 8, such as by hanging out-of-order sign 8 on the hook and through the eyelet.
In
As shown in
As temporary maintenance sign 2 may be reusable, the user may also uninstall temporary maintenance sign 2. For instance, the user may detach first adherence mechanism 4A from the first surface of toilet 10 and detach second adherence mechanism 4B from the second surface of toilet 10, thereby removing temporary maintenance sign 2 from toilet 10 so that it may be reused elsewhere.
In the example of
In
As shown in
As temporary maintenance sign 2 may be reusable, the user may also uninstall temporary maintenance sign 2. For instance, the user may detach first adherence mechanism 4A from the first surface of toilet 10 and detach second adherence mechanism 4B from the second surface of toilet 10, thereby removing temporary maintenance sign 2 from toilet 10 so that it may be reused elsewhere.
Temporary maintenance sign 2 produces a number of benefits over the disposable and cumbersome temporary signs previously available. By using the adherence mechanisms 4A and 4B described herein, temporary maintenance sign 2 is easy to install on the smooth, hard surfaces provided by the glazed ceramic, metal, plastic, vitreous china, or porcelain toilets. The temporary maintenance sign is also reusable, reducing costs and reducing waste. Additionally, by protruding over an opening of the toilet, the temporary maintenance sign provides an adequate physical barrier to dissuade patrons from utilizing the toilets to which the temporary maintenance signs are attached.
For instance, in the example of
In still other instances, flexible body 6 may include one or more hooks, and out-of-order sign 8 may include one or more eyelets. In such instances, out-of-order sign 8 may attach to one or more of the one or more hooks included on flexible body 6 through the one or more eyelets in out-of-order sign 8, such as by hanging out-of-order sign 8 on the hook and through the eyelet.
In accordance with the techniques described herein, a user may adhere first adherence mechanism 4A to a first surface of toilet 10 (502). The user may also adhere second adherence mechanism 4B to a second surface of toilet 10 (504). When first adherence mechanism 4A is adhered to the first surface of toilet 10 and when second adherence mechanism 4B is adhered to the second surface of toilet 10, flexible body 6 spans across an opening in toilet 10.
It is to be recognized that depending on the example, certain acts or events of any of the techniques described herein can be performed in a different sequence, may be added, merged, or left out altogether (e.g., not all described acts or events are necessary for the practice of the techniques). Moreover, in certain examples, acts or events may be performed concurrently rather than sequentially.
Various examples of the disclosure have been described. Any combination of the described systems, operations, or functions is contemplated. These and other examples are within the scope of the following claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/977,154, filed Oct. 31, 2022, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/304,096, filed Jan. 28, 2022, with the entire content of each being incorporated herein.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20230410695 A1 | Dec 2023 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63304096 | Jan 2022 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 17977154 | Oct 2022 | US |
Child | 18347100 | US |