Patent Application
20150143623
This invention relates to devices used for forcing toilet paper and other materials that clog a toilet forward to the drain to unclog the toilet.
People of all ages, from little toddlers to senior citizens have from time to time clogged toilets by placing non-biodegradable items in the toilet and then attempting to flush the toiler. These items can range from excess toilet paper, to paper towels to toy soldiers, to Lego® pieces, to sanitary napkins, to cell phones, and every other imaginable item.
The most common tools used for unclogging a toilet are a snake , which requires a bit of expertise and which tool is usually not found in the household, and a plunger which is a rubber deformable cup mounted on a handle, which cup fits over the throat of the toilet trap. A partial vacuum is formed so that the change in pressure upon release of the cup over the throat of the trap will force the blockage up and over the trap. The plunger is messy spills water or urine or feces fluid on the floor , perhaps on the clothing of the user ,and the tool is not fun to use.
Prior art tools that are less common include the “Splunger”, a combination tool, disclosed and claimed in US Patent Publication 2006/0260077 of Wilson, which is quite complex in design.
Thus there is a need for an easy to use tool which will force the blockage material up and over the trap such that the blocking material can fall into the waste drain and thereby allowing the toilet to function properly, rather than backing up and spilling water into the bathroom. This device satisfies that need.
The tool of this invention has a handle, a shaft, either straight or bent, and a bullet shaped head portion, attached at the distal end of the shaft, which head is made of a semi-rigid material such as closed cell polyethylene foam, the head having a series of grooves along the length thereof to permit fluid to pass there through.
It is a first object to provide an easy to use device for unclogging a toilet.
It is a second object to provide a device that does not splatter water, feces, or urine to the floor of the bathroom or on the clothing of the user, when unclogging a toilet.
It is a third object to provide an unclogger that is light in weight and as such can be used by persons of all ages.
It is a fourth object to provide a device that can be easily hung on a hook for storage until the occasion when needed.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises the device possessing the construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the cope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Let us turn first to
The handle portion 11 is an elongated rod of a diameter of about 1 inch for easy gripping by young and old alike, and the handle has at its proximal end, a hole either round of about ¼ inch diameter or an elongated slot of about ¼ by ⅝ths inch to permit the unit to be easily hung on a hook in storage awaiting the infrequent occasion when use is required. The handle may have a rubber coating thereon to enhance grippability. Recesses spaced apart within the rubber, to create different elevations therein, further enhance grippability of the handle.
The second portion 15 is the shaft which can have an overall length of about 12 to 19 inches, though longer shafts up to 24 inches are also contemplated. The shaft 15 is preferably of a smaller diameter than the handle 11, and may be tubular or a solid rod, depending upon the material employed. While metal such as aluminum or stainless steel may be employed as well as painted wood, the use of an injection molded plastic portion is believed to be the most cost effective mode of manufacture.
It is to be noted that the handle portion may be attached at its distal end to the proximal end of a separate shaft portion or the two portions may be formed as a unitary member. By conventional manufacturing techniques.
Detailed discussion of the operative head portion 17, will be set out infra. The discussion now moves to
The distal end of the shaft may be either threaded or unthreaded prior to engagement with the head 15 by insertion into bore 27 at the base of the bullet shaped head. See
In
In
In the second embodiment, 110, the handle 111, instead of having the recesses therein, is tape wrapped much like as is seen on a tennis racket. Note designator 116, the tape wrap such as electrical tape which is a vinyl film with adhesive on one side. The slot 13 for hanging the device on a nail or hook is not found n this embodiment. The shaft 115 is seen to be bent at any where from 40% along the length thereof to 60 percent along the length thereof, at an angle of between ______ and ______ degrees upwardly to render the movement of the user's hand easier in that the hand is in a higher position relative to the floor of the bathroom, using this shaft. This allows the user to lower his/her arm in a fulcrum like manner, to raise the head 117 toward the bend in a conventional toilet trap to push the clog along the path. The shaft sections are 115A and 115B.
It should be noted that either handle 11 or handle 111 can be substituted for the other and that embodiments with a straight or canted (bent) shaft with either handle are contemplated. Also the employment of a slot in the handle of the second embodiment is also within the scope of this invention.
While closed cell polyethylene foam has been mentioned, any semi-rigid closed cell polymeric foam can be employed for the material of the head such as polyurethane closed cell foam. The cap, 131, and 31 is made of any high impact plastic such as styrene.
A typical unit will have a head approximately three inches long by three inches wide with V-grooves of about ¼ inch to ½ inch wide. The shaft can vary from 12 to 18 inches long by about ½ to 1 inch in diameter, with a handle of six to 8 inches long and of a slightly larger diameter than the shaft for ease of use. The cap in the nose of the bullet shaped head should be about 1.5 inches in diameter.
Since certain changes may be made in the described devices without departing from the scope of the invention herein involved, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
