TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates to a toilet plunger holder and a toilet plunger set, and in particular to a releasable toilet plunger holder and a portable toilet plunger set with the toilet plunger holder.
BACKGROUND
A toilet plunger set has a toilet plunger and a toilet plunger holder. The toilet plunger can be placed on the toilet plunger holder, to facilitate keeping the washroom tidy.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
Toilet plunger sets need to be easy to store and carry when not in use. Accordingly, it is necessary to easily assemble and disassemble toilet plunger holders and toilet plungers, and to make them occupy a small space in a dissembled state (stored state or carried state). Moreover, in order to be quickly assembled and used, toilet plunger holders need to be quickly and easily assembled from a disassembled state to a usage state.
Therefore, according to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a toilet plunger holder comprises a cover, a base and a connecting structure. The base has a base panel and an annular base wall. The annular base wall is formed extending upwardly from an outer periphery of the base panel. A toilet plunger accommodating space is provided between the cover and the base to accommodate the toilet plunger. The toilet plunger is capable of resting on the base panel. The connecting structures are configured to connect the cover to the base.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the connecting structures are disposed between the cover and the base. The connecting structures are a plurality of snap-fit structures. Each of the plurality of snap-fit structures has a snap-fit structure male portion and a snap-fit structure female portion that are releasably connected to each other. The snap-fit structure female portion is disposed on the base, and the snap-fit structure male portion is disposed on the cover.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, an inner surface of the base is provided with a plurality of slide grooves extending in a vertical direction. The plurality of slide grooves are formed by recessing from the inner surface. Each of the plurality of slide grooves corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of snap-fit structures and is configured to accommodate a portion of the snap-fit structure male portion.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, each of the plurality of slide grooves has a slide groove opening and a slide groove cavity which extend in the vertical direction. The slide groove cavity is formed by recessing from the inner surface. The width of the slide groove cavity in a circumferential direction is greater than the width of the slide groove opening in the circumferential direction.
The snap-fit structure male portion is formed by protruding outwardly from an outer side edge of the cover. The snap-fit structure male portion has a male snap-fit end and a male extension section. The male extension section is formed by extending radially outwardly from the outer side edge of the cover and has the male snap-fit end formed at a distal extension end. The width of the male snap-fit end in the circumferential direction is greater than the width of the male extension section in the circumferential direction.
The width of the slide groove cavity in the circumferential direction is not less than the width of the male snap-fit end in the circumferential direction, the width of the slide groove opening in the circumferential direction is less than the width of the male snap-fit end in the circumferential direction, and the width of the slide groove opening in the circumferential direction is not less than the width of the male extension section in the circumferential direction, such that the male extension section can pass through the slide groove opening, and the male snap-fit end can be accommodated in the slide groove cavity and slide in the slide groove cavity.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, each of the plurality of slide grooves is further provided with a slide groove inlet configured to be in communication with the slide groove opening. The width of the slide groove inlet in the circumferential direction is not smaller than the width of the male snap-fit end in the circumferential direction, such that the male snap-fit end can pass through the slide groove inlet into the slide groove cavity.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the snap-fit structure female portion is disposed at the top portion of the slide groove and configured to abut against the snap-fit structure male portion.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the connecting structures are disposed between the cover and the base, wherein the connecting structures are a plurality of snap-fit structures. Each of the plurality of snap-fit structures has a snap-fit structure male portion and a snap-fit structure female portion that are releasably connected to each other.
The snap-fit structure female portion is disposed on the cover, and the snap-fit structure male portion is disposed on the base; or the snap-fit structure female portion is disposed on the base, and the snap-fit structure male portion is disposed on the cover.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the snap-fit structure male portion has a male snap-fit structure protrusion and a male snap-fit structure socket. The male snap-fit structure socket is disposed in the male snap-fit structure protrusion. The snap-fit structure female portion has a snap-fit receptacle and a snap-fit locking projection and receptacle limiting walls disposed in the snap-fit receptacle.
The snap-fit locking projection is formed by projecting from an inner side wall of the cover or the base,
The snap-fit receptacle is configured to receive the male snap-fit structure protrusion,
The receptacle limiting wall is formed by extending from a side wall of the snap-fit receptacle, and a relative position of the receptacle limiting walls and the snap-fit locking projection is configured to define a minimum thickness of the snap-fit receptacle.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the snap-fit receptacle has a receptacle opening. The snap-fit receptacle has a thickness at the receptacle opening greater than the thickness of the male snap-fit structure protrusion, and the minimum thickness of the snap-fit receptacle is smaller than the thickness of the male snap-fit structure protrusion.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the male snap-fit structure protrusion is capable of being inserted into the snap-fit receptacle from the receptacle opening.
When the snap-fit structure male portion and the snap-fit structure female portion are locked to each other. The male snap-fit structure protrusion is received in the snap-fit receptacle. The snap-fit locking projection is engaged in the male snap-fit structure socket, so that the snap-fit structure female portion and the snap-fit structure male portion are connected together.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the connecting structures are configured to releasably connect the cover to the base.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the cover is provided with a recess formed by indenting rearward from a front part of the cover and configured to abut against a toilet plunger rod portion of the toilet plunger.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the cover has an arched structure, and the recess is disposed at the top of the arched structure.
According to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the cover is made of elastic plastics.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a toilet plunger set is provided, which comprises a toilet plunger holder as described in the first aspect of the present disclosure, and a toilet plunger having a toilet plunger head and a toilet plunger rod portion. The toilet plunger head and the toilet plunger rod portion are releasably connected together, and the toilet plunger is configured to rest on the base panel and be accommodated in the toilet plunger accommodating space.
Additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in the following description, and will be apparent from the following description, or learned by practice of the present disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a toilet plunger set according to an embodiment with the toilet plunger in a rest state.
FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the toilet plunger set with the toilet plunger not in the rest state.
FIG. 1C is an exploded view of the toilet plunger set.
FIG. 2A is a front view of the base of FIG. 1A.
FIG. 2B is a sectional view of the base of FIG. 2A along line A-A, showing a dimensional relationship between the slide groove opening and the slide groove cavity.
FIG. 2C is a sectional view of the base of FIG. 2A along line B-B, showing a dimensional relationship between the slide groove inlet and the slide groove cavity.
FIG. 3A is a front view of the cover of FIG. 1A.
FIG. 3B is a top view of the cover of FIG. 1A.
FIG. 4A is a front view of the toilet plunger holder of FIG. 1A in a first assembled position.
FIG. 4B is a partially enlarged view C of FIG. 4A, showing a positional relationship between the snap-fit structure male portion and the slide groove inlet.
FIG. 4C is a sectional view of FIG. 4A along line D-D.
FIG. 4D is a partially enlarged view E of FIG. 4C, showing a positional relationship between the snap-fit structure male portion and the slide groove inlet.
FIG. 5A is a front view of the toilet plunger holder of FIG. 1A in a second assembled position.
FIG. 5B is a sectional view of FIG. 5A along line F-F.
FIG. 5C is a partially enlarged view G of FIG. 5B, showing a positional relationship between the snap-fit structure male portion and the slide groove opening.
FIG. 6 is a front view of the toilet plunger holder of FIG. 1A in a third assembled position.
FIG. 7 is a front view of the toilet plunger holder of FIG. 1A in a fourth assembled position.
FIG. 8A is a perspective view of a toilet plunger head in a usage state.
FIG. 8B is a perspective view of the toilet plunger head in a storage state.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the toilet plunger set according to an embodiment in a storage state.
FIG. 10A is a perspective view of a toilet plunger holder according to an embodiment.
FIG. 10B is a top view of the toilet plunger holder according to an embodiment.
FIG. 10C is an exploded view of the toilet plunger holder according to an embodiment.
FIG. 10D is a sectional view of FIG. 10B along line H-H.
FIG. 10E is a partially enlarged view I of FIG. 10D, showing a mating relationship between the snap-fit structure male portion and snap-fit structure female portion.
FIG. 11A is a perspective view of a toilet plunger holder according to an embodiment.
FIG. 11B is an exploded view of the toilet plunger holder according to an embodiment.
FIG. 11C is a front view of the toilet plunger holder according to an embodiment.
FIG. 11D is a sectional view of FIG. 11C along line J-J.
FIG. 11E shows partially enlarged views K and L of FIG. 11D.
FIG. 11F is a partial schematic view of the snap-fit structure female portion on the side from a bottom view.
FIG. 11G shows partially enlarged views K′ and L′ of the cover and the base of FIG. 11E in a connected state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
Various specific implementations of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings which constitute part of the present disclosure, but would not limit the scope of the present disclosure. It should be understood that although the terms indicating directions, such as “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “front” and “rear” are used in the present disclosure to describe orientations of structural parts and elements in various examples of the present disclosure, these terms are used herein only for ease of illustration and are determined based on the exemplary orientations shown in the accompanying drawings. Since the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure can be provided in different orientations, the terms indicating directions are merely illustrative and should not be considered as limitations.
To facilitate the understanding of the viewing perspective in the figures, the lower right direction, the upper left direction, the lower left direction and the upper right direction in FIGS. 1A-1C, 9, 10A and 10C are respectively defined as the front, the rear, the left, and the right.
The term “comprise/include” and derivatives thereof mean inclusion without limitation. Unless otherwise specified and limited, the terms “mounting”, “connecting” and “connection” should be understood broadly. For example, they may be mechanical, electrical or communication connection, internal communication between two elements, or direct connection or indirect connection via an intermediate medium. For those of ordinary skills in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms can be understood according to specific cases. If possible, the same or similar reference signs used in the present disclosure refer to the same components.
FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate a first embodiment of a toilet plunger set, showing the assembly relationship and positional relationship between a toilet plunger holder and the various components of the toilet plunger set. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the toilet plunger set according to the first embodiment with a toilet plunger in a rest state; FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the toilet plunger set according to the first embodiment with the toilet plunger not in the rest state; and FIG. 1C is an exploded view of the toilet plunger set according to the first embodiment.
As shown in FIGS. 1A-1C, the present disclosure provides a toilet plunger set 100 comprising a toilet plunger 106 and a toilet plunger holder 102 configured to accommodate the toilet plunger 106. The toilet plunger holder 102 is made of an elastic polypropylene material, and comprises a cover 103 and a base 104 that are releasably assembled. The cover 103 and the base 104 both may be manufactured by an injection molding process. The toilet plunger 106 has a toilet plunger head 108 and a toilet plunger rod portion 107. The toilet plunger head 108 and the toilet plunger rod portion 107 are releasably connected together. As shown in FIG. 1C, the toilet plunger rod portion 107 may be further disassembled into a toilet plunger rod 126, a toilet plunger extension rod 124, and a toilet plunger handle 122, for facilitating the accommodation and storage of the toilet plunger rod portion 107 after it is dissembled. The toilet plunger rod 126, the toilet plunger extension rod 124, the toilet plunger handle 122, and the toilet plunger head 108 may be assembled together through a threaded fit or a plug-in connection. In some other embodiments, the toilet plunger rod portion 107 may be assembled in a manner that is not limited to the assembly method described above, but may be assembled from more or less components.
As shown in FIGS. 1A-1B, the base 104 has a base panel 114 and an annular base wall 119. The annular base wall 119 is formed by extending upwardly from an outer periphery of the middle rear side of the base panel 114. In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the annular base wall 119 surrounds the base panel 114 by an angle between 180° and 300° in a circumferential direction. An outer periphery 112 of the central front side of the base panel 114 extends upwardly and outwardly by a distance, thereby preventing water on the base panel 114 from overflowing the base 104 to pollute the environment. A central region of the base panel 114 is partially recessed downwardly to form a circular sink 118 (see FIG. 1B for details) for accommodating water dripping from the toilet plunger 106. The base panel 114 is further provided with a plurality of protrusions 116 that protrude surrounding the sink 118. The plurality of protrusions 116 are arranged symmetrically with respect to each other about the center of the sink 118. When the toilet plunger 106 is placed on the base panel 114, the plurality of protrusions 116 can uniformly carry the toilet plunger head 108, leaving a gap between the toilet plunger head 108 and the portion of the base panel 114 that is provided with no protrusion, so as to facilitate receiving the water dripping from the toilet plunger 106. In addition, a plurality of base supports 154 are disposed in the circumferential direction at the lower end of the base 104 for supporting the base 104.
Continuing making reference to FIGS. 1A-1B, the cover 103 has a semi-arched structure. The cover 103 surrounds in the circumferential direction by the same angle as the annular base wall 119, such that the cover can fit well with the base 104. A recess 152 is disposed at the top of the semi-arched structure of the cover 103. The recess 152 is configured be leaned against the toilet plunger rod portion 107 by intending rearward from a front part of the cover 103, so as to prevent the toilet plunger 106 from tilting or skewing when placed in the base 104. In the assembled state, a notch and an inner space surrounded by the semi-arched cover 103 and the base 104 in the circumferential direction together form a toilet plunger accommodating space 110. The toilet plunger accommodating space 110 is located between the arched cover 103 and the base 104 and configured to accommodate the toilet plunger head 108 and a part of the toilet plunger rod portion 107 of the toilet plunger 106.
Continuing with reference to FIG. 1C, the cover 103 and the base 104 are releasably connected together via a plurality of snap-fit structures. Each of the plurality of snap-fit structures has a snap-fit structure male portion and a snap-fit structure female portion, the snap-fit structure female portion 142 is disposed at an inner surface 144 of the annular base wall 119, and the snap-fit structure male portion 132 is disposed at an outer side edge of the bottom of the arched structure of the cover 103. In this embodiment of the present disclosure, there are three snap-fit structures. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the number of snap-fit structures may be two or more than three. The plurality of snap-fit structure male portions 132 and the plurality of snap-fit structure female portions 142 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the cover 103 and the base 104, respectively.
Each of the plurality of the snap-fit structure male portions 132 corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of the snap-fit structure female portions 142. The inner surface 144 of the base 104 is further provided with a plurality of slide grooves 146 extending in a vertical direction. The plurality of slide grooves 146 are formed by recessing radially outwardly from the inner surface 144. Each of the plurality of slide grooves 146 corresponds to a respective one of the plurality of snap-fit structures, and is configured to accommodate a portion of the snap-fit structure male portion 132 of the snap-fit structure. In this embodiment, there are three slide grooves 146 consistent with the number of the snap-fit structures. To those of ordinary skill in the art, in some embodiments, as the number of snap-fit structures changes, the number of slide grooves should also change accordingly.
FIGS. 2A-2C are a front view of the base in FIG. 1A and two sectional views of two different cross-sections, respectively showing a dimensional relationship between a slide groove opening and a slide groove cavity as well as a dimensional relationship between a slide groove inlet and the slide groove cavity.
As shown in FIG. 2A, each of the slide grooves 146 has a slide groove opening 202 and a slide groove cavity 204 which extend in the vertical direction. The slide groove cavity 204 is formed by recessing radially outwardly from the inner surface 144 of the annular base wall 119. Each of the slide grooves 146 is further provided with a slide groove inlet 206 at the bottom end of the slide groove opening 202. The slide groove inlet 206 is in communication with the slide groove opening 202 to facilitate the insertion of the snap-fit structure mail portion 132. In an embodiment and referring to the snap-fit structure female portion 142 on the right side in FIG. 2A, each snap-fit structure female portion 142 is an elastic sheet structure with elastic extension arms 212. The elastic extension arms 212 are distributed on the inner surface 144 of the annular base wall 119, and are formed by extending upwardly and inwardly from the right and left of the upper portion of a respective slide groove 146 on the inner surface 144, respectively. An abutting portion 214 is provided at a distal extension end of the elastic extension arm 212 and configured to upwardly abut against the snap-fit structure male portion 132. The elastic extension arms 212 may be elastically deformed in a direction approaching the inner surface 144 of the annular base wall 119 when subjected to a pressing force, and can be restored to its original shape when the pressing force is eliminated.
FIG. 2B is a sectional view of the base 104 in FIG. 2A along line A-A, showing a dimensional relationship between the slide groove opening 202 and the slide groove cavity 204 from a top perspective. As shown in FIG. 2B, the width of the slide groove cavity 204 in the circumferential direction is greater than the width of the slide groove opening 202 in the circumferential direction.
FIG. 2C is a sectional view of the base 104 in FIG. 2A along line B-B, showing a dimensional relationship between the slide groove inlet 206 and the slide groove cavity 204 from a top perspective. As shown in FIG. 2C, the width of the slide groove cavity 204 in the circumferential direction is greater than the width of the slide groove inlet 206 in the circumferential direction, while the width of the slide groove inlet 206 in the circumferential direction is greater than the width of the slide groove opening 202 in the circumferential direction as shown in FIG. 2B, and the width of the slide groove inlet 206 in the circumferential direction is not smaller than the width of the snap-fit structure male portion 132 in the circumferential direction, so that the snap-fit structure male portion 132 is allowed to enter into the interior of the slide groove cavity 204 through the slide groove inlet 206.
FIGS. 3A-3B are a front view and a top view of the cover 103 of FIG. 1A, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 3A-3B, the cover 103 has a cover body 312 of a semi-arched structure and a recess 152 that indents rearward from the front part of the top of the cover body 312. As shown in FIG. 3B, the semi-arched structure of the cover body 312 has only a rear semi-arched structure, and the space left by the missing front semi-arched structure can facilitate the placement of the toilet plunger 106 in the toilet plunger accommodating space 110 as shown in FIG. 1B. Three snap-fit structure male portions 132 described above are uniformly disposed at the outer periphery of the bottom of the arched structure of the cover body 312. The three snap-fit structure male portions 132 have the same configuration.
With continued reference to FIGS. 3A-3B, taking the rightmost snap-fit structure male portion 132 as an example, the snap-fit structure male portion 132 has a male snap-fit end 302, a male extension section 304, and a male abutting portion 306. The male extension section 304 is formed by extending radially outwardly from the outer edge of the bottom of the cover body 312, and the male snap-fit end 302 is formed at the distal end of the snap-fit structure male portion 132. As can be seen in FIG. 3B, the width of the male snap-fit end 302 in the circumferential direction is greater than the width of the male extension section 304 in the circumferential direction. As can be seen in FIG. 3A, the male abutting portion 306 is disposed above the upper side of the male extension section 304 and at a proximal end of the male extension section 304, and the width of the male abutting portion 306 in the circumferential direction is greater than the width of the male extension section 304 in the circumferential direction. When the cover 103 is sliding in the slide groove 146 of the base 104, the male abutting portion 306 is located outside the corresponding slide groove 146 and may press the elastic extension arms 212, or may abut against the abutting portions 214 of the elastic extension arms 212, so that the cover 103 is secured to the upper side of the base 104 to complete the assembly of the toilet plunger holder. The width of the slide groove cavity 204 in the circumferential direction is not smaller than the width of the male snap-fit end 302 in the circumferential direction, the width of the slide groove opening 202 in the circumferential direction is smaller than the width of the male snap-fit end 302 in the circumferential direction, and the width of the slide groove opening 202 in the circumferential direction is not smaller than the width of the male extension section 304 in the circumferential direction, such that the male extension section 304 can pass through the slide groove opening 202, and the male snap-fit end 302 can be accommodated and slide up and down in the slide groove cavity 204 and is less likely to be released from the slide groove cavity 204. The width of the slide groove inlet 206 in the circumferential direction is not smaller than the width of the male snap-fit end 302 in the circumferential direction, such that the male snap-fit end 302 can pass through the slide groove inlet 206 into the slide groove cavity 204.
An assembly process of the cover 103 and the base 104 of the toilet plunger holder of an embodiment is described below with reference to FIGS. 4A-FIG. 7. FIG. 4A is a front view of the toilet plunger holder in FIG. 1A in a first assembled position; FIG. 4B is a partially enlarged view C of FIG. 4A, showing a positional relationship between the snap-fit structure male portion and the slide groove inlet; FIG. 4C is a sectional view of FIG. 4A along line D-D; FIG. 4D is a partially enlarged view E of FIG. 4C, showing a positional relationship between the snap-fit structure male portion and the slide groove inlet; FIG. 5A is a front view of the toilet plunger holder in FIG. 1A in a second assembled position; FIG. 5B is a sectional view of FIG. 5A along line F-F; FIG. 5C is a partially enlarged view G of FIG. 5B, showing a positional relationship between the snap-fit structure male portion and the slide groove opening; FIG. 6 is a front view of the toilet plunger holder in FIG. 1A in a third assembled position; and FIG. 7 is a front view of the toilet plunger holder in FIG. 1A in a fourth assembled position.
As shown in FIGS. 4A-4D, since the cover 103 is made of an elastic polypropylene material, by pressing the arched structure of the cover body 312 inwardly from the two sides of the bottom of the cover to deform the arched structure and to reduce its diameter in left and right directions, the cover 103 can be placed inside the base 104, and the male snap-fit end 302 of the snap-fit structure male portion 132 can be aligned with the slide groove inlet 206. Since the width of the slide groove inlet 206 in the circumferential direction is not smaller than the width of the male snap-fit end 302 in the circumferential direction, the male snap-fit end 302 can pass through the slide groove inlet 206 into the slide groove cavity 204 (as shown in FIGS. 4B and 4D). After the snap-fit structure male portion 132 enters into the slide groove cavity 204, the cover body 312 is no longer pressed, and its semi-arched structure can be restored to its original shape and dimension, so that a preliminary combination of the cover 103 and the base 104 is obtained.
As shown in FIGS. 5A-5C, after the cover 103 is preliminarily combined with the base 104, the cover 103 can then slide up and down in the slide groove 146 of the base 104. As shown in FIG. 5C, the width of the slide groove opening 202 in the circumferential direction is smaller than the width of the male snap-fit end 302 in the circumferential direction, and the width of the slide groove opening 202 in the circumferential direction is not smaller than the width of the male extension section 304 in the circumferential direction, so that the male extension section 304 can pass through the slide groove opening 202, and the male snap-fit end 302 can be accommodated and slide in the slide groove cavity 204, without being released from the slide groove cavity 204.
As shown in FIG. 6, when the cover 103 slides in the slide groove 146 of the base 104 to the female snap-fit structure 142, the elastic extension arms 212 prevent the cover 103 from continuing sliding upwardly. If the cover 103 tends to slide upwardly relative to the base 104 at this position, the male abutting portion 306 of the cover 103 can apply a pressing force on the elastic sheet structure of the snap-fit structure female portion 142. The elastic extension arms 212 of the elastic sheet structure may be elastically deformed under the pressing force to approach the inner surface 144 of the annular base wall 119. When the elastic extension arms 212 are deformed to a position where it no longer prevents the cover 103 from sliding upwardly, the cover 103 can continue to slide upwardly in the slide groove 146 of the base 104 relative to the base 104.
As shown in FIG. 7, when the cover 103 slides upwardly in the slide groove 146 to a position where the male abutting portion 306 completely pass the elastic extension arms 212, the male abutting portion 306 no longer applies a pressing force to the elastic extension arms 212, and accordingly the elastic extension arms 212 can be restored to its original extension state after the pressing force is eliminated, so as to abut against the lower side of the male abutting portion 306. At this moment, the male abutting portion 306 abuts against an upper end of the abutting portions 214 of the elastic extension arms 212, and an abutting surface of the abutting portion 214 can prevent the male abutting portion 306 from moving downwardly, thereby preventing the cover 103 from sliding downwardly. As the cover 103 has slid in the slide groove 146 to the uppermost end of the slide groove 146, the material at the uppermost end of the slide groove 146 can prevent the cover 103 from continuing sliding upwardly, so that the relative position of the cover 103 and the base 104 remains fixed here.
If the cover 103 needs to be released from the base 104, it is only necessary to press the elastic extension arms 212, to release the abutment between the male abutting portion 306 of the cover 103 and the abutting portions 214 of the elastic extension arms 212, so that the cover 103 can slide downwardly in the slide groove 146 of the base 104, and finally slide to the position shown in FIG. 4A for release.
FIGS. 8A-8B are perspective views of the toilet plunger head 108 in a usage state and in a storage state, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 8A, and with reference to FIGS. 1A-1C, in the usage state, the toilet plunger head 108 of the toilet plunger 106 has a toilet plunger head body 802 and a toilet plunger head extension portion 804. The toilet plunger head extension portion 804 is formed by extending downwardly from the toilet plunger head body 802. The toilet plunger head body 802 has an arched structure adapted to the cover 103, so as to be accommodated in the toilet plunger holder 102. The toilet plunger head 108 has a cavity 808 therewithin, and an opening 806 of the cavity is provided on the lower side of the toilet plunger head extension portion 804.
As shown in FIG. 8B, when the toilet plunger 106 needs to be stored, the toilet plunger head extension portion 804 can be pressed toward the interior of the cavity 808, such that the toilet plunger head extension portion 804 is retracted into the cavity 808 that corresponds to the toilet plunger head body 802, thereby reducing the height of the toilet plunger head 108 to facilitate the storage and carrying.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the toilet plunger set in FIG. 1A in a storage state. For the simplicity of the figure, the toilet plunger rod portion 107 of the toilet plunger 106 is omitted in FIG. 9.
As shown in FIG. 9, when the toilet plunger set 100 needs to be stored, the toilet plunger 106 is first disassembled to the smallest assembly units and the toilet plunger head 108 remains resting on the base 104. The cover 103 then slides along the slide groove 146 to a position in contact with the toilet plunger head 108, i.e., close to or at the position shown in FIG. 4A, thereby completing the storage of the toilet plunger set 100. Components of the toilet plunger set 100 (excluding the components of the toilet plunger rod portion 107) can be kept in the storage state as shown in FIG. 9 during packaging and carrying. When the toilet plunger set 100 needs to be taken out for use, the toilet plunger set 100 can be quickly adjusted from the storage state to the usage state by simply sliding the cover 103 upwardly along the slide groove 146 of the base 104 to the assembled position (the state shown in FIG. 7). Therefore, with the slide grooves 146 provided on the base 104, and with the snap-fit structures mating with each other provided on the base 104 and the cover 103, the rapid switching of the cover 103 between the storage position and the usage position can be realized, facilitating the storage and usage of the toilet plunger set 100.
FIGS. 10A-10E show a toilet plunger holder according to an embodiment. FIG. 10A is a perspective view of the toilet plunger holder according to the embodiment; FIG. 10B is a top view of the toilet plunger holder according to the embodiment; FIG. 10C is an exploded view of the toilet plunger holder according to the embodiment; FIG. 10D is a sectional view of FIG. 10B along line H-H; and FIG. 10E is a partially enlarged view I of FIG. 10D, showing a mating relationship between a snap-fit structure male portion and a snap-fit structure female portion.
A difference between the toilet plunger holder in this embodiment and that of previous embodiments is that the base of this second embodiment is provided with no slide groove. Specifically, in the toilet plunger holder according to this embodiment, the cover is directly secured to the upper portion of the base via snap-fit structures. Therefore, the same configurations of this embodiment and previous embodiments will not be repeated here.
As shown in FIGS. 10A-10C, a cover 1003 and a base 1004 of the toilet plunger holder 1002 are releasably connected together via a plurality of snap-fit structures. Each of the plurality of snap-fit structures has a snap-fit structure male portion 1032 and a snap-fit structure female portion 1042. The snap-fit structure male portion 1032 is disposed at an outer side edge of the bottom of an arched structure of the cover 1003, and the snap-fit structure female portion 1042 is disposed at an inner surface 144 of the upper portion of an annular base wall 119 of the base 1004.
As shown in FIGS. 10D-10E, the snap-fit structure male portion 1032 has a wedged snap-fit head 1052 and a snap-fit extension portion 1054. The snap-fit extension portion 1054 is formed by extending downwardly from the outer side edge of the bottom of the arched structure of the cover 1003, and the wedged snap-fit head 1052 is located at a distal end of the snap-fit extension portion 1054 that extends downwardly. The wedged snap-fit head 1052 has two wedged prongs 1061,1062. The two wedged prongs 1061,1062 are spaced apart by a gap, and the two wedged prongs 1061,1062 are elastic. When inward pressing forces are applied to the two wedged prongs 1061,1062, the two wedged prongs 1061,1062 can move toward each other, thereby reducing the width of the snap-fit head 1052.
Continuing with reference to FIGS. 10D-10E, the snap-fit structure female portion 1042 has a snap-fit opening 1056. The width of the snap-fit opening 1056 in a circumferential direction is not smaller than the width of the snap-fit extension portion 1054 in the circumferential direction, but the width of the snap-fit opening 1056 in the circumferential direction is smaller than the width of the wedged snap-fit head 1052 in the circumferential direction. When the snap-fit head 1052 is inserted downwardly into the snap-fit opening 1056, the snap-fit opening 1056 applies inward pressing forces to the two wedged prongs 1061, 1062 to move the two wedged prongs 1061, 1062 toward each other, such that the width of the snap-fit head 1052 in the circumferential direction can be reduced to be smaller than the width of the snap-fit opening 1056 in the circumferential direction, so that the snap-fit head 1052 can smoothly pass through the snap-fit opening 1056. After the snap-fit head 1052 completely passes through the snap-fit opening 1056, the two wedged prongs 1061,1062 are no longer subjected to the inward pressing forces from the snap-fit opening 1056, and can be restored to their original shape and spacing, so as to be engaged below the snap-fit opening 1056. When the cover 1003 needs to be removed from the base 1004, the two wedged prongs 1061,1062 can be pressed from the left and right, such that the width of the snap-fit head 1052 in the circumferential direction is reduced to be smaller than the width of the snap-fit opening 1056 in the circumferential direction, and then the snap-fit head 1052 can be pulled out of the snap-fit opening 1056, so that the cover 1003 is disengaged from the base 1004.
FIGS. 11A-11G illustrate schematic views of a toilet plunger holder according to an embodiment. FIG. 11A is a perspective view of the toilet plunger holder; FIG. 11B is an exploded view of the toilet plunger holder; FIG. 11C is a front view of the toilet plunger holder; FIG. 11D is a sectional view of the toilet plunger holder in FIG. 11C that is taken from an intermediate position along line J-J, showing a front view of a snap-fit structure on a side and a lateral sectional view of a snap-fit structure in the middle, so as to clearly illustrate the outer and inner structures of the snap-fit structure; FIG. 11E shows two partially enlarged views K and L of FIG. 11D; FIG. 11F is a partial schematic view of a snap-fit structure female portion 1142 on a side from a bottom perspective; and FIG. 11G shows two partially enlarged views K′ and L′ of a cover 1103 and a base 1104 in FIG. 11E in a connected state.
The differences between this embodiment of the toilet plunger holder and previous embodiments is that no slide grooves are provided in the present embodiment, and a connecting structure between the cover and the base in this embodiment differs from the connecting structure of previous embodiments. The same configurations of the present embodiment and those of previous embodiments will not be repeated herein.
As shown in FIGS. 11A-11C, the cover 1103 and the base 1104 of the toilet plunger holder 1102 are releasably connected together via a plurality of snap-fit structures. Each of the plurality of snap-fit structures has a snap-fit structure male portion 1132 and a snap-fit structure female portion 1142. As shown in FIG. 11B, the snap-fit structure male portion 1132 is formed by extending upwardly from an upper edge 1145 of an annular base wall 1119 of the base 1104, and the snap-fit structure female portion 1142 is disposed at an inner side edge of the bottom of an arched structure of the cover 1103. The base 1104 is provided with three snap-fit structure male portions 1132 having the same configuration, which are evenly distributed in a circumferential direction. Correspondingly, the cover 1103 is provided with three snap-fit structure female portions 1142 having the same configuration, which are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction. In other embodiments, the number of snap-fit structure male portions and the number of snap-fit structure female portions may vary according to requirements, for example, the number of male and female snap-fit structure can be two or more than three. The detailed configurations of the snap-fit structure male portions and the snap-fit structure female portions are described below.
Considering that the snap-fit structures have the same configuration, in order to describe both the outer and inner configurations of each snap-fit structure in a single figure (FIGS. 11D-11E), the same numeral signs will be used hereinafter for the two snap-fit structures in the middle and on the side, respectively, to describe their outer and inner configurations.
As shown in FIGS. 11D-11E, each snap-fit structure male portion 1132 has a male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 which is substantially rectangular. The rectangular edge of the protrusion has rounded corners, to facilitate insertion into the snap-fit structure female portion 1142. The rectangular width of the protrusion is defined as W as shown in FIG. 11E, and the thickness of the protrusion is defined as T as shown in FIG. 11E. The male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 is provided with a male snap-fit structure socket 1133 configured to engaged with the snap-fit structure female portion 1142. Specifically, the male snap-fit structure socket 1133 has a socket upper surface 1152, and may be attached to the snap-fit structure female portion 1142.
As shown in FIGS. 11E-11F, each snap-fit structure female portion 1142 has a snap-fit receptacle 1143 formed by extending inwardly from an inner side edge of the bottom of the arched structure of the cover 1103. Each snap-fit receptacle 1143 has a receptacle opening 1147, and has a receptacle width W′ and a receptacle thickness T′ (as shown in FIG. 11E). The receptacle width W′ is slightly greater than the width W of the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134, and the receptacle thickness T′ is greater than the thickness T of the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134, thus enabling the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 to be inserted into the snap-fit receptacle 1143 and preventing the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 from being deflected within the snap-fit receptacle 1143. Each snap-fit receptacle 1143 has two receptacle side walls 1144-1, 1144-2 extending toward the interior of the cover 1103, and receptacle limiting walls 1145-1, 1145-2 extending from the two receptacle side walls 1144-1, 1144-2 respectively. To facilitate the manufacture of injection molds, the two receptacle limiting walls may be of a structure formed by bending and extending twice the two receptacle side walls 1144-1, 1144-2 as illustrated in FIG. 11F, or may be an entire limiting wall structure connected between the two receptacle side walls 1144-1, 1144-2, as long as the receptacle thickness T′ of the snap-fit receptacle 1143 can be limited.
Further as shown in FIGS. 11E-11F, each snap-fit structure female portion 1142 further has a snap-fit locking projection 1146 disposed in the snap-fit receptacle 1143 for mating with the male snap-fit structure socket 1133 to lock the snap-fit structure male portion 1132. The snap-fit locking projection 1146 is formed by extending inwardly from the inner side edge of the bottom of the arched structure of the cover 1103.
As shown in the enlarged view K of FIG. 11E, and viewed from the bottom, the snap-fit locking projection 1146 has a gradually increasing protruding distance, has a wedged structure, and has a snap-fit locking upper surface 1150 at a position with the maximum protruding distance which is configured to be engaged with the socket upper surface 1152 of the male snap-fit structure socket 1133. As shown in the enlarged view L of FIG. 11E, the dimension of the snap-fit locking projection 1146 is slightly smaller than the dimension of the male snap-fit structure socket 1133, such that the snap-fit locking projection 1146 can be accommodated in the male snap-fit structure socket 1133, so that the snap-fit structure male portion 1132 can be locked. Such a wedged configuration causes the receptacle thickness to gradually decrease upwardly from the receptacle opening 1147 from the receptacle thickness T′, facilitating the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 to be gradually inserted tightly into the snap-fit receptacle 1143 from the receptacle opening 1147. At the position above the snap-fit locking projection 1146, the thickness of the receptacle is restored to the receptacle thickness T′ which is same as that of the receptacle opening 1147. The thickness of the receptacle is the minimum at a position where the snap-fit locking projection 1146 extends inward by a maximum distance, such as the thickness T″ shown in FIG. 11E. This minimum thickness T″ of the receptacle is smaller than the thickness T of the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134, so that it is possible to prevent the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 from being inadvertently releasably after being inserted into the snap-fit structure female portion 1142.
During the process of connecting the cover 1103 to the base 1104 of the toilet plunger holder 1102, the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 of each snap-fit structure male portion 1132 is aligned with the receptacle opening 1147 of the corresponding snap-fit structure female portion 1142, so that the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 is inserted into the snap-fit receptacle 1143 from the receptacle opening 1147. Although the wedged snap-fit locking projection 1146 makes the minimum thickness T″ of the snap-fit receptacle 1143 smaller than the thickness T of the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134, as the thickness of the snap-fit receptacle 1143 gradually decreases from the thickness T′ of the receptacle opening 1147 to the minimum thickness, the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 can press the material of the snap-fit receptacle 1143 at a position with the minimum thickness to elastically deform the material under an insertion force. In this way, the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 can be pressed into a space between the snap-fit locking projection 1146 and the receptacle limiting walls 1145-1, 1145-2 to finally pass the snap-fit locking projection 1146. After the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 passes the snap-fit locking projection 1146, the material of the snap-fit receptacle 1143 at the position with the minimum thickness can be restored to the state before the elastic deformation, the snap-fit locking projection 1146 is snap-fitted into the male snap-fit structure socket 1133 of the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134, and the snap-fit locking upper surface 1150 of the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 can abut against the socket upper surface 1152 of the male snap-fit structure socket 1133, thereby locking the cover 1103 to the base 1104. At this moment, a lower edge surface 1161 of the cover 1103 abuts against an upper edge surface 1162 of the base 1104, to complete the connection between the cover 1103 and the base 1104. Schematic views of the snap-fit structure male portion 1132 and the snap-fit structure female portion 1142 in a connected state are shown in detail in the partially enlarged views K′ and L′ of FIG. 11G.
As described above, since the minimum thickness T″ of the receptacle is less than the thickness T of the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134, once the locking projection 1146 is snap-fitted into the male snap-fit structure socket 1133 of the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134, the snap-fit locking upper surface 1150 and the socket upper surface 1152 can abut against each other. In this connection, the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 will not be released from the snap-fit receptacle 1143 due to swinging or vibration of the male snap-fit structure protrusion in the left and right directions, so that it is possible to prevent the male snap-fit structure protrusion 1134 from being inadvertently released after being inserted into the female snap-fit structure 1142. Therefore, the cover 1103 and the base 1104 can be firmly secured together and are less likely to be released or displaced relative to each other.
It will be appreciated by skilled in the art, that the configurations and connection method of the male snap-fit structure and the female snap-fit structure of the snap-fit structure are not limited to those described in the above embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, it is possible either that the male snap-fit structure is provided on the base and the female snap-fit structure is provided on the cover, or that the male snap-fit structure is provided on the cover and the female snap-fit structure is provided on the base. This alternative arrangement is similar to the arrangement described above, and will not be repeated herein, as long as the snap-fit structure can securely fix the cover to a target position of the base.
An objective of the present disclosure is to at least partially solve the foregoing technical problem.
The toilet plunger holder and the toilet plunger set of the present disclosure have, but are not limited to, the following beneficial technical effects.
For example, the releasable assembly of the cover and the base in the toilet plunger holder of the present disclosure makes it easier for a consumer to package, carry and transport after purchasing, and also easier to store after use.
Further, the cover of the toilet plunger holder in embodiments can be accommodated and slide in the slide grooves of the base, so that the cover can be conveniently moved from the storage position to the usage position, thus facilitating the quick switching of the toilet plunger holder between the storage state and the usage state.
Further still, the front side of the cover of the toilet plunger holder is provided with the recess for abutting against the toilet plunger rod portion, so that the toilet plunger can be placed in the toilet plunger holder in a more stable manner and is less likely to be tilted.
Still further, the snap-fit structure of the toilet plunger holder in embodiments is easy to manufacture, convenient to mount, and stable in connection, and after being locked in a snap-fit manner, the snap-fit structure is less likely to be released even when there is vibration or external force.
Although the present disclosure is described in conjunction with the examples of embodiments outlined above, various alternatives, modifications, variations, improvements, and/or substantial equivalents that are known or current or to be anticipated before long may be obvious to those of at least ordinary skill in the art. In addition, the technical effects and/or technical problems described in the present disclosure are illustrative rather than restrictive. Therefore, the disclosed description in the present disclosure may be used to solve other technical problems and have other technical effects and/or may solve other technical problems. Accordingly, the examples of the embodiments of the present disclosure as set forth above are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting. Various changes can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to include all known or earlier developed alternatives, modifications, variations, improvements and/or basic equivalents.
Patent Application
20250230641
