Patent Application
20090151061
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a urinal assembly, and more particularly, to a urinal assembly having a urinal deodorizer that provides a continuous deodorizing effect, and simultaneously, is able to clean and disinfect a basin of a urinal device during flushing of the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Urinal deodorizers are utilized to clean a urinal (not shown) and, at the same time, to mask unpleasant odors in a restroom.
The disadvantage of the abovesaid urinal deodorizer 5 is that the urinal deodorizer 5 can only perform its intended function on an intermittent basis. That is to say, the urinal deodorizer 5 is only activated to release the deodorizing agent 6 when the urinal is flushed such that the deodorizing agent 6 is mixed and flushed away with the flush water. If the urinal is not flushed for a long period of time, however, unpleasant odors will develop and linger in the restroom.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a urinal assembly that is capable of overcoming the above-mentioned drawback of the prior art.
According to the present invention, a urinal assembly includes a urinal device and a urinal deodorizer. The urinal device includes a basin, and plumbing that is one of manually and automatically operated to flush the basin. The urinal deodorizer includes a housing, a deodorizing agent supply unit, a first pipe, and an open-type air-freshening container. The deodorizing agent supply unit is disposed in the housing and has an outlet. The deodorizing agent supply unit is adapted to hold a deodorizing agent and to dispense a predetermined amount of the deodorizing agent. The first pipe has first and second ends. The first end is coupled to the outlet of the deodorizing agent supply unit. The open-type air-freshening container is coupled to the second end of the first pipe to receive and hold the predetermined amount of the deodorizing agent dispensed from the deodorizing agent supply unit. The air-freshening container is coupled to the plumbing of the urinal device and is operable to supply a portion of the predetermined amount of the deodorizing agent to the basin of the urinal device via the plumbing during flushing of the basin.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
The urinal device 50 includes a basin 55, and plumbing 16 that is one of manually and automatically operated to flush the basin 55.
The urinal deodorizer 23 includes a housing 1, a deodorizing agent supply unit 2, a first pipe 21, and an open-type air-freshening container 12. The deodorizing agent supply unit 2 is disposed in the housing 1 and has an outlet 20. The deodorizing agent supply unit 2 is adapted to hold a deodorizing agent 3 and to dispense a predetermined amount of the deodorizing agent 3. The first pipe 21 has first and second ends 210, 211. The first end 210 is coupled to the outlet 20 of the deodorizing agent supply unit 2. The open-type air-freshening container 12 is coupled to the second end 211 of the first pipe 21 to receive and hold the predetermined amount of the deodorizing agent 3 dispensed from the deodorizing agent supply unit 2. The air-freshening container 12 is coupled to the plumbing 16 of the urinal device 50 and is operable to supply a portion of the predetermined amount of the deodorizing agent 3 to the basin 55 of the urinal device 50 via the plumbing 16 during flushing of the basin 55.
In the preferred embodiment, the urinal deodorizer 23 further includes a second pipe 15 that has upper and lower ends. The upper end is coupled to the air-freshening container 12 and the lower end is coupled to the plumbing 16 of the urinal device 50. The air-freshening container 12 supplies the portion of the predetermined amount of the deodorizing agent 3 to the basin 55 via the second pipe 15 and the plumbing 16.
In the preferred embodiment, the urinal deodorizer 23 further includes a replaceable absorbent member 4 that is disposed in the air-freshening container 12. The replaceable absorbent member 4 is one of a sponge material, a water-absorbent cotton material, and a non-woven cloth material.
The housing 1 confines a compartment 13 that encloses the deodorizing agent supply unit 2 therein. The deodorizing agent supply unit 2 includes a control unit 22 that can be either manually controlled or electrically activated. In the preferred embodiment, an eccentric cam 220 of the deodorizing agent supply unit 2 is employed to regulate dispensing of the deodorizing agent 3. That is, in the preferred embodiment, the eccentric cam 220 is controlled by the control unit 20 to spin once at regular intervals. For example, the control unit 20 may include a timer (not shown) that may be manually set and/or have a default mode, and that allows for such operation by the control unit 20 to control the eccentric cam 220.
An inner back wall 102 of the housing 1 that faces into the compartment 13 has an opening 103 that allows the first pipe 21 to pass therethrough. The first pipe 21 is also routed in a first hidden recess 11 that is formed in an outer back wall 10 of the housing 1. The open-type air-freshening container 12 is mounted on an upper portion 101 of the outer back wall 10 of the housing 1. The open-type air-freshening container 12 is specifically designed in an open manner to facilitate effortless replacement of the absorbent material 4 when necessary, as well as to continuously expose the deodorizing agent 3 held in the open-type air-freshening container 12 to the air outside the urinal assembly 40. On the outer back wall 10 of the housing 1, the second pipe 15 is connected to the container 12 and the plumbing 16 via a first coupler 150 and a second coupler 152, respectively. The second pipe 15 is disposed in a second hidden recess 14 formed in the outer back wall 10 of the housing 1.
In use, the control unit 22 activates the eccentric cam 220 of the deodorizing agent supply unit 2 to supply a predetermined amount of the deodorizing agent 3 to the open-type air-freshening container 12 via the first pipe 21. The deodorizing agent 3 enters into the container 12, partially fills the container 12, and remains in the container 12 before being supplied to the plumbing 16 through the second pipe 15 during flushing. By temporarily remaining in open-type air-freshening container 12, the deodorizing agent 3 is exposed to the surrounding air. Because the open-type air-freshening container 12 is open to the surrounding air, the deodorizing agent 3 is able to release its scent to the surroundings to thereby continually mask unpleasant odors in the restroom.
Furthermore, the ability of the deodorizing agent 3 to release its scent to the surrounding air is enhanced through use of the absorbent material 4. However, it should be noted that the absorbent material 4 is a supplement to the present invention. If the absorbent material 4 is omitted from the configuration of the urinal deodorizer 23, it is still possible to rely solely on the open-type air-freshening container 12 to perform deodorization, and the present invention can still achieve its intended results.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
