FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the field of partitioning and, more particularly, to a partition adapted for installation in a restroom between urinals.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Partitions in public restrooms, such as those mounted on restroom walls between urinals, are easily ripped from the wall because these partitions are only about 3½ feet high and are attached solely to the wall, and not to the ceiling or the floor. Installing such partitions in this way makes cleaning the restroom floor easier than if such partitions extended all the way to the floor. Further, these types of partitions are less expensive than if they were to extend to the ceiling for support. These types of partitions are available from many sources, such as for example from Knickerbocker Partition Corporation in Freeport, N.Y.
A typical partition between two urinals in a pubic restroom is mounted on a mounting plate with screws arranged in pairs on either side of the mounting plate. This arrangement creates a lever with the fulcrum at one of the screws and a moment arm the distance from the mounting plate to the front edge of the partition. Therefore, a small force applied to the front edge of the partition is magnified by the mechanical advantage of a lever. This magnified force typically results in screws which mount the partition to the restroom wall being pulled from whatever the screw is mounted to beneath the mounting plate. This can damage the backboard behind the partition and can damage ceramic tiles of the restroom wall. These and similar kinds of damage are unsightly and are expensive to repair.
Thus, there remains a need for a system for mounting a partition to a restroom wall, particularly of the kind just described, which will reduce the likelihood of such damage occurring. The present invention is directed to fulfilling this need in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a flexible attachment for mounting a privacy partition adjacent a urinal in a public restroom. The flexible attachment allows the partition to be pushed out of position without pulling out the mounting screws. Further, the flexible mounting arrangement includes a biasing means to move the partition back to its center or rest position, once the side pressure against the front edge is released.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art from a review of the following detailed description along with the accompanying drawing figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top down view of the prior art system for mounting a privacy partition on a restroom wall adjacent to a urinal.
FIG. 2 is a top down view of a system of the present invention for mounting a privacy partition to a restroom wall.
FIG. 3 is a side section view of a mounting element of this invention.
FIG. 4 is a top section view of a mounting element of this invention taken along section lines 4-4 of FIG.3.
FIG. 5 is a section view of a mounting element taken along section lines 5-5 of FIG. 3.
FIG. 6 is a section view of a mounting element taken along section lines 6-6 of FIG. 3.
FIG. 7 is a section view of a mounting element taken along section lines 7-7 of FIG. 3.
FIG. 8 is a detail view of a mounting element.
FIG. 9 is a top detail view of a mounting element adapted to retrofitting an existing privacy partition.
FIG. 10 is a from elevation view of a mounting element for retrofitting an existing privacy partition as with FIG.9.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
So that the objects and advantages of the present invention may be understood more fully, reference is first made to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 depicts a conventional urinal partition arrangement on either side of a urinal 100 including partitions 102. The partition 102 is typically mounted to a restroom wall 20 made up of a backboard 13 and a veneer 14, often ceramic tile. The partition 102 is mounted to the wall 20 with a mounting flange 74 attached with two or more screws 12.
The partition is illustrated in FIG. 1 with a lever arm length a and a distance between screws as a distance b. Thus, if someone presses against a front edge 11 of the partition with a force f, then the stress applied to the screw 12′ is multiplied by the mechanical advantage a:b, typically on the order of 20:2, or tenfold. Very little force f is therefore required to pull the screw 12′ from the wall, and the resultant damage to the wall makes the subsequent repairs difficult and expensive since one cannot simply put a replacement screw back into the damaged portion of the wall.
The present invention, depicted in FIG. 2, provides a flexible attachment 15, which absorbs the force f applied to the outer edge 11 of a movable partition wall 46 in the direction shown, allowing the partition to be pushed out of its rest position without damage to the mounting hardware and the wall region to which the partition is mounted.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, such an attachment 15 is illustrated in detail. FIG. 3 depicts the attachment 15 in an elevation section view and FIG. 4 depicts the attachment in a top section view. The attachment 15 includes a U-shaped bracket 16 which mates with a dovetail plate 18. The dovetail plate, in turn, mounts to the wall 20 by a single anchor screw 22 per attachment 15. A pivot pin 24 is held between an upper leg 26 and a lower leg 28 of the bracket 16. The pivot pin 24 also retains a second U-shaped hinge-part 31. Together, the hinge-part 31, the bracket 16, and the accompanying structural element thus define a hinge 30 which freely rotates horizontally.
The hinge 30 further comprises a spring-loaded ball detent 32. The ball detent 32 urges the partition wall 46 to a quiescent position that is perpendicular to the wall 20. It should now be appreciated that the pivot pin 24 defines the axis of rotation of the partition, and that this axis of rotation is between the partition and the detent mechanism.
The pivot pin 24 is secured to the U-shaped bracket 16 by a pair of bearing washers 34 and 36. A pair of slightly angled holes 38 and 40 through the hinge-part 31 provide passageways for a set of screws 42 and 44 which screw into a partition wall 46. Further, the screws 42 and 44 hold the partition wall 46 against a bottom surface 48 of a cutout 50 of the hinge-part 31. The screws 42 and 44 screw into the short side of the partition wall 46 so that they are not visible to the outer surfaces of the partition wall. This feature of the invention enhances the appearance of the flexible partition, and is also more sanitary than if the screw heads were exposed to the outside surface of the partition wall.
A securing pin 52 extends through the pivot pin 24, thereby preventing the pivot pin from slipping out. The bracket 16 further comprises a flexible tongue 54 which is integrally formed with the bracket 16. A detent groove 56 defines the rest position for the ball detent 32, while complementary ramp surfaces 58 and 60 urge the ball detent back to the detent groove 56 and the rest position. Recall that the axis of rotation of the partition is the pivot pin 24. Thus, as the ball detent 32 rides up the ramp surface 58 or the ramp surface 60, the force required to rotate the partition diminishes as the angle between the partition and the bathroom wall diminishes.
The dovetail plate 18 further includes a recessed area 62 and a notch 64 to receive the flexible tongue 54. A countersunk hole 66 receives the anchor screw 22 to secure the assembly to the wall 20.
FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 depict section views of the mount 15 along the respective section lines indicated in FIG. 3 and illustrate certain features of the present invention in more detail. For installation of a flexible partition wall in accordance with the present invention, two hinges 30 and brackets 16 are first mounted on the wall 46 (FIGS. 3 and 4) and a corresponding pair of dove-tail plates are mounted to the wall 20. The brackets 16 are then slid down over pre-installed dove-tail plates 18. During this process, the tongue 54 is slightly depressed as the brackets slide down into position. When the brackets 16 come to rest on a top 19 (FIG. 3) of the dove-tail plates 18, the tongues 54 snap into the recess 62 of plates 18. This feature of the present invention prevents the entire assembly from being removed. In order to remove the flexible attachment 15 from the wall 20, it is necessary to first remove the pin 52. This permits the removal of the hinge pin 24, which simply slide straight down. The partition 46 may then be withdrawn from the bracket, which carries the hinges 30 along with the partition. Then, a hook shaped tool (not shown) can be inserted into a notch 64 to pull the tongue 54 away from the recess 62 to allow the bracket 16 to be moved upwardly and away from the dove-tail plate.
Now referring to FIGS. 6 and 8, if force f is applied to the front edge of the partition wall as shown in FIG. 2, the hinge 30 rotates around hinge pin 24 and spring-loaded detent ball 32 is forced out of the detent groove 56. The ball rides up either the angled ramp 58 or the ramp 60, as illustrated in FIG. 8. After release of the force f against the partition wall 56, the detent ball 32 is forced by the spring 68 to roll down ramp 58 or 60, until ball comes to rest in the detent groove 56. The partition wall is thus back in its “Q” or rest position, perpendicular to the restroom wall 20.
Because the force necessary to overcome the detent 32 is relatively small, brackets with side flanges 74 such as those illustrated in FIG. 1 are unnecessary. Thus, the dove-tail mounting plate 18 may be mounted with a single screw 22 to the restroom wall. The screw 22 is out of sight, as are the screws 42 and 44, which gives the entire partition attachment a streamlined look and makes cleaning theses parts easier.
However, where existing partition walls are to be retrofitted with this new attachment 15 to prevent further wall damage, existing screw holes in the wall must be covered up or even used, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. In this embodiment of the present invention, a dove-tail plate 18a is equipped with two side flanges 80 and 82. The side flanges have elongated holes 84 and 86 so that existing screw holes in the wall 20 may be used. A partition wall 46a also has previously used screw holes or is otherwise not internally constructed to utilize screws 42 and 44 of the previous embodiment as shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, screws 88 and 90 can be used, if holes 92 and 94 in a hinge 30a are provided.
Patent Application
20070144088
