US3363604A - Toilet accessory - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 16, 1968 F. PSCHIBUL TOILET ACCESSORY v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 19, 1965 v INVENTOR, Franz Pschibul Jan. 16, 1968 F. PSCHIBUL 3,

- I TOILET ACCESSORY Filed on. 19 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR,

Franz Pschibul United States Patent 3,363,604 TOILET ACCESSORY Franz Pschibul, 262 G St. SW., Washington, DC. 26024 Filed Oct. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 497,969 1 Claim. (Cl. 118-212) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Devices are described for storing sheet material and dispensing it either dry or impregnated with a liquid. These devices, which are especially useful for dispensing toilet tissue, include a mounting bracket for mounting the device on a wall, an upper roller for mounting a roll of toilet tissue, a lower roller over which the toilet tissue may be drawn, if desired, and a reservoir from which the lower roller picks up liquid. In use, toilet tissue may be withdrawn from the roll thereof without contacting the lower roller if dry tissue is desired, or if tissue is desired which is impregnated with a cleansing, medicated or perfumed fluid, the tissue may be drawn across the lower impregnating roller to apply the desired liquid before detaching the length of tissue from the roll.

The present invention relates to the dispensing of sheet materials and more especially to the impregnation thereof precedent to removing portions from storage.

The most significant use of the present invention lies in the dispensing of cleansing tissues, for example rolled paper which is generally known to be water absorbent. It is adaptable to hygienic toilet paper, rolled paper towels and the like. There is now an unmet need for the controlled impregnation of toilet paper and other cleansing tissues with cleaning, deodorizing, germicidal and/ or medicating fluids. To impregnate, or treat, these cleansing tissues with a solution while at the same time withdrawing the tissue from storage is a primary objective of the invention. In order to do this, the problem of avoiding premature deterioration of the tensile strength of the tissue must be overcome. Such deterioration would, of course, make it difiicult to withdraw intact portions of the rolled materials sufliciently large for the desired purpose.

Accordingly, it is a further objective of invention to provide the user with a suitable means for impregnating simultaneously with removing cleansing tissues from storage rolls without substantial deterioration of the tensile strength thereof.

Primary objects of the invention, among others, are to obviate the need for special packaging for liquid-impregnated cleansing paper rolls; reduce the weight of packaged moisturized or treated rolls and provide the user with means for obtaining either dry or treated cleansing tissue, all in accordance with his needs.

It is a further object of invention to provide a suitable means for impregnating rolled tissues stored on existing fixtures by means of an adjustable guide and fluid impregnating reservoir.

These and other objects of invention will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a preferred form of invention its showing attachment to an existing fixture, the fixture being illustrated in phantom;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an expanded fragmentary view of a portion of the anchoring means illustrated in the embodiment of FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view in perspective of a modification 3,363,604 Patented Jan. 16, 1968 of the invention comprising a unitary tissue storage and impregnating reservoir and applicator arrangement;

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view of a modification of the invention which is adapted to be disposed in operative relationship to'existing roll storage areas, irrespective of attachment thereto;

FIGURE 6 is a View of an impregnated tissue as obtained from the embodiments of FIGURES 1, 2 and FIGURE 7 is a view of an impregnated tissue obtained from the embodiment of FIGURE 4.

The basic concept of the invention is best illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 3 inclusive. A dispensing fixture and roll of conventional porous paper is shown in phantom detail in FIG. 1. Such a fixture is commonly set into a lavatory wall. In this embodiment 100, there is reservoir 110, having a forward compartment 112, defining an end extension to the reservoir, the'same having a viewing and filling cover 114 appropriately hinged, as shown. On either side of the reservoir a suitable anchor 116 for the adjustable suspension means. As indicated, the suspension means 120 is connected at its lower end to the anchor 116, thus supporting the reservoir 110 and its cover against displacement. 'In the embodiment shown, the suspension means comprises an adjustable strap at the free end of which is a suitable clam-p 122, comprising a U-shaped extension 124, and interior leaf spring 126, the same being terminated by a padded tension element, the tension element and spring forcing the U-shaped clamp extension against the fixture, as indicated in FIG. 3.

The cover 130, which is adapted to rest upon the reservoir in fitting engagement, has an elongated aperture 132 which is of sufiicient dimension to expose the impregnating rollers for contact with the tissues to be treated. In the embodiment shown, the aperture of the top 130 is rectangular and substantially coextensive with but somewhat longer than the roller 140, but not as long as the axis of the roller per se. This roller is composed of a plurality of segments, each being concentrically mounted about an axle (not shown). The axle is mounted in the reservoir 110 by appropriate journal means. A plurality of bevelled abutments 136 are shown on the cover 130 in substantial alignment with ends of the roller 140, these being adapted to guide the edges of the paper into the path of the rollers 140. This wall be most apparent from reference to FIG. 2.

In the embodiment shown, the means for mounting the fixtures on the wall comprises a plurality of suction cups 138, each of which is mounted in adjustable threaded engagement with the interior wall of the reservoir 110, permitting adjustment horizontally from the fixture so that a most suitable disposition of impregnating rollers with respect to the rolled material can be eflected. This horizontal adjustment is determined largely by the spaced disposition of the tissue roll axis from the fixture wall and may be varied as required to maintain a substantially level reservoir in the unit.

Modifications of the invention are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. With particular reference to FIG. 4, for example, a unified construction is illustrated in which the reservoir and storage elements are combined. Here, rather than afiix the unit 400 to an existing storage element, appropriate uprights 420 extend on either side and at the rear of the reservoir 410, being joined at the top by a bracket 422, the entire frame, including extensions 424, providing thereby an appropriate seat for the axle of the roll dispensing unit. Other details include the reservoir extension 412 and refill and viewing opening 414, closely associated with the top 430, the same having the tissue guides 436, aligned with the elongated aperture 9 u 432. Such a unit is adapted to be substituted for the conventional ceramic or metal fixture, normally set into a recess in a lavatory wall. In this modification, the rolls 440 are segmented in the axial direction as compared to the substantially uninterrupted smooth surface of the rolls in FIG. 1, namely those indicated at 140.

With reference to FIG. 5, like numbers apply to cor responding elements, in the embodiment 500, except that in this construction, the unit is intended to be used either unattached or in the alternative, attached to a wall as indicated at FIG. 1, depending upon the need. The relationship of the reservoir cover 530 to the reservoir 510 is clearly indicated here by the arrows. The means of mounting the rollers 540 illustrated in FIG. being common to all species embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show the impregnation of the tissue resulting from use of the respective embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 5 on the one handsee FIG. 6; and the results of utilizing the FIG. 4 embodiment on the other handsee FIG. 7.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that numerous other modifications could be constructed without departing from the spirit of the invention the scope of which is intended to be limited only as by the prior art and the appended claims. Preferably, the length of the plurality of impregnating rollers is substantially less than that of the paper roll itself, in order to provide dry edge zones intermediate dry zones and, due to the spaces between adjacent rollers, therebetween. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the proportions of impregnated to non-impregnated area of the tissue may be varied as desired. As indicated, in the drawings a major portion of the area of the tissue may be impregnated by the rollers; but the exchangeability of the rollers permits a variation to be applied in accordance with individual needs, all without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1 claim:

1. A toilet accessory for dispensing dry or liquid-impregnated toilet tissue as desired comprising, in combination, a body member having an upstanding upper portion, the rear surface of which has a generally planar area adapted to be mounted in contact with a wall, and a lower concave portion integral with and protruding outwardly from said upper portion and a wall on which said toilet accessory is mounted, said lower body portion being liquid-tight and adapted to act as a reservoir for impregnating liquid, said lower body portion being upwardly open and having an elongated impregnating roller means rotatably mounted therein transversely of the toilet -accessory, said impregnating roller being disposed in said lower body member so that at least a portion of the surface of said roller contacts liquid in said reservoir, a cover having an opening therein, said opening being dimensioned to receive and expose a portion of the surface of said impregnating roller, said cover being disposed in engagement with the lower portion of said body member so as to substantially close the upwardly open top thereof except for sufiicient clearance to permit rotation of said impregnating roller within the opening in said cover, a pair of arms extending outwardly from the upper portion of said body member, an upper roller, and means to rotatably and removably mount said upper roller between said arms, said upper roller holding a roll of toilet tissue in said toilet accessory for storage and dispensing of toilet tissue therefrom, and a pair of upstanding guide members, one disposed at each side of the top of said cover adjacent to the opening thereof to contact the outer edges of toilet tissue drawn from said roll and to guide said tissue over said lower impregnating roller, said toilet accessory permitting tissue to be withdrawn from said roll thereof in the dry state by manually pulling the tissue outwardly from the toilet accessory out of contact with said lower impregnating roller, and permitting withdrawal of tissue impregnated with liquid by pulling the tissue downwardly between said guides and over said impregnating roller in order to pick up liquid from said roller and reservoir before detaching the impregnated tissue from the roll thereof, and means for removably mounting said toilet accessory on a wall, said toilet accessory being adapted to be easily demounted from a wall and disassembled into its component parts for periodic cleaning in order to ensure sanitary maintenance.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,674,386 6/1928 Cook 118258 1,869,806 8/1932 Gale 118-40 2,031,772 2/ 1936 Hall 118419 3,025,829 3/1962 Smith 118-221 3,084,664 4/ 1963 Perlman et al 118-235 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

R, 1. SMITH, Assistant Examiner.

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