US3927426A

US3927426A - Male and female urinal

Info

Publication number: US3927426A
Application number: US554639A
Authority: US
Inventors: Paul E Geddes
Original assignee: GNP PLASTICS CORP
Current assignee: GNP PLASTICS CORP
Priority date: 1975-03-03
Filing date: 1975-03-03
Publication date: 1975-12-23
Anticipated expiration: 1992-12-23

Abstract

A urinal made by blow molding process includes a body and a neck which is both tapered and is angularly related to the body of the urinal. In order that the urinal is adapted for both male and female usage, the open end of the neck receives a press fitted adapter therein which is of one configuration for male usage and is anatomically configured for female usage in another form of the adapter. Both adapters include a closure or odor shield with a hinge portion which fits over the open end of the adapter to seal the interior of the container and the closure is connected through a flexible section to either the container or the adapter to be a permanent part thereof whether the closure is in open or sealed positions. The base of the container is enlarged with both flared and radiused sides so that the container is more stable in an upright position and the handle is a completely closed handle, which although hollow, is sealed from the body.

Description

United States Patent [191 Geddes Dec. 23, 1975 MALE AND FEMALE URINAL [75] Inventor: Paul E. Geddes, Sturgis, Mich.

[73] Assignee: GNP Plastics Corporation, Grand Rapids, Mich.

[22] Filed: Mar. 3, 1975 [21] Appl. No.: 554,639

[52] US. Cl 4/110; 128/295 [51] Int. Cl. E03D 13/00 [58] Field of Search 4/110, 111, 112, 142, 113,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 241,863 5/1881 Hopkins 4/110 2,358,850 9/1944 Chanault A 4/110 2,542,276 2/1951 Felts 4/110 2,582,398 l/l952 Siegenthal 4/110 2,594,339 4/1952 Nugent 4/110 2,815,511 12/1957 Friedman et a1... 4/110 3,168,869 6/1965 Johnson et a1 4/110 3,422,463 1/1969 Lowry 4/1 10 3,471,869 10/1969 Segal 4/110 3,473,172 10/1969 Friedman et al... 4/110 3,479,671 1 H1969 Beich 4/110 3,716,871 2/1973 Borse 4/110 3,727,244 4/1973 Collins 4/110 Primary Examinerl-lenry K. Artis ABSTRACT A urinal made by blow molding process includes a body and a neck which is both tapered and is angularly related to the body of the urinal.

In order that the urinal is adapted for both male and female usage, the open end of the neck receives a press fitted adapter therein which is of one configuration for male usage and is anatomically configured for female usage in another form of the adapter. Both adapters include a closure or odor shield with a hinge portion which fits over the open end of the adapter to seal the interior of the container and the closure is connected through a flexible section to either the container or the adapter to be a permanent part thereof whether the closure is in open or sealed positions.

The base of the container is enlarged with both flared and radiused sides so that the container is more stable in an upright position and the handle is a completely closed handle, which although hollow, is sealed from the body.

10 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures US Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 1 of3 3,927,426

US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,927,426

US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 3 of 3 3,927,426

MALE AND FEMALE URINAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the construction of urinals for hospitals, nursing homes, private aircraft usage and the like, it has been found that a blow molded plastic product is ideally suited in that it is inexpensive enough to be disposable, is light weight, rinsable, translucent and is ideally suited for its particular application as a urinal.

Many different applications have been conceived for the urinal of this invention and to mention a few, in addition to the hospital application, are nursing homes, sick beds at private residences, private aircraft where relief tubes or other relief means are impractical, automobiles and the like.

There is a market for millions of these items and while they are in common use, there are many shortcomings of the container in that it is impractical to provide the same urinal for male and female usage, separate urinals must be provided since they are relatively non-interchangeable. What is needed is a single construction urinal which is adapted for either male or female usage by means of an adapter which can be selectively interfitted onto a standard urinal.

It is also an important feature of a urinal that during use and subsequently thereto, that it is stable and positionable either on its side or in upright position and cannot easily be knocked over of dislodged. Also, it is proposed in most of these urinal applications to have a handle which can be used as a fitment over a side rail of a bed in order to support the urinal for convenient storage.

In also many applications of the prior art, it has been found that an odor shield is almost essential in that it prevents accidental splashing of liquid from the container and it seals off the interior of the container so that it will not be a source of objectionable odor and the like.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to adapt a single construction container which is both stable and inexpensive to both male and female usage by selective interfitment of an adapter which can include a closure member integrally related therewith and which forms an odor shield. The odor shield can either be associated with the body or neck of the container in one application or with the adapter in another application depending upon design consideration.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a container which serves as a urinal in which the handle will taper toward the body of the container forming a sure lock. Also in a further embodiment of the invention, a handle can be press fitted onto the body and snap fitted within an associated groove to make a semi-permanent or permanent handle connected to the container. The handle is a permanent construction and when it is desired to discard the container, it can be easily fitted onto a replacement container.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein a plurality of embodiments are selected by way of example and not by way of limitation of the invention.

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a urinal in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the urinal shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the same urinal as FIG. 1 but with a modification adapted for female application and including a hole in the handle for mounting thereof;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section view of the urinal in FIG. 4 but with the adapter removed;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detail view showing in plan view a combination adapter and closure for male adaptation of the urinal in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on lines 7-7 of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a combination adapter and closure which is utilized with the urinal of FIG. 1 and shown installed in FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a section view taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are fragmentary views illustrating the upper end of a urinal in FIG. 10 and a closure plate and mounting therefor in FIG. 11, adapted for the urinal of FIG. 10, illustrated removed and in perspective view;

FIG. 12 is a further embodiment of the invention showing a handle which is fitable onto the body of the urinal by press fitting thereon;

FIG. 13 is an isometric fragmentary detail view of the upper end of a blow molded container having a tab for receiving the odor shield thereon; and

FIG. 14 is an isometric detail view of the odor shield and hinge which is adapted for combination with the container illustrated in FIG. 13.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, a plastic blow molded container designated generally by reference numeral 10 has a body 12, a base 14 and neck 16 which tapers at an angle to the body 12 and has a generally decreasing cross section terminating in an opening 18.

Container 10 has a handle 20 with a pinched section 22 which completely seals the hollow interior 24 of the handle from the interior 26 of container 10. The bottom end 28 of the handle 20 is rounded as indicated at 30 and the entire handle is inclined towards the body 12 so that the clearance between the end 28 and body 12 is less than at the upper end of the handle 20. The handle 20 is sufficiently resilient so that it can be forcefitted over a rail and the handle then serves as a hook for supporting the container.

As shown in FIG. 7, opening 18 receives a circular boss 32 with a circular groove 34 which fits over 18 and forms a smooth interior surface 36 and smooth exterior surface 38. Integral with the ring 32 is a live hinge with an indentation 41 to provide a live hinge bendable section for shield 42 having a tab 44 and a stopper 46 which fits within 36. Stopper 46 has a number of spaced inclined reinforcement gussets 48 to strengthen the stopper or odor shield around the periphery.

In use, the shield 42 is lifted, and after use the odor shield 42 acting as a stopper, is press fitted into the opening 36. The entire assembly, designated generally by reference numeral 50 serves as an adapter for the container 10 as the male urinal.

One of the important features of the present invention is that the urinal is more stable when it is in an upright position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by reason of the downwardly flaring sides which make the container of maximum cross section at its base or bottom 52.

Also,

sides

54, 56 and 58 at the base are convexly shaped in order to add to the area and hence the stability of the base by increasing its resting area.

Referring next to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 8 and 9, handle 20 includes an opening 60 which is molded integrally with the partition 22 so that the urinal can be hung either through the opening 60 or by means of the handle 20 serving as a hook.

The urinal in this case is adapted for female usage by means of an adapter 64 having an end 66 and groove 68 which is force-fitted over the end 18 of the urinal container 10. The adapter in this case is anatomically shaped with an opening 70 adapting it for female use, and the device has an integral section 72 with a shield 74 having a central boss 76 and an oval closure flange 78 which fits within opening 70 to seal the opening against escape of fluid and odor.

Because the shield or cover 74 is integrally related with the adapter, there is no opportunity for it to become either lost or misplaced. It is conveniently located at all times to the urinal and is in non-interfering relation with normal use.

It should be understood that either the adapter of FIGS. 6 and 7 or the adapter of FIGS. 8 and 9 are usable with the same container so that instead of having a male and female urinal container or attempting to make a single standard urinal, the present invention proposes with a single container to provide adapters making the same container useful for male or female usage and the standard container then has all of the functional advantages previously described.

Another feature of the present invention is that each of the

sides

54, 56 and 58 have graduations both in english and metric units and, because the plastic composition makes the product translucent, it is possible to read the liquid content directly.

Referring next to the embodiment of FIGS. and 11, at the exterior surface of end 18 is a groove 90 into which is force-fitted a ring 92 having a live hinge 94 and odor shield 96 with a stopper section 98 which is force-fitted within the interior surface at the open end 18 of the urinal.

In a still further embodiment shown in FIG. 12, handle 102 consisting of formed wires and including two

arm sections

104 and 106 are force-fitted within complementary grooves 110 which are formed in the surface of the neck of container 10.

The groove is molded integrally with the blow molded container and the formed wire handle 102 spring fits into the plastic body. In this embodiment, as in the previous one, there are no interior areas or sections of either the container or the handle which can entrap odors and the urinal can be easily rinsed out.

Considering next the embodiment shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 at the neck end of container 12 is a small tab 120. In this embodiment, an indentation or socket 122 is proportioned to press fit onto tab 120 and the lid or shield 126 is hingedly mounted on section 128 which is formed integrally therewith and the entirety is mechanically fitted through opening 122 onto tab 120 whereby the odor shield 126 is accessible at all times and is fitted over the open end 69 of the urinal container.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described in connection with a few selected example embodiments, it will be understood that these are illustrative of the invention and are by no means restrictive thereof. It is reasonably to be assumed that those skilled in this art can make numerous revisions and adaptations and it is intended that such revisions and adaptations will be included within the scope of the following claims as equivalents of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A plastic blow molded container adapted as a urinal including a body, a neck extending from the body and tapering to a smaller cross section at one end thereof and formed inclinedly to the body of said container, an elongated handle formed integrally with said neck and separated therefrom by an integral sealed portion, a smaller diameter end of said neck forming the terminous of said neck, and replaceable adapter means for one or the other of female and male usage and including a portion adapted to form a press fitting connection with the end of said neck, and a hinged closure means proportioned to fit into and form a seal over the open end of said adapter means whereby the interior of the urinal is sealed.

2. The container construction in accordance with claim 1 in which said closure is hingedly connected with said adapter means whereby said closure means is movable between open and closed positions while maintaining a positive connection with said adapter means.

3. The container construction in accordance with claim 2 in which said closure means includes a live hinge which is an integral portion of said adapter means and closure means and interconnectedly relates said closure with said adapter means to both join and hinge the two parts permanently together.

4. The container construction in accordance with claim 1 in which the female one of said adapter means has an open end anatomically related for female urinal usage.

5. The container construction in accordance with claim 1 in which said handle tapers toward the body of said container to form an interference fit whereby said handle is spring fitted over a side rail or the like to hold the container in stored position.

6. The container construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein said handle consists of a wire handle member including a U-shaped shank proportioned to be snap fitted within a groove formed around the periphery of said neck and adapted to form a releasable connection with said container and a depending handle section extending somewhat parallel to the body of said container and inclined slightly toward said body.

7. The container construction in accordance with claim 1 including a plastic ring adapted to be stretched and fitted within a groove constructed integrally within said neck at the open end of said container, an integral plastic portion with said ring, and an odor shield attached to said portion which serves as a hinge whereby said odor shield is movable between a sealed relation with said open end and a non-sealing position while remaining integrally connected with said hinge and said ring.

8. The container construction in accordance with claim 1 including a plastic ring adapted to be stretched and fitted within a groove constructed integrally with said adapter, a live hinge section of said ring and an odor shield integrally related to said hinge section and 6 socket to said container whereby the odor shield is movable between closed sealing relation to the end of said container and unsealed relation while remaining connected with said container at all times.

10. The container construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein said handle includes transverse opening providing a mounting for said container.

Claims

8. The container construction in accordance with claim 1 including a plastic ring adapted to be stretched and fitted within a groove constructed integrally with said adapter, a live hinge section of said ring and an odor shield integrally related to said hinge section and adapted to be moved into and out of sealing relation with the open end of said adapter.

9. The container construction in accordance with claim 1 in which a portion of said container includes an integrally molded tab, a live hinge having an opening forming a press fitted socket in relation to said tab whereby said hinge is releasably connected to said container, and an odor shield secured through said socket to said container whereby the odor shield is movable between closed sealing relation to the end of said container and unsealed relation while remaining connected with said container at all times.