Toilet hygiene apparatus

Abstract

A toilet bowl hygiene apparatus 100, that makes use of a low volume of plastic for waste reduction purposes, is comprised of a body of hygiene substance 2, a support member 4, at least one engagement member 6, and an adhesive tape 8 extending from the support member 4 for attachment to a toilet bowl at a point above the body of hygiene substance. The at least one engagement member 6 is coupled to, or integrally formed with, the support member 4 and extends from the support member 4 into and/or through the body of hygiene substance 2. The presently described exemplary embodiment the at least one engagement member 6 includes an upwardly extending blade portion 6a and a downwardly extending blade portion 6b.

Claims

1. A toilet bowl hygiene apparatus comprising: a body of hygiene substance; a support member; and at least one engagement member coupled to or integrally formed with the support member and extending from the support member into and/or through the body of hygiene substance; wherein the at least one engagement member includes an upwardly extending blade having an angle of 20 to 80 degrees.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the edge of the upwardly extending blade has an angle of 40 to 50 degrees.

3. The apparatus claim 1, wherein the at least one engagement member includes a downwardly extending blade.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the edge of the downwardly extending blade has an angle of 20 to 80 degrees.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the edge of the downwardly extending blade has an angle of 40 to 50 degrees.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the at least one engagement member includes an elongate convex portion wherein the upwardly extending blade extends upwardly from the elongate convex portion and wherein the downwardly extending blade extends downwardly from the elongate convex portion.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 including an adhesive tape extending from the support member for attachment to a toilet bowl at a point above the body of hygiene substance.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 including a second engagement member coupled to or integrally formed with the support member and extending into and/or through the body of hygiene substance, wherein the second engagement member is spaced from the first engagement member for preventing rotation and associated wearing of the body of hygiene substance.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 including a water diversion portion coupled to or integrally formed with the support member and locatable between a source of flush water and body of hygiene substance, for preventing flush water impacting directly upon a portion of the body of hygiene substance.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the body of hygiene substance includes a rear side and a front side wherein the support member includes a rear side portion that extends down the rear side.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one engagement member extends through the body of hygiene substance.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a fastener is attached to a remote end of the at least one engagement member for retaining the body of hygiene substance thereon.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first engagement member extends from a front side of the support member adjacent an intersection of a longitudinal reinforcement rib thereof and a transverse reinforcement rib thereof.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the support member includes a forwardly extending portion that extends from a rear side portion of the support member over a top side portion of the body of hygiene substance.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the support member includes an upwardly extending portion that extends upwardly from the forwardly extending portion; wherein the forwardly extending portion is serpentine in side profile.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] Preferred features, embodiments and variations may be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary in any way. The Detailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings as follows:

[0046] FIG. 1 illustrates a front side of a toilet bowl hygiene apparatus.

[0047] FIG. 2 is a view of the rear of the toilet bowl hygiene apparatus.

[0048] FIG. 3A shows a support member and fastener of the toilet bowl hygiene apparatus.

[0049] FIG. 3B is a cross sectional view of a engagement member 6 of FIG. 3A along the line A-A

[0050] FIG. 3C-3E are cross sectional views of support arms corresponding to engagement member 6 of FIG. 3A but with respectively circular, oval and elliptical cross sections.

[0051] FIG. 4 is a further view of the rear of the toilet bowl hygiene apparatus.

[0052] FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the toilet bowl hygiene apparatus shown in use.

[0053] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how flush water is believed to flow along the engagement member 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0054] Referring now to the Figures, a toilet bowl hygiene apparatus 100, according to a preferred embodiment is illustrated. In overview, the toilet bowl hygiene apparatus 100 is comprised of number of parts or portions, being a body of hygiene substance 2, a support member 4, at least one engagement member 6, and an adhesive tape 8 extending from the support member 4 for attachment to a toilet bowl at a point above the body of hygiene substance.

[0055] The at least one engagement member 6 is coupled to, or integrally formed with, the support member 4 and extends from the support member 4 into and/or through the body of hygiene substance 2.

[0056] In the presently described exemplary embodiment the at least one engagement member 6 includes an upwardly extending blade portion 6a and a downwardly extending blade portion 6b.

[0057] The at least one engagement member 6 also includes an elongate convex portion 6c wherein the upwardly extending blade 6a extends upwardly from the elongate convex portion and the downwardly extending blade 6b extends downwardly therefrom. As will be explained, the preferred shape of the at least one engagement member 6 has been found to assist in keeping the body of hygiene substance located about the at least one engagement member 6 in the face of a large number of flush cycles.

[0058] With reference to FIG. 3B, which is a cross sectional view along the line A-A of FIG. 3A, the edge of the upwardly extending blade 6a preferably describes an angle of 20 to 80 degrees, or even more preferably of 40 to 50 degrees. In FIG. 3B is 45 degrees.

[0059] The edge of the downwardly extending blade 6b preferably describes an angle of 20 to 80 degrees or even more preferably of 40 to 50 degrees. In FIG. 3B is 45 degrees. It will be realized that and , whilst being the same in the embodiment of FIG. 3B, may be non-equal in other embodiments.

[0060] Furthermore, whilst it is preferred that the at least one elongate member 6 has upwardly extending and downwardly extending blade portions 6a, 6b, in other embodiments the elongate member may not have such blade portions and may be cylindrical (FIG. 3C) or an extruded oval (FIG. 3D) or an extruded ellipse (FIG. 3E) or other elongate shape.

[0061] The adhesive tape 8 is typically provided with its adhesive side against a release liner 10 (shown only in FIG. 1), from which a user can easily detach the adhesive tape 8 prior to use. The adhesive tape 8 terminates in an enlarged handle portion 11 (shown only in FIG. 1) which does not have an adhesive side for ease of handling.

[0062] In an embodiment the toilet bowl hygiene apparatus includes a second engagement member 12, best seen in FIG. 3A coupled to or integrally formed with the support member 4 and extending into and/or through the body of hygiene substance 2, wherein the second engagement member 12 is spaced from the first engagement member by a distance d for preventing rotation of the body of hygiene substance about either the first engagement member 6 or the second engagement member 12 and associated wearing of the body of hygiene substance about either member.

[0063] In an embodiment a fastener 14 is attached to a remote end of the at least one engagement member 6 for retaining the body of hygiene substance 2 thereon. The fastener 14 is disk-shaped in the presently described embodiment, though other shapes might also be used.

[0064] The toilet bowl hygiene apparatus 100 may include a water diversion portion 16 (FIG. 1), which is coupled to or integrally formed with the support member 4 and locatable between a source of flush water, for example a rim of a toilet bowl, and the body of hygiene substance 2. Whilst not essential, the water diversion portion 16 may assist to reduce flush water impacting directly upon an upper portion 18 of the body of hygiene substance 2 and thus dissolving portions of the body of hygiene substance above the first and second elongate members 6 and 12, so that the body of hygiene substance might fall from the first and second elongate members.

[0065] In an embodiment the body of hygiene substance 2 includes a rear side 20 (FIG. 2) and a front side 22 (FIG. 1) wherein the support member 4 includes a rear-side portion 24 that extends down the rear side 20 of the body of hygiene substance 2.

[0066] In an embodiment the rear-side portion 24 includes a trapezoidal portion 26 (identified in FIG. 4) with sides 26a, 26b, that diverge downwardly.

[0067] A base 26c of the trapezoidal portion 26 is continuous with a semicircular portion 28.

[0068] Reinforcement ribs are integrally formed with the support member so that it includes a longitudinal reinforcement rib 30, which extends down a rear surface 31 (indicated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3A) of the rear-side portion 24 of the support member 4 and a transverse reinforcement rib 32, that extends across a lower end of the trapezoidal portion 26.

[0069] It will be realized that in other embodiments the shape of the rear side portion 24 may be otherwise, for example it may simply be a rectangle rather than a trapezoid with a semicircle at its base. However, the shape that has been described in the example that is discussed is preferable because it has been arrived at with the objective of minimal use of plastic whilst retaining sufficient strength to support the body of hygiene substance 2.

[0070] In the presently described exemplary embodiment the at least one engagement member 6 extends from a front side 32 (FIG. 3A) of the rear-side portion 24 of support member 4 and extends all the way through the body of hygiene substance 2 so that its remote end 36 can be captured by fastener 14 to thereby retain the body of hygiene substance 2 to the engagement member 6 and thus to the support member 4.

[0071] The fastener 14 includes a central opening 37, generally shaped as a slit 38 with an enlarged central portion 40 which complements the upper and lower blade portions 6a, 6b and central elongate convex portion 6c of the first engagement member 6. The non-circular complementary shapes of the cross section of the first support member 6 and the central opening 37 ensure that the fastener 14 does not rotate about the first support member 6, further assisting in preventing rotation of the body of hygiene substance 2 about the first support member 6. The fastener 14 is attached to the tip 36 of the first support member 6 by a snap fit.

[0072] In an embodiment the water diversion portion is provided in the form of a forwardly extending portion 16 that is serpentine in side profile as can best be seen in FIG. 3A.

[0073] The support member 4 includes an upwardly extending portion 42 that extends upwardly from the forwardly extending portion 16.

[0074] A lower end of the adhesive tape 8 is coupled to an upper end 44 of the upwardly extending portion 42. The upwardly extending portion 42 extends upwardly and forwardly from the forwardly extending portion so that the body of hygiene substance 2 tends to swing rearwardly in use to make contact with flush water. Opposed sides 42a, 42b (FIG. 4) of the upwardly extending portion 44 diverge upwardly and outwardly to tape engagement formations 46.

[0075] FIG. 5 shows the toilet bowl hygiene apparatus 100 installed in a toilet bowl 50. The adhesive tape 8 has been attached over the upper side 52 of bowl 50 so that the body of hygiene substance locates beneath the rim 54, which is the source of flush water.

[0076] When the toilet is flushed, water flows down from the rim over the body of hygiene substance 2. The body of hygiene substance 2 is securely held on the support member by the first elongate member 6 and fastener 14. Furthermore, the body of hygiene substance does not rotate about the first elongate member due to the presence of the second elongate member 12. Over many flushes the body of hygiene substance reduces in volume due to it being partially dissolved. However, the water diversion portion 16 somewhat protects the upper portion 18 of the body of hygiene substance to prevent premature dissolving of that portion and associated early detachment of the body of hygiene substance.

[0077] It has been found that if the at least one elongate member 6 is, for example a square shape or round shape in cross section, then as the body of hygiene substance 2 becomes smaller due to it being dissolved, then the member 6 is exposed to flushing water. With reference to FIG. 6, when the flush water 19 passes along the elongate member 6 between the elongate member and the body of hygiene substance 2, then it is believed that the flush water flows with turbulence around the elongate member 6, and after the water flush there is a small amount of water left on the elongate member 6, thus causing the body of hygiene substance 2 around the elongate member 6 to dissolve further. However, it was found through experiment that if the elongate member 6 is formed with the upper, and preferably also lower, edge portions 6a, 6b, as illustrated in cross section in FIG. 3B for example, then water passes quickly along the elongate member 6, it is believed without water turbulence and without substantial water being left on the elongate member 6. Consequently, it is preferable that the at least one elongate member 6 includes at least the upper blade portion 6a and also preferable that it includes the lower blade portion 6b. If the upper and/or lower blade portions are not present then the wear rate of the body of hygiene substance 2 is believed to be greater in that case.

[0078] It will be realized that the toilet bowl hygiene apparatus 100 is able to support the body of hygiene substance 2 whilst being composed of only a small amount of plastic compared to prior basket type apparatus.

[0079] Throughout the discussion, like components and features may be identified from embodiment to embodiment with the same identifier numerals in the figures. Corresponding left hand and right hand side features may be specifically referred to with item numbers that have an a or a b suffix. In some cases the right hand and corresponding left hand components will be referred to generally without the use of the a or b suffix depending on context.

[0080] In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. The term comprises and its variations, such as comprising and comprised of is used throughout in an inclusive sense and not to the exclusion of any additional features. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted by those skilled in the art.

[0081] Any embodiment of the invention is meant to be illustrative only and is not meant to be limiting to the invention. Therefore, it should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications can be made to any embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[0082] Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the singular encompasses the plural unless the context otherwise requires. In particular, where the indefinite article is used, the specification is to be understood as contemplating plurality as well as singularity, unless the context requires otherwise.

[0083] Features, integers, characteristics, compounds, chemical moieties or groups described in conjunction with a particular aspect, embodiment or example of the invention are to be understood to be applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described herein unless incompatible therewith.