Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Disinfection – Chemical holder suspended in bowl
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-11
2001-11-06
Fetsuga, Robert M. (Department: 3751)
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Disinfection
Chemical holder suspended in bowl
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311340
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a device for dispensing a product into the bowl of a water closet (toilet). In particular, it relates to a device adapted to be hooked under the rim of a toilet bowl to interrupt the flow of water as the toilet is flushed, and to dispense the product directly into the toilet bowl.
The product placed in such a dispenser is in the form of a block of solid material, and is sometimes known as a rim block, and the dispenser is sometimes described as a rim block cage.
BACKGROUND ART
In the past, rim blocks usually consisted only of fragrancing materials.
Refillable rim block dispensers were known but there was not a great need to provide them with child resistant closures. More recently, rim blocks containing bleaching agents have been put on the market, and the desirability of ensuring that any refillable dispensers are child resistant has increased. A number of refillable dispensers have been placed on the market in some countries. Thus one company markets a bleaching rim block in a dispenser with a catch released by pressing the end of the suspension hook into the cage. Other refillable dispensers on the market are not reliably child resistant.
Toilet blocks are relatively low cost products. They are used in dispensers which are attached to the rim of toilet bowls. The dispensers for reasons of cost are produced as a single plastics moulding which includes a hook and two body parts joined by a moulded hinge. Once the toilet block has been placed in the dispenser by the manufacturer, no one will wish to obtain access to the toilet block within the cage. Any need to open the dispenser will only arise in the case of refillable dispensers, when a replacement block will be inserted when the original block has been used.
Child-resistant packages based on containers with a hinged cover are known for other products such as medicines. In such containers, the user requires to obtain access to the container at relatively frequent intervals in order to remove the medicine within the container. Hinged containers for medicines in which catches on one part of the container engage with apertures on another part of the container are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,069. This discloses the use of two types of catch. Both types must be opened before the container itself can be opened. However, the catches are designed to be opened sequentially. The ability to open each set of catches in sequence simplifies the opening procedure, which is desirable for a container which is intended to opened frequently. Attempts to operate all the catches simultaneously are stated to be counter-productive. The parts which have to be manually operated are all catches, i.e., they are constituted by parts which interact to hold the container in the closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,050 discloses a hinged child resistant pill box which has a pair of catches which hold the container closed. The box also has means which must be actuated before the catches can be released. However, the means consists of pivot pins running in slots. The catches are essentially bayonet-type catches. Rearward movement of the cover is normally prevented by the interaction of members
35
and
34
.
When the body is flexed to release these catches to allow rearward movement, the member
35
is moved clear of slot
32
so allowing the cover to be pivoted. This system requires a complex hinge structure. Closing the container requires a first (rotary) movement to bring the top and bottom parts of the container together and a second (translational) movement to cause catches to engage to hold the container in a closed position. Such a complex closing operation does not appear to be suitable for use in producing relatively low cost products which are generally produced on automated filling lines. The container does not seem suitable for manufacture as a one piece moulding.
It has now been found that an improved child resistant dispenser for attachment of toilet bowls can be produced by a combination of a releasable catch to hold the dispenser closed and a locking means which must be actuated to allow the releasable catch to be released.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to the present invention, a dispenser suitable for attachment to the rim of a toilet bowl comprises a body adapted to receive a block of product to be dispensed into the toilet bowl and a hook attached to the body for suspending the body from the rim of a toilet bowl, said body comprising first and second body parts relatively rotatable about a hinge and at least one releasable catch which is engaged on rotation of the body parts from an open to a closed position for holding the said body parts in a closed position, said hook being attached to said first body part wherein at least one releasable catch is provided with locking means, which locking means is biased towards a first position in which it acts on the releasable catch to resist release of the catch but is movable by applied manual force to a second position in which the releasable catch can be released.
It is possible to provide a locking means which, when moved to a position in which the releasable catch is released, can be held in that position, against the biasing force tending to return it to the first position, until the catch is released. However, small children find the problem of operating two mechanisms separately easier to solve than the problem of operating two mechanisms simultaneously. For this reason it is preferable to provide a dispenser in which the catch and the locking means must be operated simultaneously to release the catch.
A catch for use in the present invention will generally comprise an engaging member which projects from one body part and is sufficiently resilient to ride over a retaining member associated with the other body part as the body is caused to close, the retaining member retaining the engaging member and so holding the body closed until the catch is released.
Catches used in child resistant containers may be classified as direct or indirect catches. Direct catches are catches which are opened by manipulating the engaging member directly. Indirect catches are catches which are opened by manipulating the body rather than the engaging means itself.
It is preferred to use catches which are released by compressive forces applied towards the interior of the body, rather than tensile forces applied in directions away from the interior of the body. In other words, it is preferred to open the body by pressing rather than pulling.
It is preferred to use direct catches rather than indirect catches.
The releasable catch may be in the form of an engaging means in the form of a lug projecting forwardly from the edge of one body part towards the other body part (when the body is closed) and which carries an outwardly projecting part (outwardly in relation to the surface of the adjacent body part) which engages with a retaining member in the other body part. The retaining member may be an aperture extending through the body part or a recess within the body part.
In the case of an indirect catch, if the body is made of material which is resiliently deformable under pressure, the body part carrying the lugs can be deformed by pressing on it adjacent to the lugs so as to deform it sufficiently to move the lugs inwardly (towards the interior of the body) to disengage the projecting portions on the lugs from the locking members in the other body part. By making the projecting portions sufficiently small and the lugs sufficiently stiff, the catches can be made resistant to opening by direct pressure on the catches, even if the catches are accessible through apertures in the body.
Alternatively, the indirect catches may have forwardly projecting lugs which lie outside the other body part, and inwardly directed projections which engage locking members, e.g. apertures, in the other body part. Such catches will be released by pressure on the body part which carries the locking member, rather than the part which carries the lugs.
The two body parts
Fetsuga Robert M.
S. C. Johnson & Son Inc.
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