EP0221800B1 - Support for a product, especially a colouring material, to be hooked to the rim of a toilet bowl - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A support formed on the one hand, by a slotted cage (2) intended to contain at least one water-soluble product (3), a colorant in particular used for the disinfection and deodorisation of toilet bowls and, on the other hand, by a hook (5) allowing the slotted cage (2) to be suspended on the edge of a toilet bowl, characterised in that the water-soluble product (or products) (3) is (or are) disposed at the bottom of a container (4, 104) wherein it (or they) is (or are) held, the said container (4, 104) being open in its region on the opposite side to the said bottom and being mounted in the slotted cage (2), so as to be capable of swivelling on itself inside the said slotted cage (2) around an axis substantially parallel to the median plane of the said bottom, the centre of gravity of the unit constituted by the container (4, 104) and the product or products (3) contained therein being situated at a distance which is not zero from the said axis of swivelling on the side of the bottom of the container (4, 104).

Description

The present invention relates to the distribution of a solution, in particular colored, intended for cleaning and / or disinfecting toilet bowls, this colored solution being produced for a limited time following the actuation of the flush. .

It is known that, to ensure the disinfection and deodorization of toilet bowls, commonly used sticks of water-soluble disinfectant and deodorant active product placed inside perforated cages (see in particular FR-A-2 429 877). The cages are associated with hooks allowing their suspension on the edge of the toilet bowls.

When the flush is activated, part of the flushing water flows onto the perforated cage and entrains, by dissolution in the bottom of the bowl, part of the active substances contained in the stick of product.

Furthermore, as a general rule, the aforementioned active product sticks contain dyes making it possible to tint the water each time the flush is used. However, the use of coloring sticks has the disadvantage that after each actuation of the flush, it naturally occurs a draining of the bars of the cage and the stick of product contained therein. The stick is drained slowly and consists of drops of water which have therefore remained on the stick for a long time and which are therefore heavily loaded with material to be dissolved. If the stick contains a coloring substance, the result is that drops of water with increasing concentration of coloring substance can fall, sometimes for several hours, on the walls of the bowl leaving it to remain - even in the case where the dye does not is not very soluble - an unattractive colored trail, which it is difficult, if not impossible, to make disappear, especially if the draining of the cage lasted a very long time.

To overcome the aforementioned drawback, it has been proposed in US-A-4 512 041 to use a container being mounted so as to be able to pivot on itself around an axis substantially parallel to its bottom.

The depositing company sought to make a new cage which, however, offers the advantages of a swivel container. She then imagined placing the product in the bottom of an open container, of the tray type, so that it is kept there and mounting said container inside an openwork cage so that it can pivot around an axis substantially parallel to its bottom. Under conditions in which the center of gravity of the assembly constituted by the container and the product which it contains is not located on the longitudinal axis of pivoting of the container, the latter comes to occupy, during the installation of the support in the bowl, either its stable equilibrium position, or its unstable equilibrium position (or positions close to these two positions mentioned above due to the existence of friction). In the case of an unstable equilibrium position, the water, pouring onto the support during the flushing maneuver, will automatically rotate the container to place it in its stable equilibrium position. In all cases, during use, the flushing water fills the container and then allows the dissolution of part of the active substances contained in the product, the overflow spilling over the upper edge of the container. If there is, at the end of the operation, a dripping of the bars of the cage or the tray, the drops then falling into the bottom of the bowl, if they are not constituted simply by water, which is the case if these drops do not pass through the interior of the container, will come from the solution formed at the end of spraying.

The present invention offers the advantage that it is easy to arrange, due to the pivoting mounting of the container inside the cage, so as not to have to orient, during the factory mounting, on the one hand, the cage and container relative to each other, and, secondly, the cage and hook relative to each other.

The present invention therefore relates to the new industrial product that constitutes a support formed, on the one hand, of an openwork cage intended to contain at least one water-soluble product, in particular a dye, used for the disinfection and deodorization of toilet bowls. , and, on the other hand, a hook allowing the suspension of the perforated cage on the rim of a toilet bowl, characterized in that the water-soluble product (s) is (or are) disposed in the bottom of a container in which it (s) is (or are) held, said container being open in its region opposite to said bottom and being mounted, in the perforated cage, so to be able to pivot on itself inside said openwork cage around an axis substantially parallel to the mean plane of said bottom, the center of gravity of the assembly constituted by the container and the product (s) that it contains being located at a non-zero distance from said pivot axis on the bottom side of the container.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, the water-soluble product (s) is (are) in the form of at least one block obtained by solidification in situ in the container of minus a hot-pourable formulation. In this case, the container internally carries at least one attachment rib intended to be at least partially embedded in the (or) block (s) of product.

In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, the water-soluble product (s) is (or are) added (s) to the container, the latter internally carrying a support means for said (or said) reported product (s).

In accordance with a particular mode of embodiment of the present invention, each of the end walls of the container which is arranged transversely to the pivot axis externally comprises a hinge means complementary to a means carried by the wall opposite the cage. In particular, each end wall of the container externally has a hollow zone, the wall of the facing cage internally having a boss, or vice versa, the bosses and the hollow zones being of revolution with respect to the pivot axis of the container and having complementary shapes. Thus, the bosses and the associated recessed areas may have the shape of a spherical cap or a conical shape.

In accordance with other particular features of the present invention, the pivot axis of the container is substantially horizontal when the support is in its position of use; the cage has a longitudinal axis of symmetry coincident with the pivot axis of the container; the container has external dimensions allowing it to occupy most of the interior volume of the cage, which constitutes ease of mounting the container inside the latter; the container has an overall geometric shape comprising a longtudinal axis coincident with the pivot axis of said container, the latter possibly, in particular, having the shape of an elongated rectangular parallelepiped of which one of the longitudinal faces is not materialized; the container has grooves on the outside to guide the flow of the overflow from said container; and the openwork cage results from the assembly of two half-cages, the suspension hook comprising a connection sleeve cooperating with the cage in the junction zone between the half-cages.

To better understand the object of the present invention, there will be described in more detail below, by way of indication and not limitation, an embodiment of a support according to the present invention, with reference to the accompanying drawing.

• - la figure 1 est une vue en perspective éclatée d'un support conforme à la présente invention;
• - la figure 2 est une vue en coupe longitudinale du support de la figure 1, à l'état assemblé et dans sa position d'utilisation, le crochet dudit support n'étant représenté que partiellement;
• - la figure 3 est une vue en coupe transversale selon III - III de la figure 2, la barquette renfermant le produit colorant hydrosoluble se trouvant dans sa position d'équilibre stable;
• - la figure 4 est une vue analogue à la figure 3, à la différence que la barquette est représentée dans sa position d'équilibre instable;
• - la figure 5 est une vue en coupe longitudinale d'une barquette conforme à une variante de réalisation; et
• - la figure 6 est une vue de dessus de la barquette de la figure 5.

On this drawing:

• - Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a support according to the present invention;
• - Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the support of Figure 1, in the assembled state and in its position of use, the hook of said support being shown only partially;
• - Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view along III - III of Figure 2, the tray containing the water-soluble coloring product being in its stable equilibrium position;
• - Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, with the difference that the tray is shown in its unstable equilibrium position;
• - Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a container according to an alternative embodiment; and
• - Figure 6 is a top view of the tray of Figure 5.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawing, we see that there is shown by 1 as a whole, a support consisting, on the one hand, of an openwork cage 2 intended to contain a water-soluble product 3, with deodorant action and disinfectant, said product 3, which moreover contains a coloring substance, being contained in a tray 4, and, on the other hand, by a hook 5 intended to allow the suspension of the cage 2 on the rim of a bowl of bathroom.

The cage 2 is formed by the assembly of two half-cages 6, 7; it has a generally cylindrical shape and has bars 8 parallel to its axis, connected at each end of the cage 2, to a disc 9, and, in the region of the transverse median plane of the cage 2, to one of the two connecting half-rings 10, 11 that each half-cage 6, 7 has respectively. The cage 2 is also provided with coaxial rings 12, regularly spaced along said cage 2 and arranged perpendicular to the axis of the latter.

As can be seen in particular in FIG. 2, the connection half-ring 10 of the half-cage 6 has externally, along its free edge, a peripheral ring 13, while the connection half-ring 11 of the half-cage 7 has internally, also along its free edge, an annular groove 14. In this way, the half-cages 6, 7 can be secured to one another by means of the snap-fastening of the rod 13 to inside the throat 14.

In addition, each half-ring 10, 11 forms, near its junction with the perforated side wall of the associated half-cage 6, 7 respectively, a bead 15, 16 respectively, projecting radially with respect to said perforated side wall. . In the assembly position of the half-cages 6, 7, the beads 15, 16 define an annular space 17 whose role is indicated below.

In addition, each end disc 9 of a half-cage 6, 7 respectively comprises, directed towards the center of the associated half-cage 6, 7 a bead 18 having the shape of a spherical cap of axis coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the cage 2. The role of these beads 18, which are formed here by a deformation of the wall of the discs 9, is indicated below.

The suspension hook 5 consists, on the one hand, of a U-shaped part 19 intended to suspend the support 1, and, on the other hand, of a part which supports the perforated cage 2, and which consists in a connection sleeve 20 intended to cooperate with the half-rings 10, 11 of the half-cages 6, 7.

The U-shaped part 19 of the hook 5 comprises two branches 19a, 19b connected by a core 19c. The branch 19a is connected to the sleeve 20 in a substantially tangential manner; the core 19c is arranged so as to overhang the sleeve 20 and the branch 19b, shorter than the branch 19a, has a free end 19d slightly folded in the direction of the branch 19a so as to facilitate the positioning of the support 1. It is also possible to provide, during molding, a bending zone of the branch 19a making it possible to fold the part 19 around the connection sleeve 20, the part 19d coming to be placed at proximity of the junction between the branch 19a and said sleeve 20. This results in a reduced size of the hook 5, thus simplifying its packaging.

The connection sleeve 20 has internally a rib 21, which is interrupted in the case of the support 1 shown in the drawing, said rib 21 being intended to be placed in the annular space 17 above when the sleeve 20 is snapped onto the connection ring formed during the assembly of the half-cages 6, 7.

The container 4, in the shape of an elongated rectangular parallelepiped, has a bottom 22 to which two opposite longitudinal walls 23 and two opposite transverse walls 24 are connected, the latter being of substantially square shape. This container 4 therefore constitutes a tray into the bottom of which is poured in situ the product 3 which is advantageously constituted by a formulation containing a dye, or a disinfectant such as trichloro-cyanuric acid, or both simultaneously. Furthermore, the free upper edge of one of the longitudinal walls 23 of the container 4 has a U-shaped notch 25 of small size.

Each transverse wall 24 externally comprises a hollow zone 26 having the shape of a spherical cap whose axis is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of symmetry of the parallelepiped that the container 4 forms. In the assembly position of the support 1, the hollow areas 26 receive the complementary shaped beads 18 carried by the cage 2, so as to allow the pivoting mounting of the container 4 in the cage 2, the beads 18 playing the role of axes cooperating with the areas 26 which play the role of bearings.

By allleurs, as can be seen in particular in Figure 2, the walls 24 each have internally a middle rib 24a extending from the bottom 22 to the vicinity of the free edge of the container 4, these ribs 24a facilitating the attachment of product 3 in said container 4.

The manufacture and assembly in the factory of the support 1 is extremely simple; all the elements which compose it are obtained by molding a plastic material, the containers 4, the hooks 5, the half-cages 6, 7 being made, of polypropylene.

The product 3 is poured hot in series into the containers 4. Once the product 3 has solidified, each container 4 is introduced into a half-cage 6 or 7 and the other half-cage 7 is fixed to it. 6; in this mounting operation, there is no need to worry about the relative position of the half-cages 6, 7 and the position that the container 4 takes inside the cage 2 thus formed. Then, for each assembly thus formed, there is a hook 5 at one end of the cage 2 and its sleeve 20 is slid until it snaps into the connection ring formed by the meeting half-rings 10,11 of the cage 2. There is also no need either, during the installation of this hook 5, to be concerned with the relative position which it occupies with respect to the cage 2.

When the support 1 is in place in a toilet bowl, the axis of the cage 2 then being arranged horizontally, the container 4, by virtue of its mounting pivoting about this axis and taking into account that the center of gravity of the container 4 / product 3 assembly is at a non-zero distance from said axis, tends to take one or the other of the equilibrium positions shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively, or a position close to these positions d balance due to friction that may exist. In Figure 3, there is shown the container 4 in its stable equilibrium position, in which the bottom 22 of said container 4 is located below the longitudinal axis of the cage 2, in the plane parallel to said axis; in Figure 4, there is shown the unstable equilibrium position of said container 4, in which said bottom 22 is located above the aforementioned axis, always in a plane parallel to said axis.

It can be emphasized that even if the container 4 did not contain product 3, it would also naturally tend, when the cage 2 is arranged with its horizontal axis, to assume one of the positions of FIGS. 3 and 4; in fact, because the container 4 is an open container, its center of gravity is not on the pivot axis.

If, inside the toilet bowl, the container 4 is in the position it occupies in FIG. 3, when the flush is activated, the flushing water flows out at a high rate onto the cage 2 and it enters, through the openings of said cage 2 inside the container 4. This container then fills with highly colored water, the overflow then overflowing over the upper edge of the walls 23 and 24 of the container 4. The colored water then escapes through the openings of the cage 2 and falls into the toilet bowl. When the water flow has stopped, the container 4 remains filled, at its upper part, with colored water. Under these conditions, if there is a dripping of the cage 2 and the drops of water fall into the container 4, the overflow which will then escape from this container 4 will consist of drops of a solution , certainly colored, but of low concentration, since coming from the solution formed at the time of total spraying. There is therefore no dripping of the product itself, which we have seen that it leads to the formation of spots, often very difficult to remove, on the toilet bowl.

If, at the time of the first use of the support 1, the container 4 is in the position it occupies in FIG. 4, the water spraying will immediately cause said container 4 to pivot, to place it in the position it occupies in FIG. 3.

After the first use of the support of the present invention, the container 4 is always placed in the correct position and can operate until all the product 3 has been entrained in the bottom of the bowl, as a result of the successive maneuvers of the flush.

Referring now to Figures 5 and 6 of the drawing, it can be seen that there has been designated by 104, as a whole, a second variant of the container 4 of the first embodiment. The container 104 differs from the container 4 only in details of construction. Like the container 4, it has the shape of an elongated parallelepiped, and has a bottom 122 to which two opposite longitudinal walls 123 and two opposite transverse walls 124 are connected.

The recessed areas 126 formed externally in the walls 124 have a conical shape whose axis is also coincident with the pivot axis of the container 104 and which are intended to cooperate with beads of complementary shape provided on the associated cage.

Furthermore, the container 104 has internally two identical ribs 124a arranged in the median longitudinal plane of the container 104 and each having the shape of a right triangle connecting, on the one hand, to the bottom 122 and, on the other hand , at wall 124.

It is also expected that the container 104 has two ribs 127 of low height, arranged symmetrically with respect to the median transverse plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the container 104, these ribs 127 being carried by the bottom 122 and the two opposite longitudinal walls 123 of cage 104.

Provision has also been made to stiffen the walls 123 by providing, on each of them, an outward deformation 128 constituting a stiffening middle rib.

In addition, each of the walls 123 has, in the vicinity of its junction with one of the walls 124, an inward recess constituting a groove 129 extending from the bottom 122 to the vicinity of the upper edge of the wall 123. Furthermore, the grooves 129 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the median transverse plane of the container 104. In this way, the overflow of colored solution that the container 104 will contain can flow out along these grooves 129.

It is understood that the embodiment described above is in no way limiting and may give rise to any desirable modifications, without departing from the scope of the invention, as delimited by the following claims.

Claims (15)

1. A support formed on the one hand, by a slotted cage (2) intended to contain at least one water-soluble product (3), a colorant in particular, used for the disinfection and deodorisation of toilet bowls and, on the other hand, by a hook (5) allowing the slotted cage (2) to be suspended on the edge of a toilet bowl, characterised in that the water- soluble product (or products) (3) is (or are) disposed at the bottom of a container (4, 104) wherein it (or they) is (or are) held, the said container (4,104) being open in its region on the opposite side to the said bottom and being mounted in the slotted cage (2), so as to be capable of swivelling on itself inside the said slotted cage (2) around an axis substantially parallel to the median plane of the said bottom, the centre of gravity of the unit constituted by the container (4, 104) and the product or products (3) contained therein being situated at a distance which is not zero from the said axis of swivelling on the side of the bottom of the container (4, 104).

2. A support according to claim 1, characterised in that the water-soluble product (or products) (3) take the form of at least one block obtained by solidification in situ in the container (4, 104) of at least one formulation capable of being poured when hot.

3. A support according to claim 2, characterised in that the container (4, 104) internally carries at least one fastening rib (24a, 124a, 127) intended to be embedded at least partly in the block (or blocks) of product (3).

4. A support according to claim 1, characterised in that the water-soluble product (or products) is (or are) inserted into the container (4, 104), the latter carrying internally a means for supporting the said inserted product (or products).

5. A support according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that each one of the end walls (24, 124) of the container (4,104) which is disposed transversely to the swivelling axis, comprises externally an articulation means complementary to a means carried by the facing wall of the cage (2).

6. A support according to claim 5, characterised in that each end wall (24, 124) of the container (4, 104) externally comprises a sunken zone (26,126) and that the facing wall of the cage (2) internally comprises a boss (18) or vice versa, the bosses (18) and the sunken zones (26,126) being of revolution in relation to the swivelling axis of the container (4, 104) and having complementary shapes.

7. A support according to claim 6, characterised in that the bosses (18) and the associated sunken zones (126) have the shape of a spherical cap.

8. A support according to claim 6, characterised in that the bosses (18) and the associated sunken zones (126) have a conical shape.

9. A support according to one of claims 1 to 8 characterised in that the swivelling axis of the container (4,104) is substantially horizontal when the said support (1) is in its position for use.

10. A support according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the cage (2) has a longitudinal axis of symmetry identical with the swivelling axis of the container.

11. A support according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterised in that the container (4, 104) has external dimensions allowing it to occupy the greatest part of the internal volume of the cage (2).

12. A support according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterised in that the container (4, 104) has an overall geometrical shape comprising a longitudinal axis identical with the swivelling axis of the said container.

13. A support according to claim 12, characterised in that the container (4, 104) has the shape of an elongate right- angled parallelepiped one of whose longitudinal faces is absent.

14. A support according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterised in that the container (104) has external grooves (129) to guide the flow of the overflow from the said container (104).

15. A support according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterised in that the slotted cage (2) is produced by the assembly of two half cages (6, 7) and that the suspension hook comprises a connecting collar (20) cooperating with the cage (2) in its junction zone between the two half cages (6, 7).

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