IE47987B1 - A urinal - Google Patents

Abstract

A urinal which is expendable and intended to be destroyed after use is constructed of molded fiber pulp material such as that used in egg cartons and is formed of mating upper and lower sections 3 and 5 having respective flanges 7 and 9. The flanges 7 and 9 are glued together to form the complete urinal.

Description

The use of reusable urinals constructed of metal or rigid plastics in hospitals and other institutions presents a number of disadvantages. Following use, they must be emptied, cleaned and sterilized and then stored for further use. In addition, personnel must be hired to carry out the above menial tasks.

In an attempt to overcome the above disadvantages, a number of disposable urinals have been developed as disclosed, for instance, in U.S. Patents 3,163,868; 3,329,973; 3,579,653 and 3,731,869. However, the urinals disclosed in these patents are formed from cardboard, plastics material and paper which materials require waterproofing or must include impervious liners to prevent leakage. In addition, the patented urinals are formed from complicated collapsible paperboards or are formed from flat sheet work folded to form the units. Other patents disclose semi-rigid onepiece receptacles.

It is also known that molded fiber urinals have been made in the past as a single molded unit using complicated and expensive dies. U.S. Patents 2,155,772; 2,149,879; 2,204,276 and 2,961,043 illustrate methods and tooling for molding one-piece hollow articles with a neck which is smaller than its'main body.

According to the present invention, there is provided a disposable urinal formed of molded fiber pulp, comprising (1) a top molded section, (2) a mating bottom molded section, each molded section consisting of a dished portion and an integral external flange extending completely around the dished portion except at one end thereof which together with the corresponding end of the other molded section, defines a mouth of the urinal, the two dished portions together defining a urine-collecting cavity within the urinal, said cavity communicating with the outside of the urinal via the mouth, each dished portion having side walls which converge towards one another in a direction away from the flange, and (3) means adhering together the flanges of the top and bottom molded sections.

The molded fiber pulp from which the disposable urinal is formed may be of a type such as is used for making egg boxes. The two molded sections are designed so that they can be formed using simple molding dies on a conventional molding machine at a relatively rapid speed, thus eliminating the above mentioned requirement of mold opening to remove the formed urinal. Preferably, the adhering means is glue.

Advantages of the two piece urinal of the present invention over the single molded container are faster molding speeds, less cost per piece and much less shipping and storage space are required assuming that the pieces are adhered together near the point of use. At large hospitals with long term patients such as veterans' facilities, the assembly of the units could be part of a work-therapy program. In a large city with many hospitals in a given area, the assembly of parts could be done by a distributor who would assemble to order, thus taking advantage of the shipping and storage space savings mentioned above. 7 9 8 7 - 4 A better understanding of the invention is apparent from the following description and drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the urinal; Figure 2 is a top view of the urinal? Figure 3 is an end elevation showing the neck and mouth of the urinal.

Figure 4 is an elevation of the end of the urinal opposite the neck end, and Figure 5 is an exploded section taken along line -5 of Figure 2.

As shown in Figures 1-5, the urinal 1 having the general design of known urinals consists of an upper section 3 and a lower section 5 which mate with one another to form the complete urinal. The sections 3 and 5 are glued, or otherwise adhered together along continuous mating flanges 7 and 9 which extend externally,laterally from and substantially around the bottom-most point of the upper section 3 and the topmost point of the lower section 5 respectively. As can be seen from the drawings, each of the sections 3 and 5 includes a dished portion having side walls which converge towards one another in a direction away from the respective flange 7,9.

The urinal 1 includes a mouth 11 as found in known urinals to receive the male organ, a urine-collecting cavity which has a urine-collecting portion and a neck portion 12 between the urine-collecting portion and the mouth 11.

The flanges 7 and 9, of course, terminate at both sides of the mouth 11. - 5 The sections 3 and 5 are of molded fiber material and are formed using simple molding dies on a conventional molding machine at a relatively rapid speed.

To form the complete urinal, the top and bottom 5 sections 3 and 5 are molded from fiber pulp material on a conventional molding machine after which the sections are dried. Glue, or other adhering material is then applied to one or both of the flanges 7 and 9 which are then pressed together to form a tight seal or seam between the two sections whereby a unitary urinal is formed.

Claims (4)

1. CLAIMS :1. A disposable urinal formed of molded fiber pulp, comprising (1) a top molded section, (2) a mating bottom molded section, each molded section consisting of a dished 5 portion and an integral external flange extending completely around the dished portion except at one end thereof which together with the corresponding end of the other molded section, defines a mouth of the urinal, the two dished portions together defining a urine-collecting 10 cavity within the urinal, said cavity communicating with the outside of the urinal via the mouth, each dished portion having side walls which converge towards one another in a direction away from the flange, and (3) means adhering together the flanges of the top and bottom molded 15 sections.

2. A disposable urinal as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adhering means is glue.

3. A disposable urinal as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein each molded section is shaped so that the cavity has a 20 urine-collecting portion and a neck portion which is between the mouth and the urine-collecting portion.

4. A disposable urinal substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.