US20070207288A1

US20070207288A1 - Towel

Info

Publication number: US20070207288A1
Application number: US11/368,232
Authority: US
Inventors: Patricia Almeter
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-03-03
Filing date: 2006-03-03
Publication date: 2007-09-06

Abstract

A towel for direct, removable attachment to a rod includes at least one hole defined in the towel material and includes a slit for connecting the hole with a peripheral edge. The slit enables the towel to be attached to a towel rod by pressing the rod through the slit into the hole. The towel may include multiple holes with respective slits that either connect a hole to a peripheral edge of the towel or to another hole. With this construction, more than one hole may be attached to a rod so as to distribute the weight of the towel or to provide better balance on the rod. Another material may surround each hole to provide durability during use and washing.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to towels and, more particularly, to a hand or bath towel that is selectively attachable to and removable from a traditional towel bar.
Many people have trouble keeping a hand towel on a traditional towel bar such that, when needed, it has often fallen to the floor or has been carried to some other unknown location. Traditional hand towels do not provide any means for being held securely on a traditional towel bar.
Various proposals have been made in the prior art for attaching towels to a support, such as with hooks or the like. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing device do not provide for selective attachment and removal of a towel to a traditional towel bar.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a towel that is easy to attach to and remove from a traditional towel bar. Further, it would be desirable to have a towel that will not easily fall from a towel bar.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, a towel according to the present invention includes a construction specifically suitable for direct, removable attachment to a traditional towel bar. The towel includes a first material defining at least one hold and having a slit that connects the hole either with an area beyond the perimeter of the towel or with an adjacent hole. With at least one slit connecting the at least one hole with a peripheral edge, the towel may be removably attached to the bar by forcing the towel bar through the slit to the hole. As the towel may define several holes and respective slits therebetween, the towel may be even more securely attached to the towel bar and the towel may be evenly hung therefrom.
Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a towel for direct, removable attachment to a traditional towel bar.
Another object of this invention is to provide a towel, as aforesaid, defining at least one hole and a slit connecting the hole with a peripheral edge of the towel for quick attachment and removal.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a towel, as aforesaid, that may be used with a bathroom or kitchen towel bars or kitchen appliance bars.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a towel, as aforesaid, that may include multiple holes with respective interconnecting slits for secure, removable attachment to a traditional towel bar.
A further object of this invention is to provide a towel, as aforesaid, in which the holes may include various configurations.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a towel, as aforesaid, that is constructed of a material that will withstand machine washing and drying.
Another object of this invention is to provide a towel, as aforesaid, that is inexpensive to manufacture.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of this invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is perspective view of a towel according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention selectively and removably attached to a towel bar;
FIG. 2 a is a front view of the towel as in FIG. 1;
FIG. 2 b is a sectional view taken along line 2 b-2 b of FIG. 2 a ; and
FIG. 3 is a perspective view as in FIG. 1 taken from another angle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A towel 100 according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3 of the accompanying drawings. More particularly, a towel 100 for direct, removable attachment to a rod 2 according to the current invention includes a first material 110 defining at least one hole 112 and at least one slit 114.
The first material 110 has a perimeter 111, and one slit 114 connects one hole 112 to an area void of material so that the rod 2 may pass through the slit 114 to be located in the hole 112. The perimeter 111 may also be referred to herein as a peripheral edge. The area void of material may be outside the perimeter 111, or the area void of material may be another hole 112 defined by the first material 110.
As shown in FIG. 2, a first slit 114 a may connect first and second holes 112 a, 112 b, a second slit 114 b may connect a third hole 112 c to an area outside the perimeter 111, and a third slit 114 c may connect a fourth hole 112 d to an area outside the perimeter 111. The rod 2 may pass through the first, second, and third slits 114 a, 114 b, 114 c to be located in the first, second, third, and fourth holes 112 a, 112 b, 112 c, 112 d to support the towel 100 (FIG. 1 and FIG. 3). The first and second holes 112 a, 112 b may be located between the third and fourth holes 112 c, 112 d, and the second and third slits 114 b, 114 c may connect the third and fourth holes to opposed sides 111 a, 111 b of the perimeter 111, respectively.
The first, second, third, and fourth holes 112 a, 112 b, 112 c, 112 d may present first, second, third, and fourth contact points 113 a, 113 b, 113 c, 113 d, respectively, which are located along an imaginary straight line. This positioning ensures that the rod 2 contacts the first, second, third, and fourth holes 112 a, 112 b, 112 c, 112 d, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3. The first, second, third, and fourth contact points may be spaced generally equidistantly along the imaginary straight line, as shown in FIG. 2, to evenly distribute the weight of the first material 110 about the first, second, third, and fourth holes 112 a, 112 b, 112 c, 112 d. The holes 112 may be generally round, as shown throughout the drawings, to be complementary to a rounded rod 2; or one side of the holes 112 (i.e., a top side) may be generally straight to be complementary to a squared rod 2. Further, while the holes 112 are preferably adjacent a top side 110 a of the first material 110, they may be located elsewhere. Also, it should be understood that various numbers of holes 112 may be defined and utilized.
A second material 120 may border the first material 110 adjacent the one or more holes 112, as long as the one or more slits 114 continue to connect the hole(s) 112 to area(s) void of material, as discussed above. The second material 120 is preferably a resilient material, such as a high temperature plastic, though other materials may alternately or additionally be used. The second material 120 may add stability to the towel 100 when attached to the rod 2, and the second material 120 may keep the first material 110 from tearing.
In use, the first material 110 and the second material 120 may be separated about the one or more slits 114 to allow the rod 2 to be located in the hole(s) 112 as discussed above. The second material 120 may then resume its initial position as shown throughout the drawings due to its resilient nature, which removably attaches the towel 100 to the rod 2. When the first material 110 becomes dirty or a user wishes to remove the towel 100 from the rod 2 for other reasons, the first and second material 110, 120 may again be separated about the one or more slits 114 to allow the rod 2 to be removed from the hole(s) 112. Depending on the composition of the first and second material 110, 120, the towel 100 may then be washed or discarded.
It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A towel for direct attachment to a rod, said towel comprising a first material having a perimeter, defining a hole, and defining a slit that connects said hole to an area void of material, whereby said rod may pass through said slit to be located in said hole.

2. The towel of claim 1, wherein:

a second material borders said hole; and

said slit passes through said second material to connect said hole to said area void of material.

3. The towel of claim 2, wherein said area void of material is outside said perimeter.

4. The towel of claim 2, wherein said area void of material is another hole defined by said first material.

5. The towel of claim 2, wherein said second material is a resilient material.

6. The towel of claim 1, wherein said hole is adjacent a top side of said first material.

7. The towel of claim 1, wherein said hole is generally round.

8. The towel of claim 1, wherein at least one side of said hole is generally straight to be complementary to a squared said rod.

9. The towel of claim 1, wherein said area void of material is outside said perimeter.

10. The towel of claim 1, wherein said area void of material is another hole defined by said first material.

11. A towel for being removably attached to a rod, said towel comprising a first material having a perimeter and defining a plurality of holes, said first material defining a first slit that connects a first said hole to a second said hole, whereby said rod may pass through said first slit to be located in said first and second holes.

12. The towel of claim 11, wherein said first material defines a second slit that connects a third said hole to an area outside said perimeter, whereby said rod may pass through said second slit to be located in said third hole.

13. The towel of claim 12, wherein a second material borders said first material adjacent said first, second, and third holes.

14. The towel of claim 13, wherein said second material is a durable high temperature plastic.

15. The towel of claim 12, wherein:

said first, second, and third holes present first, second, and third contact points, respectively; and

said first, second, and third contact points are points along an imaginary straight line.

16. The towel of claim 15, wherein said first, second, and third holes are generally round.

17. The towel of claim 15, wherein said first, second, and third holes present top sides that are generally straight to be complementary to a squared said rod.

18. The towel of claim 12, wherein:

said first material defines a third slit that connects a fourth said hole to an area outside said perimeter, whereby said rod may pass through said third slit to be located in said fourth hole;

said first and second holes are located between said third and fourth holes;

said first, second, third, and fourth holes present first, second, third, and fourth contact points, respectively;

said first, second, third, and fourth contact points are points along an imaginary straight line; and

said first, second, third, and fourth contact points are spaced generally equidistantly along said imaginary straight line.

19. The towel of claim 18, wherein said first, second, third, and fourth holes are adjacent a top side of said first material.

20. The towel of claim 19, wherein a second material borders said first material adjacent said first, second, third, and fourth holes.