US20100078396A1

US20100078396A1 - Towel holder

Info

Publication number: US20100078396A1
Application number: US12/566,039
Authority: US
Inventors: Timothy McLaughlin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-09-30
Filing date: 2009-09-24
Publication date: 2010-04-01

Abstract

A towel holder includes an elongate towel holder trunk, and a plurality of towel holder arms rotatably mounted to the towel holder trunk, wherein the towel holder arms are spaced apart from each other along the length of the towel holder trunk. The towel holder includes a plurality of T-joints, wherein each towel holder arm is rotatably mounted to the towel holder trunk through a corresponding T-joint.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/194,701, filed on Sep. 30, 2008 by the same inventor, the contents of which are incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fixtures for holding towels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many people spend time near the water during the summer, and bring towels to dry off and lay on. In some situations it is desirable to dry the towel after use. There is often not a convenient place to dry a towel, especially when at a beach or a lake. Towels are sometimes dried by laying them on the ground. However, a towel laying on the ground is more likely to become dirty and undesirable to use. Hence, it is desirable to have a towel holder for holding towels so they can dry.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to fixtures for holding towels. The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a towel holder.

FIG. 2 is a close-up perspective view of an indicated upper region of the towel holder of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a close-up perspective view of an indicated lower region of the towel holder of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the towel holder of FIG. 1 holding a plurality of towels.

FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a holding bracket that can be included with the towel holder of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a towel holder 100. in this embodiment, towel holder 100 includes a towel holder trunk 101. In some embodiments, towel holder trunk 101 is a single elongate piece of material. In these embodiments, towel holder trunk 101 is a single piece of pipe. The single piece of pipe can be of many different types, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe. It should be noted that the single piece of pipe is an elongate member having a length greater than a width. In general, the material of towel holder 100 is chosen to reduce the likelihood that it will experience rust.
In other embodiments, towel holder trunk 103 includes a plurality of towel holder trunk sections. In these embodiments, the towel holder trunk sections are each single pieces of pipe. The pipe sections can be of many different types, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe. It should be noted that the pipe sections are each elongate members having a length greater than a width.
In this embodiment, towel holder 100 includes a plurality of towel holder arms rotatably mounted to towel holder trunk 100. Towel holder 100 can include many different numbers of towel holder arms. In this embodiment, towel holder 100 includes six towel holder arms for illustrative purposes. In general, towel holder 100 includes one or more towel holder arms. In this embodiment, the towel holder arms are each pieces of pipe. The pipes of the towel holder arms can be of many different types, such as PVC pipes.
In this embodiment, towel holder 100 includes a towel holder arm 102 positioned towards a lower end of towel holder trunk 100, and a towel holder arm 107 positioned towards an upper end of towel holder trunk 100. In this embodiment, towel holder 100 includes a towel holder arm 103 positioned above towel holder arm 102 and a towel holder arm 106 positioned below towel holder arm 107. Further, towel holder 100 includes a towel holder arm 104 positioned above towel holder arm 103 and a towel holder arm 105 positioned below towel holder arm 106. It should be noted that towel holder arm 104 is positioned below towel holder arm 105, and towel holder arm 103 is positioned below towel holder arm 104 and towel holder arm 106 is positioned above towel holder arm 105. In this way, towel holder arms 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 and 107 are spaced apart from each other along the length of towel holder trunk 101. It should be noted that towel holder arms 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 and 107 are each elongate members having a length greater than a width.
The towel holder arms can be rotatably mounted to towel holder trunk 101 in many different ways. In this embodiment, the towel holder arms are rotatably mounted to towel holder trunk 101 with T-joints. The T-joints an be of many different types. In this embodiment, the T-joint are PVC pipes, as will be discussed in more detail presently.
FIG. 2 is a close-up perspective view of an upper region 108 of towel holder 100 of FIG. 1. In this embodiment, towel holder 100 includes a T-joint 107 a. T-joint 107 a includes opposed openings, and a transverse opening. Towel holder arm 107 extends through the transverse opening of T-joint 107 a, and towel holder trunk 101 extends through the opposed openings of T-joint 107 a. Towel holder arm 107 is rotatably mounted to towel holder trunk 101 because T-joint 107 a is capable of rotating about towel holder trunk 101. Towel holder arm 107 rotates relative to towel holder trunk 101 in response to rotation of T-joint 107 a.
In this embodiment, towel holder 100 includes a bracket 110 a which engages an upper portion of towel holder trunk 101. Bracket 110 a includes an opening 111 a extending therethrough, wherein opening 111 a is sized and shaped to receive a fastener (not shown) for holding bracket 110 a to a support piece (not shown), such as a wall. In this way, the upper portion of towel holder trunk 101 is fastened to the support piece. It should be towel holder 100 is repeatably moveable between attached and detached positions with the support piece. In this way, towel holder 100 can be easily moved from one location to another.
FIG. 3 is a close-up perspective view of a lower region 109 of towel holder 100 of FIG. 1. In this embodiment, towel holder 100 includes a T-joint 102 a. T-joint 102 a includes opposed openings, and a transverse opening. Towel holder arm 102 extends through the transverse opening of T-joint 102 a, and towel holder trunk 101 extends through the opposed openings of T-joint 102 a. Towel holder arm 102 is rotatably mounted to towel holder trunk 101 because T-joint 102 a is capable of rotating about towel holder trunk 101. Towel holder arm 102 rotates relative to towel holder trunk 101 in response to rotation of T-joint 102 a.
In this embodiment, towel holder 100 includes a bracket 110 b which engages a lower portion of towel holder trunk 101. Bracket 110 b includes an opening 111 b extending therethrough, wherein opening 111 b is sized and shaped to receive a fastener (not shown) for holding bracket 110 b to a support piece (not shown), such as a wall. In this way, the lower portion of towel holder trunk 101 is fastened to the support piece.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of towel holder 100 of FIG. 1 holding a plurality of towels. In this embodiment, a towel 112 is held by towel holder arm 102 and a towel 113 is held by towel holder arm 103. Further, a towel 114 is held by towel holder arm 104 and a towel 115 is held by towel holder arm 105. A towel 116 is held by towel holder arm 106 and a towel 117 is held by towel holder arm 107.
It should be noted that towel holder arms 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 and 107 are rotatable relative to each other so that towels 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 and 117 can be spaced apart from each other. It is desirable to space apart towels 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 and 117 from each other to facilitate the ability of towels 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 and 117 to dry.
In this embodiment, towel holder 100 includes a stand 120 coupled to one end of towel holder trunk 101. Stand 120 allows towel holder trunk 101 to stand in an upright position. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, stand 120 is integral with towel holder trunk 101. However, in other embodiments, stand 120 is repeatably moveable between engaged and disengaged positions with towel holder trunk 101. Being able to repeatably move stand 120 between engaged and disengaged positions with towel holder trunk 101 is useful to facilitate the ability to store and transport tower holder 100.
Stand 120 can be of many different types. In this embodiment, stand 120 includes a stand connector piece 121, which is coupled to towel holder trunk 101. Stand 120 includes a base piece 123 which extends away from stand connector piece 121. In this particular embodiment, base piece 123 extends horizontally away from stand connector piece 121.
In this embodiment, stand 120 includes downwardly extending stake pieces 122 and 124, wherein stake piece 122 extends downwardly from one end of base piece 123 and stake piece 124 extends downwardly from an oppose end of base piece 123. It should be noted that the end of base piece 123 is positioned proximate to stand connector piece 121, and the opposed end of base piece 123 is positioned away from stand connector piece 121.
In this embodiment, stake pieces 122 and 124 are shaped to facilitate their ability to be driven through a support structure, such as the ground and sand. In this way, towel holder 100 can be positioned at a desired location so that it is held upright. Being able to position towel holder 100 at the desired location is useful so that it can be used to dry towels at many different locations, such as at a beach or park.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a holding bracket 130 that can be included with hold towel holder 100. In particular, holding bracket 130 can replace bracket 110 a and/or 110 b. In this way, hold towel holder 100 can include one or more holding brackets 130.
In this embodiment, holding bracket 130 includes opening 132 and 133 extending therethrough, wherein openings 132 and 133 are sized and shaped to receive corresponding fasteners (not shown) for holding bracket 130 to a support piece (not shown), such as a wall. In this embodiment, holding bracket 130 includes opposed arms 135 and 136 which are repeatably moveable towards and away from each other. In this embodiment, holding bracket 130 includes a spring 137 which biases opposed arms 135 and 136 towards each other. Opposed arms 135 and 136 are shaped to form an opening 138 which is sized and shaped to receive towel holder trunk 101.
Towel holder trunk 101 is repeatably moveable between engaged and disengaged positions with opposed arms 135 and 136. In the engaged position, towel holder trunk 101 extends through opening 138 and, in the disengaged position, towel holder trunk 101 does not extend through opening 138. In one situation, towel holder trunk 101 is moved from the disengaged position to the engaged position in response to moving it in a direction 140, which is indicated in FIG. 5. Opposed arms 135 and 136 move away from each other in response to moving towel holder trunk 101 in direction 140. In one situation, towel holder trunk 101 is moved from the engaged position to the disengaged position in response to moving it in a direction opposed to direction 140.
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A towel holder, comprising:

an elongate towel holder trunk;

a plurality of towel holder arms rotatably mounted to the towel holder trunk, wherein the towel holder arms are spaced apart from each other along the length of the towel holder trunk.

2. The towel holder of claim 1, further including a plurality of T-joints, wherein each towel holder arm is rotatably mounted to the towel holder trunk through a corresponding T-joint.

3. The towel holder of claim 2, wherein the towel holder trunk includes a plurality of towel holder trunk sections.

4. The towel holder of claim 3, wherein the towel holder trunk sections extend between adjacent T-joints.

5. The towel holder of claim 2, wherein the towel holder trunk, towel holder arms and T-joints each include polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material.

6. The towel holder of claim 1, further including a T-joint with opposed openings through which the towel holder trunk extends.

7. The towel holder of claim 4, wherein the T-joint includes a transverse opening through which a towel holder arm extends.

8. The towel holder of claim 1, further including a plurality of brackets engaged with upper and lower portions of the towel holder trunk.