US20110258767A1

US20110258767A1 - Portable folding potty seat assembly

Info

Publication number: US20110258767A1
Application number: US12/799,445
Authority: US
Inventors: Chia Ling Lok
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-04-26
Filing date: 2010-04-26
Publication date: 2011-10-27

Abstract

In various embodiments, a portable and foldable potty seat assembly may include a main wall, a side wall, a top seating cover, and a supporting wall. The walls are operable to be folded inward to form a compact apparatus for the ease of carrying and storage, and operable to be folded outward to form a potty ready for use. A plastic bag and a container may be coupled with the apparatus for the use of potty. The walls may have structures of extrusion, recess, and configurations to either support the top seating covers or accommodate other walls. The portable and foldable potty seat assembly may include a chair back and a handle to make the seating more comfortable and secure.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a portable and foldable potty seat assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traveling with young children can present problems when the toddler or young child needs to use a potty. The problems or difficulties could be that a bathroom or a sanitary bathroom may be unavailable, kids can not wait and need to use a potty right away, a big and traditional potty seat is difficult to carry while traveling, a stable and small potty seat that can be put on the plastic bag or Ziploc is not available, etc. The potty-chair or potty-seat, such as the ones made by Baby Bjorn potty chair, and by Once Upon a Potty chair, are typically used at home and are not small in size and therefore they are not convenient to carry when people are on the road. Also, the traditional potty seats are not designed to couple with a plastic bag or Ziploc and they become difficult when people do not have resources to clean the potty chair. Therefore, the invention here provides a potty seat assembly that is flexible, foldable, and small in size, and the designed potty seat assembly is to be used with a container, a plastic bag, or a Ziploc bag. After the use, the potty seat can be folded back to a very small size. Although the designed portable potty seat assembly is mainly for children but it is also a good necessity for adults, for example, it can be used at urgent conditions when potty is needed, and for people are outing for camping where restroom is not available, and in one embodiment, it acts as a chair.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The embodiment of the present invention provides a flexible potty seat assembly that is foldable and portable.
In one embodiment, the portable potty assembly contains several foldable components. The assembly can be folded outward ready for potty use and can be folded inward for ease of carrying and storage
In one embodiment, the portable potty contains top seat covers, main walls, side walls, bottom walls, and components of supporting walls.
In one embodiment, the components of the potty seat assembly are coupled together with hinge structure.
In one embodiment, the walls may have structure to support the top seating covers and to support the weight from seating.
In one embodiment, the components of supporting walls are embedded inside and coupled with the base pieces.
In one embodiment, the components of the potty seat assembly are matted together so the entire structure is stable.
In one embodiment, the components of the supporting walls are to be standing on the based pieces.
In one embodiment, after the flexible potty assembly is folded outward or extended out, the supporting walls are put on, then a plastic bag or a Ziploc bag can be coupled to the supporting walls to act as a potty container.
In one embodiment, the portable potty seat assembly can function as a chair and a stool. The portable potty seat assembly may include a chair back and a handle structure for securing the seating.
In one embodiment, the top seat covers may be coupled together to hold and to clamp the plastic bag for the use of the potty.
In one embodiment, the components of the top covers and side walls may be folded toward the main walls.
In one embodiment, after the flexible potty assembly is folded outward, and the top covers are put on, then a plastic bag or a Ziploc bag can be coupled to the top covers to act as a potty container.
In one embodiment, a container is embedded inside the portable potty seat assembly. The container may be composed by a single piece or multiple pieces. The side walls and main walls may have recess to accommodate the container pieces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention may be obtained when the following detailed description is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a fully folded out potty seat assembly ready for use;

FIG. 2 illustrates a fully folded out potty seat assembly ready for use;

FIG. 3 illustrates a folded out potty seat assembly;

FIG. 4 a illustrates a view of top covers, side walls, and a main wall;

FIG. 4 b illustrates the components of top covers are folded inside the main wall;

FIG. 5 a illustrates a view of bottom pieces, side walls, and a main wall;

FIG. 5 b illustrates the components of bottom walls are folded inside the main wall;

FIGS. 6 a and 6 b illustrate that the side walls are coupled together with a hinge structure and they can be folded in or out;

FIG. 7 a illustrates that the bottom pieces are coupled together with a hinge structure and they can be folded in or out, and the components of the supporting walls are embedded inside the bottom walls;

FIG. 7 b illustrates that the components of the supporting walls are put on;

FIGS. 8 a and 8 b illustrates the components of the supporting walls;

FIG. 8 c illustrates a cross sectional view of the components of the supporting walls inside the portable potty seat assembly;

FIG. 9 illustrates a view of the components of the supporting walls inside the portable potty seat assembly;

FIG. 10 a illustrates all components are folded inward;

FIG. 10 b illustrates all components are fully folded inward to form a compact assembly;

FIG. 11 a illustrates a chair back structure is coupled with the portable potty seat assembly.

FIGS. 11 b and 11 c illustrate the handle structure is coupled with the chair back structure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a foldable potty seat assembly with top covers folding toward the main walls.

FIG. 13 illustrates a foldable potty seat assembly with side walls folded toward each other, and toward the main walls.

FIG. 14 illustrates that the top covers and side walls are folded toward a main wall.

FIG. 15 illustrate that the top covers are coupled together to form a top seat cover assembly.

FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrates the top covers are assembled together to form a compact assembly.

FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 illustrate that top covers are coupled together to clamp a bag for the use of potty.

FIG. 20 illustrates a container may be coupled to the portable potty seat.

FIG. 21 illustrates a container is embedded inside the portable potty seat assembly.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, note that the word “may” is used throughout this application in a permissive sense (i.e., having the potential to, being able to), not a mandatory sense (i.e., must). The term “include”, and derivations thereof, mean “including, but not limited to”. The term “coupled” means “directly or indirectly connected”.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to a portable and foldable potty seat assembly. Such portable seat assembly may be used at different conditions and occasions, such as, for the use at home, for the use when a bathroom is not available, for the use when people have concerns that public bathroom is not sanitary, for the use when people are on the road, for the use when kids or toddlers or adults can not wait and need to use a potty right away, for the use when people can not carry big potty seats and this invention of potty seat assembly on the contrary is easy to carry, for the use when people go camping, and so on.
The advantages and the structure of the portable seat assembly will be explained in detail in the text and with figures below. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an assembled portable potty seat. The components of the portable seat assembly are all folded outward to form a potty seat ready for use. The portable potty seat assembly comprises top seat covers 10, main walls 20, side walls 30, bottom walls 40, and supporting walls 70. The components of walls may be coupled together with hinge structures so the components are foldable. The top seat covers 10 are configured to have a hole in the middle for the use of potty. For the design shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the assembly includes two pieces of the main walls 20, two pieces of top seat covers 10, four pieces of side walls 30, two pieces of bottom walls 40. In one embodiment, the number of walls is adjustable. More number of walls will have more pieces and will have more components to be folded. In another embodiment, the main walls 20 and side walls 30 are interchangeable, which means their locations can be exchanged.
FIG. 3 illustrates the portable potty seat assembly. One piece of the top seat cover 10 a is coupled to one piece of main wall 20 a with a hinge structure, and the two pieces of top seat covers 10 are coupled together with hinge structures. In the figure, the top seat covers 10 are pulled out upward, and the top seat covers 10 may be put down to lay on the main wall 20 to form a surface for seating. The edge of the top seat cover 10 b may mate with the edge of the main wall 20 b, and the edge of both walls may have structure to help matting and to enforce the structure stability. The side walls 30 are used to confine the top seat covers 10 and may be used to support the potty seat assembly.
FIGS. 4 a and 4 b illustrate how the top seat covers 10 are folded-in to form a compact structure. Two pieces of top seat covers 10 are folded together and then the two pieces are folded together again into a recess region on the main wall 20 a. The side walls 36 may have structures and configurations, as the circled region shown in FIG. 4 b and FIG. 5 b, to support the weight from top seat covers 10 after seating. Similarly, the two bottom walls 40 may be folded together and the two pieces are folded together again to put inside a recess region on the main wall 20 b, as shown in FIGS. 5 a and 5 b. The edge of the bottom wall 40 b may mate with the edge of the main wall 20 a, and the edge of both walls may have structures and configurations to help matting and to enforce the structure stability. In order to form a compact portable potty seat, it is important that all components are foldable, and FIGS. 6 a and 6 b illustrate that the side walls 30 are operable to be folded inward and outward.
FIG. 7 a illustrates the two pieces of bottom walls 40 are to be folded together to form a compact structure, and the supporting walls 70 are embedded inside the bottom walls 40. FIG. 7 b illustrates that the two bottom walls 40 are folded out, and there are four supporting walls 70. The supporting walls 70 may couple with supporting bars 80 to hold the supporting walls 70 at desired angle and locations. There are four supporting walls 70 in the figure and the supporting walls 70 may couple with bottom walls 40 with hinge structure, spring structure, or with any other attachment structure. In one embodiment, the number, geometry, configuration, and location of the supporting walls 70 may be varied and adjusted, and all the variation shall be considered within the scope of the embodiment here. In another embodiment, the bottom walls 40 may have recess region 50 to accommodate the support walls 70 and the recess region 50 could be a pocket or a through hole. In a further embodiment, the recess region may have surface patterns 60 to adjust and to control the angle and location of the supporting walls 70.
FIG. 8 a illustrates a supporting wall 70 and a supporting bar 80 may be coupled together with a hinge-like structure, and the supporting wall 70 may couple with bottom walls 40 with a hinge-like structure as well. In one embodiment, the hinge and hinge-like structure are not the only attachment method and other attachment approaches can be used as well, such as spring structure, or components are connected together and the supporting walls 70 act like a cup lid to be open and close, etc. All the variations of the attachment methods should be considered within the scope of the embodiment here. The supporting walls 70 basically function as a supporter to hold a container, a paper bag, a plastic bag, or a Ziploc bag. FIG. 8 b illustrates the supporting walls 70 are holding a solid container 90. FIG. 8 c illustrates a side view of the supporting walls 70, supporting bars 80, and a Ziploc bag 91 inside the portable seat assembly. The Ziploc bag 91 is to contain the material dropping from top.
FIG. 9 illustrates the external and internal components of the portable potty seat assembly. FIG. 10 a illustrates the components of the portable potty seat are folded into a compact assembly and FIG. 10 b illustrates a fully folded-in, compact portable potty seat assembly.
FIG. 11 a illustrates a chair like structure is coupled. A chair back 95 structure may be embedded inside the main wall 20 a. When the component is pulled out, it will function as a chair back. When the portable potty seat assembly is not in use, the chair back 95 component is pushed inside the main wall 20 a to save the storage size. In one embodiment, the chair back structure may have different configurations and geometry. In FIG. 11 a, the chair back 95 structure is perpendicular to the top seat cover 10 a. In one embodiment, the chair back structure 95 may be configured to have an angle with respect to the top seat cover surface to make the seating more comfortable. FIGS. 11 b and 11 c illustrate a handle structure 96 may be embedded inside the chair back structure 95. The chair back structure 95 and handle structure 96 are useful to secure the seating for young kids and toddlers. When the handle structure 96 is needed, it can be pulled out following the directions of arrows as shown in FIG. 11 b and FIG. 11 c. In one embodiment, the handle structure 96 may have different configuration and geometry, and the handle structure 96 may couple with chair back structure 95 with a hinge and other attachment methods.
In FIG. 3, the two top seating covers 10 are coupled together with a hinge structure then the two seating covers 10 are laid on and coupled with main walls 20 and side walls 30 to form a portable potty seat assembly. Different from FIG. 3, FIG. 12 illustrates each top seating cover 10 is coupled with one main wall 20 and each seat cover 10 can be folded toward the main wall 20 to save the storage space, and FIG. 13 illustrates a portable potty seat assembly is folding inwardly. In summary, the components of the portable potty seat assembly are to be folded outwardly to form a potty seat ready for use, and to be folded inwardly to form a compact assembly for ease of carrying or storage. The top seat covers 10 are configured to have a hole in the middle for the use of potty. FIG. 14 illustrates the components are foldable following the directions as shown. In one embodiment, the top seat covers 10 may not have a hole then the entire assembly acts as a portable chair or stool.
FIG. 15 illustrates the top covers 10 may have more than two pieces. In the figure, the assembly contains four pieces of top seating covers 10, with covers 10 a and 10 b on top of covers of 10 c and 10 d. In one embodiment, the number of pieces of top seating covers 10 is adjustable. These top seating covers are coupled together to function as a seating plate for the use of potty.
FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate the top seating covers 10 are coupled together and the covers may have structures of extrusion and recess on them, and the structure may have different geometries and configurations. The direction of arrow in FIG. 16 illustrates how the covers 10 are coupled together. These structures on the covers may better help the mating or coupling of the covers, and they may act as a clamp to clamp a bag.
FIGS. 18 and 19 illustrate the two top seating covers, 10 a and 10 b, are on top of the other two pieces of top covers, 10 c and 10 d. When the covers are assembled together, they act as a clamp to hold a plastic bag or a Ziploc bag in place for the use of potty. FIGS. 18 and 19 illustrate a tiny gap sits in between top covers 10 b and 10 d. The gap region can be used to accommodate and to clamp the plastic bag. In one embodiment, the top covers 10 may have different shapes in extrusion and in recess in order to clamp the plastic bag in place. Here, FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 show two simple configurations. In one embodiment, various configurations, patterns, and geometries on the top covers 10 may be used and all these variation shall be considered within the scope of the invention here.
Instead of a plastic bag or a Ziploc bag, a potty container 90 may be used to couple with the assembly, and FIG. 20 illustrates such an application. In practical application, a container which can be embedded inside the portable potty assembly is preferred and FIG. 21 illustrates such a design. The figure shows that a solid container 90 is coupled to the portable potty assembly at its base. The container can be composed by a single piece or several pieces. In FIG. 21, the solid container 90 is composed with two pieces. FIG. 21 a illustrates the solid container 90 is embedded inside the portable potty assembly so the entire structure is very compact. FIG. 21 b illustrate the container is taken out and put underneath the portable potty seat for use. FIGS. 21 c and 21 d illustrate the two pieces of the solid container 90 are coupled together so their size can be very compact. FIGS. 21 e and 21 f illustrates how the two pieces of the solid containers 90 are assembled together. In one embodiment, various coupling mechanism can be used to form a container, and all these variation shall be considered within the embodiment here.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a main wall, a side wall, a top seating cover, a bottom wall, and a hinge structure to form a portable and foldable potty seat assembly.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the top seating covers contain a hole in the center for the use of potty.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the side wall and main wall have structure of extrusion, recess, and configurations to support the top seating covers.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the portable potty seat assembly is operable to function as a seating chair.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bottom wall contains the components of support walls to hold a bag for the use of potty, and the supporting walls are operable to be foldable on the bottom walls to form a compact assembly.

6. An apparatus of claim 1, wherein the top seating covers are operable to hold and to clamp a bag for the use of potty, and the top seating covers have structures of extrusions, recess, and configurations to clamp a bag.

7. An apparatus of claim 1, wherein the top seating covers have structures of extrusions, recess, and configurations to clamp a bag.

8. An apparatus of claim 1, wherein the foldable potty seat assembly is operable to couple with a chair back and a handle to make the seating more comfortable.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the foldable potty seat assembly is operable to couple with a container for the use of potty.

10. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the supporting walls are operable to function as a holder and a support for a bag to put on.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the main walls, side walls, top seating covers, and bottom walls are operable to be able to be folded inward to form a compact potty assembly for the ease of carrying and storage, and operable to be folded outward to form a potty seat assembly ready for use.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the walls are coupled together with hinge elements.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the top seating covers have structures of extrusion and recess to accommodate the supporting elements on the side walls.