US3479671A

US3479671A - Male urinal

Info

Publication number: US3479671A
Application number: US662115A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frank R Beich
Original assignee: American Hospital Supply Corp
Current assignee: American Hospital Supply Corp
Priority date: 1967-08-21
Filing date: 1967-08-21
Publication date: 1969-11-25
Anticipated expiration: 1986-11-25

Description

Nov. 25, 1969 FIG.4

FRANK R. BEICH United States Patent 3,479,671 MALE URINAL Frank R. Beich, Wilmette, Ill., assignor to American Hospital Supply Corporation, a corporation of Illinois Filed Aug. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 662,115 Int. Cl. A47k 11/00; A61q 9/00 US. Cl. 4110 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A male urinal formed from plastic material and having integral body, neck, and handle portions. The bod portion of the urinal is provided with a wide flat bottom and at least one flat side and the neck portion slopes in a direction away from the flat side. The hollow handle portion merges with the neck portion and permits the urinal to be hooked upon the safety side rail of a hospital bed or upon drawers, drawer handles, towel rods, etc.

BACKGROUND SUMMARY The urinal of the present invention is formed of plastic material and has a hollow and open-ended handle. Be cause of its construction and position, the enlarged handle is not only convenient for a patient or attendant to grip in moving and positioning the urinal, but also allows the urinal to be conveniently and quickly hung on any available supporting bar or tube, such as the safety side rail of a bed or the towel bar of a washroom, or upon any other convenient supporting structure such as, for example, the drawer side of a bedside cabinet. The urinal is also provided with a fiat bottom and at least one flat side, thereby permitting three convenient positions of storage or support: (a) a hanging position, (b) a vertical position, and (c) a horizontal position.

The urinal has a hollow body portion with a fiat base and at least one fiat side extending at substantially right angles to the base. A tapered neck portion is formed integrally with the body portion and angles upwardly from the top of the body portion in a direction away from the plane of the body portions flat side. The open handle is hollow and is formed integrally with the neck portion, communicating with the neck portion on the side of the urinal opposite from the flat side of the body portion. The term open with reference to the handle is used herein to mean a handle which is joined to the remainder of the urinal at only one point. Thus, the depending handle does not form a closed loop but may instead be used as a hook for the purpose of hanging the urinal upon a bedside rail or upon any other suitable supporting element. When the urinal is hung or supported by the handle, the position of the handle in relation to the center of gravity allows the urinal to swing naturally into a position of greater safety for transportation or storage. In particular, the urinal tends to position itself so that its mouth faces straight upwardly when the structure is hung or supported by the integral handle.

3,479,671 Patented Nov. 25, 1969 ice Should the urinal be accidentally tipped in a direction towards the handle after it has been used by a patient, the possibility of spilling is greatly reduced because any fluid reaching the level of the handle will tend to flow into the empty chamber provided by the handle. Despite its hollow construction, the handle will not tend to fill during use of the urinal by a patient because the slope of the handle when the urinal is positioned horizontally allows fluid to drain out of the handle and into the main body of the urinal.

DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a male urinal embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view shown partly in section of the urinal when supported on its flat front side;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the urinal showing the same in a position hooked upon a supporting bar;

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 2.

DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates a male urinal embodying the present invention. The urinal consists essentially of a unitary plastic container having a body portion 11, a neck portion 12, and a handle portion 13. All three portions are integrally formed, such as by blow molding, from polypropylene or some other suitable plastic material. While plastics are preferred because of their low cost, light weight, and ease of disposability, other materials such as metals may be used in fabricating the structure. Q

As shown in FIGURE 1, the body portion 11 of the urinal is vertically elongated and is generally rectangular in horizontal section. The body portion is closed at its bottom by a substantially fiat bottom wall 14, thus permitting the urinal to rest upon a suitable support surface in the upstanding position shown in FIGURE 1. At least one of the side walls of the body portion, specifically the front side wall 15, is flat and extends along a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of bottom wall 14. Preferably the rear wall 16 and the lateral side walls 17 slope up wardly and inwardly so that the cross sectional dimensions of the body portion at its upper end are smaller than at the lower end, thereby increasing the stability of the urinal when it rests upon its bottom wall in the position shown in FIGURE 1.

Neck portion 12 constitutes an upward and rearward extension of body portion 11. As shown most clearly in FIGURE 1, the axis of the hollow neck slopes rearwardly and upwardly with respect to the planar front wall 15 of the body portion. Th angle of rearward slope may vary depending partly upon the longitudinal and transverse dimensions of the parts; however, as shown in FIGURE 3 the longitudinal axis of the neck portion should be substantially parallel to a diagonal plane passing through the body portion from the lower edge of front wall 15 to the upper limit 16a of rear wall 16.

The neck portion tapers upwardly and defines a mouth or opening 18 at its upper end. It will be observed that the rim defining the mouth opening extends along a transverse plane normal to the longitudinal axis of neck portion 12. Thus, when the urinal rests upon its flat base or bottom wall 14 as shown in FIGURE 1, the opening of the neck faces upwardly and rearwardly.

The open handle 13 is formed integrally with the neck and extends rearwardly and downwardly from the rear wall 19 of the neck. The handle is vertically elongated, extending downwardly alongside body portion 11 in spaced relation behind rear wall 16. The spacing between the rear wall 16 of the body portion and the front wall 20 of the hollow handle is substantial enough to permit a suitable in s'iipportingel'rnent' such as a bed rail,'towel'ba'r, or drawef front, to be fitted easily ther'ebetween. In practice, it has been found that an average distance of between 1 to 1.5 inches is an effective spacing between the handle and the body portion.

The hollow handle is closed at its bottom end and com :Inunicates directly with the neck portion at its upper end. While the portion of the handle extending alongside the body portion is substantally parallel with that body portion, it will be observed from FIGURES 3 and 2 that the 'inside surface of the handles front wall actually extends at a slight angle towards the plane of front wall 15. Thus, when the urinal is tipped on its flat front side as shown in FIGURE 2, with front wall 15 resting on a generally horizontal surface, any fluid contained within the hollow handle 13 will drain into neck 12 and then into body .11.

. FIGURE 1 illustrates a cap 21 removably fitted upon the mouth of the container. Thecap is provided with a cylindrical stopper portion 22 which fits down into the circular mouth of the container and a circumferentially and outwardly extending flange 23 which rests upon the rim of'the mouth and limits the extent of insertion of the stopper portion therein. A strap 24 is formed integrally with flange portion 23 and defines a loop 25 which receives the open handle and helps to retain the cap upon the container even when opening 18 is exposed. If desired, a tab portion 26 may also be formed integrally with flange 23 to facilitate attachment and removal of the cover.

From the foregoing it is believed apparent that the .urinal may be supported upon a support surface, or upon a suitable supporting element, in any of three positions. The vertical position of FIGURE 1 is a common storage position when immediate use of the urinal is not likely to be necessary. The position shown in FIGURE 2 is the common position of use and, in that connection, it will again b observed that the slope of the neck 12 and of handle 13 will cause fluid to flow into body portion 11 with no reasonabe possibilitygf spilling. Since the opening 18 of the urinal faces upwardly to a considerable extent when the unit is tipped on its front side in the horizontal position shown in FIGURE 2, the possibilities of spilling during use of the urinal are even further reduced.

' FIGURE 3 illustrates a particularly convenient manner of supporting the urinal upon a support element A (which may be a bed rail, a towel bar, etc.), and When so supported the center .of gravity of the unit when either empty or filled is such that the urinal assumes the general position illustrated. In such position, the rim defining opening 18 of the urinal lies in a generally horizontal plane. Should the body portion of the urinal be filled with liquid, and should the urinal. then be tipped rearwardly (as might occur when an attendant lifts the unit off of the support for emptying or for the purpose of placing it on a horizontal surface in the position shown in FIGURE 1), any fluid which exceeds the level of the body portion will tend to flow into the hollow handle. Thus, even if the urinal is handled carelessly by an attendant, the possibilities of spilling are substantially eliminated.

" When the urinal is in use by a patient, its anatomical shape contributes greate'ly in preventing spilling and in promoting patient comfort. Thus, the taper of the unit from its base to its neck, especially when viewed from the front or rear (FIGURE 4), permits it to be placed comfortably between a patients legs during use. Since the patient need spread his legs a distance sufficient only to accommodate the urinal, and since the forward taper of the urinal permits substantial surface contact between the container and the insides of the patients thighs, it is a simple matter for the patient to maintain the urinal in proper position during use.

-While in the foregoing I have disclosed an embodiment of the invention in considerable detail for purposes of illustration, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many of these details may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A urinal having an elongated body portion provided with at least one substantially flat longitudinal side Wall, a neck portion formed integrally with said body portion and sloping away from the axis of said body portion at an obtuse angle, and an elongated hollow handle formed integrally with said neck portion and extending alongside said body portion in spaced relation therewith, said hollow handle being closed at its lower end and communicating at its upper end with the interior of said neck portion.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said hollow handle slopes slightly with respect to the plane of said flat side ,Wall and in a direction towards said neck portion, whereby, fiuid in said handle will drain therefrom into said neck and body portions when said container is supported with its fiat side wall' upon a horizontal surface.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said handle comprises a hook for supporting said container upon any suitably supporting element capable of fitting between said handle and said body portion.

4. The structure of claim 1 in which the axis of said neck portion is substantially parallel with a diagonal plane passing through said body portion from the bottom edge of said flat side wall to the top of said body portion at a point opposite from said flat side wall.

5. The structure of claim 4 in which said neck portion has a mouth opening defined by a rim extending in a plane normal to the axis of said neck portion.

6. The structure of claim 5 in which said rim is generally circular in shape, and a closure cap is removably received by said mouth opening, said cap being provided with strap means removably connecting said cap to said handle.

7. The structure of claim 1 in which said urinal is blow molded from plastic material.

8. The structure of claim 1 in which said urinal is provided with a flat end wall substantially perpendicular to said flat side wall.

9. The structure of claim 1 in which said flat longitudinal side wall tapers upwardly towards said neck portion.

- 10. The structure of claim 8 in which said body portion is provided with opposing side walls adjacent said first-mentioned side wall, said opposing side Walls sloping inwardly towards each other from said flat end wall to said neck portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,030,636 4/1902 Evans 41l0 3,170,170 2/1965 Robillard 4110 3,295,145 1/1967 Ericson 4110 3,403,410 10/1968 Benzel et al. 41 10 FOREIGN PATENTS 306,741 2/ 1929 Great Britain. 266,794 8/ 1964 Netherlands.

LAVER-NE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner HENRY-K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner