WO1995025853A1

WO1995025853A1 - Night light

Info

Publication number: WO1995025853A1
Application number: PCT/AU1994/000795
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alec Robinson
Original assignee: Alec Robinson
Priority date: 1994-03-22
Filing date: 1994-12-23
Publication date: 1995-09-28

Abstract

A night light for use with a toilet comprising a housing (10) adapted to contain an air freshening or toilet cleansing product (16), the housing including a fluidway to allow flow of fluid through the housing, the housing supporting an externally directed light source (40) operable by switching means (35) whereby in use the light source illuminates the toilet bowl.

Description

Title

Night Light

Background of the Invention

This invention relates to a night light particularly for use in toilets and bathrooms.

Description of the Prior Art

There are a variety of different air fresheners that are commercially available. The most common form comprises a plastics housing into which is located an air freshening product such as a air pervious bag of granules or a tablet. The housing has a perforated wall structure that allows flow of air past the air freshening product. Air fresheners are particularly useful in confined areas where odours can be a problem, namely bathrooms, toilets and kitchens.

There are also commercially available cleansing/ deodorising products that are in the form of a water pervious housing that contains a tablet of cleansing/deodorising product. The housing clips to the rim of the toilet bowl with the tablet extending into the path of the flushing water.

There are situations where rooms that utilise these products such as baby's changing rooms, bathrooms and/or toilets have a need for a small diffused light that illuminates the room or part of the room without the need to impose the glare that comes from the usual mains lighting sources.

Summary of the Invention According to the present invention there is provided a night light for use with a toilet comprising a housing adapted to contain an air freshening or toilet cleansing product, the housing including a fluidway to allow flow of fluid through the housing, the housing supporting an externally directed light source operable by switching means whereby in use the light source illuminates the toilet bowl.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a night light in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view illustrating the attachment of the night light of Figure 1 to the rim of a toilet bowl,

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken through the rim of the toilet bowl illustrating the location of the night light,

Figure 4 is an elevational view of the front of the night light when attached to the rim of the toilet bowl.

Figure 5 is a circuit diagram illustrating the circuit of a printed circuit board that forms part of the night light.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a night light in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention in an open condition, Figure 7 is a perspective view of the night light of Figure 6 in a closed position, and

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a night light in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.

Description of Preferred Embodiments

The night light that is the subject of this invention and illustrated in Figures 1 to 8 is essentially a combination of a small battery powered lighting source with an air freshener or toilet deodorising product. In the embodiments shown in Figures 1 to 7, the toilet freshener or deodorising product is in the form of a housing 10 that clips onto the rim 11 of the toilet bowl 12, the housing 10 has a perforated wall structure 15 which contains a deodorising or toilet freshening tablet 16. The tablet is located at a level where as the toilet is flushed, water flows over the tablet to release a cleansing/deodorising agent release into the water. In the embodiment shown in Figure 8, the light is incorporated into a free standing air freshening product in the form of a free standing housing 100 that contains an air freshening product. The housings of both embodiments incorporate batteries that power a small light source that produces a diffused light which can be used to illuminate the surroundings such as a toilet bowl or wash basin. In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 5, the night light is incorporated within a deodorising unit that clips onto the rim of the toilet bowl. The assembly comprises a plastics moulding 10 in the form of a U-shaped straddle clip 20 having downwardly extending legs 21, 22 one 21 of which supports a battery compartment and the other 22 of which supports a splash proof sealed enclosure 23 that houses a printed circuit board 30, torch bulb 40 and switch assembly 35. A hollow perforated cage 15 projects downwardly from the enclosure 33. The perforated cage 15 contains a tablet 16 of a conventional toilet cleanser or toilet deodoriser. The straddle clip 20 has a horizontal bridge 24 that, as shown in Figure 2, extends across the top of the rim 11 of the toilet bowl 12 with the deodorising cage 15 locating under the rim 11 against the inside wall of the bowl 12. The other leg 21 of the straddle clip that contains the battery compartment is external of the rim 11 of the toilet bowl and the straddle bridge 24 is of slightly convex profile as shown in Figure 3 so that the legs 21, 22 of the clip tend to press against the respective faces of the rim of the bowl. The location of the night light against the rim of the bowl is shown in greater detail in Figure 3. The battery compartment is of rectangular format to house two AA torch batteries 28, 29. There is a removable cover, not shown, that facilitates replacement of the batteries. The splash proof enclosure 23 at the top of the inner leg 22 of the night light incorporates a printed circuit board 30 that supports a downwardly projecting torch bulb 40, the head 41 of which projects through a small aperture 42 in an upwardly inclined plate 43 that projects from the forward face of the perforated cage 15. The head 41 of the torch bulb 40 extends slightly through the aperture 42 as shown in Figures 3 and 4 and it is arranged so that it casts diffused light into the bowl 12 of the toilet. The upper portion of the splash proof enclosure 23 supports a switch device 35. The switching device 35 is arranged to be activated by a spring lever 36 that extends, in one embodiment shown in Figure 1, across the top of the straddle clip 20. When the toilet seat (not shown) is lowered onto the straddle clip 20, the spring lever 36 is depressed downwardly to engage the switch 35 to disconnect power to the light source. As the toilet seat is lifted, the spring lever 36 resiliently moves upwardly to release the switch 35 which has the effect of turning on the light. The spring lever 36 is designed to flex over a gap of about 10mm between the underside of the toilet seat and the rim of the bowl. This degree of flex accommodates a variety of designs of toilet/seat arrangements. It is however understood that the spring lever 36 can be replaced by a similar spring mechanism mounted directly adjacent the switch 35 on the forward edge of the rim. This switch would operate in a similar manner activated by movement of the toilet seat. Other embodiments (not shown) embrace the use of a mercury or gravity switch that opens and closes on movement of the seat. The printed circuit board 30 and its associated circuitry is illustrated in Figure 5. The circuit incorporates an integrated circuit timer 70 and two transistors 71, 72 which operate so that if the light is left switched on it will automatically turn off after a period of between one and two minutes. The switching mechanism 35 is also designed so that once the light has been switched on it remains on regardless of whether the seat is in the up or down position. The torch bulb or light source 40 is a conventional bulb of 2.5 v with a beam concentrator on the head 41. It is envisaged that use of the timer 70 in conjunction with the switching means 35 will allow the batteries to have an effective life of about three months assuming use of the light four times a day.

The perforated cage 15 that contains the toilet cleansing product is formed in two halves 51, 52 that pivot together about a hinge 53 extending along the base of the cage. The forward half 51 is integrally formed with an upwardly extending flange 54 and plate 43 through which the head 41 of the bulb 40 projects. As shown in Figure 3, by pulling down the plate 43, the forward half of the casing pivots forwardly to the dotted profile shown in Figure 3 allowing ready access for replacement of the toilet cleansing agent. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, the cage projects downwardly into the bowl 12 to extend under the rim 11 of the bowl. In this manner, when the toilet is flushed, water swirls around under the rim 11 of the bowl 12 and over and through the cage 15 to allow the tablet to release its cleansing agent into the water.

In a second embodiment shown in Figures 6 and 7 a ' deodorising product that clips onto the rim of a toilet bowl includes a two part plastics housing 61. One half 62 of the housing 61 is provided with a projecting mount 80 that supports a pair of sockets 81 and 82 that house a pair of small torch bulbs 83, 84 positioned to extend in opposite directions. A diffuser 85 extends over the top of the bulbs 83, 84 and the night light is sealed in a clear plastics cover 86. The night light 10 is attached to the half 62 of the housing 61 in a watertight sealed configuration. The torch bulbs sockets 81, 82 are wired through the other half 63 of the housing with the wire 90 extending up a leg 69 and clip 71 to extend behind the toilet bowl to a power pack (not shown) . The power pack comprises a plastics enclosure which contains one or two batteries that power the light bulbs. The enclosure includes a small switch mounted on the top of the casing.

The enclosure is adapted to be secured to the upper surface of the cistern (not shown), preferably adjacent the flushing mechanism so that it is a simple exercise to turn the light on and off. It is however understood that the power pack could be positioned in other readily accessible positions. The power pack and switch may include a L.E.D. positioned near the switch to illuminate the switch.

The positioning of the night light 10 is arranged so that the toilet bowl is illuminated so that it is clearly visible yet the light is sufficiently diffused so as not to cause a harsh blinding light.

In other embodiments not shown, it is understood that the light may be supported by other support means which would be secured to the toilet, either hung from the rim or directly against the wall of the toilet. It is further understood that the light means could be secured to the underside of the toilet seat in a manner that when the seat is lifted and the light switched on, the toilet bowl is i1luminated. The embodiments shown in Figures 1 to 7 relate to deodorising products that are attached to the toilet to be immersed in water as the toilet is flushed. In the embodiment shown in Figure 8, the night light is incorporated in an air freshener 100. The air freshener 100 comprises a plastics housing of substantially circular cross section defining a base 111, a cylindrical upstanding wall 112 and a domed top 113. The wall 112 is provided with a plurality of spaced apart perforations 114 that facilitate the flow of air through the housing. The base 111 is preferably snap fitted, screw threaded or otherwise removable from the housing to facilitate access into the interior of the housing. The interior of the base has a compartment into which is located a battery holder 115 that houses two 1.5 volt torch batteries 116. The torch batteries are wired to a switch 120 that is positioned at the upper part of the domed top 113. The domed top 113 also includes a forwardly facing enclosure 121 that terminates in a downwardly facing aperture 122 that houses the head 124 of a small torch bulb 123 which is wired to the batteries 116 via the switch 120. The interior of the housing is also designed to accommodate an air freshening product (not shown) either in the form of an air pervious pouch of granules or a tablet of air freshening product. Air freshening products are considered to be well known to those skilled in this art and are consequently not described in detail in this specification. The air freshener is preferably installed in an environment where odours may be a problem. A toilet is an obvious room in which air fresheners are frequently located. The air freshener described above has been designed so that it is a free standing unit on the top of the toilet cistern. The air freshener operates for long periods introducing a perfumed odour into the room to effectively act as a deodoriser.

As described above, there is often a need for a diffused light in a toilet. This embodiment of invention has effectively combined the provision of the diffused light with a household item such as an air freshener. The air freshener shown in Figure 8 includes a small diffused light in the form of the torch bulb 123 which can be switched on or off by simple downward depression of the switch 120 at the top 113 of the housing. Consequently, if a person wishes to use the toilet at night, without turning on the light, he or she simply has to press down the switch 120 thereby turning on the light and then press the switch again to turn off the light when use of the toilet is complete. The small batteries 116 and torch bulb 123 provide sufficient diffused light to illuminate the toilet bowl without the harsh glare that would be encountered by turning on the main lighting source.

It is understood that the torch bulb could be replaced by one or more light emitting diodes and a variety of switching mechanisms can be used to turn the light on and off. More sophisticated variations include sensors that sense the presence of a human body to turn the light on and off and the use of a timer whereby the light is only turned on for a short period. These sophistications could be incorporated in a micro-chip on a suitable designed printed circuit board. It is also understood that the shape and configuration of the housing that houses the air freshener and the light source could vary. The importance of the housing is that it is free standing and possesses sufficient stable equilibrium so as not to topple over or be easily displaced. The air freshener described above can be simply moulded in plastics to provide a cheap and very useful dual purpose household appliance.

The night light described above allows diffused illumination of a toilet and its surrounds without the need to turn on the mains lighting. The light allows small children to use a bathroom without the need for an adult to switch on and off the mains lighting.

Claims

CLAIMS ;

1. A night light for use with a toilet comprising a housing adapted to contain an air freshening or toilet cleansing product, the housing including a fluidway to allow flow of fluid through the housing, the housing supporting an externally directed light source operable by switching means whereby in use the light source illuminates the toilet bowl.

2. A night light according to claim 1 further comprising means to clip the light onto the rim of the bowl with the housing and light source inside the rim of the bowl.

3. A night light according to either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the switching means is activated as the seat of the toilet is lifted. . A night light according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the switching means comprises a spring lever that is depressed by the seat and is released as the seat is lifted.

5. A night light according to either claim 1 or 2 wherein the switching means is manually operable and mounted externally of the housing on or adjacent the toilet.

6. A night light according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the housing includes a splash proof chamber that houses that a small torch bulb, the switch means and associated circuitry, the housing including a saddle clip that locates on the rim of the bowl, the external side of the saddle clip including a battery housing to support one or more batteries.

7. A night light according to claim 6 wherein the saddle clip comprises a bridge that engages the top of the rim of the toilet bowl and downwardly projecting legs that resillently engage either side of the rim.

8. A night light according to claim 6 wherein the circuitry includes a printed circuit board, switch and time delay means operable to switch the light off after a predetermined interval. . A night light according to claim 1 wherein the housing is a free standing unit containing an air freshening product, the switching means being external of the housing.

10. A night light according to claim 9 wherein the housing comprises a hollow cage with a perforated wall structure formed to define a first chamber into which the air freshening or toilet cleansing product is located, the cage including a second chamber positioned above the first chamber, the second chamber housing the night light source and circuitry.

11. A night light according to either claim 1 or 2 wherein the switching means comprises a motion sensor switch that in use detects motion adjacent the toilet bowl.