WO2009086852A1 - Potty for and with a toilet sticker - Google Patents

Abstract

A potty (1) for use with a toilet sticker (10), with an inner base (5) comprising a deepened area (6) suitable for accomodating the sticker (10). The inner base (5) slopes towards said area (6), such that urine will collect mainly on top of the toilet sticker (10) and deliver heat thereto. Said area (6) is located towards the front of the potty (1) adjoining the urine deflector (9) to maximize the amount of urine standing on top of the sticker and enable an infant to see through between its legs a picture appear on toilet sticker (10) whilst properly seated on the potty (1) and in the process of weeing.

Description

POTTY FOR AND WITH A TOILETSTICKER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a potty to be used by infants for use for potty training. More specifically the present invention relates to a potty for infant use with a urine chamber with an inner base comprising an area suitable for accommodating a toilet sticker.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A toilet sticker, as e.g. described in patent specification NL1012355C, is applied to the inside of a toilet bowl to improve the user's aim and consequently reduce spillage. Such sticker may comprise an adhesive plastic sheet on which a picture is printed which is (partly) hidden from view by a covering shape which is printed with a thermo chromic ink on top of said picture. When the sticker is used as a target whilst weeing, the heat of the urine will change the transparency of the covering shape from near zero to near hundred percent and the (remainder of the) picture will appear.

It is known to apply suchlike toilet stickers in the middle of the inner base of a potty to encourage infants to use a potty. However in contrast to the successful application of toilet stickers in toilet bowls, the application of toilet stickers in potties is disappointing on occasions where the infant is not able to observe a change of transparency of the covering shape.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides for a potty for infant use for potty training comprising a urine receiving chamber with an inner base comprising a deepened area for accommodating a toilet sticker and sized therefore, towards which the wall of the inner base slopes such that urine will collect mainly on top of said area and whereby said area is located towards the front of the potty preferably adjoining the urine deflector. The invention furthermore provides for a kit comprising such a potty and a toilet sticker. BRIEF DESCIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic view of an embodiment of the potty of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the potty of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side view of the potty depicted in FIG. 2, taken along line A-A.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional front view of the potty depicted in FIG. 2, taken along line B-B.

FIG. 5 is another cross sectional front view of the potty depicted in FIG. 2, taken along line C-C.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional schematic side view of part of the inner base, in similar orientation as figure 3, of a potty known from the prior art.

The figures are a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment that is given as a nonlimiting example and similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to figure 1 , potty 1 is constructed from moulded plastics or other synthetic or natural material and it consists of a body with an upper surface 2 which is saddle-shaped with an upstanding rear portion 3. Optionally the potty is provided with a handle 4 in e.g. either outer side wall.

Potty 1 has a urine receiving chamber defined by the inner base 5 of which the wall slopes such that urine will flow towards and collect in a urine collection region, comprising a deepened area 6 with perimeter 7. The deepened area 6 is sized for toilet sticker 10 (at least the covering shape part thereof), i.e. perimeter 7 is slightly larger than the size, and preferably matches the shape, of said sticker (or at least the covering shape part thereof). The typical diameter of a, e.g. substantially circular, toilet sticker (with e.g. a covering shape in the form of a cloud) is about 2 inch.

The part of the inner base 5 at the back of the potty is provided with gully 8 and at the front of the potty has a substantially upright portion which functions as urine deflector 9. Figure 2 shows the picture on toilet sticker 10 when the covering shape is transparent, obviously other pictures and covering shapes are possible too.

It is also possible that the sticker 10 has only printed theron the covering shape and that the picture is applied seperately by e.g. printing or insert moulding. The covering shape could also consist of a number of spots e.g. with transparent areas in between.

Furthermore the deepened area 6 is located towards the front of the potty adjoining the urine deflector 9 which enables a properly seated infant to aim at sticker 10 and observe any change in transparency of the covering shape and see the picture appear when looking through between its legs whilst in the process of weeing.

Figure 3 shows a cross sectional side view of the potty taken along line A-A in figure 2 with dotted lines 7' indicating the deepened area perimeter 7 (not shown). The surface of the deepened area is preferably substantially flat, or has only a single curvature, for best adhesion of the sticker 10 onto the surface of said area. If aforementioned surface has more than a single curvature the sticker 10 will whilst being applied most likely e.g. fold and stick onto itself in places or is required to be of such small size that visibility of what is depicted by the picture is compromised. The surface of the deepened area could be flat and non-horizontal in longitudinal direction of the potty, however it is preferred that the surface of the deepened area is substantially horizontal in all directions such that the urine 11 and heat thereof will spread evenly over sticker 10.

Shown are also a volume of urine 11, representing the average amount of urine produced by an infant per 'session' and slope 12 of the wall of the inner base, which extends from near the rim of the inner base downwards to near perimeter 7.

Figure 4 shows a cross sectional front view of the potty taken along line B-B in figure 2 with gully 8, toilet sticker 10, volume of urine 11 and slope 12' which extends from near the rim of the inner base downwards to near perimeter 7 (not shown). Figure 5 shows a cross sectional front view of the potty taken along line C-C in figure 2. Gully 8 has a V-shaped cross section or could e.g. have a U-shaped cross section similar to as formed by the slopes 12' and deepened area depicted in figure 4. Urine drops land on the slopes 12" and slide down and gather in the gully 8 to further join the volume of urine (not shown), faster than, especially when only small amounts are produced, the urine would in a bowl-shaped cross section with continuous curvature with on average less steep slopes.

Figure 6 shows schematically a part of a typical inner base of a potty according to the prior art whereby less than 15 percent of the volume of urine 11 stands on top of toilet sticker 10. The combination however of inner base 5 of the potty of the invention slopes towards deepened area 6 as e.g. exemplified in figure 3 by slope 12, with the location of the deepened area 6 adjoining urine deflector 9 (the slope in that region of the inner base 5 is on average most steep), makes that about 60 percent or more of the urine collected stands on top of toiletsticker 10.

Hence an infant using the potty of the invention can in comparison with potties of the prior art observe any change of transparency of the covering shape faster, and can observe the change of transparency for smaller amounts of urine produced, and furthermore the transparency will stay changed for a longer period of time.

The time for urine to reach the sticker can be shortened and the amount of urine to reach the sticker can be increased by providing the potty with an upper surface of the inner base which consists of a layer or coating which is super hydrophobic, i.e. with a water droplet contact angle greater than about 140°. Said layer or coating will prevent urine drops from adhering (like water-drops on a lotus leaf or a ducks back) to the urine receiving side of the inner base, which would delay or prevent urine drops from joining the volume of urine on top of the sticker.

The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described here. Many variants are possible. Such variants will be clear to the skilled person and are understood to fall within the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A potty for infant use comprising a urine receiving chamber with an inner base comprising a deepened area located towards the front of the potty adjoining the urine deflector for accommodating a toilet sticker and sized therefor, towards which the inner base slopes such that urine will collect mainly on top of said area.

2. A potty as claimed in any of the previous claims wherein the surface of the deepened area is substantially flat.

3. A potty as claimed in any of the previous claims wherein the surface of the deepened area is substantially horizontal.

4. A potty as claimed in claims 1-3 wherein the surface of the deepened area has a single curvature.

5. A potty as claimed in any of the previous claims provided with a gully which extends between a rim of the inner base and the deepened area.

6. A potty as claimed in any of the previous claims provided with a super hydrophobic layer or coating on the urine receiving side of the inner base.

7. A potty as claimed in any of the previous claims in which a toilet sticker has been applied to the surface of the deepened area.

8. A kit comprising a potty according to claim 1-7 and a toilet sticker.