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US 4,985,940 AGranted
Urinal for use by female individuals
OwnerKathie K. Jonesinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A plumbing fixture for installation in women's rooms that enables female individuals to urinate from a standing position. An elongate flexible hose has a urine-collecting funnel at its top end and its bottom end is in communication with a water-holding bowl that is flushed by a siphoning action. A sanitary cuff lines the rim of the funnel so that the funnel does not contact the body of the user, and the cuff is knocked off the funnel after use by a passive ejector arm when the funnel is suspended between the arms of a hanger member.
Claims20
A plumbing fixture for use primarily in public restrooms, comprising:
- a substantially vertical back wall, a pair of substantially vertical side walls integral to opposite edges of said back wall, said side walls projecting forwarding from said back wall in substantial parallelism to one another, a substantially horizontal top wall disposed in surmounting relation to said side walls and said back wall and being integral with said side and back walls, a water-retaining bowl means integral to respective lower ends of said back and side walls, and said fixture having an open front;
- said bowl means, back wall, side walls and top wall collectively forming a cavity;
- a first fluid passageway means being formed in said top wall;
- said first fluid passageway means being disposed in fluid communication to a preexisting water line that provides flushing water to toilet fixtures;
- a second fluid passageway means being formed in said bowl means;
- said second fluid passageway means having a configuration that enables a siphoning action flush of said fixture in response to opening said water line;
- said second fluid passageway means being in fluid communication to a preexisting sewer line;
- and
- said fixture being floor-mounted and said bowl means being positioned in closely spaced relation to a floor;
- a funnel member having a rim and a downspout;
- an elongate flexible hose having a lowermost end in open fluid communication with said bowl means, above the plane of water in said bowl, and an uppermost end in open fluid communication with said downspout;
- a hanger means for supporting said funnel member when not in use;
- said hanger means being mounted to said back wall;
- said top well being disposed in overhanging relation to said funnel member when said funnel member is supported by said hanger means;
- said funnel member being wholly positioned within said cavity when so supported;
- an elongate handle means having a first end integral with said funnel downspout and a second end adapted to be grasped by a human hand;
- said handle means having a predetermined length sufficient to position said second end thereof external to said cavity so that a riser of said fixture need not reach into said cavity to remove said funnel member from its support;
- said hanger means including a pair of transversely spaced apart arm members, said arm members being spaced from one another by a predetermined distance that is slightly less than a predetermined width of said funnel member so that said funnel member is suspendedly supported by said arm members when disposed therebetween;
- a disposable funnel-lining means adapted to overlie the rim of said funnel member so that only said funnel-lining means contacts the body of the individual employing said fixture;
- and
- removal means for ejecting said funnel-lining means from said funnel member when said funnel member is re-hung on said hanger means after use.
18 more elements
A plumbing fixture, comprising:
- a funnel having a rim and a downspout;
- a hanger means for said funnel, said hanger means including a pair of transversely spaced apart arm members that suspendedly support said funnel when said funnel is positioned therebetween;
- an elongate handle formed integrally with said downspout;
- said handle projecting radially outwardly and upwardly with respect to said downspout so that a distal free end of said handle is disposed upwardly of said funnel rim when said funnel is hung on said hanger means;
- an elongate flexible hose being rotatably secured at its uppermost end to a lowermost end of said downspout;
- a water-retaining bowl that empties by a siphoning action when over-filled with water;
- a lowermost end of said hose being disposed in fluid communication with said bowl;
- a back wall member being formed integral with a rearward part of said bowl and said back wall member projecting upwardly therefrom;
- a generally horizontal top wall that surmounts said back wall;
- said pair of arm members being hingedly mounted, in coplanar relation to one another, to said back wall member and said pair of arm members being positioned wholly within said cavity;
- a bias means for urging said pair of arm members to fold upwardly relative to said bowl means when said funnel is not suspended therebetween;
- said funnel being wholly positioned within said cavity when said funnel is supported by said arm members;
- said handle having a predetermined extent sufficient to position its distal free end wholly without said cavity;
- a sanitary cuff for lining inner and outer sidewalls of said funnel;
- and
- cuff removal means for electing said sanitary cuff from said funnel when said funnel is placed into suspended relation between said transversely spaced apart arm members.
13 more elements
A urinal, comprising:
- a free standing plumbing fixture having a floor-mounted base, a water-retaining bowl formed in said base that is positioned just above a floor that supports the fixture, said bowl being emptiable by a siphoning action and being adapted to handle the disposal of toilet paper, tampons and the like, a vertically extending back wall integrally formed with said base, a pair of laterally spaced side walls integral with said back wall and with said base, a horizontally extending top wall that caps a cavity defined at its lowermost end by said bowl and at its back and sides by said back and side wall members;
- a hanger member disposed in said cavity;
- a funnel having a downspout, said hanger being adapted to hold said funnel when said funnel is not is use;
- an elongate, radially extending handle means having a first end attached to said funnel and a second end extending out of said cavity;
- an elongate flexible hose having an upper end in fluid communication with said funnel and a lower end in fluid communication with said bowl;
- said hanger member including a pair of transversely spaced apart arm members, said arm members being spaced from one another by a predetermined distance that is slightly less than a predetermined width of said funnel member so that said funnel member is suspendedly supported by said arm members when disposed therebetween;
- a disposable funnel-lining means adapted to overlie the rim of said funnel member so that only said funnel-lining means contacts the body of the individual employing said fixture;
- and
- removal means for ejecting said funnel-lining means from said funnel member when said funnel member is re-hung on said hanger means after use.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.