GB2097832A

GB2097832A - Protective tissues for water closet seats

Info

Publication number: GB2097832A
Application number: GB8113564A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-05-01
Filing date: 1981-05-01
Publication date: 1982-11-10

Abstract

Impregnated paper tissues for covering W.C. seats may be supplied (a) folded concertina-fashion in individual packets or (b) as a roll of rectangular tear-off sheets. Each tissue 10 may have two central tear- out portions as shown, or be formed as a ring. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Protective tissues This invention is concerned with protective tissues, which are intended to be used with water closets, to reduce the danger of infection or contamination of a person using the water closet.

According to this invention a protective tissue is made of sheet material in a shape such that it is adapted to rest on the seat of a water closet, the tissue having, or being adapted to have, a hole for registration with the hole through the seat, and being folded or coiled so that it occupies a smaller area than in the opened out condition, for packaging, transport and/or dispensing purposes.

The tissue is preferably made of paper or paperlike absorbent material, but could be made in other sheet materials such as non-woven fabric, gauze, felt, paper-like padding material such as that used in packaging chocolates or even woven or knitted materials. In any event, it is preferred that the material is absorbent and of a nature such that it is readily disposable by flushing away in the water closet. A suitable material is the absorbent paper used for toilet paper. It is also necessary that the material is capable of providing an antiseptic barrier between the water closet seat and the skin of anyone using the closet.

Preferably the tissue is impregnated with a disinfectant and/or a deodorant.

The tissue is preferably preformed to the general outside shape of a water closet seat. It may also be preformed with the hole for registration with the hole of the seat, or it may have perforations whereby a central portion or portions can be detached to form the hole after the tissue has been opened out from the folded or coiled condition. Such central portion or portions may be adapted for use as toilet paper.

In one method of carrying out the invention, the tissue is folded concertina fashion, so that it occupies a relatively small space compared with the unfolded condition. This method is preferred if the tissue is intended to be carried in a pocket or handbag. The tissue may be folded concertina fashion in one direction and additionally folded in a direction transverse to the concertina folds so that it is reduced in both length and breadth.

In a preferred arrangement, the folded tissue is housed in a sachet, so that it is readily carried in a pocket or handbag. The sachet may also assist in retaining any impregnant in the tissue.

In an alternative method of carrying out the invention, which is suitable for providing tissues in a dispenser, each tissue is simply folded along a line of symmetry. Tissues folded in this manner are well adapted for interleaving in a similar manner to the interleaving commonly used with toilet paper, so that as each tissue is removed from a pack in a dispenser, one leaf of the next tissue is released through an opening in the dispenser. Alternatively, and again for dispensing purposes, the tissue may be folded about a line of symmetry and then folded about a second line of symmetry at right angles to the first fold, so that the folded tissue occupies one quarter of the area of the unfolded tissue.

Various constructions of protective tissue in accordance with the invention, will now be described by way of examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. in which: Figure 1 shows a tissue in an opened condition, Figure 2 shows the tissue in a partly concertina folded condition, Figure 3 shows a further stage in the folding of the tissue, Figure 4 is a cross section through the completely folded tissue housed in a sachet.

Figure 5 shows a tissue in an alternative folded condition, Figure 6 shows the tissue illustrated in Figure 5, after a second fold.

Figure 7 shows another tissue in the opened out condition, and Figure 8 shows part of a tissue roll.

A tissue 10 (see Figure 1) is made in the soft absorbent type of paper used for toilet paper, and as illustrated, it ls cut externally to the general outside contour'o'f the seat of a water closet.

Since these seats vary somewhat in size, the outside dimensions of the tissue 10, will be large enough to extend over the larger sizes of toilet seat. In this particular construction, there is no hole preformed through the tissue, but there is a line of perforations 12 defining a hole shape, and by tearing out the portion of the tissue bounded by the perforated line 12, there is left a tissue which can be placed over a toilet seat, with a large central hole for registration with hole of the toilet seat. Again, due to variations in the dimensions of toilet seats, the perforated line 12 is arranged so that the hole left when the central portion is removed, is about the same size as the holes through smaller toilet seats.

It will be appreciated, that when the central portion has been removed, and the remainder of the tissue is placed over a toilet seat, it provides an antiseptic barrier between the seat and the thighs of anyone sitting on the toilet seat. This is particularly useful, where the water closet which is fitted with the toilet seat, is in a public place, and likely to be used by a variety of persons.

It will also be noted, that there is a perforation line 14 extending across the central portion, and after the central portion has been detached, it can be separated along the perforated line 1 4 into two separate pieces, which can then be used as toilet paper. Clearly, there could be other perforation lines, on this central portion, enabling it to be divided into a larger number of smaller pieces of toilet paper.

The protective tissue 10 is impregnated with an antiseptic or disinfectant chemical, and a deodorant or perfume may also be added to the impregnant.

The tissue is also marked with a series of transverse fold lines 1 6 indicated in chain dotted lines in Figure 1. By folding the tissue concertina fashion as illustrated in Figure 2 along these fold lines, the tissue can be reduced to a relatively thin strip having a series of layers, as more clearly illustrated in Figure 3. As shown in Figure 3, this strip, can then be folded at 18, 20 and 22 into a very small compass, as illustrated in Figure 4. In that Figure, the portions of the folded strip between the folds are shown separated from each other for clarity but in practice, it will be appreciated that these portions are pressed against each other, thus producing a very small item the dimensions of which might typically be 100 millimetres by 25 millimetres with a thickness of 3 millimetres.In fact, owing to the paper like nature of the tissue, it may be possible to fold it so that it occupies an even smaller area.

In Figure 4 there is shown in chain dotted lines a sachet 24 in which the protective tissue is stored. The sachet itself may be made of paper, or it may be made of plastics film. If it is made of plastics material, that will help to retain any impregnant in the tissue itself. The sachet may be sealed at both its ends, so that the tissue is completely enclosed within it, in which case, it will be necessary to tear open the sachet, so that the tissue can be extracted.

It will be appreciated, that the article which has been described above with reference to Figures 1 to 4 is readily carried in a pocket or in a handbag.

If it is required for use, it is only necessary to remove the tissue from the sachet, open it out into the flat condition illustrated in Figure 1, remove the central portion and place it on the toilet seat.

In Figure 5, there is illustrated a tissue 30 which is also made in the absorbent paper commonly used for toilet paper, and in this arrangement, it will be noted that a hole 32 is preformed in the tissue, that is to say, it differs from the construction illustrated in Figure 1, by the cutting away of the central portion.

The tissue 30 is folded about a longitudinal line of symmetry X-X, so that it is banana shaped in plan view, and of two leaf thickness. A stack of tissues such as that shown at 30 are interleaved, in similar fashion to the interleaving adopted for toilet paper sheets. The complete stack of tissues 30 is then placed in a dispenser, which may be a cardboard dispenser of the type in which toilet papers are sold, or alternatively it may be a metal box type dispenser. In any event, the outer leaf of one of the tissues is accessible through an opening in the dispenser. With this arrangement, when the outer tissue is pulled out of the dispenser, the outer leaf of the next tissue is then accessible through the opening in the dispenser.It will be appreciated, that the provision of the folded tissue in a dispenser, in this manner is particularly suitable for industrial or hospital use, or even for use in public conveniences.

Turning to Figure 6, the tissue 30 after folding about the line of symmetry X-X (as shown in Figure 5) is then folded about a line of symmetry Y-Y at right angles to the line X-X, so that the tissue then has four leaves, and occupies a total area approximately one quarter of the tissue in the opened out condition. Again, in this condition, the tissues are suitable for supply in some kind of dispenser, although they cannot then be interleaved as described with reference to Figure 5.

It will be appreciated, that even if the tissues are to be folded concertina fashion and housed in a sachet as described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, the central portion of the tissue could be cut out, in the same way as the cut out 32 illustrated in Figure 5, rather than merely providing the perforations 12. However, in the case of a tissue which is intended to be carried in a pocket or handbag, the provision of the two or four sheets of toilet paper by the constructions illustrated in Figure 1, is preferable.

In Figure 7 there shown a tissue 40 which is similar to the tissue 10, but its rear portion 42 is of the full width of the tissue up to the rear edge 44.

When this tissue is to be used, the rear "flap" behind the fold line 46 can be folded upwardly to give greater protection to the user from the apparatus at the rear of the seat.

Figure 8 shows a different method of carrying out the inverition, in which a series of tissues 50, 52, 54, 56'. are joined end to end, but divided from each other by rows of transverse perforations 58, 60, 62. The sheets 50, 52 etc. are of rectangular shape, but are wide enough to extend across a water closet seat. A perforated "hole" 64 is formed in each tissue.

The tissues are supplied in a considerable length of material coiled on itself, so that the tissues can be removed one at a time in the same manner as ordinary toilet paper.

Claims

1. A protective tissue made of sheet material in a shape such that it is adapted to rest on the seat of a water closet, the tissue having, or being adapted to have, a hole for registration with the hole through the seat, and being folded or coiled so that it occupies a smaller area than in the opened out condition, for packaging, transport and/or dispensing purposes.

2. A protective tissue as claimed in Claim 1 in which the tissue is made of paper or paper-like absorbent material.

3. A protective tissue as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the sheet material is absorbent and of such a nature that it is readily disposable by flushing away in a water closet.

4. A protective tissue as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, which is impregnated with a disinfectant and/or a deodorant.

5. A protective tissue as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, which is preformed to the general outside shape of a water closet seat.

6. A protective tissue as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, which is preformed with a hole registration with the hole in a toilet seat.

7. A protective tissue as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, which has perforations whereby a central portion or portions can be detached to form a hole for registration with the hole in a toilet seat after the tissue has been opened out from the folded or coiled condition.

8. A protective tissue as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7, which is folded concertina fashion, so that it occupies a relatively small space compared with the unfolded condition.

9. A protective tissue as claimed in Claim 8 in which the tissue is folded concertina fashion in one direction and additionally folded in a direction transverse to the concertina folds so that it is reduced in both length and breadth.

10. A protective tissue as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9, in which the folded tissue is housed in a sachet, so that it is readily carried in a pocket or handbag.

11. A protective tissue as claimed in Claim 10, in which the sachet is adapted to retain any impregnant in the tissue.

12. A protective tissue as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7, which is simply folded along a line of symmetry.

13. A protective tissue as claimed in Claim 12, which is folded about a line of symmetry and then folded about a second line of symmetry at right angles to the first fold, so that the folded tissue occupies one quarter of the area of the unfolded tissue.

14. A protective tissue substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 or Figures 5 and 6 or Figure 7 or Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings.