US20020043535A1

US20020043535A1 - Suction cup nub cover

Info

Publication number: US20020043535A1
Application number: US09/752,270
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert Immerman
Original assignee: InterDesign Inc
Current assignee: InterDesign Inc
Priority date: 1999-12-29
Filing date: 2000-12-29
Publication date: 2002-04-18

Abstract

A nub cover for covering the suctions cup nubs extending through the wall of a container, the nub cover having a holder for holding a connecting member or one or more nubs to hold the nub cover in place. Also disclosed is a container, at least one suction cup and a nub cover for covering the nub(s) and protecting them from dirt.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the covering of protruded surfaces, and in particular to the covering of suction cup nubs on containers and the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Many household articles are on the market today in the form of containers, kitchen and bathroom utensils, holders and racks of different sorts and the like which use one or more suction cups to hold these articles in place on smooth surfaces such as bathroom tiles, mirrors, metal doors and walls, kitchen tiles and plastic support surfaces. These devices generally have a hole on the rear wall of the article through which the suction cup head extends, to hold the conical cup portion behind the article and the head, with its nub extending through the article to hold the suction cup in place. The nub is generally flexible, and larger than the hole, so that it cannot be easily pulled out. The nub is often times transparent with a cloudy or milky color, and occasionally has an opaque color. These nubs are generally functional in use, and tend to be somewhat unsightly. Moreover, the surface between the article and the underside of the nub is a place where dirt and the like may gather which should be reduced or prevented. In some articles, the back wall of the article is bent over itself so that the very rear part of the back wall is not visible when the article is hung on a support surface. In this rear portion of the back wall, one or more holes can be provided for holding suction cups. However, the provision of the double back wall adds costs to the material used to make the product as well as increasing the die used in the production of the article (if it is plastic, which most of these articles are). In addition, the double wall causes the article itself to stick out further from the support surface than would occur if a single wall were used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a cover for suction cup nubs in household articles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cover for suction cup nubs which is attractive in use.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cover for suction cup nubs, which renders the nubs substantially free from dirt and grime.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a cover for suction cup nubs which is inexpensive to produce, and easy to install.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a suction cup nub holder, which can cover a number of suction cup nubs in a single article.

Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description in this application.

The foregoing objects are accomplished by means of a plastic nub holder which is configured to cover the suction cup nubs on the article, and has clip-on devices for engaging the nubs to hold the suction cup nub cover in place. The cover itself should be cosmetically pleasing, and can be a plastic cover having an oval configuration and an attractive surface, such as a metallic surface or a surface with some appropriate design.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the invention. [0012]
FIG. 2 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. [0013]
FIG. 3 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. [0014]
FIG. 4 is a rear view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. [0015]
FIG. 5 is a cut away view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, taken along the lines [0016] 5-5 in FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 is a top cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, taken along the lines [0017] 6-6 in FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a cut away view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, taken along the lines [0018] 7-7 in FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a pictorial view of the second embodiment of the invention. [0019]
FIG. 9 is a front view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8. [0020]
FIG. 10 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8. [0021]
FIG. 11 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8. [0022]
FIG. 12 is a cut away view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, taken in the direction [0023] 12-12 in FIG. 11.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIGS. [0024] 1-7 show an embodiment of the invention involving a suction cup nub cover for a single nub. The drawings show a basket and suction cup assembly 1 having a tall plastic basket 3 with a front wall 5, a rear wall 7, and side walls 9 and 11. Basket 3 has a bottom 13, which is integral with the sides, and an open top. Rear wall 7 extends higher than front wall 5 from bottom 13. Walls 5, 7, 9 and 11 flare out somewhat from bottom 13, and they terminate in an upper edge or rim 15 which defines a generally oval opening in basket 3. A hole 17 is provided near the upper portion of rear wall 7.
A [0025] suction cup 19 is provided for hanging basket 3 on a support surface, such as smooth tiles, a mirror, smooth metal or plastic surfaces or other smooth surfaces. Suction cup 19 includes a conical flange portion 21 which can be pressed against the surface for holding the suction cup to the surface. Suction cup 19 further has a head 23 dimensions to extend through hole 17, and on head 23 is a nub 25. Nub 25, like the rest of suction cup 19, is somewhat compressible, and has a diameter larger than the diameter of hole 17. Therefore, in order to install suction cup 19 on basket 3, one pushes suction cup nub 25 against hole 17 to compress nub 25 and force it through the hole. Once through the hole, nub 25 expands to retain suction cup 19 on basket 3.
Nub [0026] 25 is somewhat unsightly and further could accumulate dirt beneath the surface of basket 3 and nub 25. In order to render assembly 1 more sightly and to prevent dirt from accumulating beneath nub 25, a nub cover 27 according to the invention is provided.
[0027] Nub cover 27 has a generally smooth attractive outer face 29 which is convex in configuration, thus extending outwardly from rear wall 7 when nub cover 27 is installed on basket 3. Nub cover 27 has a rear face 31 having rearwardly extending cylinders 33, 35 which are somewhat outwardly flared (so they are not really cylinders) for gripping a connecting member extending through a pair of holes 37, 39.
Alternatively, a similar structure could be provided on [0028] rear face 31 of nub cover 27 for engaging nub 25 to hold nub cover 27 in place.
Nub [0029] cover 27 has an edge 41 which tightly engages rear side 7 to prevent dirt from going behind nub cover 27.
[0030] Nub cover 27 is easy to install, simply requiring the insertion of attachment member through holes 37, 39 for engagement with cylinders 33, 35. Nub cover 27 is very attractive in appearance, and hides nub 25.
Turning next to FIGS. [0031] 8-12, another embodiment of the invention is shown. This embodiment shows that the nub cover according to the invention can cover two suction cup nubs, and could cover any additional number of suction cup nubs as well. These figures show a suction cup basket assembly 101 having a basket 103 which is larger than basket 3 of FIGS. 1-7. Basket 103 has a front wall 105, a rear wall 107, and side walls 109 and 111. Basket 103 has a bottom 113 which is integral with the sides. The sides project upwardly from bottom 113 and flare outwardly to a rim 115. Sides 105, 107, 109 and 111 flare somewhat outwardly as they project upwardly from bottom 113, and rear side 107 extends up further from bottom 113 than does front side 105. Basket 103 has a pair of holes 117, 118 for receiving part of one of a pair of suction cups 119, 120.
Suction cups [0032] 119, 120 have conical flange portions 121, 122 which, when compressed against a smooth surface made of glass, tile, smooth plastic or smooth metal, hold the suction cup to that surface. Suction cups 119, 120 also have head portions 123, 124, which have on their free end portions enlarged, compressible nubs 125, 126. In order to assemble suction cups 119, 120 to basket 103, one presses the nubs against the respective holes in basket 103 to compress the nubs and force them through the holes. The nubs then expand, and prevent the suction cups from being displaced from the holes. Another set of holes 137, 139 are provided on rear wall 107, shown in the drawings as being inside of the holes 117, 118.
[0033] Assembly 101 further includes a suction cup nub cover 127 which is preferably made from a suitable plastic, and has cylindrical walls 133, 135, similar to walls 33 and 35 in assembly 1, which extend rearwardly from the rear wall of cover 127. Cylinders 133, 135 engagement attachment members which extend through holes 137, 139, to hold nub cover 127 in place. As in the previous embodiment, nub cover 127 has an attractive front surface, such as a polished metal surface or other attractive colors, and sits close to rear wall 107 to prevent dirt from collecting behind cover 127.
The suction cup nub covers according to the invention accomplish the objectives set forth above. They cover the unattractive nubs of suction cups, and present a clean, attractive appearance and prevent the collection of dirt between the nub and the wall against which the nub sits. Nub covers are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and easy to assemble. [0034]
The invention has been described in detail with particular emphasis on the preferred embodiments thereof, but variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will appear to those skilled in the art from this application. [0035]

Claims

I claim:

1. For use with a wall to be attached to a smooth support surface by means of at least one suction cup having a nub extending through the wall to attach the wall to the suction cup and a conical flange located on the opposite side of the wall from the nub to attach the suction cup to the smooth support surface, a nub cover comprising:

a cover portion locatable on the same side of the wall as the at least one nub and dimensioned to cover the at least one nub; and

a holder for holding said cover portion over the at least one nub to hide the at least one nub from view.

2. A nub cover according to claim 1 wherein said holder comprises at least one receptacle for receiving at least one connecting member extending from the wall.

3. A nub cover according to claim 2 wherein each of said at least one receptacle comprises a cylinder-like structure for receiving a connecting member extending from the wall at a position spaced from the nub.

4. A nub cover according to claim 2 wherein there are at least two nubs extending through the wall, said cover portion covering the at least two nubs in response to said at least one receptacle receiving the at least one connecting member.

5. A nub cover according to claim 1 wherein said holder is dimensioned and configured to engage the nub and hold said nub cover in place.

6. A container assembly comprising:

a container having at least one wall, the wall having at least one orifice of a predetermined diameter or cross sectional size; at least one resilient suction cup, each of said suction cups including:

a conical flange portion;

a head of a predetermined diameter or cross sectional size no greater than the diameter or cross sectional size of said orifice in said wall, extending from the flange portion; and

a nub on said head having a larger diameter or cross sectional size than said head and said orifice, said nub being compressible to fit through said orifice; and

a nub cover, said nub cover including:

a cover portion locatable on the same side of said wall as said nub and dimensioned to cover each of the said nubs; and

a holder for holding said cover portion over each of said nubs to hide each of said nubs from view.

7. A container assembly according to claim 6 wherein said holder comprises a receptacle for receiving a connecting member extending from said wall.

8. A container assembly according to claim 7 wherein said receptacle is engageable with a connecting member extending from said wall at a position spaced from said nub.

9. A container assembly according to claim 6 wherein said holder is dimensioned and configured to hold at least one of said nubs to hold said nub cover in place.

10. A container assembly according to claim 6 wherein said wall has a hole spaced from said orifice for receiving a connecting member, said holder engaging the containing member to maintain said nub cover in place.