Locking device for suction cup adhesion

Disclosed is an improved device for adhesion of suction cup mounted assemblies comprising novel combinations of lock devices and innovative suction cups for enhanced holding of mounted assemblies to flat surfaces.

FIELD OF INVENTION 
The present invention relates to improvements for adhesion of suction cup 
mounted assemblies, and more particularly to novel suction cup locking 
means for enhancing the hold of mounted assemblies onto surfaces. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Assemblies for organizing household articles suspended on non-porous 
surfaces such as tile, glass and walls have evolved over the past decade 
with increased popularity based on convenience and design choice. For 
instance, Lindsey U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,141 describes a shower kit for 
holding toiletries, and Urbano U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,346 describes a 
wall-mounted soap dish, both of which are adapted to attach onto 
non-porous surfaces via suction cups. 
Some art-recognized devices are suspended from the shower arm or pipe which 
extends from the wall of a bath area and are stabilized with suction cups 
on the lower aspects of the assembly. A representative example is provided 
in Chapman Design Pat. No. 251,522 which depicts a coated wire frame 
shower caddy for holding toiletries which is stabilized from side-ways 
movement with split tunnel suction cups. In such suction cups, the point 
of attachment to the wire frame is a slit in the rear or "knob" of the 
suction cup which engages the coated wire, parallel with respect to the 
plane of the attachment surface. 
Another example is provided in Schoenfelder U.S. Pat. No. 1,694,235 which 
describes a coated wire frame soap dish for attaching to a non-porous 
surface with knob-piercing suction cups. The coated wire frame assembly 
provides specific arms for penetrating the rear knob of the suction cup 
perpendicularly with respect to the plane of the attachment surface. 
Variations in the knob-piercing-type suction cups include those described 
in Conteiro U.S. Pat. No. 1,325,143 and Wilt U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,602. More 
specifically, Conteiro describes a corner mounted, shower bracket for 
holding bath articles which uses a plurality of knob-piercing suction cups 
designed to be pierced with conventional screws which hold the knobs 
against mounting bars. Similarly, Wilt discloses an automobile dash mount 
which uses a knob-piercing suction cup for penetration by a conventional 
screw which holds the pierced knob against a mounting bracket. 
A second type of suction cup is referred to herein as a "button knob" 
suction cup. Such suction cups do not require holes in the rear knobs for 
attachment and examples are described in Isenberg Design Pat. No. 121,813, 
Wright U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,537 and Brewster U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,046. 
Essentially, all three patents show assemblies for vertical suspension 
from flat, non-porous surfaces via button knob suction cups. These cups 
have a frontal aspect having the suction portion for adhering to a flat 
surface and a rear portion comprised of a knob onto which is suspended the 
weight of the holding assembly. 
More specifically, Isenberg discloses a coated wire frame soap dish which 
is adapted to be suspended from button knobs of suction cups which are 
inserted between adjacent, parallel coated wires and held in place by the 
bias provided between the parallel wires. Wright shows a molded soap 
holder having punched holes in the rear walls through which the knobs are 
inserted, followed by mounting of the suction cups to a non-porous surface 
wall. The weight of the soap holder is suspended from the punched, 
non-adjustable holes. Brewster teaches a coated wire, baby bottle holder 
which have loops formed in the superior aspects of the wire frame for 
suspending the assembly from button knobs of suction cups. 
Downing U.S. Pat. No. 1,531,694 discloses a variant on the button knob 
suction cup. Downing shows a suction cup with a groove in its rear knob 
which is adapted for engagement to portions of a key-hole opening in a 
mounting bracket. 
Weiant U.S. Pat. No. 2,044,520 describes a soap dish which is adapted for 
attachment to a flat surface via suction cups having, in their rear knobs, 
a hole or tunnel which is parallel with respect to the plane of the flat 
surface. Emery U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,014,860 and 5,289,927 also disclose 
suction cups each having a tunnel in the rear knob which is parallel with 
respect to the plane of the attachment surface. Horizontal portions of the 
wire frame are inserted into the tunnels on the rear knob of the suction 
cups and the cups can then slide horizontally along the wire frame for 
adjustment. 
Despite such known improvements, a need yet exists in the art for newer 
suction cup attachments with improved grip, holding and weight bearing 
capacity. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide 
an improved lock device for holding suction cups for suspending assemblies 
from flat surfaces. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide improvements in 
suction cups and their corresponding locking members for suspending 
assemblies from flat surfaces. 
These and other objects will become apparent from the disclosure provided 
hereinbelow. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention includes a lock device for adjustably holding button 
knob suction cups for suspending assemblies from flat surfaces comprising 
at least one open recess edge, each said open recess edge comprised of a 
substantially semi-circular edge portion with dual elongated edge portions 
on either sides of said substantially semi-circular edge portion. The 
substantially semi-circular edge portion is adapted to insert a button 
knob of a suction cup wherein the lock device is suspended from the button 
knob of the suction cup. The lock device can also have a plurality of open 
recess edges for adjustable engagement of the suction cup. 
In one embodiment, the suction cup has an engaging member comprised of a 
flexible concave surface for engaging flat surfaces and a convex surface 
which is opposite the concave surface and adjacent the button knob. The 
convex surface can have a plurality of ridges for gripping the 
semi-circular edge portions of the lock device. 
The open recess edge can also be a substantially non-circular edge portion 
with dual elongated edge portions situated on either sides of the 
non-circular edge portion. In this alternative, the non-circular edge 
portion is adapted to insert a suction cup having a shank which is 
substantially rectinoid in shape. A plurality of such non-circular edge 
portions for adjustable engagement of rectinoid suction cups is included 
in this invention. 
Another embodiment of the present lock devices is one for holding an 
assembly having a convex surface to a flat surface using a button knob 
suction cup. This embodiment has at least one convex mounting bracket 
having a concave surface opposite a convex surface and a substantially 
circular edge portion. The substantially circular edge portion is adapted 
to insert a button knob of a suction cup and the concave surface of the 
mounting bracket is adapted to conform with the convex surface of the 
assembly. 
The lock device can also comprise at least one mounting bracket having at 
least one substantially circular edge portion which is adapted to insert a 
button knob of a suction cup, and a holding member comprising a grip rib 
for holding the mounting bracket in bias when the button knob is 
substantially within the circular edge portion. The button knob can also 
be placed on either sides of the grip rib for adjustable engagement of the 
suction cup. 
The invention includes a suction cup comprised of a flat-surface-engaging 
member further comprised of a flexible concave surface for engaging a flat 
surface and a convex surface opposite the concave surface, and a 
fixture-mounting portion adjacent the concave surface, adapted to hold a 
fixture assembly. The fixture mounting portion can be L-shaped with the 
concave surface of the flat-surface-engaging member further comprised of a 
lock rib, or it can be T-shaped and further comprised of dual lock knobs 
on either sides of the T-shaped fixture mounting portion. The fixture 
mounting portion can also be comprised of a ball-mounting socket and with 
the corresponding fixture assembly having at least one ball pivot.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS 
The present invention will now be described in connection with the figures. 
FIG. 1 depicts lock device 10 for holding button knob suction cup 20 for 
suspending assemblies from flat surfaces. Lock device 10 is shown 
comprised of at least one open recess edge 15 which is a substantially 
semi-circular edge having elongated edge portions 14 and 16 on either side 
of open recess edge 15. Semi-circular edge portion 15 is adapted to insert 
button knob 25 of suction cup 20 so that lock device 10 is suspended from 
the suction cup. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that 
FIG. 1 only shows a partial, perspective view of lock device 10 and that a 
plurality of edge portions such as 15 can be provided which are adapted, 
individually, to insert button knob 25 of suction cup 20 (thus, the 
remainder of lock device 10 is denoted in phantom lines). This 
multi-feature allows the suction cup to be placed anywhere along the 
series of edge portions, providing an adjustable feature so that 
non-porous areas such as group lines in a shower can be avoided. 
Suction cup 20 has concave surface 30 for engaging flat surfaces and convex 
surface 40 (shown, for example, on suction cup 21 in FIG. 2) opposite the 
concave surface and adjacent button knob 25. As the terms are used herein, 
"concave" means curved like the inner surface of a sphere while "convex" 
means a surface that curves or bulges outward as on the exterior surface 
of a sphere. 
FIG. 2 shows one of the several suction cup improvements uniquely disclosed 
herein and, in this case, labeled number 21. Convex surface 40 of suction 
cup 21 is shown with a plurality of ridges 41 for gripping edge portions 
of lock devices. The suction cups are made of conventional materials such 
as latex, vinyl polyethylene plastics or other synthetic elastomers and 
polymers, which provide a flexible texture and a firm grip on non-porous 
surfaces. The production of such cups (albeit of known designs other than 
disclosed herein) are well known in the art such as by injection molding. 
The addition of ribs 41 enhances the hold on recesses such as 15 shown in 
FIG. 1. 
Such open recess edges can also be substantially non-circular such as shown 
in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 depicts a partial, perspective view of alternative lock 
device 110 for holding suction cup 22. This type of suction cup has button 
knob 35 and shank 117 which are both substantially rectinoid in shape. 
Shank 117 is designed to engage rectinoid edge portion 115 so that knob 35 
is held thereby which prevents pivoting or twisting by suction cup 22. As 
the term is used herein, "rectinoid" means either square or rectangular in 
shape. Rectinoid edge portion 115 has dual elongated edge portions 114 and 
116 situated on either sides. As stated above, one skilled in the art can 
readily see that FIG. 3 shows only a partial, perspective view of lock 
device 110, and that a plurality of edge portions such as 115 could be 
provided which are adapted, individually, to insert shank 117 of suction 
cup 22 (the remainder of lock device 110 is denoted in phantom lines). 
Again, this multi-feature allows suction cups, such as 22, to be placed 
anywhere along the series of edge portions, providing an adjustable 
feature so that group lines can be avoided. 
FIG. 4A shows convex mounting bracket 200 which has a convex surface 210 
and a substantially circular edge portion 215 which is adapted to insert 
button knob 25 of suction cup 20. Opposite convex surface 210 of mounting 
bracket 200 is the corresponding concave surface (not shown) which is 
adapted to conform with a convex surface of an assembly such as shown in 
phantom lines in FIG. 4B. For instance, a molded plastic cup having a rim 
(shown with phantom lines in FIG. 4B) is a contemplated assembly. Convex 
mounting bracket 200 inserts into the rim and holds the plastic cup. 
Bracket 200 is then mounted to a flat surface with suction cup 20. 
FIG. 5 depicts a lock device which comprises mounting bracket 310 and 
holding member 350. Holding member 350 comprises grip rib 351 for gripping 
mounting bracket 310. Mounting bracket 310 has a substantially circular 
edge portion 315 which is adapted to insert button knob 25 of suction cup 
20. Grip rib 351 can back button knob 25 in bias when it is substantially 
within circular edge portion 315, or button knob 25 can be located on 
either side of rib 351 to provide adjustability, such as to avoid a group 
line. 
The present invention includes various other improvements in suction cups 
including those shown in FIGS. 6-9. Referring first to FIG. 6, suction cup 
23 is comprised of flat-surface-engaging member 50 further comprised of a 
flexible concave surface (not shown) for engaging a flat surface and 
convex surface 40 opposite the concave surface, and fixture-mounting 
portion 55 adjacent the concave surface. Fixture-mounting portion 55 is 
adapted to hold a fixture assembly with the aid of lock rib 56 which is 
also formed on convex surface 40. Fixture mounting portion 55 is shown in 
FIG. 6 as being L-shaped. 
Fixture mounting portion 75 is shown in FIG. 7 as being T-shaped (through 
flat-surface-engaging member 50 which is made here of a transparent 
plastic material and depicted with phantom lines) on suction cup 24. 
Fixture mounting portion 75 is further comprised of dual lock knobs 76 and 
76' on either sides of the T-shaped fixture mounting portion. This type of 
knob can be inserted into specialized "keyhole" edges such as shown with 
phantom lines in FIG. 7. The arrow in conjunction therewith indicates the 
insertion of knob 75. The concept provided here is for a "twist and lock" 
system. 
FIG. 8 shows a side elevational view of a variation of the T-shape. Suction 
cup 26 is shown with T-shaped fixture mounting portion 75' which is 
designed for insertion into two parallel and spaced metal wires which form 
conventional metal or plastic coated wire fixtures. 
FIG. 9 shows that fixture mounting portion 175 can also be comprised of a 
ball-mounting socket 176 on suction cup 278. A corresponding fixture 
assembly 180 (partially shown) is depicted as having a ball pivot 186 for 
engagement to socket 176. 
FIG. 10 shows metal wire clip 500 adapted for holding knob 25 of suction 
cup 20 for mounting assemblies such as A. Assembly A can be, by way of 
example, a shelf. Clip 500 provides bias for holding knob 25 against the 
shelf. Clip 500 is constructed of metal wires, optionally coated with 
plastic or an additional metal. 
The illustrated embodiments have proven to be useful in many applications 
for this art. Further modifications based on the disclosure will occur to 
persons skilled in the art. These modifications are within the scope and 
spirit of the present invention as defined by the following claims.