CLEANING AND FRESHENING UNIT INTENDED FOR SUSPENSION FROM A RIM OF A TOILET BOWL

Abstract: A container for accommodating a composition for treating the water in a toilet bowl of a water closet comprises a chamber (1), a hook-like portion (2) for suspending the container from the rim of the toilet bowl, and an arm of adjustable length connecting together the chamber and the hook-like portion so that the chamber can be located in the path of the flushing water irrespective of the size of the rim. The chamber, arm and hook-like portion are in the form of an integral moulding.

Description: CLEAMNG AND FRESHENING UNIT INTENDED FOR SUSPENSION FROM A RIM OF A TOILET BOWL This invention relates to containers and more particularly is concerned with containers for accommodating compositions for disinfecting or otherwise treating the water in the toilet bowl of a water closet. It is known to provide compositions containing constituents such as an antimicrobial agent, perfume, bleaching agent, colourant and/or foaming agent for use in treating the water in toilet bowls. Ordinarily, the compositions are in the form of coherent self- supporting blocks in cage-like containers suspended near the rim of the bowl in a position where, on each occasion the bowl is flushed, the flushing water enters the container and contacts the block to entrain some of the composition before flowing into the lower part of the bowl. Thus the water remaining in the bowl, after flushing, includes some of the composition which disinfects or otherwise treats the water and the adjacent surfaces of the bowl. More recently, compositions in the form of liquids or gels have been proposed. These have a relatively high viscosity such that they are retained in the container. During flushing, water enters the container and dilutes a part of the liquid or gel to form a relatively low viscosity composition which is able to egress from the container and flow into the bowl . Generally the container includes an arm terminating in a hook-like portion adapted to be fitted over the rim of the toilet bowl. It is important that the container is located in a position where it will receive flushing water and this is not always easy to achieve since not all toilet bowls have the same size of rim. It is an object of the present invention to provide a container of the type specified which is capable of fitting to a wide variety of toilet bowls having different rim sizes. Generally, the container is formed from a plurality of separate components formed of plastics material and these need to be assembled together during manufacture . It is a further object of the present invention to provide a container of the type specified which is in the form of a single component which can be marketed as such and which can be readily assembled into a useable form by the user. According to the present invention there is provided a container for accommodating a composition for treating the water in the toilet bowl of a water closet, which container comprises : - a chamber for accommodating the composition, a hook- like portion for fitting over the rim of the toilet bowl, and an arm connecting the chamber and the hook-like portion, said arm comprising first and second portions which are axially displaceable with respect to each other so that the arm is of adjustable length, said chamber, hook- like portion and arm being formed as an integral component . By using an adjustable arm in accordance with the invention, it can be ensured that, when the hook- like portion is fitted over the rim, the chamber is located in the path of the flushing water. Preferably, a means is provided to prevent the first and second portions being relatively displaced to such an extent that the portions become detached from one another. In an embodiment, one of said first and second portions includes a protruding part adapted to be put in frictional engagement with the other of said first and second portions. Said protruding part is arranged so as to prevent relative axial displacement of the first and second portions until said first and second portions are subjected to a displacing force caused by hand pressure, which is greater than a predetermined force. The length of the arm can be adjusted by applying a force greater than the predetermined force. In order to prevent inadvertent change of length of the arm during use, the arm is designed so that the predetermined force is greater than that component of the gravitational force which tends to cause the first and second portions to move apart when the container is mounted on the rim. Moreover, the predetermined force is selected so as to be greater than that component of the force exerted by the water during flushing which acts in a direction such as to cause relative displacement of the first and second portions. In an embodiment, the protruding part of said one of said first and second portions is located in, and is in frictional engagement with, a suitable aperture provided in the other of the first and second portions. By ensuring that the aperture has an axial length greater than that of the protruding part, the protruding part can be axially displaced along the aperture to adjust the length of the arm. In the case where the container is formed as an integral one-piece moulding of plastics material with the first and second portions connected together by a hinge, the hinge is cut or broken by folding to enable the protruding part to be displaced along the aperture. For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which -. - Figure 1 is a perspective view of a precursor for an embodiment of a container in accordance with the invention, and Figure 2 is a section through the arm of the container formed from the precursor of Figure 1. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the precursor as shown is formed integrally by injection moulding from synthetic plastics material. The precursor comprises chamber-forming parts 21 and 22 connected by hinge portion 23 so that the parts 21 and 22 may be brought together to define a chamber 1 by relative pivotal movement about hinge portion 23, to accommodate the treating composition which may be, for example, in the form of a block or a liquid or gel . Connected to part 22 is a first portion 4 of an arm including an axially extending slot 24 of length L. The arm includes a second portion 5, oriented at right angles to first portion 4 and connected to first portion 4 by hinge portions 25. The second portion 5 includes an axially extending protrusion 6 of length 1 (where 1 is less than L) and of a width such that it forms an interference fit in the slot 24 when the second portion 5 and first portion 4 are subjected to relative pivotal movement about hinge portions 25 to cause the portions 4 and 5 to be superposed and the protrusion 6 to enter slot 24. Thereafter, the hinge portions 25 can be severed to enable the protrusion 6 to slide along slot 24 thereby enabling the length of the arm to be adjusted. The arrangement is such that the protrusion 6 is captive in the slot 24 and hence the second portion 5 is retained in the first portion 4 and cannot become inadvertently disengaged therefrom. The first and second portions 4 and 5 are thus relatively longitudinally displaceable between a first limit position where the arm is shortest and a second limit position where the arm is longest. The first and second portions 4 and 5 can only be longitudinally displaced with respect to each other once a force has been applied manually, which is greater than a predetermined force required to overcome the frictional forces between the protrusion 6 and the first portion 4. In the absence of a force greater than the predetermined force, relative displacement of the first and second portions 4 and 5 is resisted by the frictional forces. The length of the arm can be manually altered by exceeding the predetermined force. The arm may be shortened by axially displacing the first and second portions 4 and 5 such that the chamber 1 lies in the path of the flushing water when the container is suspended from a relatively shallow rim by the hook-like portion 2. Alternatively, the arm may be lengthened by axially displacing the first and second portions 4 and 5 so that the chamber 1 lies in the path of the flushing water when the container is suspended from a relatively deeper rim. In either case, the chamber 1 can be located in a position where, during flushing, flushing water can enter the chamber via the uppermost of apertures 11 in the chamber walls to entrain composition from the chamber 1 before leaving the chamber via the lowermost of apertures 11 and flowing down to the lower part of the toilet bowl. Because of the adjustability of the arm length, the container can be securely and properly fitted under any rim of conventional size.

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. A container for accommodating a composition for treating the water in the toilet bowl of a water closet, which container comprises :- a chamber for accommodating the composition, a hook-like portion for fitting over the rim of the toilet bowl, and an arm connecting the chamber and the hook- like portion, said arm comprising first and second portions which are axially displaceable with respect to each other so that the arm is of adjustable length, said chamber, hook- like portion and arm being formed as an integral component . 2. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second portion is retained within the first portion. 3. A container as claimed in claim 1 or 2 , wherein one of said first and second portions includes a protruding part in frictional engagement with the other of said first and second portions. 4. A container as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the protruding part of said one of said first and second portions is frictionally engaged in a slot in the other of said first and second portions. 5. A container as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the integral component comprises first and second chamber-forming parts connected by a hinge portion and the first portion of the arm is connected to one of the chamber-forming parts and the second portion of the arm is connected to the first portion of the arm by severable hinge portions. 6. A container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings .

Inventors: HERAULT LAURENT, LHOSTE JEAN-FRANCOIS, HERAULT, LAURENT, LHOSTE, JEAN-FRANCOIS
Applicants: HERAULT LAURENT, LHOSTE JEAN FRANCOIS, RECKITT & COLMAN FRANCE, RECKITT & COLMANN PROD LTD, HERAULT, LAURENT, LHOSTE, JEAN-FRANCOIS, RECKITT & COLMAN PRODUCTS LIMITED
Application year: 1998
Main classification: E03D9
IPC codes: E03D9