Abstract:
A toilet seat covering for use with a portable toilet includes an anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, exterior surface that surrounds a pliable interior that creates an opening which overlays a waste opening in the portable toilet. The pliable interior preferably includes heat activated foam that forms to the rear of the user. A handle extends from a front of the toilet seat covering.

Description:
[0001]    There are no related patent applications. 
         [0002]    The present application did not received federal research and/or development funding. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0003]    Generally, the present invention relates to a portable toilet seat cover that is placed atop an opening of a waste tank of a portable toilet. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hygienic toilet seat cover that includes a flexible exterior of an antimicrobial or antibacterial surface that may be easily disinfected. An interior core of the toilet seat cover includes pliable, resilient material such as closed cell foam. A handle extends from the front of the toilet seat cover for use in placing and retrieving the toilet seat cover in a hygienic manner. The toilet seat cover is preferably formed from heat activated foam that has a visco memory to provide a softer feel to the posterior of the user. Moreover, the underside of the toilet seat cover that comes into contact with an upper surface of the waste tank assumes a complementary shape of the upper surface of the waste tank. An opening in the toilet seat cover is aligned over the waste opening during use. A rigid frame member may be provided within the interior to assure structural integrity during use. The rigid frame member is sandwiched between upper and lower halves of the rigid frame member. The rigid frame member may be substantially flat, typically 0.125″ or less and formed from rigid plastic material. The frame member is doughnut-shaped to provide a flat surface upon which the upper half of the toilet seat cover is supported. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Temporary and portable outdoor toilets are known in the art. Many of these portable outdoor toilets are used at concerts, sporting events, parties and job sites. Typically, these portable toilets are hauled to a site on a flatbed truck or trailer and off-loaded at the site. Each portable toilet includes sidewalls, a door, a ceiling and a floor. A waste storage tank is positioned within the interior and against the back wall of the portable toilet. A toilet seat and lid are fastened atop a top opening of the waste storage tank. The waste storage tank is partially filled with chemicals that treat the waste material. Most portable toilets include a urinal arranged on one of the sidewalls that includes a drain tube connected between the urinal and waste storage tank for draining urine or other liquid waste into the tank. These portable toilets are usually formed from an epoxy resin mixture such as fiberglass or made from a durable plastic material. 
         [0005]    At concerts and sporting events many thousands of people may use a single portable outside toilet. On job sites, these portable outdoor toilets may be left for extended periods of time between service and cleaning processes after the initial placement of the portable toilet. Thus, the interior of the portable outdoor toilet, including the toilet seat, becomes heavily soiled over time. To overcome this problem, some portable outdoor toilets include paper covers for overlaying the toilet seat prior to use. One problem associated with these paper covers is that when the toilet seat is wet, the paper cover tends to soak up the moisture and fails to prevent the user&#39;s posterior from become wet. Thus, these paper covers are inadequate for combating soiled conditions of a portable outdoor toilet in many instances and are of no aid in preventing the spread of communicable diseases. 
         [0006]    There is a need for a hygienic, comfortable, cost-effective portable toilet seat covering that may be arranged atop a waste tank of a portable outdoor toilet. To that end, the present invention aims to provide a toilet seat covering that may be used in connection with a portable outdoor toilet in a safe and hygienic manner. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention is a toilet seat cover that includes a flexible exterior of an antimicrobial or antibacterial surface. The terms “anti-microbial” and “anti-bacterial” properties are defined as any material that prevents or reduces the spread of infectious diseases and may include plasticized coating or paint impregnated with antimicrobial or antibacterial chemicals. The outer surface of the toilet seat cover provides a surface that may be easily disinfected to reduce the spread of infectious diseases. 
         [0008]    An interior core of the toilet seat cover includes pliable, resilient material such as memory foam that is made from polyurethane with additional chemicals. These chemicals add to the viscosity level of the foam core to increase its density. This type of memory foam is often referred to as visco-elastic polyurethane foam. The memory foam is heat activated to provide a softer feel to the posterior of the user and cause the upper surface of the seat to mould to the user&#39;s posterior. Higher density memory foam reacts to body heat which allows it to mould itself to the shape of a warm body within a short amount of time. The foam&#39;s heat-retaining properties is comfortable to users even in subzero temperatures. 
         [0009]    The toilet seat cover is doughnut shaped and includes an opening for allowing expelled waste to drop through it into the waste storage tank of the portable toilet. A handle extends from the front of the toilet seat cover for ensuring that no waste contacts the user&#39;s hand when placing or retrieving the toilet seat cover. The toilet seat cover may be carried on the back of a pickup or in a plastic bag until needed. The user then carries the toilet seat cover to the portable toilet and places it atop the toilet seat that is fastened to the waste tank or the attached toilet seat may be lifted and the toilet seat cover be deposited directly atop the waste storage tank. Since the bottom half of the toilet seat cover assumes the complementary shape of a surface upon which it is arranged, the toilet seat cover may be used in a variety of portable toilets having various shaped toilet seats or waste storage tanks. 
         [0010]    A rigid frame member may be provided within the interior to assure structural integrity during use. In this instance, the rigid frame member is formed in the overall shape of the toilet seat cover to include the hand opening with finger grooves. The rigid frame member is then sandwiched on a top and bottom surface by two foam members that are formed in substantially the same shape as the rigid frame member. The foam members are the visco-type foam as mentioned above. The bottom foam member may be thinner than the upper foam member, but is necessary for preventing the rigid frame member from slipping or sliding across the upper surface of the waste storage tank. 
         [0011]    It is an object of the invention to provide a portable toilet seat that may be carried by a user and placed atop a waste tank of a portable toilet. 
         [0012]    It is a further object of the invention to provide a portable toilet seat that includes has a visco memory such that the underside of the portable toilet seat conforms to a shaped surface of a toilet seat or upper exterior surface of a waste tank in a portable outdoor toilet. 
         [0013]    Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the included claims when taken in connection with the previous discussion and the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the toilet seat cover taken from above and the front. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is an elevated view of the toilet seat cover taken from above. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a view of the toilet seat cover taken from the side. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4A  is a cross-section view of one embodiment of the toilet seat cover that includes a rigid frame member and taken from line A-A of  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 4B  is a cross-section view of the toilet seat cover that comprises only an interior made of foam and the exterior. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5A  shows an exterior view of a prior art portable toilet.  FIG. 4B  shows a partial breakaway view an interior view of the prior art portable toilet. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  shows the toilet seat cover atop the toilet seat in the portable toilet of  FIGS. 5A and 5B . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0020]    The embodiments of the invention and the various features and advantageous details thereof are more fully explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments and examples that are described and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings and set forth in the following description. It should be noted that the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and the features of one embodiment may be employed with the other embodiments as the skilled artisan recognizes, even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions of well-known components and techniques may be omitted to avoid obscuring the invention. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the invention may be practiced and to further enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Accordingly, the examples and embodiments set forth herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims. Moreover, it is noted that like reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
         [0021]      FIGS. 1-3  which show the portable toilet seat cover  1  that includes a seat region  13  with an opening  10  and a handle  4  that extends from the front of the seat region  3 . The portable toilet seat cover  1  includes an upper surface  5  and a lower surface  6 . The lower surface  6  conforms to the shape of the object on which the portable toilet seat cover  1  is deposited. The posterior of the user is deposited atop the upper surface  5  which conforms to the particular features of the user&#39;s posterior. The overall length “L” of the portable toilet seat cover is substantially twenty-four inches. The overall length of the seat region  13  is substantially eighteen inches. The overall length of the handle  4  is substantially six inches. The minimum width “W” of the portable toilet seat cover  1  is substantially fourteen inches. The maximum width is substantially twenty inches. The minimum size of opening  10  is substantially eleven inches long at its maximum length and substantially eight inches wide at its maximum width. The thickness “T” between upper surface  5  and lower surface  6  within the seat region  13  is within a range of substantially one to three inches thick. The thickness of the handle  4  may be thinner than that of the seat region  13 . However, the exterior surface  2  extends around both the seat region  13  and the handle  4  to insure that the antimicrobial properties of the exterior surface  2  is realized in the handle  4 . As clearly shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the handle  4  includes an opening through which the fingers of the user extend when carrying the portable toilet seat  1 . 
         [0022]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  are cross section views taken from line A-A of  FIG. 2 . In the simplified version of  FIG. 4B , the portable toilet seat cover  1  comprises an internal piece of visco-elastic memory foam  3 . The memory foam  3  is heat activated to provide a softer feel to the posterior of the user. Further, the memory foam  3  reacts to body heat which allows it to mould itself to the shape of a warm body within a short amount of time. The exterior surface surrounds an entirety of the memory foam  3 . In  FIG. 4A , the memory foam  3  is divided into two halves, an upper half  3 A and a lower half  3 B. A rigid frame member  7  is sandwiched between the two halves  3 A,  3 B. In this instance, the exterior surface surrounds all of the sandwich parts,  3 A,  3 B,  7 . The memory foam  3  and/or frame member  7  may comprise one or more of the following plastics including but not limited to Polyethylene Terephthalate, High Density Polyethylene, Polyvinyl Chloride, Polypropylene, Polystyrene, polyurethanes, polyvinyl chloride and other mixed resins. The rigid frame member  7  may be formed in substantially the shape of the portable toilet seat cover  1  to include the seat region  13  and the handle  4  extended therefrom. 
         [0023]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  depict prior art toilets. Each toilet includes sidewalls and an access door for entering and exiting the toilet. A vent pipe extends through the roof.  FIG. 5B  is a partial breakaway view and shows a typical layout for an interior. On the left sidewall is a urinal into which liquid waste may be deposited. The vent pipe extends from within the waste tank. An upper surface of the waste tank may be sloped to drain fluids from the top of the waste tank as shown. An opening is provided in the waste tank. A toilet seat is arranged above the opening. 
         [0024]      FIG. 6  shows the portable toilet seat cover  1  arranged atop the toilet seat with the handle extending towards the door. The user may arrange the portable toilet seat cover  1  atop the toilet seat. Thereafter, the user deposits his exterior onto the upper surface  5  of the portable toilet seat cover  1  and deposits wastes through opening  10  into the waste tank. When finished, the user simply grasps the handle  4  and disengages the toilet seat cover  1  from the toilet seat. The exterior surface of the toilet seat cover may be treated with an antimicrobial agent or wiped with a disinfectant to periodically sanitize the portable toilet seat cover  1 . Moreover, it may be maintained in a plastic bag that preferably includes indicia indicating an upper and lower side. The toilet seat cover  1  may also be deposited directly onto the upper surface of the waste tank such that central opening  10  is positioned above the opening into the waste tank. 
         [0025]    It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact construction illustrated and described above. Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. While the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiments, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in limiting sense. From the above disclosure of the general principles of the present invention and the preceding detailed description, those skilled in the art will readily comprehend the various modifications to which the present invention is susceptible. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereof.