Patent Publication Number: US-2019174976-A1

Title: Collapsible Potty Training Assembly

Description:
(b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     (c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     (d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     (e) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
     Not Applicable 
     (f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     (g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to potty training devices and more particularly pertains to a new potty training device for collecting feces and urine during potty training. 
     (h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a panel and a bag that is collapsibly coupled to the panel. The panel is selectively gripped to position the bag beneath a user when the panel is gripped. Thus, the bag receives feces and urine from the user when the user is potty training. A drawstring is slidably coupled to the bag and the drawstring selectively closes the bag. A pad is positioned in the bag and the pad is comprised of a fluid absorbent material to absorb the urine. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       (i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a collapsible potty training assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 3  of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     (j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, a new potty training device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the collapsible potty training assembly generally comprises a panel  12  that is selectively gripped. The panel  12  has a top surface  14  and a perimeter edge  16  and the perimeter edge  16  has a front side  18 , a first lateral side  20  and a second lateral side  22 . The front side  18  is concavely arcuate between the first  20  and second  22  lateral sides. The panel  12  may be comprised of a rigid material such as plastic or the like. Additionally, the panel  12  may be selectively placed on a training toilet  23  or the panel  12  may be held beneath a child that is potty training. 
     A bag  24  is collapsibly coupled to the panel  12  such that the bag  24  is positioned beneath the child when the panel  12  is gripped. Additionally, the bag  24  extends downwardly through an opening  25  in the training toilet  23  when the panel  12  is placed on the training toilet  23 . Thus, the bag  24  receives feces and urine from the user when the user is potty training. The bag  24  has inwardly facing surface  26  and a peripheral edge  28  and the peripheral edge  28  is continuous such that the peripheral edge  28  defines an opening  30  into the bag  24 . 
     The bag  24  is folded over onto itself such that the peripheral edge  28  is bonded to the inwardly facing surface  26  to define a channel  32  extending around the bag  24 . The bag  24  is releasably attached to the front side  18  of the panel  12  such that the opening  30  in the bag  24  is aligned with the top surface  14  of the panel  12 . The bag  24  may be releasably attached to the panel  12  through any conventional means, including but not being limited to, an adhesive and perforations in the bag  24 . A drawstring  34  is slidably coupled to the bag  24  and the drawstring  34  selectively closes the bag  24 . The drawstring  34  is slidably positioned in the channel  32  and the drawstring  34  has a first end  36  and a second end  38 . Moreover, the drawstring  34  extends through the bag  24  such that each of the first end  36  and the second end  38  are exposed. 
     A pad  40  is positioned in the bag  24 . The pad  40  is comprised of a fluid absorbent material to absorb the urine. Additionally, the pad  40  is infused with a chemical fragrance  42  to mask an odor of the feces and the urine. The chemical fragrance  42  may be a floral fragrance, an odor masking agent and any other chemical means of reducing olfactory detection of the odor from the feces and urine. The pad  40  is bonded to the inwardly facing surface  26  of the bag  24  and the pad  40  completely covers the inwardly facing surface  26 . 
     In use, the panel  12  is gripped and to position the bag  24  beneath the child when the child is potty training in a remote location, such as a campground, a picnic site and any other location that may or may not have a restroom. The bag  24  collects the feces and urine from the child and the drawstring  34  is manipulated to close the bag  24 . In this way the feces and urine are collected for disposal. Alternatively, the panel  12  is positioned on the training toilet  23  such that the bag  24  extends downwardly through the opening  30  in the training toilet  23 . Additionally, the panel  12  and bag  24  may be used in lieu of a bedpan or the like for a bedridden individual. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.