Patent Publication Number: US-7716789-B1

Title: Sanitary handle apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Sanitation contributes to the health of all people, and a sanitation issue well recognized is that of public door handles, such as those used on restroom doors. Providing cleanliness of such handles has long been a challenge, one addressed by previously proposed devices, but a problem yet to be adequately solved. One basic concern is that a properly designed device should be separate from a given door, that is, a separate handle mechanism not requiring door replacement. Doors to publicly used restrooms and industrially used doors are often heavy, sometimes fire rated, and consequently expensive. It is therefore desirable to either install or replace a handle mechanism rather than an entire door, and it is also important to use existing latch mechanisms. Individual disposable handle protection devices have been proposed, but create the issue of disposable waste, an item often resulting in litter. 
   The amount of space required to sanitize a given door mechanism is of further concern. Most restrooms are already crowded. Further, health codes must be met, and some devices may not conform to such. Handles in the medical field are of concern also. Typical hospital doors, for example, are oversized and heavy, requiring a handle with enough leverage for a person to engage and disengage the latch. Hospital door handles are therefore typically of a leverage type, with extensions beyond that of a rotary knob mechanism. It is further desirable, in the interest of economy, to provide a portion of the handle with a sanitary cover, whereby excessive quantities of sanitation material are not expended. Another reason to provide only a portion of the leveraged handle with sanitary provision is that another part of the handle may need a more industrial surface, for use by gloved workman and the like, wherein the more fragile surfaces covered by the sanitary material are not used for heavy-handed operation of the handle. The present sanitary handle apparatus solves these problems in providing a sanitary means for protecting an individual from touching a handle surface previously touched by another. 
   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The sanitary handle apparatus relates to sanitary covering devices and, more particularly, to a sanitary handle device which is used to feed a roll of clean protective cover over a portion of a door handle to prevent the spread of germs and infectious diseases. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The general purpose of the sanitary handle apparatus, described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a sanitary handle apparatus which has many novel features that result in an improved sanitary handle apparatus which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by prior art, either alone or in combination thereof. 
   The present sanitary handle apparatus provides a tubular leveraged handle with a like-shaped rod within. A curved loop of the rod is exposed. Protective covering is fed onto the rod to prevent contact with germs, bacteria, or any undesirable substance left by other individuals or conditions. The apparatus is especially useful for publicly and industrially used doors. The apparatus provides a covering comprising an automatically feeding roll of hygienic, biodegradable paper or plastic handle covering. The roll is placed inside a durable, plastic or metal housing that operates via 12-volt, rechargeable battery packs and/or 12-volt transformer. A light sensor is supplied for activating the motor. 
   Thus has been broadly outlined the more important features of the improved sanitary handle apparatus so 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. 
   An object of the sanitary handle apparatus is to automatically provide a fresh protective cover for each user of door handle. 
   Another object of the sanitary handle apparatus is to provide needed leverage in opening and closing a heavy door. 
   A further object of the sanitary handle apparatus is to conserve protective cover. 
   An added object of the sanitary handle apparatus is to provide for easily renewing the protective cover of the apparatus. 
   And, an object of the sanitary handle apparatus is to reduce litter. 
   These together with additional objects, features and advantages of the improved sanitary handle apparatus will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the improved sanitary handle apparatus when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
   In this respect, before explaining the current embodiments of the improved sanitary handle apparatus in detail, it is to be understood that the sanitary handle apparatus is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustration. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concept of this disclosure may be readily utilized as a basis for the design of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the improved sanitary handle apparatus. It is therefore important that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the sanitary handle apparatus. 
   It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for purposes of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the installed apparatus. 
       FIG. 2  is a front elevation view of the apparatus. 
       FIG. 3  is a top cross sectional view of  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 4  is a frontal cross sectional view of  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
   With reference now to the drawings, and in particular  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, the principles and concepts of the sanitary handle apparatus generally designated by the reference number  10  will be described. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , the sanitary handle apparatus  10  is fitted to an existing door  80  with latch  85 . The apparatus  10  comprises the rectangular mount flange  15  fastened to the door  80  proximal to the latch  85 . The cylindrical base  16  is affixed to the exterior of the flange  15 . The rotary cylinder  20  is rotatably attached to the base  16 . The cap  40  is removably fitted to the rotary cylinder  20 . The latch drive  38  is in communication with the rotary cylinder  20  and the door latch  85  whereby rotary movement of the cylinder  20  activates the door latch  85 . 
   The electric motor  22  is disposed within the base  16 . The drive pin  30  is provided with an axial key  32  and is rotatably driven by the motor  22 . The sleeve  36  has a length. The keyway  34  is axially disposed within the sleeve  36 . The sleeve  36  is slideably and removably fitted to the drive pin  30  with the pin key  32  fitted to the keyway  34 , whereby the sleeve  36  is driven by the motor  22 . The tubular handle  50  is affixed to the rotary cylinder  20 . The handle  50  is also known as a leveraged handle  50  due to the important extended tangential arrangement of the handle  50  with regard to the rotary cylinder  20 . The handle  50  thereby provides leverage needed to open larger doors  80  and latches  85 . The handle  50  further comprises the horizontal transverse  52  with the return bend  54  at the distal end of the transverse  52 . The return  57  is affixed to the cylinder  20  adjacent to the transverse  52 . The curved bend  58  is extended from the return  57 . The gap  51  is disposed between the return bend  54  and the curved bend  58 . The rod  60  is fitted within the tubular handle  50  with a space  61  between the rod  60  and the handle  50 . The curved loop  62  of the rod  60  is disposed outwardly at the gap  51  of the tubular handle  50 . The curved loop  62  is important in that it provides clearance for a hand to operate the handle  50  without having to touch any surface but the rod  60  with protective cover  70 . The light sensitive sensor  45  is disposed in the flange  15 , whereby the motor  22  is activated by the light sensor  45 . The quantity of protective cover  70  comprises unused cover  70   a  and used cover  70   b . The unused cover  70   a  is supplied wrapped around part of the length of the sleeve  36  with the cover end  71  free. The cap  40  is removed from the cylinder  20 . The protective cover  70  is supplied on a replacement sleeve  36  for each protective cover  70  change. 
   Upon insertion of the new sleeve  36  with cover  70 , the cover end  71  is selectively fitted around the rod  60  within the transverse  52 . The sensor  45  is used to activate the motor  22  to feed an amount of unused protective cover  70   a  onto the rod  60 . The motor  22  is used until a sufficient amount of unused cover  70   a  is fed onto the rod  60  and begun to wrap around the sleeve  36  adjacent to the unused cover  70   a . The cap  40  is re-installed. Each time proximity of a user&#39;s hand operates the door latch  84  via the handle  50 , the motor  22  is activated by the sensor  45  via the processor  65  to cause the unused cover  70   a  to unwind from the sleeve  36  and the used cover  70   b  to wind onto the sleeve  36 . Only the amount of unused cover  70   a  needed to cover the rod  60  exposed by the gap  51  is dispensed from the unused cover  70   a . The sensor  45  is in communication with the power source  24  via the processor  65 . The processor  65  is in turn in communication with the motor  22 . 
   With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the sanitary handle apparatus, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and the 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 the sanitary handle apparatus. 
   Directional terms such as “front”, “back”, “in”, “out”, “downward”, “upper”, “lower”, and the like may have been used in the description. These terms are applicable to the embodiments shown and described in conjunction with the drawings. 
   These terms are merely used for the purpose of description in connection with the drawings and do not necessarily apply to the position in which the sanitary handle apparatus may be used. 
   Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the sanitary handle apparatus. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the sanitary handle apparatus 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 sanitary handle apparatus.