Patent Publication Number: US-6992570-B2

Title: Rest room sound producing device

Description:
RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
     The present patent application is based upon Provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/384,015 filed May 29, 2002. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a sound producing device for restroom facilities, and, more particularly, to a sound producing device that can be affixed to the interior wall of a public or private restroom cubicle and which is activated by a person entering that cubicle. 
     In the use of a public rest room, there are normally cubicles within which the toilet is located, and which cubicles are provided with doors for the ingress and egress of the individual. When a person is within the cubicle, there are often noises associated with the elimination of waste products and which can be embarrassing to the person using the facilities. 
     Accordingly, there have been sound producing devices associated with individual toilets, such as the device that is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,919 of Molloy. The Molloy device is a small device adapted to be used with an individual toilet seat and is activated as the toilet seat is raised, however, a device that is activated by the raising of the toilet seat would not be particularly desirable for use in a cubicle of a public rest room. 
     It would, therefore, be advantageous to have a sound producing device better adapted to the use within the enclosed environment of a cubicle of a public or private rest room that can be secured to one of the walls of the secure environment and which can be activated by the presence of a person within that cubicle. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention relates to a sound producing device for use in a bathroom or rest room facility, particularly with a cubicle surrounding walls and a door that can be moved between open and closed positions to allow the person ingress and egress to and from the cubicle. 
     The sound producing device is preferably affixed to one of the walls of the cubicle and the manner of affixation can vary depending upon the particular situation, and whether the rest room is a public or private facility. 
     There is an activation means that operates the sound device to enable it to emanate the desired sound, and the activation means may be a motion sensor that determines when a person has entered the cubicle of other means such as an optical, pneumatic, electrical or electro-mechanical sensor including a sensor that determines the closed position of the door or can be some sensor that responds to a weight imposed on the toilet or toilet seat. 
     In any event, the activation means, in some manner, senses the presence of a person within the cubicle or rest room and thereupon activates the sound producing device to emit a sound to cover up the normal noises of a person using the rest room facilities. 
     In one embodiment, the same sound producing device can be used for a series of cubicles in a public rest room and the sound will continue to be emitted for so long as one a sensor associated with each cubicle detects the presence of a person within that cubicle, thereby indicating that at least one person is utilizing the facilities. 
     These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings herein. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of a cubicle of a public rest room; 
         FIG. 2A  is a front perspective view of a sound producing device that can be used with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2B  is a rear perspective view of the sound producing device of  FIG. 2A  and 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of a plurality of cubicles in a public rest room with a single sound producing device that provides the sound for all of the cubicles. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a top view of a stall or cubicle  10  of a rest room, generally a public rest room but can be applicable to a private rest room. As can be seen, the cubicle  10  comprises a plurality of walls and includes a rear wall  12 , side wall  14 , side wall  16  and a door  18  such the combined walls  12 ,  14 ,  16  and the door  18  produce a private, enclosed environment for the person to relieve oneself. As also can be seen, there is a toilet  20  that is located within the enclosed environment of the cubicle  10 . 
     As is conventional, the door  18  is hingedly affixed to one of the side walls, shown as side wall  14  so as to swing back and forth between a closed position, not shown, and an open position as shown in  FIG. 1  to accommodate the ingress and egress of a person using the facilities and there is a hinge  22  or hinges to allow the movement of the door  18 . 
     There is also a door latch  24  and a wall latch  26  that cooperate together so that the person can latch the door  18  in its closed position or, of course, open the door to enter or exit the enclosed environment when desired. In  FIG. 1  there is also shown a sound producing device  28  that is affixed to the side wall  14  and its use will be later explained, it being noted, however, that the sound producing device  28  can provide a sound when a person is within the enclosed environment of the cubicle  10  to cover up the unwanted noises that occur when a person is being relieved therein. 
     The sound producing device  28  can be affixed to the side wall  14  by a variety of means, including an adhesive that may be pre-applied to the sound producing device  28 , or may be a more permanent installation such as by screws, bolts or rivets designed so as to prevent the removal of the sound producing device  28  to the side wall  14 . 
     Other means of affixing the sound producing device  28  can be by means of VELCRO fastening material, or the device may be hung on a hook over the door  16  of the cubicle  10  or the device may hang on a plastic or rope cord from a hook on the door  16  or one of the side walls  14 ,  16 . Obviously, the means of affixing the sound producing device  28  to the cubicle depends on whether the cubicle  10  is located in a private structure or a public rest room since, if the latter, the means of affixation would need to be of a more permanent, theftproof nature. 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 2A and 2B , taken along with  FIG. 1 , there is shown perspective views showing, respectively, the front  30  and the rear  32  of the sound producing device  10  of the present invention. In the sound producing device  28  there is a box  34  containing the sound producing components and which includes a speaker  36 , an off-on switch  38 , as well as a receptacle  40  for the insertion of batteries where the sound producing device  28  is not permanently attached to a source of electrical energy. 
     There is also an activation device that activates the sound producing device  28  to cause that sound producing device  28  to produce sounds to cover up the noises emanating from a person using the facilities. That activation device may be a motion sensor  42  that is responsive to the motion of a person entering and sitting within the enclosed environment within the cubicle  10  such that the sound producing device  28  creates a sound when a person enters the cubicle  10 . 
     As an alternative, the activation device may be some electrical connection to a relay  44  that senses when the door latch  24  and wall latch  26  are in contact with each other indicating that the door  18  has been closed, the understanding being that a person has entered the cubicle  10 . Accordingly, in such case, there can be a simple electrical connection made between the door latch  24  and the wall latch  26  to activate the sound producing device  28  to cause a sound to be generated to, again, cover up the otherwise embarrassing noises produced by a person using the facilities. 
     Other means can include some switch that is incorporated into the door lock such that when the person has entered the cubicle  10 , and locks the door, the action of closing that lock will cause the activation of the sound producing device  28  or some weight sensor that senses the weight of a person sitting down upon the toilet or toilet seat. In general, the sensor can be optical, pneumatic, electronic, electro-mechanical or other technology the senses when a person has entered the rest room or the cubicle  10 . 
     In  FIG. 2B , there can be seen an adhesive area  46  that can be utilized to affix the sound producing device  28  to the side wall  12  of the cubicle  10 . There may be, initially, a protective layer that covers the adhesive area  46  to protect the adhesive area  46  until the sound producing device  28  is ready to be affixed to the rear wall  12  or side walls  14 ,  16  of the cubicle  10 . 
     The sound producing device itself may be of a variety of such devices including a radio, tape or diskette player, CD player or the like and, therefore, can be almost any device that produces a sound upon being activated and the sound may be pre-recorded on a chip, diskette, magnetic tape or other medium and the sound itself can be pre-recorded music or mood sounds, including classical music, pop music, or familiar kiddie tunes for a child&#39;s cubicle. Alternatively, there can be diskettes of differing music or mood sounds including sounds of a waterfall, a rain forest, a babbling brook or other soothing mood sounds. 
     Finally, in  FIG. 3  there is shown a top view of an embodiment of the present invention wherein there are a plurality of individual cubicles  10  such as is typical in a public rest room. In such instance, it may be preferable to only have one sound producing device  28  that can produce a sound that is effective to cover the noises from each of the individual cubicles  10  rather than have a plurality of such sound producing devices  28  in each cubicle  10  where there can be a cacophony of differing sounds in the rest room. 
     Accordingly, with the  FIG. 3  embodiment, the single sound producing device  28  can be used and which sound producing device  28  is located so as to be effective in all the individual cubicles  10 . That location may, of course, be by vertically positioning the sound producing device  28  above the walls of the cubicles  10 . 
     In any event, the control of the sound producing device  28  can be by means of a series of individual sensors located with each of the cubicles  10  that sense the presence of a person within that cubicle. The sensors may be individual electrical switches  48  that sense the position of each of the doors  18  or some motion detecting sensors  50  that detect the motion of a person within the cubicle. Whatever the particular sensor that is used, the control of the sound producing device  28  causes it to be activated as long as at least one of the sensors indicates the presence of a person in any one of the cubicles  10 , that is, for example, as long as one of the doors  18  is in its closed position or at least one motion detecting sensor  50  detects the presence of a person, thereby indicating that at least one person is still utilizing the facilities. 
     Thus, the sound producing device  28  will remain activated in the event one or more persons is present within a cubicle  10  and will eventually be deactivated if all of the doors  18  are in their open positions or all of such other sensors fail to detect the presence of a person in any of the cubicles, thereby indicating that there is no one remaining in the rest room and, therefore, no need for the sound producing device  28  to be activated. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily recognize numerous adaptations and modifications which can be made to the rest room sound producing device and method of using the same of the present invention which will result in an improved process and device, yet all of which will fall within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined in the following claims. Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only by the following claims and their equivalents.