US20030029961A1

US20030029961A1 - Disposable towel holder with suction cup

Info

Publication number: US20030029961A1
Application number: US10/165,207
Authority: US
Inventors: Fred Hollinger
Original assignee: E&B Giftware LLC
Current assignee: E&B Giftware LLC; E and B Giftware LLC
Priority date: 2000-06-02
Filing date: 2002-06-06
Publication date: 2003-02-13

Abstract

A holder for a roll of disposable towels has a base and an upstanding member extending upwardly from the base to be inserted into the hollow core of a roll of disposable towels. A suction cup is held to the underside of the base for holding the base securely to a surface such as a counter top upon removal of the towels from the roll. The suction cup is secured within a recess of the base by a washer held within the recess, and has upstanding portions engaging the underside of the base to enable the suction cup to be depressed by movement of the holder downwardly. In preferred form, the base and upstanding member are made from wood.

Description

PRIOR APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 09/840,645 filed Apr. 23, 2001 which is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 09/586,296 filed Jun. 2, 2000.[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a holder for disposable towels such as paper towels, and the holder has a suction cup attached to its base to secure the holder to a counter top upon removal of the disposable towels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Holders for disposable towels such as paper towels are well-known; and often the holders are secured to the underside of a kitchen cabinet or the like to enable the towels to be removed from the roll by pulling on the last towel to separate perforations. Holders for disposable towels have also been provided which may be placed upon a counter top; and often the roll of disposable towels are held vertically to save counter space. Unfortunately, such vertical holders for disposable towels are often unstable when a paper towel is attempted to be torn from the roll. In one proposed vertical holder for paper towels described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,007, a large base is provided for stability. The use of a larger base, however, requires additional counter space beyond the lateral extent of the roll of paper towels and an advantage of a vertical paper towel holder is diminished.

Holders for a roll of disposable towels which may be placed vertically on a surface such as a counter top with minimal use of counter space and yet may be held to the counter top upon attempting to tear a disposable towel from the roll have been proposed by the inventor in the co-pending applications noted above. In the holders disclosed in such co-pending applications, a suction cup is held to the underside of the base of the holder and can be pressed downwardly by movement of the holder for securing the base to a surface such as a counter top in order to facilitate removal of the towels from the roll.

In such devices disclosed in the noted co-pending applications, the suction cup is held directly to the base, and such construction often requires the base be formed of a sturdy material such as metal.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a construction for a paper towel holder with a suction cup that can be fabricated from less sturdy materials, such as wood.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, a holder for a roll of disposable towels has a base and an upstanding member extending upwardly from the base to be inserted into the hollow core of the roll of towels. The base has an inner recess formed with a generally domed-shape upper surface and a suction cup is held within the recess and adapted to be depressed downwardly by movement of the holder for holding the base securely to a surface such as a counter top in order to facilitate removal of the towels from the roll. A holding member is secured to the upper surface of the recess and holds an upstanding knob member projecting upwardly from a central portion of the suction cup.

In a preferred form of the present invention, the base has an opening, and a tab upstanding from the suction cup extends through the opening for enabling the suction cup to be released from the surface. Further, the upper surface of the suction cup may have upstanding portions to engage the undersurface of the base to depress the suction cup assuredly upon downward movement of the holder.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the description given below of a preferred embodiment, which description is made in conjunction with the following drawing figures. [0009]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disposable towel holder of the present invention; [0010]
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a disposable towel holder of FIG. 1; [0011]
FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the disposable towel holder of FIG. 1; [0012]
FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the disposable towel holder of FIG. 1; [0013]
FIG. 5 is a top elevational view of the disposable towel holder of FIG. 1; [0014]
FIG. 6 is a bottom elevational view thereof; [0015]
FIG. 7, illustrates the disposable towel holder of the present invention in exploded form; and [0016]
FIG. 8 is a sectional view through the lower portion of disposable towel holder of the present invention.[0017]
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a [0018] disposable towel holder 10 of the present invention includes a domed base 12 formed of wood and having a wooden upstanding member 14 adapted to be inserted into the hollow core of a roll of disposable towels; such as paper towels.
The wooden [0019] upstanding member 14 has an enlarged wooden knob 16 to fit within the hollow core of a roll of paper towels; and as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the lower end of the upstanding member 14 is secured by a bolt 17 threaded into bushing 18 held within a lower recess 19 of the upstanding member. The knob 16 is secured to the upper portion of the upstanding member 14 by a threaded bolt 20 held within a threaded bushing fitted within the knob 16.
Additionally, a [0020] wooden sidebar 22 is provided to engage the expected periphery formed by the outer surface of the roll of paper towels; and may similarly be secured by a bolt threaded within a bushing.
As would be well understood in the art, the hollow core of a roll of disposable towels may be inserted over the [0021] upstanding member 14 with the sidebar 22 engaging the outer surface of the roll to hold the roll of disposable towels reliably to the paper towel holder 10, and the wooded elements can, if desired, be disassembled for cleaning.
In use, a disposable towel which is connected to the roll through perforations would be grasped by the user and pulled to separate the disposable towel at the perforations; and this may cause the [0022] paper towel holder 10 to move along the counter top or even tilt rapidly toward the user who may be tugging on a disposable towel on the roll.
In order to secure the [0023] paper towel holder 10 to a counter top or the like, fitted beneath the base 12 is a dome-shaped suction cup 24 formed of an elastomeric material. The suction cup 24 is held within an inner recess 26 of the base 12 and the upper surface 27 of the inner recess 26 has a generally domed shape conforming to the contour of the suction cup 24.
As can be seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, a washer [0024] 30 serving as a holding member is held by wood screws 31 and 32 over a central recess 34 receiving the head of bolt 17. The washer 30 has a central opening 36; and an upstanding elastomeric knob 38 extends upwardly from the central portion of the suction cup 30 and has an enlarged end portion which may be compressed and inserted through the opening 36 to secure the suction cup 24 in position within the recess 26 of the base 12.
The [0025] suction cup 24 additionally has upstanding projections 40 and 42 preferably formed as ridges adapted to engage the upper surface 27 of the inner recess 26 of the base 12. In this way, downward movement of the holder 10 will cause the upper surface 27 of the inner recess 26 of the base 12 to press firmly against the projections 40 and 42 and assuredly depress the suction cup to a counter top or the like. The projections 40 and 42 may, as illustrated, be a pair of semi-circular ridges arranged concentrically around the knob 38.
A [0026] tab 44 is connected integrally to the suction cup 24; and extends upwardly through a slotted opening 46 in the base 12. In use, the disposable towel holder 10 may be secured and placed on a surface such as a counter top by being pressed forcibly downward to provide a suction gripping the counter top; and the suction can be released by the user simply grasping the tab 44 and lifting to separate a lip portion 48 of the suction cup from the counter surface to release the suction and enable the disposable towel holder to be removed. As shown in FIG. 8, the lip portion 48 is of greater thickness than the remainder of the rim of the suction cup.
These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be understood from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment made above; however, the present invention is not limited by any details of the above but is set forth by the appended claims. [0027]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a holder for a roll of disposable towels having a hollow central core, said holder having a base having an inner recess formed with a generally domed shape upper surface, an upstanding member extending upwardly from a central portion of said base and adapted to be inserted into said core, a suction cup held within said recess and adapted to be depressed by downward movement of the holder for holding the base securely to a surface for removal of towels from the roll, and a holding member secured to said upper surface of said recess and adapted to hold an upstanding knob member projecting upwardly from a central portion of said suction cup.

2. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 1, said base having an opening, and a tab upstanding from said suction cup and through said opening enabling the suction cup to be released from the surface.

3. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 1, said base extending laterally to the expected extent of the outer periphery of said roll.

4. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 1, including an upstanding sidebar positioned laterally of said upstanding member and adapted to engage the expected lateral extent of the roll, said base extending laterally to the expected extent of the outer periphery of said roll.

5. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 1, said suction cup having projections extending upwardly from said suction cup and adapted to be engaged by said upper surface of said inner recess upon downward movement of the holder.

6. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 5, said base having an opening, and a tab upstanding from said suction cup and through said opening for releasing the suction cup from the surface.

7. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 5, said projections being formed by a pair of semi-circular ridges arranged concentrically about said upstanding knob member.

8. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 5, said base extending laterally to end at the extent of the outer periphery of said roll.

9. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 1, said holding member being a circular washer adapted to have said upstanding knob member press-fitted therein.

10. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 9, said base having an opening, and a tab upstanding from said suction cup and through said opening enabling the suction cup to be released from the surface.

11. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 9, said base extending laterally to the expected extent of the outer periphery of said roll.

12. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 9, including an upstanding sidebar positioned laterally of said upstanding member and adapted to engage the expected lateral extent of the roll, said base extending laterally to the expected extent of the outer periphery of said roll.

13. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 9, said suction cup having projections extending upwardly from said suction cup and adapted to be engaged by said upper surface of said inner recess upon downward movement of the holder.

14. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 13, said base having an opening, and a tab upstanding from said suction cup and through said opening for releasing the suction cup from the surface.

15. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 13, said projections being formed by a pair of semi-circular ridges arranged concentrically about said upstanding knob member.

16. A holder for a roll of disposable towels as set forth in claim 13, said base extending laterally to end at the extent of the outer periphery of said roll.