Toilet Paper Appliance

The present invention relates generally to article dispensing devices and, in particular, to a shelf and rack unit incorporated into a toilet paper dispenser.

Bathrooms often lack clearly defined areas for the temporary placement of personal articles. Storage cabinets therein rapidly become filled with toiletries, medicines and the like, preventing the addition of further items. Frequently, newspapers and magazines carried into the room must be placed on the floor subjecting them to potential damage. Therefore, a need exists for a shelf and rack unit providing easily accessible storage for reading materials and other personal items such as a cup of coffee and an ashtray.

In the past, others confronted with this problem of a lack of bathroom storage space have incorporated shelves into toilet paper dispensers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,467 issued Mar. 26, 1974 to Arthur E. Bauman discloses a toilet paper holder having a horizontal shelf situated below a cradle for supporting a roll of toilet paper. The holder attaches to a toilet tank by a hook at its upper end. U.S. Pat. No. 3,482,796 issued Dec. 9, 1969 to Roy C. Tucker discloses a toilet paper holding device which has a shelf for holding a box of tissues or other articles. A dowel attached to a singular vertical support holds the roll of toilet paper. No means are provided therein for retaining bulky objects such as newspapers or magazines. U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,491 issued Nov. 20, 1984 to James R. Rainey discloses a similar device having grooved side panels. The side panels are incapable of positively locking the spindle, and consequently the paper roll, in place. Again, no provision is made for the retention of bulky printed materials. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,859 issued Mar. 16, 1976 to Philip Boone discloses a small shelf having a fold down lid which is mountable upon a conventional toilet paper dispenser. The shelf's small size limits its storage capacity.

None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.

By the present invention, an easily installed toilet paper appliance is disclosed which provides a convenient shelf and newspaper rack within favorable reach of a commode. Accordingly, it is the principal object of the invention to provide a wall mountable toilet paper appliance having a horizontal shelf and newspaper rack.

It is another object of the invention to provide an appliance having a horizontal shelf and vertically offset newspaper rack capable of dispensing toilet paper or of being integrated into a previously existing toilet paper dispensing unit.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a sturdy toilet paper appliance which provides storage space without interfering with the normal dispensing of a roll of toilet paper.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in a toilet paper appliance for the purposes described herein which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.

These and other objects of the instant toilet paper appliance will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

FIG. 1 is an environmental perspective view of a toilet paper appliance in accordance with the present invention installed within a conventional toilet paper dispenser.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the invention shown in FIG. 1 showing the toilet paper appliance fastened to a wall.

FIG. 3 is an environmental perspective view of a second embodiment of a toilet paper appliance in accordance with the present invention.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

The present invention is a toilet paper appliance. Referring to the drawings in greater detail, FIG. 1 illustrates appliance 10 installed behind a roll of toilet paper 12 mounted on two posts of a toilet paper holder or dispenser 14. Appliance 10 has a four-sided horizontal shelf 16 which may be used to store toiletries or support other personal articles. The shelf 16 has a raised bead 18 to prevent objects placed there upon from falling off. Exterior surfaces of the raised beads 18 can be curved to eliminate pointed edges to prevent potential injury. Attached at a right angle to the underside of shelf 16 is vertical support member 20 having spaced openings through which screws 26 may be inserted to join appliance 10 to wall surface 21. Although screws 26 are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is contemplated that other types of fasteners can be used, such as nails, bolts or the like.

Connected to support member 20 is a newspaper rack formed by horizontal member 22 and vertical retainer 24. Vertical retainer 24 has a height sufficient to retain rolled up newspaper 25. The vertical member 20 is of sufficient height to accommodate paper roll 12 such that it may freely rotate without interference from inserted newspaper 25 or shelf 16. While FIG. 1 shows a newspaper in the rack area of appliance 10, other types of reading materials may also be placed therein, such as magazines, pamphlets or books.

To install appliance 10, the toilet paper dispenser 14, shown in FIG. 1, is first freed of the paper roll 12. Then vertical support member 20 is situated between the two posts of dispenser 14. Next, fasteners, such as screws 26, are passed through holes in vertical support member 20 and driven into the wall surface 21 as shown in FIG. 2. Finally, paper roll 12 is reinstalled.

Toilet paper appliance 10 can accommodate dispensers of the C-clamp type. C-clamp dispensers having a straight member connected to the two posts of the dispenser 14 are well know in the art. The appliance 10 can be fastened to the wall surface 21 with the same screws 26 used to install the C-clamp dispenser 14 by joining the appliance 10 with the dispenser 14 as shown in FIG. 1. Either the appliance 10 or the dispenser 14 may contact the surface of the wall.

A second embodiment 28 of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3. Vertical hangers 32 are added to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 for supporting a roll of toilet paper 12. The second embodiment 28 obviates the need for a separate toilet paper dispenser. The vertical hangers 32 are attached at right angles to the underside of shelf 16 and have circular grooves 34 for retaining a dowel 30 used to support a roll of toilet paper 12. Grooves 34 are positioned in vertical hangers 32 a suitable distance from the underside of shelf 16 to accommodate a standard roll of toilet paper 12. The dowel 30 may be a telescoping spindle well known in the art. Again, vertical support member 20 is of sufficient height to provide clearance between the printed material in the newspaper rack and the toilet paper roll 12.

The components that comprise the toilet paper appliance 10, 28 may be made of any desired material, such as acrylic plastic, metal or wood. To aid in fastening the appliance to a surface or wall, adhesives may be used as an additional or separate fastener for securing the appliance to a wall.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.