BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the use of toilet facilities. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices intended to (1) protect a commode from unnecessary soiling and (2) help alleviate anxiety and embarrassment related to the use of toilet facilities. The invention more particularly pertains to new liner for protecting the bowl of toilet from solid waste as well as reducing the noise and odor associated with bowel movements.

Prior art disposable toilet bowl protectors are known in the art. Most of the prior art bowl protectors, however, are directed at protecting a user from direct contact with the seat portion of a toilet, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,071,289, which teaches dispenser designs for toilet seat covers. A child's training toilet with disposable liner is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,092 for use with a dry and/or non-flushing training toilet. A covering for toilet seats is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,929, but the covering does not protect the bowl from solid waste residue nor serve in any way to reduce noise and eliminate or mask odor. U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,399 teaches a disposable and flushable toilet bowl liner. However, the design of the liner in the '399 patent suffers from several problems that are overcome by the present invention.

First, the '399 liner requires a costly design and choice of material in order for the device to work. In essence, the '399 invention requires a paper or other disposable product that remains rigid unless exposed to moisture. It is intended to sit within the interior of a toilet bowl but above the surface of the water retained in the toilet bowl after the last flushing. The complexity of the '399 invention is increased by the requirement that the '399 liner be constructed of water sensitive material that disperses when it comes into contact with water. The problem created by this design is two-fold. First, it will be difficult, even when a user is not rushed, to place the '399 liner in such a manner that no portion of it touches the surface of the bowl water. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that different bowl designs have different volumes and different surface levels for the water retained in the bowl. There is no one “universal” bowl design and, as such, it is impossible to create a bowl liner using this method that won't fail for the simple fact that it sits too low in the bowl and immediately comes into contact with the bowl water prior to use of the toilet. The second problem is that solid waste voiding seldom, if ever, occurs without liquid waste being voided at the same time. Therefore, even if the bowl liner is carefully placed in the bowl above the water level, as soon as urine impacts the '399 liner, the liner will immediately start to dissolve, frustrating the liner use and negating any hoped-for advantage sought by using the liner.

Further, the '399 invention doesn't provide for means to address a user's needs for privacy through noise and odor cancellation.

The present invention provides for a toilet bowl liner that is a substantial improvement over the concepts and designs of the prior art, providing a universal toilet bowl liner for common flushable toilets that creates a barrier to prevent contact between the toilet bowl and solid waste, provides noise and odor cancellation, and is flushable and biodegradable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a new and improved toilet bowl liner that prevents contact between the bowl and solid waste, reducing or eliminating unsightly soiling.

The present invention further provides for a new and improved toilet bowl liner that is useful and fits commonly-used designs of flushable toilets.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved toilet bowl liner that provides noise cancellation.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved toilet bowl liner that provides for odor cancellation.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved toilet howl liner that is flushable and biodegradable.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved toilet bowl liner that is formed in a shape that provides coverage inside the bowls of commonly used toilets.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view of the present invention from above showing the shape of the improved toilet bowl liner.

FIG. 2 is an oblique view of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of common toilet bowl shapes.

FIG. 4 is a side view of common toilet bowl shapes with the present invention placed in the bowls.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIG. 1, an embodiment of the current invention is shown. The insert 101 is generally oval in shape, with the A axis 102 longer than the B axis 103. Experimentation has shown that, although numerous dimensions may be utilized for the A axis 102 and B axis 103 lengths, the A axis 102 is preferentially between 25 cm and 35 cm in length, while the B axis 103 is preferentially between 15 cm and 20 cm in length. The insert 101 is preferentially comprised of a material that is biodegradable and further is water-soluble, dissolving in the water after a length of time in contact with water, in the manner similar to existing toilet paper. The insert 101, however, is preferentially comprised of a material that degrades over a period of longer than the time period necessary for a user to complete using the toilet. Generally, this time period may be expected to last no longer than ten minutes, although it will be understood that materials that biodegrade in time periods commonly accepted in the art for flushable paper products will meet the criteria for enabled use of the present invention. The material of the insert 101 is also chosen from the group of biodegradable and flexible paper and similar materials. The flexibility of the insert 101 allows the insert 101 to deform as necessary to accommodate various shapes and depths of bowls (FIG. 4; 401, 402, and 403). It is further advantageous to utilize scented and/or odor-preventing treatment in the material. The treatment may be incorporated into the material manufacturing process or added later. In some embodiments, choices of scents will be provided so that a user can choose scents most pleasing to them.

FIG. 2 shows an oblique view of an embodiment of the present invention bowel insert 101. When viewed in this manner, the insert 101 has the form of an oval shape, with a top portion 202 and bottom portion 201. The A axis 102 and the B axis 103 are shown for demonstrative orientation purposes only. When in use, the bottom portion 202 is placed down into a toilet bowl. As the insert 101 is placed into a toilet bowl, it deforms to the shape of the bowl into a generally concave shape (FIG. 4), with the center portion 203 of the bottom portion 202 contacting the water in the toilet bowl and the top portion 202 facing upwards toward the user during use of the invention. It will be understood that it may be advantageous to use two or more materials for the insert 101, such as using a biodegradable paper for the bottom portion 202 and a scented biodegradable material for the top portion 202. However, the best mode of constructing and using the insert 101 would be by forming the insert 101 from a single material rather than combining multiple materials. It will also be understood that the one or more materials chosen for form the insert must have the flexibility discussed above to allow the insert 101 to deform as shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 3 shows a top-down view of common toilet shapes for which the present invention is useful. These shapes are commonly referred to as Compact Elongated (301), Elongated (302), and Round Front (303). The generally oval shape of the present invention allows the efficient use of the invention in these common bowl shapes.

FIG. 4 shows side views of common toilet bowl configurations of a compact elongated bowl 401, elongated bowl 402, and round front 403. The insert 101 is positioned within the bowls 401, 402, and 403, and on top of the water 404 retained in the bowls 401, 402, and 403 during use. As shown in FIG. 4, the flexible nature of the insert 101 allows the insert 101 to flatten out to the extent necessary to accommodate the different bowl shapes, forming a shallow concave shape with the depth of the concavity dependent upon the shape of the bowl in which the insert 101 is used. Upon use and flushing, the insert 101 will collapse and move down the toilet waste pipe 405, with the solid waste held inside of the collapsed insert 101 (FIG. 5), thereby precluding the solid waste from contacting the interior surface of the bowl and thus avoiding leaving solid waste stains.

FIG. 5 shows a side view of an elongated bowl 402 with the insert 101 collapsing around the solid waste 501 during flushing operation of the toilet. The insert 101 with the solid waste 501 moves down the toilet waste pipe 405 in the direction of the water flow 502.

It will be understood that, while the invention is described in detail herein, embodiments exist which are not described herein but which are covered by and fall within the spirit and the scope of the invention as described.