Drip catcher

Abstract

The invention catches the drops shed by a standing man urinating into a toilet, thereby keeping the floor dry for subsequent users who want to sit and drop their clothes. This is accomplished by automatically extending a shield covered with a disposable absorbent pad, when the seat is raised. The shield is automatically stowed out of the way when the seat is lowered.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A shield which may be crescent-shaped or another shape, which is automatically deployed when a toilet seat is raised, to intercept drops of urine shed by a standing man urinating, or drops spattered out of the toilet, for the purpose of keeping the floor in front of the toilet dry, and which is automatically stowed out of the way when the seat is lowered, and which may be flat or may be curved so as to protrude as little as possible from the toilet in the stowed position. 
     
     
         2 . A shield as in  claim 1  which is substantially covered by an absorbent pad, which may be disposable. 
     
     
         3 . A shield as in  claim 2  in which said pad is furnished with a pressure-sensitive adhesive on one side for easy attachment to and removal from the shield, and may be furnished with one or more strings, tabs, loops, or the like to facilitate its replacement. 
     
     
         4 . A mechanism for automatically deploying a shield which may be crescent-shaped or another shape, to intercept drops of urine shed by a standing man urinating, or drops spattered out of the toilet, for the purpose of keeping the floor in front of the toilet dry, and automatically stowing it out of the way when the seat is lowered, which shield may be flat or may be curved so as to protrude as little as possible from the toilet in the stowed position. 
     
     
         5 . A mechanism as in  claim 4  in which the shield is substantially covered by an absorbent pad, which may be disposable. 
     
     
         6 . A mechanism as in  claim 5  in which said pad is furnished with a pressure-sensitive adhesive on one side for easy attachment to and removal from the shield, and may be furnished with one or more strings, tabs, loops, or the like to facilitate its replacement. 
     
     
         7 . A mechanism as in  claim 6  in which said shield is attached to a more or less vertical support member, which is attached to the toilet, such as by hooking it over the rim of the toilet bowl, typically in front. 
     
     
         8 . A mechanism as in  claim 7  in which said shield is arranged to pivot about an axis a small distance in front of the support member by, for example, having two or more ears which are attached to mating ears protruding forward from the support member by rivets or other fasteners about which the shield pivots,
 and said shield having a tail which extends a small distance beyond the axis. 
 
     
     
         9 . A mechanism as in  claim 8  in which an actuating member is arranged to slide vertically along the support member and in which said actuating member extends over the rim of the toilet bowl, so that it is pressed down when the seat is lowered and returned by a spring when the seat is raised,
 said actuating member having provision for overtravel to accommodate differing toilet seat heights. 
 and the top of said actuating member having ears extending sideways so that it will be actuated even by a seat which has a gap in front, 
 and the bottom end of said actuating member being connected to the tail of the shield so that the shield is raised to a more or less vertical position when the seat is lowered, and extended in a more or less horizontal position when the seat is raised, 
 the motion of said shield tail being accommodated by having the connection between the actuating member and the tail take the form of a link hinged at both ends, or of a flexible portion of the actuating member hinged only at the bottom end. 
 
     
     
         10 . A mechanism as in  claim 9  whose sliding motion is accommodated by having part of the edges of the support member bent forward and inward, so as to captivate the actuating member or, alternatively, by having the edges of the actuating member captivate the support member in a like manner or, alternatively, by having a slot in one of these members to accommodate rivets attached to the other member, or, alternatively, by another method. 
     
     
         11 . A mechanism as in  claim 7  in which said shield is arranged to pivot about an axis on the support member. 
     
     
         12 . A mechanism as in  claim 11  in which an actuating member is arranged to slide vertically along the support member and in which said actuating member extends over the rim of the toilet bowl, so that it is pressed down when the seat is lowered and returned by a spring when the seat is raised,
 said actuating member having provision for overtravel to accommodate differing toilet seat heights. 
 and the top of said actuating member having ears extending sideways so that it will be actuated even by a seat which has a gap in front, 
 and the bottom end of said actuating member being connected to the shield so that the shield is tilted downward to a more or less vertical position when the seat is lowered and extended in a more or less horizontal position when the seat is raised, 
 the motion of said shield being accommodated by having the connection between the actuating member and the shield take the form of a link hinged at both ends, or of a flexible portion of the actuating member hinged only at the bottom end. 
 
     
     
         13 . A mechanism as in  claim 12  whose sliding motion is accommodated by having part of the edges of the support member bent forward and inward, so as to captivate the actuating member or, alternatively, by having the edges of the actuating member captivate the support member in a like manner or, alternatively, by having a slot in one of these members to accommodate rivets attached to the other member, or, alternatively, by another method.