Wrist-napkin (wrist-nap)

Abstract

The wrist-nap or wrist-napkin was invented to make it easier to wipe your mouth when holding hand held food and prevent the user from having to set food down, wipe hands with a napkin and then secondly wipe face and mouth. The wrist-nap allows user to skip the step of having to set down food to wipe mouth and enables user to wipe mouth on wrist-napkin while still holding food in hands. User can wipe mouth, talk, laugh and enjoy dining experience without having to put hand held food down, and dispose of wrist-napkin when through eating.

Description

This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application filed Jun. 22,2006, Ser. No. 60/815,641 which is incorporated in its entirety herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The wrist-nap was invented to enable the user to eat messy food with hands and wipe their mouth on the wrist-napkin without having to set the messy food down. By using the wrist-nap, the user is free to continue holding messy food and wipe mouth and continue eating. Usually one has to set messy food down, wipe hands, get another napkin and then wipe face. User must then pick up messy food again and immediately soil hands. Early experimenting with the wrist-nap used 3m tape, pipe cleaners and paper towels. The wrist-nap was able to replace the everyday hand held napkin and reduce the number of napkins needed to eat a messy hand held meal.

PRIOR ART

There have been prior art references that mention wearing a protective garment over the sleeve of user to prevent spilling on clothes, to protect against or for wiping utensils on. None are intended specifically to be used while worn on the wrist by user to allow them to wipe his/her face and mouth on while holding food, allowing the user to continue eating without having to put food down to wipe mouth.

The wrist-nap was invented to be soiled while eating and used while on user's wrist not garment. These references of prior art differ in either construction, materials, purpose or functions.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objects of the wrist-nap are to enable user to wipe mouth and face without putting down messy food in hands. User can keep eating food and wipe mouth/face on wrist-napkin without first having to set down food in hands to wipe mouth since would first have to wipe the hands that were holding the food and secondly wipe mouth/face/chin with a hand held napkin. This allows the user to keep eating without setting down food to wipe mouth, wipe mouth with wrist-napkin and avoid having to continuously sit food down to wipe face/mouth, first wipe hands with a napkin or paper towel to wipe mouth/face and then immediately soil hands by picking up food to eat again. There is also a natural tendency to use for hands as well.

Perfect for any food, especially messy food eaten with hands, example, ribs, chicken wings, barbecue, cheeseburgers, shrimp, crab, oysters, corn on the cob, watermelon and so on. The wrist-nap is also convenient for use while eating to go food while traveling in the car. Its uses are endless. Great for outdoor activities, even if windy, picnics, boating, BBQs and anything you eat with your hands. Also can be used if preferred instead of traditional paper towel or napkin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of wrist-naps and their use are shown in the Figures. These examples are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1. Disposable paper towel or napkin approximately six inches wide and eleven inches long.

FIG. 1.A. Chosen adhesive means for securing. May be sticky tab material, gum, glue or adhesive strips. Adhesive area may cover the first one to two inches of the typical eleven inch length wrist-nap.

FIG. 2. View of user laying arm on wrist-napkin.

FIG. 2.A. Fold section up over wrist.

FIG. 2.B. Fold said section down to overlap FIG. 2.A. and press to seal snugly.

FIG. 2.C. Adhesive wrist-nap on user's wrist ready to use.

FIG. 3. In roll dispensing form

FIG. 3.A. Chosen adhesive material lines top one to two inches of roll.

FIG. 3.B. Perforations to tear single wrist-napkin off of roll.

FIG. 4. Individual slide on/pull on disposable wrist-napkin made of paper towel or napkin material varying in width according to size. Width ranges from two to six inches.

FIG. 4.A. Paper-thin elastic strips/bands embedded in wrist-napkin material. Elastic bands allow user to stretch wrist-nap over hand and create a secure fit on user's wrist.

FIG. 5. Individual slide on/pull on wrist-nap on user's wrist.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Individual, disposable, paper towel or napkin material, secured to user's wrist. Intended to be worn on wrist for use to wipe mouth, face, chin and/or hands on while eating. The wrist-nap may be secured to wearer's wrist by means of adhesive material lining the top portion of the napkin that allows the napkin to be wrapped around the user's wrist and securely sealed by the open faced sticky tab adhesive material, such as that of a post-it note, or the gum/glue on the beginning and end of a paper towel roll.

The wrist-nap can be secured by means of adhesive strips with peel away backing that can be attached to the wrist-nap or dispensed separately to be used to tape on once wrist-napkin in place or the wrist-nap could be slipped over user's wrist by lining the napkin with uniform strands of paper thin elastic bands embedded in the wrist-nap material.

Alternatives for securing include velcro, snaps and rubber bands for securing, but these may be bulky and not optimal for stream lined effect, and costly to produce.

Wrist-naps can be produced as one size fits all with the means of elastic for securing, or it can be sized into categories of extra small for children, small, medium, large, extra-large and so on. Individual wrist-naps can be pulled onto wrist over hand if elastic means of securing or wrapped around wrist by user and sealed where overlap occurs by gum/glue, adhesive material or tape for individual sizing if dispensed as paper towel or napkin, allowing tape, glue/gum or adhesive to secure and size to wearer's wrist.

Disposable, individual wrist-nap made from paper towel or napkin material in sheet form will preferably be approximately eleven inches long and six inches wide, but size can vary considerably. Rolls of wrist-naps could vary considerably in size from approximately two to twelve inches depending on the size of the person wearing the wrist-napkin and the amount of arm the user wants covered. Designed specifically for wiping the face, mouth, chin or hands on while eating. Designed specifically to be worn by user on wrist. User may choose to wear on either wrist or both. Wrist-napkins can be produced in any color.

Wrist-napkins may be dispensed individually or dispensed from a roll with perforations to tear wrist-nap from roll. Adhesive material may consist of a sticky tab of one sided tape like that of a post-it note, the gum or glue used to secure the beginning and end of a paper towel roll or actual adhesive tape strips with backing that could be peeled off and placed on wrist-napkin to secure. The adhesive tape strips with the peel off backing could be attached lining the upper portion of each wrist-napkin or dispensed separately.

The adhesive material mentioned as sticky tab or glue/gum can be used to line each wrist-napkin horizontally across approximately a six-inch wide strip of the sheet form of the wrist-nap. The length of the adhesive could vary from one to two inches, depending on chosen adhesive material. This allows the user to lay his/her wrist in the middle of the eleven inch long sheet with the sticky adhesive strip face up on the inside at the top of the wrist-napkin. This allows the user to then wrap the bottom of the wrist-napkin up onto wrist and secondly bring the top portion down with sealing strip/adhesive to overlap bottom piece and press to secure snugly. This seal will be strong enough for user to wipe mouth/face and chin on without pulling apart. This allows wrist-nap to fit any size wrist and be individually sized by preference. Adhesive means must be applied horizontally as lining the wrist-napkin vertically with glue/gum or sticky tab would be uncomfortable to user since when wrapped as mentioned, the sticky surface would end up on user face/mouth surface or against user's skin on wrist.

Adhesive tape strips with peel away backing could be applied to an unrolled sequence of paper towels. A piece of tape approximately six inches long is applied to each towel, leaving the protective covering for the tape attached to the side that is not attached to the towel. The sequence of towels is re-rolled and packaged like a roll of paper towels, similar to FIG. 3.

The wrist-napkin can also be individually packaged as elastic slide on, slip on, or pull on wrist-nap. Size would vary with exact measurements dependent upon number of size categories preferred. Extra small could be two inches wide when on wrist and extra large could be six inches wide, with small measuring three inches wide, medium measuring four inches wide and large measuring five inches wide. Another means of sizing the slide on wrist-napkin could be categorized into adult measuring six inches wide and children's measuring three inches wide. The paper-thin elastic bands needed to make the slip on wrist-napkin comfortable and secure may require anywhere from four to ten tiny elastic strands, allowing the user to stretch over hand and then retain a secure fit while on user's wrist.

Claims

1. A wrist-nap made of disposable paper said wrist-nap capable of being wrapped around and secured to a wrist of a user.

2. The wrist-nap of claim 1 said wrist-nap having an adhesive means selected from the group consisting of an adhesive strip of material comprising a sticky tab, gum or glue as adhesive or elastic bands for securing to said wrist.

3. The wrist-nap of claim 2 wherein said securing means is an adhesive with peel off backing.

4. The wrist-nap of claim 2 wherein said securing means is elastic bands.

5. A method of wiping face or mouth of a user comprising wiping using the wrist-nap of claim 1.