Wall mountable bottle

Abstract

A disposable wall mountable liquid container has an elongated polymer bottle having an internal cavity and a neck forming an opening on one end portion. An elongated depression is formed into one side thereof and shaped to form a suction cup having a flexible surrounding edge protruding therefrom of a material different from that of the bottle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a wall mountable liquid container and especially to a wall mountable bottle having an integrally formed suction cup for mounting a container on the wall.

In the past, a wide variety of liquid containers have been provided made out of a polymer material and which were used for holding and dispensing liquids, such as shampoos, liquid soaps, and the like. It is common for a household to keep a number of such liquid bottles of different types in the shower or the bathroom for shampoo, hair conditioners, soaps and the like. These bottles are typically too large to fit on built-in shelves and are typically left on the floor of a shower or on after-market shelves added to the shower or on ledges adjacent to the shower. Bottles of this type are commonly made of polymer materials, such as polyvinylchloride or PVC and may be manufactured by blow molding, injection molding or various automated molding processes.

There have been a variety of prior art containers designed to be attached to a wall. These can be seen in the Pedersen U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,090 for a container and container support. In this patent, a suction disk is mounted to the wall and has a stem protruding therefrom for attaching a bottle. In the Washut U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,517, a portable personal liquid storage and dispenser unit has three compartments for liquid soap, shampoo and conditioner rinse in a resilient bottle. The container in the Washut patent is configured to fit snugly inside an open-faced case which in turn is mounted to a wall with a suction cup. In the Fraterrigo U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,553, a disposable dispensing-proportioning container for semi-fluid pasty products and cosmetics is provided which has a cylindrical cavity for attaching to a cylindrical appendix which is part of a plate which is easily attached to a wall.

The Frankel U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,945 is a dispenser for shampoo and liquid soap which is a wall mounted liquid dispenser having ornamental features that are visually pleasing. A suction cup has a shaft portion which is inserted into an indentation in the container for attaching the dispenser to the wall of a shower or the like. The Miller U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,680 is a shampoo bottle support device which uses suction cups to mount a socket on the wall for holding a squeeze bottle. The Brewster U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,046 is a bottle holder rack which can be attached to a wall for holding a bottle and the rack. The Waskonig et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,078,017 is a suction cup mounted hanger for suspending a tube. The Yemini U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,884 is a suction cup mounted holding device having a socket therein for receiving a hook mounted on a container.

Other suction cup holders for toilet articles and the like may be seen in the Rosemark U.S. Pat. No. 2,883,062 and in the Emery et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,954. The Barnes et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,391 is for a suction cup made of two materials in order to enhance the operation of the suction cup.

In contrast to this prior art, the present invention is for a disposable bottle having an integrally molded-in suction cup so that a material, such as shampoo, may be attached to a shower wall or the like. A suction cup is formed as part of the bottle as one integral unit ready to be used as purchased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A wall mountable liquid container has an elongated polymer bottle having an elongated body formed with an internal cavity and having two end portions and a side wall portion. The bottle body has a neck forming an opening on one end portion and has an elongated depression formed into the side thereof. The elongated depression in the side of the bottle is shaped to form a suction cup having a flexible surrounding edge protruding from the bottle side wall portion so that a liquid bottle can be rapidly attached to a wall surface with an integral suction cup. The body of the bottle is formed of a first polymer with the suction cup flexible surrounding edge formed as part of the bottle body with a second polymer, which second polymer may use the same polymer resin used in forming the bottle but with a plasticizer to increase its flexibility. The bottle neck can have a screw cap removably attached thereto. The body bottle may be formed of a first polymer with the bottle body suction cup flexibly surrounding edge formed of a second polymer and fixedly attached to the bottle body one side portion, such as by adhesively attaching the flexible surrounding edge to the bottle body. The bottle body may have indicia printed thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the written description and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wall mountable liquid container in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the bottle of FIG. 1 mounted to a wall;

FIG. 3 is an exploded sectional view of a second embodiment of the bottle of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the present bottle; and

FIG. 5 is a partial elevation of the compliant surrounding edge of the bottle of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a wall mounted liquid container 10 has a body 11 having a neck 12 and a bottle cap 13 thereon. The bottle 11 is formed with a cavity therein and has a top end portion 14 and a bottom end portion 15 and has the bottle side 16. One side 17 of the bottle 10 forms a depression in the side thereof and has a flexible or compliant surrounding edge 18 forming a suction cup 20 in the side of the bottle 10. A release tab 29 is formed on one end of the surrounding edge 18 to release suction in the suction cup portion when removing the bottle from a wall. The suction cup portion 20 may have a generally flat surface 21 which may have indicia or advertising material 22 printed thereon. The bottle is illustrated attached to a wall 23 in FIG. 2 and is shown in an upright position but can as easily be attached in a downwardly facing direction. The cap 13 may also be a dispenser cap, as desired.

The bottle body portion 11 may be made of a polymer material, such as a polyvinylchloride or PVC or any other material desired. The suction cup portion or at least the flexible surrounding edge 18 is made of a more flexible or compliant material so that it can act as a suction cup when placed against a wall 23. The more compliant material can be of the same resin as a bottle body 11 but having additional plasticizer therein to make it more flexible. Alternatively, the surrounding edge 18 can be made of a different material which is sufficiently flexible and compliant for acting as a suction cup, such as a silicone material, which can be made to specifications to act as the walls of a suction cup. Other polymers for a suction cup sides include a polyurethane polymer, neoprene, or nitrile.

The bottle 10 may be made as one integral unit in which the body portion 11 can be preformed in a mold using a thermoplastic material having characteristics for forming a bottle and then molding the flexible protruding edge 18 simultaneously or after the bottle body 11 has partially cooled with a second material or with the same resin having a different formulation and more of a plasticizer therein.

The integral bottle may also be manufactured, such as shown in FIG. 3, in which the bottle 25 has a separate polymer bottle portion 26 and a suction cup portion 27 formed of different materials but formed separately. The suction cup portion 27 having the tab 29 thereon can then be permanently attached to the bottom body portion 26. This can be accomplished, as shown in FIG. 3, using an adhesive applied to the surface 28 or 30 on the flat portion of the bottle body 26. This allows the two portions of the bottle to be molded separately and then one attached to the other with an adhesive or by other attaching means that will fixedly attach two portions of the bottle together. In either case, the result is one integral liquid containing bottle having a suction cup formed therein so that a product may be sold in a disposable bottle which may be immediately attached to a shampoo or bathroom wall as purchased.

Another method of manufacturing the wall mountable bottle of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 in which the bottle 32 has a separate polymer bottle portion 33 having a generally flattened surface 34 on one side thereof having a continuous groove 35 therearound. A compliant surrounding edge 36 is a separate item having a ribbed tongue 37 around the interior edge thereof. The compliant surrounding edge 36 is made of a different polymer material from the bottle 33. It can be a more compliant material suitable for forming a suction cup. In this embodiment, the compliant surrounding edge 36 has the grooved tongue 37 press fitted into the groove 35 to fixedly attach the bottle 33 and the surrounding edge 36 together to form a bottle having a suction cup for attaching to a wall or the like. The surrounding edge has a tab 38 for releasing the suction when the bottle is being removed from the wall. Bottle 33 also has a cap 40 which may also be a dispensing cap, as desired.

It should be clear at this time that a wall mountable liquid container has been provided which has a bottle with a formed-in suction cup readily attaching to a shower wall or the like. However, the present invention is not to be construed as limited to the forms shown which are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.

Claims

1. A wall mountable liquid container comprising:

an elongated polymer bottle having an elongated body forming an internal cavity and having two end portions at least two side wall portions, said bottle body having a bottle neck forming an opening on one end portion thereof, and said bottle body having an elongated depression formed into one side wall portion thereof shaped to form a suction cup having a flexible surrounding edge protruding from said bottle body one side wall portion; whereby a liquid bottle can be rapidly attached to a wall surface with an integral suction cup.

2. The wall mountable liquid container in accordance with claim 1 in which said bottle body is formed of a first polymer and said suction cup flexible surrounding edge is formed as a part of said bottle body with a second polymer.

3. The wall mountable liquid container in accordance with claim 2 in which said bottle neck has a screw cap removably attached thereto.

4. The wall mountable liquid container in accordance with claim 1 in which said bottle body is formed of a first polymer and said bottle body suction cup flexible surrounding edge is formed of a second polymer and is fixedly attached to said bottle body on side wall portion.

5. The wall mountable liquid container in accordance with claim 1 in which said bottle body is formed of a first polymer and said bottle body suction cup flexible surrounding edge is formed of a second polymer and is adhesively attached to said bottle body one side wall portion.

6. The wall mountable liquid container in accordance with claim 1 in which said bottle body one side portion has indicia printed thereon.

7. The wall mountable liquid container in accordance with claim 1 in which said bottle body is formed of a first polymer and has an elongated groove formed in said one side wall portion and said flexible surrounding edge is formed of a second polymer and has a grooved lip thereon fixedly attached in said bottle body elongated groove.

8. A one-piece, dual material bottle comprising:

an elongated bottle having an elongated body having an outer polymer wall formed of a first polymer and forming an internal cavity having two end portions, said bottle body having a bottle neck forming an opening on one end portion thereof, and said bottle body outer wall having an elongated generally concave shaped depression formed thereinto and shaped to form a suction cup having a surrounding edge of a compliant second polymer protruding from said bottle body outer wall; whereby a liquid bottle can be rapidly attached to a wall surface with an integral suction cup.

9. The one-piece dual material bottle in accordance with claim 8 in which said surrounding edge is permanently bonded to said bottle body.

10. The one-piece dual material bottle in accordance with claim 8 in which said surrounding edge has a grooved lip press fitted into said groove formed in said bottle body outer wall.