Portable Paper Towel Holder

Abstract

A portable paper towel holder incorporates a towel holding frame and a single spring loaded clamp, preferably made from metal, with padding to prevent damage. The spring clamping force is only sufficient to clamp the towel holder to an object, and provide a low enough force to prevent marring. The attachment of the spring clamp to the paper towel holder frame is preferably by affordable hardware such as rivets, screws, and glue. The portable paper towel holder is then built to be affordable, and is able to be conveniently relocated between objects such as ladders, table tops, counter tops, outdoor grills, construction equipment, and the like.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 62/132,712, filed on Mar. 13, 2015. The entire provisional application is incorporated by reference herein.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

This invention is directed toward paper towel holders that are able to be conveniently relocated.

(2) Description of Related Art

Paper towel holders and similar dispensers of rolled consumable paper products are known in the art. Dispensers for toilet paper, hand drying paper, and paper towels for use in general light cleaning are common in the marketplace. It should be noted, that in a casual inspection of the dispensers, the overwhelming number of dispensers are permanently attached to a wall, shelf, or other permanent structure.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,239,156 is one example commonly paper towel holder. Two ends bars fold flat for shipping, and unfold to hold the inner cardboard tube (or inside diameter) of the paper towel roll. Screw holes are used to attach the paper towel holder to a wall, a cabinet, a shelf, or similar permanent surface. Even though the screws could be removed and the paper towel holder relocated; in common use such an effort is inconvenient and such a paper towel holder can be considered permanently located.

In many uses, it is desirable to have a paper towel holder that is portable. That is, can be placed in position for a singular use such as cleaning up a cooking area (such as a grill), painting area clean up, cleaning a particularly messy area, wiping up spills, and polishing. Many other uses are possible. About 50 lbs. of paper towels are annually consumed per person in the United States.

When a paper towel holder is portable, it provides extraordinary convenience for the use of paper towels, and facilitates a clean-up effort. Absence of a paper towel holder can also be detrimental. For example, cleaning up a grill without a paper towel roll being held in a supporting structure is difficult, as the grease and grill fluids easily transfer to the hands during the clean-up effort. When reaching for another paper towel, the user with two greasy hands has difficulty holding the roll without contaminating them with grease, and difficulty tearing off the correct amount of paper towels without grabbing more towels than needed.

It is also desirable to have an affordable design. For example, a paper towel holder that can affordably be made in an injection molding machine is desirable, which has favorable economics of scale in a large production run.

It is also desirable to utilize an attached clamp that is spring loaded to hold a portable paper towel holder firmly on a surface, with enough strength to hold the paper towel holder for satisfactory use, and to further utilize a low enough clamping force to prevent marring the surface it is clamped to. A bar clamp, a sliding bar clamp, or a C-clamp are all undesirable ways to clamp to a surface due to their stronger clamping force.

What is needed is a portable and affordable portable paper towel holder that can provide the needed multiple functions such as being easily clamped in different work areas, with a sufficient clamping force, affordable design, and prevents marring of the surface it is clamped to.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The disclosed invention solves the problems of multiple issues that need to be addressed. A paper towel holder incorporates a single spring loaded clamp, preferably made from metal, with padded tips on the end of the clamp. The spring clamping force is only sufficient to clamp the towel holder to an object, and provide a low enough force that surface marring is unlikely.

The attachment of the spring clamp to the towel holder frame is by affordable design components such as rivets, screws, bolts, snap-together components, and glue. The simplified design provides for convenient and affordable attachment between the towel holder frame and the spring clamp.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a left front perspective view of the portable paper towel holder with the end brackets unfolded outwardly.

FIG. 2 is the same view of FIG. 1, except that the end brackets have been folded inwardly.

FIG. 3 is an exploded assembly view of the portable paper towel holder.

FIG. 4 is an example view of the portable paper towel holder that is clamped to a step ladder.

FIG. 5 shows an optional attachment for hanging the portable paper towel holder on a hook.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It should be understood that the disclosed invention is only one preferred embodiment. Other embodiments are possible by utilizing various types of paper towel holding frames and various types of spring clamps.

FIG. 1 is a right front perspective view of a portable paper towel holding assembly as conceived in the invention. It comprises a substantially rectangular outer frame 101 that is attached to a spring clamp 102 in the center of the outer rectangular frame by use of screws 105. Two end brackets 103a,b are attached inside the rectangular outer frame along a fold line 106, and the fold line is preferably made by thinning the plastic. This provides very affordable hinge mechanism that does not require additional assembly. However, this is not a strict requirement and alternate hardware methods of providing a hinge could equally be used.

End brackets 103a,b are used to hold the open center of the paper towel roll. This is accomplished by holding a cardboard core commonly in the center of the paper towel roll. Circular projections 104a,b are connected to the end brackets and their diameter is sized to hold the paper towel roll center. When in use, the two end brackets are folded outwardly from their folding line to become perpendicular to the paper towel holding frame. A light gripping force is created when opening the two end brackets due to the tolerances of the lower bracket, causing interference between the lower bracket and the outer frame, which in turn makes the rectangular outer frame slightly flex to create the light gripping force. Thus, the end brackets remain firmly inside the open center of the paper towel roll.

The spring clamp has a clamping force of 38 lbs. In a preferred embodiment, and to ensure the capability of clamping to a wide variety of objects, the spring clamp opens up to clamp to objects that are up to 2 inches thick. As previously mentioned, bar clamps, sliding bar clamps, and C-clamps are all undesirable ways to clamp to a surface due to their stronger and unpredictable clamping force. A spring loaded clamp will only provide the designed force. Also, the spring clamp is operable by a single hand of a user, which adds to the convenience of the embodied portable paper towel holder.

FIG. 2 is the same view as FIG. 1 except that the end brackets have been folded downwardly into the outer rectangular frame as indicated by the arrows. This is very efficient from packaging, shipping, and room needed on a store shelf. Attachments

FIG. 3 is an exploded assembly view of the portable paper towel holder. Screws 301 are inserted through the outer rectangular frame with end brackets 302, through the spring clamp 303 and into nuts 304. The nuts are tightened on the screws so as to hold the assembly together.

FIG. 4 is one example of how the portable paper towel holder can be clamped to an object (step ladder in this case). The portable paper towel holder can equally be clamped to many other objects.

FIG. 5 shows an optional hook attachment 501 (i.e. a tab with a hole) for hanging the portable paper towel holder on a hook. This convenient feature provides for personal storage, and also provides for a compact storage space in a store display.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been described, the invention may be modified and adapted to various operational methods to those skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is not limited to the description and figure shown herein, and includes all such embodiments, changes, and modifications that are encompassed by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A portable paper towel holding assembly for a rolled paper towel comprising: whereby said portable paper towel holding assembly is designed to clamp to an object.

A) a holding frame comprising: i) a rectangular outer frame, ii) two end brackets with a circular projection, wherein a diameter of said circular projection is sized to match a paper towel core, iii) wherein said two end brackets are attached inside said rectangular outer frame at a fold line, and additionally separated at a distance to substantially match a width of paper towels, iv) wherein said two end brackets rotate about said fold line, v) wherein said rotation of said end two brackets allows said two end brackets to be at least able to a) be perpendicular to said rectangular outer frame, or b) substantially aligned to the plane of said rectangular outer frame, and vi) wherein said rectangular outer frame and said two end brackets are made from a plastic material,

B) a spring clamp, wherein said spring clamp incorporates handles that are designed to open said spring clamp by a single hand of a user, and

C) wherein said spring clamp is attached to said rectangular outer frame substantially in the center of said rectangular outer frame,

2. The portable paper towel holding assembly according to claim 1 wherein said spring clamp opens up to clamp to objects that are up to 2 inches.

3. The portable paper towel holding assembly according to claim 1 wherein said fold line is created in said rectangular outer frame by a thinning of said plastic.

4. The portable paper towel holding assembly according to claim 1 wherein a tab with a hole is added to said portable paper towel holding assembly.