US20050071917A1

US20050071917A1 - Apparatus and method for illuminating a toilet seat

Info

Publication number: US20050071917A1
Application number: US10/680,320
Authority: US
Inventors: Hayden Landon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-10-06
Filing date: 2003-10-06
Publication date: 2005-04-07

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for illuminating a toilet seat, and more specifically, to a toilet seat illuminator having glow-in-the-dark properties and a bottom surface with means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate. When the toilet seat illuminator is connected with a toilet seat, a user can easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through illuminating properties of the toilet seat illuminator.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for illuminating a toilet seat, and more specifically, to a toilet seat illuminator having glow-in-the-dark properties, whereby when the toilet seat illuminator is connected with a toilet seat, a user can easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through the toilet seat illuminator's luminescent properties.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Various attempts have been made to illuminate a toilet seat and thereby allow a user to locate the toilet seat in an otherwise unlit room. However, disadvantages of prior art are that they use electrical devices and actual lights. While they succeed in lighting the toilet seat, they use bulky and unsightly apparatus, require maintenance, and are not cost effective.
In an attempt to bypass the use of actual electrical devices, one inventor opted to incorporate glow-in-the-dark properties into materials used in constructing the toilet seat. U.S. Pat. No. D395,700, issued to Butler et al., discloses a glow-in-the-dark toilet seat. Although effective for its illuminating properties, the glow-in-the-dark toilet seat is unsightly. Because of its glow-in-the-dark properties, the glow-in-the-dark toilet seat is usually produced in its illuminating color, and as such, will not match most toilets.
Therefore, there exists a need to present a cost effective apparatus that illuminates a toilet seat without detracting from a toilets overall appearance. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The toilet seat illuminator in the present invention comprises a piece of material, the piece of material having a top surface and a bottom surface. The top surface contains a glow-in-the-dark material adhered thereto, and the bottom surface has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate. When the piece of material is connected with a toilet seat through the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, a user can easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through illuminating properties of the glow-in-the-dark material.
In another aspect, the piece of material is constructed of an item selected from a group consisting of metal, paper, plastic, wood, and cloth. Additionally, the piece of material is waterproof.
Additionally, the glow-in-the-dark material may take the form of a glow-in-the-dark image. Furthermore, the glow-in-the-dark image may be removable and interchangeable with other glow-in-the-dark images.
In yet another aspect, the glow-in-the-dark image may contain a plurality of colors.
Furthermore, the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate is selected from a group consisting of adhesive, tape, Velcro, and a magnet.
In another aspect, the toilet seat illuminator comprises a piece of material, the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties and a bottom surface. The bottom surface has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, whereby when the piece of material is connected with a toilet seat through the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, a user can easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through illuminating properties of the piece of material.
Additionally, the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties may be removable and interchangeable with other pieces of material having glow-in-the-dark properties.
Furthermore, the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties may be constructed of plastic.
In another aspect, the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties contains a plurality of colors.
Additionally, the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate is selected from a group consisting of adhesive, tape, Velcro, and a magnet.
Furthermore, the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties may be waterproof.
Additionally, it is another objective of the present invention to claim a method for illuminating a toilet seat. The method comprises an act of connecting a piece of material with a toilet seat. The piece of material has a top surface and a bottom surface, where the top surface contains a glow-in-the-dark material adhered thereto. Additionally, the bottom surface has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, whereby when the piece of material is connected with a toilet seat through the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, a user will easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through illuminating properties of the glow-in-the-dark material.
Finally, the present invention comprises a method for illuminating a toilet seat. The method comprises the act of connecting a piece of material with a toilet seat. The piece of material has glow-in-the-dark properties and a bottom surface. The bottom surface has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, whereby when the piece of material is connected with a toilet seat through the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, a user will easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through illuminating properties of the piece of material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The nature of the toilet seat illuminator described herein will be readily apparent in the following drawings, in which:
FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of the present invention, showing a toilet seat illuminator with a top surface and a bottom surface, where the top surface contains a glow-in-the-dark material adhered thereto, and where the bottom surface has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate;
FIG. 1B is a top perspective view of the present invention, showing a glow-in-the-dark image;
FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view of another aspect of the present invention, where a piece of material has glow-in-the-dark properties and a bottom surface; and
FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the present invention, showing the toilet seat illuminator adhered with a toilet seat.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus that illuminates a toilet seat. More particularly, to a toilet seat illuminator having glow-in-the-dark properties, whereby when the toilet seat illuminator is connected with a toilet seat, a user can easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through the toilet seat illuminator's luminescent properties.
The following description, taken in conjunction with the referenced drawings, is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. Various modifications will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to a wide range of aspects. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the aspects presented, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. Furthermore it should be noted that unless explicitly stated otherwise, the figures included herein are illustrated diagrammatically and without any specific scale, as they are provided as qualitative illustrations of the concept of the present invention.
Referring to the figures, FIG. 1A illustrates an aspect of the toilet seat illuminator 100, where the toilet seat illuminator 100 is constructed of a piece of material 102. The piece of material has a top surface 104 and a bottom surface 106. Attached with the top surface 104 is a glow-in-the-dark material 108. The glow-the-dark-material 108 may be any suitably luminescent material having glow-in-the-dark properites, a non-limiting example of which includes a phosphorescent material. Additionally, the glow-in-the-dark material 108 may come in the form of an image, where the image may be a single illuminating color or a plurality of illuminating colors. The bottom surface 106 has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate 110. The means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate 110 may be any suitable means for affixing two mediums together, non-limiting examples of which include adhesive, tape, Velcro, and a magnet. The piece of material 102 may be any suitable material for attaching with a glow-in-the-dark material 108, non-limiting examples of which include metal, paper, plastic, wood, and cloth. Additionally, the piece of material 102 may be optionally waterproof.
Illustrated in FIG. 1B is a top perspective view of the toilet seat illuminator 100. As shown, the glow-in-the-dark material 108 is attached with the top surface 104 of the toilet seat illuminator 100. The glow-in-the-dark material 108 may come in the form of an image. The image may be any suitable image, non-limiting examples of which include a leaf, a car, and a smiley-face.
Illustrated in FIG. 1C is another aspect of the toilet seat illuminator 100. In this aspect, the piece of material 102 has glow-in-the-dark properties incorporated therein and a bottom surface 106. The glow-in-the-dark properties may be created using any suitably luminescent material, a non-limiting example of which includes a phosphorescent material. The piece of material 102 may be a single illuminating color or a plurality of illuminating colors. Additionally, the bottom surface 106 has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate 110.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the toilet seat illuminator 100 is attached with a toilet seat 200. When the toilet seat illuminator 100 is attached with a toilet seat 200, a user can easily locate the toilet seat 200 in a dark room through illuminating properties of the glow-in-the-dark material 108. Furthermore, the toilet seat illuminator 100 may be attached with the toilet seat 200 at any suitable location for illuminating a toilet seat 200.

Claims

1. A toilet seat illuminator, comprising:

a piece of material, the piece of material having a top surface and a bottom surface, where the top surface contains a glow-in-the-dark material adhered thereto, and where the bottom surface has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, whereby when the piece of material is connected with a toilet seat through the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, a user can easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through illuminating properties of the glow-in-the-dark material.

2. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 1, wherein the piece of material is constructed of an item selected from a group consisting of metal, paper, plastic, wood, and cloth.

3. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 2, wherein the glow-in-the-dark material takes the form of a glow-in-the-dark image.

4. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 3, wherein the glow-in-the-dark image is removable and interchangeable with other glow-in-the-dark images.

5. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 4, wherein the glow-in-the-dark image contains a plurality of colors.

6. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 5, wherein the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate is selected from a group consisting of adhesive, tape, Velcro, and a magnet.

7. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 6, wherein the piece of material is waterproof.

8. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 1, wherein the glow-in-the-dark material takes the form of a glow-in-the-dark image.

9. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 8, wherein the glow-in-the-dark image is removable and interchangeable with other glow-in-the-dark images.

10. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 8, wherein the glow-in-the-dark image contains a plurality of colors.

11. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 1, wherein the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate is selected from a group consisting of adhesive, tape, Velcro, and a magnet.

12. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 1, wherein the piece of material is waterproof.

13. A toilet seat illuminator, comprising:

a piece of material, the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties and a bottom surface, and where the bottom surface has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, whereby when the piece of material is connected with a toilet seat through the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, a user can easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through illuminating properties of the piece of material.

14. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 13, wherein the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties is removable and interchangeable with other pieces of material having glow-in-the-dark properties.

15. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 14, wherein the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties is constructed of plastic.

16. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 15, wherein the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties contains a plurality of colors.

17. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 16, wherein the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate is selected from a group consisting of adhesive, tape, Velcro, and a magnet.

18. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 17, wherein the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties is waterproof.

19. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 13, wherein the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties is constructed of plastic.

20. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 13, wherein the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties contains a plurality of colors.

21. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 13, wherein the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate is selected from a group consisting of adhesive, tape, Velcro, and a magnet.

22. A toilet seat illuminator as set forth in claim 13, wherein the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties is waterproof.

23. A method for illuminating a toilet seat, comprising an act of:

connecting a piece of material with a toilet seat, the piece of material having a top surface and a bottom surface, where the top surface contains a glow-in-the-dark material adhered thereto, and where the bottom surface has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, whereby when the piece of material is connected with a toilet seat through the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, a user will easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through illuminating properties of the glow-in-the-dark material.

24. A method for illuminating a toilet seat, comprising an act of:

connecting a piece of material with a toilet seat, the piece of material having glow-in-the-dark properties and a bottom surface, and where the bottom surface has a means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, whereby when the piece of material is connected with a toilet seat through the means for connecting the bottom surface with a substrate, a user will easily locate the toilet seat in a dark room through illuminating properties of the piece of material.