US2839202A - Towel and/or wash cloth holder - Google Patents

Description

June 17, 1958 A E. ARNETT 2,839,202

TOWEL AND/OR WASH CLOTH HOLDER Filed Feb. 3, 1955 W Y INVENTOR.

/ ALFRED E. ARNETT #Muuw A T TOR/V5 Y United States Patent TGWEL AND/0R WASH CLOTH HOLDER Alfred E. Arnett, Wichita, Kans.

Application February 3, 1955, Serial No. 485,878

7 Claims. (Cl. 211106) This invention relates to storing and holding means. In a more specific aspect, this invention relates to means for storing for use and/ or holding cloth articles used to wash and/ or dry the body, particularly in the bath room facilities of a motel, hotel or home.

Towel and wash cloth holding and storing means are known in the art, such as the rod-type towel rack where the towels and wash cloths are draped or hung over the rods, and ordinary shelves on wall brackets upon which the folded wash cloths and towels are stacked. These means of the prior art have many disadvantages, chief among which is the fact that a used and wet wash cloth and/or towel placed back on the towel rod or typical shelf will dampen and ruin for use other wash cloths and towels. In a motel or hotel the additional expense to launder unused but ruined towels and wash cloths is quite substantial, particularly where a new guest is to occupy the accommodations and it is impossible to have even a slightly damp towel or wash cloth in the room. Atowel holder and a towel and wash cloth holder have been long needed in the art to overcome this expensive problem, and I have invented just such a holder.

The new device of my invention for holding cloth articles used to wash and/or dry the body has a portion disposable in an upright position. A plurality of spaced shelf members project from this portion, and the cloth articles are snugly stored folded between the shelves. Some of these shelf members are spaced farther apart than others so as to receive and hold folded, larger ones of said cloth articles. One particularly desirable specific embodiment of my invention employs ring-shaped shelf members mounted on an inverted U-shaped support member, and another preferred specific embodiment employs a one-piece construction from a bent piece of sheet metal or a molded plastic holder. My new holding device provides for separation of the individual wash cloths and towels dun'ng storage and holding so that a damp and soiled cloth or towel will not ruin for use other towels or cloths, and it has been found that the users because of the structure will not place wet articles back thereon, but will place them in a desired place or receptacle. This is not true of the usual towel rod or shelf. The saving to a motel or hotel in laundering expense for linens has been found to be substantial. In addition, my new device is easy and economical to manufacture, use and sell, and lends itself to sturdy construction.

It is an object of my invention to provide new storing and holding means.

It is anon er object of my invention to provide new means for storing for use and/or holding cloth articles used to wash and/ or dry the body, particularly in the bath room facilities of a motel, hotel or home.

Another object of my invention is to provide new means to eliminate ruining for use clean wash cloths and/or towels by contact with used soiled and wet cloths and/ or towels.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure.

Drawings accompany and are a part of this disclosure. Such drawings depict preferred specific embodiments of my invention, and it is to be understood that they are not to unduly limit the scope of my invention.

'ice

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a perspective view of a device embodying my invention wherein ring-shaped shelf members are used.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the device of Fig. 1 with folded towels and wash cloths placed therein.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a device embodying my invention wherein one-piece construction is employed.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing in detail the structure of the device of Fig. 3 as formed by bending.

Following is a discussion and description of my invention made with reference to the drawings Whereon the same reference numerals are used to indicate the same or similar parts or structure. Such discussion and description is of preferred specific embodiments of my invention, and it is to be understood that such is not to unduly limit the scope of my invention.

In Figs. 1 and 2, a U-shaped member 6 forms the support and mounting portion of the towel holder. It can conveniently be made of metal from round rod stock. Small plates 8 with apertures 10 therein are mounted between the legs of member 6 in any suitable manner, such as by welding, and this provides means to mount the holder on a vertical surface, such as a wall or end of a partition, by nail, screw, hook or bolt means, and the like. Of course, member 6 can be a solid member, if desired, or any other suitable shape. Ring- shaped shelves 12 and 14 can conveniently be formed from round metal rod stock and they are mounted on member 6 in any suitable manner, such as by Welding. Rings 12 are smaller in diameter than rings 14 and desirably of size and spaced to snugly receive and hold wash cloths l6 therebetween when twice folded, as shown. Hand towels 18 and bath towels 29 are stored preferably snugly between ring shelves 14 as shown, and these shelves are preferably spaced to snugly receive towels 18 and 20 when such are twice folded. Of course, ring- shaped shelves 12 and 14 can be of any desired shape, such as square, rectangular, oblong, etc., if desired, and disks or plates instead of hollow members can be used, if desired. While I prefer to form the various portions of the towel holder of metal, I have also found that plastic materials and/ or wood can likewise be used.

A one-piece construction of the towel holder of my invention is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the device shown being preferably formed by bending and punching a strip of sheet metal. The back or upright support portion 22 is formed integral with shelves 24 and 26. Shelves 24 serve the purpose of shelves 12 in the device of Fig. l, and this is also true in regards to shelves 2 6 and 14. The holder of Fig. 3 is mounted by means in combination with apertures Ill, and it is designed to hold four wash cloths between shelves 24, and four hand and four bath towels between shelves 26. It can conveniently be made of plastic and/ or Wood, and, if desired, the shelves can be perforated to make them frame-like. This has the advantage of making the device lighter in weight. As one skilled in the art can see, my device provides for separate towel and wash cloth storage so that no unused articles are soiled for use by a wet cloth or towel while at the same time storing together a plurality of each. The spacing of the shelves to snugly receive the towels and cloths of different size when folded is very important and has been found very advantageous in use to prevent improper use of the device by guests in motels and hotels. My device can be constructed to hold any number. of towels and wash cloths desired.

As will be evident to those skilled in the art, various modifications of this invention can be made, or followed, in the light of this disclosure and discussion, without de- 3 parting'from the spirit or scope of the disclosure or from the scope of the claims.

I claim: a

1. A bath towel, hand towel and wash cloth holder, comprising, in'combination, a vertically disposable, inverted U-shaped support member, hanger means mounted between thelegs of said iU-shaped member in the upperand lower end portions thereof adapted to mount same on a vertically disposed surface, a plurality of spaced and parallel ring-shaped shelf members rigidly and unadjustably attached at right angles to said U-shaped member in the upper end portion thereof, said shelf members being spaced-apart a distance to snugly receive and hold between adjacent shelf members a wash cloth twice folded,

.and a plurality of spaced and parallel ring-shaped shelf I members larger in diameter than said first-named shelf 7 members rigidly and unadjustably attached at right angles to said U-shaped member in'the middle and lower end portions thereof, said last-named shelf members being spaced apart a distance greater than the spacing of said first-named shelf members and so that an upper pair snugly receive and hold a hand towel twice folded, a lower pair snugly receive and hold another hand towel twice folded, said hand towels substantially larger in size and bulk than said wash cloth, and with said pairs spaced aparta distance greater than the spacing of the shelf members of said pairs and so that a-bath towel substantially largerin size and bulk and twice folded can be snugly received and held therebetween, and with at least one other of said last-named shelf members spaced a distance below the lower one of said lower pair of shelf members so that another bath towel twice folded can be snugly received and held therebetween.

2. .A towel holder, comprising, in combinatioma sup-' port member disposable in an upright position and having means therewith to mount the same in such position, and at least four spaced and parallel ring-shaped shelf members rigidly and unadjustably mounted on said support member and projecting outwardly therefrom, at least two adjacent ones of said shelf members being spaced apart a distance to snugly receive and hold a folded wash cloth, at least two other adjacent ones of said shelf members being spaced apart a distance greater than that of. said first-named adjacent shelf members and to snugly receive and hold a folded hand towel of substantially larger size and bulk than said washcloth, and at least two other adjacent onesof said shelf members being spaced apart a distance greater than'that of said last-named adjacent shelf members and to snugly receive and hold a folded bath towel of substantially larger size and bulk than said hand towel.

3. A device forsholding cloth articles used to wash and/ or dry the body, which comprises, in combination, a portion disposable in an upright position, and at least four spaced and parallel shelf members in a line projecting outwardly from said portion, rigidly and unadjustably attached thereto and adapted to holdtherebetween said cloth articles, at least two adjacent ones of said shelf members being spacedapart a distance to snugly receiveand hold a folded fabric article of relatively small size, at least two other adjacent ones of said shelf members being spaced apart a distance greater than that of said first-named adjacent shelf members and to snugly receive and hold a folded fabric article larger in size and bulk than-said first-named fabric article, and at least two other ing shelf members unadjustable in spacing in an upper" end portion thereof, said shelf members being spaced apart a distance to snugly receive and hold between ad acent shelf members a wash cloth twice folded, and bent in the middle and lower end portions to form a plurality of parallel and spaced outwardly projecting shelf memadjacent ones of said shelf members being spaced apart a distance greater than that of said last-named adjacent shelf members and to snugly receive and hold a folded fabric articlellarger insize and bulk than said secondnamed fabric article. g

4. A bath towel, hand-towel and wash cloth holder, comprising, in" combination, a single strip of sheet metal bent to .form a portion disposable in a vertical position and a plurality of parallel and spaced outwardly projectbers larger in area and projecting farther from said vertically disposable portion than said first named shelf members, said last-named shelf members being spaced apart a distance greater than the spacing of said first-named shelf members and so that an upper pair snugly receive and hold a hand towel twice folded, a lower pair snugly receive and hold another hand towel twice folded, said hand towels substantially larger in size and bulk than said wash cloth, and with said pairs spacedapart a distance greater than the spacing of the shelf members of said pairs and so that a bath towel substantially larger in size and bulk and twice folded can be snugly received and held therebetween, and with at least one other of said last-named shelf members spaced a distance below the lower one of said lower pair of shelf members so that.

another bath towel twice folded can be snugly received and held therebetween, and means in the upper and lower end portions of said vertically disposable portion adapted to mount said holder on a vertical surface.

5. A towel holder, comprising, in combination, a single piece of material having a portion disposable in an upright position and means therewith to mount same in such position, and at least four spaced and parallel shelf members in a line integral with and projecting outwardly from said portion and unadjustable in spacing, at least twoadjacent ones of said shelf members being spaced apart a distance to snugly receive and hold a folded wash cloth, at least two other adjacent ones of said shelf members being spaced apart a distance greater than that of said first-named adjacent shelf members and to snugly receive and hold a folded hand towel of substantially larger size and bulk than said wash cloth, and at least two other adjacent ones of said shelf members being spaced apart a distance greater than that of said last-named adjacent shelf members and to snugly receive and hold a folded bath towel of substantially larger size and bulkthan said hand towel.

6. Means to hold and store clotharticles used to. wash and/or dry the body, comprising, a portion disposable in.

an upright position on a vertical surface, and more than two shelf members rigidly attached to said'upright disposable portion and projecting outwardly therefrom, said shelf members being unadjustably spaced and substantially parallel, two adjacent ones of said shelf members being spaced apart a distance to snugly receive and hold a relatively small one of said cloth articles in folded condition and spaced apart a distance greater than two other adjacent ones of said shelf members, and said last-named adjacent shelf members being spaced apart a distance to snugly receive and hold folded a relatively large one of said cloth articles.

7. The means of claim 6 wherein said shelf members are relatively large ring-shaped shelf members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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