US3721395A - Towel rack for vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

A RACK FOR DETACHABLY HOLDING A ROLL OF PAPER TOWELS AND ADAPTED TO BE DETACHABLY SECURED TO THE INTERIOR OF A VEHICLE, THE RACK BEING PROVIDED WITH ROLL SHIELDING MEANS HAVING HINGED FRONT AND REAR ACCESS DOORS THROUGH WHICH TOWELS CAN BE REMOVED INDIVIDUALLY.

Description

March 20, 1973 R. SNIPES TOWEL RACK FOR VEHICLES Filed June 30, 1971 INVENTOR: [QM-U5 S/V/PE 5.

M E" IV 2W,

ATTOR Y:

United States Patent Office 3,721,395 TOWEL RACK FOR VEHICLES Rufus Snipes, 318 W. Pine St., Arcadia, Fla. 33821 Filed June 30, 1971, Ser. No. 155,676 Int. Cl. B6511 19/00 U.S. Cl. 242-55.53 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rack for detachably holding a roll of paper towels and adapted to be detachably secured to the interior of a vehicle, the rack being provided with roll shielding means having hinged front and rear access doors through which towels can be removed individually.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION My invention is directed toward a towel rack adapted to be detachably secured in the interior of a vehicle and to detachably support a roll of paper towels. The rack is provided With a hollow cylinder serving as a roll shielding means with front and rear cylindrical sections hinged together with opposite exposed edges. Each section can be opened or closed separately. When a roll of paper towels is disposed in the means, by opening either section, which thus serves as an access door, towels can be removed individually. Additional means supporting the cylinder can be detachably secured to a seat, dashboard, or other interior location in the vehicle by screws, clips or other structures. The towels thus made available can be used by the driver, passengers or others to clean the vehicle interior, to mop up spilled food or the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one modification of the structure shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another modification of the structure shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, a hollow cylinder extends horizontally. Opposite ends 12 of the cylinder are closed and have stubs 14 extending axially inward whereby a roll 40 of paper towels can be supported in the cylinder by the stu'bs in such manner as to be manually rotatable about its axis as well as that of the cylinder. The cylinder has front and rear cylindrical sections 16 and 18 which serve as access doors, being hinged together at 20 and 3,7ZL395 Patented Mar. 20, 1973 being opened and closed by pivoting upward about the hinge in opposite directions. With either section open, one or more towels can be torn 01f the roll for use as previously described.

A plate 22 curved to define a hollow cylindrical section can be secured to cylinder 10 and can itself support clips 24. These clips can detachably engage the top of a seat 26 of a vehicle.

Alternatively, a vertical rod 28 can be secured at its bottom end to the floor of the vehicle and can have a seat engaging loop 30 at its top end. The cylinder can be secured at its mid point to the rod.

In addition, the rod and clips can be replaced by a structure having a fiat horizontal plate 32 detachably secured by screws to a dashboard and two parallel oppositely disposed vertical brackets 34 securable by screws 36 or other means to opposite ends of cylinder 10 to support the roll in the manner previously described.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to the drawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual scope.

Having thus described this invention, what is asserted as new is:

1. A rack for detachably holding a roll of paper towels in the interior of a vehicle comprising:

a hollow cylinder having front and rear cylindrical sections serving as access doors and pivotable in opposite directions about a common axially extending hinge;

first and second discs sealing opposite ends of the cylinder, each disc having an inwardly pointing axially aligned stub, said roll being supported at its ends by said stubs and being manually rotatable about the axis of the cylinder; and

means secured to said cylinder to detachably engage said vehicle interior.

2. A rack as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means includes seat engaging clips.

3. A rack as set forth in claim 2 wherein said means includes a dashboard engaging plate.

4. A rack as set forth in claim 3 wherein said means includes a vertical rod secured at its bottom end to the floor of the vehicle and having a seat engaging loop.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,704,614 3/ 1929 Johnston 242-55 .5 3 2,742,241 4/1956 Miller 24255.53 2,948,574 8/1960 Brown 31239 LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner U .5. Cl. X.R. 242-134

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