Weird and Wacky Engineering
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Bellhop
David Ashton
Good advice. Forewarned is forearmed...
What were they thinking: relief for inebriated guys?
Brian Bailey
9/28/2012 10:12 AM EDT
OK, guys. How many of you remember being drunk? And yes, I am being sexist because this invention is only for guys. When you gals get drunk you will have to resort to worshiping the porcelain goddess and while guys have this option as well, this is not the option of choice. When a guy needs to relieve himself, or puke, or heaven forbid take a shower, they generally prefer to do it standing up. But that can be difficult. Having to think about remaining vertical, while performing another action is beyond reasonable. But what if remaining vertical were made a little easier? Well that is where US patent 6,681,419 comes in.
What this patent describes is:
A forehead support apparatus for resting a standing users forehead against a wall above a bathroom commode or urinal or beneath a showerhead. The apparatus includes a mounting member adapted for attachment to an upright bathroom wall either above the commode or urinal or below the showerhead. A compressible head support member is attached to and extends from the wall and said mounting member. The head support defines an elastically deformable or resilient forehead support surface which is spaced above the floor and from the wall a distance sufficient for the user to lean his forehead thereagainst and be supported while using the commode or urinal.
Note that the grammatical error in the first sentence could suggest that the same support be used for more than one person, but I am not sure I want to consider the consequences of that error being implemented.
I do love claim 3. The lead up to just specifies the head support but claim 3 adds:
said forehead support surface is concaved when viewed from above providing enhanced lateral stability and greater forehead contact area for comfort.
And then claim 4:
a rolled paper dispenser device attached to the wall immediately adjacent to said forehead support for dispensing and holding a fresh sheet segment of disposable paper against said forehead support surface by the user.
Do you really think a drunken person is going to cover the headrest because they are concerned that someone else’s forehead has been there before them?Brian Bailey – keeping you covered
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EREBUS
9/28/2012 3:40 PM EDT
I got drunk once, in 1972. Horrid experience that I have not see worthy of repeating in all of these years.
If they modified the device and put a taser electrode into the head rest, then I would help install these everywhere.
Anyone that gets that drunk needs to be shocked out of a very bad lifestyle.
Just my opinion.
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BrianBailey
9/28/2012 3:54 PM EDT
Maybe there is room for a derivative patent here. This patent encourages the behavior whereas yours would discourage it.
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David Ashton
9/28/2012 8:36 PM EDT
I got VERY drunk once about the same time as you, Erebus, and like you have not repeated that experience.
However I have got "comfortably numb" a few times since then, but even when not in that state, my height makes a bit of vertical stabilisation desirable when emptying the bladder.
And for that reason I must take issue with this design. The stabiliser looks to be firmly attached to the wall by lugs 20 in Fig 1 above. I'd suggest that having the stabiliser mounted on a rail so that it can be moved up or down to suit the user's precise forehead dispacement from the floor would render this device applicable to a far greater segment of the male population.
Excuse me now. I'm off to the patent office....
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seaEE
9/28/2012 9:41 PM EDT
Item 8 should also be auto adjustable. It would probably save the janitor a lot of work.
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Battar
9/29/2012 3:40 PM EDT
The inventor assumes that the user requires vertical support, yet is capable of conveying his own laterally unstable body to the device in the first place. A brief trip to the watering holes late on a Saturday night will convince the inventor that this is rarely the case.
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Joe.Sleator
9/30/2012 1:32 AM EDT
I use a "forehead support apparatus" nearly every time, cold-sober or otherwise. That apparatus is my free forearm, which would otherwise be unused in this configuration.
And for those worried about getting a dirty forearm from the wall, aforementioned forearm is then be held down over the exposed bits of trousers when completing the operation, thus preventing unsightly splashes on one's clothes.
And finally, the very useful forearm gets rewarded by being washed off with the hands at the end!
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David Ashton
9/30/2012 4:25 AM EDT
Good advice. Forewarned is forearmed...
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Bellhop
10/3/2012 4:27 PM EDT
Bill Cosby said it best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNRzq-DcDzg
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