- Mar 10, 2004
- 5,113
I have a patent submission pending on a product I have cooked up over the past 2 years. Most of that time was pondering it, but been working on prototypes for almost a year. What is it? Since you guys are boaters you have probably used marine toilets. They are generally shallow bowls. Often tight quarters. I lived on a boat in the summers for 4 years, and have spent lots of time on them otherwise. Now I have a big diesel pusher RV and deal with similar toilets in it.
When peeing in these shallow toilets it is common for pee to splash back out from hitting the bowl or even water in the bowl, and also common for pee to splatter off the rim when drops hit it. If you've ever pee'd in bare feet or flipflops you'll know the feeling. While it is most pronounced on shallow bowl toilets, it is very common in household and commercial toilets. We've all seen those puddles of pee in front of a public toilet.
This has driven me crazy for years and I have wondered why there is no innovation to stop this in toilets. Companies have created pee mats that sit on the floor to absorb the pee that makes it out, but nothing to stop it in the first place. So I created the Tinkle Topper.
It is basically a device that goes between the existing toilet seat and rim of the bowl. At first glance it seems convoluted, but it really isn't, and once you use one you'll not want to pee in a toilet without one. It basically has a fin structure that can absorb an errant blasts or drops of pee, they get absorbed and directed back into the bowl. It also overhangs the inside of the bowl just about the same amount as the seat does, so it catches almost anything that would try to splash back out of the toilet. If you have the seat down and are sitting on the toilet you would not even know it is there. It will not get in the way of any sitting operations.
It really works well. I have lots of them in use from light duty to commercial. The floor around the toilet stays practically 100% dry. No drops, no puddles, no mess. The toilet itself stays nearly 100% clean. No pee on the rim, or running down the side of the bowl. Most importantly, no pee on the person peeing. Even my biggest naysayers have come full circle and think they are awesome.
I have 2 boys, and my RV at the end of the weekend would be a disaster in the bathroom. But now it is literally darn near as clean at the end of the weekend as it was when we started.
The Tinkle Topper will have a replaceable "fin" layer made of a scented pliable material similar to what urinal screens are made out of. I am thinking we'd sell a 5-pack of these for $25 and would last a year. The base is made out of antimicrobial plastic. I think we'd sell it for $30.
I am so pumped about these things. But do realize it is trying to solve a problem that many people probably don't even acknowledge. Some people ask me where I have been their whole life when they see it the first time, and some say it is the dumbest thing ever. The ones that don't like it, that I have made use it have truly come around to liking it. So figuring out how best to present or sell this is going to be my biggest challenge.
I have an engineering company right now redesigning it to make it suitable for injection molding. I am putting this info out here for you all for a couple of reasons. First, because every time I present it to a bigger group I learn more about people's initial reactions to it which will ultimately help me to craft a better sales presentation when the time comes. And second because I don't know diddly squat about manufacturing and launching a product that could potentially have 100's of million in revenue in shot order. I figured there might be some people here that may have some experience with that, or know somebody that might want to know about this. I'll figure things out eventually on my own, but am open to any sort of strategic partners that can get this thing going faster than I could.
Here are some images of it.
When peeing in these shallow toilets it is common for pee to splash back out from hitting the bowl or even water in the bowl, and also common for pee to splatter off the rim when drops hit it. If you've ever pee'd in bare feet or flipflops you'll know the feeling. While it is most pronounced on shallow bowl toilets, it is very common in household and commercial toilets. We've all seen those puddles of pee in front of a public toilet.
This has driven me crazy for years and I have wondered why there is no innovation to stop this in toilets. Companies have created pee mats that sit on the floor to absorb the pee that makes it out, but nothing to stop it in the first place. So I created the Tinkle Topper.
It is basically a device that goes between the existing toilet seat and rim of the bowl. At first glance it seems convoluted, but it really isn't, and once you use one you'll not want to pee in a toilet without one. It basically has a fin structure that can absorb an errant blasts or drops of pee, they get absorbed and directed back into the bowl. It also overhangs the inside of the bowl just about the same amount as the seat does, so it catches almost anything that would try to splash back out of the toilet. If you have the seat down and are sitting on the toilet you would not even know it is there. It will not get in the way of any sitting operations.
It really works well. I have lots of them in use from light duty to commercial. The floor around the toilet stays practically 100% dry. No drops, no puddles, no mess. The toilet itself stays nearly 100% clean. No pee on the rim, or running down the side of the bowl. Most importantly, no pee on the person peeing. Even my biggest naysayers have come full circle and think they are awesome.
I have 2 boys, and my RV at the end of the weekend would be a disaster in the bathroom. But now it is literally darn near as clean at the end of the weekend as it was when we started.
The Tinkle Topper will have a replaceable "fin" layer made of a scented pliable material similar to what urinal screens are made out of. I am thinking we'd sell a 5-pack of these for $25 and would last a year. The base is made out of antimicrobial plastic. I think we'd sell it for $30.
I am so pumped about these things. But do realize it is trying to solve a problem that many people probably don't even acknowledge. Some people ask me where I have been their whole life when they see it the first time, and some say it is the dumbest thing ever. The ones that don't like it, that I have made use it have truly come around to liking it. So figuring out how best to present or sell this is going to be my biggest challenge.
I have an engineering company right now redesigning it to make it suitable for injection molding. I am putting this info out here for you all for a couple of reasons. First, because every time I present it to a bigger group I learn more about people's initial reactions to it which will ultimately help me to craft a better sales presentation when the time comes. And second because I don't know diddly squat about manufacturing and launching a product that could potentially have 100's of million in revenue in shot order. I figured there might be some people here that may have some experience with that, or know somebody that might want to know about this. I'll figure things out eventually on my own, but am open to any sort of strategic partners that can get this thing going faster than I could.
Here are some images of it.