The Geon Company

M Timothy Chernock

Martin Warchola

Martin E Woods

Susan K Adams

A shaped rigid thermoplastic cradle and leveler for vessels such as sanitaryware is disclosed. The cradle and leveler are separately formed or integrally shaped from a single thermoformed sheet of rigid thermoplastic material. The rigid thermoplastic material has a flexural modulus of at least about 300,000 psi to provide sufficient rigidity in the sidewall of the cradle. The leveler includes an integral floor leveling means for providing a designed pitch so as to conform to the desired pitch of the floor region of the vessel toward the drain hole. The floor region comprises a plurality of tapering, alternating upper and lower contacting regions. Between each adjacent upper contacting region is defined unsupported span regions having the shortest distance between adjacent upper contact regions of not more than 12 inches (30.5 cm). Preferably the shortest distance between adjacent upper contact regions defining the unsupported span is from 2.5 inches to about 6 inches. A variety of rigid thermoplastic materials are adaptable herewith and include acrylonitrile-butadiene- styrene copolymers, styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, acrylonitrile-styrene-methacrylate copolymers, polystyrene, styrene-alpha methyl styrene copolymers, polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, and polyvinyl chloride. The most preferred embodiment comprises rigid fiber reinforced polyvinyl chloride.

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Avon Lake, OH, United States of America

M Timothy Chernock