In washrooms used by the public the matter of hygiene is of great importance. Often when touching surfaces people with unwashed hands leave germs and deterious which can be transmitted to the next user. A device where this is especially important is a door which connects to washrooms, toilets or food handling areas.

Therefore it is important that such doors remain hygienic. In the past people have often cleaned such surfaces irregularly with powerful disinfectant.

Unfortunately during the course of the day the hygienic condition of such a plate deteriorates considerably. It has been previously proposed to have sleeves or other such devices to cover the plate and which exude a disinfectant from the plastic. This has the disadvantage that over time the plastic becomes less disinfecting and furthermore is not of a pleasant appearance. Also, such coatings can easily be removed or scored by a sharp object such rings, nails or the like.

It is the aim of the present invention to provide a push plate which addresses the problems described above.

Accordingly the present invention is directed to a push plate which comprises a front part and a rear part in which the front part has one or more openings, one or more rotateable. members which are held respectively in each such opening between the front part and the rear part, and disinfectant exuding means retained between the front part and the rear part touching the rotatable member (s). This provides the advantage that when somebody pushes the front of the push plate they touch a rotatable member which rotates, picking up disinfectant such as a halogenated tertiary amine from the disinfectant exuding means thus cleaning the surface of the rotateable member. This ensures that the surface of the push plate is kept hygienic throughout the day.

Furthermore the disinfectant exuding means can be replaced and is hidden from the user such that it does not become contaminated and unsightly.

In a preferred embodiment the rotating members are ball bearings. Alternatively the rotating elements are rods. This provides the advantage that ball bearings are spherical rotate easily in all directions and are readily available.

Advantageously the disinfectant exuding means is an absorbent pad which absorbs disinfectant. Preferably the absorbent pad is high density polyurethane foam. This provides the advantage that there is some give in the disinfectant exuding means resulting such that when the rotating member is pushed during the action of the plate the ball or rod squeezes the absorbant material, releasing fluid onto the surface of the rotating member.

This provides the further advantage that such a pad may be simply recharged by spreading more disinfectant on it or replacing it.

Preferably the disinfectant exuding means is mounted on a removable part. This provides the advantage that the disinfectant exuding means can be readily removed and recharged.

In a preferred embodiment the front plate and the ball bearings are made from steel or aluminium. This provides the advantage that both are relatively hard wearing and have a nice finished appearance.

Examples of a push plate made in accordance with. the present invention will now be described here below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a side perspective view of one embodiment of such a push plate, Figure 2 shows a cross sectional view through a push plate similar to that shown in Figure 1, and Figure 3 shows a side perspective view of a second embodiment of such a push plate.

Figure 1 shows a push plate 10 which is designed to fit onto the doors of a lavatory cubicle or the entry or exit from any room. The push plate 10 comprises a front part 12 which is held to a rear part (not shown) by screws 14. The front part 12 retains numerous ball bearings 16 which are arranged in a grid pattern. At the bottom edge of the push plate 10 there is a protruding plate 16 which can bare trade marks or other such information of the supplier of the plate. The plate 16 is also integral with an inwardly extending part (not shown) and is removable from the front part 12 in a downwards direction.

Figure 2 shows a cross section through a plate 10.

The front part 12 protrudes from the rear part 20. The balls 16 are held between the front plate and the rear plate 20. The balls 16 are rotatably held in openings 22 in the front plate 12. The rear portion of the balls 16 touch a pad 24 of absorbent material which is held inside the space 26 between the front part 12 and the rear part 20. Though not shown in this figure the pad 24 may in fact be mounted on a stiff plate that is attached to the protruding plate 16 shown in Figure 1.

When in use the user touches the front part 12 of the push plate 10 coming into contact with balls 16. As the balls 16 are rotatably retained by the front plate 12. The pressure on these balls results in them touching the pad 24 inside the plate 16 thus squeezing some disinfecting fluid out of the pad 24 which then coats the rear portion of the ball 16. The hand moves along the balls 10 thus rotating them. Therefore every time the plate is used the balls 16 touch the pad 24 and are rotated and constantly coated with disinfectant thus ensuring that the balls 16 remain disinfected and the plate 10 hygienic.

Figure 2 shows an anlagous plate 10, in which the front part 12 has a number of elongate slots 30 in it.

In the elongate slots 30 rollers 32 are rotatably retained. The roller 32 rotates picking up disinfectant from the pad 24 in the rear of the plate 10. Otherwise the construction and function is as described above.