Patent Grant
12127720
U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/492,236 filed Mar. 26, 2023
Non-Applicable
The present application claims priority to the previously filed provisional application No. 63/492,236 filed Mar. 26, 2023.
The present invention relates to a protective enclosure for a bar of soap, generally. The shape of the enclosure may be altered to accommodate the shape of the bar of soap. Specifically, the protective enclosure is a soap case that is designed to securedly and releasable fix a bar of soap to a base, itself exhibiting receiving securing mechanisms, a centralized ventilation port and drain (or drains), and an occlusive cover, wherein, once the soap is fixed to the securing mechanisms, through the application of force, and subsequent to first use, the soap and base of the protective enclosure form an adhesive seal facilitated by said securing mechanisms and drain or drains. The occlusive cover and base are reversibly adherable to one another through magnetic attraction, mechanical means or a combination thereof.
Historically, bars of soap, when not in use, garner very little attention. These bars of soap are, more often than not, left to their own devices and maintained and stored completely outside of any receiving tray. And while soap relies on water for its primary functionality and lathering action, an excess of water in this unprotected state leaves the soap subject to expedited deterioration due to sustained contact between accumulated water and the sides and, untoward, to the underside of a bar of soap.
In this instance, the bar of soap itself suffers from one of a number of deleterious effects from water wherein placing the bar of soap on a shower ledge or on a sink's edge allows the soap to maintain contact with the water accumulated during use as well as environmental water from the surrounding area. The soap thereby remains damp, due to this contact, and is made to exhibit a semi-solid and gelatinous state, especially on inferior portions, that remains moist during the time of non-use.
Alternatively, consumers may employ a receptacle and support surface as a means of not only securedly maintaining a bar of soap in a discrete area but also potentially allowing for air circulation due to elevation and drainage.
In this second instance, the effects of continuous contact with water may be mitigated by placing a bar of soap in a dish or like receptacle for ensuring that the bar of soap remains stationary while equally supplying a throughway for water drainage. To facilitate this air flow, “ribs” “pillars” or other elevating portions may be introduced into the soap dish to expose the underside of a bar of soap to ambient air as to allow for drying and re-solidification between uses. However, drainage may be insufficient and even elevated platforms may retain residual water wherein this retention of water may nevertheless allow residual water to reach the underside of the bar of soap, through inadequate drainage, excess water retention, or a combination thereof, and the receiving receptacle may nonetheless add to and aid water retention and leave too little space for soap drying and all resulting in obfuscation of the receptacles primary purpose-drying.
What is more, while dishes or receptacles may transitorily function properly, allowing for water drainage and soap drying, inadequacies remain in terms of expedited and additional soap disintegration due to manual manipulation during washing, hastened dissolution due to contact with the dish surface as well as an inability to transport soap once it is placed within a receiving receptacle.
While strides have been made to overcome the inadequacies of extending the useful life of bar soap, it remains evident that considerable failings remain in the field and functionality across the industry is amenable to great improvement. It is in light of the above shortcomings, inventor seeks to remediate the deficiencies of previous failed attempts to address the long felt need for extending soap integrity and method of provision thereof, that adequately serves the need of a US market alone in 2022 of over a 200 million units and a global market size of almost 30 billion.
While inventor has set forth the best mode or modes contemplated of carrying out the present invention known to the inventor, such as to enable a person skilled in the art to make and practice the present invention, the preferred embodiments are, however, not intended to be limiting, but, are, on the contrary, included in a non-limiting sense apt to amendments, alterations, alternatives and modifications, based primarily on soap sizes and consistencies, in light of specification and appended claims forming the current disclosure.
A protective enclosure for a bar of soap is provided herein which is comprised of a largely flat base and a recessed top lid or a top enclosure. The protective enclosure is designed to secure the bar of soap to the base of the protective enclosure, which further attaches to the lid of the protective enclosure, to maintain the bar of soap in a fixed position during transportation or storage, and to prevent contact by the bar of soap with surfaces where the protective enclosure may be stored during transportation or storage, including, but not limited to, bags, suitcases, countertops, shelves, shower stalls, bathtubs, tables, and other surface areas.
The base and lid of the protective enclosure may have a plurality of surfaces and one or more walls where the protective enclosure may be transitionally occlusive (i.e., capable of opening and closing) and serves to both fix a bar of soap and to protect the soap from dislodging during transport. What is more, the protective enclosure itself may be in the form of one or more geometric or ornamental shapes, including, but not limited to, a square, rectangle, cube, circle, cylinder, pentagon, hexagon, other geometric shapes, or other ornamental shapes.
In one embodiment of the present invention that is a protective enclosure, the protective enclosure may be in the form of an aesthetic or ornamental shape that is pleasing to a child, including, but not limited to, an animal, vehicle, toy, or other shape. The top enclosure and base may be of the same color or different colors, including materials that are opaque, translucent, multicolored, and/or fluorescent colors. The top enclosure, the base or both may have images or artwork. The base and lid of the protective enclosure may further include a plurality of through-openings, drains or slots which may be placed and dimensioned on top, bottom and/or sides to allow flow of air for ventilation purposes, as well as draining and/or evaporation of excess moisture from the bar of soap, the protective enclosure or a combination thereof.
The base of the protective enclosure may include one or more securing mechanisms to secure the bar of soap to the base, including, but not limited to tabs, spikes, teeth, pegs, barbs, points, or other protrusions, located along the superior surface of the base. The securing mechanisms are placed and dimensioned to attach to or penetrate the bar of soap when the bar of soap is pressed to the base to secure the bar of soap to the base, and to support the bar of soap to prevent contact by the bar of soap with other surfaces where the protective enclosure may be stored during transportation or storage, including, but not limited to, bags, suitcases, countertops, shelves, shower stalls, bathtubs, tables, and other surface areas. In one embodiment of the base of the protective enclosure, the base of the protective enclosure may include one or more cross-shaped protrusions placed and dimensioned in one or more geometric shapes or orientations which are designed to penetrate the bar of soap to secure the bar of soap to the base.
The bar of soap to be secured to the base of the protective enclosure and enclosed by the joining of the base and the top enclosure may be in the form of one or more geometric or ornamental shapes, including, but not limited to, a square, circular, oblong, rectangle, cube, circle, cylinder, pentagon, hexagon, other geometric shapes, or other ornamental shapes. In one embodiment of the bar of soap to be secured to the base of the protective enclosure, the bar of soap may be in the shape of a rectangular prism.
The base and lid (top enclosure) of the protective enclosure may also include one or more closure mechanisms to secure the base and lid together, including, but not limited to, magnets, magnet and reciprocal metal, interlocking mechanism, notches, tabs, pins, clips, beveled sides, tongue and groove joints or a combination thereof, attached to or inserted in the base and lid to enclose the bar of soap and prevent contact by the bar of soap with other surfaces. The protective enclosure may be stored during transportation or storage, including, but not limited to, in bags, in suitcases, on countertops, on shelves, in shower stalls, in bathtubs, on tables, and on other surface areas. In one embodiment of the protective enclosure, the base and lid of the protective enclosure may include one or more magnets inserted into each which can be connected to secure the base and lid together.
Additionally, the base may exhibit, about its perimeter, one to a plurality of magnets, evenly or unevenly distributed about the base and lids perimeters, corresponding with reciprocal metal in the lid of the protective enclosure as to provide precise mating of the base and top enclosure of the protective enclosure and secure closure of the protective enclosure. It is to be understood that the opposite may be true wherein the magnetically charged elements may reside in the top enclosure and the reciprocal metallic surfaces may be in the base of the protective enclosure. Moreover, magnetically charged elements and metallic surfaces may alternate (e.g., magnetic surfaces alternating with metallic surfaces about the base with reciprocal, but opposite, configurations in the lid).
The protective enclosure may be fabricated from a pliable material such as flexible plastic, rubber, or silicone or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the protective enclosure may be fabricated from a substantially rigid material such as a hard plastic, wood, ceramic, composite, or metal alloy, recyclable materials, injectable materials, or a combination thereof. It is further contemplated that the materials for construction of the protective enclosure may be a combination of the aforementioned materials, both plastic and rigid, wherein a ratio of plasticity to rigidity may be achieved through a combination of materials as conditions, durability, longevity and utility may dictate. Too, the construction of the protective enclosure may be achieved through additive manufacturing.
A method of use and enclosing with and securing a bar of soap into a protective enclosure while maintaining the soap in a fixed position to prevent contact with other surfaces as well as maintaining the integrity of the soap during periods of non-use and during transportation or storage is also provided herein. A method of placing and maintaining a bar of soap in the protective enclosure as contemplated by inventor comprises the steps of:
Yet another method of use is contemplated, in connection with the above method, by inventor after initial use comprising the steps of:
So that the manner in which the present invention can be better understood, certain illustrations, charts and/or flow charts are appended hereto. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only selected embodiments of the inventions and are therefore not to be considered limiting of scope, for the inventions can admit to other equally effective embodiments and applications.
Moreover, advantages and other aspects of the invention will be readily appreciated by those persons having skill in the art and may be better understood with further reference to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate like or similar elements throughout the several figures of the drawings and wherein:
However, it should be understood that the above described figures are not intended to be limited to only the invention illustrated and to the particular embodiments disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is intended to disclose all modifications, alternatives and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined within the claim's broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification. To wit, variations in height, length, width made be accomplished as to accommodate variances in sizes and shapes of bars of soap, conditioner and/or shaving bars as may be necessary or required.
A detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention is disclosed and described below. Yet, each and every possible feature, within the limits of the specification, are not disclosed as various iterations are postulated to be in the purview and contemplation of those having skill in the art. It is therefore possible for those that have requisite skill in the art to make and practice the disclosed invention while observing that certain features and spatial arrangements are relative and capable of being scaled, adapted, arranged at various points about the present invention (by inventor, manufacturer or both) that nonetheless accomplishes the remediation of one or more of the infirmities as outlined and discussed above in the field of bar soap storage, encasement, securement, transport, design and use. As well, individual components of the present invention may be sized (i.e. enlarged or shrunken) so long as the proportions are maintained that allow for maintaining of esthetic appearance and proper functioning of the present invention that may be sized and shaped according to the size and shape of the inserted bar soap.
Equally, it should be observed that the present invention can be understood, in terms of structure, function, or both, from the present disclosure as well as those appended claims taken in context with the associated drawings. And whereas the present invention and method of use are capable of several different embodiments and permutations, which can be modified into several different configurations, each exhibiting accompanying interchangeable functionalities, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present application as shown and described.
As detailed in
As depicted in
Moreover, it is contemplated by inventor to incorporate one or more closure mechanisms (described also above), which may be utilized together with or in lieu of magnetically charged structures, as to provide facilitated closure and securement. These mechanisms may consist of one or more interlocking, lipped, tongue and groove and/or beveled surfaces.
As is shown in
In
Yet, use of pairs of magnetically charged structures/metallic structures 60, which are cylindrical and are presented in duplicate, creates two advantages when compared with square or rectangular magnetically charged structures: (1) the cylindrical shape ensures equal and uniform “holding” pressure about the structures outer surface, thereby enhancing static grip, and (2) the dual structures provide a two-fold increase in adherence forces. What is more, magnetic structures/metallic structures 60 appearing in mated pairs distributes adhesive forces over a larger area and allows for functionality even where one of the pairs may be occluded by accumulation of soap.
Although only a select few example embodiments have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the example embodiments without materially departing from this disclosure of the invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the appended claims.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20240315494 A1 | Sep 2024 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63492236 | Mar 2023 | US |
