Patent Grant
7459418
This application relates to soap in bar form, and more particularly to an improved single use soap bar having a structural core which is coated with a soap layer that after use can be stripped and replenished with a fresh soap layer for reuse. This application also provides a method for stripping the existing soap layer and replenishing the structural core with a fresh soap layer.
The need for conventional bar soap is common in today's hospitality industry. Most hotels provide each guest room with one or more bars of soap, including hand and bath soaps. Guests tend to stay for short periods of time and do not use the entire bar of provided soap during their stay. Conventionally new bars of soap are placed in the guest rooms each day and the used bars of soap are disposed of. As a result, much of the soap supplied in the hotel rooms is wasted adding to the cost of operating the hotel. To reduce this soap bar waste, the hospitality industry has made hotel soap bars smaller in dimension. However, the smaller bar does not completely eliminate waste many people prefer the larger dimensioned soap bar for ease of use.
Several U.S. patents describe soap bars with structural cores to reduce wastage. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,506 issued to Dulin (1993) describes a soap bar having a soap-impregnated sponge core. The sponge core of the '506 patent is preferably open celled and impregnated with soap and is exposed as the outer layers of the original soap bar are worn from use. Once the soap is washed away from the original soap bar and the sponge, the user is left with a usable sponge. In the '506 patent waste is reduced by the soap layers leading directly to and within a sponge and as the soap layers are worn away the sponge supports the sliver of remaining soap so that it can continue to be used and thus eliminates wasting the sliver of soap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,010 issued to Lindauer et al. (1984) discloses a bar of soap with a perfumed plastic core” in contact with the soap substance and method for making the same. Similar to the '506 patent, the perfumed core of the '010 patent is exposed as the outer layers of the original soap bar are worn from use and waste is reduced by the soap layers leading directly to the perfumed core.
However, in the embodiments described in the patents, the core is disposed of as waste along with the unused soap, thereby actually increasing the cost of utilizing cored bar soap. The foregoing patents are not concerned with reusing the structural core with a fresh layer of soap. Rather, they are targeted at reducing soap waste as the bar is worn down to a sliver from repeated use. Currently there are no known soap bars comprising a soap layered structural core, which can be repeatedly recharged for use. More recently it has become common practice to provide the guest with liquid or gelled body soap in a container that can be hygienically used by different individuals. However, liquid soaps can be cost prohibitive and many users prefer solid bars of soap to the liquid body wash.
For the hospitality industry, soap bars are replaced daily or at least with each new guest. Normally the soap bars are only minimally used and a substantial amount of useable soap is wasted.
It is therefore a paramount object of the present invention to provide a soap bar designed for minimal use.
It is another object of the invention to provide a minimal use soap bar having a structural core which is coated with soap and can be repeatedly cleaned and replenished with a fresh soap layer for hygienic reuse.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a hygienic soap bar, having minimized capacity for contamination with harmful germs and that can be used by different individuals without wasting soap.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon a review of the following description.
The present invention is an improved bar of soap designed for minimal use and to a method of making the same. The hygienically reusable soap bar of the present invention comprises a structural core, over one or more surfaces of which is deposited a layer of soap. The used soap bar is collected on a regular basis for stripping of the coating of soap recoating with a fresh coat of soap for reuse so that the user is using a fresh bar of soap. Specifically, this includes a soap bar having a reusable structural core over which lies a soap layer that is replenished to provide the fresh bar of soap that can be hygienically used by another person without the wastage of soap that occurs when the soap is changed on a daily or frequent interval. This invention provides a meaningful solution to the issue of soap waste. The soap bar and structural core can be in any geometric configuration.
The method of the present invention is disclosed for recharging the reusable core that includes the steps of placing a reusable structural core inside a pool of liquefied soap composition into the cavity and hardening the soap composition to form a soap layer around the structural core.
A more thorough understanding of the operation and advantages of the present invention can be had by referring to the following detailed description which refers to the following figures:
As used herein the terms “replenishable”, “rechargeable” and “recharging” are used synominously to mean the application of or the ability to apply a fresh layer of soap over one or more surfaces of substrate. The term “core” or “reusable core” refers to the substrate over which a layer of soap is applied. The term “minimal use” refers to a bar of soap designed for short term use, such as one or two days, as would be the case in a hotel or the like where the soap in guest rooms is replaced for each new guest, normally on a daily basis.
The present invention is an improved minimal use bar of soap and method of making the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a reusable soap bar having a structural core with a rechargeable soap layer. As will become clearer in the description that follows, the reusable and rechargeable soap bar of the present invention provides a meaningful solution to the issue of soap waste.
Referring now to
The soap bar core 12 may be any material inert with respect to soap and water and which is capable of withstanding the temperatures and pressures applied during the stripping and replenishing process. For example, a polymeric material such as polyethylene, polyvinyl, polyurethane, polyolefin, and combinations thereof, can be used with good results. It is preferred that the core 12 comprise 25% to 90% of the volume of the finished soap bar 10. In one embodiment, the surface 16 of the core 12 can be roughened or otherwise textured to aid in adherence of the soap layer 14 on the core 12. The core 12 must be able to maintain its stable form despite the temperature of the liquid soap used in making the soap layer 14.
The soap layer 14 surrounding the core 12 can be any soap composition which is in a solid phase at room temperature, including but not limited to, hand soap, bath soap, transparent and nontransparent soap, glycerin soap and perfumed soap. It is conceived that the soap layer 14 be designed for minimal use before replenishment of the core 12 with a fresh layer of soap. This may include only a single use of the soap bar 10 or may include several uses before replenishment, depending on the thickness of the soap layer 14 over the core 12. After the soap bar 10 has been used, the soap layer 14 is removed from the core 12 by a stripping process prior to recoating the core 12 with a fresh layer of soap. The stripping process entails wetting the bar 10 with a fluid, such as water, having a temperature and/or pressure sufficient to melt or solubilize the soap layer 14 resulting in a clean and exposed core 12. For example, the stripping process can be a carried out by apparatus in which the used soap bars 10 are contacted by jets of hot water to liquify and wash away the soap layer 14 from the core 12. A water temperature of between about 115° F. and 140° F. is suitable for stripping the used soap layer 14 from the core 12. Other fluids that could be used in the stripping process include hot air or any organic liquid having a temperature and/or pressure sufficient to melt or solubilize the soap layer 14. Although other fluids can be used in the stripping process, for the purposes of discussion, the description will focus on the use of hot water.
Apparatus for coating and stripping of the core 12 is illustrated by
In the embodiment shown in
Stripping and recharging a core 114, i.e. reapplying a fresh soap layer as described hereinafter proceeds through several cycles for used soap bars 110. However, it will be understood that in the case of applying a layer of soap over the core for the first time that the stripping cycle can be eliminated. The process described hereinafter is directed towards the stripping and replenishing a number of bars of soap simultaneously. However, it will be understood that the process will apply to the stripping and replenishment of bars of soap individually as well.
Referring to
The first cycle is the “rinse” cycle, which strips residue of the soap layer 116 by a wash of hot water. When the first cycle is engaged, the plate 132 of the double plate 128 of the bottom of the mold is in an open position so that the openings 134 of the plate 130 are open for draining the mold. While the hot water strips the soap layer 116, drainage is directed through the openings 134 of the double plate 128 and washed out of the apparatus.
The second cycle is the soap layer application cycle. At the initiation of the second cycle, the double tray 128 is put into a closed position by positioning the plate 132 in relation to the drain plate 130 to close its openings 134. A soap composition, in a liquid phase, is introduced into the individual molds 12, such as from an overhead spray system (not shown). The overhead spray system can comprise a manifold or a series of tubes with appropriate spray nozzles directed to each mold 112. The soap composition is sprayed until the structural core 114 is fully covered within the mold or, as mentioned above, spraying may be carried out in several steps.
The third cycle is the cooling cycle. Cooling can be accomplished in the apparatus by simply allowing the soap layer to harden in the mold. The cycle can be accelerated, however, by the introduction a stream of cool air or by removing the large tray 144 containing the molds to an external chiller or by allowing the tray to sit at room temperature. The cooling process is complete when the soap layer 116 surrounding the structural core 114 is in a solid phase.
Although not critical to the process, a drying cycle can be inserted between the first and second cycles. During the drying cycle, the double plates 128 are in an open position and any further drainage is directed through the drains of the double plate 128 and out of the apparatus.
The soap layer surrounding the core can be any soap composition which is in a solid phase at room temperature, including but not limited to, hand soap, bath soap, transparent and nontransparent soap, glycerin soap and perfumed soap. Also, it is conceived that this could be used for lotions, including hand, body and suntan lotion. To keep the soap in a fluid condition prior to its application over a core 12, a coil is advantageously positioned around the soap container and the hot water used during the stripping operation can be circulated through the coil to maintain the soap in a fluid condition. Since the soap is fluid at a temperature of about 80-145 degrees F., the hot water used to strip the core provides sufficient heat energy to maintain the soap in a fluid state.
Alternatively, the cores 12 can be repeatedly dipped in liquid soap to form the soap layer 14 to complete the bar 10. This dipping procedure can provide a bar 10 of layered colors, or alternately, different types of soap, e.g. a cleanings soap alternating with a conditioning soap. The replenishing of the structural core 12 with the soap layer 14 of the present invention is what makes the structural core 12 a reusable soap bar 10.
Use of the soap bar 10 of the present invention allows an individual bar 10 to be placed in the hotel rooms, picked up each day, recharged and reused in the same or different hotel rooms. The recharging process produces a hygienic bar 10 ready for reuse.
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that further modifications may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 10/901,890 filed Jul. 29, 2004, now abandoned.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4277358 | Hopkins | Jul 1981 | A |
| 4308157 | Di Giovanna | Dec 1981 | A |
| 4438010 | Lindauer et al. | Mar 1984 | A |
| 5221506 | Dulin | Jun 1993 | A |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10901890 | Jul 2004 | US |
| Child | 11851868 | US |
