Patent Application
20150182077
This invention relates to dishes, racks, and receptacles adapted for use for storage, display, and dispensation of soap bars within bathrooms, washrooms, and kitchens.
Commonly configured bar soap trays, dishes, and receptacles often retain moisture at soap supporting surfaces resulting in undesirable water absorption and dissolution of soap bars. Such commonly known soap trays and dispensers further undesirably hold, store, and dispense individual soap bars in a disorganized, unergonomic and inconvenient fashions.
The instant inventive soap dispensing receptacle solves or ameliorates the above described drawbacks and disadvantages of common soap receptacles by configuring the receptacle to include plurality of specialty configured and arranged “C” channels which adapt the receptacle for protecting received soap bars from water dissolution, and which organize and ergonomically dispense soap bars during use and non-use periods.
First structural components of the instant inventive soap bar dispensing receptacle comprises a first and a plurality of second “C” channels. In a preferred embodiment, each “C” channel among the first and plurality of second “C” channels has at least a web member and pair of flange members, the flanges of each such pair preferably cantilevering from opposite ends of the one of the web members. In the preferred embodiment, the flange member “C” channel components of the invention are selected from the group consisting of upwardly positioned and overlying hand space defining flanges, downwardly positioned and lower soap bar supporting flanges, lateral soap bar slot defining flanges, and oppositely lateral soap bar slot defining flanges. In the preferred embodiment, the second “C” channels open upwardly and forwardly, an uppermost flange among the first “C” channel's flange members comprising the second “C” channels' lower web members.
Also in the preferred embodiment of the instant inventive receptacle, each “C” channel among the plurality of second “C” channels is further downwardly opened by a drain port which extends through said each “C” channel's web, each such port communicating with the first “C” channel's forwardly opening space. According to the function of the drain ports, upon receipt and storage of wet soap bars within the second plurality of “C” channels, soapy water from such soap bars may flow downwardly through the ports instead of accumulating within the second “C” channels, such channel draining function advantageously preventing premature dissolution of the soap bars.
Further structural components of the instant inventive receptacle comprise means for positioning the first and the plurality of second “C” channels for soap bar receiving and dispensing use. In the preferred embodiment, such positioning means are connected operatively to a structure selected from the group consisting of the first “C” channel's web member, the first “C” channel's lower flange member, the second “C” channels' web members, and the second “C” channels' flange members. The positioning means may suitably comprise base support extensions which are fixedly attached to and extend downwardly from lateral and oppositely lateral ends of the first “C” channel's lower flange, and such positioning means may further comprise contact feet situated at lower surfaces of such extensions. Alternatively, the positioning means may comprise a suspension loop adapted for engagement with a common shower arm, the suspension loop being fixedly attached to a backing structure attached to rearward aspects of the second “C” channels' web or flange members. The positioning means may further suitably and alternatively comprise wall mount screw receiving eyes which extend through such backing or extend through the first “C” channel's web member. The positioning means may further alternatively comprise adhesive pads. Suitably, the positioning may comprise the entire rearward face of the receptacle, which may rectangularly approximate a bathroom tile or tile series and may be wall mounted in the manner of bathroom tiles. Also suitably, the positioning means may alternatively comprise a whole formation of the receptacle with molded shower stall or bathtub enclosure walls.
In use of the instant inventive soap bar dispensing receptacle, and assuming the selected positioning means comprise base support components as described above, the receptacle may be initially placed upon a sink counter. Where, for example, the receptacle presents four second “C” channels, four different types of soap bars or four different bars designated for different users may be received, organized, and displayed for selection and use within such channels. Upon a need for hand washing, a user may initially wet his or her hands within the sink and may conveniently select and extract one of the soap bars from its second “C” channel. During the user's period of active hand washing use, the selected soap bar may be easily and conveniently inserted into and extracted from the underlying first “C” channel which serves a temporary soap bar storage function. Upon termination of hand washing use of the selected soap bar, the user may re-insert such bar into the previously vacated second “C” channel. Upon re-insertion, soapy water covering such recently used soap bar advantageously flows downwardly onto the web of the second “C” channel, and further flows downwardly through the web's drain port. Such drainage of soapy water from the soap bar advantageously prevents accumulation of the water at and around the contact points between the soap bar and the second “C” channel, advantageously preventing softening and dissolving of the soap bar.
Accordingly, objects of the instant invention include the provision of a receptacle for receiving and dispensing a plurality of soap bars which incorporates structures, as described above, and which arranges those structures in relation to each other in manners described above for the performance of the beneficial functions described above.
Other and further objects, benefits, and advantages of the present invention will become known to those skilled in the art upon review of the Detailed Description which follows, and upon review of the appended drawings.
Referring now to the drawings and in particular to Drawing
In the preferred embodiment, the first “C” member's lower flange 2 slopes upwardly, and has a substantially flat and planar upper surface 8 so that, referring further simultaneously to
Referring simultaneously to
Referring simultaneously to
Each of the second “C” channels is preferably further open by a drainage port 9a, 9b, 9c, or 9d which respectively extend through rearward and lower or downstream ends of the second “C” channels' web members 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d. In the preferred embodiment, each of the second “C” channels is rearwardly bounded a slide stopping wall 4a, 4b, 4c, or 4d, such walls preventing soap bars such as soap bar 52 from sliding rearwardly out of the second “C” channels.
Further structural components of the instant inventive receptacle 1 comprise positioning means which may situate the receptacle for convenient use within environments such as showers, baths, restrooms, washrooms, and kitchens. For use of the receptacle 1 upon counter and ledge surfaces, base extensions 30, which are fixedly attached to and extend downwardly from lateral and oppositely lateral ends of the first “C” channel's flange member 2, may be provided in combination with contact feet 32. In use of such base support positioning means 30, 32, the receptacle 1 may be conveniently placed upon a shelf, counter-top, or ledge adjacent bathtub or wash basin facilities. Suitable alternate positioning means comprise an extension flange 5 which is fixedly attached to and extends upwardly from the upper ends of slide stops 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d, or upwardly from the rearward ends of flanges 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20. Such extension flange 5 suitably includes a plurality of screw receiving eyes 34 which may be utilized for fixedly attaching the receptacle 1 to bathroom wall and shower stall wall surfaces. The eyes 34 may alternatively extend through the first “C” channel's web 4. As an alternative to such screw receiving eyes 34, adhesive pads 7 attached to the receptacle's rearward face may be utilized for such wall mounting. In a further suitable alternative positioning means, the rearward face of the receptacle 1 may be rectangularly configured in a manner consistent with a bathroom or shower stall ceramic tile pattern, such receptacle being attached to the wall as a ceramic fixture in the manner of an adhesively mounted bathroom tile. In a further suitable alternative positioning means, the receptacle may be molded as a part of or formed wholly with a molded shower stall or bathtub enclosure wall.
Where the receptacle 1 comprises molded plastic or porcelain, the lower lateral and lower oppositely lateral ends of the loop 5 are preferably integrally molded within suspension flange 5. Referring in particular to
Referring simultaneously to
Similarly with the hand and soap bar relative sizing of flange 4, the third “C” channel's web/slide stop extension 10 is preferably sized to forwardly extend from flange 4 a distance at least as great as a common finger width “c” so that, upon the first “C” channel insertion of the hand 54, fingers 56 may enter the upwardly opening third “C” channel space between flange 4 and bar 50 for rearwardly hooking the bar 50, and slideably pulling and grasping the soap bar.
Referring further simultaneously to
In use of the instant inventive receptacle 1, and referring simultaneously to
Upon such soap bar selection, the user may position his or her hand 54A over the selected soap bar, bar 52 for example, and may downwardly extend fingers 56A into the corresponding fourth upwardly opening “C” channel, which in the example is defined by stop extension/web member 24, rearward flange/slide stop 4b, and the rearwardly facing surface 53 of the soap bar 52. Such downward extensions of fingers 56A is facilitated by the finger admitting dimension of web 24 which is at least as great as that of the fingers' widths “c”. Upon the extensions of the fingers 56A behind the soap bar 52, the user may easily and conveniently grasp the soap bar 52 within hand 54A for washing use.
During such washing use of soap bar 52, the soap bar 52 may be intermittently placed into and extracted from the first “C” channel in the depicted manner and position of soap bar 50. Upon completion of such washing use, the user may re-insert the soap bar 52 into the second “C” channel 14, 6b, 16. Upon such re-insertion, residual soapy water from the soap bar 52 advantageously drains onto the sloped upper surface 7b of web member 6b, and emits downwardly through drain port 9b. Such sloped surface 7b and drain port 9b advantageously prevent water accumulation within the second “C” channel and prevent undesirable premature dissolving of the soap bar 52.
The vertical sizing of the first “C” channel to simultaneously accommodate a common hand width “d” and a common soap bar width “e” advantageously further permits easy wash cloth wiping of inner surfaces of the first “C” channel to absorb and remove accumulations of soapy water within the first “C” channel. Transitions between the first slide stop extension 10 and web and flange members 2 and 4 are preferably curved for easy cleaning and wash cloth washing.
While the principles of the invention have been made clear in the above illustrative embodiment, those skilled in the art may make modifications in the structure, arrangement, portions and components of the invention without departing from those principles. Accordingly, it is intended that the description and drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in the limiting sense, and that the invention be given a scope at least commensurate with the appended claims.
