Patent Application
20230148745
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to storage devices and more particularly pertains to a new storage device for storing a toothbrush. The device includes a pad comprised of a hydrophobic material and a plurality of bristles that each extends upwardly from the pad.
The bristles are arranged to define an open area that is centrally positioned on the pad. A toothbrush is positionable on the pad for storage such that a base of the toothbrush is positioned in the open area. In this way residual fluid on the toothbrush collects on the pad, rather than on a support surface such as a vanity or the like.
The prior art relates to storage devices including a tubular toothbrush holder with a suspension element. The prior art discloses a toothbrush holder which includes a canister having a foraminous lid for receiving bases of toothbrushes and a drain integrated into the canister for draining fluid from the toothbrushes. The prior art discloses an absorbent pad with an aperture for insertably receiving a base of a toothbrush. The prior art discloses an absorbent pad that can be positioned on a charging base of an electric toothbrush for absorbing fluid that runs off of the electric toothbrush.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a pad that is comprised of a hydrophobic material to inhibit fluids from adhering to the pad. A lip is coupled to the pad to inhibit fluid from spilling off of the pad. A plurality of bristles is each coupled to and extends upwardly from the pad and a toothbrush can be scrubbed on the bristles for cleaning the toothbrush. The plurality of bristles is arranged to define on open area on the pad which accommodates a base of the toothbrush when the toothbrush is stood on the pad for storage.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A lip 22 is coupled to the pad 12 to inhibit fluid from spilling off of the pad 12. The lip 22 extends upwardly from the top surface 14 of the pad 12 and the lip 22 is aligned with the perimeter edge 18 of the pad 12. The lip 22 extends along a full length of each of the intersecting sides 20 of the perimeter edge 18. A plurality of bristles 24 is each coupled to and extends upwardly from the pad 12. Furthermore, a toothbrush 26 can be scrubbed on the bristles 24 for cleaning the toothbrush 26. The toothbrush 26 may be an electric toothbrush, a manual toothbrush or any other type of toothbrush that would commonly be employed for dental hygiene.
The plurality of bristles 24 is arranged to define on open area 28 on the pad 12 to accommodate a base 29 of the toothbrush 26 when the toothbrush 26 is stood on the pad 12 for storage. Each of the bristles 24 extends upwardly from the top surface 14 of the pad 12. The plurality of bristles 24 has a boundary 30 which is inset from the lip 22 such that the boundary 30 defines the open area 28 of the pad 12. The boundary 30 has a plurality of intersecting sides 32 and each of the intersecting sides 32 of the boundary 30 is oriented parallel with a respective one of the intersecting sides 20 of the perimeter edge 18 of the pad 12 such that the boundary 30 defines a rectangular shape. Moreover, the rectangular shape defined by the boundary 30 is centrally positioned on the pad 12. In this way bristles 24 surround the base 29 of the toothbrush 26 when the base 29 of the toothbrush 26 is positioned in the rectangular shape defined by the boundary 30.
Each of the bristles 24 on the pad has a distal end 36 with respect to the top surface 14 of the pad 12 and the distal end 36 of each of the bristles 24 on the pad 12 is tapered to a point. Each of the bristles 24 on the pad 12 is comprised of a deformable material, including but not being limited to, silicone or rubber. In this way the plurality of bristles 24 on the pad 12 resist deforming bristles 38 on a head 40 of the toothbrush 26 when the bristles 38 on the head 40 of the toothbrush 26 are scrubbed on the bristles 24 on the pad 12. Each of the bristles 24 on the pad 12 may have a length ranging between approximately 0.05 inches and 1.0 inches.
In use, the pad 12 is positioned on a vanity or other surface in a bathroom, for example, or other location where the toothbrush 26 would commonly be employed. The toothbrush 26 is scrubbed on the bristles 24 to clean the toothbrush 26 after the toothbrush 26 has been employed for brushing teeth and the toothbrush 26 is subsequently stood on the bristles 24 having the base 29 of the toothbrush 26 resting in the open area 28 defined by the bristles 24. In this way any residual fluid 42 from the toothbrush 26 drains unto the open area 28 on the pad 12, rather than collecting on the vanity. Furthermore, the residual fluid 42 can be quickly rinsed from the pad 12 each time the toothbrush 26 is employed for brushing teeth. In this way the toothbrush 26 can be stored in a hygienic manner.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
