METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CONSUMABLE DRINK AND FOOD CONTAINERS
A cleaning apparatus configured to clean a consumable drink or food container includes a handle portion, a bristle base, and a plurality of bristles. The handle portion, which is generally cylindraceous, includes a first end, a second end, a grip, and an end portion. The grip is positioned proximate to the first end and comprises a gripping feature. The gripping feature is configured to facilitate gripping of the cleaning apparatus by a user. The end portion is positioned proximate to the second end and includes an attachment structure. The attachment structure is configured to enable attachment of the cleaning apparatus to an accessory. The bristle base is capable of being positioned adjacent to the first end of the handle portion. The plurality of bristles are attached to and project outwardly from the bristle base.
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This application is a divisional of U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 13/022,650, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Cleaning Consumable Drink and Food Containers,” filed Feb. 8, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, and which is a divisional of U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 11/833,477, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Cleaning Consumable Drink and Food Containers,” filed Aug. 3, 2007, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, and which claims priority from the disclosure of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/822,315, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Cleaning Consumable Drink and Food Containers,” filed Aug. 14, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONEmbodiments of the present invention relate to a method and device that may be used to clean and/or sanitize an outer surface of the portion of a can or other drink or food container that will be opened and, more specifically, to a portable container cleaning apparatus for use with or without a sanitizing additive (e.g., chlorine, ethyl alcohol, etc.). Applying multiple soft bristles at the tip of an exemplary apparatus, used with or without sanitizing agents, a can/container may be cleaned and/or sanitized of certain hazardous and/or noxious materials and will be safe for consumption. As used herein, the term “sanitized” is not intended to be limited to a level of cleanliness amounting to “sterilized,” and should be read to include situations where a container is generally cleaner in some degree after use of embodiments of the apparatus disclosed herein than the container was before use of such embodiments.
Drink and food containers, such as cans, bottles, jars, Aseptic packages/pouches, etc. may sometimes be sanitized for consumers at the point of production and processing. In particular, metal packaging may provide an appreciable degree of protection from outside contaminants entering into a drink or food container. Once shipped from the production point and into storage and ultimately the consumer supply chain, some of the sanitation processes and procedures may be at risk in some circumstances, such as those related to the condition of the outside of such containers. Specifically, and for purposes of illustration only, beverage cans that have had the exterior of the top of the sealed can exposed in storage or in retail environments may, in some situations, have had contact with a multitude of contaminants and toxins found in such open environments, including pesticides, solvents, detergents, dust, and/or other caustic and dangerous or otherwise undesirable elements.
While a variety of devices and methods have been made and used to clean a portion of a container, it is believed that no one prior to the inventors has made or used a device or method as recited in the claims.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate versions of the invention, and, together with the general description of the invention given above, and the detailed description of the versions given below, serve to explain the principles of the present invention.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following description of merely illustrative embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Bristles (30) may comprise a material similar to material used in bristles for conventional toothbrushes. For instance, bristles (30) may be generally stiff, bushy, formed of synthetic fibers, or have any other suitable properties. It will also be appreciated that bristles (30) may comprise a plurality of materials for a given cleaner (10). For instance, in one embodiment several bristles (30) are generally fibrous, with others on the same cleaner (10) being a rubber material. In another embodiment, all of the bristles (30) on a cleaner (10) are formed of a rubber material. Bristles (30) may all be substantially the same length, as in the embodiment shown in
In the embodiment shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In an alternate embodiment (not shown), the grip (12) is configured to reciprocate relative to the bristles (30) and the handle portion (20). In this embodiment, the grip may be used to selectively cover and uncover at least a portion of bristles (30), thereby providing some degree of protection to the bristles (30).
In yet another embodiment, shown in
An alternate embodiment of a cleaner with retractable bristles is shown in
In another embodiment (not shown), a sheath is provided, in which the entire cleaner may be inserted and held. Still other ways in which at least a portion of bristles may be selectively covered/uncovered or hidden/revealed will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.
In other embodiments (not shown), the bristles are operable to move relative to the handle portion in a rotating or oscillating fashion. For instance, one or more motors (not shown) may be provided within handle portion. Such motor(s) may rotate the bristles collectively, individually, in sets, etc. Alternatively, a spring (not shown), other resilient member, or other mechanism may be provided such that a user may twist and release a first portion of handle portion while gripping a second portion of handle portion, whereupon bristles will rotate (e.g., even less than a full 360° rotation) or oscillate for a period of time. Alternatively, any other means, mechanisms, or features for providing rotating or oscillating movement of bristles relative to handle portion may be used.
In still another embodiment (not shown), a mechanism (e.g., a motor, etc.) is operable to vibrate bristles. Suitable mechanisms or features to provide such vibration will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. It will also be appreciated that bristles may be configured to rotate, oscillate, vibrate, and/or reciprocate, or some combination thereof, in addition to engaging in other forms of motion.
In yet other embodiments, such as the ones shown in
In the embodiment shown in
As shown in
In some embodiments (not shown) where a cleaning agent reservoir is provided within handle portion, handle portion may also comprise a port (not shown) for refilling the reservoir. In still other embodiments, a cleaning agent is provided in a replacable cartridge (not shown) or other feature.
In the embodiment shown in
Yet another alternate embodiment is shown in
It will therefore be appreciated that, to the extent that bristles are used, bristles may extend longitudinally outward from a handle portion, laterally outward from a handle portion (e.g., radially outward), or in any other suitable configuration.
Embodiments of the present invention (not shown) may also comprise utility features, in addition to bristles and/or a cleaning member. For example, a cleaner may include a standard bottle opener, such as those well known within the art, integral with the handle portion. In another embodiment, the handle portion of a cleaner may include a structure configured to facilitate the opening of a standard pull-tab can, such as those used for soft drinks. In one such embodiment, the tab-opening structure comprises a triangular shaped wedge configured to be urged between a can top and a tab, thereby facilitating opening of the container. In an alternate embodiment, the tab-opening structure comprises a slot in the handle portion configured to allow a user to insert the tab of a can into the slot, thereby providing additional leverage to facilitate lifting of the tab and opening of the container. Other suitable features for facilitating the opening of a container will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.
It will also be appreciated that some embodiments may include at least one removable and/or replaceable component. By way of example only, bristles and/or a cleaning member may be removable and/or replaceable in some fashion. For instance, in some embodiments (not depicted) a bristle base, with bristles extending therefrom, may be “snap fit” into a handle portion, and may be removable therefrom. Thus, if bristles become worn or dirty, etc., a user may remove the base that the undesirable bristles extend from, relative to the handle portion, and “snap” a new bristle base into the handle portion, with new bristles extending therefrom. Similar features and techniques may be used for a cleaning member that is provided with or in lieu of bristles. In other embodiments, a handle portion (or other portion) may house a plurality of bristle bases or cleaning members. A replacement bristle base (with replacement bristles extending therefrom) and/or a cleaning member may thus be immediately available for replacing a used bristle base (with used bristles extending therefrom) or used cleaning member. Furthermore, such a replacement bristle base and/or cleaning member may be spring-loaded, otherwise resiliently loaded or biased, or otherwise configured, such that a user merely has to remove a used set of bristles or cleaning member from the handle portion, and a replacement set of bristles or cleaning member “pops out,” gets pulled out, or otherwise appears, to take the place of the used bristles or cleaning member. It will be appreciated that this may be accomplished using a variety of structures, configurations, or techniques. Another merely illustrative example of a component that may be removable and/or replaceable may include a reservoir that contains a cleaning agent, to the extent that a cleaning agent is used. Other ways in which bristles, a cleaning member, and or any other component may be replaceable in any suitable fashion will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.
Having shown and described various embodiments of the present invention, further adaptations of the methods and systems described herein may be accomplished by appropriate modifications by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. Several of such potential modifications have been mentioned, and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For instance, the examples, embodiments, geometrics, materials, dimensions, ratios, steps, and the like discussed above are illustrative and are not required. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be considered in terms of the following claims and is understood not to be limited to the details of structure and operation shown and described in the specification and drawings.
Claims
1. A cleaning apparatus, wherein the cleaning apparatus is configured to clean a consumable drink or food container, the cleaning apparatus comprising:
- (a) a handle portion, wherein the handle portion is generally cylindraceous, the handle portion comprising: (i) a first end, (ii) a second end, and (iii) a gripping region positioned between the first end and the second end;
- (b) a first cleaning feature, wherein the first cleaning feature comprises a plurality of bristles, wherein the plurality of bristles project outwardly from the first end of the handle portion; and
- (c) a second cleaning feature, wherein the second cleaning feature is configured to cooperate with the plurality of bristles to clean a consumable drink or food container, wherein the second cleaning feature is integral with the handle portion, wherein the second cleaning feature comprises a soft and angled cleaning member, wherein the cleaning member is adjacent to the bristles and extends distally from the first end of the handle portion.
2. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cleaning member comprises rubber or foam.
3. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cleaning member has a triangular cross-section.
4. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is positioned within the bristles.
5. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is positioned external to the bristles.
6. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a base feature is coupled to the first end of the handle portion, wherein the plurality of bristles and the cleaning member extend distally from the base feature.
7. The cleaning apparatus of claim 6, wherein the base feature is selectively removable from the first end of the handle portion.
8. The cleaning apparatus of claim 7, wherein the base feature is coupled to the first end of the handle portion with a snap fit.
9. The cleaning apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first end of the handle portion is configured to receive a replacement base feature, wherein the replacement base feature comprises a plurality of bristles and a cleaning member extending distally from the replacement base feature.
10. The cleaning apparatus of claim 9, wherein the replacement base feature is housed within the handle portion.
11. The cleaning apparatus of claim 10, wherein the replacement base feature is resiliently biased toward the first end of the handle portion such that the replacement base feature is movable relative to the first end of the handle portion when the base feature is removed.
12. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bristles extend longitudinally outwardly from the first end of the handle portion.
13. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bristles extend laterally outwardly from the first end of the handle portion.
14. The cleaning apparatus of the claim 1, further comprising a utility feature integral with the handle portion.
15. The cleaning apparatus of claim 14, wherein the utility feature comprises a bottle opening feature.
16. The cleaning apparatus of claim 14, wherein the utility feature comprises a tab opening feature.
17. The cleaning apparatus of claim 16, wherein the tab opening feature comprises a triangular shaped wedge.
18. The cleaning apparatus of claim 16, wherein the tab opening feature comprises a slot within the handle portion.
19. A cleaning apparatus, wherein the cleaning apparatus is configured to clean a consumable drink or food container, the cleaning apparatus comprising:
- (a) a handle portion, wherein the handle portion is generally cylindraceous, the handle portion comprising: (i) a first end, (ii) a second end, and (iii) a gripping region positioned between the first end and the second end;
- (b) a first cleaning feature, wherein the first cleaning feature comprises a plurality of bristles, wherein the plurality of bristles are project outwardly from the first end of the handle portion; and
- (c) a second cleaning feature, wherein the second cleaning feature is configured to cooperate with the plurality of bristles to clean a consumable drink or food container, wherein the second cleaning feature comprises a cleaning member, wherein the cleaning member comprises an edge extending distally from the first end of the handle portion.
20. A cleaning apparatus, wherein the cleaning apparatus is configured to clean a consumable drink or food container, the cleaning apparatus comprising:
- (a) a handle portion, wherein the handle portion is generally cylindraceous, the handle portion comprising: (i) a first end, (ii) a second end, and (iii) a gripping region positioned between the first end and the second end;
- (b) a cleaning portion, the cleaning portion comprising: (i) a base feature, wherein the base feature is removably coupled to the first end of the handle portion; (ii) a first cleaning feature, wherein the first cleaning feature comprises a plurality of bristles, wherein the plurality of bristles are project outwardly from the base feature; and (iii) a second cleaning feature, wherein the second cleaning feature is configured to cooperate with the plurality of bristles to clean a consumable drink or food container, wherein the second cleaning feature comprises a cleaning member, wherein the cleaning member comprises an edge extending distally from the base feature.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 27, 2012
Publication Date: Nov 22, 2012
Applicant: CAN-IT LLC (Cincinnati, OH)
Inventors: Gordon Scott Mindrum (Cincinnati, OH), Steven Craig Sefton (West Chester, OH), Olga Cubells Piehler (Loveland, OH)
Application Number: 13/559,688
International Classification: A46B 15/00 (20060101); A46B 9/02 (20060101);