Toothbrush holder

Abstract

A toothbrush holder for a toothbrush having an enlarged handle, for example a battery operated toothbrush, is provided which comprises at least one support aperture, the or each support aperture being expandable or has at least part thereof restricted in a lateral dimension compared to a width of the enlarged handle. The support aperture is suitable to support the toothbrush vertically with a bristle-end suspended downward therefrom and spaced from a lower drainage surface. The holder may also comprise a locating aperture to locate the toothbrush within the support aperture. In one embodiment, the holder comprises a housing having a removable wall with at least one support aperture for a toothbrush having an enlarged handle on one surface of the wall and preferably at least one retainer for retaining a conventional toothbrush on an opposite surface of the wall.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] THIS INVENTION relates to a toothbrush holder for storing at least one toothbrush having an enlarged handle with bristle-end oriented downward and spaced from a drainage surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Toothbrush holders function to store toothbrushes when not in use in an orderly and reasonably sanitary manner. Storing toothbrushes vertically may reduce the area required to store the toothbrushes and also enables positioning of a bristle-end of a toothbrush away from contact with potentially unclean surfaces, for example a counter or bench top.

[0003] Toothbrush holders in the past have been designed to accommodate a conventional shape of a toothbrush wherein the toothbrush has a slender handle.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,003 relates to a toothbrush holder with two separable parts to facilitate the access to an interior thereof. A bottom part has a disposable receptacle therein to receive drainage from a toothbrush held by the holder. A bristle-end of the toothbrush is located upwards external to the holder and a handle-end of the toothbrush is located internal to the holder. Accordingly, drainage from a toothbrush flows down the handle-end of the toothbrush to be collected in the disposable receptacle.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,245 relates to a toothbrush holder comprising a rack with a protective dome shaped cover to prevent contaminants from contacting the bristle-end while permitting passage of air for drying. Toothbrushes are stored vertically with the bristle-end of the toothbrush upwards within the protective cover. A toothbrush stored in this holder would drain excess liquid down the toothbrush handle.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,855 relates to a disposable toothbrush holder that holds toothbrushes upright, bristle-end upwards, for sanitary drying, supported in circular apertures in a convex upper portion supported by integrally-formed legs. This holder also stores a toothbrush oriented such that excess liquid drains down the toothbrush handle.

[0007] GB 2319176 relates to a toothbrush holder comprising a rack and vessels suitable for holding a sterilising liquid. A toothbrush is stored with bristles downward and located within a vessel. The rack maintains each toothbrush in a position whereby the bristles remain in the vessel. This holder is suitable if a sterilising liquid is used.

[0008] EP 974288 relates to a toothbrush holder comprising a recess or aperture in a wall suitable to insert and support a terminal-end of a toothbrush with a slender handle in a cantilever-like manner. The toothbrush is held at an acute angle to the wall and suspended therefrom above and spaced from a drainage surface.

[0009] The above referenced U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,978,003; 5,769,245 and 5,687,855 relate to holders for storing toothbrushes with bristle-ends upward and thus excess liquid drains down the toothbrush handles when stored therein. Storing a toothbrush in this orientation may be particularly undesirable for an electrical toothbrush having electrical components in the handle. The toothbrush holders described in GB 2319176 and EP 974288 relate to holders for storing toothbrushes with bristle-end downward. The holder described in GB 2319176 is complicated in use because of a necessity for using vessels containing sterilising liquid. The holder described in EP 974288 is suitable for toothbrushes with slender handles and could not be used with a toothbrush having an enlarged handle such as a battery operated toothbrush.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0010] It is an object of the invention to provide a holder for storing a toothbrush having an enlarged handle with the bristle-end located downward which alleviates one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The invention relates to a toothbrush holder for a toothbrush having an enlarged handle comprising:

[0012] (i) one or a plurality of support apertures for holding a respective toothbrush vertically with a bristle end downward wherein the or each aperture is expandable or has at least part thereof restricted in a lateral dimension compared to a width of the enlarged handle; and

[0013] (ii) a drainage surface located below the or each support aperture;

[0014] whereby in use, the or each toothbrush is held by the expandable aperture in a resilient manner or by the restricted lateral dimension to suspend the or each toothbrush above the drainage surface and spaced therefrom.

[0015] Preferably, the or each expandable support aperture is provided by an internal opening of a resilient clip.

[0016] The toothbrush holder may have an outwardly extending shelf having the plurality of support apertures.

[0017] The or each support aperture may have an access opening.

[0018] The or each support aperture may be of frusto-conical shape.

[0019] The support aperture may have an upper concave recess and a lower concave recess and the restricted lateral dimension in this embodiment is located at a junction of the upper concave recess and the lower concave recess.

[0020] The toothbrush holder may comprise an upper shelf having a plurality of locating apertures for each toothbrush.

[0021] Each locating aperture may have an access opening.

[0022] The toothbrush holder may comprise a housing having one or more removable walls whereby the or each removable wall has the one or more support apertures.

[0023] The purpose of the restricted lateral dimension may be to engage the handle or bristle attachment neck of the toothbrush in an interference fit or by adoption of a wedging effect. Alternatively, the restricted lateral dimension may engage a shoulder of the toothbrush which is located at the junction of the enlarged handle and a neck part having bristles attached thereto. It is understood that the toothbrush with the enlarged handle held by the restricted lateral dimension may be electrical (for example battery operated) or non-electrical; and that a battery operated toothbrush is one example of a toothbrush suitable of use with the present invention.

[0024] Preferably, the support apertures are located on one broad surface of the or each removable wall and there are provided retainers for retaining one or more conventional toothbrushes on another broad surface of the or each removable wall.

[0025] The holder may comprise a body or wall with opposed broad surfaces from which support apertures may outwardly extend; however, a support other than a wall, for example a frame, may also be suitable for attaching support apertures of the invention.

[0026] The toothbrush holder of the present invention may be free standing or mountable to a vertical surface such as a wall.

[0027] It is understood that the term “toothbrush” used herein refers to non-electrical and electrical toothbrushes. The toothbrush may have horizontal and vertical rows of bristles or may have bristles circularly arranged with a bristle-end which may rotate. Toothbrushes with bristles circularly arranged are commonly known as “plaque removers”. A toothbrush with an enlarged handle relative to a bristle attachment neck may be electrical or non-electrical, and a battery operated toothbrush is used herein as an example of a toothbrush with an enlarged handle.

[0028] “Electrical toothbrushes” comprise battery operated toothbrushes, and “battery operated toothbrushes” comprise both rechargeable and non-rechargeable battery operated toothbrushes.

[0029] It is understood that the invention relates particularly to toothbrushes with handles which are wider than conventional toothbrushes such as battery operated toothbrushes.

[0030] Throughout this specification unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise”, and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of the stated integers or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, preferred embodiments will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts and wherein:

[0032] FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a toothbrush holder constructed in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention;

[0033] FIG. 1B is an isolated side view of a bristle-end of a toothbrush and drainage surface as shown in FIG. 1A.

[0034] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a variation of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1;

[0035] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a toothbrush holder constructed in accordance with a second embodiment whereby toothbrushes are held by resilient clips;

[0036] FIG. 4A is a side view of a toothbrush holder constructed in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention whereby the holder comprises removable wall components which may be changed from an orientation to expose a broad surface with retainers to retain a conventional toothbrush or a broad surface with a support aperture to support a toothbrush having an enlarged handle;

[0037] FIG. 4B is a perspective view of a toothbrush holder comprising three removable wall components having resilient clips and support apertures suitable for holding a toothbrush;

[0038] FIG. 4C is an exploded perspective view of the third embodiment of the holder shown with a removable wall component;

[0039] FIG. 4D is a perspective view of the removable wall component comprising a resilient clip and support aperture suitable for holding a toothbrush;

[0040] FIG. 4E is a perspective view of the removable wall component comprising a frusto-conical shaped support aperture suitable for holding a toothbrush;

[0041] FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a toothbrush holder comprising frusto-conical support apertures;

[0042] FIG. 5B is a perspective view of a frusto-conical aperture as shown in FIG. 5A; and

[0043] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a toothbrush holder with support apertures having upper and lower recesses which form a restricted lateral dimension at a junction therebetween to support a toothbrush.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0044] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of toothbrush holder 10, wherein an associated toothbrush with an enlarged handle, shown here as a battery operated toothbrush 11, is stored in an inverted position with a bristle-end 12 located downward. Holder 10 comprises a vertical wall 20 with a support shelf 14 having a plurality of support apertures 15 which each support a toothbrush 11 by a restricted lateral dimension 25 and 25A as shown. There is also provided a handle retaining shelf 17 having a plurality of locating apertures 18 for retaining an enlarged handle 13 of toothbrush 11. The locating apertures 18 locate each toothbrush 11 vertically above support aperture 15. Locating aperture 18 is larger than corresponding support aperture 15 to accommodate the enlarged handle 13 of toothbrush 11. Shoulder 26 of toothbrush 11 is shown supported by restricted lateral dimension 25A of support aperture 15 such that bristle-end 12 of toothbrush 11 is suspended therefrom and is spaced from drainage surface 16. Also shown is bristle attachment neck 24 of toothbrush 11 wedged within support aperture 15 at restricted lateral dimension 25. FIG. 1B clearly shows spacing between bristle-end 12 and drainage surface 16. Each support aperture 15 has an access opening 15A and each locating aperture 18 has an access opening 18A as shown forming a passage through which a bristle attachment neck 24 of a toothbrush 11 may pass. Drainage surface 16 may be integral to holder 10 or removable for easy cleaning. The toothbrush 11 shown also comprises a removable cap 21 to replace batteries, a switch 22 to actuate the bristle-end 12 and a decorative embellishment 23 which may also function as a hand grip.

[0045] FIG. 2 illustrates a modified arrangement of the toothbrush holder shown in FIG. 1. Holder 110 also stores toothbrushes 11 with the bristle-end 12 located downward as shown; however, in this arrangement holder 110 comprises a handle retaining shelf 117 having a plurality of closed circular locating apertures 118. In use, toothbrush 11 is inserted downward through circular locating aperture 118 as shown by the arrows. The bristle-end 12 of toothbrush 11 is spaced from drainage surface 16 similarly as shown in FIG. 1B.

[0046] FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of toothbrush holder 210 as shown in FIG. 1. The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 has a plurality of support apertures which comprise resilient clips 217 which hold toothbrush 11 at enlarged handle 13 in an orientation with the bristle-end 12 downward as shown. The bristle-end 12 of toothbrush 11 is spaced from drainage surface 16 similarly as shown in FIG. 1B. Toothbrush 11 may be repeatedly inserted and removed from clip 217. In this embodiment, support shelf 14 may be omitted and toothbrush 11 may be supported solely by resilient clip 217.

[0047] As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, an embodiment of toothbrush holder 310 comprises a housing with a top wall 312, a bottom wall 315, a vertical wall 319 which connects top wall 312 and bottom wall 315, a side wall 318 (a side wall opposite wall 318 not shown), and at least one removable wall assembly 320 comprising a plurality of wall components 320A. The side walls may be removable or alternatively may be dispensed with to accommodate slidable removal of removable wall assembly 320 as discussed below. FIG. 4B shows three removable wall components 320A, each wall component 320A comprising a resilient clip 217 and support aperture 314 to hold a toothbrush 11. Top wall 312 comprises a groove 311 on an inner surface thereof as shown which is suitable to receive an arcuate attachment rib 325 of wall component 320A. Arcuate attachment rib 325 when inserted into groove 311 is pivotable in a hinge-like manner as shown by the bold arrow. Bottom wall 315 has parallel ridges 312 and 313 which form a channel 316 therebetween. Channel 316 is of sufficient width to retain a bottom end of each wall component 320A. Removable wall component 320A may omit arcuate attachment rib 325 and such an embodiment of removable wall component 320A may be retained in channels located in top wall 312 and bottom wall 315 respectively of holder 310.

[0048] FIG. 4A is a side view showing removable wall component 320A orientated with resilient clip 217 and support aperture 314 facing outward and extending away from broad surface 350 of wall component 320A for holding toothbrush 11 having enlarged handle 13. On a broad surface 340 opposite broad surface 350 of wall component 320A are retainers 317A and 314A for retaining a conventional toothbrush 11A.

[0049] As shown in FIGS. 4C, 4D and 4E, removable wall component 320A may hold a toothbrush in a similar manner as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5 respectively. FIG. 4C shows removable wall component 320A comprising an upper locating aperture 317 and lower support aperture 314, whereby removable wall component 320A is able to slide into channel 316 and groove 311 of holder 310. FIG. 4D shows an embodiment of removable wall component 320A with a resilient clip 217 to hold a toothbrush handle and a support aperture 314. FIG. 4E shows an embodiment of removable wall component 320A with a frusto-conical support aperture 410.

[0050] When wall component 320A are changed from an orientation exposing broad surface 350 to an orientation exposing broad surface 340 for use, it will be appreciated that each wall component 320A is removed and reversed. Thus, each wall component 320A may be slidably removed from holder 310 as shown in FIG. 4C or pivotably removed from holder 310 as shown by the arrow in full outline in FIG. 4A.

[0051] FIG. 5A shows another embodiment of toothbrush holder 400 comprising a support aperture 410 which also supports toothbrush 11 with bristle-end 12 located downward so that bristle-end 12 and spaced from drainage surface 416. Support aperture 410 is frusto-conical in shape and comprises a restricted lateral dimension 425 with an access opening 430 as shown. Access opening 430 is sufficient in size to allow a toothbrush bristle attachment neck 24 to pass therebetween. A wider end 411 of support aperture 410 is located as shown and narrows at restricted lateral dimension 425 which supports toothbrush 11 at shoulder 26 as shown. Holder 400 has a body 420 and an upper surface 421 angled as shown to allow toothbrush 11 to be held such that bristle-end 12 is spaced from drainage surface 416 and body 420.

[0052] FIG. 6 shows a holder 500 which is similar to holder 400 shown in FIG. 5; however, the frusto-conical support apertures of holder 400 are replaced with a plurality of support apertures having a restricted lateral dimension 525 formed at a junction of lower concave recess 510 and upper concave recess 530 as shown. Shoulder 26 of toothbrush 11 is supported by restricted lateral dimension 525. Body 520 of holder 500 has a surface 521 angled as shown to support toothbrush 11 in the orientation such that bristle-end 12 of toothbrush 11 is spaced from drainage surface 516 as shown. Apertures 540 are also provided for storing conventional toothbrushes; however, apertures 540 may be omitted.

[0053] It will be appreciated that the present invention alleviates deficiencies of previous toothbrush holders and is advantageous in that a toothbrush with an enlarged handle, for example a battery operated toothbrush, may be stored vertically with the bristle-end facing downward and suspended therefrom such that draining or dripping of excess liquid (e.g. water, saliva and toothpaste) remaining on the bristles following brushing does not flow onto the handle. This is particularly advantageous for a battery operated toothbrush which may contain electrical components such as a motor and batteries in the handle. The invention also permits air drying of the bristle end of the toothbrush which may improve sanitation.

[0054] It is understood that the invention described in detail herein is susceptible to modification and variation, such that embodiments other than those described herein are contemplated which nevertheless falls within the broad spirt and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A toothbrush holder for a toothbrush having an enlarged handle comprising:

(i) one or a plurality of support apertures for holding a respective toothbrush vertically with a bristle end downward wherein the or each aperture is expandable or has at least part thereof restricted in a lateral dimension compared to a width of the enlarged handle; and

(ii) a drainage surface located below the or each support aperture;

whereby in use, the or each toothbrush is held by the expandable aperture in a resilient manner or by the restricted lateral dimension to suspend the or each toothbrush above the drainage surface and spaced therefrom.

2. The toothbrush holder of

claim 1 whereby the or each support aperture is expandable.

3. The toothbrush holder of

claim 1 wherein the or each support aperture has at least part thereof of said restricted lateral dimension.

4. The toothbrush holder as claimed in

claim 1 wherein the toothbrush holder has an outwardly extending shelf having said plurality of support apertures.

5. The toothbrush holder as claimed in

claim 1 wherein the or each support aperture has an access opening.

6. The toothbrush holder as claimed in

claim 1 wherein the or each support aperture is of frusto-conical shape.

7. The toothbrush holder as claimed in

claim 3 wherein each support aperture has an upper concave recess and a lower concave recess and said restricted lateral dimension is located at a junction of said upper concave recess and said lower concave recess.

8. The toothbrush holder as claimed in

claim 1 wherein the holder has an upper shelf having a plurality of locating apertures for each toothbrush.

9. The toothbrush holder as claimed in

claim 8 wherein each locating aperture has an access opening.

10. The toothbrush holder as claimed in

claim 2 wherein the or each expandable support aperture is provided by an internal opening of a resilient clip.

11. The toothbrush holder as claimed in

claim 1 comprising a housing having one or more removable walls whereby the or each removable wall has said one or more support apertures.

12. The toothbrush holder as claimed in

claim 11 wherein the support apertures are located on one broad surface of the or each removable wall and there are provided retainers for retaining one or more conventional toothbrushes on another broad surface of the or each removable wall.