Soap on a stick
A bar of soap with a stick or other similar object placed through the bar of soap and extends out both sides of the bar is disclosed. The soap on a stick maintains the bar of soap off dish or other surface to promote drying the bar of soap and reduces how sogginess of the soap. The soap can be made from number of different materials and may contain colors, scents and conditioners. A soap dish is also disclosed with raised side members that the supports the ends of the stick to keep the bar of soap suspended above the dish. Drippings from the soap are collected in the base of the soap holder. An additional soap holder is disclosed that has elongated fingers to hold the ends of the stick. In this soap holder the drippings from the soap will fall into a shower or basin.
This application claims the benefit of Provisional applications 60/889,545 filed Feb. 13, 2007, 60/890,823 filed Feb. 20, 2007 and 60/809,856 filed Feb. 21, 2007 the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.
DESCRIPTION FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to improvements in soap dispensing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a bar of soap that has wood or other cylindrical object placed through the bar of soap and extends out both sides of the bar. A soap dish and soap holder is also disclosed that suspends the bar of soap to aid in drying the soap.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONMost people when they bathe use soap of one form or another. Typically when multiple people use the same bathroom the bar of soap becomes softer as each person uses the bar of soap. After the person is done washing the soap sits on a surface and will continue to collect moisture. Some inventions have been patented that will allow the bar of soap to hang or drain. Exemplary examples are described herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,416,962 issue May 23, 1922 to Fred Meeks, U.S. Pat. No. 3,341,457 issued Sep. 12, 1967 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,923 issued Sep. 26, 1972 all disclose a bar of soap having a strap of tape, plastic or similar material that a user can grab and hold to reduce the possibility that the bar of soap will slip from their hand. While these patents disclose a bar of soap with material that extends through the ends of the bar of soap the strap is not a rigid member and after the bar of soap is used it is either placed in a dish where it can become soggy or must be suspended from a hook making it not conducive for use near a sink.
U.S. Pat. No. 606,024 issued Jun. 21, 1898 to M. Peraglie & F. Barro, U.S. Pat. No. 2,099,484 issue Nov. 16, 1937 to L. De F. Hokerk and U.S. Pat. No. 3,51 9,568 issued Jul. 7, 1970 to L. Needleman all disclose soap on a rope or tether. The rope or tether allows a person to hang the bar of soap from a shower head where it drips onto the floor of a shower. While these patents work well in the shower or where there is a deep sink, they do not work around a typical sink and further in a shower if multiple soaps on a rope are used they all will collect together and each person using the shower will make all the bars of soap wet in addition the first bather.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,871 issued Jul. 1, 1997 to Repert et al., discloses a bar of soap with a magnetic material imbedded or cast within the bar of soap. This patent allows a user to maintain the bar of soap in a fixed and elevated location. While this patent is intended for use near a sink, it requires the use of a ferric material that is susceptible to rust and requires the metal to be embedded into a side of the soap. As the soap is used the metal or magnet must be continually pressed into the soap or requires the user to use only one side of the bar of soap.
What is needed is a bar of soap with a member extending through the bar of soap such that a portion of the member extends out each side of the soap. This allows the bar of soap to be suspended for drying. The proposed application provides this solution with a bar of soap having a stick or similar object extending though the soap bar and further includes optional holding mechanisms for suspending the soap on the stick.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of the soap on a stick to provide a bar of soap that has a bar of soap with a stick or similar object extending through the ends of the stick. This form of suspending the bar keeps the bar off of a counter or sink rim. The stick also makes the bar of soap easier to hold without touching the slippery soap surface. The stick allows a moist bar of soap to be transported without the user touching the bar of soap. The stick can be made from a variety of materials, shape and may be made from a rolled note.
It is an object of the soap on a stick to provide a bar of soap that is suspendable from a soap dish or soap holder that allows the soap to dry evenly without resting in a pool of water. The ability to suspend the soap prevents soggy soap and reduces wasting soap.
It is an object of the soap on a stick to provide a bar of soap with various scents, fragrances, sizes, colors or properties to suit the bathing needs of the user.
It is an object of the soap on a stick for use with multiple bathers. The first person bathing often gets the bar of soap with an outer surface that is dry. The second and subsequent bathers must use a bar of soap that is moist soggy and in some cases more liquid than solid. The soap on a stick reduces or prevents this by suspending the bar of soap and allows for multiple bars of soap to be placed in or around a shower or bath.
It is another object of the soap on a stick to also be provided with a soap rack. The soap rack is a soap dish with appendages to support the opposing stick portions of the soap on a stick. The rack suspends the bar of soap and prevents the problem of soggy and deteriorated soap by allowing the bar of soap to dry and make it ready for subsequent users.
It is still another object of the soap on a stick to also be provided with a wall mountable rack. The wall mount soap rack has appendages that extend from the wall mounting structure and have arms that are curved to prevent the stick from rolling off the end of each appendage. The wall mounting structure has adhesive backing for bonding the structure to the wall of a shower at a height that is suitable for the height of the bather. The rack suspends the bar of soap and prevents the problem of soggy and deteriorated soap by allowing the bar of soap to dry and make it ready for subsequent users.
Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.
The stick is molded, cast or pressed in or through the bar of soap so it is essentially concentric with the bar of soap. In stick has a length that allows it to extend out both sides of the bar of soap 20 approximately 1.5 inches but this dimension is variable based upon the overall length of the bar of soap 20 and the overall length of the stick. In the preferred embodiment the stick has an overall length of 6 to 7 inches with a diameter between ¼ to ⅜ inch, and the bar of soap 20 has an overall length of 3 to 5 inches with a preferred length of 4 inches. The bar of soap 20 is made in an ellipse shape with a diameter of 2 inches. Other shapes are contemplated including but not limited to round, triangular, square, pentagonal, octagonal and rectangular.
The bar of soap shown in this figure has a wrapper 50 that extends around the bar of soap. The wrapper 50 is placed on the bar when it is made to minimize damage to the bar in transit and identifies any unique properties of the bar of soap including but not limited to color, scent, fragrance or additives such as aloe or moisturizer. The wrapper 50 is removed when the bar of soap 20 is going to be used.
It is contemplated that the rack shown in
In another contemplated embodiment the rigid member of stick is made from roller plastic or paper that is treated to prevent deterioration from water and soap. This rolled paper of plastic can include a note, or coupons. If the rolled paper is a note the note could be standard or uniquely customized by the person giving the soap on a stick as a gift.
Thus, specific embodiments of soap on a stick have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A soap on a stick comprising:
- a bar of soap;
- at least one rigid member extends from a first side of the bar of soap to a second side of the bar of soap such that at least a portion of the rigid member extends out both the first and second side of the bar of soap, and
- the soap is suspendable axially on the at least one rigid member.
2. The soap on a stick according to claim 1 wherein the at least one rigid member is made from wood, plastic or paper.
3. The soap on a stick according to claim 1 wherein the at least one rigid member is a rolled note.
4. The soap on a stick according to claim 1 wherein the soap is scented and or colored.
5. The soap on a stick according to claim 1 wherein the cross section of the soap is round, triangular, pentagonal, octagonal, square, rectangular or elliptical.
6. The soap on a stick according to claim 1 wherein the at least one rigid member is molded, cast or pressed in or through the bar of soap.
7. The soap on a stick according to claim 1 wherein the at least one rigid member has a cross-section that is larger in a first dimension than the second dimension.
8. The soap on a stick according to claim 1 that further includes a dispenser having appendages that extend from a base structure to support the opposing ends of the rigid member.
9. The soap on a stick according to claim 8 wherein the base support structure is central dish portion that collects any dripping from the soap on a stick that is placed on the appendages that rise from opposing sides of the central dish portion.
10. The soap on a stick according to claim 8 wherein the base support structure is a wall mounting structure and the appendages extend from the wall mounting structure to allow any dripping from the soap on a stick that is placed on the appendages to fall past the wall mounting structure.
11. A soap on a stick comprising:
- a bar of soap;
- a first rigid member extends from a first side of the bar of soap
- a second rigid member extending from a second side of the bar of soap such that at least a portion of the first and second rigid members extends out both the first and second side of the bar of soap, and
- the soap is suspendable axially on the first and second rigid members.
12. The soap on a stick according to claim 11 wherein the first and the second rigid members are made from wood, plastic or paper.
13. The soap on a stick according to claim 11 wherein the soap is scented and or colored.
14. The soap on a stick according to claim 11 wherein the cross section of the soap is round, triangular, pentagonal, octagonal, square, rectangular or elliptical.
15. The soap on a stick according to claim 11 wherein the first and the second rigid members are molded, cast or pressed into the bar of soap.
16. The soap on a stick according to claim 11 wherein the first and second rigid members are molded in cast in pressed into the bar of soap.
17. The soap on a stick according to claim 11 wherein the rigid member has a cross-section that is larger in a first dimension than the second dimension.
18. The soap on a stick according to claim 11 that further includes a dispenser having appendages that extend from a base structure to support the opposing ends of the rigid members.
19. The soap on a stick according to claim 18 wherein the base support structure is central dish portion that collects any dripping from the soap on a stick that is placed on the appendages that rise from opposing sides of the central dish portion.
20. The soap on a stick according to claim 18 wherein the base support structure is a wall mounting structure and the appendages extend from the wall mounting structure to allow any dripping from the soap on a stick that is placed on the appendages to fall past the wall mounting structure.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 11, 2008
Publication Date: Aug 14, 2008
Inventor: Lisa Kay Wright (Riverside, CA)
Application Number: 12/069,379
International Classification: A47K 5/00 (20060101);