Toothpaste Container Having Multiple Outlets And Air Vents
A toothpaste container having multiple outlets is provided. The toothpaste container includes a toothpaste tube, at least two heads distributed on the toothpaste tube, and at least two caps correspondingly provided to the heads. Each head has an outlet allowing the toothpaste contained in the toothpaste tube to be extruded therefrom. At least one air vent is configured at the toothpaste tube near the head. The caps are assigned with different colors or symbols, so that they can be conveniently identified by their hosts. As such, each family member has his own outlet, from which the toothpaste can be extruded. Therefore, cross infection of oral disease among family members can be avoided. Further, the present invention allows a plurality of persons to in common use one toothpaste tube while remaining individuals being well protected. Moreover, the present invention also saves the space in toilet which would have been often occupied by many toothpaste tubes.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a toothpaste container, and more particularly, to a toothpaste tube having a plurality of outlets and air vents.
2. The Prior Arts
Typically, one person is suggested to brush his teeth for two or more times every day. However, when extruding the toothpaste to the toothbrush, the toothbrush often unintentionally touches the outlet of the head 12. This increases the risk of bacteria breeding at the outlet of the head 12, or even may cause a cross infection of oral disease among people who use the toothpaste container in common.
As a solution, people may select to prepare a particular toothpaste tube for his own use only. However, even though toothpaste is not expansive, when every member of a family has his own toothpaste tube in the toilet, the total toothpastes may occupy much space. Further, when considering environment protection issues, everyone having his own toothpaste generates more rubbish. Furthermore, many discarded toothpastes are not completely used up, and they often become breeding places of bacteria and thus broadcasting communicable disease.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, a primary objective of the present invention is to provide a solution for the problem of bacteria breeding and cross infection of oral disease caused by more than one person sharing a toothpaste tube. In addition, when each family member has his own toothpaste, the toothpastes occupy too much space in the toilet, and when they are discarded, they further cause environmental problems. As such, the present invention is also directed to provide a solution addressing to both of the hygiene and environmental issues.
The present invention provides a toothpaste tube configured with two or more heads, each of the heads having an outlet. Each of the heads is provided with a cap for matching therewith. Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the cap is configured with a top opening, and includes a top lid adapted for sealing the top opening. The top lid includes a fixed end fixed to the cap and a free end. Preferably, each of the caps is specifically designed to be distinguishable from others. For example, the caps are assigned with different colors or numbers, so as to allow family members to conveniently identify their own caps. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the multiple heads and the corresponding caps are configured at one end of the toothpaste tube. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the multiple heads and corresponding caps can also be allocated at two ends of the toothpaste tube. In other words, each of the two ends of the toothpaste tube is allocated with at least one head, and then the heads are provided with caps of different colors or numbers.
Furthermore, the toothpaste tube of the present invention is configured with at least one air vent near the head for preventing the backflow of the toothpaste. Generally, when the toothpaste tube is squeezed by the user, the pressure inside the toothpaste tube is greater than the outside air pressure, and therefore the outside air is prevented from entering the toothpaste tube from the air vent, i.e., the air vent is locked. When the user stops squeezing the toothpaste tube, the toothpaste tube intends to recover its previous form, thus causing a negative pressure inside the toothpaste tube. In this case, outside air can be inhaled from the air vent, so as to prevent the backflow of the toothpaste from the outlet.
Comparing with the conventional arts, the toothpaste tube of the present invention allows different members to extrude the toothpaste from their own outlets. Since every member has his own outlet for extruding the toothpaste, cross infection of oral disease caused by sharing one toothpaste tube can be avoided. Further, the present invention advantageously avoids the waste of toothpaste caused by everyone having one toothpaste tube.
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Preferably, each of the caps 21 or 21A is specifically designed to be distinguishable from others. For example, the caps are assigned with different colors or numbers, so as to allow family members to conveniently identify their own caps 21 or 21A and the corresponding outlets 220.
In accordance with the structures illustrated by
Recently, environment protection has been now much more concerned about. Generally, people usually incline to use degradable material in production, and put more effort on reducing the quantity of garbage. Accordingly, the present invention allows a plurality of persons to in common use one toothpaste tube while remaining individuals being well protected. By the way, the present invention also saves the space in toilet which would have been often occupied by many toothpaste tubes.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A toothpaste container having multiple outlets, comprising:
- a toothpaste tube, adapted for containing toothpaste therein;
- at least two heads, each head having an outlet and communicating to the inside of the toothpaste tube, wherein the toothpaste is allowed to be extruded out from each head;
- at least two caps, correspondingly provided to the at least two heads, wherein each cap is adapted for locking a head for sealing the outlet of the head.
2. The toothpaste container according to claim 1, wherein the heads are distributed at one end of the toothpaste tube.
3. The toothpaste container according to claim 1, wherein the heads are distributed at two ends of the toothpaste tube.
4. The toothpaste container according to claim 1, wherein the toothpaste tube is configured with at least one air vent.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 7, 2009
Publication Date: Feb 10, 2011
Inventor: Shan-Le Shih (Wugu Township)
Application Number: 12/537,255
International Classification: B65D 35/44 (20060101);