HYGIENIC TOOTHPASTE OR LOTION DISPENSER

Abstract

Articles of manufacture are disclosed for sanitary dispensing of lotion and tooth-paste. In various embodiments each lotion or toothpaste tube has at least two dispensing ports, each of which may be assigned to an individual household member. In some embodiments the dispensing ports may be stacked on top of each other or may be placed side by side or be located at different parts of the lotion or toothpaste tube. In some other embodiments the dispensing ports may be colored differently or may be different in size and/or appearance. In various embodiments the dispensing ports may be opened by unscrewing, turning, pushing, pulling, lifting, or by a combination thereof. In yet other embodiments small pumps may be used to dispense the lotion or tooth paste. According to the present disclosure, inexpensive multi-port dispensing heads may be manufactured separately for retrofitting any store-bought lotion or toothpaste tube.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates generally to personal hygiene. More specifically, this application relates to an apparatus for hygienically disposing lotion or toothpaste.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings, when considered in connection with the following description, are presented for the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected.

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a prior art toothpaste dispenser.

FIGS. 2-5 show disclosed examples of hygienic toothpaste dispensers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the present disclosure is described with reference to several illustrative embodiments described herein, it should be clear that the present disclosure should not be limited to such embodiments. Therefore, the description of the embodiments provided herein is illustrative of the present disclosure and should not limit the scope of the disclosure as claimed. In addition, while the following description often references common plastic and aluminum squeezable toothpaste tubes with screwable caps, it will be appreciated that the disclosure may include other types of lotion and toothpaste containers and dispensers. In this disclosure, only toothpaste is discussed for simplicity and the word “toothpaste” is used to represent the combination of a paste reservoir and its dispensing ports.

It is common practice for members of a household or for several roommates to apply toothpaste from a single toothpaste tube to their individual toothbrushes using a traditional toothpaste dispenser. The use of a shared toothpaste tube and multiple toothbrushes may occur several times a day, which is far from antiseptic. More particularly, it is highly likely that each brush, by virtue of harboring undesirable pathogens, transfers variety of germs to the threaded neck or collar of a dispensing tube. It is also highly likely that some of the tooth-paste itself, as a consequence of the contact of the opening of the tube collar with a contaminated toothbrush, may become contaminated. The prior art toothpaste dispensers thus contribute to possible spread of disease at least within a household.

Briefly described, articles of manufacture are disclosed for sanitary dispensing of tooth-paste. In various embodiments of this disclosure, each toothpaste tube has at least two dispensing ports/openings, each of which may be assigned to an individual household member. In some embodiments the dispensing ports may be stacked on top of each other and in other embodiments the dispensing ports may be side by side or be located at different parts of the toothpaste tube. In some other embodiments the dispensing ports may be colored differently or may be different in size and/or appearance. In various embodiments the dispensing ports may be opened by unscrewing, turning, pushing, pulling, lifting, or by a combination thereof. According to the present disclosure, inexpensive multi-port dispensing heads may be manufactured separately for retrofitting any store-bought toothpaste tube.

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a traditional toothpaste tube 100 having a squeezable body 110 and a screw-on cap 120. A typical toothpaste tube 100 also has a neck or collar 130, on which cap 120 is screwed to close the toothpaste tube. Collar 130 is in turn permanently attached around an outlet opening 140 of the squeezable body 110. To use such toothpaste tube, cap 120 is removed and body 110 is squeezed to force the tooth-paste through the outlet opening 140 and subsequently through collar 130. All users of this traditional toothpaste tube must rub their toothbrush bristles on the same dispensing opening of collar 130, which will unavoidably cause transferring of a host of germs among them.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example toothpaste 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment toothpaste 200 includes a squeezable body 210 and two side-by-side dispensing ports with screw-on caps 220 and 230. Such an example embodiment may be safely shared by two users. In some embodiments the two caps 220 and 230 may have different colors or different designs. For example cap 240 may replace cap 220 for use by a child. Caps of different designs may be sold separately for use with various embodiments of this disclosure. In various embodiments caps 220 and 230 may be replaced by small pumps to pump out the tooth-paste instead of squeezing body 210. In yet other embodiments body 210 may not even be squeezable and dispensing the tooth-paste may only be performed by mentioned pumps. It will be known to those skilled in the art that the multiple ports of toothpaste 200 may be manufactured on different locations of the squeezable body 210, such as both ends of the squeezable body 210.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example toothpaste 300 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment toothpaste 300 includes a squeezable body 310 and two stacked-up screw-on caps 320 and 330. As shown in FIG. 3, cap 320 is screwed on the collar of squeezable body 310 and cap 330 is screwed onto cap 320, which forms an alternate disposing port. Such an example embodiment may be safely shared by two users. Some embodiments may be a combination of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, wherein stacked-up caps FIG. 3 are placed on one or more collars/ports of squeezable body 210. Again, stacked-up caps of FIG. 3 may be sold separately for use with various embodiments of this disclosure and with the more traditional toothpaste tubes. It will be known to those skilled in the art that, if desired, more than one cap 320 may be used in the assembly of stacked-up caps.

FIG. 4 illustrates yet another example toothpaste 400 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment toothpaste 400 includes a squeezable body 410 and multiple screw-on caps 430 and 440, which are screwed to a dispensing port 420 of the squeezable body 410. The dispensing port 420 may itself be a non-detachable extension of the squeezable body 410 or may be screwed/attached onto a neck of the squeezable body 410. Such an example embodiment may be safely shared by multiple users depending on the number of the screw-on caps. Various embodiments may use any combination of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, wherein stacked-up caps FIG. 3 replace caps 430 and 440 and/or dispensing port 420 is placed on one or more ports of squeezable body 210. Again, dispensing port 420 and multiple screw-on caps 430 and 440 may be sold separately for use with various embodiments of this disclosure and with the more traditional toothpaste tubes. In various embodiments caps 430 and 440 may be replaced by small pumps for dispensing the tooth-paste.

FIG. 5 illustrates yet another example toothpaste 500 according to an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment toothpaste 500 includes a squeezable body 510 and a dispensing collar 520, which may be a fixed extension of the squeezable body 510 or may be attached onto the neck of the squeezable body 510. The dispensing collar 520 may have multiple dispensing ports/holes 530 and 540. Such an example embodiment may be safely shared by multiple users depending on the number of the dispensing ports. As shown in FIG. 5, tube 550, which is closed at the top, has a hole 560 on its wall, and is placed in collar 520, can be turned to align hole 560 with either of the multiple dispensing ports 530 and 540. Tube 550 may be configured to be turned around or be pushed and pulled along its axis. In various embodiments, pushing down tube 550 prevents any possible alignment of hole 560 with dispensing ports 530 and 540, and pulling up tube 550 allows the alignment of hole 560 with dispensing ports 530 and 540. Various embodiments may use any combination of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5. Again, dispensing collar 520 along with dispensing ports 530 and 540 may be sold separately for use with various embodiments of this disclosure and with the more traditional toothpaste tubes.

Changes can be made to the claimed invention in light of the above Detailed Description. While the above description details certain embodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the claimed invention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may vary considerably in its implementation details, while still being encompassed by the claimed invention disclosed herein.

Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the claimed invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above detailed description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the claimed invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the claimed invention.

The above specification, examples, and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended. It is further understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

1. A hygienic toothpaste dispenser comprising:

a paste reservoir having at least one outlet opening from which a paste may leave the reservoir; and

at least two dispensing ports attached to the outlet opening.

2. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 1, wherein at least one dispensing port has a screw-on cap or a paste pump.

3. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 1, wherein the paste reservoir is made of plastic or aluminum or a combination of both.

4. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 1, wherein the paste reservoir is squeezable or non-squeezable.

5. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 1, wherein multiple dispensing ports are attached to at least one of the outlet openings.

6. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 5, wherein the multiple dispensing ports, attached to at least one of the outlet openings, are stacked on top of each other or are separate from each other.

7. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 1, wherein at least one of the dispensing ports is closeable.

8. A toothpaste dispenser comprising:

a paste reservoir having an outlet opening;

a collar attached to the outlet opening of the paste reservoir through which a paste contained in the reservoir may leave the reservoir; and

at least two dispensing ports attached to the collar.

9. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 8, wherein the dispensing port screws to the collar.

10. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 8, wherein the paste reservoir is made of plastic or aluminum or a combination of both.

11. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 8, wherein the paste reservoir is squeezable or non-squeezable.

12. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 8, wherein each dispensing port is a different color or has a different design or both.

13. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 8, wherein the dispensing ports are stacked on top of each other.

14. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 8, wherein the dispensing ports may be in fluid communication with the reservoir one at a time.

15. A toothpaste dispenser head comprising:

a base-cap for attaching the dispenser head to a dispensing collar of a toothpaste reservoir, wherein the base-cap includes a dispensing port; and

a stacked-up cap detachably covering the dispensing ports of the base-cap, wherein the stacked-up cap may or may not have a dispensing port which is configured to be covered by another stacked-up cap with or without a dispensing port, and wherein a paste contained in the reservoir may be pushed through the collar and be dispensed from the collar and/or a desired dispenser port.

16. The toothpaste dispenser head of claim 15, wherein the base-cap of the dispenser head is detachably attached to the collar.

17. The toothpaste dispenser head of claim 15, wherein the reservoir is made of plastic or aluminum or a combination of both.

18. The toothpaste dispenser head of claim 15, wherein the reservoir is squeezable or non-squeezable.

19. The toothpaste dispenser head of claim 15, wherein the dispensing ports are stacked on top of each other.

20. The toothpaste dispenser head of claim 15, wherein the dispenser head is screwed to the collar of traditional toothpaste tubes.