US1577861A - Soap holder - Google Patents

Description

March 23 1926. 1,577,861

- B. L. HENRY SOAP HOLDER Filed March 9v 1923 INVENTO ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 23, 1926.

UNITED sTAr s PATENT OFFICE.

BEUL A'E L. HENRY, 015 NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH T0 EDWARD B. TWOMBLY, OF SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY.

soar HOLDER.

Application 'liled March 29, 1923. Serial No. 628,672.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, BEULAH L. HENRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York. in the county of New York and State of New York. have invented neav and useful Improvements in Soap Holders, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention relates to soap holders and has for its primary object the provision of a device of this character including a soft rubber container for a cake of soap, the pores of the soft rubber container being so formed as to permit water to come in contact with the soap when the device is manipulated or sub ectcd to the action of friction and pressure during the act of forming a lather and to normally seal the soap from direct contact with the water when immersed therein, thereby permitting the device to float upon the surface of the water while holding the soap in a sealed condition in the container where it will not be unduly wasted away through direct contact with the water.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which shall be simple of construction, strong and durable, capable of being readily washed as desired and maintained in a sanitary condition.

A still further object of the invention is to provide novel means for sealing the corn tainer and for facilitating the operation of opening or closingv the same. 7

A still further object'of the invention is to provide novel means which will not be affected by water for maintaining the sponge in closed condition.

With these and other objects in View, the invention resides in certain novel construction and combination and arrangement of parts, the essential features of which are hereinafter fully described. are particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and are illustrated in the'accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the containen.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section therethrough.

Figure 3. is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of Figure 2. i

Fi re 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 but show ng a slightly modified form of the invention.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail vertical sectional view through a portion of the sponge.

In carrying the invention into practice, I use a body or container 5 of a thickness capable of permitting a cake of soap to be interposed between the walls thereof in a manner and for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. At one end the body is slit in its length as at 6 to permit the container to be opened and a cake of soap B inserted in the space C centrally of the container.

The walls of the slit 6 have respectively secured thereto in any suitable well-known I manner strips of rubber 8 and 9, the same extending for the full length of the slit and provided with tabs 9 having aligned perforations 10. These tabs are exposed from i the open side of the slit 6 and are adapted to be freely manipulated when opening the container for the insertion of the soap B. The aligned perforations 1'0 serve to permit the device to be hung from a suitable support and subjected to a drying process. The strip 9 is provided with a resilient head 11 adapted to engage in a resilient socket 12 on the strip 8. Immediately at one side of the head 11 and formed on the strip 9 is a groove 12 which extends the full width of the slit and which is adapted to receive a head 13 on the strip 8 when the walls' of the slit 6 are brought togetherto close the con,

tainer. Due to the position of the head 11 and socket 12 it will be observed that when same'are brought into fastened relation to each other the rib 13 will be brought into sealed engagement with the groove 12. This seals the slit 6 against free passage of water into the space C and acts in conjunction with the porous formation of the container to, prevent the soap B from unduly wasting away and being directly subjected to water when the container is permitted to float upon the surface thereof. Due to the porous formation of the container the latter is buoyant and should the pores of the container beof such 0 en construction as to permit the water to reely pass into the space- C, it follows that the water would always be in free contact with the son and the latter being soluble would un ul waste away. I am able to preserve the li e of the soap by sealing the slit 6 of the container and associating same with a finely porous body whose pores are calculated to only permit a sufficient supply of water to contact with the soap when the container is subjected to the action of friction.

In the modified form of my invention shown in Figure 4, the container 5 is provided with a slit 6, the walls of which are respectively associated with rubber strips 8 and 9 the latter carrying a socket 15 secured to one wall of the slit by an enameled cap 16. The other of said strips is provided with a resilient head 17 secured to the mating wall of the slit by an enameled cap 18. This form is otherwise the same as the first described embodiment of the invention.

When inserting a cake of soap in the space C the companion strips 8 and 9 are pulled apart to expand the mouth of slit 6 toa size where a cake of soap may be freely extended therethrough and firmly seated in the space C. As stated, the pores of the body 5 are of such size as to retard free passage of Water therethrough but when the container is rubbed between the hands, sufficient friction and pressure are set up to permit the water to be brought in contact with the soap so as to create the desired quantity of lather. At the requisite time the soap may be removed from the container and the latter sterilized and then dried so that it may be kept in a sanitary condition.

With further reference to the cellular formation of the container, and the sizes of the cells, whereby to prevent free passage of water into the soap space when the container is floating on a body of water, it shall be understood that I mean to construct the cells so that the atmospheric air trapped therein will be normally suflicient to obstruct the passage of water in its course to the soap space. However, when pressure is brought to bear against the walls of the container, the air is expelled from the aforesaid cells to permit the water to circulate over the soap to be agitated by the cellular formation of the container to quickly produce a lather.

l Vhile I have described what I deem to be the most desirable embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that many of the details may bevaried without in any way departing from the spirit of my invention, and I therefore do not limit myself to the exact details of construction herein set forth nor to anything less than the whole of my invention limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A soap-holder formed of cellular material having a central space bounded by the walls of the body, and a mouth opening to said space, flexible strips of impervious rubber secured to the walls of said mouth, and co-acting elements carried by said strips for holding said mouth in closed position.

2. A soap-holder formed of cellular material having a central space bounded by the walls of the body, and a mouth opening to said space, flexible strips of impervious rubber secured to the walls of said mouth, a transverse groove formed in one of said strips, a transverse rib formed on the other of said strips for co-action with said groove for sealing said mouth, and co-acting elements carried by said strips for holding said rib and the groove in sealed condition.

3. A soap-holder comprising a body of sponge rubber having a central space, and a mouth for the passage of a. cake of soap into said space. sheets of impervious rubber integrally united to said body and lining said month, said sheets being equip ed with head and socket fastening means or hold mg sald mouth closed, and havlng exposed tabs to permit the latter to be manually opened.

In testimony whereof I hereby affixed my signature.

BEULAH L. HENRY.

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