Soap holder

Abstract

 The invention relates to a soap holder which can be actuated to discharge a bar of soap into the palm of a user's hand. Thus the user does not have to pick up the soap with his fingers and therefore the likelihood of soap becoming embedded under his nails is lessened.
In one embodiment, the soap holder (1) comprises a tray-like member (2) for holding a bar of soap and from which the soap is discharged into the palm of a user's hand by actuating a manually-operated member (14) connected to a push member (15). The manually-operated member is located below the tray-like member and is pivotally supported from above the tray-like member so that it can be pulled forward to cause the push member (15) to push the soap off the tray.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to soap holders which are used to hold bars of soap adjacent wash basins and, more particularly, to a soap holder which can be actuated, when desired, in order to dispense or discharge the bar of soap into the hand of the user.

[0002] Hitherto, soap holders have typically comprised a tray, dish or similar receptacle for retaining a bar of soap in a desired position. When a user picks up a bar of soap from such a receptacle it often occurs that the persons finger nails, particularly when the person has long nails, dig into the soap, with the result that soap is lodged under the nails or even breaks long nails. This is at least inconvenient and the soap can be difficult to remove..

[0003] An object of the present invention is to provide a soap holder which overcomes or alleviates the above-mentioned problems.

[0004] To this end, the invention consists in a soap holder comprising a tray-like member for holding a bar of soap, and an actuatable member disposed below the tray-like member and connected to means which causes the discharge of the soap from the tray-like member when the actuatable member is actuated, whereby upon actuation of the actuatable member the soap is'discharged into the palm of a user's hand. Hence, a user does not have to use his or her fingers to pick up the bar of soap and thus the problems mentioned above are avoided.

[0005] Conveniently, the actuatable member is a hand-operated member. The hand-operated member may be connected to a push member, such as a flat bar or the like, arranged to push the soap off the tray-like member when the hand-operated member is actuated.

[0006] The hand-operated member and push member may be pivotally mounted on a common, substantially horizontal axis. In one embodiment, the hand-operated member and push member are supported by means pivotally mounted on the holder above the tray-like member, whereby the hand-operated member can be pulled by the fingers of a person's hand to cause the push member to push the soap off the tray-like member and into the palm of the hand.

[0007] The soap holder may be adapted to facilitate securing to a wall above a basin.

[0008] In order that the present invention may be more readily understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of soap holder according to the invention, and

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the holder of Figure 1 taken on the line II-II.

[0009] Referring to the drawings, a soap holder 1 comprises a tray-like member 2 which extends forwardly from a rear wall 3 of the holder. The tray-like member 2 has a base 4 for locating a bar of soap 5;an open front 2a, and side walls 6, 7. Lugs 8, 9 project forwardly from opposite sides of the rear wall at the upper end thereof. Vertically extending support arms 10, 11 are mounted on the lugs 8, 9 to pivot about a horizontal axis 12 by means of pivot pins 13.

[0010] The support arms 10, 11 extend down past the outsides of the opposite side walls 6, 7 of the tray-like member. A flat hand-operated member 14 extends between the lower ends of the support arms 10, 11 so as to be located below the tray-like member, and a flat push member 15 extends between the support arms at a region just above the base 4 of the tray-like member. The push member 15 includes transverse recesses or cut-out portions 16 at its opposite ends to accommodate the side walls 6, of the tray-like member.

[0011] The push member 15 extends between the rear edges of the support arms 10, 11 and in its rest or inoperative position is located adjacent the front surface of the rear wall 3 of the tray-like member. The hand-operated member 14 extends between the front edges of the support arms and is thus located both below and in front of the push member 15.

[0012] The base 4 of the tray-like member is generally of concave form and slopes downwardly from the open front 2a towards the rear wall 3. This construction prevents the bar of soap accidently slipping off the front. A pair of ridges 17 extending parallel to the side walls 6, 7 are provided in the base 4 of the tray-like member for supporting the bar of soap 5. Drain apertures 18 are provided in the base towards the rear of the tray-like member so that residual water off of the soap can drain from the tray-like member. A curved wall 23 extends across the underside of the tray-like member 2 between the support arms 10,11 and depends from the front of the apertures 18 such that water passing through the apertures can drain down the convex rear surface of the wall 23. Thus the tray-like member is self-draining.

[0013] In use, the soap holder 1 is mounted on a wall 19 above a wash basin (not shown) by means of a batten or the like 20 which is secured to the wall by screws22 and has an upper projection 21 over which the rear wall 3 is hooked. when the bar of soap 5 is to be used, a person engages the back of the hand-operated member 14 with the fingers of one hand, with the palm facing up, and pulls the hand-operated member forward. This causes the support arms 10,11 to pivot about the horizontal pivot axis 12 and the push member 15 to be moved forwardly and push the soap off the front of the tray-like member 2 into the palm of the user's hand.

[0014] The support arms may return to theii initial vertical positions under the action of gravity or, alternatively, they may be returned manually.

[0015] Whilst a particular embodiment of the invention has been described, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A soap holder characterised by a tray-like member (2) for holding a bar of soap (5), and an actuatable member (14) disposed below the tray-like member (2) and connected to means (15) which causes the discharge of the soap (5) from the tray-like member (2) when the aatuatatable member (14) is actuated, whereby upon actuation of the actuatable member (14) the soap ( 5) is discharged into the palm of a user's hand.

2. A soap holder as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the actuatable member (14) is a hand-operated member.

3. A soap holder as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the hand-operated member (14) is connected to a push member (15) which is arranged to push the soap (5) off the tray-like member (2) when the hand-operated member is actuated.

4. A soap holder as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the hand-operated member (14) and the push member (15) are pivotally mounted on a common, substantially horizontal axis (12).

5. A soap holder as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that the band-operated member (14) and push member (15) are supported by means (10,11) pivotally mounted on the holder above the tray-like member (2), whereby the hand-operated member (14) can be pulled by the fingers of a person's hand to cause the push member (15) to push the soap (5) off the tray-like member (2) and into the palm of the hand.

6. A soap holder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the tray-like member (2) slopes downwardly from the front edge towards the rear of the tray-like member.

7. A soap holder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the tray-like member (2) is provided with one or more apertures (18) which allow water to drain from the base (4) of the tray-like member.

8. A soap holder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that means (20,21) are provided for mounting the holder on a wall.

Drawing