GB2180221A - A container for cleaning pads and cleaning cloths - Google Patents

Abstract

A container (2) for cleaning pads (4) and cleaning cloths comprises a body (6) and a lid (8), the body (6) being for holding a stock of new cleaning pads or cleaning cloths, the lid (8) being made of a plastics material, and the lid (8) having a shape that enables the lid (8) to locate a used pad or cloth until that pad is required to be re-used and to collect water coming from the used pad or cloth. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A container for cleaning pads and cleaning cloths This invention relates to a containerforcleaning pads and cleaning cloths.

Cleaning pads and cleaning cloths are much used in domestic situations, for example in kitchens and bathrooms. The cleaning pads may be wire wool cleaning pads. Alternatively, the cleaning pads may be sponge cleaning pads. With sponge cleaning pads, one surface of the sponge is often provided with a layer of an abrasive material. A still further alternativetypeofcleaning pad isa plasticnetclean ing pad in which the net is formed into a discorpad.

The cleaning pads are sometimes provided with their own cleaning material and soap filled wire wool cleaning pads are extremely well known and have been used for many years. The cleaning cloths are usually sponge cleaning cloths.

The cleaning pads and the cleaning cloths are designed to be reused. After each use, the used pad or cloth is wet and although some of the water can be removed, much water remains in the used pad or cloth. Those cleaning pads that contain their own soap are particularly messy after use. It is notecon omical to th row the pads and cloths away after each use and, as mentioned above, they are in fact designed for reuse. A problem thus occurs in storing the used wet pads and cloths until they are again needed.

Many ofthe pads and cloths are sold in cardboard containers and these cardboard containers become soggy and tend to fall apart if wet pads and cloths are stored in them. If wet pads or cloths are left inside sinks and cupboards, they tend to disfigure the inside ofthesinkorcupboard and may cause removal of paint and swelling of wood. Wet pads and cloths left on top of wooden work surfaces may similarly cause discolouration and damagetothewood,whilstwet padsand cloths left on stainless steel orceramic work surfaces tend to look generally untidy and usually tend to leave a dirtywatermarkwhichsubsequ- ently needs removing.

It is an aim of the present invention to obviate or reduce the above mentioned problem buy a particularlysimpleandelegantsolution.

Accordingly, this invention provides a container forcleaning pads and cleaning cloths,which con tainercomprisesa body and a lid, the body being for holding a stock of new cleaning padsorcleaning cloths, the lid being made of a plastics material, and the lid having a shapethat enables the lid to locate a used pad or cloth until that pad is required to be reused and to collect water coming from the used pad orcloth.

Although empty containers may be sold forfilling with separately purchased cleaning pads and cleaning cloths, it is envisaged that the container of the present invention will be sold with the cleaning pads or cleaning cloths. Thus a person purchasing a pack of cleaning pads or cleaning cloths will automaticaily have in the lid ofthe container an appropriate place to store used wet pads or cloths until such time as they are required for reuse.

Preferably, the lid is a friction fit over the body.

Other types of fitting lid may however be employed.

Where the lid is a friction fit over the body, the lid will usually have a peripheral upstanding lip where it fits over the body.

The lid is preferably provided with a depression of such a size that will locate all or mostofthe used pad orcloth.

Preferably, the depression is centrally positioned in the lid. There will usually only be one singledepression in each lid.

The lid is advantageously made of a transparent plastics material so that a purchaser can see inside the container, and so can see the cleaning pads or cleaning cloths. The person can thus see how many cleaning pads or cleaning cloths are initially purchased and the person can also see how many pads or cloths are left afterthe container has been opened and some of the pads or cloths have been used. Obviously, if desired, the lid can be made of an opaque material.

The body of the container is preferably made of a plastics material although it may be made of another type of material, for example cardboard, if desired.

The plastics material for the body is preferably an opaque plastics material although it may beatrans- parent plastics material if desired. The opaque plastics material tends to provide a good background for printed matteron the outside ofthe body,forex- ample the name of the cleaning pads or cleaning cloths, the maker and how the pads or cloths should be used.

A presently preferred transparent plastics material is polyvinyl chloride. A presently preferred opaque plastics material which may be produced to a white colour is polystyrene.

The body may be provided with at least one panel for receiving information such for example as the above mentioned name ofthe cleaning pads or cleaning cloths, the maker and howthe pads or cloths are to be used. There may be two panels, situated one on opposing sides of the body.

The body may be provided with strengthening ribs.

When the body and the lid are both made of plastics material, then they may be moulded to shape, for example by vacuum forming.

The container may be produced in various sizes, for example in small, medium and large sizes.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure lisa perspective view of a first container; and Figure2 is a perspective view of a second container.

Referring to Figure 1,there is shown a container2 for soap filled wire wool cleaning pads 4.

The container 2 comprises a body 6 and a lid 8. The body 6 holds a stock of new cleaning pads 4and, more specifically, the body 6 holds two stacks of five pads 4 so that the body 6 contains ten pads 4 in total.

The lid 8 is made of a transparent plastics material so that the pads 4 in the body 6 can be seen. The lid 8 has an upstanding peripheral lip 10whichfitsovera corresponding upstanding peripheral lip 12 atthe top ofthe body 6. The co-operating lips 10,12 enable the lid 8 to be a totally removable lid which is a friction fit on the body 6.

Aflange 14isformed as part of the lid 8 andthe flange 14 extends outwardlyfrom the lip 10.The flange 14 assists a user in gripping the lid 8to force the lips 10,12 apart and to thus force the lid 8 off the body 6.

The lid 8 is provided with a single central depression 16 which is of approximatelythe size ofone of the pads 4so that a used and wet pad 4 can be located in the depression 16. The used pad 4wiil always be ready for immediate reuse and any water coming from the used pad 4 can collect in the bottom ofthe depression 16. The lid 8 can still be in place on the body 6 thatthe unused pads 4 are still kept clean and protected in the container 2. Any dirt accumulat ing in the bottom ofthe depression 16, for example from soapy water coming from the used pad 4 can simply be removed by rinsing the lid 8 under running water. During this rinsing,the lid 8 can be removed from the body 6 orthe lid 8 can be left in position on the body 6.The plastics material of the lid 8 ensures thatthe rinsing can easily be effected and it also en sures that water coming from a used pad 4 in the dep ression 16will not do any damage, as would bethe case if the lid 8was made of cardboard orwood.

It will be seen that the body 6 is basically re ctangular in shape. The sides ofthe body 6 all slope slightly inwardly so thatthetop of the body 6 is larger than its base. This facilitates loading ofthe pads 4 into the body 6 and their subsequent removal. The sides ofthe body 6 are also provided with strength ening ribs 18 as shown. All ofthe sides ofthe body 6 are preferably provided with the strengthening ribs.

The illustrated front wall 20 of the body 6 is prov ided with a flat panel 22 for receiving printed matter, for example in the form of a sticky label, for giving appropriate information aboutthe pads 4 such for ex ample the name under which the pads 4 are sold, the maker, information on howthe pads 4 are to be used, and the numberof pads inthe container 2. The op- posite rearwall 24 of the body 6 is provided with a similar panel (notshown).

The body 6 has a flat base so that it sits firmly on any desired surface, for example in a kitchen cup board or in a sink unit.

Referring nowto Figure 2,there is shown another container 2 which is basically similar in construction to the container 2 shown in Figure 1 except that it is for containing a single stack of five pads 4 instead of two stacks offive pads 4. Because the lid 2 of Figure 2 is of an opaque material, it can be more easily seen thatthe complementary lips 10 and 12 comprise atop flat portion 26 and a downwardly sloping wall por tion 28.

It isto be appreciated that the embodiments ofthe invention described above have been given byway of example only and that modifications may be effec ted. Thus, for example the body 6 may be of a dif ferent shape than is shown so that it may be, for ex ample, circular. Also, the containers 2 can be des igned for cleaning cloths instead of cleaning pads. It is envisaged thatthe cleaning pads or cleaning cloths will be sold in the containers as a single package but empty containers can be soldfor use with separately purchased cleaning pads or cleaning cloths. The body 6 is made of an opaque plastics material but it could be made of a transparent plastics material if desired. The empty containers have other uses, for example as microwave cooking dishes, as handy storage cannisters, as see-through freezer con tainers, and greenhouse seed trays.

Claims (14)

1. A container for cleaning pads and cleaning cloths, which container comprises a body and a lid, the body being for holding a stock of new cleaning pads or cleaning cloths, the lid being made of a plastics material, and the lid having a shape that enables the lid to locate a used pad or cloth until that pad is required to be re-used and to collect water coming from the used pad or cloth.

2. A container according to Claim 1 in which the lid is a friction fit overthe body.

3. A container according to Claim 2 in which the lid has a peripheral upstanding lip where it fits over the body.

4. A container according to any one ofthe preceding Claims in which the lid is provided with a depression of such a size that it will locate all or most ofthe used pad or cloth.

5. A container according to Claim 4 in which the depression is centrally positioned in the lid.

6. A container according to Claim 4 or Claim 5 in which there is only one single depression in the lid.

7. A container according to any one ofthe preceding Claims in which the lid is made of a transparent plastics material.

8. A container according to any one of the preceding Claims in which the body of the container is made of a plastics material.

9. A container according to Claim 8 in which the plastics material is an opaque plastics material.

10. A container according to any one of the pre- ceding Claims in which the body is provided with at least one panel for receiving information.

11. A container according to Claim 10 in which the body is provided with at leasttwo panels for receiving information, the panels being situated one on opposing sides of the body.

12. A container according to any one of the preceding Claims in which the body is provided with strengthening ribs.

13. A container according to any one of the preceding Claims and including the cleaning pads orthe cleaning cloths.

14. A container for cleaning pads and cleaning cloths, substantially as herein described with refer ence to the accompanying drawings.