GB2295398A - Soap - Google Patents

Abstract

In one embodiment a solid piece of soap (1) has a surface formed with a stepped, grooved recess (13) of sufficient size to accommodate and retain therein a separate piece of soap 5. In another embodiment a bar is assembled from a plurality of pieces (41) each having at least one surface formed with a pattern of recesses (55) between ribs or teeth (53) adapted to interfit with a complementary surface of an associated piece of soap so that the pieces will adhere together. <IMAGE>

Description

SOAP This invention relates to soap and more particularly to the construction of bars of soap.

One of the problems encountered with the usual bars of soap is that when they become too small for normal use, the remainder of the soap is usually wasted. Attempts have been made to stick the remnant to a new bar of soap but this has not usually been very successful since the two parts tend to have convex surfaces and to separate with use.

Another problem with soap is that it tends to be boring. It would be nice if the user could customise his/her soap so that the soap could be identified or have decorative patterns therein. There is no possibility of achieving this successfully at the present time since the only way to achieve this is to carry it out in the manufacture of the soap.

The present invention seeks to provide a soap in which the remnants of previous soaps can be used up and/or decorative soaps can be made.

The present invention provides a solid piece of soap having a surface formed either with a recess of sufficient size to accommodate and retain therein a separate piece of soap, or having at least one surface formed with a pattern of recesses between ribs or teeth adapted to interfit with a complementary surface of an associated piece of soap so that the pieces will adhere together.

According to a first form of the invention, there is provided a bar of soap having a recess therein shaped to receive a remnant of a previous bar so that the remnant is located substantially completely within the recess.

Preferably the recess is of rectangular shape and is located in one face of the bar.

The recess may have plan dimensions in the same proportions as the dimensions of the bar in which it is located. The sides of the recess may extend at right angles to the base and the base and/or the sides of the recess may be roughened to increase the adhesion between the material of the bar and of the remnant position therein. If desired, the roughening of the surfaces of the recess may be achieved by forming the surfaces of the recess with a pattern of grooves and ridges.

The bar may have a recess therein to receive correspondingly shaped inserts, the inserts being also made of soap and being adapted to fill the recess. The inserts may be individually complementary in dimensions to the recess, or a shape corresponding to the recess may be made up of a plurality of inserts.

The mating surfaces of the recess and/or inserts may be roughened to increase the adhesion between the inserts and the material of the bar.

This roughening may be provided by a pattern of grooves on the appropriate surfaces, and, where both the recess and the inserts are roughened, the pattern of grooves may be complimentary such that the lands between the grooves on one surface fit into the indentation of the grooves in the other surface and vice versa.

The inserts may merely be soap of a different colour or may be provided with a pattern therein1 such as letters, by means of which the user can insert different letters so as to indicate a name or other identification.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided, a bar of soap made up from a plurality of discrete elements adhered together, with the mating surfaces of the elements preferably roughened to provide adhesion.

The roughness may be provided by a pattern of ribs and grooves and or teeth and recesses, the ribs or teeth of one element mating with grooves or recesses in the other element.

The invention will now be described in greater detail by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a sectional view through a bar of soap in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, in which a remnant of a used bar is shown located in a recess therein; Figure 2 is a plan view of the bar of soap shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view through a bar of soap similar to that of Figure 1 but showing a pattern formed in the recess of a first form and in which a remnant of a used bar is shown located in the recess therein; Figure 4 is a plan view of the bar of soap shown in Figure 3 but with the soap remnant omitted so that the roughening pattern is visible; Figures 5 and 6 are views similar to Figures 3 and 4 but showing a different pattern formed in the recess;; Figures 7 and 8 are views similar to Figure 3 but showing a different pattern formed in the recess, and a bar when a remnant has been properly pushed into the recess.

Figure 9 is an exploded view of a further embodiment of the invention in which a decorative arrangement of a soap bar can be built up using a main bar and a number of inserts; Figure 10 is a perspective view of the embodiment of Figure 10 in a completed state; Figure 11 is an exploded view showing a number of parts which can be adhered together to make a soap article; Figure 12 is a side view of the assembled article of Figure 11, and Figure 13 is a plan view of a further soap article built up from a number of parts.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a bar of soap 1 in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention.

The bar of soap 1 is formed with a recess 3 which is of a suitable size to receive the remnant 5 of a previously used bar. Preferably the recess has a depth at least one quarter and preferably greater than one third the depth of the bar. For most bars it will be between 2.5 and 10mum deep.

To this end, in the embodiment shown, the recess 3 is oval in plan view and has vertical sides 7 merging into a concave bottom portion 9. As can be seen, particularly from Figure 1, the remnant 5, which is usually of a generally oval shape, sits entirely within the recess 3 with its concave base 11 being seated on the concave base 9.

In this situation, the soap remnant 5 is not immediately accessible from outside and will therefore not be encouraged to become detached from the recess 3 in use. The fact that the mating surfaces of the remnant 5 and the new bar 1 are generally complimentary enhances adhesion between the remnant 5 and the soap bar 1. By the time that the soap bar 1 has been worn sufficiently by use to expose the surface of the remnant, the remnant will be firmly adhered to the soap bar 1. It will also be noted that if the remnant 5 is of a different colour from the soap bar 1, a decorative effect will be produced as the bar is used.

It will however be appreciated that while the soap remnant 5 has been shown lying wholly within the recess 3, this is not essential to the operation of the invention. It is possible to obtain adequate adhesion even if the outer surface 13 of the remnant protrudes somewhat from the recess 3.

In order to increase the adhesion of the remnant 5 in the recess 3, it is possible to roughen the bottom and/or the sides of the recess 3.

Figures 3 and 4 show one form of roughening which could be used.

In this embodiment, the base 9 of the recess 3 is provided with a number of generally oval concentric grooves 19 which, in effect, form steps extending upwardly and outwardly from the central region 21 of the base 9 of the recess 3. It will also be seen that the grooves 19 are separated into four equal parts by a cross formation channel arrangement 23. When the remnant 5 is pushed into the recess because the soap is a fairly soft substance, the ridges dig into the sides of the soap to increase the adhesion.

A second version of the roughening can be seen in Figures 5 and 6.

Here, a number of oval concentric grooves 25 are shown1 formed in the base 9 of the recess 3 so as to form upstanding ridges or teeth. A partial vacuum may be formed as the remnant is pushed inwards, again increasing the adhesion.

A third form of roughening can be seen from Figure 7 and 8. Here the grooves 27 are formed so that upstanding ridges or teeth are formed with sharp edges for penetrating, in use, into the material of the remnant 5, as seen in Figure 8.

Particularly with the roughening patterns, adhesion is increased by the expulsion of air between the engaged surfaces so that atmospheric pressure acts on the soap bar and remnant in the sense of pushing them together. With wet assembly of the remnant to the soap bar, the water present will displace the air, particularly from the grooves 19. With dry assembly, a capillary action will take place on first use, expelling the air and achieving the same result as with wet assembly. Water trapped in pockets, for example, those provided by the grooves, will be absorbed by the soap softening it and increasing adhesion.

Figures 9 and 10 show an arrangement in accordance with the invention for providing a decorative finish to a soap bar 1. In this embodiment, the soap bar is, as previously, formed with a recess 3. This time, however, instead of the recess being intended to receive a soap remnant, it is intended to receive one or more inserts 31 intended to provide a decorative effect.

In the particular example shown, the recess 3 is adapted to receive three inserts 31 which are each provided with letters of the alphabet. As shown, these comprise two letter "M"'s and a letter "U" spelling the word "MUM". Other combinations of letters could be used to produce other words such as "DAD", "TOM" etc.

Suitably the letters are formed of a different colour to the rest of the insert 31 and extend throughout the insert, in the manner of letters in a stick of rock, so that the letters continue to be visible during extended wear of the soap bar 1.

Although three letters have been shown, it will be understood that a larger number of letters could be used so as to enable longer words to be used. Instead of letters other decorative inserts could be provided such as representations of animals, birds, cars, trains or other objects.

Alternatively, the inserts might have patterns formed in them. Single inserts representing any desired effect could be used. The inserts could also be purely plain colours.

It is intended that, when purchasing soaps of this nature, the sales point would stock the basis soap bars with the recess and a number of inserts which can be chosen by the purchaser. Thus the purchaser would buy a basic bar and select the inserts to make up the pattern he or she required from the large selection available.

Figures 11 and 12 show an embodiment of a second aspect of the invention in which a bar 1 of soap is made up of a number of discrete parts 41.

In the particular embodiment shown, a bullet shaped soap bar 1 is made up of four discrete parts 41. In the case shown, two slightly different end parts 43 and 45 are assembled to two identically shaped intermediate parts 47. The intermediate parts 47 each comprise cylindrical elements having opposite circular faces 49 and 51 of complementary design in order to enable the elements to be adhered to adjacent elements. To this end, the face 49is of male form and comprises a plurality of pyramidal teeth 53. The face 51 is provided with corresponding pyramidal indentations 55 which cooperate with the pyramidal teeth 53 of the face 49 of the adjacent element.

The two end parts 43 and 45 are of the same general shape (as shown) half egg shaped. The difference lies in their surfaces intended to mate with the intermediate parts 47. To this end, the part 43 is provided with a face 51 pyramidal indentations 55 while the part 45 is provided with a face 49 with pyramidal teeth 53.

To assemble the soap, the discrete parts 41 are merely moistened and pressed together. Suitably the parts are of different colours so as to make up a decorative effect. Although two intermediate parts 47, this number may be varied as desired. For example, the made up version of Figure 12 shows three intermediate parts 47.

Figure 13 shows a more ambitious decorative soap which, in this instance, is in the form of the American flag.

To this end it comprises two end parts 61 and 63, a star part 65, a number of short rectangles 67 and a number of long rectangles 69. All of these parts have mating faces with complementary teeth and indentations as described in connection with Figures 11 and 12.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the above described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the roughening of the recess or soap elements may take any desired pattern other than those specifically shown and described herein.

The recesses may be of any suitable shape and could, for example, be square, rectangular or circular. In the insert embodiment, while the inserts and recesses have been shown as smooth, patterns of roughening may be used in the recesses and/or on the inserts. Where roughening is provided on both the recesses and the inserts, they may have a complimentary form so that, for example, projections on the recess mate indentations on the inserts or vice versa.

In the second aspect of the invention, the discrete parts may take any desired form and may be so provided that a number of different soap shapes could be made up from sets of differently shaped elements.

Thus for example, if an animal shape were to be desired, a standard body could be fitted with different head, legs etc to provide different animals.

Claims (15)

1. A solid piece of soap having a surface formed either with a recess of sufficient size to accommodate and retain therein a separate piece of soap, or having at least one surface formed with a pattern of recesses between ribs or teeth adapted to interfit with a complementary surface of an associated piece of soap so that the pieces will adhere together.

2. A bar of soap according to Claim 1 in which a recess is formed of a size such as to accommodate and retain substantially wholly therewithin a remnant of a previous bar.

3. A bar according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the base of the recess is concave.

4. A bar according to any of Claims 1 to 3 in which the recess is rectangular and opens to a major face of the bar.

5. A bar according to any of Claims 1 to 4 in which the base and/or sides of the recess are roughened.

6. A bar according to Claim 5 in which the base of the recess is formed with a pattern of ridges adapted to dig into a remnant of a previous bar pushed thereinto.

7. A bar according to Claim 6 in which the base of the recess is formed with a pattern of substantially annular grooves and lands.

8. A bar according to any of Claims 1 to 5 in combination with one or more separate pieces of soap shaped and sized to be accommodated in the recess either singly or side-by-side so as to substantially fill the recess.

9. A bar according to Claim 8 in which the separate pieces have a pattern extending therethrough or are of different colours from the bar to form a pattern therewith.

10. A bar according to Claim 9 in which the separate pieces have letters extending therethrough so that a plurality of pieces inserted in the recess form a word.

11. A bar of soap formed from a plurality of pieces, one or more of the pieces being wholly accommodated within a recess in another of the pieces.

12. A plurality of pieces of soap for forming a bar of soap, each of the pieces having one or more surfaces formed with a plurality of grooves or recesses between ribs or teeth and adapted to interengage with a complementary surface of an associated piece, so that the pieces will adhere together, the pieces being of different colours and/or shapes so that a resulting bar is patterned.

13. Pieces of soap according to Claim 12 in which the pieces are adapted to be adhered together as a push-fit.

14. A bar of soap formed from pieces according to Claim 12 or Claim 13.

15. A bar of soap or pieces for forming such a bar substantially as described herein with reference to or as illustrated in any of the accompanying drawings.