WO1996014390A1

WO1996014390A1 - Soap

Info

Publication number: WO1996014390A1
Application number: PCT/GB1995/002574
Authority: WO
Inventors: Demetrios Georgiades
Original assignee: Demetrios Georgiades
Priority date: 1994-11-04
Filing date: 1995-11-01
Publication date: 1996-05-17
Also published as: GB9422302D0; AU3810595A

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.

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 therein , 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 10mm 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

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 shown , 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^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 49 is 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

1 . A solid piece of soap (1 ) characterised by having a surface formed

either with a recess (3) of sufficient size to accommodate and retain

therein a separate piece of soap (5) , or having at least one surface

(49,51 ) 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.

2. A bar of soap according to Claim 1 characterised in that a recess (3)

is formed of a size such as to accommodate and retain substantially

wholly therewithin a remnant (5) of a previous bar.

3. A bar according to Claim 2 characterised in that the recess (3) has a depth at least one quarter of the depth of the bar (1 ) .

4. A bar according Claim 2 characterised in that the recess (3) has a

depth in the range 2.15 to 10 mm . 13

5. A bar according to any of Claims 1 to 4 characterised in that the base

and/or sides of the recess (3) are roughened .

6. A bar according to any of claims 1 to 4 characterised in that 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 any of claims 1 to 4 characterised in that the base

of the recess is formed with a pattern of substantially annular

grooves and lands.

8. A bar according to Claim 1 in combination with one or more separate

pieces of soap (31 ) characterised in that the pieces are shaped and

sized to be accommodated in the recess (3) either singly or side-by-

side so as to substantially fill the recess.

9. A bar according to Claim 8 characterised in that the separate pieces

(31 ) 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 characterised in that the separate pieces

(31 ) have letters extending therethrough so that a plurality of

pieces (31 ) inserted in the recess (3) form a word .

11 . A bar of soap formed from a plurality of pieces, (1 ,5) characterised

in that one or more of the pieces (5) is wholly accommodated within

a recess (3) in another of the pieces (1 ) .

12. A plurality of pieces (41 ) of soap for forming a bar of soap,

characterised in that each of the pieces has one or more surfaces

(49,51 ) formed with a plurality of grooves or recesses (55) between

ribs or teeth (53) 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.