Patent ID: 6256388
Filing Date: 2001-07-03
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
A sanitizing device for a telephone handset having a mouthpiece and an earpiece, said device comprising a pair of receptacles, each of said receptacles having a perimetrical wall and an internal transverse partition wall, said perimetrical wall having an opening at a first end for receivably surrounding the mouthpiece or the earpiece and said partition wall having an aperture in which is mounted a nut with at least one finger and a shaft with at least one spiraled groove in which said finger freely slides, said shaft having first and second ends, a stop on the first end of the shaft for preventing removal of the shaft from the nut and a plate mounted on the second end of the shaft for rotation with the shaft, said plate adapted to engage an outer surface of the mouthpiece or the earpiece, a spring between the nut and the second end of the shaft for biasing the shaft towards contact between the stop and the nut,whereby, from a starting position, when the mouthpiece and the earpiece are inserted into the first end of the receptacles and pressed against the plates, the springs compress and the shafts retract in the nuts, rotating the plates against the outer surface of the mouthpiece and the earpiece, and then when the mouthpiece and the earpiece are removed from the plates, the springs expand and the shafts extend back into starting position.