Abstract:
We provide a sink drain air freshener container that is generally used with sink cover or a sink strainer/stopper. The air freshener container contains a plastic-based air freshener that emits the fragrance for at least 20 days after being unwrapped and placed in use in a sink. The air freshener container has perforations to enable the container to be drained. The strainer/stopper is preferably made of disposable plastic and the container is preferably part of the top portion of the strainer/stopper stem that is used in conjunction with the strainer/stopper perforated basket.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to an air freshener sink strainer/stopper and/or an air freshener strainer/stopper container.  
       DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART  
       [0002]     Presently sinks are deodorized by using a liquid air freshener that is applied by the user, or using a regular kitchen type air freshener or using a deodorant or air freshening ring that is generally connected the drain opening such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,193.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The present invention provides a sink drain air freshener container being able to be connected to a sink drain-cover or a strainer/stopper and the container has spaced walls defining an air freshener chamber and at least one of the walls has perforations.  
         [0004]     The present invention further provides a sink drain air freshener container being able to be connected to a sink drain-cover or a strainer/stopper and the container is a perforated container and is sized to hold therein a shaped plastic-based air freshener that emits a fragrance for at least 20 days of use.  
         [0005]     The present invention further provides for the ornamental design of the sink strainer/stopper and the air freshener strainer/stopper container as herein shown and defined.  
         [0006]     The present invention further provides a sink strainer/stopper having a perforated basket and a strainer/stopper stem having an air freshener container at its upper end, the air freshener container having spaced upper and lower walls and a surrounding side wall defining and an air freshener chamber, a non-liquid plastic-based air freshener in said chamber, and at least one of the walls of the air freshener chamber is perforated.  
         [0007]     The present invention still further provides a plastic air freshener sink strainer/stopper having a perforated basket, the perforated basket having a planar bottom wall, a side wall, a rounded wall joining the bottom wall and side wall, an outwardly extending lip at the opening of the basket, a stem guide extending upwardly from the center of the inner surface of the basket bottom wall, the stem guide has a central hole with a pair of diametrically opposed slots, the hole with its slots passes through the bottom wall, the guide also has diametrically opposed grooves which have groove bottom walls which are spaced above the bottom wall inner surface, a cylindrical stem having an appropriate length to raise and lower a sealing stopper in and out of a closing position, the stem having a handle that is attached to one end which is positioned in the basket inner surface above the inner surface of the bottom wall, a stopper holder to removably attach a stopper to the other end of the stem, the stopper and stem other end being positioned below the basket bottom wall, the stem handle is a cylindrical container having a scalloped side wall, a bottom wall centrally attached to the stem and having a plurality of radial extending slots, a cylindrical top wall closing the container and defining an air freshener chamber, the top wall having a plurality of radial extending slots, a flexible plastic-based cylindrical air freshener in said air freshener chamber, the stem having a pair of diametrically opposed ribs extending a predetermined distance from the bottom of the air freshener container to above the stopper and being sized to pass through the hole when the ribs are aligned with the hole slots and not to pass through the hole when they are not aligned, and said ribs being sized to fit into the guide grooves to hold the stopper in an open position. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of the strainer of the present invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a side perspective view of the stem of the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a side rear top perspective view of the stem of the present invention with the container cover separated.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a front view of the stem of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a front side perspective view of the stem of  FIG. 2  with the container cover removed.  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a front side perspective view of the stem of  FIG. 5  with the air freshener removed.  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is a top view of the container cover shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is a bottom perspective view of the container cover.  
         [0017]      FIG. 9  is a top perspective view of the sink strainer of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 10  is a bottom perspective view of the sink strainer of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 11  is a side perspective view of the sink strainer of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 12  is a top perspective view of the strainer basket of the strainer of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0021]      FIG. 13  is a bottom perspective view of the strainer basket of the strainer of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0022]      FIG. 14  is a top perspective of the air freshener of  FIG. 5 .  
         [0023]      FIG. 15  is side view of an alternative strainer/stopper stem. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0024]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 7 , the preferred embodiment is a sink strainer/stopper  20 , having a vertically movable container/handle  21  that is used to open and close the strainer.  
         [0025]     The container/handle  21  is a cylindrical container having a cylindrical top wall or cover  22 . The cover  22  has a plurality radial extending slots  23 . Preferably there are at least five slots  23  and the slots are equidistant from each other at their base  24 .  
         [0026]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 8 , the cover has an attachment rod  26  centrally extending from the inner surface  27  of the cover  22 . The cover has a side  28  that has a scalloped configuration. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the container bottom wall  29  is cylindrical and likewise has a plurality of radial extending slots  31 . Preferably, there are at least five slots and the slots are equidistant from each other at their base  32 . The container side wall  33  extends upwardly from the bottom wall  29  a predetermined distance. The side wall  33  has a scalloped configuration. A tubular extension  34  extends from the inner surface  35  of the bottom wall  29 . The tubular extension  34  has a length substantially equal to the inner width of side wall  32 . The attachment rod  26  has a diameter that allows the attachment rod to be press fitted into the tubular extension which extends a predetermined distance into the stem tubular body  36  and is preferably fixedly attached, i.e., by an appropriate adhesive.  
         [0027]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the container/handle  21  is attached to one end of the stem  36 . The other end  38  of the stem has a holding mechanism to hold a sealing sink stopper. The sink stopper is preferably a non-odorous rubber or synthetic rubber. This is to prevent any odor from the stopper interfering with the pleasant fragrance of the scented sink strainer/stopper. The holding mechanism consists of a small circumferential ridge spaced from the other end  38  and has a removable bottom cap  39  to hold the sealing stopper on the other end of the stem. The bottom cap  39  has a central rod extension  42  that is press fitted into the stem to prevent the sealing stopper from falling off the stem.  
         [0028]     The strainer/stopper stem has a pair of diametrically spaced ribs  43  that extend along the stem preferably from at or close to the outer surface of the bottom wall  29  a predetermined distance from. The ribs are one of the means that allow the sealing stopper to be in an open or closed position.  
         [0029]     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 5 , the air freshener  50  is preferably the shape of the container  21  and in this instance is a disk having a central hole  51  that allows the air freshener to surround the extension  34  and snuggly fit into the container. The width of the air freshener is substantially equal to the inner width of the container side wall  33 .  
         [0030]     The above stem, air freshener container and end caps are preferably made of molded plastic but if desired can be made from metal which is more expensive or can be a combination of metal and plastic. Also, the configuration of the cover and bottom wall may be reversed i.e. the cover would have side walls and be shaped as an open container and the bottom wall would be disk shaped. Also if desired, the top wall rod and bottom wall tube may be reversed.  
         [0031]     The container bottom and cover outer side walls are scalloped to provide a better grip than would a smooth wall. However the configuration of the side walls are not an important feature of the invention and may have any configuration i.e. a rough surface, a knarled surface or even the less desirable smooth surface.  
         [0032]     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 9 - 13 , the sink strainer  20  has a perforated cylindrical basket  60 . The perforated basket  60  has a perforated cylindrical planar bottom wall  61 , a perforated cylindrical side wall  63 , a perforated rounded wall  64  joining the bottom wall and side wall, and an outwardly extending lip  65  at the opening of the basket.  
         [0033]     A tubular stem guide  66  extends upwardly from the center of the inner surface of the basket bottom wall. The stem guide has a central hole  67  with a pair of diametrically opposed slots  68 . The hole and its guide slots pass through the basket bottom wall. The guide also has diametrically opposed grooves  69 , which preferably end above the surface of the basket bottom wall.  
         [0034]     The bottom wall has a first outer plurality of holes or perforations  71  forming an outer circle. There are at least 15 holes forming this outer circle. The bottom wall has a second inner plurality of holes or perforations  72  forming an inner circle which is concentric with the outer circle of perforations. The holes of the outer circle are the same size as the holes of the inner circle and there are at least 10 holes forming this inner circle. The side wall and rounded wall have four equal sets of perforations  73  with each perforation  74  having the same size and longitudinally extending from the bottom wall upwardly through the side wall and ending a predetermined distance from the open end of the side wall. Preferably each set of perforations have at least two perforations  74 .  
         [0035]     The bottom guide hole is sized to freely allow the stem to vertically pass through the hole when the stem ribs are aligned with hole slots. As noted above, the pair of diametrically opposed ribs extend a predetermined distance from the bottom of the air freshener container to above the stopper. The ribs and stem are sized to pass through the hole when the ribs are aligned with the hole slots. The ribs and stem do not to pass through the hole when they are not aligned and the ribs are sized to fit into the guide grooves to hold the stopper in an open position.  
         [0036]     The strainer  20  is preferably disposable and is generally meant to be discarded when the air freshener is no longer effective. Therefore, the basket is preferably made of molded plastic. When the basket is made from metal, i.e., stainless steel, the handle and stem are made from plastic in that they are disposable. Also the stem and container can have any of the known configurations for sink strainer to allow the gasket or stopper to be placed into an open or closed position or to hold the cylindrical stopper onto the stem.  
         [0037]     Referring to  FIG. 15 , there is shown an alternative strainer/stopper stem  81  having a pair of diametrically spaced ribs  82  that extend along the stem  81 . The handle or strainer/stopper knob  84  is attached to one end of the stem. The other end of the stem has a holding mechanism to hold a sealing sink stopper. The holding mechanism consists of a small circumferential ridge  86  spaced from the other end and has a removable bottom cap  87  to hold the sealing stopper on the other end of the stem. The bottom cap has a central rod extension. The upper portion  88  of the stem acts as an air freshener container that uses the knob  84  as its cover. The upper portion of the container is hollow and preferably has a solid base at around the top of the ribs  82 . The upper potion has a plurality of perforations  89  that allow for drainage. The air freshener (not shown) that fits in the upper portion is a cylindrical (rod) plastic-based air freshener. The upper perforated portion of the stem may have a different configuration or even telescope into the stem so as to provide a more compact package and that it is raised when in use.  
         [0038]     I have shown the use of my invention on a sink strainer/stopper having a stopper, the sink strainer can be made with a fixed handle/container and be used as a garbage disposal cover.  
         [0039]     The air freshener is a molded plastic based air freshener. Preferably, it is molded ethylene-vinyl acetate having the desired fragrance mixed with the plastic and then the combination molded or the fragrance infused into the molded plastic.  
         [0040]     The fragrances I had used are lemon, apple cinnamon, Hawaiian Surf (tropical), Ocean Breeze(fresh and clean fragrance). However, any appropriate and plastic compatible non-toxic fragrance may be used. Preferably the sink strainer/stopper is disposable and foil wrapped to preserve its freshness. The scent container is manufactured with sufficient slots to allow water to drain out of the container. The plastic-based is manufactured to permit my sink strainer/stopper to remain effective for at least 20 days after it is removed from its foil wrapped package and placed into the sink.  
         [0041]     Of course, other modifications than those discussed above may be used in producing a sink strainer without departing from the scope of the accompanying claims. Also unless limited by the prior art the term sink strainer is meant to cover any device which is to cover a sink drain whether or not the sink drain is connected to a garbage disposal.