Toothbrush cabinet

A toothbrush cabinet for storing toothbrushes therein. The toothbrush cabinet includes a housing with a front opening into the housing. A door pivotally coupled to the housing closes the front opening. A plate is provided in the housing. The plate has upper and lower faces, front and back edges, and a pair of side edges extending between the front and back edges of the plate. The back edges of the plate is detachably attached to a back face of the housing. The plate has a plurality of spaced apart holding slots extending therethrough between the upper and lower faces of the plate adjacent the front edge of the plate. Each of the holding slots has an outer periphery comprising a generally circular portion spaced apart from the front edge of the plate and a generally rectangular portion continuous with the associated circular portion of the respective holding slot and extending between the associated circular portion and the front edge of the plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to toothbrush cabinets and more particularly 
pertains to a new toothbrush cabinet for storing toothbrushes therein. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The use of toothbrush cabinets is known in the prior art. More 
specifically, toothbrush cabinets heretofore devised and utilized are 
known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural 
configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the 
crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of 
countless objectives and requirements. 
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,9298,039 by Thomas et al.; U.S. 
Pat. No. 1,529,024 by Hoch; U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,759 by Duncan; U.S. Pat. 
No. 3,776,694 by Leittl; U.S. Pat. No. 3,124,399 by Seta; and U.S. Pat. 
No. Des. 370,812. 
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and 
requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new toothbrush 
cabinet. The inventive device includes a housing with a front opening into 
the housing. A door pivotally coupled to the housing closes the front 
opening. A plate is provided in the housing. The plate has upper and lower 
faces, front and back edges, and a pair of side edges extending between 
the front and back edges of the plate. The back edges of the plate is 
detachably attached to a back face of the housing. The plate has a 
plurality of spaced apart holding slots extending therethrough between the 
upper and lower faces of the plate adjacent the front edge of the plate. 
Each of the holding slots has an outer periphery comprising a generally 
circular portion spaced apart from the front edge of the plate and a 
generally rectangular portion continuous with the associated circular 
portion of the respective holding slot and extending between the 
associated circular portion and the front edge of the plate. 
In these respects, the toothbrush cabinet according to the present 
invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs 
of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily 
developed for the purpose of storing toothbrushes therein. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of 
toothbrush cabinets now present in the prior art, the present invention 
provides a new toothbrush cabinet construction wherein the same can be 
utilized for storing toothbrushes therein. 
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described 
subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new toothbrush cabinet 
apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the toothbrush 
cabinets mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new 
toothbrush cabinet which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, 
or even implied by any of the prior art toothbrush cabinets, either alone 
or in any combination thereof. 
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a housing with a 
front opening into the housing. A door pivotally coupled to the housing 
closes the front opening. A plate is provided in the housing. The plate 
has upper and lower faces, front and back edges, and a pair of side edges 
extending between the front and back edges of the plate. The back edges of 
the plate is detachably attached to a back face of the housing. The plate 
has a plurality of spaced apart holding slots extending therethrough 
between the upper and lower faces of the plate adjacent the front edge of 
the plate. Each of the holding slots has an outer periphery comprising a 
generally circular portion spaced apart from the front edge of the plate 
and a generally rectangular portion continuous with the associated 
circular portion of the respective holding slot and extending between the 
associated circular portion and the front edge of the plate. 
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features 
of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that 
follows may be better understood, and in order that the present 
contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional 
features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which 
will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention 
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its 
application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the 
components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the 
drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being 
practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood 
that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose 
of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon 
which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the 
designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the 
several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, 
that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions 
insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present 
invention. 
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent 
and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the 
scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar 
with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a 
cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of 
the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention 
of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to 
be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new 
toothbrush cabinet apparatus and method which has many of the advantages 
of the toothbrush cabinets mentioned heretofore and many novel features 
that result in a new toothbrush cabinet which is not anticipated, rendered 
obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art toothbrush 
cabinets, either alone or in any combination thereof. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new toothbrush 
cabinet which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new toothbrush 
cabinet which is of a durable and reliable construction. 
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new 
toothbrush cabinet which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with 
regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then 
susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making 
such toothbrush cabinet economically available to the buying public. 
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new 
toothbrush cabinet which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the 
prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming 
some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new 
toothbrush cabinet for storing toothbrushes therein. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new toothbrush 
cabinet which includes a housing with a front opening into the housing. A 
door pivotally coupled to the housing closes the front opening. A plate is 
provided in the housing. The plate has upper and lower faces, front and 
back edges, and a pair of side edges extending between the front and back 
edges of the plate. The back edges of the plate is detachably attached to 
a back face of the housing. The plate has a plurality of spaced apart 
holding slots extending therethrough between the upper and lower faces of 
the plate adjacent the front edge of the plate. Each of the holding slots 
has an outer periphery comprising a generally circular portion spaced 
apart from the front edge of the plate and a generally rectangular portion 
continuous with the associated circular portion of the respective holding 
slot and extending between the associated circular portion and the front 
edge of the plate. 
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new 
toothbrush cabinet that holds toothbrushes upright so that they can 
properly dry. 
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new 
toothbrush cabinet that keeps toothbrushes hidden from sight when not in 
use. 
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various 
features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with 
particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this 
disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating 
advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should 
be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there 
are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 4 
thereof, a new toothbrush cabinet embodying the principles and concepts of 
the present invention and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 
will be described. 
As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4, the toothbrush cabinet 10 
generally comprises a housing with a front opening into the housing. A 
door pivotally coupled to the housing closes the front opening. A plate is 
provided in the housing. The plate has upper and lower faces, front and 
back edges, and a pair of side edges extending between the front and back 
edges of the plate. The back edges of the plate is detachably attached to 
a back face of the housing. The plate has a plurality of spaced apart 
holding slots extending therethrough between the upper and lower faces of 
the plate adjacent the front edge of the plate. Each of the holding slots 
has an outer periphery comprising a generally circular portion spaced 
apart from the front edge of the plate and a generally rectangular portion 
continuous with the associated circular portion of the respective holding 
slot and extending between the associated circular portion and the front 
edge of the plate. 
In closer detail, the toothbrush cabinet 10 comprises a housing 11 having 
spaced apart top and bottom faces 12,13, and front and back faces 14,15. 
As illustrated in FIG. 1, preferably, the top and bottom faces of the 
housing are generally semi-circular in shape, the back face of the housing 
is generally rectangular in shape, and the front face of the housing is 
generally semi-cylindrical in shape with a concavity facing towards the 
back face of the housing. In this preferred embodiment, the top and bottom 
faces of the housing are substantially planar and extend substantially 
parallel to one another. The back face of the housing is substantially 
planar and is extended substantially perpendicular to the top and bottom 
faces of the housing. Also in this preferred embodiment, the front face of 
the housing has a center axis extending substantially perpendicular to the 
top and bottom faces of the housing. The front and back faces of the 
housing come together at a pair of substantially straight sides extending 
substantially perpendicular to the top and bottom faces of the housing. 
Ideally, the housing comprises a resilient rigid plastic material. 
The back face of the housing is designed for mounting to a generally 
vertical support structure such as a wall structure. With reference to 
FIG. 3, preferably the housing is mounted to the vertical support 
structure with a mounting bracket 16 coupled to the back face of the 
housing by a pair of fasteners extended through a pair of holes 17 in the 
mounting bracket. The mounting bracket has an upper mounting flange 18 
outwardly extending therefrom. The upper mounting flange of the mounting 
bracket is generally L-shaped and has a generally horizontal upper portion 
19 and a generally vertical lower portion 20 downwardly depending from the 
upper portion of the upper mounting flange. The lower portion of the upper 
mounting flange is also spaced apart from the back face of the housing. 
Preferably, the lower portion of the upper mounting flange has a mounting 
tab 21 downwardly extending therefrom. 
A generally J-shaped hanging bracket 22 is provided for mounting to the 
vertical support structure. The hanging bracket has a generally planar 
upper portion 23 and an arcuate lower portion 24. The upper portion of the 
hanging bracket is coupled to the vertical support structure by a pair of 
fasteners extended through a pair of holes 25 in the upper portion of the 
hanging bracket. The lower portion of the hanging bracket preferably has a 
mounting slot 26 therein. 
To mount the mounting bracket to the hanging bracket, the upper mounting 
flange of the mounting bracket is rested on the lower portion of the 
hanging bracket. The mounting tab of the upper mounting flange is inserted 
into the mounting slot of the lower portion of the hanging bracket to help 
hold the mounting bracket securely to the hanging bracket. 
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the front face of the housing has front opening 
27 into the housing. The front opening of the front face of the housing 
has an outer periphery comprising spaced apart arcuate upper and lower 
edges, and a spaced apart pair of side edges extending between the upper 
and lower edges of the front opening. The upper and lower edges of the 
front opening preferably lie in planes substantially parallel to the top 
and bottom faces of the housing with the side edges of the front opening 
extending substantially perpendicular to the top and bottom faces of the 
housing and substantially parallel to the sides of the housing. 
A generally semi-cylindrical door 28 substantially closes the front opening 
of the housing. The door is pivotally coupled by hinges to one of the side 
edges of the front opening of the housing. The door is also preferably 
detachably attached to the other of the side edges of the front opening of 
the housing when the door is closing the front opening. Ideally, the door 
has an indentation 29 therein as illustrated in FIG. 2 and the housing has 
a resilient extent 30 adjacent the other side edge of the front opening. 
In use, the extent is removably inserted into the indentation of the door 
to detachably attach the door to the other side edge of the front opening. 
The door also preferably has a handle 31 coupled thereto to permit a user 
to pivot the position of the door to open and close the front opening of 
the housing. 
A plate 32 is provided in the housing. The plate has substantially planar 
upper and lower faces 33,34, substantially straight and parallel front and 
back edges 35,36, and a pair of substantially straight and parallel side 
edges 37,38 extending substantially perpendicular between the front and 
back edges of the plate. The back edge of the plate is detachably attached 
to the back face of the housing to permit removal of the plate for easy 
cleaning of the plate. Preferably, the upper and lower faces of the plate 
lie in planes generally parallel to the top and bottom faces of the 
housing when the plate is attached to the back face of the housing. 
Preferably, the plate is detachably attached to the back face of the 
housing with a mounting flange 39 downwardly extending substantially 
perpendicularly from the lower face of the plate along the back edge of 
the plate. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the back face of the housing has a 
resiliently deflectable generally J-shaped mount 40 extending into the 
housing. The mount defines an upper channel between the mount and the back 
face of the housing. The mounting flange of the plate is inserted into the 
upper channel such that the mounting flange is releasably held between the 
mount and the back face of the housing. 
The plate has a plurality of spaced apart holding slots 41 extending 
therethrough between the upper and lower faces of the plate adjacent the 
front edge of the plate. Each of the holding slots has an outer periphery 
comprising a generally circular portion 42 spaced apart from the front 
edge of the plate and a generally rectangular portion 43 continuous with 
the associated circular portion of the respective holding slot and 
extending between the associated circular portion and the front edge of 
the plate. In use, the holding slots each are designed for extending a 
toothbrush therethrough such that the toothbrush is extended generally 
vertical in the housing. 
Preferably, the top face of the housing has a plurality of vent apertures 
44 therethrough to permit passage of air into the housing. Similarly, the 
bottom face of the housing has a plurality of drain apertures 45 
therethrough to permit draining of fluid out of the housing from wet 
toothbrushes therein. 
As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the 
present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. 
Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and 
operation will be provided. 
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the 
optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to 
include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of 
operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to 
one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those 
illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are 
intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the 
principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and 
changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired 
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and 
described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may 
be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.