SOLID BATH AGENT

A solid bath agent comprises a water-soluble main body; and a secondary pert which is enclosed within the main body and partially exposed through the main body, in a first form before the main body dissolves, wherein the secondary part is configured such that part of the entire secondary part becomes exposed in the second form after the main body dissolves.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-204440 filed on Dec. 4, 2023 including specification, drawings and claims is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a solid bath agent.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, as a solid bath agent, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3164108 discloses a water-soluble solid bath agent in which parts for constructing a finger puppet are embedded. The parts of the finger puppet can be connected to each other, since one part has a protrusion and the other a recess. The finger cap body has a cylindrical structure with an opening. Additionally, a bath agent containing a toy is packaged together with a card related to the finger puppet.

SUMMARY

Technical Problem

In Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3164108, the parts that emerge from the bath agent are used as a toy finger puppet. However, there was a problem in terms of enhancing interest in a way of enjoyment of the bath agent itself.

It is an object of the present invention is to provide a solid bath agent with a higher degree of interest.

Solution to Problem

According to one aspect of the present invention, a solid bath agent comprises a water-soluble main body, and a secondary part which is enclosed within the main body and partially exposed therefrom, in a first form before the main body dissolves, wherein the secondary part is configured such that the entire secondary part becomes exposed in the second form after the main body has dissolved.

Advantageous Effect of Invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a solid bath agent with a high level of interest.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A solid bath agent according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained referring to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the solid bath agent 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the solid bath agent 1 has a main body 10, which is shaped to mimic an object such as a fruit with a roughly spherical shape, in a first form 1F. For instance, part of a rod-shaped section 21a protrudes from the outer surface 10s of the main body 10, which may be spherical in shape and appropriately colored A non-rod section 21b, which resembles a leaf, extends from the rod-shaped section 21a. This configuration is an imitation of objects such as an apple or pear. The spherical main body 10 is made of a water-soluble material that dissolves and releases color into the surrounding water.

In the first form 1F of the solid bath agent 1 which is in a state before the main body 10 dissolves, a secondary part 20 is included in the main body 10, and part 21 of the secondary part 20 is exposed from the main body 10 (see FIG. 2) as described above. The secondary part 20 is entirely exposed in the second form 2F (see FIG. 4) in a second form 2F of the solid bath agent 1, which is in a state after the main body 10 dissolves. The outer surface 10s of the main body 10 generally has small irregularities or unevenness, thereby increasing its surface area and making it easier to dissolve.

The main body 10 is designed to be spherical in the first form 1F, so as to be rollable. The main body 10 is made of opaque and colored bah additive (bath product), so the secondary part 20, which is accommodated inside, cannot be seen from the outside in the first form 1F. However, in the first form 1F, the part 21 of the secondary part 20 is exposed from one point on the main body 10, as illustrated. This exposed part 21 is configured to be held by fingers, or grasped by a child's hand, thereby making it easy to handle due to a flattened non-rod section 21b on the end of the rod-shaped section 21a.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the solid bath agent 1 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the secondary part 20 is designed to resemble a bear character. The part 21 exposed from the main body 10 is modeled as a bamboo stick and leaf held by the character. In the first form 1F, the main body 10 contains a secondary part main body 22 of the secondary part 20 near the central point C.

The secondary part 20 is made from a soft, non-water-soluble material such as synthetic resin or rubber and is flexible. The secondary part main body 22 of the secondary part includes at least a head 22a, body 22b, and legs 22c, and the legs 22c are connected to a support part 30, as described later. The secondary part main body 22 having a large diameter is larger in volume than the rod-shaped section 21a and is held within the main body 10 in the first form 1F so that the secondary part 20 is prevented from falling out of the main body 10.

The maximum diameter (L1) of the main body 10 is configured to be longer than the longest side (L2) of the secondary part 20, thereby providing sufficient size for containment thereof.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which the solid bath agent 1 shown in FIG. 2 is placed in the bathtub 50. In the solid bath agent 1, the main body 10 is configured to sink in water, while the secondary part 20 is designed to float. Therefore, in the first form 1F, for example, when the solid bath agent 1 is initially placed in the bathtub 50, the solid bath agent 1 sinks to the bottom.

However, as the main body 10 dissolves, it becomes lighter so that the buoyancy increases as a whole, and eventually, it begins to float on the surface 50a of the water 50. The state of dissolution during this ascent is determined by the balance between the weight of the main body 10 and the buoyancy of the secondary part 20. In this floating state, as shown in FIG. 3, the main body 10 partially remains around the outer perimeter of the secondary part main body 22 of the secondary part 20, thereby making it impossible to immediately recognize the character. As such, since in the floating state, the secondary part main body 22, which is the main part of the character, is not visible, it becomes impossible to determine what the character is at this stage. However, as time progresses and the dissolution of the main body 10 advances, the visible portions of the character gradually increase, thereby allowing one to see the true form of the character becoming progressively clearer.

In an initial stage of the floating state (the state in FIG. 3), for the main body 10 to remain partially covering the secondary part main body 22 of the secondary part, the secondary part main body 22 may be positioned near the central part C (see FIG. 2) of the main body 10. Since the secondary part main body 22 is positioned near the central part C of the main body 10, the thickness of the main body 10 surrounding the secondary part main body 22 can be made approximately uniform, resulting in a state with minimal bias in the amount of the remaining main body 10 around the secondary part main body 22 during the dissolution.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the secondary part 20 in the second form 2F. After the main body 10 has fully dissolved, as shown in FIG. 4, the secondary part 20 can be placed upright without rolling, using a flat section 30a of the support part 30 on a placement portion 60, such as a bathtub edge or a table. The support part 30 includes an engaging portions 30b which are engaged, for example, with the legs 22c of the character by clamping. Additionally, the support part 30 can be attached to and detached from the legs 22c. However, in the first form 1F, the engaging portions 30b are connected to the legs 22c.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the solid bath agent, where the position of the secondary part 20 is offset. In the solid bath agent 1 shown in FIG. 5, the secondary part 20 enclosed in the main body 10 is positioned close to the outer surface 10s of the main body 10. In this case, the thickness of the main body 10 on a front side of the character (between the front side face or one side face of the character and the closest outer surface portion of the main body 10) is thinner than that on a back side thereof (between the back side face or other side face of the character and an outer surface portion of the closest outer surface portion of the main body).

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which the solid bath agent 1 shown in FIG. 5 is placed in the bathtub 50. In the first form IF, for example, the solid bath agent 1 initially sinks to the bottom of the bathtub 50 after the solid bath agent 1 is placed in the water of the bathtub 50. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6, the solid bath agent 1 rises to the water surface 50a. In the state shown in FIG. 6, unlike the state illustrated in FIG. 3, it floats so that the front side of the secondary part main body 22 faces upward. This is because the solid bath agent 1 is configured to flat in a state where a large amount thereof remains on the back side of the main body 10 of the character because the back side of the main body 10 of the character is heavier than other parts (or volume of the front side of the main body is larger than that the back side thereof). As a result, the character floats so that the character's front side faces upward. This uneven dissolution state of the solid bath agent 1, where one side of the solid bath agent dissolves more regarding the secondary part main body 22, is achieved since the secondary bod 20 is placed shifting from the central part C of the solid bath agent 1 in the first embodiment 1F.

Thus, by having the front side of the secondary part main body 22 of the character visible when floating, it allows the character to be immediately recognized at the very moment it surfaces. The asymmetrical placement of the secondary part main body 22 can be appropriately adjusted as needed. For instance, when the back side is made thinner contrary to the illustrated state or a side thereof is made thinner, the thickness of the main body portion 10 on the front side and the back side relative to the secondary part main portion 22 can be adjusted as needed.

As described above, in the solid bath agent 1 according to the embodiment, since only the part 21 of the secondary part 20 enclosed in the main body 10 is visible. This allows a creation of an appearance of, for example, a fruit etc., using the part 21 of the secondary body 20, unlike a solid bath agent having an appearance of only bath agent (a main body 10). Further, since only the part 21 is visible, it is possible to enjoy an element of surprise in discovering the character therein.

Additionally, according to the present embodiment, since the main body 10 in the first form 1F is spherical and rollable, it can also be used for play by rolling.

In the solid bath agent 1 according to this embodiment of the present invention, since the combined secondary part 20 (capable of floating on water) and main body 10 (sinking in the water) are configured to sink in the water in the first form, the solid bath agent 1 sinks below the water's surface when it is placed in the bathtub 50 initially, and as the main body 10 dissolves, the secondary part 20 is configured to float upward.

In the solid bath agent 1 according to one of the embodiments, since the secondary part main body 22 is positioned at the central part C of the main body 10 in the first form 1F, the thickness of the main body 10 surrounding the secondary part 20 can be set so as to be approximately uniform. As a result, when the solid bath agent 1 is placed in the bathtub 50, the dissolution of the main body 10 around the entire circumference of the secondary part 20 occurs at a roughly even speed. Consequently, when the main body 10 is configured to float to the surface of the bath water 50 in a state where remaining of the main body 10 adheres to the circumference of the secondary part 20, it is possible to create a state where the secondary part main body 22 of the secondary part 20 is covered with the remaining of the main body 10. As such, it is possible to create an effect where the secondary part 20, which is the character, is initially concealed, and revealed as the main body 10 gradually dissolves.

In the solid bath agent 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention, since the secondary part 20 is positioned near the edge portion (closer to the side of the outer surface 10s) of the main body 10 in the first form 1F, allowing the thickness (volume) of the main body 10 on one side of the secondary part main body 22 to differ from that on the other side. As a result, when the solid bath agent 1 is placed in the bathtub 50, the remaining portion of the main body 10 can be varied between the two sides (It is possible to control how much of the volume of the main body 10 remains on each side of the secondary part 20). As a result, when the solid bath agent 1 is placed in the bathtub 50, it is possible to vary the way the main body 10 remains between one side and the other. For instance, by increasing the thickness of the main body 10 on the back side of the character in the secondary part 20, when the solid bath agent 1 is placed in the bathtub 50 and floats to the surface, the front side of the character (where the face of the character is formed) stays upright, since the back side of the character is heavier than the front side due to the remaining.

In the solid bath agent 1 of the embodiments of the present invention, the part 21 of the secondary part 20 is exposed from the main body 10 and can be gripped, allowing users to hold the solid bath agent 1 without directly touching the main body 10, even with wet hands, thus improving usability.

In the solid bath agent 1 of the embodiment, the part 21 of the exposed secondary part 20 includes the rod-shaped section 21a, allowing a portion, which protrudes from the main body 10, to be minimized, ensuring that most of the solid bath agent 1 is covered by the main body 10 and presents a neat appearance. Additionally, since the part 21 includes a non-rod-shaped flat section 21b, the part 21 can be easily gripped.

In the solid bath agent 1 according to the embodiments, since the maximum diameter (L1) of the main body 10 is configured to be larger than the longest dimension (L2) of the secondary part 20, sufficient quantity of the bath agent material can be secured.

In the solid bath agent 1 according to the embodiment, in the second form 2F, since the legs 22c of the secondary part 20 are connected to and supported by the support parts 30, it is possible to display it independently. Since the support parts 30 are connected to the legs 22c in the first form 1F, no additional assembly is required when displaying the character.

In the solid bath agent 1 according to the embodiment, the secondary part 20 is made from soft material, which makes it suitable for playing in the bath after the main body 10 dissolves, thereby providing a safe character toy.

The above explanation pertains to embodiments of the present invention. However, the invention may be modified within the scope of the technical concept. For instance, while the main body 10 is spherical in the described embodiment, it is not limited to this shape and may instead be a polyhedron.

Additionally, while the support part 30 is attached to the secondary part 20 within the main body 10 in the described embodiment, it may also be provided separately. In the above embodiment, the support part 30 is configured to engage with the outer surface of the legs 22c of the character. However, this configuration is not limited thereto. For example, it may also be designed such that a protrusion is inserted into a hole provided in the legs 22c.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the rod-shaped section 21a could be configured as part of the head 22a, with a portion of the head 22a exposed from the main body 10.

The following aspects are described in this specification: