Patent Publication Number: US-2023148745-A1

Title: Toothbrush Storage Assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM. 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention. 
     The disclosure relates to storage devices and more particularly pertains to a new storage device for storing a toothbrush. The device includes a pad comprised of a hydrophobic material and a plurality of bristles that each extends upwardly from the pad. 
     The bristles are arranged to define an open area that is centrally positioned on the pad. A toothbrush is positionable on the pad for storage such that a base of the toothbrush is positioned in the open area. In this way residual fluid on the toothbrush collects on the pad, rather than on a support surface such as a vanity or the like. 
     (2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. 
     The prior art relates to storage devices including a tubular toothbrush holder with a suspension element. The prior art discloses a toothbrush holder which includes a canister having a foraminous lid for receiving bases of toothbrushes and a drain integrated into the canister for draining fluid from the toothbrushes. The prior art discloses an absorbent pad with an aperture for insertably receiving a base of a toothbrush. The prior art discloses an absorbent pad that can be positioned on a charging base of an electric toothbrush for absorbing fluid that runs off of the electric toothbrush. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a pad that is comprised of a hydrophobic material to inhibit fluids from adhering to the pad. A lip is coupled to the pad to inhibit fluid from spilling off of the pad. A plurality of bristles is each coupled to and extends upwardly from the pad and a toothbrush can be scrubbed on the bristles for cleaning the toothbrush. The plurality of bristles is arranged to define on open area on the pad which accommodates a base of the toothbrush when the toothbrush is stood on the pad for storage. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure 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 disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a top perspective view of a toothbrush storage assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is a bottom phantom view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  3    is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  4    is a cross sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG.  1    of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS.  1  through  5    thereof, a new storage device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS.  1  through  5   , the toothbrush storage assembly  10  generally comprises a pad  12  that is comprised of a hydrophobic material, including but not being limited to, silicone or rubber, to inhibit fluids from adhering to the pad  12 . The pad  12  has a top surface  14 , a bottom surface  16  and a perimeter edge  18  extending between the top surface  14  and the bottom surface  16 , and the perimeter edge  18  has a plurality of intersecting sides  20  such that the pad  12  has a rectangular shape. The pad  12  may have a length and a width ranging between approximately 4.0 inches and 6.0 inches. 
     A lip  22  is coupled to the pad  12  to inhibit fluid from spilling off of the pad  12 . The lip  22  extends upwardly from the top surface  14  of the pad  12  and the lip  22  is aligned with the perimeter edge  18  of the pad  12 . The lip  22  extends along a full length of each of the intersecting sides  20  of the perimeter edge  18 . A plurality of bristles  24  is each coupled to and extends upwardly from the pad  12 . Furthermore, a toothbrush  26  can be scrubbed on the bristles  24  for cleaning the toothbrush  26 . The toothbrush  26  may be an electric toothbrush, a manual toothbrush or any other type of toothbrush that would commonly be employed for dental hygiene. 
     The plurality of bristles  24  is arranged to define on open area  28  on the pad  12  to accommodate a base  29  of the toothbrush  26  when the toothbrush  26  is stood on the pad  12  for storage. Each of the bristles  24  extends upwardly from the top surface  14  of the pad  12 . The plurality of bristles  24  has a boundary  30  which is inset from the lip  22  such that the boundary  30  defines the open area  28  of the pad  12 . The boundary  30  has a plurality of intersecting sides  32  and each of the intersecting sides  32  of the boundary  30  is oriented parallel with a respective one of the intersecting sides  20  of the perimeter edge  18  of the pad  12  such that the boundary  30  defines a rectangular shape. Moreover, the rectangular shape defined by the boundary  30  is centrally positioned on the pad  12 . In this way bristles  24  surround the base  29  of the toothbrush  26  when the base  29  of the toothbrush  26  is positioned in the rectangular shape defined by the boundary  30 . 
     Each of the bristles  24  on the pad has a distal end  36  with respect to the top surface  14  of the pad  12  and the distal end  36  of each of the bristles  24  on the pad  12  is tapered to a point. Each of the bristles  24  on the pad  12  is comprised of a deformable material, including but not being limited to, silicone or rubber. In this way the plurality of bristles  24  on the pad  12  resist deforming bristles  38  on a head  40  of the toothbrush  26  when the bristles  38  on the head  40  of the toothbrush  26  are scrubbed on the bristles  24  on the pad  12 . Each of the bristles  24  on the pad  12  may have a length ranging between approximately 0.05 inches and 1.0 inches. 
     In use, the pad  12  is positioned on a vanity or other surface in a bathroom, for example, or other location where the toothbrush  26  would commonly be employed. The toothbrush  26  is scrubbed on the bristles  24  to clean the toothbrush  26  after the toothbrush  26  has been employed for brushing teeth and the toothbrush  26  is subsequently stood on the bristles  24  having the base  29  of the toothbrush  26  resting in the open area  28  defined by the bristles  24 . In this way any residual fluid  42  from the toothbrush  26  drains unto the open area  28  on the pad  12 , rather than collecting on the vanity. Furthermore, the residual fluid  42  can be quickly rinsed from the pad  12  each time the toothbrush  26  is employed for brushing teeth. In this way the toothbrush  26  can be stored in a hygienic manner. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, 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 an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure 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 disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.