Abstract:
In the past, solid soap and draining dish containers were separate. Therefore, problems occurred. The invention provides a pumice stone base for adhering to solid soap which is made convenient by combining these into one unit. The invention is characterized in that a pumice stone base ( 1 ) which has an adhesion surface ( 3 ) and a protective surface ( 4 ) which does not allow moisture to pass is adhered to a solid soap ( 2 ).

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/650,062 filed on Feb. 4, 2005, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     This invention relates to solid soap for which part of the solid soap is adhered to a base of natural pumice stone or various types of artificial pumice stone on ceramic foam or the like.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Usually, soap is kept in dish-like container. To facilitate draining of water from such a container, the container is usually provided with a plurality of draining holes. The conventional draining dish container is separate from the solid soap bar. This has many disadvantages. First, solid soap quickly gets soft in water, and when water drainage from the container is poor, due to, for example, plugging of the draining holes, the soap loses its shape. Therefore, in the past, a fixed location for the draining container was necessary.  
         [0006]     Second, there was always soap debris on the solid soap draining dish container, which tend to clog the draining holes. Third, when the solid soap becomes moist, its surface becomes slippery, and inconvenient to hold. When a solid soap bar becomes small and moist, it gets more and more difficult to hold. This prevents the soap bar from being used completely.  
         [0007]     Therefore, what is needed is a new device for holding soap that would resolve the above problems.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The inventive methodology is directed to methods and systems that substantially obviate one or more of the above and other problems associated with conventional techniques for holding soap bar.  
         [0009]     One aspect of the inventive technique is an apparatus for holding a soap bar. The inventive apparatus comprises a base of pumice stone; a water-resistant protective layer covering a portion of the base; an adhesion surface not covered by the protective layer. The adhesion surface attaches to a surface of the soap bar.  
         [0010]     Additional aspects related to the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Aspects of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations of various elements and aspects particularly pointed out in the following detailed description and the appended claims.  
         [0011]     It is to be understood that both the foregoing and the following descriptions are exemplary and explanatory only and are not intended to limit the claimed invention or application thereof in any manner whatsoever. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification exemplify the embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain and illustrate principles of the inventive technique. Specifically:  
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the invention; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a cross section view of the pumice stone base in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0015]     In the following detailed description, reference will be made to the accompanying drawing(s), in which identical functional elements are designated with like numerals. The aforementioned accompanying drawings show by way of illustration, and not by way of limitation, specific embodiments and implementations consistent with principles of the present invention. These implementations are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and it is to be understood that other implementations may be utilized and that structural changes and/or substitutions of various elements may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be construed in a limited sense. Additionally, the various embodiments of the invention as described may be implemented from various materials or any combinations of materials.  
         [0016]     An embodiment of the invention is a solid soap bar holding device, which attaches to the solid soap bar by means of an adhesive surface. An exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of the invention is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a base of natural pumice stone  1  is attached to the soap bar  2 . The base  1  may be made of various types of natural or artificial pumice stone. In an alternative embodiment, the base is made of a ceramic foam.  
         [0017]     The base  1  is partially covered with a layer of protective material  4 . Preferably, the material  4  is water-resistant and does not allow the moisture to pass into the base  1 . In an embodiment of the invention, the material  4  may be ceramic, metal or plastic. As would be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the protective layer  4  may be made of any suitable water-proof material.  
         [0018]     The base further includes an adhesion surface ( 3 ), which does not have the protective material  4 . Thus, the material of the base  3  is exposed at the adhesion surface. This surface attaches to the soap bar. As would be appreciated by those of skill in the art, wet soap easily attached to exposed pumice stone surface. Therefore, no additional adhesive material is needed.  
         [0019]     When the invention with the kind of constitution described above is used, the following advantages are achieved:  
         [0020]     (A) the solid soap ( 2 ) which adheres easily to the pumice stone base ( 1 ) has the moisture drain quickly, preventing loss of shape,  
         [0021]     (B) the draining dish container for the solid soap ( 2 ) used in the past is unnecessary, so the fixed location for the soap can now be chosen freely,  
         [0022]     (C) the pumice stone base ( 1 ) serves to stop the solid soap bar, which slips easily when it is moist, from slipping in one&#39;s hand,  
         [0023]     (D) a small solid soap bar ( 2 ) having moisture adheres to the pumice stone base ( 1 ), which can be easily held in hand, so that the soap bar can be completely used.  
         [0024]     The base of natural pumice stone or various types of artificial pumice stone on ceramic foam or the like ( 1 ) is covered by a protective material that does not allow moisture to pass on the surface of pumice stone not adhered to the solid soap ( 2 ) when the pumice stone adhesion surface ( 3 ) of the pumice stone base ( 1 ) is moist.  
         [0025]     When this invention is used with the kind of constitution described above, the pumice stone base ( 1 ) and the solid soap become one unit. With this pumice stone base ( 1 ), the original comfortable texture of the solid soap ( 2 ) is utilized and wasting of resources is avoided.  
         [0026]     It should be noted that other implementations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. Various aspects and/or components of the described embodiments may be used singly or in any combination in a soap bar holding device. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.