Patent ID: 8114357

Claim:
A sanitizing apparatus for use in automatically sanitizing a writing utensil comprising: a housing having an interior chamber defined by a top and a base that are connected together by at least one side wall; a writing utensil receptacle positioned in the top of the housing that allows a writing utensil to pass through the top and into the interior chamber; a writing utensil conduit within the interior chamber and coupled to the writing utensil receptacle, wherein the writing utensil conduit is a passageway bounded by the top and a base portion having a downward slope sufficient to allow a writing utensil to be carried by gravity through the writing utensil conduit; a sanitizing chamber within the interior chamber, wherein a lower portion of the sanitizing chamber is defined by a movable, absorbent conveyor belt and an upper portion of the sanitizing chamber is defined by an absorbent pad located above and generally parallel to the conveyor belt, wherein the sanitizing chamber receives a writing utensil from an outlet in the writing utensil conduit and carries the writing utensil through the sanitizing chamber on the conveyor belt to an outlet in the sanitizing chamber; a basin suitable for holding a disinfectant within the interior chamber and underneath the conveyor belt, wherein the conveyor belt passes through the basin; and a writing utensil retrieval basin located in a exterior portion of the housing for receiving a sanitized writing utensil from the outlet in the sanitizing chamber and storing the sanitized writing utensil, wherein the writing utensil is accessible to a human hand while in the writing utensil retrieval basin, wherein the belt is positioned in the basin to transfer disinfectant from the basin to the writing utensil as the writing utensil passes through the sanitizing chamber during use.