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HAND LOTION WARMER
This invention relates to liquid holders, and in particular to a combination nightlight and warmer controller for substances such as hand lotions, creams, liquids, and the like. 5
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
A common problem with using hand lotion when going to bed is that the lotion is sometimes cool and uncomfortable when being applied. This problem is further compounded in 1° cold climates when the lotion has been stored in a bathroom cabinet. Over the years several proposals have been made to warm liquids in receptacle devices. Similar problems occur with other types of substances such as creams, moisturizers, liquids, and the like. :5
Traditional nightlights such as plug-ins used adjacent to beds and/or in bathrooms are generally limited to only providing a light source and do not function for other purposes. Additionally, nightlights generally turn off when optical sensors indicate that daylight as occurred. Thus, 20 traditional nightlights can have a short lifespan since they run continuously throughout the night.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,604,573 to Raines et al. describes a combination nightlight and bottle warmer. However, this unit is limited to only holding one bottle at a time, and not several lotions and creams that may be desirable to be warmed by the user. Additionally, short containers of liquids, creams or lotions would slip far into the tall housing of Raines et al., and be difficult to retrieve. Furthermore, this
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nightlight must be manually turned on and off.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,671 to Colson describes a solutionwarming unit which can also be used as a nightlight. However, this unit is limited to cylindrical openings, in particular to "4(2 5/s") holes(in the lid portion) ... to house 35 the necessary 4(16 oz.) bottles . . . ", and a wide open space underneath the lid portion, column 2, lines 34+. Thus, this unit is limited to being able up to only four "(16oz.)" cylindrical type bottles. Although Colson describes being able to also insert "4 oz." Bottles, a side door is required to 4Q be opened and closed in addition to having the plural openings on the top portion. If a user tries to insert and/or retrieve the smaller bottles through the lid portion, the shorter and smaller containers can easily become lost in the wide open space underneath the lid portion. Furthermore, 45 this nightlight must also be manually turned on and turned off.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,870 to Redal describes a unit similar to Colson '671 but with a cylindrical insert. Similar to Colson '671, this unit is also limited to storing one size of 50 a bottle, and is not useable different height and sizes of containers holding liquids, lotions and creams that are used. Additionally, this device also does not teach more than manually turning on or off a nightlight.
Other patents known to the inventor that also fail to 55 overcome the deficiencies of the above cited references include U.S. Pat. No. 1,805,291 to Monnot; U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,048 to Levy; U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,991 to Osbern; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,763 to Warren Van Deventer Wheeler.
Additionally, all of the prior art devices do not allow the 60 user to control either or both the light intensity of the nightlight and the heat settings. Users desiring to heat some lotions to different degree settings have not control over the heating temperatures or the length of time that heating is to take place. Furthermore, none of the prior art devices allow 65 the user to automatically shut off the heating and/or nightlight modes. Thus, these prior art devices may constitute a
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safety hazard if the heating units are left one too long. Also, too long heating could burn and ruin the lotions, creams and liquids being warmed, and can ultimately destroy expensive lotions, creams, and liquids over time. Thus, the need exists for solutions to the problems of the prior art described above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The first objective of the invention is to provide a device for both heating liquid containers and for providing a nightlight.
The second objective of the invention is to provide a device with a single opening in a lid portion for receiving and heating several size containers of liquids, lotions, and creams of various sizes and shapes simultaneously.
The third objective of the invention is to provide a device for controlling the light intensity of the nightlight that is also used to heat various containers of liquids, lotions and creams.
The fourth objective of the invention is to provide a device for selectively controlling the temperature heating settings of a light that is used to heat containers of liquids, lotions and creams, where the light is also used as a nightlight.
The fifth objective of the invention is to provide a device for both heating containers of liquids, lotions, creams, and the like, and for also providing a nightlight, where the light and/or heat source can be selectively turned on and off at selected times.
The sixth objective of the invention is to provide a device for both heating containers of substances and for providing a nightlight, which as a safety control for deactivating the device after a preselected period of time.
The seventh objective of the invention is to provide a device for both heating containers of substances and for providing a nightlight, which adjusts the heating source and nightlight to a lower setting automatically after a preselected period of time.
The eighth objective of the invention is to provide a device for both heating containers of substances and for providing a night light having an alarm such as a visual light and/or a sound that alerts the user when a selected heating time and/or temperature has been achieved.
A preferred embodiment of the invention allows for a device to have an opening in a lid portion of a receptacle for allowing various sized containers such as but not limited to tubes, flasks, bottles, jars, and cylindrical containers to be inserted therein, and be able to easily removed by the user. A grid underneath the receptacle separates the receptacle from a housing that stores a heating and lighting source therein. The heating and light source can be an incandescent bulb, and the like. Controls such as a rheostat allow for setting various intensity and temperature settings. A timer allows for activating and deactivating the intensity and temperature settings. Visual and/or audible alarms can occur after a selected time period has occurred. The novel receptacle device can be powered by a standard AC(alternating current) outlet and allows the user to place one or more containers of liquid such as hand lotion, creams, and the like, in the upper opening of the device.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the warmer and nightlight device without any containers inside the device.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the warmer and nightlight device of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a top view of the warmer and nightlight device of FIG. 2 along arrow A.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the warmer and nightlight device of FIG. 3 along arrows B—B.
FIG. 5 is a side view of a second embodiment of the warmer and nightlight device.
FIG. 6 is a top view of the warmer and nightlight device 10 of FIG. 5 along arrow C.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the second embodiment with various sized containers.
FIG. 8 is a top view of the rheostat control of FIGS. 1 and 7 along arrow D. 15
FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, 9E and 9F show additional side openings for the nightlight portion of the device of the preceding figures.
FIGS. 10A, 10B, and IOC show examples of different
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containers that can be held within the receptacles of the preceding embodiments.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
EMBODIMENT
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Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is 3Q for the purpose of description and not of limitation.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment 1 of the warmer and nightlight device 1 without any containers inside the device 1. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the warmer and nightlight device 1 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a top 35 view of the warmer and nightlight device 1 of FIG. 2 along arrow A. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the warmer and nightlight device 1 of FIG. 3 along arrows B—B.
Referring to FIGS. 1-4, the device 1 includes a lower nightlight housing 10 that can have convex type rounded 40 side edges with openings 15 therethrough that can be circular in shape. Aside-cutout 17 in the housing 10 can be sized to receive a lamp receptacle plug 30 having a replaceable light source 20 such as a small incandescent bulb, and the like, that can be easily inserted into housing 10, and held 45 in place by a tight type side-cutout 17. Additionally, the side-cutout 17 can also include threads with mateable threads on the inner portion of plug insert 30 so that plug insert can be rotatably tightened into side-cutout 17. A standard power cord 60 can attach light source 20 to a 50 rheostat type control 40(the details of which will be explained later in reference to FIG. 8) for controlling light and heat intensity of the light source 20. The opposite end of cord 60 can include an Alternating Current(AC) plug 50 having prongs 52 for fitting into a conventional 120 volt wall 55 power supply receptacle, and receptacles 54 on the plug 50 for allowing other electrical appliances(not shown) to be able to use the same power supply as plug 50. A lower surface 12 of housing 10 can have a flat type surface for allowing the device 1 to be supported on a tabletop such as 60 a nightstand, a bathroom countertop, and the like, or even a floor surface. An upper portion 14 of the housing 10 can include a neck portion 14.
On top of base housing 10 can be a removable receptacle 80 having a cylindrical type opening 85 therethrough, with 65 a warming portion 90 that can be a metal type plate, and the like. Receptacle 80 can also have convex type rounded sides
with a lower narrow base 82 that can be sized to be received within the upper hollow neck 14 of housing 10. Additionally, the fitting between base portion 82 and upper neck 14 of housing 10 can include mateable threads on both sections 82 and 14 so that the receptacle 80 can be rotated onto the housing 10. Substances 70 such as lotions, creams, and liquids can be directly poured into opening 85 of receptacle 80 while receptacle 80 is attached to or not attached to housing 10. Similarly, after the substances have been heated, the receptacle 80 can be separated from housing 10. A separate window 19 can also be used in housing 10 having different colors, and the like so that the light source 20 is not visible through the side openings 15 of the housing 10.
The height, H, of opening 85 of receptacle 80 can be approximately 4 inches to approximately 8 inches high, and the diameter R, of the opening 85 of the receptacle 80 can be approximately 3 inches to approximately 6 inches wide. Housing 10 and receptacle 80 can be formed from injection molded hardened plastic, fiberglass, and the like, that is not susceptible to melting at temperatures of up to approximately 120 degrees. Side openings 15 less than the diameter of light source 20. For example, if light source 20 uses a V2 inch diameter bulb, each of the openings 15 can be approximately Vn inch in diameter. Although, not shown an optional lid can be used on top of opening 85 if liquid is directly poured into receptacle 80. Additionally, containers holding the substances to be warmed can also be used in the opening of receptacle 80 as later described in detail to FIG. 7.
FIG. 5 is a side view of a second embodiment 100 of the warmer and nightlight device. FIG. 6 is a top view of the warmer and nightlight device 100 of FIG. 5 along arrow C. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the second embodiment 100 with various sized containers 210, 220, 230. FIG. 8 is a top view of the rheostat control 40 of FIGS. 1 and 7 along arrow D.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5-8, a rheostat type control 40 can be used with both embodiments 1 and 100. The rheostat 40 can be located between the devices and the power plug 50. The rheostat 40 can include several settings 43 such as a first, second, third and fourth setting for different levels of light intensity of the light source 20 to be used in the nightlight portions 10 and 110 of both embodiments 1 and 100. The settings 43 can be on a rotatable type dial portion 42 that rotates relative to a stationary portion 46. Dial 42 can be rotated in the directions of arrow E so that one of the settings 43 can be aligned to the marker 47 on the stationary portion 46 of the rheostat control 40. For example, a first setting can be for approximately 80 degrees, a second setting for approximately 90 degrees, a third setting for approximately 100 degrees and a second setting for approximately 110 degrees. Each of the different settings also allows for different intensity levels of the light source 120 to be given off. For example, setting one can be a very dim intensity setting and setting four can be a very bright intensity setting. A separate off setting 44 allows the light source 120 to be turned off. Although four settings 43 are shown more or less can be used.
Similar to the first embodiment 1, bottom 112 of second embodiment housing 110 can include a flat portion for allowing the device 100 to be supported by a tabletop and/or floor surface.
The second embodiment includes an upper receptacle 180 having a cylindrical type opening 185 sized similar to that of the receptacle 80 and opening 85 of the first embodiment 1. On the floor portion of receptacle 180 can be a heat conductive plate 190 such as a metal plate, and the like, that
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