WHISKER TRAP

Abstract

A whisker trap is a rectangular sheet of semi-rigid material formed to include accordion folds that define a series of at least four pleat panels joined by a series of at least three living hinges. All of the at least three living hinges define respective fold axes that are parallel with each other and oriented perpendicular to the sheet width when the sheet is flat. The whisker trap is movable among a storage configuration, a hair disposal configuration and a deployed configuration. The adjacent pleat panels are collapsed into contact with each other in the storage configuration. The whisker trap is wider in the deployed configuration than in the hair disposal configuration. The deployed configuration includes a continuum of widths responsive to various user set accordion fold angles.

Claims

1. A whisker trap comprising: a one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material having a sheet width that is greater than a sheet depth that is greater than a sheet thickness; the one-piece sheet including accordion folds that define a series of at least four pleat panels joined by a series of at least three living hinges; each of the pleat panels having a pleat depth that is greater than a pleat width; all of the at least three living hinges define respective fold axes that are parallel with each other and oriented perpendicular to the sheet width when the one-piece sheet is flat; wherein each of the living hinges is flanked by a pair of the pleat panels that define a respective living hinge angle; wherein the whisker trap is movable among a storage configuration, a hair disposal configuration and a deployed configuration; wherein adjacent pleat panels are collapsed into contact with each other in the storage configuration; wherein an average of the living hinge angles in the hair disposal configuration is smaller than the average of the living hinge angles in the deployed configuration; wherein the whisker trap is wider in the deployed configuration than in the hair disposal configuration; and wherein the deployed configuration includes a continuum of widths.

2. The whisker trap of claim 1 wherein the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material is cardboard.

3. The whisker trap of claim 1 wherein the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material has a top hair collection surface with a smooth glossy hydrophobic finish that is slippery to hair.

4. The whisker trap of claim 1 including a jarring impact surface at one of the living hinges on an underside of the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material in the hair disposal configuration; and wherein hair on a top side of the one-piece sheet semi-rigid material is dislodged responsive to the jarring impact surface impacting a rim of a waste can.

5. The whisker trap of claim 1 wherein the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material includes four radiused corners with a radius that is less than a width of the pleat panels.

6. The whisker trap of claim 1 wherein all of the pleat panels have identical dimensions.

7. The whisker trap of claim wherein each of the pleat panels has a width of about three inches.

8. The whisker trap of claim 1 wherein the sheet width is about thirty inches and the sheet depth is about twenty inches.

9. The whisker trap of claim 1 wherein the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material includes a sink spout contact surface on an underside of the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material.

10. The whisker trap of claim 1 wherein the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material is corrugated cardboard which includes a flute sandwiched between opposite faces; and the flute is collapsed along each of the living hinge axes.

11. The whisker trap of claim 1 wherein a top hair collection surface is white.

12. The whisker trap of claim 1 including a jarring impact surface at one of the living hinges on an underside of the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material in the hair disposal configuration; includes a sink spout contact surface on an underside of the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material in the deployed configuration; wherein the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material has a top hair collection surface with a smooth glossy hydrophobic finish that is slippery to hair; and wherein all of the pleat panels have identical dimensions, and each of the pleat panels has a width of about three inches.

13. The whisker trap of claim 12 wherein the one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material is corrugated cardboard which includes a flute sandwiched between opposite faces; and the flute is collapsed along each of the living hinge axes.

14. The whisker trap of claim 13 wherein the top collection surface is white.

15. A method of protecting a sink drain from beard trimmings with a whisker trap that includes a one-piece sheet of semi-rigid material having a sheet width that is greater than a sheet depth that is greater than a sheet thickness; the one-piece sheet including accordion folds that define a series of at least four pleat panels joined by a series of at least three living hinges; each of the pleat panels having a pleat depth that is greater than a pleat width; all of the at least three living hinges define respective fold axes that are parallel with each other and oriented perpendicular to the sheet width when the one-piece sheet is flat; wherein each of the living hinges is flanked by a pair of the pleat panels that define a respective living hinge angle; wherein the whisker trap is movable among a storage configuration, a hair disposal configuration and a deployed configuration; wherein adjacent pleat panels are collapsed into contact with each other in the storage configuration; wherein an average of the living hinge angles in the hair disposal configuration is smaller than the average of the living hinge angles in the deployed configuration; wherein the whisker trap is wider in the deployed configuration than in the hair disposal configuration; and wherein the deployed configuration includes a continuum of widths, and the method comprises the steps of: moving the whisker trap from the storage configuration toward the deployed configuration; positioning the whisker trap in the deployed configuration covering a sink drain of a sink; leaning over the whisker trap and trimming a beard while the trimmings fall onto the whisker trap; moving the whisker trap away from the sink; moving the whisker trap from the deployed configuration toward the hair disposal configuration; positioning one end of the whisker trap over a waste can in the hair disposal configuration; dislodging the trimmings to slide off the end of the whisker trap into the waste can responsive to impacting a jarring impact surface at one of the living hinges in the hair disposal configuration on a rim of the waste can; and moving the whisker trap back to the storage configuration.

16. The method of claim 15 including adjusting the whisker trap among a continuum of widths in the deployed configuration covering the sink drain.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the step of positioning the whisker trap in the deployed configuration covering a sink drain includes resting an underside of the whisker trap in contact with, and covering, a sink spout.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] FIG. 1 is a top view of a whisker trap in a deployed configuration at a widest of a continuum of widths;

[0007] FIG. 2 is a top view of the whisker trap in the deployed configuration at one of the continuum of widths covering a sink;

[0008] FIG. 3 is a front end view of the whisker trap in the deployed configuration covering a the sink of FIG. 2;

[0009] FIG. 4 is a front view of the whisker trap of FIG. 3 after being moved away from the sink and into a hair disposal configuration;

[0010] FIG. 5 is a side view of the whisker trap of FIG. 4 disposing hair trimmings into a waste can while in the hair disposal configuration;

[0011] FIG. 6 is a top view of the whisker trap of FIG. 5 disposing the hair trimmings into the waste can while in the hair disposal configuration;

[0012] FIG. 7 is a front end view of the whisker trap in a storage configuration; and

[0013] FIG. 8 is a partial close up front view of a living hinge for a whisker trap constructed of corrugated cardboard.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] Referring initially to FIGS. 1, 4 and 8, a whisker trap 11 is constructed from a one-piece sheet 12 of semi-rigid material, such as cardboard, cardstock or plastic. The term semi-rigid means that the material exhibits some flexibility responsive to human manipulation, but the material does not substantially deform under its own weight. Paper is not a semi-rigid material, nor is the thin plastic sheeting associated with plastic bags. Depending on thickness and other factors, plastic sheeting may or may not be considered a semi-rigid material according to the present disclosure. In all cases, the one-piece sheet 12 of semi-rigid material will have a sheet width W that is greater than a sheet depth D, which is greater that a sheet thickness T. In most instances, the sheet thickness T will be at least one order of magnitude smaller than either the sheet width W or the sheet depth D. In one specific example, the one-piece sheet 12 may be single wall board corrugated cardboard with a sheet width W of about thirty inches and a sheet depth D of about twenty inches. About thirty inches means between twenty-five and thirty-four inches, and about twenty inches means between fifteen and twenty-four inches. The thickness T may typically correspond to either an E or F flute type, which are respectively 1/16 and 1/32 in the case of corrugated cardboard.

[0015] The one-piece sheet 12 is shaped to include accordion folds 17 that define a series of at least four pleat panels 20 that are joined by a series of at least three living hinges 21, which may be made by folding in the case of cardboard or cardstock, or maybe molding in the case of plastic. FIG. 8 shows that, in the case of corrugated cardboard, the wavy flute 27 that is adhered between opposite face papers 24 and 25 may be collapsed at the living hinges 21 to provide better folding flexibility. The shaping is chosen such that each of the pleat panels 20 has a pleat width P and a pleat depth 23 that matches the sheet depth D in the illustrated example. In all cases, the pleat depth 23 will be greater than the pleat width P. Preferably, all of the pleat panels have identical dimensions, and may have a pleat width P of about three inches, which means rounded to the nearest inch. The one-piece sheet may have radiused corners with a radius R that is less than a width P of the pleat panels 20 to inhibit fraying and exposed sharp corners that could accidently bump into something when the whisker trap is being moved about. All of the living hinges 21 define respective fold axes 26 that are parallel with each other and oriented perpendicular to the sheet width W when the one-piece sheet 12 is flat. Each of the living hinges 21 is flanked by a pair of the pleat panels 20 that define a respective living hinge angle 28. The one-piece sheet 12 includes a top hair collection surface 13 that preferably has a smooth glossy hydrophobic finish that is slippery to hair and water droplets. Furthermore, this finish may be glossy white to enhance the visual contrast between any hair trimmings 40 and the whisker trap 12. The accordion folds 17 of the present disclosure add structural rigidity fore to aft, and may permit usage of materials, such as non-corrugated cardboard and the like, that might lack the rigidity necessary to span a sink and support both its own weight and collected hair trimmings without collapsing into the sink. The accordion folds 17 also enable the whisker trap 11 to assume a continuum of widths to best accommodate different sinks, while enabling easy disposal of captured hair trimmings 40 and a small special footprint when the whisker trap 11 is stored.

[0016] Referring now to all the Figs., whisker trap 11 is movable among a storage configuration 30, a hair disposal configuration 31 and a deployed configuration 32. Adjacent pleat panels 20 collapse into contact with each other in the storage configuration. Depending on the flexibility of the living hinges and any substantial rest living hinge angle, a restraint band or clip (not shown) may be necessary to hold the whisker trap in the storage configuration 30. The deployed configuration 32 includes a continuum of widths 35, which is inherently bound at one extreme when the one-piece sheet 12 is flat. The hair disposal configuration 31 is typically narrower than the deployed configuration 32 reflecting the fact that bathroom waste can openings are generally smaller than sink openings. Thus, an average of the living hinge angles 28 in the hair disposal configuration 31 is smaller than an average of the living hinge angles 28 I the deployed configuration 32. The whisker trap 11 is wider in the deployed configuration 32 than in the hair disposal configuration 31.

[0017] When the whisker trap 12 is in the hair disposal configuration 31, the accordion folds 17 provide rigidity when a user moves the whisker trap toward a waste can, and when tapping the whisker trap 12 against a surface to dislodge captured hair trimmings. In practice, the whisker trap 12 may be thought of as including a jarring impact surface at one or more of the living hinges 21 protruding on an underside 14 of the one-piece sheet 12 in the hair disposal configuration 31. Preferably, hair trimmings 40 on a top side 13 of the one-piece sheet 12 is dislodged responsive to the jarring impact surface impacting a rim 50 of a waste can 51.

[0018] The deployed configuration 32 can be generally planar with all the pleat panels 20 bisected by a common plane, such as when the whisker trap 11 is resting on a horizontal countertop surrounding a sink opening. All of the living hinge axes may also remain parallel. Alternatively, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the whisker trap 11 may have a more three dimensional shape when arching over a sink spout 46 so that a sink spout contact surface 18 on the underside 14 of the one-piece sheet 12 rests upon the sink spout 46 while other edge portions of the whisker trap contact the horizontal countertop of the sink fixture 47. In this shape, at least one of the living hinge axes will intersect a horizontal plane with some of the axes also no longer being parallel to the others. The whisker trap 11 always covers the sink drain 44 in the deployed configuration 32. In the example shown, the whisker trap may abut, but not cover the either the hot handle 49 or the cold handle 49, but the versatile shaping afforded by the accordion folds 17 can accommodate a variety of sink shapes with the whisker trap 11 positioned over, under or abutting virtually any spout and handle configuration.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0019] The present disclosure finds general applicability to protecting sink drains from debris that could cause clogging and should be disposed of elsewhere. The present disclosure finds specific applicability as a self barbering accessory that permits a user to trim their beard and capture the hair trimmings that might tend to clog a sink drain. In a typical use scenario, one could expect a whisker trap 12 to be stowed somewhere in their bathroom in the storage configuration 30. In order to trim their beard while keeping the hair trimmings from entering a sink drain, the user will retrieve and move the whisker trap 12 from the storage configuration 30 toward the deployed configuration 32. The whisker trap 12 is positioned in the deployed configuration 32 covering a sink 45 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Depending on the sink width, and the size, shape and distribution of the spout 46 and handles 48 and 49, the user may position the whisker trap over, in any suitable manner covering the sink drain 44 and the opening to the sink 45, and either over or under the spout 46. In the illustrated example, the whisker trap 12 is positioned to arch over the spout 46 such that sink spout contact surface 18 on the underside 14 contacts and rests upon the spout 46. The continuum of widths available allow the user to adjust a width of the whisker trap to cover the sink opening. The user then leans over the whisker trap 12 and trims their beard while observing the process in a mirror (not shown) positioned above the sink. The trimmings 40 fall onto the top hair collection surface 13 of the whisker trap 12. After the trimming is complete, the whisker trap 12 is moved away from the sink 45. The whisker trap 12 is narrowed by being moved from the deployed configuration 32 toward the hair disposal configuration 31. One end of the whisker trap 12 is positioned over the opening to a waste can while in the hair disposal configuration 31. the hair trimmings 40 may be dislodged to slide off the end of the whisker trap 12 into the waste can responsive to impacting the jarring impact surface 15 at one of the living hinges 21 on a rim 50 of the waste can 5, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The contrast between the hair trimmings 40 and the finish on the top hair collecting surface 13 allow the user to quickly confirm that all of the hair trimmings have left the whisker trap 12 and entered the waste can 51. Thereafter, the user returns the whisker trap 12 to the storage configuration 32 and stows the same for later use.

[0020] The present description is for illustrative purposes only, and should not be construed to narrow the breadth of the present disclosure in any way. Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications might be made to the presently disclosed embodiments without departing from the full and fair scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Other aspects, features and advantages will be apparent upon an examination of the attached drawings and appended claims.