BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Temporary guests in hotel/motel rooms often experience inconvenience and frustration with regard to storing toothbrushes satisfactorily between usage. Close-fitting plastic storage enclosures prevent the bristles from drying. It is unsightly and unsanitary to leave the brush laying on a table top, sink or vanity: the bristles often remain in contact with a puddle of waste water.

Storage in upright orientation with the bristles at the top is preferred since this allows excess water to drain off downwardly and allows the brush to dry rapidly.

A drinking glass can be used for upright toothbrush storage, but this uses up one of the drinking glasses of which there are usually only a few available in a motel/hotel room.

Since the residual waste liquid from the toothbrush accumulates in the bottom of the glass, it needs to be washed and sterilized before it is used for drinking purposes.

DISCUSSION OF RELATED KNOWN ART U. S. patents 5,297,677 to Burian et al and 4,770,379 to Estvold disclose toothbrush holders formed from sheet metal, and thus are not considered to be disposable.

Re-usable toothbrush holders of known art having a closed container are subject to the above-mentioned problem of residual waste liquid accumulation in the bottom of the container.

In general, any non-disposable type of toothbrush holder potentially harbors lingering germs unless cleaned and

sterilized frequently and diligently.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a toothbrush holder that can hold a plurality of toothbrushes in an upright position, bristle end up, and that is low enough in cost to be disposable as a"throw-away"item provided as a promotional convenience by a hotel or motel.

It is a further object to make the toothbrush holder to be constructable from recyclable plastic material for environmental conservation.

It is a still further object to configure the toothbrush holder in a shape that enables nesting for compact packaging of shipment quantities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The abovementioned objects have been accomplished by the present invention of a toothbrush holder having an upwardly- facing portion, configured with circular openings to receive toothbrushes, supported by integrally attached legs. The holder can be manufactured economically from recyclable plastic material in a molding process, and can be nested space- efficiently in quantities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description taken with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toothbrush holder of the present invention, shown holding a single toothbrush.

FIG. 2 is top view of the toothbrush holder of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention: toothbrush holder 10 having an upper portion with four integrally-formed legs 10A extending

downwardly to a support surface such as a vanity or sink counter. The upper portion is configured with four upwardly- facing circular openings 10B, one of which is shown holding a toothbrush 12 in an upright position with the bristles at the top and the handle resting on the support surface. Up to four toothbrushes can be held in this manner, one in each circular opening 10B.

The general shape of holder 10 approximates a paraboloid, i. e. a surface of revolution of a parabola about its central axis, with material removed to form legs 10A between arched voids as shown arranged uniformly around the lower region. The holder 10 may be formed as a shell of substantially constant thickness, and its shape makes it easy to manufacture from plastic material in a molding process. The tapered shape allows any quantity of holders 10 to be nested together in a stack for space efficiency in shipment, in the well-known manner in which paper cups are packaged.

The top view of FIG. 2 shows the polar array pattern of the four circular openings 10B, disposed at the same uniform angular spacing as the four legs 10A.

In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, shaped as shown in FIG. 1 and 2, the holder 10 can be made 4 1/2" (11.43 cm) high by a square 2 1/2" (6.35cm) per side at the bottom of the legs, and openings 10B can be 3/4" (1.90cm) in diameter.

While the illustrative embodiment shows four openings (10B) and four legs 10A, the invention can be practiced with any desired number of toothbrush-holding openings 10B, and with a different number of legs, e. g. three.

The invention could also be practiced with different overall body shapes of the holder 10, e. g. cylindrical, conical, or orthogonal; also with different shapes of the legs 10A and the void regions therebetween.

Holder 10 may be molded economically from polystyrene; e. g. with a uniform thickness of 1/16" (. 159cm). As an alternative to uniform thickness, plastic material can be saved by making the main surface thinner and configuring the mold to provide thickened strengthening beads along the edges of the arches forming the legs 10A, and/or around the circular openings 10B.

As an alternative to plastic material, holder 10 could be

made from metal, e. g. aluminum, in a molding or pressing process.

It is envisioned that a company logo or other promotional matter may be printed on the outer surface of the holder.

The invention may be embodied and practiced in other specific forms without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description; and all variations, substitutions and changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.