The present invention relates to a utility holder for a whiteboard.

In particular, the invention is intended to hold utilities used for a metal whiteboard in place .

It is known that whiteboards used in meeting rooms and classrooms often consist of enamelled steel. The white enamel layer lends itself to writing on with, for example, felt-tip pens in different colours, after which the board can be wiped off again with a suitable eraser and used again for the next explanation.

Traditionally, these enamelled metal boards are surrounded by a frame to hang them on a wall and they are also provided with a ledge below the board on which utilities can be put, such as writing utensils, erasers, sponges or magnetic disks to attach messages to the board.

A disadvantage of such a ledge is that it also collects all the dust and erased material that falls off the board, such that the ledge easily gets dirty, as do the utilities on the ledge.

Another disadvantage is that usually the ledge is narrow and unsuitable to store a plurality of utilities, such that the ledge sometimes takes the form of a trough in which the utilities end up in a messy tray, whereby a tidy overview of the available utilities is lacking.

US 9 969 208 B1 describes a utility holder magnetically hung on a metal whiteboard. The holder comprises an open interior delimited by a base which connects the front wall, the rear wall and the side walls to each other. The holder shows vertical cylindrical tubes of the same height and depth as a central box-shaped chamber to which they are attached, said chamber being magnetically attached with its rear side to the whiteboard.

At their bottom end the cylindrical tubes are at least partially tapered, such that when a marker is slid in, they hold the cap of the marker when the marker is withdrawn from the tube . This clamping operation is restricted to markers with a diameter fitting for the cylindrical tubes .

US 1 819 225 A describes a penholder with an open top, consisting of a front wall and a rear wall, connected to each other at the upstanding ends by curved side walls, and at the bottom by a closed base. Close to the open top a brush is attached, consisting of a back with bristles thereon, said back being attached to one upstanding front wall or rear wall. Some bristles press a pen inserted in the penholder against the wall opposite the back of the brush; other bristles prevent lateral movements of the pen.

Both the described utility holder and the described penholder show the disadvantage that objects that fall or get stuck in the holder such as parts of a marker, fibres or parts of writing utensils are difficult to recover without damaging the holder or having to take it apart.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a solution to the aforementioned and other disadvantages, by providing a holder which allows the utilities to be stored in an orderly manner and at every desired chosen location on a metal whiteboard. To this end, the invention relates to a utility holder for a metal whiteboard whereby the holder comprises a cover plate, which on a side hidden when in use, is provided with one or more supports, at least one of the free ends of which is provided with a magnet to be able to place the holder in a desired position on the whiteboard and whereby the cover plate, on the same side hidden when in use, is provided with a brush with bristles made of an elastic polymer, said bristles being oriented with the bristle tops diagonally or perpendicularly to the surface of the whiteboard.

Preferably, the holder comprises a rectangular cover plate supported by two walls under the short sides of the cover plate and by a closed rear wall under one long side of the cover plate, but whereby a front wall is missing under the other long side and whereby two magnets are positioned under the two walls of the rectangular cover plate to hold the holder in a desired position on the whiteboard.

The bristles of the brush are made from an elastic polymer, preferably rubber, and show a slant relative to the cover plate, said slant orienting the bristles to the sliding direction to facilitate sliding in utilities, making it slightly more difficult however for utilities to be taken out or to fall out. An advantage of such position of the bristles is that sliding in utilities goes very efficiently, but once the utility is held in place it will no longer fall out of the holder until a person deliberately and with a certain force wants to withdraw an object from the holder.

Preferably, the bristles of the brush are embedded in rows of bristles, which run diagonally relative to the sides of the rectangular cover plate. An advantage of such embedding is that when an object is inserted perpendicularly behind the open edge of the holder, said object will be held in place by several non-aligned bristles, such that the object is grasped faster and better by the bristles.

The magnets on the two walls under the short sides of the rectangular cover plate keep the whole length of the rectangular cover plate stuck against the whiteboard and this in every desired orientation: vertically, horizontally or diagonally, depending on the user's preference or the available space on the metal whiteboard.

Preferably, the edge of the cover plate shows a recess, the form of which is complementary to the form of a board eraser which can be positioned against the recess. An advantage of such a recess is that it is very intuitive for the user and prompts the user to position the board eraser in this recess after use. The recess on the edge of the cover plate can take every form, complementary to a used board eraser, but preferably takes the form of a circular segment and the board eraser, which is complementary to the recessed circular segment, is itself circular.

The recess, the form of which is complementary to the form of the board eraser, can be provided with a bumper made from an elastic polymer which follows the edge of the recess to prevent that the metal housing of the board eraser and the metal cover plate can damage each other when placing a metallic board eraser in the holder.

Such a circular board eraser can consist of a cylindrical holder for an eraser cloth and an eraser cloth which is clamped in the cylindrical holder by means of a clamping ring. The cylindrical holder can hereby consist of a circular upper part which can be slid in a complementary lower part and a clamping ring which can be placed around the lower part, whereby the lower part is clicked to the upper part by at least one spring closure and whereby the lower part is provided with a compressible ring made from a plastic foam or another elastic material around which an eraser cloth can be placed which is clamped by the loose ring and is also provided with a circular magnet, with which the cylindrical holder can be held in every desired position of the metal whiteboard. An advantage of such a structure is that it allows the eraser cloth to be efficiently replaced by a new eraser cloth and the used eraser cloth to be washed for example, such that the eraser cloth can be renewed when saturated.

The circular upper part is provided with a central hollow cylinder with which pressure can be exercised on the compressible ring made from a plastic foam and the underlying eraser cloth.

The eraser cloth is preferably a microfiber cloth.

The utility that is held in place in the holder can consist of writing materials such as felt-tip pens, pencils or markers and a board eraser.

With the intention of better showing the characteristics of the invention, a preferred embodiment of a utility holder for a whiteboard according to the invention is described hereinafter, by way of an example without any limiting nature, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: figure 1 schematically shows a perspective view of a utility holder according to the invention;

figure 2 shows a bottom view of figure 1 without utilities;

figure 3 shows an exploded view of a board eraser according to the invention; figure 4 shows a perspective view of a vertical cross- section of a composed board eraser according to the invention. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a holder 2 with utilities for a whiteboard. The holder 2 according to the invention comprises a rectangular housing, consisting of a cover plate 3 supported by two walls 4, 5 under the short sides of the cover plate 3 and by a closed rear wall 6 under one long side of the cover plate, but whereby a front wall on the other long side is missing. The housing is provided with magnets 7, 8 against the two walls 4, 5 to hold the holder 1 in a desired position, in this case a vertical position, on a metal whiteboard 9. The utilities consist of felt-tip pens 10 and a board eraser 11.

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the underside of the holder 2 for utilities of figure 1. The holder 2 is provided with a brush 12 with bristles 13 made from an elastic polymer, said brush 12 being fixed at the bottom of the cover plate 3 and the bristles of which are oriented with the bristle tops toward the surface of the whiteboard 9 and can show a slant relative to the cover plate 3, said slant orienting the bristles to the back 6 under the housing and said bristles being embedded in rows 14 which run diagonally relative to the sides of the rectangular cover plate 3 of the housing. In this case the cover plate 3 is provided with a circular segment-shaped recess 11' for placing a circular board eraser 11, said recess being protected by a circular segment-shaped bumper 11" in rubber. Figure 3 shows an exploded view of the constituent components of a board eraser 11 according to the invention, which consists of a top disk 15, which fits on the upper part 16 of a circular handle 17, said upper part being provided with a central cylindrical protrusion 18 which is intended to hold a circular magnetic plate 19 in a lower part 20, which lower part 20 can be clicked to the upper part 16 by means of spring hooks 21 on the lower part 20 which engage an edge of the upper part 16.

A cylindrical recess 22 is provided on the underside of the lower part 20, in which an elastic disk 23 with a central recess 24 of a compressible material such as plastic foam can be positioned. Around the outside of the elastic disk 23 an eraser cloth 25, preferably a microfiber cloth, can be wound, such that the underside and the outer contour of the elastic disk 23 are covered with the eraser cloth 25. The eraser cloth 25 is tensioned and kept in place by a clamping ring 26 which is slid upward along the underside over the lower part 20 and which causes the eraser cloth 25 to be clamped between the lower part 20 and the clamping ring 26, said clamping ring 26 engaging behind a protrusion in the lower part 20 to keep the clamping ring 26 in the desired position.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a cutaway vertical cross-section through the middle of an assembled board eraser 11 according to the invention. The upper part 16, provided with a top disk 15, holds the circular magnetic plate 19 at the bottom of the lower part 20 in place with its central cylindrical protrusion 18, whereby the lower part 20 is clicked to the upper part 16 by means of three spring hooks 21 on the lower part 20 which engage an edge 21' of the upper part 16.

The elastic disk 23 from a compressible material is positioned in the cylindrical recess 22, provided on the underside of the lower part 20, and is held in place by the eraser cloth 25 which is folded around the outside of the elastic disk 23, whereby the eraser cloth 25 is in turn kept in place by the clamping ring 26 which engages behind an edge of the lower part 20 with a tooth.

The operation of the holder 2 for utilities for a whiteboard is very simple and as follows.

At the start of an explanation or lesson at the whiteboard 9 a user can slide the holder 1 to a desired position on the whiteboard 9. For a right-handed person this can be a position on the right-hand side of the board for example, vertically or horizontally or diagonally depending on their choice, whereas a left-handed person will prefer a position on the left-hand side of the board for example.

As soon as the user wants to write on the whiteboard 9, he can choose a suitable writing instrument, for example a felt-tip pen 10 of the desired colour, from the holder 1 by withdrawing the desired felt-tip pen from the holder. At any time he can put away the writing instrument 10 again by sliding it back into the holder 1, whereby the slantingly and diagonally positioned bristles 13 under the cover plate 3 of the holder 1 will grasp the writing instrument quickly and hold it in place for the next time it is used.

If the characters on the board need wiping, the user will intuitively find the board eraser 11 on the holder 1 which is magnetically held against the surface of the board by means of a magnet 19 in the underside of the board eraser 11 and when not in use can be positioned in the, in this case circular segment-shaped, recess 11' in the cover plate of the holder which is complementary to the cylindrical board eraser 11 that fits herein. In this case the recess is protected by an elastic bumper 11" which prevents damage to the metal cover plate and/or the board eraser 11.

The user will intuitively make circular movements with the board eraser 11 over the surface of the metal board 9 until the ink on the whiteboard is absorbed in the fibre cloth 25 that he presses against the whiteboard 9 with the board eraser 11. The board eraser 11 can be reused until the fibre cloth 25 is saturated and must be replaced by a new or washed eraser cloth.

The user can take apart the eraser by manually pulling the upper part 16 off the clamping ring 26, whereby the eraser cloth 25 is released and can be removed and replaced by a new or washed one and via a reverse action can be clamped on again. The holder 1 allows a good overview of the available utilities 10 at all times, i.e. felt-tip pens or other writing material in for example several colours, with which a desired image can be made.

Two magnets 7, 8 on the ends of the cover plate 3 of the holder 1 keep the holder pressed against the surface of the metal whiteboard 9 at all times.

Obviously, variants of the embodiment as specified in the figures are also possible.

Thus the form of the board eraser 11 can also take variant forms instead of circular: oval, square or polygonal and be provided with a handle. The preferred variant is a circular eraser because it is intuitively used by the user in a rotating motion, whereby the eraser operation is optimal.

Thus, not only the recess 11' for the board eraser but also the entire length of the cover plate can be provided with an elastic bumper 11" to prevent damage of the cover plate

3.

The present invention is by no means limited to the embodiments described as an example and shown in the figures, but a holder 1 for utilities of a whiteboard 9 according to the invention can be realised in all kinds of forms and dimensions without departing from the scope of the invention, as is described in the following claims.