US20100133132A1

US20100133132A1 - Cleaning supplies caddy

Info

Publication number: US20100133132A1
Application number: US12/627,451
Authority: US
Inventors: Scott W. Allan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Maxtech Consumer Products Ltd
Priority date: 2008-11-28
Filing date: 2009-11-30
Publication date: 2010-06-03
Also published as: CA2686644A1

Abstract

A cleaning supplies caddy for holding a number of cleaning supplies. The caddy includes a base for supporting the cleaning supplies and a cover adapted to fit on the base having one or more cover walls at least partially defining a cover cavity therein in which the cleaning supplies are receivable. The base includes one or more base securing elements, and the cover has one or more cover securing elements, for cooperating with the base securing element(s) to secure the base and the cover together.

Description

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/118,502, filed on Nov. 28, 2008, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a cleaning supplies caddy for holding a number of cleaning supplies.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Caddies for storing and transporting cleaning supplies are well known in the art. However, the known cleaning supplies caddies have some disadvantages.
For instance, when the prior art caddy is temporarily left unattended or is not in use, the cleaning supplies positioned therein are readily available to anyone. This is undesirable because, among other things, the cleaning supplies typically include materials which are potentially harmful to human beings (e.g., poisonous if ingested), and those such as children who may unintentionally harm themselves or others with such materials should not have access to such materials.
In addition, the known cleaning supplies caddy typically is not suitable for marketing the caddy as a part of a kit, e.g., a cleaning kit including the caddy and cleaning supplies therein. In the prior art, such a cleaning kit typically is required to be packaged in various packaging materials, resulting in significant waste when the packaging is discarded and also adding to the cost of the kit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a cleaning supplies caddy that addresses or at least mitigates one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art.
In its broad aspect, the invention provides a cleaning supplies caddy for holding a number of cleaning supplies. The caddy includes a base for supporting the cleaning supplies, and a cover adapted to fit on the base having one or more cover walls at least partially defining a cover cavity therein in which the cleaning supplies are receivable. The base includes one or more base securing elements, and the cover has one or more cover securing elements, for cooperating with the base securing element(s) to secure the base and the cover together.
In another aspect, the cover wall is substantially continuous and additionally defines a support region for supporting the cover in an inverted position so that, when removed from the base, the cover is positionable on the support region to contain a liquid in the cover cavity.
In yet another aspect, the support region has a main surface and a number of buttons protruding therefrom for supporting the cover, when the cover is inverted.
In one embodiment, the cleaning supplies caddy of the invention preferably includes one or more labels for providing point of purchase information.
In yet another aspect, the cover is at least partially non-opaque, to permit at least partial observation of the cover cavity.
In accordance with another broad aspect of the invention, the cleaning supplies caddy includes a number of cleaning supplies, a base for supporting the cleaning supplies, and a cover adapted to fit on the base having one or more cover walls at least partially defining a cover cavity therein, the cleaning supplies being receivable in the cover cavity. The base has one or more base securing elements, and the cover includes one or more cover securing elements, for cooperating with the base securing element(s) to secure the base and the cover together.
In accordance with another broad aspect of the invention, the base includes base securing elements positioned at the first and second ends of the base respectively, and the cover includes cover securing elements positioned at the first and second ends of the cover respectively. The cleaning supplies caddy preferably also includes a handle having an elongate body portion extending between first and second ends thereof, and mounting elements positioned at the first and second ends respectively of the body portion, for securing the first and second ends of the body portion to the respective cover securing elements. The body portion also includes latch elements at the first and second ends thereof respectively. When the cover is on the base, the body portion is movable between a locked condition, in which the latch elements disposed at each of the first and second ends of the body portion engage the base securing elements at the first and second ends of the base respectively, to hold the cover securing elements and the base securing elements together for securing the cover and the base together, and an unlocked condition, in which the latch elements are disengaged from the base securing elements, to permit removal of the cover from the base.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 a is an exploded isometric view of an embodiment of a cleaning supplies caddy of the invention;

FIG. 1 b is an exploded isometric view of an alternative embodiment of the cleaning supplies caddy of the invention, drawn at a smaller scale;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the caddy of FIG. 1 a in which a cover is positioned on a base thereof, drawn at a larger scale;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-section of the caddy of FIG. 2 showing a cover securing element and a base securing element engaged with each other, drawn at a larger scale;

FIG. 4 a is an isometric view of the cover of FIGS. 1 a and 2 in an inverted position, in which water is held in the cover;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of an alternative embodiment of the cleaning supplies caddy of the invention;

FIG. 6 a is a partial cross-section of the cover securing element and the base securing element of FIG. 3 in which the elements are engaged, drawn at a larger scale;

FIG. 6 b is a partial cross-section of the cover securing element and the base securing element of FIG. 6 a in which the elements are disengaged;

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a portion of the cleaning supplies caddy of FIG. 5 in which a locking element is positioned in aligned apertures in the cover and the base, drawn at a smaller scale;

FIG. 8 a is an isometric view of another alternative embodiment of the cleaning supplies caddy of the invention, drawn at a smaller scale;

FIG. 8 b is a side view of the cleaning supplies caddy of FIG. 8 a;

FIG. 9 is a partial cross-section of a portion of the caddy of FIG. 8 a, drawn at a smaller scale;

FIG. 10 is an end view of the caddy of FIG. 8 a with a handle thereof in a locked condition, drawn at a smaller scale;

FIG. 11 is an end view of the caddy of FIG. 8 a with the handle in an unlocked condition;

FIG. 12 is a side view of a portion of the handle in the unlocked condition, drawn at a larger scale; and

FIG. 13 is a side view of a portion of the handle in the locked condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference is first made to FIGS. 1 a-4 b and FIGS. 6 a-7 to describe an embodiment of a cleaning supplies caddy of the invention referred to generally by the numeral 5. The cleaning supplies caddy 5 is for holding a number of cleaning supplies 8 (FIG. 4 a), as will be described. The caddy 5 preferably includes a base 10 for supporting the cleaning supplies 8, and a cover 15 adapted to fit on the base 10 with one or more cover walls 16 at least partially defining a cover cavity 17 therein (FIG. 3) in which the cleaning supplies are receivable. Preferably, the base 10 includes one or more base securing elements 22. Also, the cover 15 preferably includes one or more cover securing elements 24, for cooperating with the base securing element(s) 22 to secure the base 10 and the cover 15 together (FIG. 3).
As shown in FIG. 4 a, upon removal of the cover 15 from the base 10, the user has access to the cleaning supplies 8. In one embodiment, the cover wall 16 preferably is substantially continuous and additionally defines a support region 25 for supporting the cover 15 in an inverted position (FIG. 4 b) so that, when removed from the base 10, the cover 15 is positionable on the support region 25 to contain a liquid 61 in the cover cavity 14. Accordingly, and as can be seen in FIG. 4 b, after the cover 15 is removed from the base 10, and upon inverting the cover 15, water 61 (and/or another cleaning agent as desired) may be held in the inverted cover 15. Accordingly, the water 61 (and/or another cleaning agent) may then be used for cleaning purposes, with or without additives (e.g., soap). It is preferred that the cover 15 also includes a spout element 31 (FIG. 1 a), to facilitate control of the liquid 61 when it is poured from the inverted cover 15.
Preferably, the support region 25 includes a main surface 76 and a number of buttons 64 protruding therefrom for supporting the cover 10, when the cover 10 is inverted. The main surface 76 preferably is substantially planar and the buttons 64 preferably each protrude from the main surface 76 by approximately the same distance, so that the inverted cover 15 is stable when located on a substantially flat surface. Retailers and wholesalers of the caddy 5 may wish to stack a number of the caddies 5, e.g., in a retail display, and the buttons 64 may also be used in that regard. The buttons 64 preferably are positioned for alignment with indentations (not shown) in the base 10 in which the buttons 64 are respectively receivable, for stacking.
As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, in one embodiment, the base 10 and the cover 15 both extend between first and second ends thereof 36, 37, 38, 39 respectively. Preferably, cover securing elements 24 are positioned at each of the first and second ends 38, 39 of the cover 15 respectively and base securing elements 22 are positioned at the first and second ends 36, 37 of the base 10 for cooperation with the cover securing elements 24 respectively.
In one embodiment, the base 10 preferably includes one or more first apertures 70 and the cover 15 includes one or more corresponding second apertures 72 (FIG. 1 a) positioned to register with the first apertures 70 respectively, when the cover 15 is mounted on the base 10. Preferably, the caddy 5 also includes a locking element 68 which is at least partially positionable in a selected pair of the first and second apertures when the cover 15 is mounted on the base 10, to permit the locking element 68 to lock the base 10 and the cover 15 together (FIG. 7). The locking element is any suitable means for locking the cover and the base together when the cover is mounted on the base, to prevent unauthorized access therein.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that it may be desirable to lock the cover 15 and the base 10 together for a variety of purposes, and in different contexts. For instance, the cleaning supplies caddy 5 may be offered for sale (i.e., at retail) with cleaning supplies 8 therein. The cleaning supplies may be, for example, intended for a specific purpose (i.e., cleaning an automobile, or dishwashing while camping) or they may be intended for general household use. When the caddy with the cleaning supplies therein is offered for sale, the retailer may prefer to have the base and the cover locked together with a suitable locking element 68 such as a cable tie lock, to prevent theft of cleaning supplies while the caddy is displayed.
Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the user may also wish to lock the base and the cover, e.g., to prevent unauthorized access to the cleaning supplies in the home. Users may wish to employ varying degrees of security, e.g., “child resistant” to “child proof”. For instance, the user may wish to prevent a small child from having access to the cleaning supplies, or the user may wish to prevent an older child from having such access. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any suitable locking element 68 may be used to lock the base and the cover together. Also, those skilled in the art will appreciate that, depending on the circumstances, the cover and the base may include as many alignable pairs of apertures spaced apart from each other, with locking elements 68 positioned therein, as are desirable in the circumstances. It is anticipated that, in most cases, only one pair of such apertures is sufficient.
As can be seen, for example, in FIG. 2, the cleaning supplies caddy 5 preferably also includes one or more labels 62 for providing point of purchase information. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that such information is generally required or customarily provided with products offered for sale at retail. As can be seen in FIG. 2, due to the labels 62, the cleaning caddy 5 may be sold at retail without additional packaging. This has the beneficial result that the caddy 5 does not include packaging that ultimately is discarded. In this way, the caddy 5 is designed to minimize waste.
Preferably, the base 10 additionally includes one or more base walls 13 at least partially defining a base cavity 14, and a number of interior walls 26 connected with the base wall 13. The interior walls 26 at least partially extend into the base cavity 14 to define a number of compartments 74 in which the cleaning supplies 8 are respectively receivable. The compartments 74 preferably are configured for receiving predetermined cleaning supplies. Examples of typical cleaning supplies 8 are shown in FIG. 4 a positioned in different compartments respectively, e.g., a bottle 50, a spray bottle 52, a cloth 54, a brush 56, and a jar container 58.
Preferably, the caddy 5 also includes a latch element 28 mounted on a selected one of the cover securing element 24 and the base securing element 22 movable between an engaged position (FIGS. 3 and 6 a), in which the latch element 28 engages the other of the cover securing element 24 and the base securing element 22 to connect the base 10 and the cover 15 together, and a disengaged position (FIG. 6 b), in which the latch element 28 and the other of the cover and base securing elements 24, 22 are disengaged from each other to permit removal of the cover 15 from the base 10.
In one embodiment, the latch element 28 includes a tab 42 with a mating surface 32 thereon and the other of the cover securing element 24 and the base securing element 22 includes a lip 34 (FIG. 6 b). Preferably, the tab 42 is biased to an engaged condition (FIG. 3, FIG. 6 a) in which the mating surface 32 is engaged with the lip 34 when the cover 15 is mounted on the base 10, to connect the cover 15 and the base 10 together. The tab 42 preferably is movable between the engaged condition and a disengaged condition (FIG. 6 b), in which the mating surface 32 and the lip 34 are disengaged to permit removal of the cover 15 from the base 10.
In one embodiment, the tab 42 of the latch element 28 is mounted on the cover securing element 24, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 b, 6 a, and 6 b. The tab 42 is shown in the disengaged condition in FIG. 6 b, i.e., the lip 34 and the mating surface 32 are illustrated in the disengaged condition in that drawing.
As can be seen in FIGS. 6 a and 6 b, when the cover is pushed downwardly into the base, the tab 42 moves to the engaged condition (i.e., in the direction indicated by arrow “A” in FIG. 6 a) until the mating surface 32 is fully engaged with the lip 34 on the base securing element 22. Such movement preferably takes place because the tab 42 is biased accordingly. It will be understood that the mating surface 32 and the lip 34 engage each other in a snap fit when the latch element 28 is in the engaged condition. To move the tab 42 from the engaged condition to the disengaged condition, the tab 42 is moved outwardly (i.e., in the direction indicated by arrow “B” in FIG. 6 b), to move the mating surface 32 away from the lip 34 to disengage the mating surface 32 and the lip 34. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, alternatively, the latch element 28 may be mounted on the base securing element, and the lip 34 may be positioned on the cover securing element (not shown).
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the caddy 5 may be made of any suitable material or materials. For example, a suitable material is a plastic polymer. The base and/or the cover may be formed with a number of additional features. For instance, the base preferably includes a channel 34 integrally formed in the base 10 (FIG. 2). The channel 34 is formed to accommodate a user's hands (not shown), to enable the user to lift the caddy easily.
As can be seen in FIGS. 1 a, 2, and 3, the cover wall 16 preferably includes end walls 33 defining the first and second ends 38, 39 of the cover 15. Preferably, the end walls 33 each include a main portion 40 connected to the main surface 76 and an indented portion 41 which is indented relative to the main portion 40, to define a space 43 in which the user's fingers (not shown) may engage the cover securing element 24 when the cover 15 is inverted. In this way, the cover securing elements 24 may also be used as handles when the cover 15 is inverted.
In use, the caddy 5 may be closed (i.e., the cover is mounted on the base and the latch element engaged) and locked, for instance, by positioning the locking element 68 through the first and second apertures, as shown in FIG. 7. In one embodiment, and as shown in FIGS. 1 a-4 a, the cleaning supplies caddy 5 preferably includes the cleaning supplies 8 and is offered for sale including the cleaning supplies. As described above, when the caddy is displayed for retail sale with cleaning supplies therein, the cover and the base preferably are locked together.
After purchase, when the user wishes to obtain access to the cleaning supplies in the caddy, the locking element(s) 68 is unlocked and the cover is removed from the base. Once the cover is removed, the user has access to the cleaning supplies 8. Also, the removed cover may be inverted, and used as a pail. After use, the cleaning supplies are positioned on the base, and the cover is replaced on the base. The user may also lock the cover and the base together, also as described above.
As noted above, the cleaning supplies caddy may be sold with cleaning supplies in it for specific purposes. The caddy will not open easily (i.e., the cover is not easily removed from the base), and this has the added benefit that the cleaning supplies are contained inside the cover and the base if the cleaning supplies caddy falls over or is overturned, limiting the extent to which the spilled cleaning supplies spread.
An alternative embodiment of the cleaning supplies caddy 305 is illustrated in FIG. 1 b. The caddy 305 preferably includes a base 310 and a cover 315 adapted to fit on the base 310. It is preferred that the base 310 includes a base securing element 322, and the cover 315 includes a cover securing element 324 for cooperating with the base securing element 322 to secure the cover 315 and the base 310 together. For instance, as shown in FIG. 1 b, the base securing element 322 and the cover securing element 324 are adapted to be threadably engaged with each other.
The base 310 preferably includes a frame 327 in which the cleaning supplies 8 are positionable. Preferably, the frame 327 defines openings 329 in which the elements or parts of the cleaning supplies 8 are respectively receivable. As can be seen in FIG. 1 b, after the elements or parts of the cleaning supplies 8 are positioned in the openings 329, the cover 315 may be positioned on the base 310 and the cleaning supplies 8 received in a cover cavity (not shown in FIG. 1 b) defined by the cover 315.
Additional embodiments of the invention are shown in FIGS. 5 and 8 a-13. In FIGS. 5 and 8 a-13, elements are numbered so as to correspond to like elements shown in FIGS. 1 a-4 b and FIGS. 6 a-7.
In another embodiment, a cleaning supplies caddy 105 includes a cover 115 which is at least partially non-opaque, to permit at least partial observation of the cover cavity 117 (FIG. 5). Preferably, the non-opaque cover 115 is any material which is not opaque, and thus permits a user to see the contents of the caddy 105 without having to open or remove the cover 115 from the base 110. For instance, the non-opaque material may be a substantially transparent cover which is made of any suitably durable plastic. Alternatively, the cover may be at least partially made of substantially translucent material. This feature is useful both for retailing purposes (i.e., to enable the prospective purchaser to see the cleaning supplies which are to be sold with the caddy) and in use, e.g., to enable the user to confirm that the desired cleaning supplies are in the caddy. In addition, when the cover 115 is used as a pail, the user can quickly determine whether water 61 in the inverted cover has become sufficiently dirty that it should be replaced.
Preferably, the base 110 includes a number of interior walls 126 connected with the base wall 113. The interior walls 126 at least partially extend into the base cavity 114 to define a number of compartments 174 in which the cleaning supplies 8 are respectively receivable. It is also preferred that the caddy 105 includes one or more labels 162 positioned on the base 110 for providing point of purchase information. It will be understood that, alternatively, some or all of the labels 162 may be located on the cover 115.
In another embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 a-13, a cleaning supplies caddy 205 preferably includes a base 210 and a cover 215 extending between first and second ends 236, 237, 238, 239 respectively. Preferably, the caddy 205 also includes a handle 280 with an elongate body portion 282 extending between first and second ends 284, 286 thereof (FIGS. 8 a, 8 b). In addition, cover securing elements 224 preferably are positioned at the first and second ends 238, 239 of the cover 215, and base securing elements 222 are positioned on the base 210 at the first and second ends 236, 237 thereof for cooperation with the cover securing elements 224 when the cover 215 is mounted on the base 210 (FIGS. 9, 12, 13). The handle 280 also preferably includes mounting elements 290 positioned at the first and second ends 284, 286 of the body portion 282, for securing the first and second ends 284, 286 of the body portion 282 to the cover securing elements 224 at the first and second ends 238, 239 of the cover 215 respectively (FIGS. 8 a, 8 b). Preferably, the mounting elements 290 engage the cover securing elements 224 so as to secure the first and second ends 284, 286 of the body portion 282 to the cover securing elements 224, however, the mounting elements 290 permit the body portion 282 to rotate relative to the cover securing elements 224 while remaining engaged therewith.
When the cover is mounted on the base, the body portion 282 preferably is movable between a locked condition (FIGS. 10, 13), in which latch elements 228 disposed at each of the first and second ends 284, 286 of the body portion 282 engage the base securing elements 222 at the first and second ends 236, 237 of the base 210 respectively, to hold the cover securing element 224 and the base securing element 222 together at each end respectively to secure the cover 215 and the base 210 together, and an unlocked condition (FIGS. 11, 12), in which the latch elements 228 are disengaged from the base securing elements respectively, to permit removal of the cover 215 from the base 210. It will be understood that, to simplify the illustrations, the cover and base securing elements 224, 222 and the latch element 228 at only one end of the caddy 205 are shown in FIGS. 9, 12, and 13. The cover and base securing elements 224, 222 and the latch element 228 are the same at each end of the caddy.
As can be seen in FIGS. 9, 12, and 13, the cover and base securing elements 224, 222 each define grooves 292, 293 therein in which lip elements 294, 296 of the latch element 228 are receivable. In FIG. 13, it can be seen that, when the body portion is located at the 12 o'clock position, the lip elements 294, 296 are engaged in the grooves 292, 293, thereby holding the cover 215 and the base 210 together. However, the grooves 292, 293 do not extend 360°, i.e., they are truncated to define gaps 298, 299 into which the lip elements 294, 296 are moved when the body portion 282 is pivoted to the 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock positions (FIG. 12). In these circumstances, the lip elements 294, 296 do not engage either the cover securing element 224 or the base securing element 222, and the cover 215 and the base 210 are disengagable from each other.
As can be seen in FIGS. 12 and 13, the cover and base securing elements 224, 222 preferably include detents 297 which hold the body portion 282 in the 6 o'clock position or, if preferred, in the 12 o'clock position (FIG. 10). For instance, as indicated above, the cover (after removal from the base) may be inverted and used as a bucket. In that situation, the handle 280 may be used if the body portion is moved to the six o'clock position. In these circumstances, the detents 297 serve to hold the body portion 282 in the 6 o'clock position, with the result that the cover is more conveniently usable as a bucket, as the detents hold the body portion 282 in position.
As can be seen in FIGS. 8-13, the handle 280 provides a number of additional advantages. First, when the handle 280 is in the locked condition, the caddy 205 is easily carried by the user. Also, the handle 280 provides an easy way to determine whether the cover 215 and the base 210 are locked together, e.g., before the user attempts to lift the caddy.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention can take many forms, and that such forms are within the scope of the invention as described above. The foregoing descriptions are exemplary and their scope should not be limited to the preferred versions contained herein.

Claims

1. A cleaning supplies caddy for holding a plurality of cleaning supplies, the caddy comprising:

a base for supporting the cleaning supplies;

a cover adapted to fit on the base comprising at least one cover wall at least partially defining a cover cavity therein in which the cleaning supplies are receivable;

the base comprising at least one base securing element; and

the cover comprising at least one cover securing element, for cooperating with said at least one base securing element to secure the base and the cover together.

2. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 1 in which said at least one cover wall is substantially continuous and additionally defines a support region for supporting the cover in an inverted position such that, when removed from the base, the cover is positionable on the support region to contain a liquid in the cover cavity.

3. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 2 in which the support region comprises a main surface and a plurality of buttons protruding therefrom for supporting the cover, when the cover is inverted.

4. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 1 in which:

the base and the cover both extend between first and second ends thereof respectively;

cover securing elements are positioned at each of the first and second ends of the cover respectively; and

base securing elements are positioned at the first and second ends of the base for cooperation with the cover securing elements respectively.

5. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 1 in which:

the base comprises at least one first aperture;

the cover comprises at least one second aperture positioned to register with said at least one first aperture when the cover is secured to the base; and

the caddy additionally comprises a locking element at least partially positionable in said at least one first aperture and said at least one second aperture when the cover is secured to the base, to permit the locking element to lock the base and the cover together.

6. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 1 additionally comprising at least one label for providing point of purchase information.

7. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 1 in which the base additionally comprises:

at least one base wall at least partially defining a base cavity; and

a plurality of interior walls connected with said at least one base wall, the interior walls at least partially extending into the base cavity to define a plurality of compartments in which the cleaning supplies are respectively receivable.

8. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 1 additionally comprising:

a latch element mounted on selected one of said at least one cover securing element and said at least one base securing element movable between an engaged position, in which the latch element engages the other of said at least one cover securing element and said at least one base securing element to connect the base and the cover together, and a disengaged position, in which the latch element and the other of said at least one cover securing element and said at least one base securing element are disengaged from each other to permit removal of the cover from the base.

9. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 8 in which:

the latch element comprises a tab with a mating surface thereon;

the other of said at least one cover securing element and said at least one base securing element comprises a lip;

when the cover is mounted on the base, the tab is movable to an engaged condition in which the mating surface is engaged with the lip, to connect the cover and the base together; and

the tab is movable between the engaged condition and a disengaged condition, in which the mating surface and the lip are disengaged to permit removal of the cover from the base.

10. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 1 in which the cover is at least partially non-opaque, to permit at least partial observation of the cover cavity.

11. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 1 in which:

the base and the cover both extend between first and second ends respectively;

the cleaning supplies caddy additionally comprises a handle, the handle comprising an elongate body portion extending between first and second ends thereof;

cover securing elements are positioned at the first and second ends of the cover, and base securing elements are positioned on the base at the first and second ends thereof for cooperation with the cover securing elements when the cover is on the base;

the handle includes mounting elements positioned at the first and second ends of the body portion, for securing the first and second ends of the body portion to the cover securing elements at the first and second ends of the cover respectively; and

when the cover is on the base, the body portion is movable between a locked condition, in which latch elements disposed at each of the first and second ends of the body portion engage the base securing elements at the first and second ends of the base respectively, to hold the cover securing element and the base securing element together at each said end respectively for securing the cover and the base together, and an unlocked condition, in which the latch elements are disengaged from the base securing elements respectively, to permit removal of the cover from the base.

12. A cleaning supplies caddy for holding a plurality of cleaning supplies, the caddy comprising:

a base for supporting the cleaning supplies;

the base comprising at least one base securing element;

the cover comprising at least one cover securing element, for cooperating with said at least one base securing element to secure the base and the cover together; and

said at least one cover wall being substantially continuous and additionally defining a support region for supporting the cover in an inverted position such that, when removed from the base, the cover is positionable on the support region to contain a liquid in the cover cavity.

13. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 12 in which the support region comprises a main surface and a plurality of buttons protruding therefrom for supporting the cover, when the cover is inverted.

14. A cleaning supplies caddy comprising:

a plurality of cleaning supplies;

a base for supporting the cleaning supplies;

a cover adapted to fit on the base comprising at least one cover wall at least partially defining a cover cavity therein, the cleaning supplies being receivable in the cover cavity;

the base comprising at least one base securing element; and

15. A cleaning supplies caddy for holding a plurality of cleaning supplies, the caddy comprising:

a base comprising at least one base wall defining a base cavity therein, the base extending between first and second ends thereof;

a cover adapted to fit on the base comprising at least one cover wall defining a cover cavity therein, the cover extending between first and second ends thereof, and the base cavity and the cover cavity being in communication when the cover is on the base such that the cleaning supplies are receivable therein;

the base comprising base securing elements positioned at the first and second ends of the base respectively;

the cover comprising cover securing elements positioned at the first and second ends of the cover respectively;

a handle comprising:

an elongate body portion extending between first and second ends thereof;

mounting elements positioned at the first and second ends respectively of the body portion, for securing the first and second ends of the body portion to the respective cover securing elements;

the body portion comprising latch elements at the first and second ends thereof respectively; and

when the cover is on the base, the body portion is movable between a locked condition, in which the latch elements disposed at each of the first and second ends of the body portion engage the base securing elements at the first and second ends of the base respectively, to hold the cover securing elements and the base securing elements together for securing the cover and the base together, and an unlocked condition, in which the latch elements are disengaged from the base securing elements, to permit removal of the cover from the base.

16. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 15 in which:

the base comprises at least one first aperture;

the cover comprises at least one second aperture positioned to register with said at least one first aperture when the cover is mounted on the base; and

the caddy additionally comprises a locking element at least partially positionable in said at least one first aperture and said at least one second aperture when the cover is mounted on the base, to permit the locking element to lock the base and the cover together.

17. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 15 in which the base additionally comprises a plurality of interior walls connected with said at least one base wall, the interior walls at least partially extending into the base cavity to define a plurality of compartments in which the cleaning supplies are respectively receivable.

18. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 15 in which the cover is at least partially non-opaque, to permit at least partial observation of the base cavity and the lower cavity when the cover is mounted on the base.

19. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 18 in which the base additionally comprises a plurality of interior walls connected with said at least one base wall, the interior walls at least partially extending into the base cavity to define a plurality of compartments in which the cleaning supplies are respectively receivable.

20. A cleaning supplies caddy according to claim 19 additionally comprising at least one label for providing point of purchase information.