Scouring pad with retained contoured stiffener

Claim 1

A plastic scouring pad for pots, pans and the like in which the pad is made of a size sufficiently small to be easily folded for hand manipulation, the outer surface of the pad being sufficiently open and abrasive to clean unwanted debris from the surfaces of said pots, pans and the like, said scouring pad including: (a) an outer member of a selected thickness of at least 1/8 inch and of a generally rectangular configuration and of a plastic, non-woven, fibrous open construction for the scouring of the surface of said pots, pans and the like, and (b) an insert of stiff plastic sheet material which is at least one-sixteenth of an inch thick and is impervious to the effect of water and detergents during its period of use, the insert being generally rectangular and having at least one corner formed with a radius and at least one of the other corners formed with a substantially 90 degree sharp configuration, said insert secured as an internal member within a fixed foldover end portion of the outer member to provide a double thickness, said end portion of the outer member completely enclosing the faces and all edges of the insert to provide at least three-sixteenths of an inch border of the outer member around the insert, the outer member also being constructed so as to provide an attached free end portion extending for at least one and one-third times the length of the double thickness portion of the outer member, the attached free end providing means for said free end to be brought to and around the double thickness to provide an additional thickness of scouring material at the edges and corners of the insert.