PORTABLE TUB

Abstract

A portable shower tub provides an upright enclosure to allow a person to bathe without a fixed tub. The portable shower tub may be a collapsible design formed of telescoping slats concentrically arranged to form substantially a semi-cone. The slats may be configured to interlock with a watertight seal, or a liner may be suspended from the rim to hold water. A liner may be formed of an antimicrobial substance and/or treated with a mold inhibitor to promote sanitary use.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of and incorporates by reference U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/124,826 filed Feb. 25, 2008, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/075,365, filed Jun. 25, 2008.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This specification relates to the field of health and hygiene, and more particularly to a portable tub.

BACKGROUND

Much of the prior art in this field addresses the problem of bathing an individual confined to a bed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,848 describes a modular portable shower with an impermeable liner and a modular frame that permits one to shower a bedridden person; U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,970 describes a portable bathing apparatus to be used on a mattress and being collapsible for efficient storage and transportation; U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,502 describes a portable bathing tub for invalids, especially bed-ridden persons. These inventions require the user to lie down in the portable tub during bathing and are ill-suited for use by persons who may have difficultly lying down to bathe.

Other prior art teaches various forms of tubs, some intended for use with shower stalls. U.S. Pat. No. 2,420,448 teaches a telescopic bathtub, with an extended position for use. When the bathtub is in the extended position, its configuration is essentially the same as an ordinary bathtub it and functions the same as an ordinary bathtub. As such, a user must climb over the walls to enter the bathtub and lie down in the tub to bathe. U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,734 discloses an apparatus for converting a rectangular shower stall booth into a bath. The apparatus comprises a rigid frame mounted to the shower stall and a waterproof insert to retain water. This bathtub extends out of the shower and, among other things, will not work with a non-rectangular shower stall. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,540 teaches a portable, lightweight free-standing tub accessory for use in conventional shower stalls. However, this portable tub is not collapsible for easy storage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, a portable shower tub provides an upright enclosure for water to allow a person to bathe in without a fixed tub. The portable shower tub may be of various designs, including a collapsible design formed of telescoping slats concentrically arranged or a ribbed structure with a liner. A liner may be formed of an antimicrobial substance and/or treated with a mold inhibitor to promote sanitary use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of slats that may be used in an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub;

FIG. 2 is a top view of an alternative embodiment of a portable tub;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub in an extended position;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub;

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of yet another exemplary embodiment of a portable tub; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an immersible chair for use with a portable tub.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub with an immersible chair;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a bracket that may be used in an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A portable tub may be useful for allowing a person to bathe in a standard shower or tub. A portable tub may be constructed so that it may be placed in a shower or bathtub and pulled up around the bathing person and then fixed in an extended state. The bathing person may then fill the portable tub with water and bathe. This will allow the person bathing to have the benefits of immersion in warm water without having to lie down in a conventional bathtub. This may be particularly useful for individuals who are elderly or handicapped, and who have difficulty lying down in a conventional bathtub.

A portable tub will now be described with more particular reference to the attached drawings. Hereafter, details are set forth by way of example to facilitate discussion of the disclosed subject matter. It should be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the field, however, that the disclosed embodiments are exemplary and not exhaustive of all possible embodiments. Throughout this disclosure, a hyphenated form of a reference numeral refers to a specific instance or example of an element and the un-hyphenated form of the reference numeral refers to the element generically or collectively. Thus, for example, 102-1 may refer to a “pen,” which may be an instance or example of the class of “writing implements.” Writing implements may be referred to collectively as “writing implements 102” and any one may be referred to generically as a “writing implement 102.”

FIG. 1 depicts slats 110 that may be used to construct an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub 100. The slats may be of slightly varying sizes. For example, slat 110-1 may be the longest. Slat 110-2 may be the next longest. Slat 110-3 may be the next longest. And slat 110-4 may be the shortest of the slats. In one embodiment, each of the slats 110 may be progressively shorter by approximately two inches. Slats 110 may be constructed of plastic, polyvinyl chloride, or other suitable material.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub, which may be constructed of slats 110 as shown in FIG. 1. Each of the slats 110 when their removed edges are connected may form a conical section. Each conical section may be slightly smaller than the one just below it. This may allow for the telescoping motion when the multiplicity of slats are expanded or contracted. For example, in this case slat 110-1 may be the longest, therefore forming a circle with the largest radius. Slat 110-2 is slightly smaller than slat 110-1 and forms a circle with a slightly smaller radius. Slat 110-3 is the next smaller and forms a circle with a slightly smaller radius than slat 110-2. Slat 110-4 is the smallest, and forms a circle with a radius slightly smaller than slat 110-3. Slat 110-4 may be adapted to form a circle with a radius sufficient to allow an adult human to comfortably stand within the radius 330 of slat 110-4. At each point where a slat 110 overlaps with another slat 110, an overlap joint 320 is formed. Joints 320 may include a flexible sealing member, which will ensure that each joint 320 is watertight. When portable tub 100 is in a fully extended position, as is shown in FIG. 3, it may need to be supported to ensure that it does not collapse while the user is bathing. Rigidity may be maintained with latches at each joint 320, friction between joints 320 or other techniques as are known in the art.

In an alternative to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a waterproof inner liner may be suspended from rim 310 of portable tub 100. The inner liner will be adapted to hold water while the user bathes. The interior surface or liner of portable tub 100 may be treated with an antimicrobial treatment, or made with an antimicrobial material. This may inhibit the growth of infectious microbes. It may also be treated with a mold inhibitor or may be constructed with mold-resistant material. This may help to prevent the growth of mold on the surfaces. As shown in FIG. 3, the slats form a collapsible outer shell which is easily moved when in a collapsed state. When the collapsible shell is in an extended state, it is adapted to hold water.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an alternative embodiment of a portable tub. In FIG. 2 portable tub 102 may be constructed of a spiral slat 110-5, which may be a flexible, continuous spiral to allow a telescoping motion. FIG. 2 also discloses that in base 200 of portable tub 100, there may be a closeable drain hole 210, which may allow water to be drained from portable tub 100 at a controlled rate.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of yet another exemplary embodiment of a portable tub 100. In FIG. 4 there are a number of ribs 410 which together partially overlap to form an outer shell. In some embodiments, ribs 410 may be concentric circles of substantially the same radii, while in other embodiments, ribs 410 may have progressively smaller radii, thereby forming a substantially conical configuration similar to the configuration of FIG. 3. Suspended from ribs 410 is a liner 420, which may be constructed of a water-proof material so as to hold water. The portable tub as disclosed in FIG. 4 may be constructed with a liner material 420 that does not provide a self-supporting structure. So portable tub 100 may need to also include a structural frame 430. Structural frame 430 may be constructed of rigid, vertical supporting rods 432. Supporting rods 432 may be telescoping rods or may be configured to fold and unfold. These supporting rods 432 may provide structural support to portable tub 100.

FIG. 4A discloses yet another alternative embodiment. This embodiment is similar to the embodiment disclosed in FIG. 4, but in this embodiment there is no structural frame 430. In this embodiment, a number of straps 440 are provided. Straps 440 may be mounted permanently to a fixed supporting structure 450 such as a wall or ceiling. Straps 440 may then connect to the topmost rib 410, thereby providing structural support for the suspended portable tub 100 in its extended state.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an immersible chair for use with a portable tub 100 (FIG. 1). A chair 500 may be constructed of a lightweight and non-reactive material such as plastic to provide immersibility. Immersible chair 500 may be a simple structural chair, or may include jets 510 engageable to a pump (not shown) to provide therapeutic water force. If jets 510 are provided, immersible chair 500 may be powered by power source 520, such as a rechargeable battery. For safety, power source 520 should provide direct current and may be encapsulated in a watertight compartment 530. Power source 520 should have a sufficiently low power output to not be dangerous if current is accidentally exposed to water, or should be provided with a fuse system that will prevent transient current excursions above the level dangerous to humans. For safety, currents greater than 5-10 mA are considered painful, and currents greater than 60-70 mA are dangerous or potentially fatal.

FIG. 6 depicts an alternative embodiment of a portable tub 100 further comprising immersible chair 500. Chair 500 may be constructed with a base 200 as a unitary piece of portable tub 100. FIG. 6 also discloses that a closeable drain hole 210 may be placed in base 200 to allow water to drain from portable tub 100 in a controlled manner. FIG. 6 may also include a structural frame 430. Structural frame 430 may be constructed of supporting rods 432 and bracket 610. Bracket 610 may be rectangular in shape. Not depicted in FIG. 6, but part of the embodiment, is an outer shell formed of a number of ribs 410 with a liner 420 suspended from ribs 410.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of bracket 610 positioned at the top of supporting rods 432. Bracket 610 may include sliders 710 and mounting pins 720. Sliders 710 may be adapted to slide up and down support rods 432. Mounting pins 720 may engage holes in the support rods 432 to mount bracket 610 at the top of the supporting rods 432.

While the subject of this specification has been described in connection with one or more exemplary embodiments, it is not intended to limit the claims to the particular forms set forth. On the contrary, the appended claims are intended to cover such alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within their spirit and scope.

Claims

1. A portable tub comprising:

a lightweight collapsible outer shell adapted to: render the portable tub easily movable when in a collapsed state; and hold a volume of water when in an extended state;

a watertight inner surface; and

a closeable drain hole.

2. The portable tub of claim 1 wherein the shell comprises a plurality of concentric slats.

3. The portable tub of claim 2 wherein the slats are circular.

4. The portable tub of claim 2 wherein the watertight inner surface comprises inner surfaces of the slats and a seal on junctions between the slats.

5. The portable tub of claim 1 wherein the watertight inner surface is a liner.

6. The portable tub of claim 5 wherein the liner is suspended from a rim of the shell.

7. The portable tub of claim 1 wherein the shell comprises a plurality of rigid ribs and wherein the watertight inner surface is a liner suspended between the ribs.

8. The portable tub of claim 7 further comprising a strap operable to affix to at least one of the ribs and adapted to be supported by a fixed supporting structure.

9. The portable tub of claim 7 further comprising a structural frame adapted to support the ribs when in an extended state.

10. The portable tub of claim 9 wherein the structural frame comprises a telescoping rod.

11. The portable tub of claim 9 wherein the structural frame comprises a folding rod.

12. The portable tub of claim 9 wherein the structural frame comprises a fixed rod and a bracket

13. The portable tub of claim 12 wherein the bracket includes a slider adapted to slide on the fixed rod and a mounting pin adapted to engage the fixed rod.

14. The portable tub of claim 1 further comprising an immersible chair.

15. The portable tub of claim 14 wherein the immersible chair includes jets.

16. An immersible chair for use with a portable tub, the immersible chair comprising:

a chair constructed substantially of non-reactive material;

jets configured to provide water pressure; and

a power source.

17. The immersible chair of claim 16 wherein the power source is a rechargeable battery secured in a watertight compartment.

18. The immersible chair of claim 16 wherein power source includes a fuse configured to suppress transient currents.

19. The immersible chair of claim 18 wherein the fuse is configured to suppress transient currents greater than 10 mA.