GB2276082A

GB2276082A - Heated baths

Info

Publication number: GB2276082A
Application number: GB9305850A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Stephen Battye
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-03-20
Filing date: 1993-03-20
Publication date: 1994-09-21
Also published as: GB9305850D0

Abstract

A bath used for washing and bathing the human body includes a means for adding heat to the bathing water to compensate heat losses incurred during bathing and so keep bathing water temperature constant to improve bather relaxation and comfort. The bathing water may be heated by heaters attached to the bath or by circulating bathing water through a local heater. Heaters attached to the bath are either electric or draw heat from the water of a central heating system. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO BATHS This invention relates to baths used for washing and bathing the human body.

A bath is a well known piece of equipment which facilitates a person in washing their whole body. It typically take the form of a smoothly contoured open tank which in use is partially filled with water in which the naked person intent on washing themselves, commonly referred to as the bather, sits or lies while washing.According to the current art a bath usually has ; a first tap, commonly referred to as the "hot tap", to control the flow of hot water into the tank, a second tap, commonly referred to as the "cold tap", to control the flow of cold water into the tank, a hole at the lowest point, commonly referred to as the "plug hole," which is plugged when the tank is in use for bathing but which allows used bathing water to be drained from the tank when the bather has finished his bathing, and an overflow nozzle near, but not at, the level of the open top of the tank, in order to drain away water should the water level get too high. It is common for baths to be installed in hotels, hospitals and domestic residences, in rooms called bathrooms.Bathers usually bathe in warm-water.

Because it is very relaxing to rest in a bath of warm water bathers commonly bathe not only for the purpose of washing but also for relaxation. They typically achieve relaxation by resting in a recumbent position for quite long periods of time in the warm water contained within the bath. Bathers often bathe for periods of up to an hour, sometimes even longer.

In order that a bather may optimize his comfort and relaxation while bathing it is desirable that the temperature of the bathing water stays approximately constant during the bathing period. In baths according to the current art this does not happen because heat is lost from the surface of the bath, and by evaporation from the surface of the water in the bath, without there being any replacement of heat. The temperature of the bathing water thus falls as time passes and bather comfort is impaired.

Because bathers do not like to suffer the discomfort of falling bathing water temperature it sometimes happens that a bather slowly flows hot water from the hot tap into the bath during bathing in order to continuously introduce heat into the bathing water and so compensate for heat losses.

The introduction of hot water into one part of the bath causes excessive local heating which is discomforting to the bather and at worst a hazard to the bather because it can scald. Continually introducing hot water into the bath during bathing also raises the level of the bath water which then causes water overflow through the overflow nozzle. This wastes both water and heat.

according to baths of the current art heat input is difficult to regulate because newly introduced hot water needs thorough mixing with the bulk of the bath water previously put into the bath in order to establish a new average higher temperature which the bather judges to be more comfortable.

Such mixing has to be done by way of body movements which are handicapped by the restricted space within the bath and the bather' desire to keep most of the body recumbent and submerged so as to keep as comfortable and warm as possible.

It is common for architects or builders to minimizes the cost of constructing a house, apartment, hospital or hotel by making the bathroom as small as possible. In such bathrooms there is not much space to install the necessary items such as bath, wash basin, medical cabinet, hot water radiator and towel rail, and still leave sufficient room for the user to use the facilities easily and safely. It is therefore a benefit if a single item can be designed which fulfills the roles of more than one of the facilities which according to the current art are separate, without occupying more space than occupied by the several facilities separately.

The invention is of a bath for washing the human body which includes a means for adding heat to the bathing water during bathing, other than by the slow addition of fresh hot bathing water, in order to improve bather comfort and relaxation. The invention helps to keep the temperature of bathing water approximately constant over the bathing period without the inconvenience, discomfort, danger, waste of water and waste of heat that results from continuously flowing hot water into the bath. When in use for bathing it saves money by saving water and heat that would otherwise flow to waste.

Most forms of the invention provide the additional benefit of combining the roles of bath, central heating radiator and heated towel rail into one unit in order to save bathroom space. These forms of the invention therefore provide the additional benefit of saving building costs by allowing a smaller bathroom to be constructed than would be the case using current art.

By contributing to the comfort and relaxation of the bather, the bath according to the invention contributes to the bather's good health. It is therefore therapeutic so is expected to find useful service in clinics and hospitals.

The invention is not obvious as is evidenced by the fact that although its benefits are numerous and baths, central heating radiators and towel rails have all been in existence for many years, the invention is novel.

According to the present invention there is provided a contoured open tank suitable for containing bathing water and bather and a means for introducing heat into the tank and, or, bathing water which means provides heat additional to the heat contained in the bathing water supplied to the contoured open tank from the hot tap used to put bathing water into the tank.

Figure 1A illustrates in perspective a particular and exemplary form of the invention. Figure iB illustrates an underside view of the same particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figure 1A. Shown in both Figures 1A and 1B is an open topped, metal tank 1, to contain bathing water and bather. Hot bathing water is introduced into the tank via a first tap 8, cold bathing water is introduced into the tank via a second tap 9, waste bathing water can be removed from the tank via waste pipe 10. Overflow water is carried via overflow nozzle 11 to waste. In normal use for bathing the bathing water is prevented from passing into the waste pipe 10 by means of a plug 12, not shown, which is placed in the plug hole where waste pipe 10 joins tank 1.According to the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1A and 1B, the means for introducing heat into tank 1 by other than the initial heat contained in the bathing water when flowed into tank 1 from hot tap 8, is a long, 10 millimetre diameter, metal tube 2 which is spot welded onto the outer, non wetted surface of the tank at many points. The first end of the tube 2 is connected to the outlet 3 of a tap 4 which is within easy reach of a recumbent bather. The outlet of tube 2 is connected to a nozzle 6. The bath is installed for use by connecting inlet 5 of tap 4 to the hot water supply of a central heating system and by connecting nozzle 6 to the water return pipe of the central heating system.

When the bath according to the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 1B is used as a central heating radiator, tap 4 is opened so that water heated by the central heating boiler flows from tap inlet 5 through tap 4, through tube 2, through nozzle 6 and so back to the central heating boiler to be reheated and then recirculated. Because of the hot water passing through it tube 2 gets hot and by way of its very close proximity to tank 1 and its spot welded connections to tank 1, tank l also gets hot. The large surface area of tank 1 then acts as a radiator to heat the bathroom.

When the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 1B is in use as a heated towel rail, tap 4 is opened so that hot water flows through tube 2 to heat the tank in just the same way that the bath according to the invention acts as a radiator. Towels hung over the side of tank 1 become heated by their close proximity and contact with it. The drying of damp towels is therefore hastened.

In using the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1A and 1B as a bath for bathing, comfortably warm bathing water is introduced into tank 1 by the mixing of hot water from hot tap S and cold water from cold tap 9, tap 4 is partially opened and the bather bathes. The partially open tap 4 allows hot water from the central heating system to flow through tube 2 to heat tank 1. This not only prevents loss of heat from the bathing water through the walls of tank 1, but also heats the bathing water to compensate for heat lost from the surface of the bathing water by way of evaporation, convection and radiation. The flow through tube 2 therefore tends to keep the temperature of the bathing water constant over the bathing period.If heat introduced into the bathing water by way of the hot water flow through tube 2 exceeds that lost from the bathing water then the temperature of the bathing water rises, although this can easily be prevented by fury ther throttling of the tap 4. If the rate of heat introduction into the bathing water by way of the hot water flow through tube 2 is less than the rate of heat loss from the bathing water, the temperature of the bathing water falls, although this can be easily prevented by a further opening of tap 4. The bather adjusts conveniently located tap 4 to regulate the bathing water temperature.Because the rate of heat introduction and heat loss are relatively small in comparison to the total thermal capacity of the tank and bathing water, deviations in bathing water temperature occur slowly so that tap 4 only requires occasional adjustment to keep the temperature of the bathing water comfortably constant. The occasional adjustments of tap 4 are not inconvenient and do not impair bathing comfort.

Because tube 2 covers quite a lot of the non wetted surface of tank 1, tank 1 is heated fairly uniformly over much of its surface. The dissipative nature of metal tank 1 also spreads the heat from the points of contact with tube 2 so that no particular points on the wetted surface of tank 1 gets excessively hot and uncomfortable, or in danger of scalding the bather. The bathing water is heated over a large surface area, including at its deepest points where cold water tends to collect, so that the whole bulk of the bathing water tends to be kept at constant temperature without the need for the bather to manually stir the water to achieve mixing and uniformity of temperature. This adds to the bather 5 bathing comfort.

It is not essential that the heating tube 2 follows the path of the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1A and 1B, for there are other forms of the invention in which it follows different paths. In some of these forms of the invention tube 2 is folded back and forth across the surface of tank 1 a great many times, in a great number of different directions, to effect heating over a very large area of tank 1. The invention includes any arrangement in which a tube 2 is lied over the surface of tank 1 for the purpose of heating tank 1.

It is not essential that the diameter of tube 2 is 10 millimeters for there are other forms of the invention in which tube 2 is of a different diameter.

It not necessary that tube 2 is of uniform diameter or uniform wall thickness for there are other forms of the invention in which it is not of uniform diameter or uniform thickness.

It is not necessary that a single heating tube 2 is used between the outlet 3 of tap 4 and nozzle 6, for there are other forms of the invention in which outlet 3 of tap 4 is connected to a first manifold, nozzle 6 is connected to a second manifold, and between the first and second manifolds there are connected many separate tubes which lie in close proximity to and are fixed to the surface of tank 1. In some forms of the invention the several tubes between the first and second manifold are of the same diameter and length. In other forms of the invention the several tubes are of different diameters and lengths. The invention includes all arrangements of different tubes used to heat the tank between two or more manifolds, for any number of manifolds can be used to facilitate a desirable arrangement of heating tubes.

It is not necessary that tube 2 is attached to tank 1 by spot welding. There are other forms of the invention in which tube 2 is brazed to tank 1, other forms of the invention in which it is soldered to tank 1, other forms of the invention in which it is glued to tank 1, other forms of the invention in which it is fibre glassed to tank 1, other forms of the invention in which it is clamped by a mold which fits over the outward facing surface of tank 1, and yet other forms of the invention in which attachment to tank 1 is over most of the length of tube 2 by a combination of any or all of the above mentioned fixing means, for the invention includes all possible means and combination of means of fixing tube 2 to tank 1.

It is not necessary that tap 4 is used manually to keep the bathing water temperature constant, for there are other forms of the invention in which tap 4 acts thermostatically to keep the temperature of the bathing water constant.

It is not necessary that tap 4 controls the flow of water into tube 2, for there are other forms of the invention in which tap 4 controls the flow of water leaving tube 2. The invention includes all functional means to control the flow of water in tube 2.

It is not necessary that tank 1 is made of metal for there are other forms of the invention in which tank 1 is made of fibre glass, other forms of the invention in which tank 1 is made of plastic and others in which tank 1 is made of ceramic for the invention includes tank 1 made of any substance suitable for the service.

It is not necessary that the tap 4 is mechanically supported by tank 1 for there are other forms of the invention in which pipe 2 connects to a central heating system via a tap 4 which is not mounted on tank 1. In yet another forms of the invention the inlet to tube 2 connects directly to a central heating system and outlet nozzle 6 connects to a separately mounted tap 4 such that outlet 3 of tap 4 then connects to the return water flow of the central heating system.

It is not necessary that taps 8 and 9 are mechanically supported by tank 1 for there are other forms of the invention in which taps 8 and 9 are not supported on tank 1.

The invention includes all possible combinations of tank material, tube material, pipe and tube arrangement, tube fixing means and tap 4 for controlling the flow of water through the heating tube or tubes, which are fit for the purpose and so arranged that tank 1 can be heated by other than the bathing water.

Figure 2 is a perspective of another particular and exemplary form of the invention in which there is a first open topped tank 20 contained within and sealed to a second tank 21. Installed for use tank 21 fits below tank 20 and is attached around its perimeter 33 to the outward facing surface of tank 20. To facilitate the explanation of this form of the invention Figure 2 shows a small area of tank 21 cut away to reveal a space 22 and tank 20 beyond. The distance between tank 20 and tank 21 is 5 millimetres, except at and near the perimeter 33. The two tanks 20 and 21 together form one unit and are not designed to be separated, but together form the bath or part of the bath according to the invention.

According to the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figure 2, hot bathing water is introduced into the first tank 20 via a first tap 23, cold bathing water is introduced into the first tank 20 via a second tap 24, waste bathing water can be removed from the first tank 20 via waste pipe 25 and overflow water from the first tank 20 is carried via overflow nozzle 26 to waste. In normal use for bathing the bathing water is prevented from passing into waste pipe 25 by means of a plug 27, not shown, placed in the plug hole at the end of waste pipe 25 where it joins first tank 20. n third tap 29 is provided. The second tank 21 is of such a shape and size that it does not interfere with taps 23, 24 and 29, or the pipes to them.Neither does the second tank 21 interfere with the pipe from the overflow nozzle 26, but tank 21 does have a hole cut in it to allow the waste pipe 25 to pass through, at which nearest circumferential line on pipe 25 the second tank 21 is sealed to pipe 25. The second tank 21 is fitted with a first nozzle 31 and a second nozzle 32. The outlet 30 of tap 29 is connected to nozzle 31.

Installed for use the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figure 2 has the inlet 28 to tap 29 connected to a pipe providing a supply of hot water from a central heating system, and nozzle 32 connected to a pipe returning used central heating water to the central heating system. Hot water from the central heating system passes through nozzle 28 to enter tap 29. From outlet 30 of tap 29 it flows through nozzle 31 into gap 22, through gap 22 then into nozzle 32 and so back to the central heating system to be reheated.Tap 29 is operated manually to control the rate of heat input to the bath and so serves to control the bath's temperature as a radiator, a towel drier or, when used for bathing, the rate of heat input to the bathing water throughout the bathing period, in a similar manner to which heat input regulating tap 4 in the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 1B is used for these purposes.

It is not necessary that tank 21 only extends over part of the surface of tank 20 as described in connection with the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figure 2, for there are other forms of the invention in which it extends over other areas of tank 20, including the whole outward facing surface of tank 20, in which case all pipes which pass through tank 21 do so in a manner like waste pipe 25 and are sealed to tank 21 like the sealing of pipe 25 to tank 21. The invention includes tank 21 being of all shapes and sizes suitable for the service.

It is not necessary that tap 29 controls the flow of water into gap 22, for there are other forms of the invention in which tap 29 controls the flow of water leaving gap 22.

It is not necessary that tap 23, tap 24 and tap 29 are mechanically supported by tank 20 or tank 21 for there are other forms of the invention in which any or all of the taps 23, 24 and 29 are supported by a means other than on tank 20 or tank 21.

It is not necessary that tap 29 is manually operated to keep the temperature of the bathing water constant for there are another forms of the invention in which the flow of heating water to gap 22 is regulated because tap 29 is an automatic, thermostat tap which serves to keep the bathing water temperature constant.

It is not necessary that the gap 22 between tank 20 and tank 21 is 5 millimeters wide, for there are other forms of the invention in which it is other than 5 millimeters wide.

It is not necessary that gap 22 between tank 20 and tank 21 is of uniform distance, for there are other forms of the invention in which it is not of uniform distance.

It is not necessary that gap 22 is everywhere unrestrictive to heating water flow, for there are other forms of the invention in which there are guiding vanes which partially partition gap 22 to better direct flow to achieve a more uniform or preferred distribution of heat from the central heating system hot water flow over the surface of tank 20.

Figure 34 shows in perspective another particular and exemplary form of the invention in which heat is introduced into the bathing water by way of an electrical heater. Figure 3B shows an underside view of the same particular and exemplary form of the invention shown in Figure 3A. In the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figures 3 and 3B there is an open topped tank 40 to contain bathing water and bather. Hot bathing water is introduced into tank 40 via a first tap 41, cold bathing water is introduced into tank 40 via a second tap 42, waste bathing water can be removed from tank 40 via waste pipe 43 and overflow water is carried via overflow nozzle 44 to waste.In normal use for bathing the bathing water is prevented from passing into the waste pipe 43 by means of a plug 45, not shown, placed in the plug hole at the end of pipe 43 where it joins tank 40.

According to the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figures 3 and 3B, heat is generated in current carrying electrical heating wire 45 embedded in an insulating mat 46 which is attached to the outward facing, non wetted surface of tank 40. Control of heat input is by way of an electrical switch 47, which is controlled by an adjustable thermostatic mechanism 48, in series with the heating wire 45.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the electrical circuit used to supply electricity to heating wire 45 and control the electric current through heating wire 45 by way of switch 47. The automatic thermostatic mechanism 48 which controls switch 47 is effected by temperature sensor 49 in contact with tank 40. The nature of mechanism 48 is such that the temperature of sensor 49 which results in activation of switch 47 can easily be manually adjusted by the bather. Termination 50 connects to the first side of switch 47 and the second side of switch 47 connects to the first end of heating wire 45. The second end of heating wire 45 connects to the second terminal 51.

When the circuit of figure 4 is in use electrical current is supplied to terminations 50 and 51 and the thermostatic mechanism 48 adjusted to the desired temperature. The current flowing through heating wire 45 causes the temperature of tank 40 to increase until it is slightly above the set temperature of mechanism 48, whereupon switch 47 opens to break the flow of current to heating wire 45. With no current flowing in heating wire 45 the temperature of tank 40 slowly decreases until its temperature is a little below the set temperature of mechanism 48 so that switch 47 again closes, current flows through the heating wires 45 and the temperature of the tank 40 begins to increase again.The temperature sensitive mechanism 48 continues to automatically cause switch 47 to open and close in a cyclic manner to keep the temperature of the tank 40 approximately constant at the set temperature.

It is not necessary that the shape of the mat 46 or the laying of heating wire 45 is as illustrated in Figures 3 and 3B for there are other forms of the invention in which the shape of mat 46 and the distribution of heating wire 45 is other than illustrated in Figures 3 and 3B.

It is not necessary that electrical heating of tank 40 is produced by electrical wire for there are other forms of the invention in which it is produced in a resistive material, for example carbon loaded plastic, which is not wire but which heats when an electrical current is passed through it.

It is not necessary that control of the current through heater 45 is by way of an electromechanical thermostatic switch for there are other forms of the invention in which control of the current is achieved electronically by the use of semiconductor devices.

It is not necessary that heater 45 is contained in a mat 46 attached to the outward facing, non wetted surface of tank 4CI, for their are other forms of the invention in which tank 40 is made of an insulating material and heater 45 is embedded or laminated within the structure of tank 40.

It is not necessary that taps 41 and 42, and the control mechanism 48 are supported by tank 40 for there are other forms of the invention in which any one, or any combination, or all of taps 41 and 42 and the control mechanism 48 are supported by means other than on tank 40.

It is not necessary that control mechanism 48 is automatically thermostatic for their are other forms of the invention in which it is only a means for manually switching or adjusting current flowing through heater 45.

It is not necessary that bathing water is heated by way of heat applied directly to the open topped tank used for bather and bathing water, for there are other forms of the invention in which bathing water is temporarily withdrawn from the tank, heated and then reintroduced into the tank. Figure 5 illustrates a particular and exemplary form of the invention which heats the bathing water in this way.

This version of the invention does not provide all the benefits of the forms of the invention described in connection with Figures 1A, lB, 2, JA, 3B and 4 because it cannot serve as a means for heating the bathroom when the bath is not being used for bathing, nor of serving as a means to facilitate towel drying. However, it is a particularly efficient form of the invention for maintaining the temperature of bathing water during bathing.

In the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figure 5, hot bathing water is introduced into tank 60 via a first tap 61, cold bathing water is introduced into tank 60 via a second tap 62, waste bathing water can be removed from tank 60 via waste pipe 63 and overflow water is carried via overflow nozzle 64 to waste. fi first nozzle 66 on and near the bottom of tank 60 connects to a pipe 67 which connects to a pump 68, which is connected via pipe 69 to heater 70, which is connected via pipe 71 to second nozzle 72 also on and near the bottom of tank 60.

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the circuit by which electrical power is applied to pump 68 and heater 70 of the particular and exemplary form of the invention illustrated in Figure 5. fi first terminal 74 connects to the first side of a switch 73 and the second side of the switch 73 connects to the first side of pump 68 and first side of the heater 70. The second side of pump 68 and second side of heater 70 connect to a second terminal 75. Switch 73 is within easy reach of a recumbent bather. Electrical power is connected to terminals 74 and 75.

In normal use for bathing the bathing water is introduced into tank 60 via first tap 61 and second tap 62 and prevented from passing into waste pipe 63 by means of a plug 65, not shown, placed in the plug hole where pipe 63 and tank 60 join. When the bathing water gets a little too cool for required comfort the bather closes switch 73 so that the pump and heater operate and water flows out of tank 60 through nozzle 66, pipe 67, pump 68, pipe 69, heater 70, pipe 71, nozzle 72 and so back into tank 60, during which passage it is heated by heater 70. When the bathing water gets a little too warm for required comfort the bather opens switch 73 to stop the operation of pump 68 and heater 70.

The bather opens and closes switch 73 to keep the temperature of the bathing water at approximately the desired temperature. Because of the moderate power of the heater and the large thermal capacity of the bathing water, the bathing water only heats slowly when the heater is in operation. The large thermal capacity of the bathing water also ensures that the bathing water cools slowly when heater 70 is not in operation. The bather therefore only needs to operate switch 73 occasionally and bathing comfort is not impaired.

It is not necessary that water is withdrawn from the bath by a single first nozzle 66 for there are other forms of the invention in which there are many small nozzles which work in parallel to allow the flow of bathing water into pipe 67.

It is not necessary that water is reintroduced back into tank 60 via a single second nozzle 72 for there are other forms of the invention in which there are many small nozzles which work in parallel to allow the flow of water from pipe 71 back into tank 60.

It is not necessary that water flowing from nozzle 66 flows into the pump b8 before flowing into heater 70 for there are other forms of the invention in which water flows into heater 70 before flowing into pump 68.

It is not necessary that only a single switch 73 is used to allow disconnection of only one side of the pump and heater from the electrical supply provided at terminals 74 and 75, for there are other forms of the invention in which ganged switches allow disconnection of both sides of pump 68 and heater 70 from the supply at terminals 74 and 75.

It is not necessary that switch 73 controls both pump 68 and heater 70 for there are other forms of the invention in which it controls only the current to heater 70.

It is not necessary that switch 73 is operated directly by the bather for there are other forms of the invention in which switch 73 is the switch of a relay or contactor which is remote from the bath but operated remotely by another switch which is within easy reach of the bather.

It is not necessary that switch 73 is operated manually by the bather for there are other forms of the invention in which switch 73 is operated automatically by a thermostatic mechanism which senses the temperature of the bathing water.

It is not necessary that switch 73 is mechanical for there are other forms of the invention in which it is a semiconductor device.

It is not necessary that the heater 70 is electrical for there are other forms of the invention in which it is a heat exchanger transferring heat from a central heating system hot water flow to the bathing water.

It is not necessary that switch 73 and taps 61 and 62 are supported by tank 60 for there are other forms of the invention in which any one, or any combination, or all of switch 73 and taps 61 and 62 are supported by means other than on tank 60.

Claims

What I claim is 1. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath to contain bathing water and bather with a means, or provisions, for adding heat to the bathing water while in use, by a method other than adding more hot water from the hot water tap used to put bathing water into the bath.
2. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath to contain bathing water and bather as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for introducing additional heat into the bathing water is a pipe or pipes in contact with, held close to or formed in the surface of the tank, which pipe or pipes carry hot water from a central heating system.
3. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath to contain bathing water and bather as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for introducing heat into the bathing water is a water jacket around parts of the open tank, which water jacket carries hot water from a central heating system.
4. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath to contain bathing water and bather as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for introducing heat into the bathing water is an electrical heater contained in an insulating mat in contact with the outward facing, non wetted surface of the tank.
5. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath to contain bathing water and bather as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for introducing heat into the bathing water is an electrical heater built into the body of the tank.
6. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath containing bathing water and bather according to claim 1 in which the means for introducing heat into the bathing water is a heater which heats bathing water temporarily withdrawn from the tank by a pump which forces a stream of the bathing water through the said heater then back into the tank.
7. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath containing bathing water and bather according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 which is also suitable for acting as a ther- mal radiator.
8. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath containing bathing water and bather according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 which is also suitable for drying towels and other cloths.
9. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath containing bathing water and bather according to claims 1, 4, 5 and 6 in which the electrical heater is resistance wire.
10. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath containing bathing water and bather according to claims 1, 4 5 and 6 in which the electrical heater is a resistive substrate.
11. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath containing bathing water and bather according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in which a manual means is provided to adjust the rate of heat input, or switch the heating means on and off.
12. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath containing bathing water and bather according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in which an automatic means is provided to keep the bathing water at a temperature set by the bather.
13. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath containing bathing water and bather according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 9, 10, 11 and 12 in which the means for adjusting or setting the rate of heat input is mounted on the tank.
14. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath containing bathing water and bather according to claims 1, 4, 5, 9 and 10 in which the means for automatically keeping the bathing water temperature at a temperature set by the bather is a mechanical thermostatic switch.
15. An open topped tank suitable for serving as a bath containing bathing water and bather according to claims 1, 4, 5, 9 and 10 in which the automatic means provided to alter the rate of heat input to the bathing water is an electronic circuit using semiconductor devices.
16. A tank or combination of parts arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described with reference to Figures 1A and 1B of the accompanying drawings.
17. A tank or combination of parts arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described with reference to Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.
18. A tank or combination of parts arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described with reference to Figures SA, 3B and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
19. A tank or combination of parts arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described with reference to Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.
20. A tank or combination of parts arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described with reference to any or all of the Figures 1A, 1B, 2, 3A, 3B, 4, 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings, for the invention includes all possible combinations of features as described in connection with Figures 1A, IB, 2, 3A, 3B, 4, 5 and 6.