US20030131407A1

US20030131407A1 - Cushioning bathtub liner

Info

Publication number: US20030131407A1
Application number: US10/044,240
Authority: US
Inventors: Ronald Gutierrez; Kelly Gutierrez
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-01-14
Filing date: 2002-01-14
Publication date: 2003-07-17

Abstract

A one-piece foam plastic bathtub cushion is presented, intended for therapeutic and ordinary bathing uses. The cushion is self-drying and non-skid, in the shape of a human torso, and easy to roll up and store. The cushion can be made in two-layers, the top layer of cushioning material, the bottom layer made of tougher, non-skid plastic.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to therapeutic bathtub devices and apparatuses, in particular to bathtub cushions and non-slip pads.

Existing bathtub liners and pads have as their primary purpose to provide cushioning or support for convalescent or elderly bathtub users, or to provide specialized seating position inside a bathtub. The prior art includes complicated, articulated pads or very complicated seating devices. There is no prior art involving a single-piece shaped pad with a non-skid surface intended to sit on the bottom of a bathtub.

The prior art discloses therapeutic pads as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,591, full-tub cushions as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,264,672 and 5,715,546, recliners such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,541,029 and 5,052,965, and 6,038,969, and ground pads such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,751,609.

None of these devices have the single or double-layer construction that the present invention possesses, nor do any of them have a combination of soft surface foam and non-skid surface.

This invention differs from the above-listed devices by virtue of its low-cost manufacture, its ease of use, storage, and self-drying capability.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a low-cost bathtub cushion.

It is an object of this invention to provide such a cushion in a two-layer foam construction.

It is an object of this invention to provide such a cushion where the shape of the cushion conforms to the human body, minimizing weight.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a cushion in a form that can be easily dried by standing on its end.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a cushion in a form that can be easily rolled up for storage.

Further objects of this invention can be discerned by perusing the detailed description, drawings, specifications and claims of this application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The construction and operation of the invention can be readily appreciated from inspection of the drawings that accompany this application, combined with the detailed specification to follow. [0012]
FIG. 1 is a perspective drawing of the preferred embodiment of the invention placed in a bathtub. [0013]
FIG. 2 is a top view diagram of the invention. [0014]
FIG. 3 is a side view of the single-layer embodiment of the invention. [0015]
FIG. 4 is side view of the double-layer embodiment of the invention. [0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is best described by referring to the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4. [0017]
Referring to FIG. 2, a cushioning bathtub liner[0018] ¹⁰¹is a foam plastic pad that is shaped roughly like the human head and torso in silhouette. The pad is composed of two layers, a top layer¹⁰²and a bottom layer¹⁰³. An alternative embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 3, where the pad is the same human silhouette shape as illustrated in FIG. 2, but there is a single layer of plastic foam¹⁰⁴The two layers of foam are glued together when manufactured, and the top layer¹⁰²is made of absorbent, soft foam plastic, such as a double-cell foam. The bottom layer¹⁰³is made of a foam that is non-skid and dries quickly, such as reticulated polyester.
The single-layer version is less expensive to manufacture. The preferred, double-layer embodiment is more comfortable and has better non-skid properties. [0019]
While the foregoing describes a preferred and alternate embodiment, variation on this design and equivalent designs may be resorted to in the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. [0020]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. a bathtub cushion, the cushion comprised of flexible plastic foam, the plastic foam in a flat piece,

the thickness of the piece of plastic foam substantially smaller than the width of the piece such that the piece can be rolled up,

the piece of plastic foam shaped in the silhouette of a typical human head and torso,

the piece of plastic foam having cushioning properties when sat or laid down on,

the piece of plastic foam also having non-skid properties when placed in a wet or dry bathtub.

2. A cushion as in claim 1, wherein the piece of plastic foam is in two layers, the layers in roughly equal thickness, the layers consisting of a top layer and a bottom layer, the top layer comprised of flexible, soft, cushioning foam plastic, the bottom layer comprised of flexible, non-skid plastic.