US20160287030A1

US20160287030A1 - Apparatus for cleaning private body parts

Info

Publication number: US20160287030A1
Application number: US14/884,759
Authority: US
Inventors: Mei Bar El
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2015-04-03
Filing date: 2015-10-15
Publication date: 2016-10-06
Also published as: WO2016157158A1

Abstract

An apparatus for cleaning private body parts comprising: a container configured for containing a stack of disposable pads therein; and a mechanism configured for holding maintaining the stack of pads such that an uppermost pad from the stack located at a predefined height in respect to a bottom of the container, such as to situate the uppermost pad in an area of an open upper rim of the container to allow the user to clean a private body part by holding and directing the container without hand touching the uppermost pad, wherein said apparatus is further configured to allow disposing of the uppermost pad after using thereof without hand touching of the used uppermost pad.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation in part of application No. 14/678,804 filed Apr. 6, 2015.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to devices, apparatuses and methods for cleaning private body parts for removal of body secretions and more particularly to devices, apparatuses and methods for dispensing of wipes or pads and cleaning private body parts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wet (moist) wipes or dry tissue wipes are commonly used for cleaning private body parts such as for anus, armpit or vaginal cleaning for removing body secretions such as feces, urine, sweat and the like. To clean the private body part the user is required touch the wipe during cleaning and also when throwing it away.
There are many dispensing devices known in the art for dispensing wet or dry wipes but they all require hand contact of the user with the wipe for taking the wipe from the dispenser and using thereof for cleaning. This situation can be unhygienic and often inconvenient for use as the dispensing activity is separated from the wiping activity and requires dispensing of a new wipe at a time with each cleaning session.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the present invention is to allow the user to clean private body parts by dispensing wipes without physically touching the wipes during the actual wiping and dispensing of the wipes in each cleaning session.
According to some embodiments of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for cleaning private body parts comprising: (a) a container configured for containing a stack of disposable wipes therein; and (b) a mechanism configured for holding the stack of pads thereover and for maintaining an uppermost pad from the stack located at a predefined height in respect to a bottom of the container, such as to situate the uppermost pad in an area of an open upper rim of the container to allow the user to clean a private body part by holding and directing the container without hand touching the uppermost pad. The apparatus is also configured to allow disposing of the uppermost pad after using thereof without hand touching of the used uppermost pad.
According to some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises one or more support members located in the container being configured for holding the stack of pads thereover, wherein the support member engages the mechanism that holds the pads thereover.
Optionally, the container is semi-rigid having a flexibility level that allows disposing of each used uppermost pad by pressing thereof to slightly deform the shape of its rim.
According to some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises protrusions facing inwardly to the container opening; the protrusions are arranged over the rim of the container for holding the uppermost pad thereby.
The mechanical mechanism optionally comprises a spring located under the support member and is configured for supporting thereof. The container may optionally be configured to hold the uppermost pad such that the uppermost pad covers at least part of the rim of the container to prevent the rim from contacting the body of the user when the apparatus is used. According to some embodiments, each pad in the stack is folded and has at least one wing-margin configured for covering at least part of the rim when the pad is at the uppermost position.
According to some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a cover for closing the opening of the container, wherein the cover optionally configured for sealing the apparatus such as to maintain moist of moist pads stored therein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1C show photographs of a prototype of an apparatus for cleaning private body parts, according to one embodiment of the present invention:

FIG. 1A shows a front perspective view of the apparatus; FIG. 1B shows an upper view of the apparatus; FIG. 1C shows a frontal view of the apparatus with a cover thereof; and FIG. 1D shows a spring mechanical mechanism of the apparatus outside the container of the apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description of various embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part thereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, provides an apparatus for cleaning private body parts by dispensing moist or dry pads therethrough without requiring the user to actually touch the pad at any stage in the cleaning and dispensing process for easy and hygienic use of the apparatus. The apparatus can be used for wiping private parts such as for anus or vaginal cleaning for removing body secretions or any other cleaning purposes.
The term “pad” refers to any type of piece of soft material with cushions, a towel, a wipe or any other known in the art piece that can be used for cleaning of a body part and can be moist, wet or dry. For example, the wipes can be paper wipes (tissues or toilet paper wipes), cotton wipes, synthetic wipes and the like.
The term private body part refers to any intimate body part or any other body part of the user that requires removal of body excretions or waste such as the armpit, feet, eyes, vaginal or anus areas.
According to some embodiments, the apparatus comprises a container that may be semi-rigid configured for containing a stack of dispensable pads therein; and a mechanical mechanism optionally supporting a support member configured for holding the pads stack such that the uppermost pad of the stack will be located at a predefined height in respect to an open rim of the container, such as to situate the uppermost pad in a position that allows cleaning a private body part of the user by holding and directing the container without hand touching the uppermost pad. The apparatus of the present invention is further configured to allow the user to dispose the uppermost pad after using thereof without hand touching of the used uppermost pads e.g. by slightly bending the container.
The apparatus may be designed to be used until the stack of pads is emptied or it may be refillable.
The pads in each stack may be folded separately from one another in a specific fold that allows the uppermost pad of the stack at each given cleaning session to automatically unfold to an unfolded or semi-unfolded position when reaching the uppermost location of the stack such that at least one wing-margin thereof covers at least part of the container's rim to prevent the rims of the container to come into contact with the user's body when using the apparatus for cleaning his/her private body part.
The rim of the container, in some embodiments, may be flexible and smoothened to prevent it from bruising the user if accidently contacting thereof or even through the pad.
According to some embodiments, the mechanical mechanism used for maintaining the support member at a predefined height includes a spring connected to a bottom of the container at one lower end thereof and engages or connects to the support member at another upper end thereof. The spring is configured to maintain the support member at a specific height from the bottom to have only the uppermost pad of the stack situated in the area of the container rim in a specific unfolded or semi-unfolded position.
According to some embodiments, the apparatus also includes multiple protrusions attached to the rim of the container for holding the uppermost pad in the unfolded or semi-unfolded position and for holding the uppermost pad.
Additionally or alternatively, the apparatus includes one or more stoppers located above the support member inside the container for preventing the support member from rising above the rim of the container. For example, in case of a spring-based mechanical mechanism, the stoppers may protrude from the inner wall of the container at a specific height from the container bottom for blocking the support member thereby limiting its maximal height in respect to the bottom of the container.
The overall shape of the apparatus container may be ergonomic to allow easy and comfortable moving thereof in the area of the private body part. For example, the container may have a narrowing rounded conical shape for anus wiping that will allow placing the apparatus container between the two hind-parts and using it for cleaning the hind-parts whether by rotating and/or linearly moving thereof.
The dimensions and the overall weight of the apparatus including a cartridge stack of pads therein may be such as to allow easy, light and compact carrying thereof in a bag for easy dispensing and using of the pads therein.
According to some embodiments, the pad had a large enough volume or is cushioned enough to allow it to exceed the container's rim surface for preventing contact between the container's rim and the user's body as well as for improving comfort of use.
Reference is now made to FIGS. 1A-1B, showing an apparatus 100 for cleaning private body parts of a user, without requiring the user to physically touch the pads used for the cleaning, according to some embodiments of the invention. This apparatus 100 includes a semi-rigid container 110 having a spring mechanical mechanism therein 130 having a flattened upper side. The spring 130 is configured for maintaining the stack of pads at a predefined height from the container's 110 bottom to keep the uppermost pad of the stack close to the container's rim 120, such as to allow using the apparatus 100 for cleaning a private part without touching the pads by hand.
FIG. 1D clearly shows the spring 130 mechanical mechanism outside the container 110.
As shown in FIGS. 1A-1B, the container 110 also includes multiple protrusions 121 a-121 c protruding from the rim 120 that are slightly bent inwardly to the container's opening to allow holding the uppermost pad and therefore the entire stack thereby for preventing it from rising above a certain height above the rim of the container and also optionally to maintain the upper most pad at a semi-unfolded or unfolded position such that a wing-margin thereof (e.g. shaped as pad wings) exceed the rim 120 of the container 110 to cover at least part thereof to prevent any part of the container 110 from contacting the body during cleaning of the private body part for maximal hygiene.
According to some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1B, the rim 120 includes raised wing- margins 125 a and 125 b for receiving thereover a cap or cover 160 for closing the apparatus as shown in FIG. 1C. According to some embodiments, the cover 160 is configured for sealing the apparatus 100 such as to maintain moist of moist pads stored therein.
According to some embodiments, the container 110 or just the rim 120 thereof is flexible enough to allow dispensing the uppermost pad after use thereof by simply pressing the sides of the container's upper portion for bending the rim shape while the container 110 is held upside-down.
The apparatus container or rim thereof may be made of any known in the art material such as plastic or metal that has some level of flexibility to allow the deforming of its rim for disposing of used pads.
In these embodiments, the mechanical mechanism is configured to automatically raise the stack in each dispensing of a pad to bring the uppermost pad to the specific position in respect to the container's bottom. However, in other embodiments, the mechanical mechanism of the apparatus is configured to have the user manually raising the support member using a lifting mechanism that can be mechanically or electrically controlled by the user for bringing the uppermost pad to the desired height. The controlled mechanism may be discrete and configured to raise the support member to a predefined different height at each operation of the controller or continuous.
Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiment has been set forth only for the purposes of example and that it should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following invention and its various embodiments and/or by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or different elements, which are disclosed in above even when not initially claimed in such combinations. A teaching that two elements are combined in a claimed combination is further to be understood as also allowing for a claimed combination in which the two elements are not combined with each other, but may be used alone or combined in other combinations. The excision of any disclosed element of the invention is explicitly contemplated as within the scope of the invention.
The words used in this specification to describe the invention and its various embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification structure, material or acts beyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings. Thus if an element can be understood in the context of this specification as including more than one meaning, then its use in a claim must be understood as being generic to all possible meanings supported by the specification and by the word itself.
The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are, therefore, defined in this specification to include not only the combination of elements which are literally set forth, but all equivalent structure, material or acts for performing substantially the same function in substantially the same way to obtain substantially the same result. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.
Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.
The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted and also what essentially incorporates the essential idea of the invention.
Although the invention has been described in detail, nevertheless changes and modifications, which do not depart from the teachings of the present invention, will be evident to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are deemed to come within the purview of the present invention and the appended claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for cleaning private body parts comprising:

a) a container configured for containing a stack of disposable pads therein; and

b) a mechanism situated inside said container, said mechanism being configured for holding and maintaining the stack of pads such that an uppermost pad from the stack located at a predefined height in respect to a bottom of the container, such as to situate the uppermost pad in an area of an open upper rim of the container to allow the user to clean a private body part by holding and directing the container without hand touching the uppermost pad,

wherein said apparatus is further configured to allow disposing of the uppermost pad after using thereof without hand touching of the used uppermost pad.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one support member located in said container, said support member being configured for holding the stack of pads thereover, wherein said mechanism engages said support member and configured for holding thereof.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said container is semi-rigid having a flexibility level that allows disposing of each used uppermost pad by pressing thereof to slightly deform the shape of its rim.

4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1, further comprising protrusions facing inwardly to said container opening, said protrusions are arranged over the rim of said container for holding the uppermost pad thereby.

5. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1, wherein said mechanism comprises a spring.

6. The apparatus according to claims 1, wherein said container is configured to hold the uppermost pad such that the uppermost pad covers at least part of the rim of the container to prevent the rim from contacting the body of the user when the apparatus is used.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each pad in said stack is folded and has at least one wing-margin configured for covering at least part of said rim when the pad is at the uppermost position.

8. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 further comprising a cover for closing the opening of the container.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the cover is configured for sealing said apparatus such as to maintain moist of moist pads stored therein.

10. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1, wherein said mechanism is a mechanical mechanism mechanically or electrically controllable.