US2161590A - Head rest for basins and the like - Google Patents

Description

June 6, l w 5 RICKARD 2,161,590

HEAD REST FOR BASINS AND THE LIKE Filed March 5, 1938 Patented June 6, 1939 a 2,161,590

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,161,590 'HEAD BEST FOR BASINS AND T m LIKE William s. Rickard, Chicago,-Ill. Application March 5, 1938, Serial No. 194,044 1 claim. (01. e459) The present invention relates to improvements appearance so that it will not materially detract in head rests for basins and the like, and is .difrom appearances, no matter where attached. rected particularly to a head rest designed for The construction of the head rest'and securuse in shampooing and washing hair that is ing means with at least an exteriorsurface of .5 adapted to be used particularly in homes, but non-metallic resilient material, such as .rub-

which may be used with equal facility and with her, also eliminates structural parts that are the same resultant advantages in ladies hair likely to rust after continued use and contact by dressing establishments and barber shops. Water and other liquids.

A-primary object of'the invention is to provide Other'cbjects andiadvantages of the present ,a new and improved headrest having one surinvention will become more apparent from the 10 face upon which the back of the head is adaptensuing description thereof in the course of ed to rest and a second surface having mounted which reference is had to the accompanying thereon means adapted to secure the head rest drawing, in which: 7 to either flat or rounded surfaces of the rims of Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the mode 5 basins, wash bowls, bath tubs, or other fixtures. of attachment and use of the head rest of the 5 A more specific object of the invention is to present inventiom-the head rest being shown inprovide a new and improved head rest constructstalled upon a wash bowl provided with a rim ed of resilient non-metallic material having a havinga substantially fiat 'surface; pair of opposed surfaces spaced a substantial Fig. 2 is a perspective viewv showing the head distance apart, one of which is configured comrest mounted upon a bath tub constructed with ,20

t head rest that is both readily attachable to and fortably to receive the back of the head and the a rim av a ed su e;

other to mount suction cups having at least an Fig. 3iis an enlarged side elevation ofthe head exterior surface of resilient non-metallic matet t e rial thereby to provide a head rest that prevents Fig 4 is a t o V ew Of the head rest shown the head from contacting any metallic surfaces n d 1 f 25 of fixt r upon which the h d re t may b Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view,'taken along the mounted or any metalthat may be used in the l e 5 of Fig. 3.

costruction of the head rest itself. Referring first to it y b n t A head rest constructed in accordance with the the head s of the present invention, which is present invention has not only the advantage indicated generally y reference numeral s .30

already enumerated, but hastheadditional admounted directly p t flat pp r Su ce of vantage that it is extremely sanitary. Ihis rethe m Ora h w '4- vWhen s0 mountsults primarily from the fact that it is adapted. ed it relatively high 513001 15 y be p d n to be secured directly to either the fiat or roundfront of the bowl accommodate a p on S0 1 ed surfaces of the rims of such fixtures as a basin, vthat the k the head y be Placed p .35

wash bowl, bath tub, or the like. Consequently, the'lupper surface Oflthe su p rt. W n the perafter use it can be detached from the surface Son is positioned, the hair y b bo 0011- of the fixture and the surface, and likewise the Vehiently a easily Washed, r sed o otherwise head rest itself, can.be,readily cleansed. Fureat -,Irhe back 0 the ea a d neck are thermore when the head rest is used by e kept a substantial distance from the bowl sur- 4 than one person, it can be covered, if desired, by face, thereby eliminating the .uheomfertable e towels or the like, which are replaced after use .i arising contactwith its metallic by an individual. face 7 The head rest may be mounted also u n Anoth r advanta e resultln from IOVldlIl a Po 8 g g p g rounded surfaces of fixtures as illustrated in Fig. .45

detachable from fixtures is that after use it can where the had rest 18 shown mounted upo-n be stored in a cabinet or other out of the way the-rounded mm 20 of the-bath tub In this case the stool 24 should be made considerably place- Thus 1t does not detract m any Way from lower than the stool l6, because of the relative t h j h of elther t fixture or rcfom heights of therimsof the two fixtures. While 1h Whlch 1t 15 used- Thls advantage 15 of no person has been illustrated in Fig. 2, it should portance when the device is used in individual be apparent t t; one may b Seated upon t O e Q in this connection, it y b stool 24 with the back of the head resting upon noted that the head rest of the present inven-- the head rest Ill, just asillustrated in Fig. 1. In

tion may be constructed with a pleasing external order to provide a convenient'source of water 55 for use in shampooing and rinsing the hair, it is preferable that a spray 26 attachable to the faucet be used.

The head rest In may be considered as consisting of two major parts, these being therelatively wide support 30 and the means 32 for securing the support to either flat or rounded surfaces of fixtures such as those illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The support 30 is made of some relatively resilient non-metallic material, such as rubber having a texture corresponding to that used in rubber heels and the like. The rubber should be of a grade not affected either by wa ter or by the various materials used in sham-- pooing the hair. Comfort to the user is provided not only by making the support 30 of rub-- her, but also by making the upper surface 34..

thereof concave in configuration, as illustrated in Fig. 3. i I

In order to avoid, as far as possible, the likelihood of the body of the person contacting the metal of the fixture upon which the head rest is mounted, the thickness of the support is made substantial so as to provide a pair of opposed surfaces, the previously mentioned surface 34 and the bottom surface 36, that'a're spaced a substantial distance apart.

The securing means 32 of the head rest are so constructed that the head rest may be both easily and simply attached to and detached from either the flat or rounded surfaces of the fixtures with which it is to be used. As may be noted particularly from Figs. 4 and 5, the securing means take the form of suction cups having concave inner suction surfaces 38. These cups are constructed in accordance with usual manner from relatively resilient non-metallic material, preferably a grade of rubber that issomewhat softer than the rubber from which the head support an is made. The cups may be secured to the support 30 in any known manner, as by means of brass screws 46 molded in the cups and adapted to be threaded into the under surface of the support. The cups 32 may be molded or otherwise secured directly to the head rest, but it is important, in so far as the present invention is concerned, that the exterior surfaces 42 thereof consist only of resilient non-metallic material so as to eliminate all possibility of the users body contacting any metal that may be used in securing the cup to the support. In the present embodiment it may be seen that this result is obtained by extending the upper end of the cup around the head 44 of the screw 40.

When it is desired to attach the head rest of the present invention to the fiat surface of a basin, such as the flat rim l2 of a basin [4, it is necessary only to place the head rest upon the rim'and apply a slight amount of pressure thereon. Thereafter the head rest iszsecurely. held in place by the suction principle which is well known to those skilled in the art and needs no further elaboration at this point. After the head rest has been used it may be removed in a manner that is also well known to those skilled in the art and put away in some out of the way place, such as a cabinet. In use the head rest of the present invention provides a comfortable relatively soft support for the backof the head. The rubber exterior of the head rest eliminates all possibility of the body of the person contacting any metal used in the construction of the head rest and the substantial distance between the opposed surfaces 34 and 36 eliminates practically all possibility of the body of the person contacting any metal upon the fixture. A head rest constructed in accordance with the present invention also eliminates all metal surfaces that would be likely to become covered with rust after a long period of use.

A distinct advantage of the head rest of the present invention resides, as stated above, in the fact that it can be applied to either flat or rounded surfaces. It is shown mounted upon the rounded rim 26 of a bath tub in Fig. 2. While the rims of bath tubs such as illustrated are relatively wide, the head rest may be constructed for use with fixtures having somewhat narrower rims by making the suction cups 32 with somewhat smaller diameters.

The head rest can be used with practically any of the fixtures now commonly used either in homes or other establishments, such as ladies hair dressing parlors and barber shops. It requires no alteration in the construction of the fixtures as now installed, nor does it require the fixtures to be constructedfor the particular use for'which they are intended. When the head rest is used in'hair dressing establishments or barber shops, it can be very easily covered by means of a small towel in order to make its use sanitary.

The embodiment of the invention that has been described above for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment of the invention may be modified to meet various conditions of use. It has already been suggested that the size of the suction cups may be varied and. it is contemplated that the proportions of the head support 3!) may likewise be varied as desired. It is contemplated further that the relative hardness of the rubber from which the support and suction cups are constructed may be varied and that the suction cups themselves may be secured to the support in various ways.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is as follows:

A head rest adapted to be mounted in secure but readily detachable fashion upon relatively flat or rounded rims of wash bowls, bath tubs, and the like, including in combination, a substantially solid resilient support, said support being substantially liquid impervious throughout, relatively short, of a width comfortably to receive the back of the head, and provided with a pair of spaced apart opposed surfaces, one of said surfaces being concave so as comfortably to support the back of the head, and suction cups on the other of said surfaces for mounting the support upon the rim of the basin or the like in a secure but readily detachable fashion with the concave surface of the support facing away from the rim, said opposed surfaces being spaced apart a distance such that when the support is mounted in place, the concave surface is spaced from the surface of the rim a distance sufficient to prevent contact of the users head with the rim.

WILLIAM S. RICKARD.

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