US2216791A

US2216791A - Foam bath apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2216791A
Application number: US162110A
Authority: US
Inventors: Luther G Simjian
Original assignee: SOAPLESS FOAM Inc
Current assignee: SOAPLESS FOAM Inc
Priority date: 1937-09-02
Filing date: 1937-09-02
Publication date: 1940-10-08
Anticipated expiration: 1957-10-08

Description

0d. 8,4 1940v v L. G. slMJlAN 'FOAM BATH APPARATUS Original FiledSept. 2f 1937 INVENToR. ma@ ATTORNEYS.

im.. l

I Patented 061:.8,l .19,40

PATENT oFFlcE FOAM BATH APPARATUS Luther G. Simjiamltiverside, Conn., assigner to I Soapless Foam, Inc.,` New York N. Y., a corporation of New York Applicationseptemher 2, 1937, Serial No. 162,110

l Renewed March 1, 1940 a-olaims. (c1. zei- 122) `special wood blocks `having a porosity substantially as iine as the human skin, such blocks being arranged in a row. or rows and having aligned air` passages interconnected by couplings. Air under moderate pressure was supplied through said air passages to. allof the blocks, `so that with the same immersed in a suitable liquid, ne bubble foam was produced. However, in use such apparatus has not proven satisfactory owingto` the tendency of one or more of the blocks of a row or rows toclogup after a time and become useless, necessitating the disconnection of the blocks of the'row and the replacement of the defective block or blocks, which is a somewhat lengthy and expensive procedure. Also, owing to the multiplicity of couplings necessary for interconnecting the blocks of each row, leaks ofttimes resulted at such couplings, `requiring repair or replacement.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel foam bath apparatus that 'overcomes the above mentioned defects, the said apparatus employing but-a singlel bar or relatively long porous block of suitable woodor other material in place of a row of blocksheretofore used, means being provided for supplying the air or other fluid under pressure to consecutive portions of such bar or block, the air pressure at eachsuch portion, and hence the rate of air flow through the pores ofthe block` into the liquid of rthebath, being adjustable by suitable valve means to compensate for any tendency of vportions of the block to clog.

Another object of the present invention lies in the provision of a novel foambath apparatus of the above character wherein the-electric air or4 fluid pumpdriving motor is remotely controlledby pneumatic means, thereby eliminating the possibility `of electric shock to theoccupant of the bath equipped with the apparatus of the invention. i

Other objects and advantages will become apparent'from the specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein one embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

Inthe drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, showing a bath tub equipped with the novel foam producing apparatus of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the foam distributor.

Fig. 3 is an end View, partly in section, of the structure shown in Fig. 2.

Figfl 'isa part sectional view taken along the y A.line 4 4' of Fig. 2,*looking in the direction of the arrows. 4 f l Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the structure of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 6 islan enlarged sectional plan View of the motor switch operating mechanism.

Similar characters of reference are used in all of the above gures to .indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the said drawing, the referl ence numeral I designates a bath tub equipped with the novel foam bath apparatus of this in` vention. This apparatus comprises the air pump v2 driven fromthe electric motor 3, the pump-` motory unit being mountedon a base 4 vthat is adapted to be placed in any convenient location in' the bathroom. l

In order to prevent electric shock to the user of the apparatus, the motor 3 is adapted to be remotely controlled by pneumatic means. This means is illustrated as consisting of on and off bulbs 5 i and 5', respectively connected through ilexble tubes` B and 6 to two complementary bellows 1 and I mounted within a switch controlcasing 8 xed on top'of the motor 3,. 'Ihe

outside walls

9 and 9. of the bellows 1 and 1'` are iixed, whereas the common inner wall Ill is movable and is connected to the snap switch arm II of theon` and 01T switch I2. Tubes and 6 are shown enclosed in a common tube I3.

vTo start `the motorI 3, it is only necessary ,to compress the on `bulb 5, whereupon air is conveyed through tube 6 to bellows 1, thereby swing-` ingthe-inner wall I toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 6, to effect movement of switch arm II to on position, whereas when it is desired to stop motor 3, it is merely necessary to` squeeze i the off bulb 5', thereby forcing air into bellows 1 and moving switch arm II in the opposite direction to effect the disconnection of motor 3 from the electric supply.

The output of air pump 2 is connected through tubing I4 to the distributor, designated as a whole by the reference numeral I5, which distributor is adapted tobe` placed upon the bottom of the bath tub I so as tolbe surrounded by water I6 contained therein. `The water I6 has intermixed therein a small quantity of a suitable foam forming agent such as saponin` y The distributor I5 consists of `transverse end members or heads I1 `and I8 which are rigidly interconnected by spaced bars 3l] of wood or other suitable material, the bars 30 being shown seouredfto 4heads I'I and` I8 `asv by screwsy 3I. Especially prepared Abars or blocks I9` also extend between the end members I1 and I8 alongside of the bars 30. The bars or blocks I3 are of wood or other suitable material, such as molded saw-` with vascular tissue or analogous pores 20 extending transversely of these bars and disposed throughout the height thereof. The pores 20 are substantially as ne as those of the human skin.

The bars i9 are preferably of trapezoidal crosseV ceiving a pipe or tube 22, which pipe is provided along the length thereof with a series of exterior annular grooves 23 that are slightly spaced from one another, asy especially shown in Fig. 4. Each -of the grooves 23 communicates with the interior of pipe 22 through a, valve aperture 2d, the effective cross-sectional area. of Which aperture may be varied by means of a needle valve screw 25 that is threaded ythrough the wall of pipe 22 opposite the aperture 2d. The head of each screw 25 is readily accessible at the under side of the block i9 and is provided with a screw driver slot 26, whereby this screw may be readily adjusted to vary the eiective Varea of the aperture 2d, and hence the effective pressure obtaining within the annular groove or space 23 provided between pipe 22 and the wall of the longitudinal bore of bar I9.

Air from tubing I4 is supplied to thepipes 22 through a passage 28 provided in the end member Il. The ends of pipes 22 preferably project somewhat into the passage 28, as especially shown in Fig. 4, while the joint between each such pipe and the end member Il is sealed by a suitably shaped gasket 29, as of rubber.

In use, the distributor l5 is placed upon the bottom of the tub i and water containing the foam forming agent is placed in the tub so as to extend somewhat above the distributor, whereupon -themotor 3 is started by pressing bulb 5, thereby producing the desired foam. When sufficient foam is produced, the user presses the bulb 5', thereby stopping the motor 3.

Should any portion of a bar or bars l@ tend to clog as the result of long usage, such tendency is readily corrected by adjusting the needle valve screws 25 of that portion so as to open valve apertures 24 slightly more, thereby raising the air pressure in the corresponding annular space 23 to effect the desired feed of the fluid through the pores 20 of the bar.

Inasmuch as each block i9 extends all the way from head Il to head I 8, a longitudinally con.- tinuous seating surface is provided for the user of the distributor, thereby greatly adding to his or her comfort, while the elimination of many small blocks also eliminates leaks ordinarily occurring at the couplingsy therebetween. In the event one of the blocks after long usage should become clogged, so that full opening of the valves 24 does not provide sufficient flow of air, such block may be readily and easily replaced by another by disconnecting head II, and without the necessity of inserting a great many gaskets, as heretofore necessary in prior devices of this character.

Owing to the use of pneumatic control of the motor 3, any possibility of electric shock is eliminated, thereby rendering the device absolutely safe in use.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In a foam bath apparatus, a distributor provided with a continuous porous bar having a longitudinal bore, the pores of said bar extending from said bore to the exterior surface of said bar, a snugly fitting fluid conduit member extending within said bore and having a series of exterior annular grooves facing upon the wall of said bore, said conduit member having communieating passages extending between the interior thereof and said grooves, and Avalve means for individually controlling the effective area of said passages, whereby the fluid pressures in said series of grooves may be controlled at will so that a uniform flow of uid passes through the pores of said bar from said grooves all along the length of said bar regardless of the varying filtering capacities of consecutive portions thereof.

V2. In a foam bath apparatus, a distributor provided with a porous bar having a longitudinal bore therein, the pores of said bar extending from the bore to the exterior surface thereof, a uid conducting conduit member extending snugly within said bore, said conduit member having a plurality of mutually spaced annular depressions in the exterior surface thereof adjoining the wall of said bore, said conduit member having fluid conducting openings extending from the interior thereof to said respective annular de- 'pressionsl for supplying LLid thereto, and valve means' extending into said openings and operable to regulate the flow of iiuid therefrom and into saidrespective annular depressions to be fed therefrom through the pores of said bar to n the exterior surface thereof, said valve means serving to effect a uniform flow of fluid from said depressions through the porcs c-f said bar all along the length thereof regardless of the varyn ing filtering capacities of consecutive portions thereof.

n tually spaced longitudinal bars, one of said end members having a passage for receiving pressure fluid from an external source, certain of said bars being transversely porous and having longitudinal bores communicating with the passage of said one end member, the pores of said bar extending from said bores to the exterior surfaces thereof, pipes fitting snugly within said bores and having a series of mutually spaced exterior annular grooves, said pipes having communicating passages extending between said grooves and the interior of said pipes, and valves for regulating the areas of said passages and hence the uid pressure within each of said grooves whereby the quantity of fluid issuing from the exterior surface of said bars is substantially uniform all along the lengths thereof regardless of the varying filtering capacities of consecutive portions thereof.

LUTHER G. SIMJIAN.