US501304A

US501304A - Foot-bath attachment for bath-tubs

Info

Publication number: US501304A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1893-07-11
Anticipated expiration: 1910-07-11

Description

(No Model.)

C. H. STEPHENSON. .FOGT BATH ATTACHMENT FOR BATH TUBS.

110'. 501,301, Patented July 11, 1893..

'NVEINTIIIRI UNITE 'rn'rns -ATENT OFFICE,

CHARLES HENRY STEPHENSON, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

FOOT-BATH ATTACHMENT FOR BATH-TUB-S.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.501,304, dated July 11, 1893.

Application filed July 6,1892. Serial No. 439,177. (No model.) I

TO aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES HENRY STE- PHENSON, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Foot-Bath Attachments for Bath-Tubs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a small portable bath tub of suitable size for foot bathing purposes, having means whereby it may be detachably connected with the usual waste pipe or outlet of a fixed bath tub, and supported in said fixed tub in position to receive water from the usual faucets with which the fixed tub is provided; my invention constituting an attachment which may be placed in a bath tub and receive a small quantity of water and discharge the same without wetting the interior surface of the fixed tub.

The invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a top view of a fixed bathtub and a portable bath tub embodying my invention inserted in the fixed tub. Fig. 2 represents a partial side elevation and partial longitudinal section of the construction shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents an end view, showing certain modifications, the fixed tub being shown in section.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

In carrying out my invention I provide a small portable tub a of suitable size for foot washing purposes and formed to be inserted in an ordinary fixed bath tub b. The portable tub ais provided at or near one end with a waste or outlet pipe 0, the lower end of which is formed to be detachably connected with the waste outlet 01 of the fixed tub. The outlet pipe 0 may be of any suitable construction and may be either permanently connected with the portable tub or detachable therefrom, and it may be of either rigid or flexible construction, and when flexible it preferably will be made of a section of rubber tubing having at its ends suitable fittings for engagement with the tub or and with the waste outlet (1. When the pipe 0 is of rigid construction it may constitute a support for the tub a, holding the latter at a suitable height above the bottom of th'e*fixed tub I). I prefer to provide the tub a with other means of support such as upwardly projecting arms 6 6, having at their upper ends outwardly projecting ears 6' 6 formed to bear upon the upper edges of the sides of the tub I). Said ears may be covered with soft or yielding material such as rubber, to prevent indentation of the portions of the tub I) or of its casing on which they bear.

In Figs. 1 and 2 I show the armse eas parts of a yoke comprising said arms and ears and a cross bar e extending across the bottom of the tub a and connecting the arms e e. In this case the bottom of the tub a may be provided with sockets a a to receive the cross bar 6 the sides of the tub a being provided with sockets a a to receive the arms e. In Fig. 3 the arms e e are independent of each other and may be pivotally connected at e e to cars a a attached to the sides of the tub a.

When the outlet pipe 0 is rigid it serves as a support for the tub a; the supporting devices above described are preferably located near the opposite end of the tub from that to which the pipe 0 is connected. When the pipe 0 is made flexible so that it cannot support the tub a, the supporting devices will preferably be otherwise arranged and there will preferably be supporting devices similar to those above described at or near each end of the tub a.

I do not limit myself to the employment of supporting devices adapted to bear only on the upper edges of the sides of the fixed tub and may employ downwardly projecting supporting devices adapted to bear on the bottom of the fixed tub.

In Fig. 3 I show the tub a provided with downwardly projecting legs or supports e e formed to bear upon the interior of the tub. Said legs or supports 9 will preferably be provided with elastic bufiers or cushions to prevent indentations of the bottom of the tub.

ff represent cushions or bufiers of, elastic material, such as rubber, attached to the sides of the tub a and arranged to bear upon the sides of the fixed tub; said buffers serving to prevent the sidewise movement of the portable tub a within the fixed tub and to pre- Vent indentation of the sides of the fixed tub by the portable tub. V

It will be seen that when the tub a is connected by the waste pipe 0 with the waste outlet (I of the fixed tub, the portable tub is in position to receive water from the usual faucets t I: of the fixed tub, and that the water received by the tub a may be discharged through the pipe 0 and waste outlet at without coming in contact with the interior of the fixed tub. Hence the tub a can be used to all intents and purposes as an ordinary bath tub without the necessity of employing a large quantity of Water. My improvement therefore constitutes a convenient bath tub attachment particularly adapted for foot washing purposes and adapted to be readily removed from the fixed tub to permit the ordinary use of the latter, and is readily applied so thatit can receive and discharge water.

The portable tub Ct has a stopper a to close the outlet pipe 0.

j represents a seat which may be placed upon the fixed tub for the convenience of the user of the tub a; said seat is preferably secured to the tub by means of pins or dowels j affixed to the seat and formed to engage sooketsj formed in the casing surrounding the tub I), there being a series of orifices 7' so that the seat can be adjusted toward and from the tub a.

1. A portable foot bath tub, provided with a waste or outlet pipe formed to be detachably connected with the waste outlet of a fixed bath tub, and having upwardly projecting arms provided with ears for engaging the upper edges of the sides of the tub, as set forth.

2. A portable bath tub provided with a waste or out-let pipe formed to be detachably connected with the waste outlet of a fixed bath tub and having arms extending upward therefrom to engage the upper edges of the sides of the tub, the said portable tub having also external buffers or cushions arranged to bear upon the inner surface of the fixed tub, as set forth.

3. A portable foot bath tub, provided with a Waste or outlet pipe formed to be detachably connected with the waste outlet of a fixed bath tub, said outlet constituting a support holding one end of the portable tub at a suitable height above the bottom of the fixed tub, the said portable tub having additional supports at its opposite end, for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination with a fixed bath tub, of a portable foot bath tub provided with a waste or outlet pipe forming a support for one end of the portable tub and detachably connected with the lower waste outlet of the fixed tub, and additional supports at the opposite end of the portable tub, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 2d day of July, A. D. 1892.

CHARLES HENRY STEPHENSON.

Witnesses:

T. F. LEMP, J, BARRATT.