WO2001077577A1

WO2001077577A1 - Device to irradiate colored light

Info

Publication number: WO2001077577A1
Application number: PCT/IB2001/000537
Authority: WO
Inventors: Maria Palma Gasparotto
Original assignee: Maria Palma Gasparotto
Priority date: 2000-04-11
Filing date: 2001-03-29
Publication date: 2001-10-18
Also published as: AU4269701A; IT251513Y1; ITUD20000013U1

Abstract

Device (10) able to irradiate colored light into water either as a mass or nebulized or in drops in a container (26) such as a tank, a bath tub, a shower, swimming pool or similar, also having medical functions, by means of fibre optics (20), cooperating with one or more sources of light associated with mouths (22) to deliver the water into the tank, said fibre optics (20) cooperating directly with a transparent ring (12) at least partly surrounding the stream of water delivered.

Description

IB01 00537

"DEVICE TO IRRADIATE COLORED LIGHT"

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FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention concerns a device to diffuse color in environments containing water, advantageously but not restrictively in a hydromassage bath, by irradiating light of different colors .

In the invention, "water" should be taken to mean any liquid or fluid which has a sufficient index of refraction as to allow the light to spread suitably.

The invention is also applied in all those environments into which water is introduced as specified above, for example showers, swimming pools or similar, and also containers having medical functions . The irradiance is performed by means of fibre optics, as set forth in the main claim, cooperating with elements suitable to be clamped to the mouths delivering the water, which has a sufficient index of refraction of the light.

To be more exact, the device according to the invention allows to diffuse colored light of one or more colors, even of different intensity, into the water, whether it be a mass or nebulized.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Systems to color water, intended to improve the metabolism and the autonomic human nervous system, by irradiating colored light have been known for a long time to the state of the ar .

Such systems are also used for medical purposes since the colors perceived and filtered by the epidermis have an influence on the human psyche.

Conventional systems cooperate with windows or mouths which deliver water, to which means suitable to transmit the light in the desired color are applied. There are no known devices which allow a differentiated coloring of the water which can vary during use both in color and in intensity, which has an intensity and uniformity such as to provide the best coloring. Nor are there any known devices which allow different coloring of the water, or to adjust the intensity of the colors during use.

The present Applicant has devised, designed and embodied the device according to the invention to obtain the advantages deriving from the diffusion of colored light - differentiated in color, and in intensity - also in association with water.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is set forth and characterized in the main claim, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the main embodiment.

The main purpose of the invention is to achieve a device able to diffuse water which becomes colored - either as a mass or nebulized - in tanks, baths, showers, swimming pools or similar, or in any case in environments where the water is introduced, by irradiating white or colored light onto the water by means of fibre optics cooperating with the water delivery mouths .

In the text of this description the term "fibre optics" should be taken to mean also a fibre optic beam and/or a tubular optic conductor.

The fibre optics are suitable to provide colored light also of different colors and/or intensity.

The fibre optics, preferably from 2 to a maximum of 6 in number - advantageously 3 - can be fed or not, also alternately, according to the user's preference.

A further purpose of the invention is to transmit all the light to the water delivery mouths so as to provide as much light as possible to the water.

According to the invention, the individual fibre optics, of adequate section and in any case between 1.5 and 4 mm in diameter, advantageously 2 mm, deliver their own light in correspondence with a transparent ring, which acts as a light conductor, and extends inside the environment where the water is .

The ring surrounds the stream of water or other fluid, in a mass or nebulized or in drops, which enters the container. The ring can cooperate with one or more elements, totally or partly external, according to a variant, which conduct/ deliver the light they receive from the ring.

The fibre optics are connected, by means of clamping systems, to the element which supports and positions the transparent ring, and, in practice, come into contact with the ring.

The clamping systems are preferentially arranged along a circumference of the water delivery mouths .

ILLUSTRATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Let us now see a preferential but non-restrictive embodiment of the invention, shown in Figure 1 where there is a section of the device able to diffuse colored water according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows the device 10 to deliver colored water by irradiating colored light, located on the wall 11 of a bath tub 26, which, to simplify the illustration, is not shown here.

The device 10 consists of a water delivery mouth -22 • to which at least two fibre optics 20 are associated. The mouth 22 consists of a channel 21 to introduce the water which can cooperate with a pipe (not shown) to feed the air.

The channel 21, in this case, introduces the water with added air into the bath tub 26 by means of an ejector 14, also transparent in order to improve the irradiance of the light; it can be positioned as desired and clamped inside the mouth with suitable means 23 of a conventional type and irrelevant for the purposes of the invention.

The mouth 22 rests on the wall 11 of the bath tub 26 and, in cooperation with the outer side 11a of the wall 11, includes a toroidal packing 16, whereas in cooperation with the inner side lib there is a transparent clamping ring 12, in this case assembled with screws, which cooperates with a flat packing 13 positioned between the inner side lib of the wall 11 of the bath tub 26 and the clamping ring 12.

As we said, the clamping ring 12 is transparent and made of a material which is a strong conductor of light. A transparent annular supporting element 15 can be associated with said clamping ring 12 and can be totally or partly free to diffuse the light.

In suitable position, preferentially along a circumference of the mouth 22 and on the rear part thereof, there are clamping elements 17 to clamp the fibre optics 20, which is suitably protected by a protective sheath 19.

The clamping element 17 cooperates with a sealing packing 18 to clamp the fibre optics 20, since the latter is inserted into the hole 24 which passes through the inner wall 25 of the mouth 22 and communicates with the ring 12.

The hole 24 containing the fibre optics 20 allows it to provide the colored light to the transparent clamping ring

12 , which transmits it to the water delivered by the transparent ejector 14 and to the water which is in contact with the ring 12.

The fibre optics 20 then transmit the light to the ring 12 and the outer element 15.

The ring 12 and the outer element 15 surround the jet of water, color it and, at the same time, color the mass of water in the container.

The fibre optics 20 according to the invention can each carry a specific colored light, -or they can all -carry the same colored light. The light can arrive with a constant intensity or with a variable intensity.

The fibre optics 20, in this case, are 2 mm in diameter, and act on the periphery of the ring 12 so that the light irradiates axially along the ring 12 with a winding component able to spread and transport the light.

The fibre optics 20 receive the light in conventional manner from one or more remote sources, equipped and functioning according to the requirements of light delivery, possibly integrated by means to vary the intensity. The device 10 as described heretofore can also be used in different water containers, such as showers, swimming pools or similar where colored light is diffused or in other environments containing water.

It is obvious that additions and/or modifications can be made to the device 10 as described heretofore without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1 - Device (10) able to irradiate colored light into water either as a mass or nebulized or in drops in a container (26) such as a tank, a bath tub, a shower, swimming pool or similar, also having medical functions, by means of fibre optics (20) , cooperating with one or more sources of light associated with mouths (22) to deliver the water into the tank, the device being characterized in that said fibre optics (20) cooperate directly with a transparent ring (12) at least partly surrounding the stream of water delivered.

2 - Device as in claim 1, characterized in that there are from 2 to 6, advantageously 3 fibre optics (20) .

3 - Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that the fibre optics (20) cooperate directly and axially with the transparent ring (12) .

4 - Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that the fibre optics (20) cooperate with the leading-end annular element (15) of the transparent ring (12) .

5 - Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that the transparent ring (12) extends in a circular plate inside the container (26) and surrounds the stream of water delivered.

6 - Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that every fibre optic (20) has a protective sheath (19) . 7 - Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that every fibre optic (20) has its own colored light. 8 - Device as in claims from 1 to 7 inclusive, characterized in that the fibre optics (20) all have the same colored light. 9 - Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that the fibre optics (20) are associated with means to vary the light intensity.