WO2003053324A1

WO2003053324A1 - Multi-functional sitz bath apparatus serving both as hot vapor or errhine bath and cleaning bath

Info

Publication number: WO2003053324A1
Application number: PCT/KR2001/002144
Authority: WO
Inventors: Won-Dong Yang
Original assignee: Won-Dong Yang
Priority date: 2001-11-17
Filing date: 2001-12-12
Publication date: 2003-07-03
Also published as: KR20030040978A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for comprehensively performing a steam bath, sitz bath, heat bath and light therapy, and more particularly, to the generation of steam using an electric heater or ultrasonic oscillator after putting various medicinal materials or drugs or disinfectant liquid and the irradiation of a semiconductor softlaser using a diode. The apparatus has the shape similar to a toilet bowl or other shapes in which a person can seat.

Description

Multi Functional Sitz bath apparatus serving both as hot vapor or errhine bath and cleaning bath

TECHNICAL FIELD An object of the present invention is to treat and prevent a variety of diseases of the peri-anal area in order to live a healthy life.

The present invention relates to a steam bath, a sitz bath, a far in frared ray bath, an ozone germicidial bath, a heat bath and a hyperther mal balneotherapeutic bath using various medicinal materials, germani um, magnet, gem, elvan, loess, etc., and softlaser irradiation using a me dical semiconductor diode, in which a user can automatically and semi- automatically carry out sitz baths of differing types according to the ope ration of a keypad.

BACKGROUND ART

From old times, on suffering from diseases on the peri-anal area, our ancestors used to put dried mugwort or lyceum or leonurus in a ch amber pot, light a fire on it and expose them to the steam therefrom.

As it is well-known, in case of anal diseases and female diseases, the affected area must be washed often, dried out and kept clean. Since there is no other available instruments on the market excepting a simpl e sitz bath apparatus, most people implements a heat bath at home by hands or a shower cock or the like. Recently, bidets put on a toilet bowe 1 have been explosively distributed, but their effect is no so good in treat ing various diseases though good in keeping clean after excrement, and there is no particular medical instrument at all for treating prostatitis, g ynecologic diseases, cystitis and menstrual pain.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a st earn bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus which can selectively and conveniently use a sitz bath function, a steam bath function, an ozone b ubble function, an ultraviolet ray germicidial bath function, a steam fun ction using various medicinal materials and mineral matters, a drier fu nction for drying after treatment, a treatment function using a medical s emiconductor soft laser and a light therapy function including an infrar ed ray irradiation function. To achieve the above object, there is provided a steam bath, sitz b ath and heat bath apparatus, characterized in that: a raw water is purifi ed through a multistage water purifying filter and sterilizer connected to a main body having a concave portion at the center on which a patient can seat, a raw water supply pipe and an electron edge, is put into a sta inless steel container of different types including a band heater, seize he ater, bar heater and ceramic heater, is heated to a predetermined tempe rature a user wants, i.e., between 36 and 60°C, is regulated to a temper

ature suitable for a sitz bath, is mixed with ozone from an ozone generat or and is put into the concave portion along with bubble; irregularity is f ormed on the upper part of a cover on the apparatus is formed with and a plurality of vibration motors are equipped below the cover and on the back support for massaging the thigh, hip and backbone during the sit z bath under the control of a keypad on the basis of three power levels; t he upper part of the cover contacting the hip is formed with rough surfa ce magnet, metal, gem, germanium, elvan, mineral matters, plastic and embossed protuberances for the purpose of finger pressure and lblood ci rculation; and the purified and sterilized water is supplied to a steam co ntainer along a three-way electron edge, the seize and bar heater in the steam container moves the steam generated by boiling the purified wate r upon receipt of power to a perforated cooler by which the steam can b e regulated to a predetermined temperature (not to make a person get b urned) and moves the steam to the concave portion on which the patien t seats and medicinal materials adapted for each symptom are put in th e container and the steam thereof is applied to the patient.

The apparatus has a plurality of passage holes at one end and pro vides a steam liquid generated by steaming medicinal materials good to human bodies and proceeds to a steam treatment upon the complietion of the sitz bath. After the steam bath, the apparatus performs both far i nfrared lamp treatment and softlaser treatment, the steam can be direct ly exposed to the human body by burning the medicinal materials witho ut water, the steam can be generated by the vibration of an ultrasonic o scillator at a room temperature and infrared irradiation or laser irradiati on can be performed during the sit bath by carrying out another sitz bat h again due to the sticky feeling of the affected area after the steaming. A CD player, cassette player or MP3 player can be equipped in the appa ratus for allowing the user to listen to music during the bath time. A so und device and visual device of juggle type can be equipped in the appar atus for activating the motion of brain waves such as alpha wave, beta wave, theta wave and delta wave to refresh one's mind, increase one's c oncentrating power and relieving one's stress. Finally, a hot water vibrat ion foot massager connected to the main body is disposed for adapting hot water, ozone, bubble and steam generated from the main body to th e foot during the steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features, aspects, and advantages of preferred e mbodiments of the present invention will be more fully described 'in the following detailed description, taken accompanying drawings. In the dr awings:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing one example of a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus in accor dance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing one example of a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus in ace ordance with the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a projection view schematically showing one example of a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus in acco rdance with the present invention; Fig. 4 is a pipe drawing schematically showing one example of a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus in accor dance with the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a circuit diagram schematically showing one example of a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus in acco rdance with the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a heater construction view schematically showing one ex ample of a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparat us in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a keypad construction view schematically showing one ex ample of a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparat us in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 8 is a foot massager connection view schematically showing o ne example of a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath ap paratus in accordance with the present invention. <Explanation of reference numerals for main part of drawings> 1 main body 1- 1 concave portion 1-2 steam generator

1-3 cover 1-4 ozone bubble generating portion 1-5 sound device

1-6 far infrared ray lamp 1-7 drier 1-8 backbone support 1-9 water supply portion 1-10 water purifying filter

1-11 U-N lamp 1-12 keypad portion 1-13 SOU valve 1-14 drain outlet 1-15 sanitary member 1-16 water heater 1-17 overheat protecting fan 1-18 sauna cockl-18 digital thermometer 1- 19 disinfectant storage tan k

1-20 softlaser 1-21 heat steam machine 1-22 steam regulator

1-23 noise filter 1-24 breaker 1-25 ultrasonic oscillator

1-26 bimetal 1-27 handle and book holder 1-28 water level regulatin g sensor

1-29 vinyl curtain for sauna 1-30 infection protecting sheet 1-31 vibrati on foot massager

1-32 perforated cooler 1-33 steam regulator and fan 1-34 main board 1-35 plug- in circuit breaker 1-36 D/C adaptor 1-35 medicinal material f ilter net

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bat h apparatus in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present i nvention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing one example of a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus in accor dance with the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, the steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath appar atus 1 comprises a main body 1 formed in the shape in which a human body can seat on and having a concave portion 1 - 1 at the center; a keyp ad portion 1-12 attached to the left or right side of the main body and i mplementing various functions and operations; a covering 1-3 equipped therein with a U-N lamp 1-11 for sterilizing in the air after the use of th e apparatus; a cover 1-8 tightly adhered to the hip and the spine and eq uipped therein with a hot wire with vibration and irregularity; a raw wat er generating portion 1-9 supplying raw water 1-9 to the main body 1; a water purifying portion 1-10; and a drier portion 1-7 for implementing drying.

At the center of the concave portion 1-1, a steam generator 1-2, a drain outlet 1-14, an ozone bubble generating portion 1-4, a bubble 1-4, a water supply portion 1-9, a far infrared ray lamp 1-6 and a vibration motor 1-25 are, installed.

In addition, the water supply portion 1 -9 has a multistage water p urifving filter 1-10 installed between a water pipe and a lead pipe, and t he multistage water purifying filter has an electron edge 1-13 installed t herebetween for interrupting the flow of water.

For this reason, raw water is supplied in a purified and heated sta te, and the heated raw water 1-9 is supplied in a sterilized state with oz one bubble 1-4 contained therein. The part of the steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus on which a person can seat may be constructed in such a manner that a s anitary member 1-15 made of plastic, silicon, vinyl, etc can be automati cally or manually inserted thereinto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing one example of a multifunctional steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus in ace ordance with the present invention. As shown therein, the main body 1 has a raw water heater 1-16 for heating purified water generated from t he raw water supplying portion 1-9, an ozone water providing portion 1- 4 for generating ozone and bubble 1-4 from the heated raw water, a sep arating unit for separating the raw water 1-9 and the generated ozone, a cooler and steam generator 1-2 and a keypad portion 1- 12 for controllin g all those components.

The water heater 1-16 includes a hot water tank 1-16 made of sta inless steel or ceramic material and an electric heater 1-16 mounted aro und or in it, and heats the purified water generated from the water supp lying portion 1-9. Additionally, the water heater 1-16 is provided with a water level regulating sensor 1-28, a digital temperature sensor and the rmometer 1-18 and a bimetal 1-26 for regulating a water level in the tan k 1-16 and sensing a temperature so that a human body may not get b urned.

Next, in the steam generator 1-2, various medicinal materials sup plied by a steam generating heater and regulator are steamed with raw water at 100°C. The steam therefrom is effused to the steam generator 1 -2 by regulating the amount and temperature of the steam by a perforat ed cooling container 1-32.

In the steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus thus constr ucted of the present invention, a desired operation is selected on the ke ypad portion 1-12. In addition, after a sitz bath or steam bath, a certain water purifying process 1-10 is carried out and then the water is exhau sted to the drain outlet 1-14 immediately. And, since a far infrared ray p ump 1 -6 of the invention generates a high temperature heat, the steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus is equipped therein with an ove r heat protecting fan 1-17 and a steam regulator 1-33. An irradiating po rtion 1 - 1 of the far infrared ray lamp is made of tempered glass that is n ot melted by a strong heat or distorted, or transparent plastic that is str ong to heat. Meanwhile, the drier 1-7 serves to dry an affected area after the si tz bath or steam bath and it is automatically or manually operated unde r the control of the keypad portion 1-12. In addition, on the upper plate of the concave portion 1-1 on which a patient can seat for treatment, th e sanitary member 1- 15 made of acryl, silicon, plastic, cloth of various t ypes, vinyl or paper can be place. After treatment, the next patient can r emove the sanitary member, set another sanitary member and use it co mfortably and sanitarily. On the upper plate of the concave portion 1-1 f rom which steam rises, a disinfectant case 1-19 is disposed for preventi ng bacterial infection due to the use by a lot of patients. After or prior to the stem bath or sitz bath, a disinfectant liquid flows out to the concav e portion 1-1 via a solenoid valve 1-13 by sensing the weight of the hum an body to automatically sterilize the concave portion 1 - 1 , sheet and var ious types of pipes and valves along with the ozone bubble 1-14. Also, t he user can manually operate the sterilizing function. And, on the uppe r or lower part of the main body, a CD player by which the user can list en to the music during treatment and a brain wave accelerating device 1-5 are installed. The water and steam heated in the water heater 1-16 of the main body flow out to a foot massager 1-31. The foot massager 1- 31 also has a U-N germicidial lamp 1-1 1 mounted thereto. An ozone bu bble bath 1-4, vibration, ultrasonic vibration massaging 1-25 and the li ke can be performed with the power and water supplied from the main body 1. And, for the safety of the user, a plug- in circuit breaker 1-35 is i nstalled on a plug and, for blocking electron waves, a noise filter 1-23 a nd an earth leakage breaker 1-24 are installed.

This apparatus is disclosed in the parent patent application No. 1 999-0018965 (the utility model registration No. 017162) filed in the na me of the present inventor. The present application is more concrete, co mprehensive and progressive than the conventional one.

As seen from above, the steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath appa ratus of the invention is manufactured by functions so as to satisfy ever yone including pregnant women, women with gynecologic diseases, wo men with menstrual pain, patients with hemorrhoid or anal diseases, co nstipation patients, and people who wants their genital area keep clean. In case of selecting the sitz bath function, ambient temperature water passed through heaters of different types allows the ultrasonic oscillator and the ozone bubble generator to be operated and then the wedge ster ilized water is exposed to an affected area along with bubble, thereby tre ating various inflammatory diseases and bacterial diseases. In case of s electing the steam bath function, various medicinal materials good to h uman bodies including mugwort, lyceum, Korean angelica root, acantho panax, moxa, leonurus, poria cocos, Japanses Brickly ash berry rutin, herbs and the like are be put in a steam container, steamed and used fo r a patient. Also, the liquid from the steam may be applied to the face or other areas of the body by using a simple connection pipe or shower co ck. Moreover, it may be applied to other body areas using the infrared r ay function or semiconductor laser function.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

In the present invention, such several functions may be selectivel y or simultaneously used, or each function may be individually perfor med.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described wi th reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the at that the foregoing and other changes in form and details can be made therein without departing from the sprit an d scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath apparatus, characterize d in that: a main body having a concave portion at the center on which a patient can seat is made of germanium, artificial marble, onyx, marble , gem, ceramic, loess as various materials for FRP, plastic injections and is formed in a kind of a toilet bowl shape, with transparent, heat-resist ant plastic or tempered glass disposed at its round portion at the center for irradiating the light of an infrared ray lamp or softlaser, a portion c ontacting the hip or genital area of the patient is covered with a disposa ble or mutiusable cover made of plastic injections, FRP, silicon, rubber, paper, cloth, vinyl or the like for sanitary purpose so that the next perso n can use a new cover, the upper part of the cover contacting the hip is formed with ceramic, gem, germanium, elvan, magnet for medical use, p lastic and embossed protuberances, the inside of the cover is equipped with a vibration motor for relieving the user's fatigue of the hip, thigh an d backbone; there are several methods for extracting steam including th e method for generating steam by rapidly increasing the temperature of water using a seize heater, bar heater, ceramic heater, band heater or t he like, the method of using an ultrasonic steam generator utilizing an o scillator as in the principles of a humidifier or the method for generating steam in such a manner that when two carbons are fixed to the bottom of a steam container in parallel to each other, the carbon of plus polari ty and the carbon of minus polarity are made to flow an AC or DC curre nt, purified water is supplied and then sodium chloride is put therein, a n active water molecular motion occurs to thus change an electric energ y into a heat energy and boil the water; and the apparatus is provided w ith a medicinal material filter net, a medicinal material tank, a tank cap , wash valve and a steam generator, each being made of non-corrosive s tainless steel, titanium, aluminum or heat-resistant plastic, a stainless steel hot water storage tank for heating purified water to a predetermine d temperature and storing the heated water, a temperature regulator* a bimetal, a heater device, various types of pipes, various types of regulat ors including an electron edge, a water level sensor and a check valve fo r increasing or decreasing the size of a steam outlet by regulating the a mount of stem by a valve and for increasing or decreasing the amount o f steam by regulating the speed of a motor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is equipped with a multistage filter for supplying a top quality water, having a R/O membrane including a settling filter and a carbon filter, a hollow fiber fil ter, a UF membrane, a silver filter, an ion exchange resin, an ultraviolet ray sterilizer and a radical sterilizer, the ozone generated by an ozone ge nerator is put into a sitz bath along with bubble, and a disinfectant liqu id storage tank is disposed on the upper part of the apparatus for sterili zing the apparatus, in which a disinfectant liquid is automatically secret ed to the concave portion of the upper plate after use so as to prevent in fection, allow the next user to wait, inform of the shortage of the disinfe ctant liquid by a buzzer and inform the completion of the steam bath, si tz bath and heat bath and drying by a bell or voice.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is formed wi th a handle at both sides for relaxing and holding the user, a book hold er for allowing the user to read books or magazines during the bath tim e and a UV germicidial lamp disposed on the cover of the upper plate for preventing infection after treatment and automatically flashing during the waiting time, the apparatus may further comprise a small sized or p ortable bidet device to be attached on the toilet bowl for home use, a thr ee-way valve is disposed on the inlet of a steam port from which steam i s generated for applying the steam containing medicinal materials and g enerated through a shower cock or nozzle to the face or other areas of t he body according to the operation of a keypad, and the apparatus can be varied for a simple sauna use by enclosing the apparatus in an isolat ed space using a semi-transparent vinyl curtain and allowing steam to b e effused through the shower cock.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heat generated from a hot wire inserted into an infrared or far infrared lamp or mineral matter s such as ceramic, gem, elvan, germanium, etc. can be irradiated to an affected area; the steam that is generated by steaming various Chinese- crude drugs such as mugwort, herbs, rutin, etc. without water can be a pplied to the affected area; a sitz bath, steam bath and heat bath can be carried out in one apparatus including a UV sterilizer, ozone sterilizer and semiconductor softlaser using a diode; a CD player, cassette player or MP3 player can be equipped in the apparatus for allowing the user to listen to music during the bath time; a sound device and visual device can be equipped in the apparatus for activating the motion of brain wav es such as alpha wave, beta wave, theta wave and delta wave to refresh one's mind, increase one's concentrating power and relieving one's stres s; a small-sized digital camera may be disposed therein so that the patie nt or a doctor can clinically judge the state of diseases before and after t reatment; and a foot massager with ultrasonic wave, vibration, ozone an d bubble functions is disposed for performing foot massaging along with the steam bath, sitz bath and heat bath treatment by receiving a power and a hot water and steam from the main body.