Patent Application
20250134766
The subject matter of the invention relates generally to a bathtub, and more particularly to a lightweight bathing apparatus for use with disabled and/or non-ambulatory individuals.
In one embodiment, a lightweight portable bathing apparatus is provided. The lightweight portable bathing apparatus may include a substantially horizontal bottom base; a wall extending substantially vertical about a periphery of the bottom base, wherein the wall may include a front wall portion, an opposing back wall portion, a first sidewall portion, and an opposing second sidewall portion, and wherein the bottom base and wall portions are configured to form a substantially oval shaped wash basin; one or more hand holds formed in an upper portion of one or more of the wall portions; a water inlet including a water supply hose, wherein the water supply hose is configured to attach to a water dispersal device at a first end and a water supply source at a second end; a water outlet disposed in the bottom base, wherein the water outlet may include a drain hole and a drain hole plug; wherein the wash basin is configured of a length, depth, and width to accommodate a human patient. The one or more hand holds may include a first hand hold formed in an upper portion of the first sidewall portion and an opposing second hand hold formed in an upper portion of the opposing second sidewall portion. The one or more hand holds may be positioned about midway along the length of their respective wall portion. The one or more hand holds may be formed as any of cut outs, indentations, outdentation, or handles. The water dispersal device may include a handheld shower head. The water supply source may include a standard sink faucet. The apparatus may further include a holder for the water dispersal device attachable to one of the wall portions of the wash basin, wherein the holder may be configured to releasably hold the water dispersal device in a stationary position when placed therein. The water outlet may be disposed proximate to an intersection of the rear wall portion and the bottom base. The apparatus may further include a drain hose configured to be in fluid communication with the drain hole. The apparatus may further include a head/neck support, which may include a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first and second portions may be configurable to form an elevated head/neck support, and wherein the head/neck support is one of removably or permanently attached to the bottom base. The head/neck support further may further include a groove configured to lock the first and second portions in an elevated position. A bottom surface of the bottom base is substantially flat.
In another embodiment, a method of using a lightweight portable bathing apparatus is provided. The method may include providing a lightweight portable bathing apparatus, including a substantially horizontal bottom base; a wall extending substantially vertical about a periphery of the bottom base, wherein the wall may include a front wall portion, an opposing back wall portion, a first sidewall portion, and an opposing second sidewall portion, and wherein the bottom base and wall portions are configured to form a substantially oval shaped wash basin; one or more hand holds formed in an upper portion of one or more of the wall portions; a water inlet including a water supply hose, wherein the water supply hose is configured to attach to a water dispersal device at a first end and a water supply source at a second end; a water outlet disposed in the bottom base, wherein the water outlet may include a drain hole and a drain hole plug; wherein the wash basin is configured of a length, depth, and width to accommodate a human patient. The method may further include, placing the wash basin atop a flat surface; placing a patient into the wash basin; positioning the patient in the wash basin; washing the patient via the water dispersal device; draining the wash basin via the water outlet; and removing the patient from the wash basin. The method may further include adding a desired amount of water to the wash basin prior to washing the patient. Placing the patient into the wash basin may include rolling the patient onto their side; placing the wash basin on its side and placing it next to the patient such that the wash basin is coupled behind the patient; and rolling the patient and the wash basin simultaneously back to a flat horizontal position. The apparatus may further include a head/neck support, including a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first and second portions are configurable to form an elevated head/neck support, and wherein the head/neck support is one of removably or permanently attached to the bottom base. Positioning the patient in the wash basin may include elevating the patient's head/neck to a desired height via the head/neck support. The method may further include attaching the water supply hose to the water supply source prior to washing the patient. The water supply source may include a standard sink faucet. The water dispersal device may include a handheld shower head.
Care for patients that are diagnosed disabled and/or non-ambulatory can be difficult for both the patients and their caretakers. For example, when bathing a patient in a basin with soap and water it can be an arduous and time consuming process.
Transferring a patient from the bed to the bathroom may cause injuries to both the patient and the caregiver. Further, helping the patient into (and out of) the bathtub adds an additional cumbersome task. Additionally, during the bath, the water builds up and after a while the water becomes dirty and needs to be replaced with fresh clean water. While using a bathtub that is in a bathroom, the water can be drained and additional water can come from the faucet. For bathtubs that are portable, draining used water and replacing it with fresh water can be difficult. These types of bathtubs require the caretaker to change the water several times to bathe the patient properly. However, bathing the patient is a task that needs to happen at least once a day to allow the patient to have their body properly cleaned. The high degree of difficulty of properly bathing a patient confined to a bed could lead to times where the patient goes multiple days where they do not have their body properly cleaned. Ignoring their hygiene for prolonged periods of time can lead to the development of a skin disorder or even a breakdown of the skin that can lead to an increase of pressure ulcers.
What is needed is a bathing apparatus that offers easy access and use to individuals with limited mobility and their caretakers.
Having thus described the subject matter in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
In one example embodiment, a lightweight portable bathtub is provided. The lightweight bathtub, may include an oval shape bathtub made from polypropylene that is designed to rest on the top surface of a bed for disabled patients. The design of the bathtub allows the patient to be easily rolled into the bath tub from their side. The bathtub may include a handheld shower head attachable to a nearby faucet to provide water for the patient to bathe. The bathtub may further include a drainage hole with a drain hose attachable to the bottom side of the bathtub to allow for water to be drained away from the bathtub. A head/neck support may be attached to the interior surface of the bathtub to allow the patient to elevate their head while bathing. In this way, the device allows disabled patients to receive hygienic care that they require while avoiding the inconvenience of transporting them into the bathroom.
Referring now to
The bathtub 100 may further include a water supply hose 135. Water supply hose 135 may supply water into the bathtub 100. A first end of the water supply hose 100 may be attachable to a handheld shower head 140 and a second end may be attachable to a faucet (not shown). The water supply hose 135 may be attachable to the faucet by a universal adapter (not shown), or any other well-known suitable adapter or mechanism, disposed on the second end of the water supply hose 135. The front wall 115 of tub 100 may further include a shower head holder 145. The handheld shower head 140 may be attachable to the shower head holder 145, such that the handheld shower head 140 may remain in a stationary position and also may be easily removable as needed. Additionally, a drainage hole 150 may be disposed in the horizontal bottom base 110 to allow water to be drained from the bathtub 100. Drainage hole 150 may be disposed closer to the rear wall 120 of bathtub 100. In one example, drainage hole 150 may be disposed in the bottom base 110 proximate to the intersection of the rear wall 120 and the bottom base 110. Drainage hole 150 may include a drain plug 155, which may be used to prevent water from draining out of the drainage hole 150. The drainage hole 150 may further include a drainage hose 160 disposed on an underside of the horizontal bottom base 110 of the bathtub 100 and in fluid communication with drainage hole 150 to allow for drainage of the water out of the bathtub 100.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Following long-standing patent law convention, the terms “a,” “an,” and “the” refer to “one or more” when used in this application, including the claims. Thus, for example, reference to “a subject” includes a plurality of subjects, unless the context clearly is to the contrary (e.g., a plurality of subjects), and so forth.
The terms “comprise,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “include,” “includes,” and “including,” are intended to be non-limiting, such that recitation of items in a list is not to the exclusion of other like items that may be substituted or added to the listed items.
Terms like “preferably,” “commonly,” and “typically” are not utilized herein to limit the scope of the claimed embodiments or to imply that certain features are critical or essential to the structure or function of the claimed embodiments. These terms are intended to highlight alternative or additional features that may or may not be utilized in a particular embodiment of the present invention.
The term “substantially” is utilized herein to represent the inherent degree of uncertainty that may be attributed to any quantitative comparison, value, measurement, or other representation and to represent the degree by which a quantitative representation may vary from a stated reference without resulting in a change in the basic function of the subject matter at issue.
Various modifications and variations of the disclosed methods, compositions and uses of the invention will be apparent to the skilled person without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Although the subject matter has been disclosed in connection with specific preferred aspects or embodiments, it should be understood that the subject matter as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific aspects or embodiments.
For the purposes of this specification and appended claims, unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing amounts, sizes, dimensions, proportions, shapes, formulations, parameters, percentages, quantities, characteristics, and other numerical values used in the specification and claims, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about” even though the term “about” may not expressly appear with the value, amount or range. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the following specification and attached claims are not and need not be exact, but may be approximate and/or larger or smaller as desired, reflecting tolerances, conversion factors, rounding off, measurement error and the like, and other factors known to those of skill in the art depending on the desired properties sought to be obtained by the presently disclosed subject matter. For example, the term “about,” when referring to a value can be meant to encompass variations of, in some embodiments ±100%, in some embodiments ±50%, in some embodiments ±20%, in some embodiments ±10%, in some embodiments ±5%, in some embodiments ±1%, in some embodiments ±0.5%, and in some embodiments ±0.1% from the specified amount, as such variations are appropriate to perform the disclosed methods or employ the disclosed compositions.
Further, the term “about” when used in connection with one or more numbers or numerical ranges, should be understood to refer to all such numbers, including all numbers in a range and modifies that range by extending the boundaries above and below the numerical values set forth. The recitation of numerical ranges by endpoints includes all numbers, e.g., whole integers, including fractions thereof, subsumed within that range (for example, the recitation of 1 to 5 includes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, as well as fractions thereof, e.g., 1.5, 2.25, 3.75, 4.1, and the like) and any range within that range.
Although the foregoing subject matter has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that certain changes and modifications can be practiced within the scope of the appended claims.
This application is related and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.: 63/546,042, filed on Oct. 27, 2023 the application of which is incorporate herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63546042 | Oct 2023 | US |
