Patent Application
20110299912
The present invention relates to a brush for use while bathing, and in particular, cleaning one's feet while showering.
In addition to common toiletries, there are many known accessories to make bathing easier, more efficient, or more enjoyable. In addition to a wide variety of soaps, shampoos, and cleansers, there are dozens of scrub brushes, loofahs, exfoliating brushes, and sponges to help people clean their bodies.
Long-handle brushes for cleaning remote parts of one's body are known in the prior art. However, when it comes to cleaning one's feet, these prior art brushes possess many shortcomings. For example, the handle of many brushes is insufficiently long to permit people with limited flexibility or poor balance to reach their feet. This is especially true of elderly people who cannot bend over sufficiently without straining a body part or falling over. Additionally, the handle is often not oriented at the correct, ergonometric angle to permit the user to easily contact the brush bristles squarely on the upper and/or lower portions of the foot. Furthermore, the bristles are often insufficiently long to allow penetration in between the toes. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a bathing brush that is specifically designed for cleaning one's feet and overcomes many of the shortcomings of prior art brushes.
The present invention provides a bathing brush that can be used for cleaning distal parts of the body. The brush is particularly useful for cleaning one's feet while showering. The brush generally comprises a handle and a brush head with a plurality of bristles protruding from both the upper and lower surface of the brush head. Preferably, the handle is very long so that the user can clean her feet without the need to bend over excessively. For example, in a preferred embodiment, the handle may have a length at least about 24 inches.
The handle has an elongate shaft with a distal end, proximal end, and a hollow central portion, and a hand grip fixed to the proximal end of said shaft. The brush head is fixed to the distal end of the shaft. The brush head has distal and proximal ends, upper and lower surfaces, lengthwise and widthwise axes. A connection angle is formed between the shaft and the brush head. A plurality of sole bristles are fixed to the upper surface of the brush head. A plurality of instep bristles are fixed to the lower surface of the brush head at the proximal end. A plurality of toe bristles are fixed to the lower surface of the brush head at the distal end. In a preferred embodiment, the toe bristles have a length different than the instep bristles. The foot brush head may have a footprint that approximates the shape of a human foot.
The brush includes a built-in liquid soap dispenser, which includes an actuator button on the handle proximate the hand grip and an internal liquid soap reservoir in fluid communication with the brush head. Preferably, the reservoir comprises the hollow cavity formed inside the handle and the distal portion of the handle that forms part of the brush head. A dispense valve is connected to the actuator for controlling transfer of the liquid soap from the reservoir to at least one of the plurality of bristles. The liquid soap dispenser includes a translation cam mechanism engaging the actuator button. The cam mechanism is connected by an actuator rod to a toggle plug mechanism which opens and closes a communication port connecting the reservoir with at least one of the plurality of bristles.
In a preferred embodiment, the connection angle between the shaft and the brush head is about equal to or greater than the angle between the dorsum of the foot and the leg when the human foot is in the maximum plantar flexion position. Preferably, the connection angle is greater than about 30 degrees, and in one preferred embodiment, is about 40 degrees. Selection of the preferred connection angle enables the user to comfortably orient the brush head in good planar contact with the dorsum of the foot, especially if the axis of the handle is aligned co-planar with a sagittal plane extending through leg.
The foot brush may include a soap capacity gauge for indicating the level of soap in the reservoir. The soap capacity gauge may comprise, for example, an elongate window in the distal end of the shaft.
Each of the pluralities of bristles is designed differently and designed to scrub different parts of the human foot. For example, while the length of the instep bristles is the same, the toe bristles having an increased length along the lengthwise axis of the brush head. The sole bristles are preferably much shorter than the instep bristles.
The shape of the upper brush surface is designed differently than the lower brush surface, and is customized to scrub the sole of the foot. The upper brush surface has a convex surface portion and a generally-planar surface portion. The convex surface portion has a curvature that approximates the curvature of the arch of the human foot. The sole bristles extend upwardly orthogonal to the upper brush surfaces.
In another embodiment, the brush has a removable brush head so that a replacement brush heads can be installed or the original brush head removed for cleaning. In one embodiment, the brush is provided with a plurality of brush heads having different properties, such as bristles with different coarsenesses or lengths. Additionally, the various brush heads may have specific identifying indicia, such as numbers, letters or color, so that a particular brush head can be associated with a particular user in the event the user does not wish to share the same brush head with multiple users.
For the purpose of illustrating the invention, several embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown therein and described below. Throughout the specification, like reference numerals are used to designate like elements. Numerous changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein in their various grammatical forms have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terms superior, proximal, distal, dorsum and sagittal, are used herein with their conventional medical/anatomical meaning as defined, for example, in Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary.
As used herein, dorsiflexion is the movement which decreases the angle between the dorsum (superior surface) of the foot and shin, so that the toes are brought closer to the shin. Plantar flexion is the movement which increases the angle between the dorsum of the foot and the shin.
A bathing brush in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in
In a preferred embodiment, the handle 12 has an elongate shaft 14 with a distal end 14a, proximal end 14c, and a hollow central portion 14b, and a hand grip 16 fixed to the proximal end 14c of the shaft 14. The shaft 12 is long enough, preferably at least about 24 inches, so that the user can easily reach his feet without excessive bending. In this embodiment, the handle 12 is about 24 inches long, but may be longer or shorter without departing from the scope of the invention. The handle may be straight or may have an ergonomic shape as best seen in
The hand grip 16 may be integrally formed with or separately connected to the shaft 14. The hand grip 16 is preferably made from a non-slip material and preferably includes a contoured portion 16a that compliments the gripped fingers of the human hand. In a preferred embodiment, a hook 18 is formed on the free end of the grip 16. The hook 18 preferably has a size and radius of curvature that enables it to be hung from common shower curtain rods.
The shaft 14 has a hollow construction for housing a liquid soap dispenser mechanism, described below, and the liquid soap itself. In this embodiment, the shaft 14 has a generally circular or oval cross section except for the enlarged, irregularly-shaped distal end 14a, which forms a part of the brush head 20.
The distal end 14a of the shaft 14 connects to the brush head 20 at a connection angle theta (θ) as defined and illustrated in
The brush head 20 has a generally planar base plate 22 having a distal end 22a, proximal end 22b, upper surface 22c, lower surface 22d, a lengthwise axis extending from the proximal end to the distal end, and a widthwise axis extending transverse to the lengthwise axis. As best seen in
Referring to
A second plurality of bristles 24b have unequal lengths and cover a distal portion of the lower surface 22d. The second plurality of bristles 24b are designed to engage and scrub the user's toes, and are subsequently referred to herein as the toe bristles. In a preferred embodiment, the toe bristles 24b have progressively increasing length approaching the distal end of the brush head 20. Their increased length enables the toe bristles 24b to interdigitate with the toes and clean the spaces therebetween. In this embodiment, the toe bristles are made from plastic filament and vary in length from about 1 inch long to about 1½ inches long, but may be longer or shorter depending on the coarseness of the bristles.
In the embodiment shown in
The brush head 24 has an upper base plate 26, which extends from the distal end of the upper surface of the bottom base plate 22. The upper base plate 26 has an irregular shape including at least one convex portion designed for scrubbing the arch of the foot and at least one generally flat portion designed for scrubbing the heal and ball of the foot. Referring to
The brush 10 includes an integrated liquid soap dispenser that dispenses liquid soap onto the brush head 20 so that the user need not bend over to lather her feet, and need not manually lather the bristles prior to scrubbing. The soap dispenser generally includes a liquid soap reservoir 46, an actuator mechanism 30, dispense valve 50, and an actuator rod connecting the actuator mechanism 30 and dispense valve 50.
The actuator mechanism 30 is built into the proximal end 14c of the shaft proximate the hand grip 16. The actuator mechanism 30 includes an actuator button 31 located within thumb's reach of the hand grip 16. The button 31 has a central, depression portion 31a and a radiating skirt portion 31b. The button 31 is made from a flexible, polymer material, which allows the central portion 31a to be depressed, i.e., translated downwardly, by the force of the user's thumb, and then released, i.e., translated upwardly, by removing the downward force of the user's thumb. The central portion 31a of the button extends through an aperture 42 in the shaft 14, while the skirt 31b is held by a button yoke 32 in abutting arrangement against the inner periphery of the aperture 42.
When depressed, the central portion 31a of the button abuts a translation cam mechanism generally comprising a wedge shaped cam 34, cam follower 36 and cam housing 38. As best seen in
An actuator rod 40 is connected at one end to the cam follower 36, and connected at the other end to a dispense valve 50 in the brush head 20. In a preferred embodiment, the actuator rod comprises an elongate metal rod having a connector 44 at its proximal end 40b for connection to the cam follower 36, and right angle bend at the distal end 44a for connection to the dispense valve 50. The actuator rod 40 is housed in and runs the length of the shaft 14.
The shaft 14 is made from two mating channels, which form a hollow, tubular structure. The internal cavity of the shaft 14 serves as a reservoir 46 for the liquid soap. The reservoir 46 extends the entire length of the shaft down to the brush head 14. Since the handle is very long in the preferred embodiment, the reservoir 46 is capable of containing a large volume of liquid soap. The shaft 14 has a port 48 through which the reservoir 46 is filled, and a port cap 49 for sealing the port 48. The shaft 14 has a short, lengthwise-extending, transparent window 52 in the distal end 14a of the shaft 14. The window serves as a soap capacity gauge for visually indicating the level of soap in the reservoir 46.
The dispense valve 50 is located inside the distal end 14a of the shaft 14 and controls transfer of the liquid soap from the reservoir 46 to the bristles. In a preferred embodiment, a bore 54 extends through the lower base plate 22, which enables fluid communication between the reservoir 46 and the instep bristles 24a. The dispense valve 50 is normally biased to a closed position preventing liquid soap from passing through the bore 54. When the actuator button 31 is depressed by the user, the valve 50 is urged to an open position allowing liquid soap to gravity feed through the bore 54 onto the instep bristles 24a.
In a preferred embodiment, the dispense valve 50 comprises a pivotable toggle arm 56, hinge bracket 58, coil spring 60 and plug 62. The toggle arm 56 is generally “L” shaped with first 56a and second 56b branches extending from a central hub portion having a transverse bore. The hinge bracket 58 is “U” shaped and has a base portion 58b fixed to the lower base plate 22 and two arms 58a fixed to and extending upwardly from opposed ends of the base 58b. The toggle arm 56 is mounted in between the bracket arms 58a by a hinge pin 64 extending from one arm 58a to the other through the transverse bore in the hub of the toggle arm 56.
The plug 62 is fixed to the free end of the first branch 56a. In this embodiment, the plug 62 includes a stem portion 62a, which is inserted through a mounting hole in a mounting flange 56c on the end of the first branch 56a. The seat portion 62b of the plug 62 has a conical shape and is integrally formed with the stem 62a from a pliable material such as silica gel. A coil spring 60 surrounds the hinge pin 64 and urges the first branch 56a of the toggle arm downwardly, thereby forcing the plug 62 into the closed position. When the actuator rod 40 pulls on the second branch 56b, it toggles the plug 62 to the open position out of engagement with the bore 54 in the base plate 22.
Another embodiment of the brush of the present invention is shown in
In this embodiment, the brush 110 also has a removable brush head 120 so that a replacement brush head 120 can be installed or the original brush head 120 removed for cleaning. In one embodiment, the brush 110 is provided with a plurality of brush heads having different properties. For example, the various brush heads 120 may have bristles 124 with different coarsenesses or lengths. Additionally, the various brush heads 120 may have specific identifying indicia, such as numbers, letters or color, so that a particular brush head can be associated with a particular user in the event the user does not wish to share the same brush head 120 with multiple users.
In this embodiment, the handle 112 includes a distal base plate 159 that slidingly engages the upper surface of the lower brush head base plate 122. In one preferred embodiment, the handle base plate 159 has a tongue portion 161 that engages a cooperatively-shaped groove portion 163 of the brush head base plate 122. The tongue and groove preferably have a shape, such as a dovetail shape, that prevents the handle base plate 159 and brush head base plate from pulling apart.
The brush 110 includes a quick release mechanism that enables the brush head to be disconnected from the handle and replaced with another brush head. In this embodiment, the quick release mechanism comprises a detent 165 on the back of the brush head base plate 122, which prevents the plates from disengaging until desired. To disengage the brush head 120 from the handle 112, the user depresses the detent 165 and slides the brush head forward until the tongue and groove disengage. A new or different brush head 120 is installed by sliding the brush head rearwardly until the detent 165 engages the rear edge of the handle base plate 159. In another embodiment, the detent could also be fixed to the handle base plate 112 and engage the rear edge of the brush head base plate 122.
In yet a further embodiment, the brush includes a shower cap 70 as seen in
Except as noted above, the brush components are preferably made from a rust-proof, mildew-resistant material that is lightweight and durable. In a preferred embodiment, the brush is made of plastic.
The brush enables the user to easily clean remote parts of the body, especially the feet, without bending excessively. Initially, the user fills the reservoir with liquid soap through the fill port 48. To clean the top side of the foot, the user positions the brush so that instep bristles engage the instep and the toe bristles engage the toes. Then, the user depresses the actuator button to release a small amount of liquid onto the bristles. The user then agitates the bristles over the foot by reciprocating the brush.
To clean the bottom side of the foot, the user lifts the foot slightly off the floor and re-positions the brush so that the sole bristles engage either the arch, heal, or ball of the foot. At this point, the foot should be sufficiently lathered so that application of additional soap is not necessary. The user then agitates the bristles over the foot by reciprocating the brush. The unique shape of the brush permit the user to scrub all the uniquely-shaped sections of the foot without substantial manipulation of the foot, thereby reducing the risk of slipping in the shower.
It is to be understood that the description, specific examples and data, while indicating exemplary embodiments, are given by way of illustration and are not intended to limit the present invention. Various changes and modifications within the present invention will become apparent to the skilled artisan from the discussion, disclosure and data contained herein, and thus are considered part of the invention.
