The present invention relates to a safety mat used in a bathtub or shower stall, and more particularly to a safety mat having multi-functional features to provide satisfaction for users.
It is well known that bathtubs and shower stalls are slippery and present a great risk of injury to users standing therein, and entering or leaving the bathtub or shower stall, especially in the presence of water and soap. This is because bathtubs and shower stalls are generally made of materials, such as acrylic, cast iron porcelain, steel and polymer, etc, which do not have a high coefficient of friction with human skin. In attempts to compensate for this problem, various safety mats or safety strips are available which provide an increased resistance to slipping while standing in the bathtub or shower stall, and thus minimize the risk of slippage of a person standing thereon.
It is also known in the art to use foot massage mats which include a multiplicity of conical protrusions having rounded apexes in order to massage a user's feet, thereby stimulating the feet and enhancing blood circulation of the user.
People using a bathtub or shower stall, particularly elderly and handicapped people, sometimes require seating aids to be placed in bathtubs or shower stalls, which help to prevent the inherent risks and difficulties involved in positioning themselves on the floor of a bathtub or shower stall by permitting the user to be seated at a relatively higher position than if they were seated on the floor of the bathtub or shower stall or on a safety mat placed therein. However, the floor of bathtubs and shower stalls, particularly in the presence of water and soap is also very slippery to a seating aid such as a bath or shower bench having its legs supported on the floor of a bathtub and shower stall, and thereby presents the risk of the user slipping and falling while sitting on such a seating aid during a bath or shower.
It is also undesirable to have the seating aids stand on the bath or shower mats directly, due the stability concern. When a seating aid stands directly on a bath or shower mat, pressing forces are unevenly applied to the mat, which compromises the stable attachment of the mat on a wet and soapy floor of a bathtub or shower stall, particularly in instances of mats having a limited number of suction cups on the bottom surface thereof.
Conventional bath or shower mats present other disadvantages. For example, the thin layer construction of conventional bath or shower mats does not allow frequent machine washing and thus mildew and bacteria may grow on these mats over time.
Therefore, there is a need for a safety apparatus overcoming the disadvantages of the conventional mat in order to provide comfortable and safe conditions for users during a bath or shower.
One object of the present invention is to provide a safety apparatus for use in bathtubs and shower stalls.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is a safety mat provided for use in bathtubs and shower stalls to prevent slippage of a user while standing thereon or while sitting on a seating aid positioned thereabove, which comprises a bottom surface and a top surface thereof. The bottom surface has a plurality of suction cups for releasably securing the mat on a supporting surface. The top surface has at least one pattern of elements raised therefrom for preventing slippage of the user standing thereon. There are also provided means for permitting side legs of said seating aid to be supported on the supporting surface while preventing same from substantial movement on the supporting surface.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is a safety mat provided for use in bathtubs and showers, which comprises a bottom surface and a top surface thereof. The bottom surface has a plurality of suction cups for releasably securing the mat on a supporting surface. The top surface defines a comfort zone, an acupressure zone and a soothing massage zone. The comfort zone has a plurality of elements in a flat and low profile raised from the top surface. The acupressure zone has a plurality of nipple-shaped elements raised from the top surface. The soothing massage zone has a plurality of longitudinal ridges in a high profile raised from the top surface.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a safety mat is provided for use in bathtubs and shower stalls to prevent slippage of a user standing thereon or sitting on a seating aid positioned thereabove, which comprises a bottom surface, a top surface and a periphery thereof. The periphery includes opposed sides defining therebetween a transverse dimension of the mat and opposed ends defining therebetween a longitudinal dimension of the mat, the longitudinal dimension being greater than the transverse dimension. The bottom surface has a plurality of suction cups for releasably securing the mat on a supporting surface. The top surface defines a comfort zone, an acupressure zone and a soothing massage zone. The comfort zone includes a major area of the top surface and has a plurality of elements in a flat and low profile raised from the top surface. The acupressure zone includes areas adjacent to the opposed ends of the mat and has a plurality of nipple-shaped elements raised from the top surface. The soothing massage zone includes areas adjacent to opposed sides of the mat and has a plurality of longitudinal ridges in a high profile raised from the top surface. Said periphery further defines two lateral recesses at each of the opposed side of the mat, permitting respective four legs of said seating aid to be supported on the supporting surface of the bathtub or shower stall while preventing same from substantial movement on the supporting surface.
The safety mat in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention preferably further comprises a flexible thermal-indicia on the top surface thereof.
The present invention advantageously provides a safety apparatus for use in bathtubs and shower stalls to prevent slippage of a user either standing thereon or sitting on a seating aid placed in bathtubs or shower stalls, optionally providing additional massage functions and hot water temperature warning. Other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood with reference to the preferred embodiments described hereinafter.
Referring to
The bath mat 10 includes a body having a top surface 12, a bottom surface 14 and a periphery 16 therearound. The periphery 16 includes opposed sides 18, 20 defining therebetween a transverse dimension of the bath mat 10, and opposed ends 22, 24 defining therebetween a longitudinal dimension of the bath mat 10. The longitudinal dimension is preferably greater than the transverse dimension.
The bottom surface 14 includes a plurality of suction cups 26. Each suction cup 26 has a circular contacting edge 28 (see
The particular size and shape of the suction cups 26 can vary and they can be positioned in a variety of arrangements. In this embodiment, over four hundred suction cups 26 are substantially evenly distributed over the entire area of the bottom surface 14 of the bath mat 10, and are provided to ensure an active, secure grip that conforms to the bathtub 60, making it safer for users.
The top surface 12 includes at least one pattern of elements raised therefrom for preventing slippage of the user standing thereon, which will be further described in detail below.
The top surface 12 preferably defines a comfort zone 30 including a major area of the top surface 12, for example, as shown in
The comfort zone 30 preferably takes up a majority of the longitudinal length in a mid-portion of the bath mat 10. Thus, whenever a user enters or leaves the bathtub 60 having the bath mat 10 resting on the floor thereof, or moves from a sitting position thereon to stand up, or slightly moves his/her body position in the bathtub 60 during a shower, it is convenient for the user to locate his/her feet within the comfort zone 30 of the bath mat 10.
Optionally, the comfort zone 30 further includes a number of product indicia elements 34 which have flat tops and low profiles similar to the flat, low profile protrusions 32, such that the product indicia elements 34 together with adjacent flat, low profile protrusions 32, provide a secure grip and comfortable feeling to the user's feet. The product indicia elements 34 can, for example, represent a trademark, logo, text, or other message.
The top surface 12 includes an acupressure zone 36 preferably including areas adjacent to the opposed ends 22, 24. These two areas of the acupressure zone 36 are generally spaced apart by the comfort zone 30 therebetween. The acupressure zone 36 includes a plurality of nipple-shaped elements 38 which preferably have a conical body with a rounded top, raised from the top surface 12 (see
Therefore, the nipple-shaped elements 38 are preferably sized and distributed in a manner so as to provide effective stimulation to the user's feet which helps to work away knots and relieve tension. The nipple-shaped elements 38 preferably have a height greater than the flat, low profiled protrusions 32, but are determined by the properties of the material of the bath mat 10 in order to maintain a relative hardness thereof for the effective stimulation to the user's feet standing thereon.
Location of the acupressure zone 36 at the opposed longitudinal ends of the bath mat 10 allow the user to control access to the acupressure zone 36 by stepping back and forth from the comfort zone 30 of the bath mat 10 to the nipple-shaped elements 38, for foot acupressure massage when desired. In this embodiment, a narrow strip (not indicated) of the acupressure zone extends inwardly from each of the end areas thereof to meet a central region of the top surface 12 having the product indicia elements 34 of the comfort zone 30. Thus the narrow strips of the acupressure zone 38 substantially divide the comfort zone 30 into two major longitudinal areas except for the central region having the product indicia elements 34. Such a design of the comfort zone 30 and acupressure zone 36 provides more flexibility and convenience for a user to select acupressure massaging in the bathtub 60 and does not compromise the convenience for the user to use the comfort zone 30.
The top surface 12 of the bath mat 10 preferably further includes a soothing massage zone 40 including areas adjacent to opposed sides 18, 20 of the bath mat 10, and having a plurality of longitudinal ridges 42 in a high profile raised from the top surface 12 (see
Each longitudinal ridge 42 preferably has a width equal to or somewhat narrower than the diametrical dimension of the bottom of the nipple-shaped element 38 and a height greater than the nipple-shaped element 38, for example, about 4-4.5 mm. Such dimensions and profile make the longitudinal ridges 42 possess a property thereof softer than the nipple-shaped elements 38 in order to provide less stimulation than the nipple-shaped elements 38, but are still hard enough to provide a relatively comfortable soothing massage to the user's feet. Optionally, each longitudinal ridge 42 preferably has a rounded top (see
Because of the curved shape of the periphery 16 of the bath mat 10 which will be further described below, the soothing massage zone 40 is divided, for example, into four end areas, each being located at one corner of the top surface 12 of the bath mat 10. Optionally, two side areas of the soothing massage zone 40 can be additionally located at the middle of the longitudinal length of the bath mat 10 outside of the comfort zone 30, when the sides 18, 20 of the bath mat 10 are configured as in
In accordance with this embodiment, the bath mat 10 preferably further defines two lateral recesses 46, 48 at one side 18 and two lateral recesses 50, 52 at the other side 20, preferably symmetrical about a longitudinal axis (not shown) of the bath mat 10, which together define a means for permitting side legs of a seating aid 62 (see
The periphery 16 of the bath mat 10 optionally includes a ridge 54 raised from the top surface 12 thereof (see
The shape of the lateral recesses of the bath mat 10 can vary, such as being narrower than the lateral recesses 46-52 as shown in the drawings. Nevertheless, the wide open lateral recesses 46-52 with smooth curved peripheries thereof provide a more pleasing visual presentation. The wide open lateral recesses 46-52 with smooth curved peripheries may not be enabled to completely restrict a slight motion of the legs of the seating aid 62 about a standing position, but do prevent substantial movement of same away from the standing position, thereby preventing the user of the seating aid 62 from falling.
Alternatively, the lateral recesses 46, 48, and 50, 52 respectively, can be replaced by a single recess (not shown) at each side 18, 20 of the bath mat 10. The single lateral recess, for example has a flat bottom and defines a lateral opening for suitably accommodating two of the legs of the seating aid 62 at each side of the bath mat 10. In a further alternative configuration, the bath mat can have a pair of straight sides without lateral recesses but has four openings (not shown) located adjacent to the opposed straight sides to allow the individual legs of the seating aid to extend therethrough to be supported on the floor of the bathtub 60. All the alternative configurations which are preferably symmetrical about the longitudinal axis of the bath mat, define means for permitting side legs of the seating aid to be supported on the floor of the bathtub 60 while preventing same from substantial movement on the floor of the bathtub 60.
Referring to
Referring to
Modifications and improvements to the above-described embodiments of the present invention may become apparent to those skilled in the art. The foregoing description is intended to be exemplary rather than limiting. For example, the particular locations of the comfort zone, acupressure zone, and soothing massage zone as well as the product indicia elements can vary in various layout configurations. The scope of the present invention is therefore intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060207011 A1 | Sep 2006 | US |