US20040211015A1

US20040211015A1 - Electric powered automatic bath brush and massager

Info

Publication number: US20040211015A1
Application number: US10/420,316
Authority: US
Inventors: Jinhai Chen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-04-22
Filing date: 2003-04-22
Publication date: 2004-10-28

Abstract

The electric powered automatic bath brush and massager comprises of two main components connected by a spring core enclosed in a flexible tube. The first stationary main component is mounted on the wall and contains two electric motors, the first electric motor moves a moving block up and down along two parallel tracks in the first main component through a gear set with a belt. A rotatable brush that can be handheld is connected to the first stationary main component through a spring core enclosed within a flexible tube to a second electric motor in the first main component. The rotatable brush can also be affixed to the moving block on the first stationary main component to allow hands-free movement of the rotatable brush by the electric motor through the gear set with the belt. The two electric motors may be controlled with either a remote control or a hard-wired control switch.

Description

BACKGROUND-FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to an electromechanical device for bathing and massaging. More specifically, the present invention relates to an electric powered bath brush and massager.

BACKGROUND-DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

When a person is taking a shower or a bath, it is often difficult, if not impossible, for the person to reach behind himself to scrub and massage his back. A person must either use a brush or a scrubber with a long handle to reach and effectively scrub his back. However, the use of the long-handled brush or scrubber requires manual dexterity and strength. Furthermore, a brush or scrubber cannot effectively massage the back.

There are shower heads that generates water pulses that attempt to massage the back. However, the water pressures in residential water systems are usually too weak for an effective massage. Furthermore, to be effective, this design requires a lot of water. Generally a mechanical mean must be utilized to effectively massage the back. Most mechanical means of massage require the user to exert force and also reach for the area to be massaged. Also, most mechanical means of massage for use in the shower or bath are not electrical powered due to their proximity to water and electrical safety concerns.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an electric powered automatic bath brush and massager. The electric powered automatic bath brush and massager comprises of two main components connected by a flexible tube. The first stationary main component is mounted on the wall and contains two electric motors, one of which moves a moving block up and down along two parallel tracks in the first main component through a gear set with a belt. A rotatable brush that can be handheld is connected to the first stationary main component through a spring core enclosed within a flexible tube to a second electric motor in the first main component. The rotatable brush can also be affixed to the moving block on the first stationary main component to allow hands-free movement of the rotatable brush by the electric motor through the gear set with the belt. The two electric motors may be controlled with either a remote control or a hard-wired control switch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the side cross-sectional view of the rotatable brush of the electric powered automatic bath brush and massager. [0005]
FIG. 2 shows top cross-sectional view of the stationary main component of the electric powered automatic bath brush and massager. [0006]
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the stationary main component of the electric powered automatic bath brush and massager. [0007]
FIG. 4 shows the side view of the stationary main component of the electric powered automatic bath brush and massager with the rotatable brush affixed to the moving block. [0008]
FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the stationary main component of the electric powered automatic bath brush and massager with the rotatable brush affixed to the moving block.[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows the side-cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the rotatable brush. The rotatable brush comprises of a circular brush base with [0010] handle 1 enclosing a gear wheel 5 resting on ball bearings 7. The gear wheel 5 is driven by a gear axis 6 extending from the spring core 13 in the flexible tube. A circular brush cover 2 retained by a retaining spring 0 and supported by a spring 9 that is enclosed and retained within a spring housing 8 which is itself affixed to a hollow ball 4 attached to the brush base with handle 1. A foam pad 3 is retained on top of the brush cover 2 with an elastic band 10 such as a rubber band. When the gear axis 6 rotates the entire gear wheel 5 would rotate and when a pressure is applied to the brush cover 2, such as by a person's back, the brush cover 2 will engage the gears near the center of the gear wheel 5 thereby rotating the brush cover 2 to scrub and massage the person's back.
FIG. 2 shows the top cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the rotatable brush. The gear axis [0011] 6 is connected to the spring core 13 enclosed within the flexible tube. When the spring core 13 is rotated by the electric motor 11 in the stationary main component that is mounted to the wall, the gear axis 6 that is engaged to the gear wheel 5 will rotate and drives the gear wheel 5 which in turn rotates the brush cover 2 and the foam pad 3 attached to the brush cover 2.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the stationary main component of the preferred embodiment of the electric powered automatic bath brush and massager. The stationary main component may be mounted to a wall through its [0012] mount plate 19. The stationary main component comprises of a U-shaped hollow housing 18 enclosing two electric motors 11 controlled by control panel 20. The first electric motor 11 rotates a stationary gear set 12 that pulls a belt 17 that moves a moving gear 16 attached to a moving block 14 that moves along two parallel tracks in the U-shaped hollow housing 18. The second electric motor 11 is connected to a spring core 13 enclosed within a flexing tube to drive the gear axis 6 in the rotatable brush.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the stationary component of the preferred embodiment of the electric powered automatic bath brush and massager with the rotatable brush affixed to the moving [0013] block 14. The rotatable brush may be affixed to the moving block 14 by attaching it to a holder 15 on the moving block 14 thereby the rotatable brush would move in synchronous with the moving block 14 along the two parallel tracks in the stationary main component to scrub and massager a persons back without the person holding the rotatable brush.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the stationary component of the preferred embodiment of the electric powered automatic bath brush and massager with the rotatable brush affixed to the moving [0014] block 14. A person only has to lean slightly against the rotatable brush to be scrubbed and massaged by the rotating brush moving up and down along the tracks in the stationary main component. When the person is not pressing against the rotatable brush, the brush will stop rotating due to the spring 9 that constantly urges the foam pad 3 away from the gear wheel 5 and disengages the brush cover 2 from the gear wheel 5 in the rotatable brush.
As is clearly shown in the drawings and the above detailed description, the electric powered automatic bath brush and massager is a safe and convenient device to scrub and massage the back of a person without the manual dexterity or strength necessary for a brush or scrubber on a long handle. [0015]
Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given. [0016]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager comprising:

a main component generally in a U-shape configuration with two opposing parallel tracks;

a moving block with a holder slidably engaged in the opposing parallel tracks in the main component;

a moving gear enclosed in the main component and rotably attached to the moving block;

a gear set enclosed in the main component pulling a belt in the main component wherein the belt is engaged to the moving gear to move the moving gear along with the moving block along the opposing parallel tracks;

a first electric motor engaged to the gear set to drive the gear set and controlled by a control panel; and

a second electric motor engaged to a spring core connected to a rotatable brush with a means to affix it to the holder in the moving block and controlled by the control panel;

wherein the rotatable brush can be hand-held to scrub and massage a user's body and can also be affixed to the moving block in the main component to effortlessly scrub and massage the back of the user.

2. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 1, wherein the rotatable brush comprises of a circular brush base with handle attached to a flexible tube enclosing the spring core, a gear axis attached to the end of the spring core and engages a gear wheel in the circular brush base with handle, a brush cover with gears engaged to said gear wheel and supported by a spring that urges the brush cover away from engagement to the gear wheel, and a foam pad retained on the brush cover by an elastic band, wherein when the brush cover is pressed toward the brush base with handle the brush cover would rotate and scrub and massage the user's body surface that is in contact with the foam pad covering the brush cover.

3. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 1, wherein the electric motors are energized by alternating currents (AC).

4. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 1, wherein the electric motors are energized by direct currents (DC).

5. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 1, wherein the control panel is connected to the electric motors with a wire.

6. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 1, wherein the electric motors are remotely controlled by the control panel.

7. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 1, wherein the main component is attached to a wall.

8. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager comprising:

a main housing with two opposing parallel tracks;

a moving block with a holder slidably engaged in the opposing parallel tracks in the main housing;

a moving gear enclosed in the main housing and rotably attached to the moving block;

a gear set enclosed in the main housing pulling a belt in the main housing wherein the belt is engaged to the moving gear to move the moving gear along with the moving block along the opposing parallel tracks;

wherein the rotatable brush can be hand-held to scrub and massage a user's body and can also be affixed to the moving block in the main housing to effortlessly scrub and massage the back of the user.

9. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 8, wherein the rotatable brush comprises of a circular brush base with handle attached to a flexible tube enclosing the spring core, a gear axis attached to the end of the spring core and engages a gear wheel in the circular brush base with handle, a brush cover with gears engaged to said gear wheel and supported by a spring that urges the brush cover away from engagement to the gear wheel, and a foam pad retained on the brush cover by an elastic band, wherein when the brush cover is pressed toward the brush base with handle the brush cover would rotate and scrub and massage the user's body surface that is in contact with the foam pad covering the brush cover.

10. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 8, wherein the electric motors are energized by alternating currents (AC).

11. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 8, wherein the electric motors are energized by direct currents (DC).

12. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 8, wherein the control panel is connected to the electric motors with a wire.

13. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 8, wherein the electric motors are remotely controlled by the control panel.

14. An electric powered automatic bath brush and massager as in claim 8, wherein the main component is attached to a wall.