Patent ID: 6351866
Filing Date: 2002-03-05
Classification: A46B,A61B

Abstract:
An arm scrubbing system for automatically cleaning the arms, hands and fingernails of a surgeon prior to contact with a patient comprising, in combination:a housing fabricated of a transparent plastic material with a planar upper wall and a parallel planar lower wall and a planar distal wall and a parallel planar proximal wall and with semi-cylindrical side walls there between, the housing having a chamber between the walls and a horizontal parting line separating the housing into an upper half and a similarly configured lower half, a hinge coupling the upper and lower halves along the horizontal parting line of one side wall to allow access to the chamber, two laterally spaced circular rear apertures formed in the distal wall and two laterally spaced circular front apertures formed in the proximal wall, each aperture having an upper semi-circle in the upper half and a lower semi-circle in the lower half; a circular opening formed in the upper wall for adding cleansing/disinfectant fluid into the chamber with a stopper positionable there within and a second circular opening formed in the lower wall for removing cleansing/disinfectant fluid from the chamber with a stopper positionable there within; a pair of similarly configured plastic transparent tubes in a cylindrical configuration, each tube having a distal end rotatably received in a distal aperture and a proximal end rotatably received in a proximal aperture for concurrent oscillary movement of the tubes within the chamber; a plurality of tufts of bristles with radially exterior ends secured to the interior face of each tube and with radially interior ends defining openings for the receipt of the arms of a surgeon; a plurality of apertures through the tubes between the tufts for the passage of cleansing/disinfectant fluid from the chamber into the tubes for cleaning the arms of a surgeon; a drive assembly including a motor operable in an oscillatory manner secured to the distal wall with drive pulleys extending distally therefrom and with a driven pulley extending distally from each tube and with a drive belt coupling the drive pulleys and the driven pulleys; an elastomeric washer-like member in a generally frusto-concial configuration fixedly secured to the proximal wall coaxial with the tubes for the passage of a surgeon arms there through; a vertically disposed finger washing plate axially slidable within each tube adjacent to the distal wall, each plate having four radially extending fingers with enlarged exterior ends and with keyways formed with respect to each cylinder for receiving the exterior ends of the fingers and with coil springs within the keyways urging the exterior ends and plate proximally, the plate having proximally extending bristles for washing the fingers and fingernails of a surgeon; four downwardly extending legs depending from the four corners of the lower wall, each leg having an upper segment and a tubular lower segment with spaced holes and slidably received over an associated upper segment and with a spring biased button extending from the upper leg through a preselected hole in the lower leg and with a stabilizing plate coupling the lower legs adjacent to their lower ends; and a horizontal adjustment rod secured to the distal wall with distally extending projections and a pair of hollow guide rails with vertical slots receiving the projections for varying the height of the housing.