Automatic hand washing and drying machine

An automatic hand washing and drying machine for automatically washing and drying the hands and, optionally, moisturizing the hands. The machine has an enclosed hand washing chamber wherein the housing has a front wall having first and second openings for receiving therethrough the right and left hands of the user. The first and second openings are covered with a first and second flexible rubber gaskets, respectively. The housing further comprises a sloped top wall made of clear and transparent material to allow the user to visually inspect the hand washing and drying processes.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The present invention relates to hand washing and drying devices and, more 
particularly, to an automatic hand washing and drying machine for 
automatically washing and drying the hands and, optionally, moisturizing 
the hands. The machine has an enclosed hand washing chamber wherein the 
housing has a front wall having first and second openings for receiving 
therethrough the right and left hands of the user. The first and second 
openings are covered with a first and second flexible rubber gaskets, 
respectively. The housing further comprises a sloped top wall made of 
clear and transparent material to allow the user to visually inspect the 
hand washing and drying processes. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Restrooms in many commercial establishments provide automatic water turn-on 
and shutoff via a sensor to eliminate the need to turn water faucets on 
via unsanitary hands and turn off the contaminated water facets to 
minimize the spread of bacteria or other diseases. The problem with 
automated water faucets is that they only serve to control the water usage 
between users since the facilities of the restrooms do not automatically 
dispense of cleaning fluids. Moreover, to dry the user's hands, the user 
must touch an activation button of a hand drying machine or utilize the 
disposable hand towels of the restroom. Therefore, the efforts to minimize 
the spread of bacteria and other disease with the use of automated water 
dispensing is futile since the user must touch the cleaning fluid (soap) 
dispensing device. Additionally, the use of disposable hand towels of the 
restroom can be wasted if an excessive amount of disposable hand towels 
are utilized by the user. 
Several devices have been patented which are aimed at hand washing and 
drying devices. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,411, issued to Johnson, entitled "HAND WASHING AND 
DRYING EQUIPMENT UNIT" discloses a portable hand washing and drying unit 
including a housing having a opening for receiving the hands of the user. 
The opening of the housing is closed via a door when not in use. The hand 
washing and drying chamber of the housing is provided with a cleaning 
liquid reservoir and an electrically powered fan for providing a flow of 
air to dry the hands. The user manually operates a valve to dispense the 
cleaning liquid and manually operates a switch to turning on the fan for 
drying the hands. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,085, issued to Davies, entitled "HAND WASHING DEVICE" 
discloses a electro mechanical-electronic circuit that is provided with 
time elements which are initiated by the flow of water to dispense of 
uncontaminated skin degerming products in a proper quantity. The hand 
washing device has a wash cycle and a rinse cycle and a emollient timer 
triggered after the rinse cycle to dispense of an emollient. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,310, issued to Lienhard, entitled "WASHSTAND DEVICE" 
discloses a hand washing device which is triggered by a light barrier. The 
hand washing device comprises a control system for regulating the 
moistening, washing, rinsing and drying stages of the washing process. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,336,619, entitled, "HAND WASHER AND DRIER MOUNTING 
STRUCTURE" and 4,295,233, entitled "AUTOMATIC HAND WASHER AND DRYER", to 
Hinkel et al., disclose a hand washing and drying device having a push 
button device for controlling the automatic delivery of warm water for a 
predetermined time and a push button device for controlling the automatic 
delivery of hand drying air for a preselected period of time. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,769, issued to MacFarlane et al., entitled "AUTOMATIC 
HAND WASHING AND DRYING APATUS" discloses a hand washing and drying 
apparatus including a first manually operable control device for causing 
operation of a solenoid operated valve to deliver hand washing water 
directly into a bowl for a preselected period of time. A second manually 
operable control device is provided for causing operation of a forced air 
drying structure to provide hand drying air to the bowl. 
While each of the above hand washing and drying devices function as 
desired, none of them have an enclosed hand washing chamber wherein the 
housing has a front wall having first and second openings for receiving 
therethrough the right and left hands of the user wherein the first and 
second openings are covered with a first and second flexible rubber 
gaskets, respectively. Furthermore, the above devices do not provide a 
housing which further comprises a sloped top wall made of clear and 
transparent material to allow the user to visually inspect the hand 
washing and drying processes. 
As will be seen more fully below, the present invention is substantially 
different in structure from that of the prior hand washing and drying 
devices. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The preferred embodiment of the automatic hand washing and drying machine 
of the present invention solves the aforementioned problems in a straight 
forward and simple manner. What is provided is an automatic hand washing 
and drying machine for automatically washing and drying the hands and, 
optionally, moisturizing the hands. The machine has an enclosed hand 
washing chamber wherein the housing has a front wall having first and 
second openings for receiving therethrough the right and left hands of the 
user. The first and second openings are covered with a first and second 
flexible rubber gaskets, respectively. The housing further comprises a 
sloped top wall made of clear and transparent material to allow the user 
to visually inspect the hand washing and drying processes. 
The automatic hand washing and drying machine for automatically washing and 
drying hands of the present invention comprises a housing having a top 
portion and a bottom portion. The top portion is quasi-triangularly shaped 
structure comprising: a sloped top wall, a back wall, a first and second 
side walls shaped in the form of a truncated right-triangularly shaped 
structure wherein the base of the truncated right-triangularly shaped 
structure is disposed along said back wall, and a front wall having formed 
therein first and second semi-circular apertures. The bottom portion 
comprises a box shaped structure wherein a front wall of said bottom 
portion has formed therein first and second semi-circular apertures which 
align with said first and second semi-circular apertures of said front 
wall of said top portion to form circular openings. 
The automatic hand washing and drying machine for automatically washing and 
drying hands of the present invention further comprises: a wash basin 
coupled in the interior of said box shaped structure; a water injection 
system for injecting water in said wash basin; an air injection system for 
injecting air above said wash basin; a cleaning fluid dispensing system 
for injecting cleaning fluid in to the user's hands in said wash basin; an 
electronic eye for detecting the insertion of hands in said wash basin 
through said circular openings; and a control unit for timing the 
activation of said water injection system, said air injection system and 
said cleaning fluid dispensing system in response to the detecting of said 
electronic eye to carry out a hand washing process and a hand drying 
process. 
In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an 
automatic hand washing and drying machine which functions to automatically 
appropriate a predetermined amount of cleaning fluid, water, air and 
optionally, moisturizer within the hand washing chamber for washing, 
drying and optionally moisturizing hands. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic hand 
washing and drying machine having an electronic eye for determining when 
the hands of the user enter the hand washing chamber wherein, in response 
to the electronic eye, the hand washing process commences. Furthermore, 
the automatic hand washing and drying machine comprises a control unit 
having a timing mechanism for controlling the timed cycles of the hand 
washing process, the drying process, and the optional moisturizing process 
wherein the timing mechanism is initiated in response to the determination 
by the electronic eye. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide an automatic hand 
washing and drying machine which serves to conserve water. 
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an 
automatic hand washing and drying machine which is designed to provide a 
machine which eliminates the need for unsanitary hands to touch the 
cleaning fluid dispensing mechanism; eliminates the need to manually turn 
water faucets on or off; and, eliminates the need to manually dispense 
moisturizing fluids in the user's hands, to eliminate the spread of 
bacteria or diseases in public restrooms. 
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an 
automatic hand washing and drying machine including a housing having at 
least a top wall thereof made of a clear transparent material such as 
plastic or the like. Therefore, the user can visually inspect the interior 
of the hand washing chamber to position their hands under the dispensing 
outlets for receiving the cleaning fluid and optionally, a moisturizing 
fluid. 
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an 
automatic hand washing and drying machine including a housing providing a 
hand washing chamber having first and second apertures covered by first 
and second flexible rubber gaskets, respectively, wherein the first and 
second flexible rubber gaskets serve to prevent splashing of waster on the 
user during the hand washing process. The flexible property of the first 
and second flexible rubber gaskets functions to accommodate comfortably a 
myriad of user's wrists or forearm sizes therethrough. 
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an 
automatic hand washing and drying machine including a housing having a 
openable top portion to permit access into the hand washing chamber for 
cleaning the wash basin, as needed. 
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a wash 
basin having right and left hand washing receptacles. The right and left 
hand washing receptacles are trough shaped and the side walls thereof have 
coupled thereto water injection jets. 
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide air 
injection jets in said hand washing chamber for expelling warm air. The 
air injection jets are coupled to the interior side of the top wall of the 
housing. 
In view of the above objects, it is a feature of the present invention to 
provide an automatic hand washing and drying machine which is relatively 
simple structurally and simple to manufacture. 
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an automatic hand 
washing and drying machine which is simple to use. 
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will 
become apparent from the drawings, the description given herein, and the 
appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings, and in particular FIGS. 1-3 and 5, the 
automatic hand washing and drying machine of the present invention is 
designated generally by the numeral 10. Automatic hand washing and drying 
machine 10 is comprised of housing 20, water injection system 30, air 
injection system 40, cleaning fluid dispensing system 50, wash basin 60, 
electronic eye 70, optionally, moisturizing fluid dispensing system 80 and 
control unit 90. 
Housing 20 comprises top portion 21a and bottom portion 21b wherein top 
portion 21a serves as a cover to essentially enclose the hand washing 
chamber. Bottom portion 21b has a top section for coupling therein wash 
basin 60 and the bottom section below the top section thereof provides a 
storage compartment for housing the first and second water storage tanks 
31a and 31b, the hot air blower 41, cleaning fluid reservoir 52 and the 
connecting conduits to wash basin 60. The hand washing chamber is the 
hollow chamber of housing 20 defined by wash basin 60 and top portion 21a. 
Top portion 21a comprises a top quasi-triangularly shaped structure defined 
by top wall 22a, back wall 22b, first and second side walls 22c and 22d 
and front wall 22e. In the preferred embodiment, at least the top wall 22a 
is made of a clear and transparent material which allows the user to 
visually inspect the hand washing process taking place within the hand 
washing chamber. First and second side walls 22c and 22d are shaped in the 
form of a truncated right-triangularly shaped structure wherein the base 
of the truncated right-triangularly shaped structure is disposed along 
back wall 22b. Top wall 22a slopes downward from back wall 22b to the top 
edge of wall 27a of bottom portion 21b. The sloped profile of top wall 22a 
allows the user to visually inspect the hand washing process within the 
hand washing chamber. 
In the preferred embodiment, back wall 22 is hingely coupled to bottom 
portion 21b to allow the top quasi-triangularly shaped structure to rotate 
upward to permit access to wash basin 60. Thereby, the hand washing 
chamber and wash basin 60 can be cleaned, as needed. Alternately, the top 
quasi-triangularly shaped structure may be automatically rotated upward if 
desired based on actuation of a foot pedal. 
Front wall 22e has formed therein first and second semi-circular apertures 
23a and 23b, respectively. First and second semi-circular apertures 23a 
and 23b are covered by first and second semi-circular flexible rubber 
gasket portions 24a and 24b, respectively. 
Bottom portion 21b comprises a generally box shaped structure having four 
vertical walls 27a, 27b, 27c, and 27d, and a bottom wall 27e. In the 
preferred embodiment, the four vertical walls 27a, 27b, 27c, and 27d are 
made of a material which visually obscures the contents stored within the 
storage compartment. 
The top of vertical wall 27a has formed therein first and second 
semi-circular apertures 28a and 28b which align with first and second 
semi-circular apertures 23a and 23b of first wall 22e of top portion 21a 
to form circular openings. First and second semi-circular apertures 28a 
and 28b are covered with first and second semi-circular flexible rubber 
gasket portions 29a and 29b. First semi-circular flexible rubber gasket 
portions 23a and 29a form a gasket for inserting the left hand 
therethrough. Second semi-circular flexible rubber gasket portions 23a,b 
and 29a,b form a gasket for inserting the right hand therethrough. Such 
gaskets serve to prevent splashing of water on the user during the hand 
washing process. The flexible feature of the gaskets functions to 
accommodate comfortably a myriad of user's forearm sizes therethrough. 
The top interior of bottom portion 21b has coupled thereto wash basin 60. 
Referring also to FIG. 4, wash basin 60 comprises right and left 
parallelly aligned hand receptacles 61a and 61b for receiving the hands of 
the user therein. 
In the preferred embodiment, the right and left parallelly aligned hand 
receptacles 61a and 61b are trough shaped. The right and left parallelly 
aligned hand receptacles 61a and 61b are separated by spacer 62. Since 
right and left parallelly aligned hand receptacles 61a and 61b are 
identical only one such hand receptacle will be described in detail. 
Right hand receptacles 61a comprises side walls 63a and 63b and bottom 
concaved surface 63c. Bottom concaved surface 63c has formed therein drain 
64a. Alternately, bottom concaved surface 63c of the trough shaped 
receptacle may be sloped toward drain 64a to facilitate in the rapid flow 
of the water from right hand receptacle 61a to outlet conduit 36 for 
discarding spent water out of right hand receptacle 61a. 
The rear of spacer 62 has coupled thereto electronic eye 70. Thereby, as 
the user inserts their hands within the hand washing chamber via the 
circular openings, such insertion is detected by electronic eye 70 and the 
hand washing process commences, preferably, after a first predetermined 
time. Such first predetermined time allows the user's hand to be fully 
inserted in the hand washing chamber. During this time period the user 
should place their hands directly below the cleaning fluid dispensing 
outlets 51a and 51b. 
Water injection system 30 comprises first and second water storage tanks 
31a and 31b and a plurality of water jets 32a positioned along side walls 
63a and 63b of right hand washing receptacle 61a and a plurality of water 
jets 32b positioned along side walls 63a' and 63b' of left hand washing 
receptacle 61b. While the preferred embodiment provides two water storage 
tanks 31a and 31b, only one may be provided. 
First and second water storage tanks 31a and 31b receive water via a water 
line 33 coupled to a water supply such as provided by the public utility. 
Since first and second water storage tanks 31a and 31b are identical, only 
one such water storage tank will be described in detail. 
First water storage tank 31a comprises a heating element (not shown) for 
heating the water stored therein to a predetermined temperature and first 
solenoid activated shutoff valve 38a which is controlled by control unit 
90. In the preferred embodiment such predetermined temperature forms warm 
water. First water storage tank 31a communicates water to the plurality of 
water jets 32a via a plurality of conduits 34a. Likewise, second water 
storage tank 31b communicates water to the plurality of water jets 32b via 
a plurality of conduits 34b. 
In operation, when electronic eye 70 determines the hands of the user have 
been inserted, the first shutoff valve 38a is opened so that water flows 
from first water storage tank 31a through the plurality of conduits 34a to 
the plurality of water jets 32a for a second predetermined time. Likewise, 
the solenoid activated second shutoff valve 38b of second water storage 
tank 31a is opened. Thereby, water flows through the plurality of conduits 
34b to the plurality of water jets 32b. After the second predetermined 
time, the shutoff valves 38a and 38b of first and second water storage 
tanks 31a and 31b are shut off to shut off the water flowing through the 
plurality of conduits 34a and the plurality of conduits 34b, respectively. 
Water injection system 30 further comprises outlet conduits 36 coupled to 
drains 64a and 64b of right and left hand receptacles 61a and 61b, 
respectively for removing spent water therefrom. 
Cleaning fluid dispensing system 50 comprises first and second cleaning 
fluid dispensing outlets 51a and 51b and cleaning fluid reservoir 52 
wherein cleaning fluid reservoir 52 stores therein a source of cleaning 
fluid or other anti-bacterial agent for cleaning the hands of the user. 
Cleaning fluid reservoir 52 comprises a pump 57 for dispensing a 
predetermined amount of cleaning fluid through first and second cleaning 
fluid dispensing outlets 51a and 51b. The cleaning fluid is communicated 
to first and second cleaning fluid dispensing outlets 51a and 51b coupled 
to spacer 62 in the hand washing chamber via conduits 55a and 55b, 
respectively. The first and second cleaning fluid dispensing outlets 51a 
and 51b extend into right and left hand washing receptacles 61a and 61b, 
respectively. Thereby, first and second cleaning fluid dispensing outlets 
51a and 51b dispense cleaning fluid to the right and left hands of the 
user positioned within right and left hand washing receptacles 61a and 
61b. 
In operation, after said second predetermined time control unit 90 controls 
pump 57 of cleaning fluid reservoir 52 to communicate a predetermined 
amount of cleaning fluid through first and second cleaning fluid 
dispensing outlets 51a and 51b via conduits 55a and 55b, respectively. 
During a third predetermined time shutoff valves 38a and 38b are shut off 
to conserve water. After the third predetermined time for a fourth 
predetermined time shutoff valves 38a and 38b are opened to deliver water 
to wash basin 60 so that the cleaning fluid can be rinsed off of the 
user's hands. 
Air injection system 40 comprises hot blower mechanism 41, left receptacle 
air jets 42a, right receptacle air jets 42b and conduits 43a and 43b. Hot 
blower mechanism 41 comprises a heating member (not shown) for heating the 
air. The hot blow or mechanism 41 communicates forced heated air to right 
and left air jets 42a and 42b via conduits 43a and 43b, respectively. In 
the preferred embodiment, right and left air jets 42a and 42b are 
positioned on the interior side of top wall 22a of top portion 21a of 
housing 20. 
In operation, control unit 90 activates hot blower mechanism 41 during a 
fifth predetermined time after the fourth predetermined time to dry the 
excess water from the user's hands. 
Air injection system 40 further comprises air vent 47 coupled to top wall 
22a in close proximity to back wall 22b for venting the forced heated air 
in the hand washing chamber. 
Moisturizing fluid dispensing system 80 comprises first and second 
moisturizing fluid reservoirs 81a and 81b coupled to the exterior side of 
first and second side walls 22c and 22d and moisturizing fluid dispensing 
outlets 82a and 82b. First and second moisturizing fluid reservoir 81a and 
81b have coupled thereto first and second moisturizing fluid dispensing 
outlets 82a and 82b, respectively. First and second moisturizing fluid 
dispensing outlets 82a and 82b are journalled through first and second 
side walls 22c and 22d for dispensing moisturizing fluid in the hand 
washing chamber. First and second moisturizing fluid reservoirs 81a and 
81b comprise pumps 85a and 85b, respectively, which are activated by 
control unit 90 during a sixth predetermined time to dispense moisturizing 
fluid to the hands of the user. 
After the sixth predetermined time, control unit 90 resets to the first 
predetermined time period and waits for the next user. Furthermore, if at 
any time during the hand washing process or drying process, or optionally, 
the moisturizing process, electronic eye 70 detects the removal of the 
user's hands from the hand washing chamber, control unit 90 is reset to 
the first predetermined time period. 
It is noted that the embodiment of the automatic hand washing and drying 
machine described herein in detail, for exemplary purposes, is of course 
subject to many different variations in structure, design, application and 
methodology. Because many varying and different embodiments may be made 
within the scope of the inventive concept(s) herein taught, and because 
many modifications may be made in the embodiment herein detailed in 
accordance with the descriptive requirements of the law, it is to be 
understood that the details herein are to be interpreted as illustrative 
and not in a limiting sense.