Abstract:
A portable shower tub provides an upright enclosure to allow a person to bathe without a fixed tub. The portable shower tub may be a collapsible design formed of telescoping slats concentrically arranged to form substantially a semi-cone. The slats may be configured to interlock with a watertight seal, or a liner may be suspended from the rim to hold water. A liner may be formed of an antimicrobial substance and/or treated with a mold inhibitor to promote sanitary use.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of and incorporates by reference U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/124,826 filed Feb. 25, 2008, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/075,365, filed Jun. 25, 2008. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This specification relates to the field of health and hygiene, and more particularly to a portable tub. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Much of the prior art in this field addresses the problem of bathing an individual confined to a bed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,848 describes a modular portable shower with an impermeable liner and a modular frame that permits one to shower a bedridden person; U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,970 describes a portable bathing apparatus to be used on a mattress and being collapsible for efficient storage and transportation; U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,502 describes a portable bathing tub for invalids, especially bed-ridden persons. These inventions require the user to lie down in the portable tub during bathing and are ill-suited for use by persons who may have difficultly lying down to bathe. 
         [0004]    Other prior art teaches various forms of tubs, some intended for use with shower stalls. U.S. Pat. No. 2,420,448 teaches a telescopic bathtub, with an extended position for use. When the bathtub is in the extended position, its configuration is essentially the same as an ordinary bathtub it and functions the same as an ordinary bathtub. As such, a user must climb over the walls to enter the bathtub and lie down in the tub to bathe. U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,734 discloses an apparatus for converting a rectangular shower stall booth into a bath. The apparatus comprises a rigid frame mounted to the shower stall and a waterproof insert to retain water. This bathtub extends out of the shower and, among other things, will not work with a non-rectangular shower stall. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,540 teaches a portable, lightweight free-standing tub accessory for use in conventional shower stalls. However, this portable tub is not collapsible for easy storage. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In one aspect, a portable shower tub provides an upright enclosure for water to allow a person to bathe in without a fixed tub. The portable shower tub may be of various designs, including a collapsible design formed of telescoping slats concentrically arranged or a ribbed structure with a liner. A liner may be formed of an antimicrobial substance and/or treated with a mold inhibitor to promote sanitary use. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of slats that may be used in an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a top view of an alternative embodiment of a portable tub; 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub in an extended position; 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4A  is a perspective view of yet another exemplary embodiment of a portable tub; and 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an immersible chair for use with a portable tub. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub with an immersible chair; 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a bracket that may be used in an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub; 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0014]    A portable tub may be useful for allowing a person to bathe in a standard shower or tub. A portable tub may be constructed so that it may be placed in a shower or bathtub and pulled up around the bathing person and then fixed in an extended state. The bathing person may then fill the portable tub with water and bathe. This will allow the person bathing to have the benefits of immersion in warm water without having to lie down in a conventional bathtub. This may be particularly useful for individuals who are elderly or handicapped, and who have difficulty lying down in a conventional bathtub. 
         [0015]    A portable tub will now be described with more particular reference to the attached drawings. Hereafter, details are set forth by way of example to facilitate discussion of the disclosed subject matter. It should be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the field, however, that the disclosed embodiments are exemplary and not exhaustive of all possible embodiments. Throughout this disclosure, a hyphenated form of a reference numeral refers to a specific instance or example of an element and the un-hyphenated form of the reference numeral refers to the element generically or collectively. Thus, for example,  102 - 1  may refer to a “pen,” which may be an instance or example of the class of “writing implements.” Writing implements may be referred to collectively as “writing implements  102 ” and any one may be referred to generically as a “writing implement  102 .” 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  depicts slats  110  that may be used to construct an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub  100 . The slats may be of slightly varying sizes. For example, slat  110 - 1  may be the longest. Slat  110 - 2  may be the next longest. Slat  110 - 3  may be the next longest. And slat  110 - 4  may be the shortest of the slats. In one embodiment, each of the slats  110  may be progressively shorter by approximately two inches. Slats  110  may be constructed of plastic, polyvinyl chloride, or other suitable material. 
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a portable tub, which may be constructed of slats  110  as shown in  FIG. 1 . Each of the slats  110  when their removed edges are connected may form a conical section. Each conical section may be slightly smaller than the one just below it. This may allow for the telescoping motion when the multiplicity of slats are expanded or contracted. For example, in this case slat  110 - 1  may be the longest, therefore forming a circle with the largest radius. Slat  110 - 2  is slightly smaller than slat  110 - 1  and forms a circle with a slightly smaller radius. Slat  110 - 3  is the next smaller and forms a circle with a slightly smaller radius than slat  110 - 2 . Slat  110 - 4  is the smallest, and forms a circle with a radius slightly smaller than slat  110 - 3 . Slat  110 - 4  may be adapted to form a circle with a radius sufficient to allow an adult human to comfortably stand within the radius  330  of slat  110 - 4 . At each point where a slat  110  overlaps with another slat  110 , an overlap joint  320  is formed. Joints  320  may include a flexible sealing member, which will ensure that each joint  320  is watertight. When portable tub  100  is in a fully extended position, as is shown in  FIG. 3 , it may need to be supported to ensure that it does not collapse while the user is bathing. Rigidity may be maintained with latches at each joint  320 , friction between joints  320  or other techniques as are known in the art. 
         [0018]    In an alternative to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 , a waterproof inner liner may be suspended from rim  310  of portable tub  100 . The inner liner will be adapted to hold water while the user bathes. The interior surface or liner of portable tub  100  may be treated with an antimicrobial treatment, or made with an antimicrobial material. This may inhibit the growth of infectious microbes. It may also be treated with a mold inhibitor or may be constructed with mold-resistant material. This may help to prevent the growth of mold on the surfaces. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the slats form a collapsible outer shell which is easily moved when in a collapsed state. When the collapsible shell is in an extended state, it is adapted to hold water. 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a top view of an alternative embodiment of a portable tub. In  FIG. 2  portable tub  102  may be constructed of a spiral slat  110 - 5 , which may be a flexible, continuous spiral to allow a telescoping motion.  FIG. 2  also discloses that in base  200  of portable tub  100 , there may be a closeable drain hole  210 , which may allow water to be drained from portable tub  100  at a controlled rate. 
         [0020]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of yet another exemplary embodiment of a portable tub  100 . In  FIG. 4  there are a number of ribs  410  which together partially overlap to form an outer shell. In some embodiments, ribs  410  may be concentric circles of substantially the same radii, while in other embodiments, ribs  410  may have progressively smaller radii, thereby forming a substantially conical configuration similar to the configuration of  FIG. 3 . Suspended from ribs  410  is a liner  420 , which may be constructed of a water-proof material so as to hold water. The portable tub as disclosed in  FIG. 4  may be constructed with a liner material  420  that does not provide a self-supporting structure. So portable tub  100  may need to also include a structural frame  430 . Structural frame  430  may be constructed of rigid, vertical supporting rods  432 . Supporting rods  432  may be telescoping rods or may be configured to fold and unfold. These supporting rods  432  may provide structural support to portable tub  100 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 4A  discloses yet another alternative embodiment. This embodiment is similar to the embodiment disclosed in  FIG. 4 , but in this embodiment there is no structural frame  430 . In this embodiment, a number of straps  440  are provided. Straps  440  may be mounted permanently to a fixed supporting structure  450  such as a wall or ceiling. Straps  440  may then connect to the topmost rib  410 , thereby providing structural support for the suspended portable tub  100  in its extended state. 
         [0022]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an immersible chair for use with a portable tub  100  ( FIG. 1 ). A chair  500  may be constructed of a lightweight and non-reactive material such as plastic to provide immersibility. Immersible chair  500  may be a simple structural chair, or may include jets  510  engageable to a pump (not shown) to provide therapeutic water force. If jets  510  are provided, immersible chair  500  may be powered by power source  520 , such as a rechargeable battery. For safety, power source  520  should provide direct current and may be encapsulated in a watertight compartment  530 . Power source  520  should have a sufficiently low power output to not be dangerous if current is accidentally exposed to water, or should be provided with a fuse system that will prevent transient current excursions above the level dangerous to humans. For safety, currents greater than 5-10 mA are considered painful, and currents greater than 60-70 mA are dangerous or potentially fatal. 
         [0023]      FIG. 6  depicts an alternative embodiment of a portable tub  100  further comprising immersible chair  500 . Chair  500  may be constructed with a base  200  as a unitary piece of portable tub  100 .  FIG. 6  also discloses that a closeable drain hole  210  may be placed in base  200  to allow water to drain from portable tub  100  in a controlled manner.  FIG. 6  may also include a structural frame  430 . Structural frame  430  may be constructed of supporting rods  432  and bracket  610 . Bracket  610  may be rectangular in shape. Not depicted in  FIG. 6 , but part of the embodiment, is an outer shell formed of a number of ribs  410  with a liner  420  suspended from ribs  410 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of bracket  610  positioned at the top of supporting rods  432 . Bracket  610  may include sliders  710  and mounting pins  720 . Sliders  710  may be adapted to slide up and down support rods  432 . Mounting pins  720  may engage holes in the support rods  432  to mount bracket  610  at the top of the supporting rods  432 . 
         [0025]    While the subject of this specification has been described in connection with one or more exemplary embodiments, it is not intended to limit the claims to the particular forms set forth. On the contrary, the appended claims are intended to cover such alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within their spirit and scope.