Abstract:
The present invention relates to a hip bath including a rear space ( 1 ) with a seat ( 2 ) as well as a front space ( 3 ) with a door opening ( 5 ) in a front side ( 4 ) thereof, said door opening ( 5 ) being closable by a door ( 6 ), wherein the seat ( 2 ) has a seat surface ( 7 ) with a notch ( 8 ), which extends rearwardly and divides said seat surface in two portions ( 7   a,    7   b ). The front space ( 3 ) has as constant or substatially constant width (VB) and the rear space ( 1 ) has a greater width (HB) than the front space ( 3 ).

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a hip bath including a rear space with a seat as well as a front space with a door opening in a front side thereof, said door opening being closable by a door, wherein the seat has a seat surface with a notch, which is closed at the rear, extends rearwardly in the seat surface and divides said seat surface in two portions. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     At hip baths of the abovementioned type, the rear and front spaces normally have substantially the same width. Hereby, a large front space is provided, which because of its size must be filled with large amounts of water in order to reach the desired water level therein. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is to eliminate this draw back without substantially affecting the access to the seat through the front space and the design of the hip bath. This is arrived at according to the invention by providing the hip bath with the characterizing features of primarily subsequent claim 1. 
     Due to the narrower design or shaping of the front space than the rear space and due to the equally wide or substantially equally wide design of the front space, it is achieved that the front space is smaller and thus, may be filled with less water in order to reach a desired water level than if the front space has the same width as the rear space. Additionally, neither the access to the seat through the front space nor the design or shaping of the hip bath need to be negatively affected. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a hip bath according to the invention; and 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the hip bath of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The hip bath according to FIGS. 1 and 2 has a rear space  1  with a seat  2  and a front space  3  with a door opening  5  in a front side  4 . This door opening  5  may be closed by a door  6 . The seat  2  has a seat or sitting surface  7  with a notch  8  which is open at the front and upwards, closed at the rear, extends rearwardly in the seat surface  7  and divides said seat surface in two portions  7   a ,  7   b.    
     The notch  8  has such a width RB, length RL and depth RT that one may insert a hand and/or a washing device into said notch from the front and/or from above for washing the lower abdomen of a person sitting on the seat  2 . This can be done by the person him- or herself or by personnel if the person is unable to perform said washing. The washing device may be a shower nozzle for showering the lower abdomen. 
     The front space  3  has an unchanged or constant width VB or a substantially unchanged or constant width VB and the rear space  1  has a larger width HB than the front space  3 , i.e. the front space  3  is narrower than the rear space  1 . 
     Due to this shape of the front space  3 , the inner size thereof is reduced relative to the inner size of the rear space  1 , whereby, when filling the hip bath to a certain water level, it is possible to fill it with less water than otherwise necessary. 
     The narrower front space  3  may have opposite side walls  9 ,  10  which from above are straight or substantially straight and which may be vertical or substantially vertical. Also, the side walls  9 ,  10  may extend to about front portions  11  of the seat  2  and here transform into diverging wall portions  12 ,  13  which in turn transform into side walls  14 ,  15  of the rear space  1 . 
     The side walls  14 ,  15  and a rear wall  16  of the rear space  1  define a space which from above is at least partly round. 
     The rear and front spaces  1  and  3  may together, seen from above, define a keyhole shaped double space. 
     The front space  3  has a bottom  17  and the seat  2  define an at least partly higher situated lower side of the rear space  1  than said bottom  17 . The front portions  11  of the seat  2  and rear portions  18  of the bottom  17  are joined together preferably by a lower wall  19 . This lower wall  19  may extend obliquely downwards and backwards from the front portions  11  of the seat  2  such that the rear portions  18  of the bottom  17  are located underneath the front portions  11  of the seat  2 . Hereby, a person to be seated or sitting on the seat  2  may put his or her feet on the rear portions  18  of the bottom  17  and the person can thereby be seated easier or stand up easier. 
     The notch  8  may include an upper part  8   a  which is provided in the seat  2  and a lower part  8   b  which is connected to the upper part  8   a  and provided in the lower wall  19  and which extends downwards therein. Hereby, water from the upper part  8   a  of the notch  8  can flow into the lower part  8   b  and through said lower part  8   b  down to the bottom  17  and through an outlet  20  at said bottom  17 . 
     The lower wall  19  may have vertical recesses  19   a ,  19   b  which are provided on opposite sides of the lower part  8   b  of the notch  8 . By means of these recesses  19   a ,  19   b  water from the seat  2  may flow downwards beside the notch  8 . 
     The seat  2 , the bottom  17 , the lower wall  19 , the walls  9 ,  10 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16  and front wall portions  21 ,  22  which define the door opening  5 , are preferably formed in one piece of plastic material. This piece of plastic material may also include outer walls and other parts of the hip bath. 
     The notch  8  may have such a width RB, length RL and depth RT that a hand and/or washing device, e.g. a shower nozzle, may be inserted into said notch  8  from the front and/or from above. Hereby, a person sitting on the seat  2  can wash his or her lower abdomen or can the lower abdomen of a person sitting on the seat  2  be washed by personnel. 
     The two portions  7   a ,  7   b  of the seat  2  may transform into the notch  8  through inclined edge surfaces  7   c ,  7   d  which extend obliquely towards the notch  8 . 
     These inclined or oblique edge surfaces  7   c ,  7   d  may at the front connect to the front portions  11  of the seat  2  through obliquely upwards extending surfaces  7   e ,  7   f . These obliquely upwards extending surfaces  7   e ,  7   f  prevent or counteract unintentional forward slipping or gliding from the seat  2  of a person sitting thereon. 
     The door  6  may be a separate door leaf which can be removed from the hip bath. This door leaf  6  may be flat and transparent. The door leaf can be pushed from above to a closing position behind inner edges  21   a ,  22   a  of the front wall portions  21 ,  22  and in front of lower elevations or raises  17   a ,  17   b  in the front space  3 , and can then be pulled upwards again for opening up the door opening. The door leaf may have such a size and shape that it can be placed in the front space  3  and thereby at one of the two side walls  9 ,  10 , e.g. at the side wall  10  and in parallel therewith as shown with the broken line in FIG.  1 . The front space  3  may include brackets (not shown) for holding the door  6  close to the side wall  10 . 
     The hip bath may have, at two rear corners, inclined wall portions  23 ,  24  which extend perpendicular or substantially perpendicular relative to each other, so that the hip bath can be placed in a corner of a room, whereby the inclined wall portions  23 ,  24  extend in parallel or substantially in parallel with two walls of that room. 
     The invention may be modified within the scope of the subsequent claims. The rear and front spaces  1 ,  3  may e.g. have the same or substantially the same length, the lower wall  19  may extend vertically instead of obliquely backwards and the notch  8  may extend along the major part of the seat  2 . The door leaf  6  may have an opening (not shown) at the top for engagement when lifting the door leaf. The hip bath may include one or more water taps and a shower device. Instead of a separate door leaf  6 , a door can be used, which on one side is suspended on the hip bath and which is pivotable into the hip bath for opening up the door opening. A door leaf  6  or a pivotable door will keep the space in front of the hip bath clear, but eventually, a suspended door can be used which swings or pivots in outwards direction.