Abstract:
Disclosed is an improved sanitary foot washing device that is designed for washing feet in both private and public locations. This device has been created for the purposes of reducing the occurrences of foot mediated transmutable diseases that are prevalent in public locations like public showers and swimming pools. The device consists of a support having a system that administers fluid like detergents to scrubbing cords that enable the cleaning of all areas of the foot specially the regions between the toes. The support also has scrubbing sheets that enable the cleaning of the regions under feet as well as the regions on the sides of feet.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to an improved foot spraying and scrubbing device that is designed to conveniently and safely clean difficult areas of the foot such as between the toes. This invention has been designed in order provide a simple and fast means of cleaning feet in order to reduce the prevalence of commonly transmitted diseases such as fungal and bacterial infections that often occur in private bathrooms between family members and also in public places like gym lockers, showers and swimming pools. The present invention is a simple device for the general purpose of scrubbing feet, especially in regions between the toes. Due to its simplicity it is very amendable as a cost effective apparatus that can be purchased by any household or public facility. 
   In the prior art, foot cleaning devices have been disclosed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,779 claims a device that consists of a foot-controlled spray with brushes. In this device, the spray and brush comes from a horizontal position where the spray flows through the brush. U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,636 discloses a device that contains both vertical and horizontal brushes and wash feet using a stream of water coming from a source beneath the foot, which like the U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,779 patent, uses a steam of fluid that flows through the brush. Further the U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,636 patent is designed to wash shoes outdoors. 
   As opposed to the &#39;636 patent, the present claimed invention is designed to wash feet in private or public bathrooms, gymnasiums or swimming pools. Further as opposed to the U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,636 patent, the stream of fluid can be a detergent that flows from a source that is from above the foot. The present invention also has attached removable scrubbing cords and callous sheets that are used to scrub the feet and are separated from the fluid source. 
   Using a fluid source that pours detergent from a position that is above the foot and is separated from the brushing mechanisms enables a more sanitary washing device. This is due to limited direct contact of feet to the position where the detergent is poured. This feature makes the present invention very suitable for public locations having large numbers of people where the frequency of contagious foot disease is high. 
   SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to an improved foot cleaning device that can both apply fluid and scrub the feet. The present invention can be used in private bathrooms or public areas such as sports arenas and swimming pools. The present invention includes the following interrelated components and aspects:
     (a) In a first aspect, the present invention consists of a base, a front portion and a rear portion. The front portion is connected with the rear portion at the top of the present invention by forming an angle sufficient to form a stable structure. The present invention is stabilized using a bar that is positioned at the base of the device that attaches the front portion to the rear portion.   (b) The base has a top surface and a bottom surface. The top surface will have ridges or a similar rough surface so that a person will not slip when washing the feet. The bottom surface will have suction cups used to fix the device to distinct positions on the bathroom floor such as the surface of the shower or bath tub. In the case of public facilities the device can be fixed to a define location by means of bolting the device down by securing bolts through the base. The recommended use of the invention is to use within reach of a handle such as one attached to a bathroom wall.   (c) An embodiment of the present invention is to wash the bottom, front and back of the feet as well as the regions between the toes. Removable rough surface sheets are attached to the rear position of the present invention; the sheets are used to scrub the bottom and sides of the feet. Scrubbing cords are positioned in the front position of the present invention. The cords are used to scrub the top, sides and regions between the toes of the feet. The cords are removable so that they can be replaced when they become worn out. The cords will also be available in three sizes: men, women and children.   (d) The fluid pours onto the scrubbing cords and the removable rough surface sheets from a fluid container tube that is positioned above the scrubbing cords. The fluid container pivots to form an angle sufficient to pour detergent either on the scrubbing cords or the rough surface sheets. The fluid container tube also rotates in either a clockwise or counterclockwise motion in order to pour detergent onto either the scrubbing cords or rough surface sheets.   (e) The fluid is a detergent and is distributed into the container tube using an input nozzle that is positioned within the fluid container tube.   

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows the frontal view of the front of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  shows the frontal view of the rear of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  shows the side view of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  shows an exploded view of the top part of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 4A  shows the perspective view of the present invention when liquid is not added to the scrubbing cords.  FIG. 4B  shows the perspective view when liquid is added to the scrubbing cords. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIGS. 1–3  by reference describe a first embodiment of the present invention. The invention consists of a container tube  1  positioned above a top horizontal support linkage  2 , a front support linkage  3  and a back support linkage  4 . The linkages  2 ,  3 ,  4  can be one continuous tube or a plurality of connecting tubes. Illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the structure is stabilized using a bar  27  that connects the front support linkage  3  to the back support linkage  4 . A preferred embodiment is to have the bar  27  be connected to the middle of the front and back support linkages  3 ,  4 . 
   The container tube  1  is connected to the horizontal support linkage  2  by means of pivot connectors  5 . The pivot connectors  5  have an attached circular top end  21  and an attached circular bottom end  22 . The attached circular bottom end  22  is housed into bottom grooves  24  that enables the container tube  1  to pivot. The attached circular bottom end  22  has attached pins  25  to enable the container tube to move to fixed positions in the bottom grooves  24  that either enables fluid to pour over scrubbing cords  13  (illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) or rough surface sheets  19  (illustrated in  FIG. 2 ). The attached circular top ends  21  are housed in top grooves  28  in order to allow rotational movement of the container tube  1 . The attached circular top end  21  and the groove  28  are connected to the container tube  1  at a position of approximately ½ radius distance above the center of the container tube  1  in order to cause the container tube to rotate to a position where fluid is not poured onto either the scrubbing cords  13  or rough surface sheets  19  when force is released. 
   A preferred embodiment is that the top groove  28  is in an open position enabling the container tube  1  to be easily removed so that the user can refill the tube with detergent. This embodiment would be used for a private location. Another preferred embodiment is that the top groove  28  is in a closed position that locks the container tube  1  so that the container tube  1  cannot be removed. Situations like this would require the lock to be opened by an operator who has a key that causes the top groove  28  to be put into an opened position. This embodiment would be especially useful in public locations. 
   The support linkages  3 ,  4  are connected to the top horizontal support linkage  2  by means of front legs  6  and rear legs  7 . The front legs  6  are connected to the front support linkage  3  by means of front bottom connectors  8 . The rear legs  7  are connected to the back support linkage  4  by means of rear bottom connectors  9 . The legs are connected to the top horizontal support linkage  2  by using top connectors  10  to make an angle that is sufficient to form a stable structure such as a 45 degree angle (illustrated in  FIG. 3 ). The device is positioned above a base  11 . The base  11  is rigid having a surface connection means underneath. For private locations, the connection means are rubber suction cups. For public locations, the connection means are screws or any device that causes permanent attachment. 
   With reference to  FIG. 1 , fluid is administered into the container tube  1  by means of a manifold nozzle  12 . The nozzle  12  is connected to the container tube  1  and can contain a removable cap. The fluid passes from the container tube  1  onto scrubbing cords  13  out of outlet orifices  14  that are positioned along the side of the container tube  1 . A preferred embodiment is that there are overhangs at the bottom end of the outlet orifices  14  to guide the pouring of fluid onto the scrubbing cords  13 . The scrubbing cords  13  are connected to the top horizontal support linkage  2  and the bottom front horizontal support linkage  3  so that they are easily removable so that they can be replaced. The container tube  1  is positioned above the top horizontal support linkage  2  in a sufficient angle to cause detergent to be poured on top of the scrubbing cords  13 . 
   The scrubbing cords  13  can be composed of porous or fibrous material to enable the absorption of liquid such as cloth or plastic. The cords  13  can also be elastic. A preferred embodiment is that the cords  13  are composed of double waved fibrous nylon. Another preferred embodiment is that the scrubbing cords  13  are removable so that they can be replaced when they are worn out. Another preferred embodiment is that the scrubbing cords  13  can vary in size in order to accommodate different sizes of feet. 
   The scrubbing cords  13  have structured ends  26  that can attach to the top horizontal support linkage  2  and the bottom horizontal support linkage  3 . Preferably the structured ends  26  of the scrubbing cords have a slender tubular shaft with a flat head having a larger diameter than the tubular shaft. This type of structure can securely fasten to irregular shaped holes  20  positioned along the linkages  2 ,  3  where one part of the hole  20  is large enough for the flat head to enter into whereas the other part of the hole  20  is small enough to retain the flat head once the structured end  26  is directed into the smaller part of the hole  20 . This will securely attach the scrubbing cords  13  into horizontal linkages  2 ,  3 . On the top horizontal support linkage  2  the irregular shaped holes  20  are aligned evenly across the linkage  2 . On the bottom horizontal support linkage  3  the irregular shaped holes  20  are aligned whereby the holes  20  towards the ends of the present invention are positioned lower down the side of the bottom horizontal support linkage  3  while the holes residing closer to the center of the present invention are increasingly positioned higher along the side of the bottom horizontal support linkage  3 . This enables the spaces between the toes to be comfortably scrubbed simultaneously. 
     FIG. 4  illustrates describes a portion of the container tube  1 , horizontal support linkage  2  and nozzle  12  and the mechanism for depositing the fluid onto the scrubbing cords  13  in detail. Downward rotational force is applied by the operator onto the container tube  1  that causes the container tube  1  to rotate downward whereby fluid is poured through the outlet orifices  14  onto the scrubbing cords  13 . A preferred embodiment is that the bottom parts of orifices  14  have overhangs  29  that guide the pouring fluid onto the scrubbing regions. In  FIG. 4A , the overhangs  29  are displayed in a horizontal position and  FIG. 4B  illustrates the overhangs  29  being in a vertical position as they are used to guide the pouring of fluid onto the scrubbing cords  13 . When the downward force is released the container tube  1  rotates back to its original position whereby the remaining fluid is retained in the container tube  1 . This is done by gravity force due to the top groove  28  illustrated in  FIG. 3  being approximately one half radius distance from the center of the container tube  1  end. 
   In  FIG. 2 , a support sheet  15  is fixed in parallel with the rear legs  7  using vertical braces  16  and a horizontal brace  17  that connects the support sheet  15  to the top horizontal support linkage  2  and the bottom rear support linkage  4 . The support sheet  15  contains a plurality of orifices  18  in order to permit the passage of fluid and air. The support sheet  15  can be composed of plastic or rubber. Connected to the support sheet  15  are two rough surface sheets  19  that contain a coarse surface in order to enable the object to be cleaned such as a foot to be scrubbed. The rough surface sheets  19  can be connected to the support sheet  15  using any suitable adhesive such as glue. The rough surface sheets  19  can be removable. The rough surface sheets  19  are sufficient to remove callous” on feet. The container tube  1  can be pivoted into a position above the rough surface sheets whereby upon downward rotation of the container tube  1  detergent is poured out of orifices  23  onto the rough surface sheets  19 . A preferred embodiment is that there are overhangs at the bottom end of the outlet orifices  23  to guide the pouring of fluid onto the rough surface sheets  19 .