Patent Publication Number: US-2016235258-A1

Title: Integrated power body shower scrubber

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 (e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/117,284, filed on Feb. 17, 2015, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is related to a body scrubber, and more particularly to an electric body shower scrubber that is safe and easy to use. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The back has always been one of the most difficult areas of the body to wash, and various back scrubbers are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,726,445 to Wagner discloses a shower-mounted back scrubber aids in scrubbing and cleaning one&#39;s back while in the shower and includes a brush surface attached to a wall of a shower or tub by at least one mounting bracket. Each mounting bracket includes a slot that accepts brush base. The brush base includes a plurality of soft bristles for gentle cleansing and a coarse bristles for more aggressive cleaning. However, the back scrubber aids disclosed by Wagner is not driven by electric power and does not include several operation modes for different scrubbing purposes. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 8,419,667 to Chika discloses an electric shower masseuse that is suspended between the shower sliding door frame and the opposite shower wall. It has two large rotating disk wheels that massage and clean the body. A water reservoir allows soapy water to flow gently onto both shower disk wheels continuously, enabling the user to limit the volume of water used. The disk wheels spin in opposite directions at the same speed, controlled by a single motor and a drive belt that rotates two shafts. The lower disk wheel moves forward and backward to conform to the contours of the body. The unit is braced against the back wall of the shower enclosure and kept in position by adjustable arms. It can be raised and lowered to clean the upper and lower body. Its speed and efficiency lead to conserving water, time, and energy. The invention is especially useful for anyone with limited hand or arm mobility. Unlike Wagner, the body scrubber disclosed by Chika is electrical-powered, however, the installation of such body scrubber seems complicated and it may be unsafe to use such body scrubber because some components of the body scrubber may cause the user injured. 
     U.S. Patent Publication No.: 2003/0167565 to Yoshida discloses a body scrubber including a motorized rotating scrubber, a wall mounted scrubber traveling rail and a motorized scrubber height changer. The scrubber is made of sponge. The scrubber is shaped such that the large and small, flat or contoured, or crevices may be scrubbed. The height of the rotating scrubber can be changed at will anytime even during scrubbing. The scrubber angle is also manually adjustable for scrubbing feet or stowage. An additional rinse showerhead and soap dispenser travels vertically with the scrubber. Even though the body scrubber to Yoshida discloses a motorized scrubber, the rail, belt and other components of the scrubber are all exposed outside, which may injure the user when the user is taking the shower. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,451,513 to Torres discloses a back-scrubbing and cleansing apparatus includes a housing that has a plurality of sidewalls defining first and second isolated cavities. One side wall is provided with an inlet port in fluid communication with the first cavity for receiving a liquid cleansing agent therethrough. An end cap is threadably attachable to the inlet. The apparatus further includes a mechanism for removably attaching the housing to the shower wall and a plurality of rotatable scrubbing elements attached to another one of the sidewalls. The scrubbing elements include a plurality of resilient bristles. A mechanism is included for assisting a user to more effectively clean the selected body portion during operating conditions. However, the body scrubber disclosed by Torres relies on bristles rotating in the same direction, and it cannot be adjusted when in use. 
     Therefore, there remains a need for a new and improved body scrubber to overcome the problems stated above. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The rechargeable power shower body scrubber in the present invention is a compact and one-piece unit, which is based on design philosophy of the safety, simple, useful by applying the latest technologies via the most elegant art of the design. The body scrubber may include an engine motor, rechargeable battery cell, rotation disk, replaceable rotation pad, disposables body scrubbing tower, control panel and circuit, and rechargeable electrodes, providing the most convenient and comfort body cleaning. It is also easy to keep the equipment clean and hygiene by replacing the pad and disposable tower. There is no need to change to the current shower room structure or pipe line layout or wire layout. The user only needs to push a control button on the control panel within the main body to operate the body scrubber. 
     The main objective of the present invention is to provide a body scrubber that is easy to set up at any desired location on the wall in the shower room. And the location may be changed afterward when needed. 
     The second objective of the present invention is to provide a body scrubber that is safe to use because the driven power is lower voltage direct current from rechargeable battery cell inside of the main body; and there is no any extra accessory, no frame, no wire, no pipe, avoiding many potential harm in the shower room. 
     The third objective of the present invention is to provide a body scrubber that is easy to operate. The user can operate the body scrubber by pressing the control button to turn the power on and off; and pressing the same button for changing the operation modes. 
     The fourth objective of the present invention is to provide a body scrubber that is easy to keep the user&#39;s skin clean because of the disposable top body scrubbing tower being changed every time after use as suggested. It is also easy to keep the equipment clean and sterilized by changing the top body tower after use every time and changing the top rotation pad periodically. 
     The fifth objective of the present invention is to provide a body scrubber that is easy to recharge the main body on a recharge base separately located at a safe place away from shower room. After a full charge, the body scrubber can be used for at least one week. 
     In one aspect, an integrated power body scrubber that can be secured on the shower room wall to clean the user&#39;s body comprises a main unit, a control panel, a rechargeable battery and an elastic disc pad. The main unit has a direct current motor, with multiple speeds operation modes, which is geared to a round disk attached to a rotation disk. The rotation disk is attached to a rotation top scrubber pad, which supports a disposable top surface tower. The control panel may include a single control knob and multiple indicators. The rechargeable battery can be recharged on an outside recharge base, which is located outside the shower room. The rechargeable battery also has an indicator to show the power condition. It is noted that the main unit has a specifically designed hanging edge with a unique triangle Z-shaped to ensure that the main unit is securely locked to the wall base. The elastic disk pad is adapted to rotate in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner, and it is changeable after use. The body scrubber also has a disposable textile scrubbing tower top providing the touch surface of the device and the user&#39;s skin. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of the integrated power shower body scrubber in a shower enclosure. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an exploded view of the main body in the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the body scrubber in the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view of the wall braced base including its specific designed edge, bottom recharge leads and removable hole. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view of the recharge base in the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of the presently exemplary device provided in accordance with aspects of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be prepared or utilized. It is to be understood, rather, that the same or equivalent functions and components may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods, devices and materials similar or equivalent to those described can be used in the practice or testing of the invention, the exemplary methods, devices and materials are now described. 
     All publications mentioned are incorporated by reference for the purpose of describing and disclosing, for example, the designs and methodologies that are described in the publications that might be used in connection with the presently described invention. The publications listed or discussed above, below and throughout the text are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the inventors are not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention. 
     In one aspect, an integrated power body scrubber  300  that can be secured on the shower room wall to clean the user&#39;s body comprises a main unit  310 , a control panel  320 , a rechargeable battery  330 , and an elastic disc pad  340 . The main unit  310  contains a direct current motor, with multiple speeds operation modes, which is geared to a round disk  311  attached to a rotation disk  312 . The rotation disk  312  is attached to a rotation top scrubber pad  313 , which supports a disposable top surface tower  314 . The control panel  320  may include a single control knob  321  and multiple indicators  322 , so the user can easily turn on or off the power and switch different operation modes, as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The control panel  320  also has a control circuit that is sealed into the main body  310 . The rechargeable battery  330  can be recharged on an outside recharge base  331 , which is located outside the shower room. The rechargeable battery  330  also has an indicator to show the power condition. It is noted that the main unit  310  has a specifically designed hanging edge  315  with a unique triangle Z-shaped to ensure that the main unit  310  is securely locked to the wall base, as shown in  FIG. 4 . The elastic disk pad  340  is adapted to rotate in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner, and it is changeable after use. The body scrubber  300  also has a disposable textile scrubbing tower top providing the touch surface of the device and the user&#39;s skin. 
     In another embodiment, the control panel  320  comprises a power on/off knob  321 ; an indicator showing the battery cell&#39;s condition; two indicators showing the forward clockwise rotation with two speed modes; and two indicators showing the counterclockwise rotation with two speeds. The control panel  320  is completely integrated into the water resistant shell of the main body and sealed with its control circuit together. The control panel  320  provides an easy way to operate the device by pressing the button to turn on and off the device to change the operation modes to the user&#39;s preferred scrub mode, as shown in  FIG. 2 . The control circuit is sealed in the main unit  310  with the control panel  320  together to control of the motor and gears. 
     It is noted the body scrubber  300  in the present invention is driven by a core system that includes a direct current, multiple speed modes motor, a group of speed converting gear and a rotation disk. The output torque can be greater than five kilogram*cm to support a comfortable scrub for the user. The gear is adapted to provide the maximum output torque, reduce the maintenance cost, keep the stability of the device, and make the driving mechanism and system more rigid and stable. 
     The top scrubber pad  313  is made of plastic or rubber or synthetic materials, which is replaceable and rotates synchronously with the disk. The top round pad has four or five locks with clips to fasten and lock the pad to the disk, and the top pad can be cleaned easily. The top pad can also be replaced when necessary when worn or reached its life cycle shown on the user instruction; the top pad is part of the main body as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
     In a further embodiment, a particular designed body scrubber tower forms the top surface, which will provide direct contact to the user&#39;s body when being used. It can be used to clean the user&#39;s body and remove exfoliation; which is supported by the disk top pad. The body tower is easy spread out on the disk top pad via a pushing clips on the pad or a specific tightening design, and the top scrubber tower is specific designed with the fibers and the textile materials, which rotate clockwise or counterclockwise with the user&#39;s control. The top scrubber tower is the only contact surface between the human body and the body scrubber in the present invention, and its disposable feature provides the maximum protection for disinfection and sterilization when taking shower with the use of the device. The body tower is easy to remove by simply pitching it and taking it away from the top pad after use. 
     The integrated power shower body scrubber further includes water resistant rechargeable electrodes. The material of the electrodes includes precious metal, titanium alloy or nickel alloy with coating materials. The poles located at the bottom of the main body  310  is configured to avoid the direct water stream. The electrode is disposed on the upper edge of the recharge base unit, which provides an easy position to lay down the rechargeable main boy and ensures the close touch between the two sides electrodes without the affection from the main body&#39;s convexity, as shown in  FIG. 5 . The body scrubber in the present invention can be secured on the wall surface in the shower room as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     Having described the invention by the description and illustrations above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description, but includes any equivalents.