Patent Publication Number: US-10786123-B1

Title: Bath auxiliary device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to bath tools, and more particularly to a bath auxiliary device allowing a bath puff to be assembled thereto and disassembled therefrom easily. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     It is common that people use bath tools such as bath puffs to improve the cleaning effects of cleaning agents like soap and body wash on skin when taking a bath. However, these common bath tools are designed to be held directly in hands and therefore usually fail to fully clean “dead spaces” on a human body (such as a human back). For addressing the problem, some handle-included bath tools have been developed to let a user hold the handle part and stretch the bath puff for extensive reach. The existing handle-included bath tools typically have the puff undetachably fixed to the handle part and need to be discarded once the puff is broken. This causes unnecessary waste. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a bath auxiliary device allowing a bath puff to be assembled thereto and disassembled therefrom easily. 
     To achieve the foregoing objective, the disclosed bath auxiliary device comprises a front and a back that are communicated via a first through hole, a second through hole and a slot. The first through hole and the second through hole are separated so that the slot is located between the first through hole and the second through hole. The slot has one end communicated with the first through hole. The slot has a width smaller than a diameter of the first through hole. A rope fixing portion extends from a periphery of the second through hole away from the second through hole. 
     With the foregoing configuration, when the disclosed bath auxiliary device and a bath puff assembled, the net of the bath puff is received by the front receive and the rope of bath puff passes through the first through hole to be positioned in the slot before fixed to the rope fixing portion by means of tying or winding, so the bath puff can be easily assembled and disassembled, improving convenient of use. 
     Preferably, the first through hole and the second through hole may be located along an imaginary line or not, according to practical needs. 
     Preferably, the first through hole and the slot are each made two, and the second through holes are located between the two first through hole so that the bath auxiliary device can be used with two bath puffs. 
     Preferably, the first through hole, the second through hole and the rope fixing portion are each made two, and the two separated second through holes are located between the two first through holes, so that the bath auxiliary device can be used with two bath puffs. 
     Preferably, the rope fixing portion may jut out of the front or the back according to practical needs so that the rope of the bath puff may pass through the second through hole or not depending on the location of the rope fixing portion. 
     The present invention will be described with reference to the preferred embodiments and it is understood that the embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Moreover, as the contents disclosed herein should be readily understood and can be implemented by a person skilled in the art, all equivalent changes or modifications which do not depart from the concept of the present invention should be encompassed by the appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a bath auxiliary device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of the bath auxiliary device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a vertically cross-sectional view of the bath auxiliary device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4 , like  FIG. 2 , shows the configuration where the first through holes and the second through hole are not located along an imaginary line. 
         FIG. 5  is an applied perspective view of the bath auxiliary device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, showing a bath puff is assembled thereto. 
         FIG. 6  is an applied exploded view of the bath auxiliary device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, showing a bath puff is assembled thereto. 
         FIG. 7  is an applied back view of the bath auxiliary device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, showing a bath puff is assembled thereto. 
         FIG. 8  is an applied perspective of the bath auxiliary device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, showing two bath puffs are assembled thereto. 
         FIG. 9  is an applied back view of the bath auxiliary device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, showing two bath puffs are assembled thereto. 
         FIG. 10  is a back view of a bath auxiliary device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a vertically cross-sectional view of the bath auxiliary device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  is an applied back view of the bath auxiliary device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, showing a bath puff is assembled thereto. 
         FIG. 13  is another applied back view of the bath auxiliary device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, showing a bath puff is assembled thereto. 
         FIG. 14  is an applied back view of the bath auxiliary device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, showing two bath puffs are assembled thereto. 
         FIG. 15  is a back view of a bath auxiliary device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a vertically cross-sectional view of the bath auxiliary device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 17  is an applied back view of the bath auxiliary device according to the third embodiment of the present invention, showing a bath puff is assembled thereto. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following preferred embodiments when read with the accompanying drawings are made to clearly exhibit the above-mentioned and other technical contents, features and effects of the present invention. It is to be noted first that throughout this document, including embodiments described herein and the appended claims, all the directional terms shall be interpreted based on the directions as the relevant components shown in the drawings. Unless otherwise noted, like elements will be identified by identical numbers throughout all figures. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , according to the first embodiment of the present invention, a bath auxiliary device  10  comprises a support board  20  and a handle  30 . The support board  20  and the handle  30  are formed integratedly. The handle  30  has one end thereof connected to the support board  20 , and has the other end provided with a hanging hole  31 . However, the handle  30  may be omitted in other embodiments. Also referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the support board  20  has a front  21  and a back  22 . The front  21  and back  22  are communicated with each other via two round first through holes  23 , a round second through hole  24 , and two vertically extending slots  25 . Therein, the two first through holes  23  are separated from each other, and the second through hole  24  is located between the two first through holes  23 . The slot  25  has a width smaller than a diameter of the first through hole  23 . The slot  25  has one end thereof communicated with the first through hole  23  and extends linearly toward the second through hole  24 . The two first through holes  23  and the second through hole  24  may be configured along an imaginary line, as shown in  FIG. 2 . Alternatively, they can be configured non-linearly, as shown in  FIG. 4 . In addition, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the front  21  of the support board  20  is formed with a reversed teardrop shaped basin  26 . Further, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the support board  20  has a hook-like rope fixing portion  27 . The rope fixing portion  27  extends from the bottom of the second through hole  24  away from the second through hole  24  and juts out of the front  21  of the support board  20 . 
     The bath auxiliary device  10  is designed to be used with a bath puff  40 . As shown in  FIG. 5  through  FIG. 7 , the bath puff  40  may have a crumpled net  41  and a rope  42  connected to the net  41 . In use, the rope  42  of the bath puff  40  first passes through the first through hole  23  from the front  21  of the support board  20 . A part of the rope  42  is fit and positioned in the slot  25  and then the rest of the rope  42  passes through the second through hole  24  from the back  22  of the support board  20  and is fixed to the rope fixing portion  27  by means of tying or winding. At this time, the net  41  of the bath puff  40  is rest in the basin  26  of the support board  20 , and the bath puff  40  is well assembled to the bath auxiliary device  10 . When the net  41  is broken after long use, the puff  40  can be easily removed and replaced with a one by releasing the rope  42  from the rope fixing portion  27 . 
     Additionally, in the first embodiment of the present invention, since the support board  20  has the two first through holes  23  and the two slots  25 , it is compatible to use of two said bath puffs  40  that are assembled, respectively, in the manner described above. As shown in  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9 , the two bath puffs  40  may have their ropes  42  fixed to the rope fixing portion  27  by means of tying or winding. Alternatively, one of the bath puffs  40  has its rope  42  tied to or wounded around the rope fixing portion  27 , while the other bath puff  40  has its rope  42  positioned in the slot  25 . 
     The present invention may be embodied in different structures. Referring to  FIG. 10  and  FIG. 11 , in the second embodiment of the present invention second embodiment, two sets of a second through hole  24  and a rope fixing portions  27  are separated from each other, and only one slot  25  is arranged below the two second through holes  24 . Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 12 , the back  22  of the support board  20  is further provided with an elliptic groove  28 . The elliptic groove  28  encircles two first through holes  23 , two second through holes  24  and a slot  25 . The two first through holes  23  are located near upper and lower ends of the elliptic groove  28 , and the two second through holes  24  are located in the middle part of the area encircled by the elliptic groove  28 . 
     When the bath auxiliary device  10  is used with a bath puff  40 , as shown in  FIG. 12 , the rope  42  of the bath puff  40  may pass through the first through hole  23  from the front  21  of the support board  20 , and pass through one of the second through holes  24  from the back  22  of the support board  20  before fixed to the rope fixing portion  27  by means of tying or winding. Alternatively, the rope  42  of the bath puff  40  passes through the first through hole  23  from the front  21  of the support board  20 . As shown in  FIG. 13 , a part of the rope  42  is fit and positioned in the slot  25 , and the rest of the rope  42  passes through one of the second through holes  24  from the back  22  of the support board  20  and is fixed to the rope fixing portion  27  by means of tying or winding. 
     When the bath auxiliary device  10  is used with two bath puff  40 , as shown in  FIG. 14 , the ropes  42  of the two bath puff  40  pass through the two first through holes  23  from the front  21  of the support board  20  and the rope  42  of one of the bath puffs  40  passes through the second through hole  24  from the back  22  of the support board  20  and is fixed to the rope fixing portion  27  by means of tying or winding. The rope  42  of the other bath puff  40  has one part thereof fit and positioned in the slot  25  and the rest of it passes through the second through hole  24  from the back  22  of the support board  20  and is fixed to rope fixing portion  27  by means of tying or winding. 
     Referring to  FIG. 15  and  FIG. 16 , in the third embodiment of the present invention, one first through hole  23  and one slot  25  are located above the second through hole  24 . A rope fixing portion  29  juts out of the back  22  of the support board  20  and is formed like a rivet. When the bath auxiliary device  10  is used with a bath puff  40 , as shown in  FIG. 17 , the rope  42  of the bath puff  40  passes through the first through hole  23  from the front  21  of the support board  20 , and a part of the rope  42  is fit and positioned in the slot  25 . Then the rest of the rope  42  is directly fixed to the rope fixing portion  29  by means of tying or winding, without passing through the second through hole  24 . 
     To sum up, the disclosed bath auxiliary device  10  allows one or two bath puffs  40  to install conveniently and quickly. Once the bath puff  40  is broken, the old bath puff  40  can be easily removed and replaced by a new one. Therefore, the bath auxiliary device  10  of the present invention can be repeatedly used, thereby improving usability and reducing waste.