Patent Abstract:
A spa chair with a novel pedicure basin is disclosed. The pedicure basin has a main basin and a secondary basin. The main basin is where the feet of the person sitting in the spa chair goes. This main basin is generally filled with water. In one embodiment, the main basin has water overflow protection through a lowered rim, directing the overflow of water to a secondary basin. This method of overflow protection is especially useful where the main basin has a liner blocking the drain hole within the main basin.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates to a pedicure basin, specifically a pedicure basin with overflow protection. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Professional salons today allow customers to receive numerous services, such as facials, manicures, and pedicures. To facilitate these services, spa chairs are often used to allow clients to sit and relax while they receive facials, manicures, and pedicures. Such spa chairs often include a pedicure basin at the foot of the chair to facilitate pedicure services and foot massages. The pedicure basin generally includes warm water for cleaning, comfort and to complement the massaging affect. 
         [0005]    Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 7,950,979 issued May 31, 2011 to the present Applicant, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  in that patent is reproduced herein and is a diagram showing a prior art spa chair with a pedicure basin for the client&#39;s feet to soak in. This conventional pedicure basin has a drain at the bottom for draining the water present in the pedicure basin. However, although the water is drained out of the pedicure basin, residual is ultimate left behind, including possible bacteria, germs and other contaminates from the client&#39;s feet. If not thoroughly washed and sanitized, the next client to use the pedicure basin is exposed to the left behind bacteria and germs from the previous client. This poses a serious sanitation issue. 
         [0007]    The potential of spreading germs among clients through various tools and equipment, including the pedicure basin, is well known within the manicure and pedicure industries. As such, it is common practice in the industry to apply a liner over the pedicure basin, which may be easily replaced for the next client. The liner is typically either a plastic bag type (like a trash bag) or a harder plastic that has been molded to fit like a shell in the pedicure basin. Utilizing a liner around the pedicure basin is cost effective and efficient, compared to the alternative of having to thoroughly clean and sanitize the pedicure basin after each use. With a liner applied over the pedicure basin, the drain is blocked. As such, a water-filled pedicure basin with a liner will commonly require that the plastic be punctured to drain the water into the drain hole of the pedicure basin. Alternatively, and less common, the water may be drained by pouring the water out over a sink. Thereafter, the used liner will be replaced, and the pedicure basin will be filled with new water for the next client. 
         [0008]    The blockage of the drain by the liner poses another challenge. The drain is convenient for not only draining the water completely from pedicure basin, but also for partially draining the water from the pedicure basin. This may be convenient in the scenario where one client may want to adjust the temperature of the water in the pedicure basin. One easy means of doing this is by draining some of the water through the drain and adding additional warm water or cool water to adjust the water temperature within the pedicure basin. If some of the water is not drained, there is the possibility of overflowing the pedicure basin through the addition of the desired warm or cool water. Of course, with a liner, the drain is blocked, and thus the pedicure basin cannot be easily drained. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The design for a new and improved pedicure basin is disclosed. This design may be applied to spa chairs with an integrated pedicure basin or removal pedicure basin. The design is particularly useful for pedicure basins where a liner blocks the drain hole. 
         [0010]    This pedicure basin design is comprised of a main basin and a secondary basin that accommodates overflow of fluids (typically water) from the main basin. A portion of the rim, where the main basin is interconnected with a secondary basin, has a lower edge, thus allowing the fluid from the main basin to overflow to the secondary basin. 
         [0011]    In another embodiment of this pedicure basin design, the secondary basin completely surrounds the main basin (, the secondary basin forming a ring shape if the main basin and secondary basin are circular), and allows for overflow of fluids from any part of the rim of the main basin to the secondary basin. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  (PRIOR ART) shows a perspective view of a conventional spa chair with an integrated pedicure basin. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2A  shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a square-like pedicure basin with a secondary basin. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2B  shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a square-like pedicure basin incorporated into a spa chair. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3A  shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a round pedicure basin with a secondary basin. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3B  shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a round pedicure basin with a liner. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4A  shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a pedicure basin with a secondary basin where no walls are shared. 
           [0019]      FIG. 4B  shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a pedicure basin with a liner and a secondary basin where no walls are shared. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0020]      FIG. 1  shows a conventional spa chair  100  with a pedicure basin. Though  FIG. 1  shows a spa chair with an integrated pedicure basin  110 , and the pedicure basin  110  may be removable. In the case where the pedicure basin  110  is removable, the spa chair  100  will typically have a pedicure basin base  108  for holding the pedicure basin  110 . In this case, the pedicure basin base  108  will allow for the water to drain from the pedicure basin&#39;s drain hole, through the pedicure basin base&#39;s drain hole (not shown). The spa chair  100  will typically also have a water inlet and faucet head for adding cold or hot water. Pedicure basins may take a variety of shapes and sizes. For example, they may be circular, square, and a variety of other shapes, mainly for aesthetic purposes. 
         [0021]    The spa chair  100  includes a seat  102  connected to a backrest  104  and a pair of arm rests  106 . The seat  102  of the spa chair  100  is further connected to a spa chair base  108 , which also houses a pedicure basin  110 . The pedicure basin  110  is located with the spa chair base  108 , below and forward of the seat  102 . The pedicure basin  110  is designed to hold a liquid such as water, and generally includes a drain in the bottom panel of the pedicure basin  110 . A faucet (not shown) can optionally be attached to the pedicure basin  110  to allow liquid to be easily flowed into the pedicure basin  110 . 
         [0022]    In addition to the drain, there are some pedicure basins with an overflow drain, much like one would find in a standard sink. The overflow drain is usually in the side wall and near the top of the pedicure basin, and it&#39;s purpose is to allow water to drain before it can overflow. Both the drain and overflow drain would generally be blocked if a liner were used to cover the pedicure basin. 
         [0023]      FIG. 2A  shows a preferred embodiment of a pedicure basin with a secondary basin. The shape of this pedicure basin  200  is square-like with rounded corners. There is a main basin  210  and a secondary basin  220 . The main basin  210  has four side walls and a bottom portion. There is a drain  270 A at or near the bottom of this main basin  210 . Attached to one side of the main basin is a secondary basin  220 . This secondary basin  220  has four walls and a bottom portion. There is a drain  270 B at or near the bottom of this secondary basin  220 . In this embodiment, the secondary basin  220  shares a side wall with the main basin  210 . In other embodiments, it is possible for the main basin  210  and secondary basin  220  to not share a side wall. It is also possible for the main basin and/or secondary basin to not have a drain. 
         [0024]    In the pedicure basin of  FIG. 2 , a portion of the rim  240  on the main basin is intentionally lower. This is referred to as the lowered rim  230 . The lowered rim  230  results in fluids overflowing from the main basin  210  to the secondary basin  220 . The flow area is the area calculated from the shape comprised of the imaginary normal rim line and the lowered rim  230 . The flow area determines the rate of fluid overflow that can be handled, which should be sufficiently large enough to accommodate the rate of fluid inflow into the main basin  210 . As water overflows to the secondary basin  220 , it will be drained through the drain hole  270 B at or near the bottom of this secondary basin  220 . 
         [0025]    In this embodiment, the outer walls of the secondary basin have a lower height then the outer walls of the main basin. It can also be said that the rim  240  of the main basin is higher than the rim  250  of the secondary basin. However, in other embodiments, the rim of the secondary basin may be higher or the same than the main basin. 
         [0026]      FIG. 2A  also shows a liner  280  within the main basin  210 . The liner  280  covers the inside portion of the main basin  210  and may also wrap around the rim  240  and lowered rim  260  of the main basin  210 . The liner  280  is usually easily replaceable and prevents the sharing of contaminated liquids within the main basin from one user to another. 
         [0027]      FIG. 2B  shows the pedicure basin of  FIG. 2A  integrated into a general spa chair. As can be seen, in this embodiment, the person sitting within the spa chair would have their feet placed within the main basin  210 . As water is added to the main basin  210 , it will overflow through the lowered rim  230  and into the secondary basin  220 . 
         [0028]      FIG. 3A  shows another embodiment where the shape of the main basin  420  is round, and where the secondary basin  410  is also round and encompasses the entire portion of the main basin  420 . In this embodiment, the entire rim  440  of the main basin  420  can be considered lowered, and thus overflow can occur at any portion of the lowered rim for the fluid to overflow from the main basin  420  to the secondary basin  410 . The height of the rim  430  of the secondary basin can be higher or lower than the height of the rim  440  of the main basin. In this embodiment, a drain hole  450 A is shown for the main basin, as well as a drain hole  450 B for the secondary basin. Both of these drain holes  450 A  450 B may or may not be present. When a liner  460  is used to cover the main basin  420 , as displayed in  FIG. 3B , the drain hole  450 A of the main basin is rendered useless. Here, the drain hole  450 B of the secondary basin may still be utilized. 
         [0029]      FIG. 4A  shows another embodiment where the main basin  510  and secondary basin  520  do not share a side wall. In this embodiment, a lowered rim  560  exists on the main basin, and the same principle of having the overflow of fluids from the main basin  510  to the secondary basin  520  at the lowered rim  560  applies. In this embodiment, the fluid enters a slide (or spout)  550  from the lowered rim  560 , and is led to the secondary basin  520 . The rim  530  of the main basin  510  is higher than the rim  540  of the secondary basin in this embodiment. 
         [0030]      FIG. 4B  demonstrates the addition of a liner  580  to the main basin  510 . The liner renders the drain hole  570 A of the main basin useless, and the drain hole  570 B of the secondary basin may still be used. Both of these drain holes  570 A  570 B are optional. 
         [0031]    As discussed above, a disposable liner is commonly used for sanitation purposes. The liner generally goes around the rim of the main basin. The liner may be utilized with a lowered rim, where the liner wraps around the entire rim of the main basin, including the lowered rim. For a plastic bag style liner, conforming the liner to the lowered rim occurs easily enough. A hard shell style liner requires that the liner be molded to conform to the rim, including the lowered rim. When the liquid overflows over the lowered rim, it would only be in contact with the liner, and would generally not have to come in contact with the main basin. 
         [0032]    Having a secondary basin for overflow protection has many advantages. In case of accidental overflow, it will prevent the overflow from the main basin from hitting the floor. Also, as described above, there may be the desire for intentional overflow, where additional water is being added to the main basin for various purposes, including the intent to warm or cool the water in the main basin. The overflow system accommodates the use of a liner in the main basin, which is being performed in the industry due to sanitation needs. 
         [0033]    The present invention has been described in an illustrative manner. It is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. While there have been described herein, what are considered to be preferred and exemplary embodiments of the present invention, other modifications of the invention shall be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein and, it is, therefore, desired to be secured in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0