Improvements in Portable Baths and similar Vessels.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 15th Oct., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by ARTHUR C. KIMBER, of the City, County, and
State of New York, United States of America.]
Improvements in Portable Baths and similar Vessels.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
The object of the present invention is to furnish a portable bath-tub or other
vessel of simple and durable construction which may be compactly folded up for
convenience in storage and transportation, and capable of being opened to hold a
desired quantity of water for bathing or other purposes.
With my light, durable and inexpensive article a thorough sponge bath can be
taken with about a pail-full of water, and the water poured out and the device
folded and packed in a small bag or valise without danger of wetting carpet or
furniture.
The invention is applicable to other vessels than portable bath-tubs as in cases
where permanent vessels are not at hand and temporary ones are required for any
purpose.
My invention consists in the features and combinations of parts hereinafter set
forth.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved portable vessel as applied to a
bath-tub, spread open for use, a portion being broken away to show the supporting
frame of sectional slats or bars.
Figure 2 is an edge view of the supporting frame partly folded up into place for
transportation or storage.
Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 2, the frame being almost wholly folded up.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the frame folded up with the rubber or other
water-proof or impermeable cloth wrapped around it.
Figure 5 is a detail view of the ends of two of the slats or bars showing one
manner of pivoting the bars together.
Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line, a of Figure 5.
a, a are a series of slats or bars made of wood or other suitable material hingel
end to end, as shown at b, b, by flat swivel hinges which permit the slats or bars to
move both inwardly and outwardly on the pivotal points of these hinges, c, c, are
pins passing down through the eyes of the hinges for securing them in the slots d, d,
made in the ends of the slats or bars.
These slats or bars a, a, are made of rather heavy material so as to form a
substantial support for the flexible water receptacle, and in the instance shown in
the drawing not more than four or five inches high, for the purpose of presenting
the greatest area with a limited amount of water.
I prefer, in the application of the invention to a bath-tub, to make these slats or
bars about eighteen inches long as a most convenient length for travelling purposes.
However, I do not limit myself to any of these proportions as they may be varied
at will.
In order that the frame may be folded together without separating any of the
slats or bars and that all locks and catches may be dispensed with, when the frame
is opened for use I provide a short slat or connecting bar a', equal in length to the
combined thickness of the several long slats. It will thus be seen that the slats are
at all times permanently and securely hinged together, that they can be opened

page_text: for use by one simple pull and closed as easily. When the frame is folded together
this short slat or connecting bar will be at right angles and at the end of the series
of long bars, forming a substantially solid block of rectangular form around which
the water-proof cloth may be wound, as shown in Figure 4.
It is apparent that any even number of long slats may be used without departing
from the principle of my invention. The number of long slats shown in the
drawing is six, which when opened gives a convenient size of vessel both for use and
transportation.
When it is desired to use the vessel, the series of slats or bars are spread open on
the floor in a loop or ring form, as shown in Figure 1, and a rubber or other water-
proof cloth is thrown over the device, extending some distance beyond the frame,
this depending upon the height of the frame and the amount of water placed
therein. Water is then poured into the centre space and the bath is ready. After
use, the corners and edges of the cloth are carefully drawn together to form a bag,
the contents lifted off the frame and poured in a waste receptacle. The slats or
bars are then folded together and the cloth after being dried is rolled around them.
For tourists and families in the country, where bath-tubs are scarce or do not
exist at all, the vessel herein described, used as a portable bath-tub, will prove of
the greatest utility particularly in view of its occupying so small valise space when
closed and being capable of being opened to present nearly as much water area as
an ordinary bath-tub.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as cominunicated to me by
my foreign correspondent 1 declare that what I claim is :-
First. A vessel having a frame composed of sections of slats or bars, each slat or
bar pivoted at its end to the end of its contiguous slat or bar in a continuous loop
or circle so that when spread open such frame forms continuous sides, in combi-
nation with a rubber or other water-proof or impermeable cloth, substantially as
set forth.
Second. A frame for a bath-tub or other portable vessel consisting of an even
number or series of slats hinged together end to end, and an additional slat
connected to the free ends of the end slats of the series by hinges the additional
slat being equal in length to the aggregate thickness of the even number of slats,
substantially as described.
Third. A frame for a bath-tub or other portable vessel consisting of an even
number or series of slats hinged together end to end, and an additional slat
connected to the free end of the end slats of the series by hinges, the additional
slat being equal in length to the aggregate thickness of the even number of slats,
in combination with an impermeable cloth, substantially as described.
Dated this 13th day of September 1892.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.