Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-30
2001-02-20
Seidel, Richard K. (Department: 3763)
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
C604S037000, C604S262000, C222S092000, C222S211000, C222S633000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06190366
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable, locally washing hygienic device and, more particularly, to a portable, locally washing hygienic device which is so adapted as to be portable enough to allow a person to carry and to wash a part of the body, particularly anus or vagina, with water and clean it in a toilet where no locally washing device is installed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 9-84,715 and 9-327,495 disclose each a portable, locally washing hygienic device which comprises a motor, a battery or an electric cell for driving the motor, a water container for accommodating water, and a water-jet nozzle system for jetting water to such a part of the body.
Upon use of such a portable, locally washing hygienic device, the water container is filled with water prior to use and then a switch is pressed to start driving the motor to allow the water-jet nozzle system to jet streams of water onto or into the part of the body, thereby locally washing the part of the body with water streams jetted from the nozzle system.
Further, Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 9-28,611 and 9-238,865 disclose each a portable, locally washing hygienic device for washing the part of the body with water by jetting streams of water from a water-jet nozzle system of a flexible water container and pressing the water container to allow the water to jet therefrom for washing the part of the body.
The prior art portable, locally washing hygienic devices which are each provided with the motor, battery and water container tend to become heavy in weight due to the weight of each part and large in size because they require each a space in which to install those parts therein. Therefore, those prior art devices are too heavy and less compact in carrying them personally.
On the other hand, the prior art portable, locally washing hygienic devices with the water container made of a flexible material can be made lightweight, however, the size of the water container is too large to be compact enough to allow the user to readily carry them personally.
Therefore, big demands have been created to develop a portable, locally washing hygienic device that can overcome the drawbacks and shortcomings of the prior art portable, locally washing hygienic devices and that is sufficiently compact in allowing the user to carry it personally with ease. Further, it is required to be disposed of readily if it would become useless or it would be no longer used.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has the object to provide a portable, locally washing hygienic device that is lightweight and compact in size and has an improved feature of carrying it personally with ease. Moreover, the portable, locally washing hygienic device according to the present invention is disposable so that it can be disposed of readily when it becomes no longer needed.
In order to achieve the object as described above, the present invention in accordance with an embodiment provides a portable, locally washing hygienic device which comprises a water container made of flexible sheets produced by subjecting a synthetic plastic film member to thermal fusion or otherwise to form a flexible bag; a water supply tube mounted on the flexible water container and acting as a water passage for supplying water from the water container; a spray nozzle for spraying the water onto the target part of an object, mounted on an edge portion of the water supply tube; and a valve assembly interposed between a bottom end portion of the spray nozzle and a top end portion of the water supply tube; wherein a portion of the water supply tube located within the water container is joined securely or integrally together with an inner surface portion of the water container by thermally fusing or otherwise. This feature of the portable, locally washing hygienic device according to the present invention can be made lightweight and compact in size to be carried with ease because the portion of the water container can be folded and accommodated, for example, in a small and compact bag or the like.
In a preferred mode of the embodiment according to the present invention, the water supply tube is provided with a connecting member such as, e.g., a plate-shaped connection which in turn can be connected and firmly fixed with the inner surface portion of the water container by thermally fusing or otherwise. With this configuration, the spray nozzle does not displace the position of the spray nozzle to an extent to which the user should otherwise pay attention, whenever the user grips and press the water container for use in washing, and thereby the portable hygienic device of this invention can ensure a substantially constant direction of spraying the water therefrom onto the target part of the object. Therefore, the portable hygienic device of the present invention can present the advantage in that the water can be always sprayed in a desired and constant direction without causing the spray nozzle to vary its spraying position during use. On the other hand, if the water supply tube would not be attached to the inner surface portion of the water container, like such prior art portable hygienic devices, the spray nozzle mounted on the water supply tube may be caused to vary the direction of spraying the water from the nozzle head onto the target part of the object to a great extent to which the user should make sure to which position the spray nozzle is directed, whenever the water container is gripped and pressed by the hand of the user and the water is forced out from the water container into the spray nozzle for washing the target site of the object. This is very inconvenient for the user because the user should take care of the direction of spraying the water from the spray nozzle, whenever the user grips and presses the water container to wash the target site of the object with the water sprayed through the spray nozzle.
In another preferred mode of the embodiment according to the present invention, the valve assembly may comprise a casing with a water passage hole or holes, a valve section made of an elastic material, and a pressing member for pressing the valve section toward the casing and fixing it thereto in such a manner that the water passage hole and holes can be closed by the valve section. In this configuration, a pressure can be applied to the water present in the water container by gripping and pressing the water container with the hands by force, so that the valve section is caused to be transformed by the pressure applied thereto, thereby to jet the water from the water container through the water supply tube to the spray nozzle. On the other hand, when no pressure is applied to the water container, no water is forced to flow through the water supply tube from the water container, so that the one-way valve section of the valve assembly is caused to automatically close the water passage of the water supply tube. This leads to automatically closing the water passage toward the spray nozzle from the water supply tube, on the one hand, and preventing the water remaining in the water passage of the spray nozzle from returning to the water container, on the other hand. This can keep the water present in the water container in a clean state and maintain a clean sanitation for reuse of the water container. In particular, the valve section acting as a movable section is made of no metal so that it can be disposed of with ease because it does not require any laborious work for removing such metal parts from hygienic devices to be disposed of.
In a further preferred mode of the embodiment according to the present invention, the water supply tube may include a curved section at its upper portion in such a manner that the water supply tube is connected to the spray nozzle in a curved fashion. Therefore, the user can use this device in a natural posture, i.e., the user can wash the local part of the body without assuming an artificial or unnatural posture so as to adapt to the direction of s
Hayes Michael
Jordan and Hamburg LLP
Seidel Richard K.
LandOfFree
Portable, locally washing hygienic device does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Portable, locally washing hygienic device, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Portable, locally washing hygienic device will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2614742