# US 10,480,818 B1 · Immersible bath unit and system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,480,818 B1 - Document ID: US10480818B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 16/294,429 - Filed: 2019-03-06 - Granted: 2019-11-19 - Earliest claimed: 2019-03-06 - Applicants: Laura Marie Peters - Inventors: Laura Marie Peters - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10480818B1 ## CPC - F24H 1/54: Water heaters for bathtubs or pools; Water heaters for reheating the water in bathtubs or pools - F24H 1/06: Portable or mobile, e.g. collapsible - H05B 3/80: Portable immersion heaters - F24H 2250/02: Resistances - H05B 2203/014: Heaters using resistive wires or cables not provided for in H05B3/54 - H05B 2203/021: Heaters specially adapted for heating liquids - F24H: FLUID HEATERS, e.g. WATER OR AIR HEATERS, HAVING HEAT-GENERATING MEANS, e.g. HEAT PUMPS, IN GENERAL (steam generation F22) - H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL ## Abstract An immersible bath unit is configured to be submerged in a bathtub while a user takes a bath in the bathtub, and to provide a source of heat to reduce the rate at which the bath water would otherwise cool naturally. The immersible bath unit is battery powered to eliminate the risk of electric shock associated with water heaters powered by commercial AC electric service. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An immersible bath unit, comprising: a housing having a sealed interior space, which remains dry when the immersible bath unit is submerged, and a duct through the housing having intake opening and an output opening with an impeller disposed in the duct configured to drive water through the duct, and a heating element further disposed in the duct that is configured to heat water driven through the duct; a battery disposed inside the sealed interior space which can provide power to the impeller and heating element; an interface circuit in the sealed interior space that is configured to receive input from a user; and a controller in the sealed interior space that is configured to control operation of the impeller and heating element in response to user input received by the interface circuit. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The immersible bath unit of claim 1, wherein the interface circuit is a wireless interface circuit that is configured to communicate using a personal area networking protocol. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The immersible bath unit of claim 1, further comprising features configured to hold a removable filter in the duct. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The immersible bath unit of claim 1, wherein the housing is circular, and the duct follows at least a partial circular path within the housing around a central core of the immersible bath unit which includes the sealed interior space. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The immersible bath unit of claim 4, wherein the heating element is disposed in the duct on a surface of the central core within the duct. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The immersible bath unit of claim 1, further comprising an inductive charging circuit configured to charge the battery and which comprises a coil disposed in a plane parallel to a plane of a bottom surface of the immersible bath unit. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The immersible bath unit of claim 1 wherein the battery is configured to have a maximum voltage of less than 12 volts. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The immersible bath unit of claim 7, wherein the battery is configured to have a maximum voltage of less than 5 volts. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The immersible bath unit of claim 1, further comprising an infusion well formed in the duct, and an access panel formed on an outside surface of the housing configured to allow access to the infusion well. ### Claim 10 An immersible bath unit, comprising: a housing having an exterior housing and a sealed interior space within the exterior housing, and a duct within the exterior housing having intake opening and an output opening formed on the exterior housing, further having an impeller disposed in the duct configured to move water through the duct, and a heating element further disposed in the duct that is configured to heat water moved through the duct; a battery disposed inside the sealed interior space which is configured to provide power to the impeller and heating element; an inductive charging circuit configured to provide charge to the battery when the immersible bath unit is placed on an inductive charging unit; an interface circuit configured to receive input from a user, the interface circuit including a wireless interface circuit that is configured to communicate using a personal area networking protocol; and a controller configured to control operation of the impeller in response to user input received by the interface circuit. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The immersible bath unit of claim 10, further comprising features configured to hold a removable filter in the duct. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The immersible bath unit of claim 10, wherein the housing is circular, and the duct follows a circular path within the housing around a central core. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The immersible bath unit of claim 12, wherein the heating element is disposed in the duct on a surface of the central core within the duct. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The immersible bath unit of claim 10, further comprising a temperature sensor that provides an indication of temperature outside of the immersible bath unit, and wherein the controller is configured to produce a record of temperature over time during use of the immersible bath unit. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The immersible bath unit of claim 10, further comprising an infusion well formed in the duct, and an access panel formed on an outside surface of the housing configured to allow access to the infusion well. ### Claim 16 An immersible bath unit system, comprising: an immersible bath unit having: an exterior housing having a duct formed therein, the duct formed between an intake port formed through the exterior housing and an outlet port formed through the exterior housing, the exterior housing defining an interior space within the exterior housing; an impeller disposed within the duct configured to move water through the duct from the intake port and out through the outlet port; a heating element disposed in the duct that is configured to heat water in the duct as the water is moved by the impeller through the duct; a battery disposed in the interior space within the exterior housing, and sealed within the interior space, and configured to provide power to the impeller and to the heating element; and an interface circuit disposed in the interior space within the exterior housing, and sealed within the interior space, the interface circuit configured to receive input from a user of the immersible bath unit and control power from the battery to the impeller and heating element in accordance with the input. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The immersible bath unit system of claim 16, wherein the interface circuit comprises a personal area networking transceiver configured to wireless connect to a mobile computing device that operates an application program that is configured to receive the input from the user and transmit setting information to the immersible bath unit. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The immersible bath unit system of claim 16 further comprising an inductive charging coil that is configured to provide charge to the battery. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The immersible bath unit system of claim 18, further comprising a base, the base comprising a transmit coil that is configured to transmit electrical energy inductively to the inductive charging coil. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The immersible bath unit system of claim 16, further comprising a filter holder and an infusion well provided in the duct, and an access cover provided on the exterior housing which covers an access opening that is configured to provide user access to the filter holder and the infusion well.