US 5,397,875 AGranted

Portable appliance for heating towels and for dispensing heated fluid such as body oil to facilitate the administration of a massage

OwnerJoseph A. Bechtold, Jr.inventor

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Abstract

A portable appliance for heating towels and for dispensing heated fluid such as body oil has a suitcase-like housing with hinge-connected base and lid components that define a plurality of compartments for heating towels and liquid when the housing is "open" and the appliance is "set up" for operation, and for receiving components of the appliance so that the appliance can be conveniently stored and transported when the housing is "closed." When the housing is open, a support structure such as a set of legs is removable from the housing for use in supporting at least a base portion of the housing at an a convenient access height above a floor or other substantially horizontal surface. A relatively large main compartment is defined by the housing for receiving and suitably heating towels therein for use in concert with the administration of a massage. "Wet" or "dry" towel heating can be carried out within the main heating compartment. A "wringer" preferably is provided to extract excess moisture from heated towels.

Claims38

Dependent claims

A portable heating appliance having a housing that, when "closed," can be stored and transported with substantially the ease and convenience of a suitcase, and when "open" provides access to a plurality of compartments including plural heating compartments for heating substantially concurrently but in separate heating compartments a quantity of towels and a quantity of liquid such as body oil for use in concert with the administration of a massage, comprising:

a) housing means having at least two housing members including a base member and a lid member that are connected for movement relative to each other between "closed" and "open" positions, with the housing means functioning:
i) to define an array of compartments for cooperating when the housing members are "closed" 1) to receive and protectively enclose such components of the appliance as may be removed from the housing means during use of the appliance in concert with the administration of a massage, and 2) to house such supplies as are utilized in conjunction with use of appliance including a quantity of towels for being heated by the appliance, and at least one container enclosing a quantity of liquid such as body oil for being heated by the appliance;
and,
ii) to define, when "open," exterior structure that can be supported atop a horizontal surface for supporting at least the base member to extend substantially horizontally, and interior structure that defines within the interior of the housing means compartments that include 1) main heating compartment means for receiving and heating a plurality of towels, and 2) auxiliary heating compartment means for receiving at least one container enclosing a quantity of liquid such as body oil and for heating the quantity of liquid contained therein;
b) electrical heating means for being operated when the housing means is "open" to substantially concurrently heat 1) at least a plurality of towels that are contained within the main heating compartment means, and 2) a quantity of liquid that is contained within a container that is nested within the auxiliary heating compartment means, whereby liquid is heated so that it can be dispensed from the container substantially simultaneously with the provision of a supply of heated towels that can be withdrawn from the main heating compartment means for use in concert with the administration of a massage;
and,
c) wringer means configured for being contained for transport within the housing means when the housing means is "closed," and for being operated when the housing means is "open" to clamp at least one moisture-laden towel that has been heated within the main heating compartment means to extract excess moisture therefrom.

4 more elements

a) housing means having at least two housing members including a base member and a lid member that are connected for movement relative to each other between "closed" and "open" positions, with the housing means functioning:
i) to define an array of compartments for cooperating when the housing members are "closed" 1) to receive and protectively enclose such components of the appliance as may be removed from the housing means during use of the appliance in concert with the administration of a massage, and 2) to house such supplies as are utilized in conjunction with use of appliance including a quantity of towels for being heated by the appliance, and at least one container enclosing a quantity of liquid such as body oil for being heated by the appliance;
and,
ii) to define, when "open," exterior structure that can be supported atop a horizontal surface for supporting at least the base member to extend substantially horizontally, and interior structure that defines within the interior of the housing means compartments that include 1) main heating compartment means for receiving and heating a plurality of towels, and 2) auxiliary heating compartment means for receiving at least one container enclosing a quantity of liquid such as body oil and for heating the quantity of liquid contained therein;
b) electrical heating means for being operated when the housing means is "open" to substantially concurrently heat 1) at least a plurality of towels that are contained within the main heating compartment means, and 2) a quantity of liquid that is contained within a container that is nested within the auxiliary heating compartment means, whereby liquid is heated so that it can be dispensed from the container substantially simultaneously with the provision of a supply of heated towels that can be withdrawn from the main heating compartment means for use in concert with the administration of a massage;
and,
c) wringer-like means having a panlike base, a lid hingedly connected to the pan-like base, and clamping means connected to the pan-like base and being operable to clampingly engage the lid to move the lid relatively toward the pan-like base for clamping a plurality of towels therebetween for extracting excess moisture therefrom.

4 more elements

A portable heating appliance for warming towels and liquid such as body oil for use in concert with the administration of a massage, comprising:

a) housing means formed from a plurality of relatively movable housing components 1) for being oriented in a "closed" position wherein the housing components are connected and cooperate to define and extend peripherally about a plurality of interior compartments to protectively enshroud the interior compartments and any contents contained therein so as to provide a kit-like unit that can be transported and stored with substantially the same ease as a suitcase when the housing components are "closed," and 2) for being relatively movable between the "closed" position and an "open" position wherein the housing components cooperate to permit access to the interior compartments;
b) support means configured to be insertable into and removable from the interior compartment when the housing components are "open" for selectively being stored within one or more of the interior compartments when the housing components are "closed," and for selectively, being interposed between a selected one of the housing components and a surface that underlies the selected housing component for being releasably connected to the selected housing component and for supporting the selected housing component at a desired height above the underlying surface to facilitate the use of the appliance in concert with the administration of a massage;
c) chamber defining means connected to the selected housing component for defining a relatively large main heating chamber as one of said plurality of interior compartments, which main heating chamber can be utilized when the housing components are "open" to receive a plurality of towels that are to be heated within the main chamber for use in concert with the administration of a massage, for defining at least one auxiliary chamber as another of said plurality of interior compartments, which auxiliary chamber can be utilized when the housing components are "open" to receive at least one container of liquid such as body oil that is to be heated within said auxiliary chamber for use in concert with the administration of a massage, and for permitting the housing components to be "closed" at a time 1) when a plurality of towels are received within the main chamber, 2) when at least one container of liquid is received within said at least one auxiliary chamber, and 3) when said support means is positioned within at least one of the interior compartments, whereby the configuring of the appliance for storage within a minimum of space is facilitated, and the overall size of the appliance is minimized for transport;
d) electrical heating means connected to and carried within the selected housing component for heating towels that are positioned within the main chamber to a first predetermined temperature that renders the towels suitable for use in concert with the administration of a massage, and for heating at least one container of liquid that is received within said at least one auxiliary chamber to a second predetermined temperature that renders the liquid suitable for use in concert with the administration of a massage;
and,
e) wringer means configured for being contained for transport within the housing means when the relatively movable housing components are "closed," and for being operated when the relatively movable housing components are "open" to clamp at least one moisture-laden towel that has been heated within the main heating chamber to extract excess moisture from the clamped towel.

3 more elements

A portable heating appliance for warming towels and liquid such as body oil for use in concert with the administration of a massage, comprising:

a) housing means formed from a plurality of relatively movable housing components 1) for being oriented in a "closed" position wherein the housing components are connected and cooperate to define and extend peripherally about a plurality of interior compartments to protectively enshroud the interior compartments and any contents contained therein so as to provide a kit-like unit that can be transported and stored with substantially the same ease as a suitcase when the housing components are "closed," and 2) for being relatively movable between the "closed" position and an "open" position wherein the housing components cooperate to permit access to the interior compartments;
b) support means configured to be insertable into and removable from the interior compartment when the housing components are "open" for selectively being stored within one or more of the interior compartments when the housing components are "closed," and, for selectively being interposed between a selected one of the housing components and a surface that underlies the selected housing component for being releasably connected to the selected housing component and for supporting the selected housing component at a desired height above the underlying surface to facilitate the use of the appliance in concert with the administration of a massage;
c) chamber defining means connected to the selected housing component for defining a relatively large main heating chamber as one of said plurality of interior compartments, which main heating chamber can be utilized when the housing components are "open" to receive a plurality of towels that are to be heated within the main chamber for use in concert with the administration of a massage, for defining at least one auxiliary chamber as another of said plurality of interior compartments, which auxiliary chamber can be utilized when the housing components are "open" to receive at least one container of liquid such as body oil that is to be heated within said auxiliary chamber for use in concert with the administration of a massage, and for permitting the housing components to be "closed" at a time 1) when a plurality of towels are received within the main chamber, 2) when at least one container of liquid is received within said at least one auxiliary chamber, and 3) when said support means is positioned within at least one of the interior compartments, whereby the configuring of the appliance for storage within a minimum of space is facilitated, and the overall size of the appliance is minimized for transport;
d) electrical heating means connected to and carried within the selected housing component for heating towels that are positioned within the main chamber to a first predetermined temperature that renders the towels suitable for use in concert with the administration of a massage, and for heating at least one container of liquid that is received within said at least one auxiliary chamber to a second predetermined temperature that renders the liquid suitable for use in concert with the administration of a massage;
and,
e) wringer-like means that is insertable into the main heating chamber to support towels to be heated therein, wherein the wringer-like means has a pan-like base, a lid hingedly connected to the pan-like base, and clamping means connected to the pan-like base and being operable to clampingly engage the lid to move the lid relatively toward the pan-like base for clamping a plurality of towels therebetween for extracting excess moisture therefrom.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.