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US 5,928,171 AGranted
Neck jet pillow for tub spas
AssigneeWatkins Manufacturing Corporation
InventorChristopher Larsen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A unitarily-molded pillow for mounting in a spa and having a flexible membrane positioned therein and with respect to a water discharge jet by an integrally-molded support structure including an upper collar, a lower rim, and respective side shoulders, the support structure being integrated into a smooth, contoured front surface providing integral neck and head support, with the membrane positioned to provide a pleasing warm neck massage effect and the jet being adjustable via an air valve for user comfort.
Claims21
The apparatus comprising:
- a shell shaped to contain water and to provide a user seating area therein, said shell having a side surface and at least one discharge jet positioned in said side surface for discharging a fluid stream therefrom;
- and
- a pillow means having a back surface and further having three sides shaped to mate with said shell so as to form a watertight seal with said shell along said three sides, said pillow means further including a frame portion supporting a flexible membrane means, said frame portion exhibiting less flexibility than said flexible membrane means, said flexible membrane means having a back comprising a portion of the back surface of said pillow means, said pillow means positioning said membrane means with respect to a user's neck and spaced apart from said discharge jet by an air gap defined by said side surface of said shell and the back surface of the pillow means, the back surface of said membrane means receiving fluid discharged from said jet means across and through said air gap and transmitting a neck massaging action to said neck.
Massage apparatus comprising:
- a shell structure shaped to contain water and to provide a user seating area therein, said structure having a fluid discharge jet located in a wall thereof for providing a pressurized fluid discharge;
- a membrane having a front surface and a back surface, the back surface being spaced apart from said water discharge jet by an air gap defined by the wall of said shell structure and the back surface of said membrane for receiving fluid discharged from the jet across and through said air gap for transmitting a massaging action through said front surface to the neck of a user;
- and
- body means for supporting said membrane and for attaching said membrane means to said shell structure.
1 more element
An apparatus comprising:
- a tub shaped to contain a body of fluid and having a side surface and at least one fluid discharge jet positioned in said side surface for discharging a fluid stream therefrom;
- and
- a pillow means having a back surface and further including a frame portion supporting a flexible membrane, said frame portion exhibiting less flexibility than said flexible membrane, said flexible membrane having a back comprising a portion of the back surface of said pillow means, said pillow means positioning said membrane with respect to a user's neck and spaced apart from said jet by an air gap, the air gap being located between said side surface of the tub and the back surface of the pillow means, the back surface of said membrane receiving fluid discharged from said jet means across said air gap and transmitting a neck massaging action to said neck, the back surface of said pillow means being oriented so as to direct water impacting said back surface downwardly and into said tub.
A tub apparatus comprising:
- a tub structure including a side surface and at least one fluid discharge jet located in said side surface for discharging a fluid stream;
- a unitary molded plastic part positioned to cover said fluid discharge jet and providing a back surface having a lower edge and an upper edge, said back surface being disposed so as to receive said fluid stream at a location above said lower edge and separated by an air gap from said tub structure and such that said fluid stream strikes said back surface and is spent and dispersed so as to create a cascading fluid flow down said back surface, said lower edge being gapped away from said side surface over a selected length of said lower edge so as to permit said cascading flow to exit at said lower edge;
- and
- a thin membrane centrally located in said molded plastic part and surrounded by a thicker plastic support region, said membrane having a back surface comprising a portion of the back surface of said molded plastic part, and wherein said fluid stream strikes said membrane.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.