COUVERTURE ISOLANTE DE BAIGNOIRE

BATHTUB BLANKET

Abrégé français

Le présent extrait concerne une couverture isolante de baignoire qui maintient le baigneur au chaud et évite une perte rapide de la chaleur de l'eau de la baignoire.

Abrégé anglais

Bathtub blanket that keeps the bather warm and prevents the rapid loss of the bathtub water heat.

Revendications

CLAIMS
What I claim as my invention is:
1. A bath blanket for slowing the rate of heat loss from a tub of heated
water, the
blanket comprising a buoyant flexible sheet of thermal insulating material
such
that the blanket lays on the surface of the water and covers substantially the
entire
surface area of the water in the tub.
2. The bath blanket of claim 1 wherein the sheet of thermal insulating
material is
impervious to water.
3. The bath blanket of claim 2 where said sheet of thermal insulating material
further
includes one or more openings along a margin through which a user's neck may
protrude such that the user's torso is situated below the blanket while the
user's
head is above said blanket.
4. The bath blanket of claim 3 wherein the sheet of thermal insulating
material
further includes second and third openings along said margin, each opening
being
situated to a respective side of the first opening for accommodating each arm
of
the user such that the user may rest one or both arms on the blanket.
5. The bath blanket of claim 3 wherein the sheet of thermal insulating
material
further includes a pair of foldable flaps along said margin, each flap being
situated
to a respective side of the first opening, wherein said flaps define second
and third
openings along said margin when the flaps are folded open for accommodating an
arm of the user such that the user may rest one or both arms on the blanket.
6. The bath blanket of claim 2 wherein the sheet of thermal insulating
material
further includes at least one crease for folding a portion of the sheet upon
itself
thereby enabling the user to adjust the amount of covered surface area of
water.

Description

CA 02423831 2007-04-05
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
BATHTUB BLANKET
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to means of preventing the water in the bathtub and the
body
of the bather from rapid cooling.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Many inventors have come up with a design for keeping the steam and the heat
from escaping the bathtub by enclosing the bathtub opening with some kind of a
cover.
The bather sits in the tub with his/her head outside of the enclosure, while
the rest of
his/her body is under the cover. This design is shown in US Patents Numbers:
2,541,029;
3,119,122; 3,375,534; 3,611,448; 3,837,014 and 4,166,294. The problem with
this design
is that these enclosures are quite cumbersome to install. There is, also,
quite a
considerable cost in producing these enclosures.
The further described invention solves these shortcomings of the prior art.

CA 02423831 2007-04-05
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention enables the user to enjoy prolonged bath without a rapid water
temperature loss with the minimal cost and set up required.
After the bather positions himself/herself in the bathtub, they can cover
themselves
with the bathtub blanket to keep warm. As the water starts filling the
bathtub, the bathtub
blanket starts floating on its surface creating a barrier, thus reducing the
water heat loss.
The bathtub blanket is very useful for people who liike to read while sitting
in the bathtub.
In addition to keeping the bathtub water from a rapid cooling, it also can
keep the parts of
the bathers body that are out of the water warm by covering them. It can,
also, prevent the
reading material from getting accidentally wet.
25

CA 02423831 2007-04-05
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The preferred embodiments of the invention will be described by reference to
the
drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a top view of the bathtub blanket.
Fig. 2 is a top view of another embodiment of the bathtub blanket.
Fig. 3 is a cross section view of the bubble plastic material from which the
bathtub
blanket is made of.
Fig. 4 is a cross section view of the different example of a bubble plastic
material
from which the bathtub blanket is made of.
25

CA 02423831 2007-04-05
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Figure 1 shows a top view of the preferred embodiment of the bathtub blanket
1.
Although there are other suitable materials that are floatable and waterproof,
in this case
the bathtub blanket is made of a sheet of polyethylene comprising a
multiplicity of
individual cell compartments that permanently entrap air. These pockets of air
function as
an insulator and therefore prevent the bathtub water from cooling down
rapidly. In this
case the bathtub blanket is cut out into the shape of the bathtub in such a
way that it
completely covers the surface of the water when the bathtub is filled up.
At the side at which the user has his/her head (or head and torso) coming out
of the
water are, in this case three separate parts: two parts 2 and one 3. These
parts bend in the
area 4 at which they are attached to the rest of the bathtub blanket. The user
can adjust the
area that is covered by the blanket by either flipping out of the way these
small parts or
keeping them covering hini/her and the water. If for example the user is
sitting upright
and reading, the portion 3 can be resting on his/her chest, while the two
portions 2 are
still on the water, bellow the person's arms in which he/she holds the reading
material.
The part 3 can have a cut out as shown to accommodate person's neck.
Figure 2 shows that the bathtub blanket can be of different shapes, in this
case it is a
rectangular. User can wrap himself/herself while sitting in the tub to keep
warm while
he/she spreads the rest of the blanket over the surface of the water to
prevent it from
cooling.

CA 02423831 2007-04-05
Figure 3 is a cross section of the bathtub blanket to show construction of the
bathtub blanket material. It is comprised of two polyethylene sheets 6 with
cell
compartments 5 in between them. The centre 7, in this case, is elevated to
allow for water
to slide off the blanket and not to accumulate on top of it.
Figure 4 is also a cross section of the bathtub blanket to show a different
construction of the bathtub blanket material. In this case it is comprised of
one
polyethylene sheet 6 with cell compartments forming bubbles 5 on one side of
it.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing
disclosure,
many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this
invention without
departing from the spirit or scope thereof. For example, the present system is
described as
being manufactured out of a polyethylene, while there may be many other
materials that
could be used to construct this invention with the same results. Accordingly,
the scope of
the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by
the
following claims.

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