The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 16, 1991
Filed:
Jan. 10, 1990
Ronald O Hilger, Elmhurst, IL (US);
Donald J Kempiak, Palatine, IL (US);
William Kalnins, Maple Park, IL (US);
Associated Mills, Inc., , US;
Abstract
A whirlpool home appliance is built into a U-shaped housing for fitting over and clamping to the side of a bath tub. A water pump is in the side of the housing which is in the bath tub in order to energize the water in the tub. An air pump is in the side of the housing which is outside the tub in order to pump air to a bubbling bath mat which fits on the bottom of a bath tub. The motor for the appliance is a reversing motor which runs in either of two directions. A one-way clutch disconnects the water pump when the bubbling air mat is used. The air pump may run all of the time since the loading of an air pump is not so great that it must be disconnected when not in use. The housing is attached to the tub by a screw which has a large area of relatively soft padding with a radially distributed flexibility so that there is no abrupt discontinuity of clamping forces. The pad avoids and prevents damage to a plastic or fiber glass bath tub when the screw tightened.