Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a pants-type apparatus for half bath, and more particularly to a pants-type apparatus for half bath that fills hot air in a tube having a pants shape so as to allow a user to enjoy half bath. Background Art

[2] As interest for health is increased, a bath for the lower half of a human body

(hereinafter, referred to as 'half bath') becomes more popular instead of the whole body bath. The half bath makes the lower half of a human body hot but keeps the upper half cold, thereby assisting in blood circulation and improving the health. In a general case, the lower half of a human body below the navel or the pit of the stomach sinks in warm water at 38 to 40°C slightly higher than the body temperature for 20 to 30 minutes for the half bath.

[3] However, such a half bath was mostly enjoyed only using a public bath or a bathhouse for a sauna bath. The half bath may also be enjoyed using a home bath, but in this case it is not easy to set a suitable temperature of water and keeps the temperature. Considering this point, various baths and devices for half bath have been proposed, but they are expensive and not easy to install.

[4] In addition, Korean Utility Model Nos. 2004-6056 and 2004-13775 disclose pants- type devices as other examples of a half bath device. However, since these devices employ heating coils, they are heavy, complicated and not easily cleaned. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[5] The present invention is designed to solve the problems of the prior art, and therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a pants-type apparatus for half bath, which has a tube with a pants shape, and allows a user to enjoy a half bath by blowing hot air into the tube and then keeping the hot air. Technical Solution

[6] In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a pants-type apparatus for half bath, which includes a tube-type pants configured to surround the lower half of a human body and having an air passage between inner and outer sheets; and an operating unit including an air supplier for heating an external air or an air retrieved from the tube-type pants and supplying the heated air into the air passage of the tube-type pants, and a temperature controller for keeping the supplied air at a constant temperature.

[7] Preferably, the air supplier includes an inhaling hole for inhaling an external air; a retrieving duct for introducing the air retrieved from the tube-type pants; a heating means for heating the air introduced through the inhaling hole or the retrieving duct; a supply duct for supplying the heated air into the tube-type pants; and at least one blowing fan provided in the retrieving duct for making the air flow.

[8] Preferably, a valve for selectively opening/closing the passage is installed at a boundary of the inhaling hole and the retrieving and/or supply duct.

[9] In addition, the air passage in the tube-type pants is preferably formed in a spiral pattern.

[10] Preferably, the temperature controller turns on or off the heating means according to an air temperature measured by a bimetal installed to the supply duct.

[11] In another aspect of the invention, there is also provided a pants-type apparatus for half bath, which includes a pants sealing the lower half of a human body and formed to fill air therein; and an operating unit including an air supplier for heating an external air or an air retrieved from the pants and supplying the heated air into the pants, and a temperature controller for keeping the air at a constant temperature. Brief Description of the Drawings

[12] Other objects and aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

[13] FlG. 1 is a perspective view showing a pants-type apparatus for half bath according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[14] FlG. 2 is a sectional view of FlG. 1 ;

[15] FlG. 3 is a schematic view showing an operating unit of the present invention; and

[16] FlG. 4 is a sectional view showing a pants-type apparatus for half bath according to another embodiment of the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[17] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail referring to the accompanying drawings. Prior to the description, it should be understood that the terms used in the specification and appended claims should not be construed as limited to general and dictionary meanings, but interpreted based on the meanings and concepts corresponding to technical aspects of the present invention on the basis of the principle that the inventor is allowed to define terms appropriately for the best explanation. Therefore, the description proposed herein is just a preferable example for the purpose of illustrations only, not intended to limit the scope of the invention, so it should be understood that other equivalents and modifications could be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[18] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a pants-type apparatus for half bath according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FlG. 2 is a partial sectional view of FlG. 1.

[19] Referring to FIGs. 1 and 2, the pants-type apparatus for half bath according to the present invention includes a tube-type pants 100 formed to surround the lower half of a human body, and an operating unit 200 connected to the tube-type pants 100 through a conduit 150.

[20] The tube-type pants 100 is composed of an inner sheet 102 and an outer sheet 104 having a tube shape so that air may be filled therein. The inner sheet 102 is closely adhered to a human body, so it is preferably made of soft synthetic resin such as silicon having excellent thermal conductivity and not harmful for the human body. The outer sheet 104 is preferably made of synthetic resin such as rubber that is not ruptured due to external impacts. In addition, the inner sheet is preferably formed more room than the outer sheet so that it may be sufficiently adhered to the human body, differently from the outer sheet that needs to keep its appearance.

[21] A fastening unit 110 such as a strap or a Velcro tape is provided to a waist portion of the tube-type pants 100. This fastening unit 110 prevents the tube-type pants 100 from slipping down when it is worn. As an alternative, the fastening unit 110 may employ an air band filled with air.

[22] A hot air is supplied into the tube-type pants, namely into an air passage 120 between the inner sheet 102 and the outer sheet 104. Preferably, the air passage 120 between the inner and outer sheets 102, 104 may be formed in a spiral pattern so as to elongate a flow path of the hot air and extend a time contacting with the human body, such that heat may be evenly transferred.

[23] The hot air is preferably supplied near the foot portion at the lower end of the tube- type pants, and discharged near the waist at the upper end of the tube-type pants. Since the hot air has a property of moving upward, the air filled from the lower end of the tube-type pants may be supplied to the entire pants evenly. FlG. 1 shows that inlet holes 122 for introducing hot air are formed in both foot portions of the tube-type pants as an example, but it is also possible that a plurality of inlet holes are formed in both foot portions, knee portions, waist portion and so on. Reference numeral 124 denotes a discharge hole for emitting out the air from the tube-type pants.

[24] An air-discharging cap 130 is installed to one side of the tube-type pants 100.

Preferably, this cap 130 is used for a user to manually control a pressure of the air supplied into the pants as desired. That is to say, if the automatically set pressure in the pants is too high, this pressure may be suitably controlled by opening the cap 130.

[25] The tube-type pants 100 configured as above may be folded and stored with its inner air being pulled out when it is not used. Preferably, for taking it in custody, a

receiving space 202 is prepared in the operating unit 200, and the tube-type pants 100 is received therein together with the separated conduit 150. In addition, the tube-type pants 100 may be washed in an easy way, and it may be rinsed and then dried after or before use. For this purpose, a drainage hole (not shown) is formed in a bottom of the tube-type pants 100 so that the laundry water or sweat may be discharged through it.

[26] The conduit 150 is an air path for the tube-type pants 100 and the operating unit

200, and it is composed of a supply conduit 152 and a discharge conduit 154. The supply conduit 152 is connected between the inlet hole 122 of the tube-type pants 100 and a supply duct 204 of the operating unit 200 to supply hot air from the operating unit 200 to the tube-type pants 100, while the discharge conduit 154 is connected between the discharge hole 124 of the tube-type pants 100 and a retrieving duct 206 of the operating unit 200 to retrieve the cooled air that is circulated in the air passage in the tube-type pants 100 and then discharged.

[27] The operating unit 200 heats air to a predetermined temperature and then supplies the air to the air passage 120 in the tube-type pants 100. For this purpose, the operating unit 200 includes an air supplier 210 for inhaling and heating air and then discharging the air to the pants, a temperature controller 220 for keeping a temperature of the heated air, and a pressure controller 230 for controlling pressure of the air filled in the tube-type pants 100, as shown in FIG. 3.

[28] First, the air supplier 210 heats the air inhaled from outside through an inhaling hole

212 prepared in the operating unit 200 with the use of a heating means 214 such as a heater coil, a thermoelectric element and a Peltier element and then supplies the heated air to the tube-type pants 100 through the supply duct 204. For this purpose, a blowing fan 219 is provided to the airflow passage in the supply duct 204.

[29] Meanwhile, the heating means 214 may reheat cold air retrieved through the retrieving duct 206 from the tube-type pants 100 and then circulate the reheated air to the tube-type pants 100 again. For this purpose, a switching valve (v) may be installed to a boundary between the retrieving duct 206 and the inhaling hole 212 for selectively opening/closing the passage.

[30] Preferably, a discharge valve (v ¹ ) may be provided in the passage of the duct where the air circulates so as to discharge air outward through an outer discharge hole 218.

[31] The temperature controller 220 functions to constantly keep a temperature of the air supplied into the tube-type pants 100. That is to say, a sensor such as a bimetal may installed to an end of the supply duct 204 or the retrieving duct 206 of the operating unit 200 to turn on or off the heating means 214 accordingly so that the air heated by the heating means 214 may be constantly kept at a suitable temperature suitable for half bath. In addition to that, thermocouple or electronic thermometer may be installed so that the heating means is controlled according to its measurements.

[32] The pressure controller 230 controls pressure of air to be supplied to the tube-type pants 100. For example, the air pressure may be suitably controlled using a manometer or a solenoid valve so that the pants would not be ripped or torn due to high pressure. Preferably, a user may adjust pressure applied on his/her body as desires with the use of the pressure controller 230, and furthermore the pressure may be more minutely controlled by means of the cap 130 prepared to the tube-type pants 100 as mentioned above. Such configuration is well known in the art and not described in detail here.

[33] The operating unit 200 operated as above is provided with an operating panel 240 at its one side. This operating panel 240 has a state display window 242 such as an LCD panel so that operation state of the apparatus of the present invention may be visually checked. For example, the above-mentioned air supply/discharge, temperature and pressure control may be checked and adjusted in real time.

[34] In addition, a wheel 250 is attached to a lower portion of the operating unit 200 so that users may enjoy half bath using the apparatus of the present invention at any place.

[35] Now, operation of the pants-type apparatus for half bath configured as above according to the present invention will be described.

[36] First, a user wears the tube-type pants 100 of the present invention. At this time, the tube-type pants 100 may be worn without air being put therein like a general pants, or it also may be worn after air is injected about in a middle level so that the tube-type pants 100 makes its appearance to some extent, not seriously pressing the human body of the user.

[37] After wearing the pants, the user sets an air pressure using the pressure controller

230 to suitably press the human body, and also sets a temperature suitable for half bath using the temperature controller 220. Such setting may be made with looking the state display window 242 of the operating panel 240.

[38] In the above, though it is described that temperature and pressure in the tube-type pants 100 are independently controlled, the present invention is not limited to that case. For example, it is possible that temperature and pressure are set at the same time so that hot air is introduced into the pants at a suitable pressure just by pressing a start button (not shown).

[39] The valve (v) initially keeps the inhaling hole 212 open. Thus, the air introduced from the inhaling hole 212 by operation of the blowing fan 219 is heated by the heating means 214 and then supplied to the tube-type pants 100 through the supply duct 204.

[40] The heated air is supplied to the entire tube-type pants 100 along the air passage

120 spirally formed from the lower end of the tube-type pants 100.

[41] If the heated air is filled in the air passage 120 in the tube-type pants 100 to reach a preset air pressure, the valve (v) is operated to close the inhaling hole 212 but the retrieving duct 206 becomes open.

[42] Thus, the air cooled with flowing through the air passage in the tube-type pants 100 is again introduced into the retrieving duct 206 through the discharge conduit 154, and the air introduced into the retrieving duct 206 is reheated through the heating means 214 and then circulated to through the supply duct 204. Here, the valve (v) may be manually operated, but it is preferably automatically operated according to time, temperature and pressure.

[43] Meanwhile, the air filled in the pants may be pulled out using the cap 130 or rapidly discharged to the outer discharge hole 218 using the blowing fan 219.

[44] In addition, though not described above, the apparatus for half bath according to the present invention may be further provided with a timer, an anti-burn device and so on for the convenience of users.

[45] Preferably, the inlet hole 122 and the discharge hole 124 of the tube-type pants 100 may be provided with sealing means to prevent air from being leaked when the conduits 152, 154 are removed. In this case, the conduits are removed after the air passage in the tube-type pants 100 is sufficiently heated so that a user may freely move and make an action with wearing the pants. Of course, a user may move a certain distance together with the operating unit 200 without removing the conduits.

[46] Meanwhile, FlG. 4 shows pants 300 according to another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is now described focused on differences from the former embodiment with reference to FIG. 4. The pants 300 is configured so that the lower half of the human body may be sealed only using an outer sheet. Thus, if an external air or a recirculated heated air is injected into the pants, the heated air is directly contacted with the human body of a wearer, so the wearer may enjoy half bath more efficiently. In addition, if an air passage is formed in a spiral pattern in the outer sheet of the pants like the former embodiment, a flowing path of the heated air is elongated and a time contacting with the human body is extended, which makes the heat transferred to the entire pants more uniformly. Industrial Applicability

[47] The pants-type apparatus for half bath according to the present invention is configured with a tube having a pants shape, so it is light and it may be used at any place since it is not limited due to the space differently from the conventional public bath or bathhouse for a sauna bath.

[48] In addition, since a user enjoys half bath slowly using an air heated to a predetermined temperature, there is no danger of burns. Furthermore, a user may move or make actions within a limited range with wearing the pants.

[49] Above all, the pants-type apparatus of the present invention allows a user to enjoy half bath conveniently, and the pants may be washed and kept in a folded state.