Appliance For The Heat Treatment Of A Human Being

Abstract

An appliance suitable for use in the heat treatment of a human being comprising a loose-fitting, body enveloping, baglike garment of a flexible, nonporous material closed at the bottom end, the other end, which is open, terminating in a neckband, which is preferably adjustable. A conduit is connected to the closed end of the garment for the supply of hot dry air to the interior of the suit. Apertures are punched in the garment in positions remote from the conduit connection for the escape of hot air. The garment may optionally have arms with adjustable cuffs and in which case the apertures are located adjacent the cuffs.

Description

The present invention relates to an appliance to be worn by a human being and which is suitable for use in heat therapy and for simulating the physical and psychological effects of a sauna bath.

In a sauna bath a person wholly or partially encases their body and subjects their body to dry heat. This is contrary to a steam or Turkish bath in which the body is subjected to wet heat.

Sauna baths are of such a construction as to render them relatively expensive to manufacture. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an appliance which simulates to the user the physical and psychological effects of a sauna bath but which is inexpensive to manufacture.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an appliance suitable for use in the heat treatment of a human being, comprising a baglike garment of a size sufficient to accommodate an adult human being and which is closed at one end, a neckband at the other end, a conduit for connection to a hot air blower communicating with the interior of the garment and a plurality of apertures in the garment remote from the conduit entry.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an appliance suitable for use in the heat treatment of a human being, comprising a baglike garment of a size sufficient to accommodate an adult human being and which is closed at one end, a neckband at the other end, two sleeves with adjustable cuffs, a conduit for connection to a hot air blower communicating with the interior of the garment and a plurality of apertures in the garment remote from the conduit entry.

Preferably the neckband is adjustable to suit the neck size of the user.

If desired, the conduit may be connected to the garment at a point adjacent to, but spaced from, the closed end of the garment.

The apertures may be arranged adjacent to, but spaced from, each cuff. Further apertures may be provided between the top of each sleeve and the neckband.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided the combination of a hot air blower and an appliance suitable for use in the heat treatment of a human being comprising a baglike garment of a size sufficient to accommodate an adult human being and which is closed at one end, an adjustable neckband at the other end, two sleeves with adjustable cuffs, a conduit for connection to the hot air blower and communicating with the interior of the garment and a plurality of apertures in the garment remote from the conduit entry.

For convenience in the following description the appliance will be referred to as a sauna suit.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a sauna suit with sleeves; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sleeveless sauna suit.

In the drawings similar reference numerals have been used to identify similar parts.

Referring to FIG. 1, the sauna suit 12 comprises a baglike garment made from lightweight flexible material such as polyvinylchloride (P.V.C.) or woven nylon fabric backed with rubber or plastics material. The garment comprises a substantially circular base 13 of between 18 and 24 inches in diameter, a barrel-shaped body portion 14, an adjustable neckband 15, sleeve 16 and a flexible conduit 17 communicating with the interior of the body portion 14. The sauna suit 12 is of such a size as to be a very generous fit on the user thereby facilitating the circulation of hot dry air introduced into the suit from a hot air blower 18, e.g. a domestic hair drier, connected to the conduit 17.

A sliding clasp fastener or closure member 20 is fitted into the front of the suit 12 to facilitate the entry by a user into the suit. The closure member 20 may extend in other directions besides down the front of the suit, for example, along the shoulders or towards the armpit. The size of the neckband 15 is adjustable by means of nylon limpet strips 21 each comprising two parts, one in the form of barbs on a material backing and the second in the form of a strap having a looped or woolly surface which when engaged by the barbs is secured thereto. Alternatively, in a nonillustrated embodiment, the neckband 15 can be elasticated or adjusted in size by means of drawstrings.

The sleeves 16 terminate in cuffs 22 which are elasticated to grip the wrists of the user. A series of circular apertures 23, e.g. eight apertures of about a quarter of an inch in diameter are punched out of each sleeve 16 about five inches from the respective cuff 22. The apertures 23 are provided to facilitate the exit of hot air from the suit after it has circulated through the body portion 14. If desired, further apertures 24, shown in broken lines, may be provided in each shoulder of the suit.

The flexible conduit 17 is preferably made of the same material as the rest of the suit. The free end of the conduit 17 is elasticated to grip the outlet of the hot air blower 18. Typical dimensions of the conduit 17 are that it is 18 inches long and 3 inches in diameter. The connection of the conduit 17 to the body portion 14 is at approximately seven inches from the adjacent edge of the circular base 13.

The preferred mode of using the sauna suit is with the user in a relaxed sitting position in an environment at a temperature of between 65.degree. F. and 70.degree. F.

The user undresses and then enters the suit by unfastening the closure member 20 and climbing in one leg at a time. The arms are passed through the sleeves 16 so that the hands are exposed thereby enabling the user to fasten the closure member 20.

The nylon limpet strips 21 at each side of the neckband 15 are adjusted until the neckband is a tight but comfortable fit on the user's neck.

The conduit 17 is connected to the outlet of the blower 18 which has been placed in a convenient position. Naturally, precautions should be taken to ensure that the conduit is not bent or twisted thereby ensuring that the flow of air is not impeded. The blower 18 is then switched on and the suit is inflated by hot air from the blower. It is desirable from the point of view of user comfort that the temperature of the air at the outlet of the blower should not exceed 200.degree. F.

After a period of at least 30 minutes, and not exceeding 60 minutes, the blower is switched off and the user removes the sauna suit.

Referring to FIG. 2, the illustrated sauna suit 12 differs from that of FIG. 1 by being sleeveless and by having apertures 30 along each shoulder only. With this embodiment it is necessary for a user to be assisted into and out of the suit 12.

In each of the illustrated embodiments by having the apertures remote from the conduit connection, the circulation of hot air over the major part of the user's body is ensured. It is within the scope of the present invention to connect the conduit to another part of the garment and to arrange the apertures so that the hot air follows a path over the major part of the user's body.

It is to be understood that the invention herein is described in specific respects for the purposes of this description. It is also understood that such respects are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Other arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

I claim:

1. An appliance suitable for use in the heat treatment of a human being, comprising

a. a garment having an elongate tubular body member of single layer, nonporous, flexible material generally cylindrical in shape with a substantially flat bottom thereby providing an unobstructed interior throughout the length of the garment, the lower end of the body member being closed, means defining a neck opening in said garment, a neckband in said neck opening, means enabling the size of said neckband to be adjustable, an elongate entrance slit extending from said neck opening, fastening means for releasably closing said entrance slit, arm receiving extending outwardly from said body member, cuffs on said sleeves, means enabling the size of the cuffs to be adjustable, means defining unobstructed apertures in said sleeves adjacent to, but spaced from, the cuff on each sleeve, a flexible conduit attached to and communicating with the interior of said body member through an unobstructed opening, said opening positioned adjacent to, but spaced from, said lower end, and

b. a portable hot air blower connected to said conduit to direct hot air into said body member and out through said apertures.

2. An appliance according to claim 1, further comprising means defining apertures adjacent to, but spaced from, said neckband.