Back washer
United States Patent [191 Schwab BACK WASHER Frederick Schwab, 9705 215th St., Forest Lake, Minn. 55025 [22] Filed: Jan. 14, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 433,082  
 [76] Inventor:  
 [52] 11.8. CI. 128/67; 128/63; 128/65 [51] Int. Cl A6lh 7/00 [58] Field of Search 128/6265, 63, 67, DIG. 19;  
 Primary Examiner-Lawrence W. Trapp [111 3,875,933 1 Apr. 8, 1975 571 1 ABSTRACT A washing and massaging device is provided which is usually used for washing and massaging the back and other areas of the body. The device comprises a doubled strip of water absorbent material providing a strip which may be reciprocated over the areas of the back and body to be cleansed and massaged. Handles are provided by means of which the strip may be manipulated. The handles are formed of straps of somewhat resilient material. The straps form loops one of which may be engaged by each hand. The ends of the straps are overlapped and extend transversely across each end of the strip to enclose a portion of the pump at each strip end. The loops are secured to extend transversely of the length of the strip, and these loops, when tension is applied to the handes, tend to hold the strip tightly against the surface being washed.  
 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures BACK WASHER This invention relates to an improvement in washing and massage device, and deals particularly with a strip of soft fabric material having loop handles attached to its ends so that the strip may be reciprocated back and forth over the surface to be cleaned and massaged.  
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION For a great number of years washing strips have been provided for applying a washing or scrubbing action to surfaces of the body, usually to the back of the body which is not easily accessible. These devices normally comprises an elongated strip of flexible material which includes a pair of generally U-shaped handles attached to opposite ends to extend beyond the strip ends where they may be readily engaged between the two hands. By moving the hands back and forth, the surface of the strip is reciprocated against the surface of the body tending to clean and massage it.  
  As an example of strips of this general form. Attention may be directed to U.S. Pat. No. 2,517,767 which issued Aug. 5, 1941 to Steiner. The device is long enough so that the handle ends of the strip will overlie the sides of the body, and the strip may be reciprocated by alternately pulling the loop ends of the strip back and forth. US. Pat. No. 2,730,745 issued Jan. 17, 1956 to Norman also shows a wash cloth of this type which is munipulated by projecting loops at opposite ends of the strip. U.S. Pat. No. 2,691,787 issued Oct. 19, 1954 to Rosenwein also shows an elongated strip having short handle portions at the ends thereof and which may be used for reciprocating the strip.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The manner of attaching the handles to the strip is of importance in the present invention. Most of the devices of this same general type are provided with handles of U-Shaped form, the parallel ends of the handles being secured along opposite longitudinal edges of the strip to form handles which may be engaged by the fingers of the hand. In other words, the handles are only as wide as the strip itself. Accordingly the sides of the handle are maintained in parallel relation. However, if the fingers engaging the handles are narrower than the strip, the sides of the U-shaped handles tend to converge toward one another. The converging handle sides then tend to narrow of the strip at its ends so that the strip buckle and do not lie flat against the surface being cleaned or massaged.  
  l have discovered that if the handles are in the form of loops. portions of which are secured in face contact with the ends of the strip, the pull exerted upon the strip has a tendency to draw the strip firmly against the skin throughout its length. The use of generally parallel endless loops as handles, rather than U-shaped loops secured transversely to the ends of the strips, is not an obvious means of attaching handles to the end of a flelxible strip, and, frankly, the particular advantage of attaching the handles in this manner was only discovered through trial and error through research.  
  The handles of opposite ends of the strip of soft flexible material are preferably formed in the manner disclosed in the drawings. The strip comprises an elongated generally rectangular strip of mesh fabric preferably woven of a combination of nylon and cotton. The strip preferably comprises two layers of fabric formed by longitudinally folding the fabric and stitching together the free longitudinal edges opposite the folded edge. Obviously, the strip may be constructed by two strips of mesh in contiguous relation secured together along their longitudinal edges, or the strip may be made of tubular material.  
  The ends of the strip are reinforced by the overlapped ends of the tape, which may be of somewhat elastic material. each loop is formed of a length of tape, one end of which overlies an end of the strip to terminate flush with one longitudinal edge of the strip to extend transversely thereof. The other end of the tape overlies the opposite surface of the strip, overlapping the other end of the tape. The tape ends and strip ends are stitched together enclosing the strip end and forming the tape loop. The loop at the opposite end of the strip is similarly formed, and both tape loops extend in parallel relation at right angles to the strip.  
  When a pull is exerted on the strip by the handle loops, the pulling force tends to flex the ends of the strip which are reinforced by two thickness of tape into slightly angular relation with the remainder of the strip. The portion of the strip between the reinforced ends is brought snugly against the skin, holding the strip in close relation to the skin throughout its length. As a result, the manner of securing the tape to the strip is of importance in the invention.  
  The reinforced ends of the strip normally do not buckle, but curve to some extent due to the pull on the handles. When a pull is exerted on the strip, the strip tends to narrow between the reinforced ends, as does any flexible strip of this sort. When this strip is long, the center portion tends to curl up transversely, particularly when the pull is exerted in a manner to work the strip up or down the back as it is reciprocated. This tendency is reduced by transversely reinforcing the ends of the strip, and by decreasing the length of the strip between the reinforced ends. In most previous devices of this type. The strip is long enough to extend across the back and partially along the sides of the body. I prefer to shorten the strip and to a length less than the width of the back and to lengthen the loop handles. This tends to eliminate curling and rolling of the strip. This also brings the stiffer ends of the strip against the skin, increasing the massaging action. The relative shortening of the strip uses less soap or uses the soap more effectively, and holds a greater area of the strip against the skin.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the washing and massaging device, in use showing the construction thereof.  
  FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the device in readiness for use.  
  FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the strip portion of the device, the position of the section being illustrated by the line 33 of FIG. 2.  
  FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the ends of the strip and the ends of the strap, the position of the section being shown by the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The washing and massaging device is indicated in general by the letter A. The device is simple in form, comprising only three parts which are secured together to form the completed device. The strip 10 which forms the body of the device comprises a strip of water absorbent material which is originally substantially double the width of the strip, the strip being the strip being longitudinally folded as indicated at 11, and the edges of the doubled strip sewed together along the opposite parallel edge 12. The body of material is preferable of knotted form and the strip is of rectangular shape having parallel longitudinal edges 11 and 12 and parallel ends which are normally enclosed by the tape loops.  
  The loops by means of which the strip may be manipulated are indicated in general by the numeral 13, and may be formed of a suitable material. In preferred form, I prefer to employ strips of tape which are of slightly resilient material so that the loops are slightly elastic and stretchable. The tape is provided with finished edges 14 so as not to be irritating to the surface of the skin.  
  The washing and massaging device is indicated in general by the letter A. In the particular form illustrated, the device comprises an elongated strip of mesh fabric which is usually formed by folding the strip along one longitudinal edge as indicated at 12 and stitching the opposite longitudinal edge of the strip along the opposite edge 13 as indicated by the stitching 14. Alternatively, the strip may be formed of two thickness of the mesh fabric stitched together along opposite longitudinal edges but the construction illustrated is preferable from the standpoint of economy and simplicity of manufacture.  
  The ends of the strip 10 are secured to woven tapes which are similar in form and indicated in general by the numeral 15. The manner of securing the ends of the tape to the strip is of importance, and is best illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings.  
  The tape 15 is of sufficient length to form a loop of sufficient length to permit the loops to be held in the hands while the strip extends across the back. One end 16 is shown in FIG. 4 as extending beneath the end of the strip 10 throughout the entire width of the strip. The other end of the tape which is indicated at 17 also extends transversely across the end of the strip on the opposite side of the strip form that in contact with the tape end 16. For the purpose of orientation, the strip end 16 is described as extending beneath the end of the strip 10 while the end 17 of the tape is described as extending over the end of the strip, as this is the manner in which it is shown in FIG. 4. Obviously, either end of the tape may extend across the tape outwardly of the other in the completed form of the device.  
  The tapes 15 are formed of flexible fabric of suitable width having longitudinal edges which are finished in such a manner that the tapes will not ravel along their edges. The tape is similar to binding tape which is readily available on the market and may be, and preferably is, somewhat resilient, although the resiliency of the tape is not essential to the manufacture.  
  With one end 16 of the tape overlying one end of the strip 10, and the other end 17 of the tape overlying the other surface of the strip, the two tape ends are stitched along parallel lines 19 to secure the tape to the ends of the strip. Each end of the tape is secured by zig-zag stitching or the like to the longitudinal edges of the strip 10, the zig-zag stitching being indicated at 20. As a result, the ends of the strip are sandwiched between the ends 16 and 17 of each tape, and the entire area of the strip which is enclosed between the tapes is secured by a rectangular line of stitching extending longitudinally of the edges of the tape and transversely thereof.  
  It will be noted that by fastening the tape to the strip in this manner, the ends of the strips are reinforced, being three thickness of material, two thicknesses comprising the tape ends, and the other thicknesses comprising the ends of the strip. These reinforced ends are of advantage of the operation of the device.  
  When the loops of tape are grasped in the hands with the strip extending across the back of the user, as indicated in FIG. 1 of the drawings, a pull upon the opposite ends of the strip tends to flex the reinforced end portions outwardly from the skin of the user as indicated in FIG. 1. The pull upon the loops tends to curve the ends of the strip in the manner also shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. The flexing of the reinforced ends outwardly from the skin causes the portions of the strip between the reinforced ends to draw closely against the skin so that surface covered during reciprocation of the strip is throughly cleansed. At the same time, the pressure of the strip against the skin tend to massage the skin during the washing operating. Obviously, the skin is moistened proir to the washing operation. The soap or other cleaning agent may be applied to the surface of the strip prior to use, or the surface may be lathered to some extend before the device is used.  
  In accordance with the Patent Statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my invention in BACK WASHER, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that changes may be made within the scope of the following specification and Claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.  
 I claim:  
 1. A washing and massaging device including:  
 an elongated rectangular strip of mesh fabric,  
 a tape loop secured to each end of said strip by means of which the strip may be reciprocated over a surface of the body, said loops being longer than said strip,  
 each loop being formed of flat tape having a flat surface secured in face contact with said strip at an end thereof at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the strip, the loops at opposite ends of the strip extending in the same direction therefrom.  
  2. The structure of claim 1 and in which each said loop is formed of a strip of tape one end of which overlies one surface to extend laterally of said strip and the other end of which overlies the other surface of the strip to sandwich an end of the strip therebetween.  
  3. The structure ofclaim 2 and in which the ends of the tape are connected by stitching extending through the strip extending therebetween.  
  4. The structure of claim 1 and in which said loops are formed of somewhat stretchable tape.  
  5. The structure of claim 1 and in which the strip is of a length less than the width of the back of a normal adult.  
  6. The structure of claim 1 in which the ends of the strip are reinforced by the ends of the tape forming the