PERSPIRATION WIPE

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/192,450 filed on Sep. 18, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus that is on a person's arm and/or shoulder for wiping and/or removing perspiration from his/her face and/or forehead.

2. Description of Related Art

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,360 to Smith, et al., there is disclosed a highly absorbent material on at least one sleeve of the jersey. The material is preferably on the front of a short sleeve that ends at or above the elbow. The jersey or shirt is made of a lightweight material of moisture absorbing capacity which is less than that of the highly absorbent material, such as a stretch terry cloth which is a composition of substantially 60% cotton, 20% polyester and 20% lycra. The absorbent material is a removable panel which is attached to the sleeve.

What is needed is a perspiration wipe that can be attached to a person's arm or shoulder or to a garment that is made of any type of material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a perspiration wipe made of foam material which has a substantially rectangular bottom surface, a front surface that is shorter than the back surface, and a curved top surface that extends from the front surface to the back surface. The front and back surfaces are substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface and perspiration absorbing material is located on the top surface. The base member is adapted to be attached to the shoulder or sleeve of a garment or directly to a person's arm or shoulder for removing perspiration from a user's brow and face without using his/her hands.

The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a perspective side view of an apparatus having a base member and an absorbent pad adapted to be attached to a garment worn by a person or attached to a person's arm or shoulder for wiping perspiration from a person's eyes, face and/or brow in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the base member of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective side view of a base member without an absorbent pad that is adapted to be attached to a garment worn by a person or directly to a person's shoulder or upper arm with Velcro straps, adhesive tape or the like for wiping perspiration from a person's eyes, face and/or brow in accordance with the principles of the invention; and

FIG. 4 shows the apparatus of FIG. 1 attached to a garment in accordance with the principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective side view of an apparatus 10 that is adapted to be attached to a garment worn by a person or directly to a person's shoulder or upper arm with Velcro or the like for wiping perspiration from a person's eyes, face and/or brow in accordance with the principles of the invention.

The apparatus 10 has a base member 12 which can be composed of a foam material such as Styrofoam, a biodegradable foam, a PVC based foam, soft pliable rubber and the like. Base member has a flat or slightly contoured bottom surface adapted to be attached to a person's shoulder or arm or to a garment that is worn by a person. The front 16, back 18 and sides 20 of the apparatus can be straight, angled in or out relative to the bottom surface 14, slightly concave, or slightly convex. The top surface of the base member has a flat top section 26 that is substantially parallel to the bottom 14. A contoured top surface 24 that can be a depression having a shape of a quarter of a circle, a straight slanted surface that slopes down from the top section 26 to the front, or any other curved or straight surface. The base member can be molded or cut to have a desired shape and size.

A pad of absorbent material 28 such as terry cloth, cotton cloth, cotton gauze, or any other absorbent material which is shaped to fit over the top, sides, front and back, is attached to the base member with an adhesive dot, glue, hook and loop fastener, etc.

The apparatus is attached to a user's garment such as a shirt, or a person's shoulder or arm with a strip of tape having an adhesive on two sides, with a strip of Velcro, or any other method of fastening the apparatus to the garment.

In another embodiment of the invention the pad of absorbent material can be configured to cover only the back, flat top section, contoured depression and the front of the apparatus. In this embodiment the absorbent material is fastened to the back, the contoured depression and the front of the apparatus with glue, two sided adhesive tape, or any other fastening method.

In an embodiment where the apparatus is re-usable, the method of fastening the absorbent pad to the foam member is with temporary fastening means. In an embodiment where the apparatus is not re-usable, the method of fastening the absorbent pad to the foam member is with permanent fastening means.

With each of the above embodiments, the absorbent pad and the foam material of the base member is made with anti-microbial and/or anti-bacterial ingredients.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is shown a side view and a perspective side view of the base member of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 without the absorbent pad.

As noted above, base member has a flat or slightly contoured bottom surface adapted to be attached directly to a person's shoulder or upper arm with Velcro strips or the like, or to a garment that is worn by a person. The front 16, back 18 and sides 20 of the apparatus can be straight, angled in or out relative to the bottom surface 14, slightly concave, or slightly convex. The top surface of the base member has a flat top section 26 that is substantially parallel to the bottom 14. A contoured top surface 24 that can be a depression having a shape of a quarter of a circle, a straight slanted surface that slopes down from the top section 26 to the front, or any other curved or straight surface. The base member can be molded or cut to have a desired shape and size.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown FIG. 4 shows the apparatus of FIG. 1 attached to a garment in accordance with the principles of the invention. The base member is attached to the shoulder portion of a garment where the back of the contoured top surface of the base member is positioned to face in the direction of the garment wearer's face. It is understood that the location of the base member on the garment is not critical and that the user can, if desired, locate the base member further down on the sleeve of the garment. For example, the base member can be placed on the sleeve of the garment between the shoulder and the elbow.

In FIG. 4 the perspiration wipe is located on the left side of a user. Clearly, the perspiration can be located on the right side of a user or, if desired, a perspiration can be located on the left and right sides of a user.

The primary use of the disposable perspiration wipe is for a person who has limited mobility such as a patient who may not have the complete use of his/her arms to wipe perspiration from their face. This invention will find use with burn victims who have very limited mobility, and patients who have suffered severe motor nerve damage. This product can also be used for post-surgical purposes where the types of patients that would use this product are either recovering from injuries or have had surgeries that resulted in the immobilization of an arm. These patients will be able to wipe perspiration with little to no discomfort to themselves.

The re-usable version of the perspiration wipe will be mainly used as a sporting good product for use in a variety of different everyday activities or where manual labor is required in an environment where pathogens are present. Use of the perspiration wipe will eliminate the need for hard laborers such as painters, lawn care workers, etc., to touch their face, eyes, or mouth with dirty hands. On the sport's side, this product will be useful while biking, running, boxing, playing golf, tennis. When running or biking, this product will contribute to the aerodynamic positioning of the athlete's body so that the use of a hand and or loose clothing items to dry the face will be unnecessary and the drag (slowing down of the athlete) created by the action will be removed.

By using this product in either reusable or disposable form, the user is benefiting by being able to wipe perspiration from his/her face without the need to use his/her arms. This, in turn, will give a physically handicapped user a bit more freedom. For the everyday user this product allows a person to be put into a position where he/she can become more comfortable.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes of the form and details of the apparatus illustrated and in the operation may be done by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention.