Portable plunger-wash bag apparatus and method of use to clean laundry

Abstract

A plunger-wash bag apparatus that has two components, a wash bag for receiving the dirty laundry, water and detergent and a plunger having a plunger cup configured to move up and down within the wash bag to agitate and wash laundry therein. The high level of agitation of the laundry up and down and along the interior of the wash bag effectively scrubs and cleans the laundry. Dirty laundry may be inserted into the interior of the wash bag along with water and detergent, and the valve cap may be placed over the valve opening to seal the valve. The plunger cup may then be inserted through the upper opening of the wash bag and moved up and down. The plunger may include jet apertures that cause the liquid within the wash bag to rush or jet therethrough and thereby more effectively wash the clothes therein.

Claims

1. A method of washing laundry comprising: a) providing a plunger-wash bag apparatus comprising: i) a wash bag comprising: a flexible receptacle extending from a bottom to an upper opening and forming an interior for receiving said laundry; a stiffener extending along said upper opening; a fastener coupled with said stiffener; a valve opening configured in said flexible receptacle between a centerline of a wash bag length and the upper opening; and a valve cap configured to detachably attach to said valve opening to seal said valve opening closed; ii) a plunger comprising: a plunger handle; a plunger cup comprising an upper receiver portion and cup portion that flares radially outward from the receiver portion to a lower flange, said lower flange having a flange width configured to fit through the upper opening of the wash bag and wherein the plunger cup is configured to extend down into the wash bag through the upper opening; and a plunger shaft extending from said plunger cup to said plunger handle; b) providing a detergent; c) placing said laundry into the interior of the wash bag; d) placing the detergent and water into the interior of the wash bag; e) inserting the plunger cup into the wash bag through the upper opening; f) plunging the laundry by moving the plunger up and down within the wash bag for a washing time; g) removing the plunger from the wash bag; h) rolling the upper opening down to fold the flexible receptacle over the stiffener an effective number of times to prevent leaking of said water; i) fastening the fastener to retain the upper opening in a rolled down configuration; j) removing the valve cap from the valve opening; k) draining the water and detergent out from the valve opening; l) unfastening the fastener and unfolding the upper opening to open the upper opening; m) inserting rinse water into the interior of the wash bag; n) replacing the valve cap on the valve opening; o) agitating the laundry and water within the wash bag to rinse the laundry; p) rolling the upper opening down to fold the flexible receptacle over the stiffener an effective number of times to prevent leaking of said water; q) removing the valve cap; and r) draining the water from the valve opening to produce washed laundry.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising compressing the wash bag after draining the water and detergent out from the valve opening and before replacing the valve cap.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein draining the water and detergent out from the valve opening includes compressing the wash bag to force said water and detergent out of the valve opening.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein inserting rinse water into the interior of the wash is through the valve opening.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein agitating the laundry comprises plunging the laundry by moving the plunger up and down within the wash bag for a rinsing time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein agitating the laundry comprises moving the wash bag to agitate the laundry.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the fastener comprises a buckle having a male portion and a female portion, wherein the male portion is configured to detachably attach to the female portion by insertion into the female portion.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the flexible receptacle of the wash bag comprises a waterproof fabric.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the flexible receptacle of the wash bag consists of a polymer film.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the bottom of the wash bag comprises a flat bottom portion that extends within a perimeter of the bottom.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the flexible receptacle tapers from the upper opening to a base.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the bottom has a width that is at least 5% smaller than a width of the upper opening.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the plunger shaft is collapsible and comprises a plunger retainer ring configured between a first plunger shaft section and a second plunger shaft section.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the plunger cup comprises a cup aperture configured in a cup portion of the plunger cup.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the plunger cup comprises two cup apertures configured in a cup portion of the plunger cup.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the plunger cup comprises two receiver apertures configured in the upper receiver portion of the plunger cup.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the plunger cup comprises two receiver apertures configured in the upper receiver portion of the plunger cup.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the plunger cup comprises stiffening ribs.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the plunger comprises a fin coupled to and extending out from the plunger shaft.

20. The method of claim 19, where the fin has a width substantially a same radius of the plunger cup.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the plunger cup has a perimeter with a perimeter indentation forming a perimeter flow channel between the perimeter indentation and an interior of the wash bag.

22. The method of claim 1, comprising two or more perimeter indentations configured between perimeter protrusions of the plunger cup to form a respective perimeter flow channel between each of the two or more perimeter indentations and an interior of the wash bag.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the perimeter indentation has an innermost radial extension length that is 75% or less an outermost radial extension length of said perimeter protrusions.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the plunger cup comprises stiffening ribs.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising i) a drain opening configured in said flexible receptacle more proximal to said bottom than to said upper opening; and ii) a drain cap configured to close said drain opening to seal said drain opening closed.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the drain opening is configured no more than 20 cm up from a bottom of the wash bag.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a front view of an exemplary plunger-wash bag apparatus comprising a wash bag and a plunger.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an exemplary wash bag of a wash bag apparatus having the top folded over a plurality of times to seal the upper opening and the valve cap detached from the valve opening.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the exemplary plunger taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 1.

(5) FIG. 4 show a top view of a plunder cup having three perimeter indentations that form three perimeter flow channels.

(6) FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of a method of using the plunger-wash bag.

(7) Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the figures. The figures represent an illustration of some of the embodiments of the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. Some of the figures may not show all of the features and components of the invention for ease of illustration, but it is to be understood that where possible, features and components from one figure may be included in the other figures. Further, the figures are not necessarily to scale, some features may be exaggerated to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

(8) As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Also, use of “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and components described herein. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the scope of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

(9) Certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein and are illustrated in the accompanying figures. The embodiments described are only for purposes of illustrating the present invention and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention, and certain modifications, combinations and improvements of the described embodiments, will occur to those skilled in the art and all such alternate embodiments, combinations, modifications, improvements are within the scope of the present invention.

(10) Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 3, an exemplary plunger-wash bag apparatus 10 comprises a wash bag 20 and a plunger 40 having a plunger cup 50 configured to move up and down within the wash bag to agitate and wash laundry therein. The was bag may be an elongated was bag as described herein. Laundry 14 may be inserted into the interior 28 of the wash bag along with water and detergent 12 and the valve cap 31 may be placed over the valve opening 30 to seal the valve opening closed. The plunger cup may then be inserted through the upper opening 26 of the wash bag and moved up and down. The plunger cup 50 has a width W3 that is less than the width or diameter of the upper opening W1 of the wash bag to enable the plunger cup to extend down into the flexible receptacle 22 to agitate and wash the laundry within the wash bag.

(11) The wash bag is an elongated wash bag having a length L1 from the base or bottom 24 to the upper opening 26. The length L1 may be at least twice the width W2 of the base 25. The wash bag 20 has a flexible receptacle 22, a flat bottom 24 and an upper opening 26. The wash bag comprises a flexible receptacle that may be stiff enough to enable the wash bag to be free standing on the base 25. The wash bag may have a flat bottom 24 that further enables the wash bag to be free standing. The wash bag may be substantially uniform in dimension from the base 25 to the top 27 or upper opening 26, wherein the base is within about 10% or preferably within about 5% of the dimension of the upper opening. The wash bag may taper in dimension from the upper opening 26 to the bottom 24, thereby providing a larger opening for access and plunging the clothing. The flat bottom or base may be circular and the width of the base may be a diameter. The upper opening 26 of the wash bag may be configured with a stiffener 32 that is more rigid that the flexible receptacle 22 material. The stiffener may be a strip of material configured along the top opening that enables the top of the wash bag to be folded over the stiffener and then folded over a number of times to effectively seal the top opening of the wash bag. The stiffener may extend along one side of the upper opening or along the entire perimeter of the upper opening, as shown in FIG. 1. A fastener 33 may be a snap-fit buckle type fastener having an insert portion 34A and a receiver portion 34B. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper opening of the wash bag has been folded down over the stiffener a number of times and the fastener is coupled together to secure this folded down configuration. The length L2 of the wash bag is reduced due to the folding over of the upper opening. A stabilizing strap 36 may extend from the wash bag and may have a hand-loop 37 that may be held during the washing process to stabilize the wash bag in an upright configuration.

(12) A wash bag has a valve opening 30 configured to allow liquid to drain from or liquid to be inserted into the interior 28 of the wash bag 20. The valve has a valve cap 31 configured to seal the valve opening. The valve opening may be configured more proximal to the upper opening, or top of the wash bag than the bottom of the wash bag, or about ⅝ up along the length of the wash bag from the bottom 24 or more or about ¾ from the bottom 24 or more. Put another way, the valve opening 30 may be configured between a centerline CL of the wash bag and the upper opening 26 of wash bag, wherein the centerline CL is the center line of the wash bag length L1, between the bottom of the wash bag and the upper opening of the wash bag. The valve may be opened to allow liquid, such as dirty wash water to drain from the wash bag and clean water may be poured into the wash bag through the valve opening, for example. A wash bag may have a second valve opening, or a drain opening 130 configured more proximal to the bottom of the wash bag to allow liquid to be drained from the wash bag without tilting or lifting the wash bag. This secondary drain opening may also have a drain cap 131 configured to seal the drain opening closed. The drain opening may be configured up from the base no more than about 10 cm, or no more than about 5 cm, or no more than 3 cm, or no more than about 2 cm and any range between and including the distances provided. The closer the drain opening is to the base, the more completely liquid can be drained from the wash bag without lifting the wash bag, which may be most useful for larger wash bags.

(13) An exemplary plunger 40 has a shaft 42 that extends from a handle 44, on a handle end 46A, to a plunger cup 50, on a plunger end 46B. The handle has a handle opening 49 to enable better manipulation and control of the plunger. The shaft may be collapsible in length to aid in storing and transport. An adjustment feature 15, such as an adjustment ring 52, may be used to modify the length of the shaft and may be used to lock a first shaft section 48A in a fixed position with respect to a second shaft section 48B. The second shaft section may be telescoping with the first shaft section, or vice versa. As shown the first shaft section 48A is configured to slide into the second shaft section 486. The shaft may include one or more fins 90, 90′ coupled to and extending from the shaft 42. As shown in FIG. 1, two fins 90, 90′ extend from the second shaft section 48B, or the section more proximal to the plunger cup 50. A user may spin the handle to spin the laundry within the wash bag to enable more effective cleaning or rinsing. A user may simply plunge up and down and the fins may grab and move laundry up and down to produce more agitation of the laundry. As shown in FIG. 3, the fins extend out to about the perimeter of the lower flange 56 of the plunger cup 50.

(14) The plunger cup may have an upper receiver portion 54 configured to receive and retain the shaft, which may be threaded to engage with threads of the plunger end of the shaft, as shown in FIG. 3. The plunger cup also has a flared portion 53 that flares outward from the upper receiver to the lower flange 56. The plunger cup 50 has cup apertures 55 that allow liquid and/or air to flow therethrough to prevent suction and to produce a flow of liquid therethrough to more effectively wash clothing during the plunging step. An exemplary plunger cup may have one or more cup apertures 55, or apertures in the flared portion 53 of the cup portion 57 of the plunger cup 50. As shown, the cup apertures 55 are configured about every 45 degrees around the perimeter of the plunger cup to provide eight cup apertures with four being shown. As described herein, a plunger cup may have one or more cup apertures, and preferably there may be about three to eight cup apertures. An exemplary plunger cup may also have one or more receiver apertures 59, apertures configured in the receiver portion 54 of the plunger cup. As shown, the receiver apertures 59 are configured about every 60 degrees or less around the receiver portion of the plunger. A receiver aperture channel 51 extends from the interior of the flared portion 53 of the plunger cup to the exterior of the receiver portion, as shown in FIG. 3, to produce a rush or jet of water flowing out of the receiver aperture when the plunger is plunged down into the wash bag. The receiver apertures may produce a stronger jet of liquid than the cup apertures as a result of their orientation, size and the receiver aperture channel. An exemplary plunger cup may have about one to four receiver apertures, as too many may compromise the stability of the plunger cup. The receiver apertures in the receiver portion may be a different size than the cup apertures in the flared portion of the plunger cup. The apertures may allow air and liquid to pass through the plunger cup to prevent the plunger from having too much resistance when moved up and down within the wash bag. The plunger may have strengthening ribs 58, 58′, as shown in FIG. 3 to prevent the plunger from deflecting or deforming during the washing process.

(15) As shown in FIG. 4, a plunger cup 50 has a perimeter 61 that is smooth curved surfaces with three perimeter indentations 60 alternating about the perimeter with three perimeter protrusions 66, forming three perimeter flow channels 70, 70′ and 70″ between the outer perimeter, or lower flange 56 of the plunger cup, and the interior 28 of the wash bag 20. A perimeter flow channel may have a perimeter flow channel width 72 of about 10 mm or more, about 20 mm or more, about 30 mm or more and any range between and including the width values provided. These perimeter flow channels may produce a high velocity of water, or a rush of water up and down, as the plunger is moved up and down within the wash bag and these high velocity flows of water around the plunger cup 50 may more effectively wash laundry. Note that the perimeter indentations have an innermost radial extension length 62, the length from the center of the plunger cup to the most radially inward portion of the perimeter indentation, that may be 75% or less or even 50% or less than and outermost radial extension length 68 of a plunger protrusion, the length from the center of the plunger cup to the most radially outward portion of the perimeter protrusion 68. This particular design is a petal design having three perimeter indentations configured at 120 degree intervals about the plunger with three perimeter protrusions configured therebetween. The outer perimeter of the plunger cup may forma a perimeter gap 75 between the outermost portion of the perimeter protrusion 66 and the interior 28 of the wash bag. Note that the area formed between the perimeter indentations and the interior of the wash bag is about 10% or more the interior area of the wash and may be 15% or more, 20% or more, or even 25% or more.

(16) As shown in FIG. 4 the plunger cup 50 has three cup apertures 55 that are elongated having a length that is at least three times the width of the cup apertures. The length of the cup apertures each extend radially along the perimeter protrusions 66.

(17) As shown in FIG. 5, and with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a method of using the plunger-wash bag apparatus 10 is provided. In some embodiments, the wash bag 20 may include instruction graphics (not shown), printed or otherwise attached, detailing how a user might wash laundry without electricity using the plunger-wash bag apparatus 10. At a first step of cleaning, the wash bag 20 is in the unrolled position with the valve cap 31 tightened on the valve opening 30, The user adds water, detergent 12 (suds), and dirty laundry 14 (shown in FIG. 1) to the interior 28 of the wash bag 20. In some uses of the present invention, the user may wish to use alternative or additional cleaning items, fresheners, soaps, etc. The wash bag 20 may be provided in multiple sizes for holding different volumes of liquid. For example, in one embodiment, the interior 28 may contain about 45 liters of volume or more, about 30 liters of volume or more, about 20 liters of volume or more, or about 10 liters of volume or more, and any range between and including the volumes provided. In some embodiments, water required for load capacity may be 3.5-5 liters for every 10 liters of interior volume. Obviously, other sizes of the wash bag 20 may be constructed using the proportions provided herein, which should be considered within the scope of the present invention.

(18) At a next step of the method the user plunges the contents of the interior 28 using the plunger 40. The plunging motion may be performed from 0.5 to 3 minutes, or any length of time the user deems necessary to activate the detergent 12 and clean the laundry 14. Optionally, the stabilizing strap 36 may be pulled upwardly to stabilize the wash bag 20 during plunging. After plunging, the user pinches the upper opening 26 with the buckles 34 at either end, and rolls or folds the wash bag 20 downwardly to fasten the buckles 34 together. The stiffener 32, comprising a semi rigid material may create a tactile reference so that the wash bag 20 is symmetrically rolled and creates a seal. To drain the liquid from the wash bag 20 in the rolled position, user removes the valve cap 31, and raises and tilts the wash bag 20 so the liquid is poured out of the valve opening 30. User may also wish to compress the wash bag 20 using body weight to force drainage. This step may be repeated as needed. At a rinsing step, clean water may be poured into the wash bag 20 via the valve opening 30 or the upper opening 26. The user may wish to cover the valve opening 30 with the valve cap 31, and then repeat the earlier plunging step to rinse. The user may also wish to shake, swill, etc, to rinse remaining dirty water and suds from the laundry. This step may be repeated as needed to rinse the interior 28 and the clean laundry.

(19) To dry, the user removes the laundry 14 from the interior 28 of the wash bag 20 to dry via any desired method (hanging, laying out, using a tumbling device, wringing, etc.). The stabilizing strap 36 may be clipped or otherwise attached to a receiver (not shown) such as a D-ring clip, loop, etc. In this embodiment, the D-ring clip is located adjacent the central axis and the flat bottom 24 of the wash bag 20. In use, the stabilizing strap 36 is then hung upside-down to allow the wash bag 20 to dry. In some embodiments, the stabilizing strap 36 may be attached to another part of the wash bag 20, as deemed suitable by the manufacturer.

(20) It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. Specific embodiments, features and elements described herein may be modified, and/or combined in any suitable manner. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications, combinations and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.