Title:  Method of and apparatus for automatically coating the human body

United States Patent:  6,199,557

Assignee:  Laughlin Products, Inc. (Grapevine, TX)

Filed:  April 19, 1999

In a system for coating human skin, a chemical composition, such as a cosmetic or medical formulation, is uniformly coated over the entire body or selected parts of the body of the person being coated. The system includes atomization of the coating composition, containment of the atomized spray, and residual recovery which together yield a novel method for applying chemical compositions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a system for automatically coating the human body, including a method of and apparatus for uniformly and rapidly coating all or selected parts of the human body. The system includes apparatus which atomizes (also referred to as aerosolization, nebulization, mist generation, fog generation or spray generation) a chemical composition and deposits it uniformly over all or selected parts of the human body. It is not necessary for the individual receiving the treatment nor anyone else to manually apply any of the formulation. Also, a containment system is provided which restrains and collects residue from the application process. The system can optionally recycle the materials used.

There are several major advantages resulting from the use of the invention:

Uniform application minimizes or eliminates streaking,

No assistant is required for applying the composition,

The entire skin surface receives the same exposure to the composition, so the uniformity of the coating is greatly enhanced over manual application,

The optimal formulation for atomization is very simple, and does not require the addition of components which may inhibit the efficacy of the applied material,

The application time can be as quick as a few seconds, and complete drying can occur in just a few minutes,

The containment system drastically reduces the unwanted environmental impact,

Multiple applications can be used to better control the amount of material applied per unit area, and additional substances can be applied in separate applications.

The invention may be practiced utilizing a unitary construction including both a coating chamber and apparatus for coating a person situated within the coating chamber. A door provides ingress to and egress from the coating chamber which is provided with vertically disposed arrays of spray discharging nozzles situated at spaced apart points around the periphery of the chamber. A blower circulates air through the coating chamber to effect drying following the coating procedure and to aid in containment of excess spray. An air compressor supplies liquid for coating and compressed air for spraying the coating liquid to the nozzles situated within the coating chamber.

Claim 1 of 4 Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for coating substantially the entire human body with a predetermined human skin self tanning material comprising:

structure defining a coating chamber for receiving the entire body of a person to be coated;

a reservoir for receiving the predetermined human skin tanning material in liquid form;

at least one nozzle positioned within the coating chamber for receiving the predetermined human skin self tanning liquid from the reservoir and for spraying the predetermined human skin self tanning liquid onto the skin comprising substantially the entire body of the person in the coating chamber;

apparatus for continuously moving the nozzle in a substantially horizontal plane relative to the body of the person to be coated thereby assuring a uniform coating of the predetermined human skin tanning material over substantially the entire body of the person;

the structure defining the coating chamber further comprising apparatus for containing at least part of the spray from the nozzle which is not received on the skin of the person;

apparatus for circulating air independently of the liquid discharged from the nozzle and around the body of the person to be coated and thereby containing the remainder of the spray from the nozzle which is not received on the skin of the person; and

apparatus for disposing of the contained spray.

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