1. A portable soaking basin, comprising:
a base unit having a basin base and a peripheral basin wall adjacent to and projecting upwardly from the basin base;
a basin floor above the basin base as to create a basin cavity sized to receive a user’s feet above the basin floor and a base compartment below the basin floor;
a disposable liner sized to nest within the basin cavity and configured to hold a soaking solution, the liner including a floor and a lip disposed about a periphery of an upper end of the liner;
a frame sized to be nested between the base unit and the disposable liner, the frame defining a plurality of voids throughout such that the frame is incapable of holding the soaking solution apart from the disposable liner; and
a magnetic jet assembly having a magnetic drive assembly disposed within the base compartment and an impeller assembly removably disposed within the basin cavity on an opposing side of a basin wall relative to the magnetic drive assembly, the impeller assembly operatively coupled to the magnetic drive assembly only via magnetic attraction, wherein the basin floor is disposed between the impeller assembly and the magnetic drive assembly.
2. The soaking basin as defined in claim 1, wherein the disposable liner is of a pre-formed shape.
3. The soaking basin as defined in claim 1, further comprising a heating assembly having a plurality of heating elements coupled to heat sink plate attached to the basin floor and having a flexible band of heating elements disposed about the basin wall.
4. The soaking basin as defined in claim 1, wherein the impeller assembly is positioned atop a raised planar portion of floor and elevates the impeller assembly relative to the plurality of parallel ridges.
5. The soaking basin as defined in claim 1, wherein the impeller assembly includes an impeller housing that defines input ports disposed in an upper portion of the housing and circumscribes the shaft.
6. The soaking basin as defined in claim 1, wherein the impeller assembly includes an impeller mounted for rotation within the impeller housing, the impeller having a cylindrical shaft, a planar base centered on the shaft, and a plurality of fins extending outwardly from the shaft, the planar base having a top side and bottom side, the plurality of fins disposed on the top side, the impeller further having a magnetic component disposed on a bottom of the impeller.
7. The soaking basin as defined in claim 6, wherein the shaft is affixed to the housing and defines an axis of rotation (Ar) oriented transverse to the basin floor.
8. The soaking basin as defined in claim 6, wherein the magnetic component is disk-shaped.
9. The soaking basin as defined in claim 6, wherein the impeller housing of the impeller assembly defines a bottom opening that has a greater diameter than the diameter of the impeller.
10. The soaking basin as defined in claim 6, wherein the magnetic drive assembly includes a planar disc that is disposed below the impeller assembly and projects a magnetic field that magnetically attracts the impeller assembly to secure the impeller assembly in place.
11. The soaking basin as defined in claim 6, wherein the impeller housing includes an output port that is distally spaced from the impeller.
12. The soaking basin as defined in claim 11, wherein the output port is defined by a projection of the housing that is oriented tangential to the impeller.
13. The soaking basin as defined in claim 12, wherein the magnetic drive assembly is an electro-magnet that generates the magnetic field to clause the impeller to spin about the axis of rotation, when in use.
14. A magnetic jet assembly for a soaking basin, comprising:
a magnetic drive assembly disposed within the component compartment; and
an impeller assembly removably disposed within the basin cavity on an opposing side of a basin wall relative to the magnetic drive assembly, the impeller assembly operatively coupled to the magnetic drive assembly only via magnetic attraction), the impeller assembly includes
an impeller housing that defines input ports disposed in an upper portion of the housing and circumscribes the shaft and an output port that is distally spaced from the impeller and is defined by a projection of the housing that is oriented tangential to the impeller, and
an impeller mounted for rotation within the impeller housing, the impeller having a cylindrical shaft, a planar base centered on the shaft, and a plurality of fins extending outwardly from the shaft, the planar base having a top side and bottom side, the plurality of fins disposed on the top side, the impeller further having a magnetic component disposed on a bottom of the impeller.
15. The magnetic jet assembly as defined in claim 14, wherein the magnetic component is disk-shaped.
16. The magnetic jet assembly as defined in claim 14, wherein the impeller housing of the impeller assembly defines a bottom opening that has a greater diameter than the diameter of the impeller.
17. The magnetic jet assembly as defined in claim 14, wherein the magnetic drive assembly includes a planar disc that is disposed below the impeller assembly and projects a magnetic field that magnetically attracts the impeller assembly to secure the impeller assembly in place.
18. The magnetic jet assembly as defined in claim 17, wherein the magnetic drive assembly is an electro-magnet that generates the magnetic field to clause the impeller to spin about the axis of rotation, when in use.
19. A portable soaking basin, comprising:
a portable base unit having a basin base and a peripheral basin wall adjacent to and projecting upwardly from the basin base;
a basin floor above the basin base as to create a basin cavity sized to receive a user’s feet above the basin floor and a base compartment below the basin floor;
a heating assembly having a plurality of heating elements coupled to heat sink plate attached to the basin floor and having a flexible band of heating elements disposed about the basin wall, the heating assembly configure to melt paraffin wax; and
a magnetic jet assembly having a magnetic drive assembly disposed within the base compartment and an impeller assembly removably disposed within the basin cavity on an opposing side of a basin wall relative to the magnetic drive assembly, the impeller assembly operatively coupled to the magnetic drive assembly only via magnetic attraction, wherein the basin floor is disposed between the impeller assembly and the magnetic drive assembly.
20. The soaking basin as defined in claim 19, further comprising a vibration assembly mounted in the base compartment to vibrate fluid the basin cavity.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A circuit board configuration, comprising:
a. a circuit board having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first surface and the second surface define a thickness of the circuit board;
b. a circuit trace applied to at least the first surface;
c. a plated recess or slot through the circuit board, the plated recess or slot having a first sidewall and a second sidewall opposite and generally parallel to the first sidewall, defining a gap therebetween, wherein the plated recess or slot is electrically contiguous with the circuit trace;
d. a first disruption of a first portion of the plated recess or slot;
e. a second disruption of a second portion of the plated recess or slot, wherein the first and second disruptions completely disrupt an electrical contiguity between the first sidewall and the second sidewall of the plated recess or slot; and
f. an electronic component having a first end, a second end opposite the first end, a cathode end, and an anode end opposite the cathode end,
wherein the electronic component is physically mounted to and physically protected by the first and second sidewalls within the plated recess or slot wit the cathode end adjacent to the first sidewall of the plated recess or slot and the anode end adjacent to the second sidewall of the plated recess or slot.
2. The circuit board configuration of claim 1, wherein the cathode end of the electronic component directly contacts the first sidewall of the plated recess or slot and wherein the anode end of the electronic component directly contacts the second sidewall of the plated recess or slot, thereby establishing a direct electrical communication between the electronic component and the plated recess or slot and obviating the need for bond wires.
3. The circuit board configuration of claim 1, further comprising an encapsulant covering at least the first end of the electronic component to seal and secure the electronic component inside the plated recess or slot.
4. The circuit board configuration of claim 1, wherein the gap between the first sidewall and the second sidewall of the plated recess or slot is less that the thickness of the circuit board.
5. The circuit board configuration of claim 1, further comprising a conductive material sealing the first and second sidewalls of the plated recess or slot to the cathode end and the anode end of the electronic component, respectively.
6. The circuit board configuration of claim 5, wherein the conductive material is selected from the group consisting of a solder, an adhesive, a spring element, and a eutectic alloy.
7. The circuit board configuration of claim 1, wherein the electronic component is a diode.
8. A circuit board configuration, comprising:
a. a circuit board having a first surface and a circuit trace on the first surface;
b. a recess or slot formed on the first surface defined by at least two sidewalls that are oblique to the first surface of the circuit board;
c. two or more plated surfaces on the at least two oblique sidewalls and electrically connected to the circuit trace; and
d. an electronic component having two or more electrical contact surfaces physically mounted to the two or more plated surfaces such that the electronic component is physically mounted to the at least two oblique sidewalls and in direct electrical communication with the circuit trace obviating the need for any bond wires.
9. The circuit board configuration of claim 8, further comprising an encapsulant that covers one or more exposed ends of the electronic component.
10. (canceled)
11. The circuit board configuration of claim 8, wherein the at least one oblique sidewall is generally perpendicular to the first surface of the circuit board.
12. The circuit board configuration of claim 8, further comprising a conductive material to secure the electronic component inside the recess or slot.
13. The circuit board configuration of claim 12, wherein the conductive material is selected from the group consisting of a solder, an adhesive, a spring element, and a eutectic alloy.
14. The circuit board configuration of claim 8, comprising two or more plated surfaces on two oblique sidewalls, wherein the two oblique sidewalls define a gap.
15. The circuit board configuration of claim 14, wherein the first surface of the circuit board and a second surface of the circuit board opposite the first surface defines a thickness of the circuit board and wherein the gap between the two oblique sidewalls is less than the thickness of the circuit board.
16. The circuit board configuration of claim 8, wherein the electronic component is selected from the group consisting of a diode, a transistor, a field effect transistor and an operational amplifier.
17. A method of packaging an electronic component in a circuit board, comprising:
a. providing a circuit board having at least a first surface;
b. forming a recess or slot in the first surface of the circuit board, said recess or slot being defined by at least a first and a second sidewall that are oriented oblique to the first surface of the circuit board and generally parallel to each other;
c. applying a circuit trace to at least the first surface of the circuit board;
d. plating the at least first and second sidewalls to establish an electrical communication with the circuit trace on the at least first surface of the circuit board;
e. disrupting the plating on the at least first and second sidewalls to form at least two plated surfaces separated by a distance sufficient to electrically insulate the at least two plated surfaces from one another; and
f. physically mounting at least two electrical contact surfaces of an electronic component to the at least two plated surfaces without using any bond wires
wherein the electronic component is physically supported and physically protected by the oblique sidewalls and is in direct electrical communication with the circuit trace on the circuit board.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the circuit trace is applied prior to forming the recess or slot.
19. The method of claim 17, further comprising encapsulating the electronic component for electrically and physically insulating the electronic component from the environment.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein disrupting the plating on the at least first sidewall is achieved by a process selected from the group consisting of drilling a bore, cutting, etching, abrading, burning, vaporizing, and removing at one or more predetermined locations along the at least first and second sidewalls thereby removing one or more portions of the plating thereon between the at least two plated surfaces.
21. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of securing the electrical communication inside the recess or slot with a conductive material.
22. The method of claim 17, wherein the recess or slot is formed generally perpendicularly to the first surface of the circuit board.