Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Shower – Plural spray heads
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-06
2001-05-22
Young, Lee (Department: 3751)
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Shower
Plural spray heads
C004S605000, C004S615000, C004S570000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06233757
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to shower systems having vertically adjustable body spray nozzles.
People commonly shower while standing in a tub enclosure or shower stall. The showerhead is usually mounted high on the wall to shower water down upon the person's head and body. Some shower systems also include spray nozzles beneath the main showerhead to spray water laterally toward various parts of the body. Such spray nozzles enhance the showering experience by providing more localized water pressure at targeted muscles and other areas of the body.
Typically such shower systems are vertically fixed at a height that is optimal for average-sized individuals. While such nozzles often can pivot to change the angle of the spray, for very tall adults or young children these standard nozzles will often direct water at undesirable angles. Moreover, a person may wish to more finely adjust the direction of the spray to a particular body region.
It is also known to attach a showerhead to a plumbing supply line via a hose or other flexible conduit to create what is known as a personal shower. The showerhead may be removed from a fixed shower wall mount and held by the hand during showering. However, this requires the bather to assign one hand to holding the spray head. This makes it more difficult to use soap or shampoo, or shave, simultaneously.
In another approach showerheads have been attached to a rod so as to be vertically slidable along the rod. However, these systems typically require the user to loosen and re-tighten fasteners to adjust the height of the showerhead and secure it in the adjusted position.
Other prior art shower systems provide a height adjustment mechanism in which the user can lift or lower a rod supported spout. However, such systems typically require large counter-balancing mechanisms to hold the showerhead at the adjusted position, and thus take up some extra space.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,227 discloses a vertically adjustable showerhead where the showerhead is mounted to a bracket behind the shower wall that has rollers which roll within a vertical track. This system holds the showerhead at prescribed heights by stopping the rollers with indentations in the track. As such, the adjustability of the showerhead is still somewhat limited.
Thus, it can be seen that a need still exists for a further improved system for vertically adjusting shower nozzles.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a body spray nozzle that can be adjusted and secured in place at any height along a vertical track. In one aspect the invention provides a shower system having a spray nozzle mounted to a movable carriage and a housing defining a guide along which the carriage travels to position the spray nozzle at different heights. The carriage has a cart with a pivot end and a free end. The cart supports the spray nozzle adjacent the free end and a glide is located adjacent the pivot end for travel along the guide. The cart also includes a brake.
There is also a trailer having one end supporting a glide for travel along the guide and an opposite end being pivotably connected to the pivot end of the cart along a pivot axis. A biasing member urges the free end of the cart into a position so as to normally urge the brake into contact with the guide and thereby fix the carriage axially with respect to the guide. Pulling the spray nozzle so as to move the free end of the cart towards the trailer can release the brake by reducing contact between the brake and guide.
In preferred aspects of the invention the guide has first and second parallel tracks, with the cart glide being disposed within the first track and the trailer glide being disposed within the second track. The cart can further include a second glide in lateral alignment with the first cart glide and in longitudinal alignment with the trailer glide.
In other preferred forms, the glides are all rollers rotatable within tracks of the guide, there is a check limiting the pivot of the cart free end away from the trailer, the biasing member is a compression spring, and the cart and trailer each include a pocket for retaining the spring.
It will be appreciated from the discussion below that the present invention provides a shower system in which body spray nozzles can be easily adjusted to any height along a guide track. The bather can simply pull on the nozzle and slide it to the desired height. Upon release of the nozzle, the nozzles remain at the adjusted height without the need to adjust separate fasteners.
The foregoing and other advantages of the invention will appear from the following description. In this description reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which there is shown by way of illustration preferred embodiments of the invention. These embodiments do not represent the full scope of the invention. Thus, the claims should be looked to in order to judge the scope of the invention.
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patent: 2685093 (1954-08-01), Lundquist
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patent: 5070549 (1991-12-01), Campe
patent: 5857227 (1999-01-01), Trusty et al.
patent: 1456791 (1965-09-01), None
patent: 336845 (1989-10-01), None
patent: 404250232 (1992-09-01), None
Cook Michael G.
Graham Gary E.
Kohler Co.
Le Huyen
Quarles & Brady LLP
Young Lee
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