Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Tubs – Convenience accessories
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-21
2003-04-22
Huson, Gregory (Department: 3751)
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Tubs
Convenience accessories
C004S570000, C004S615000, C239S283000, CD23S213000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06550079
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a shower. More particularly this invention concerns a wall-mount adjustable bath shower.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A standard wall-mount hand shower as described in German utility model 2,684,920 has an arcuate tubular holder mounted on the wall. A shower head is mounted at the outer end of a hose that passes through the tubular holder and whose inner end is attached to the water source. Thus the user can leave the shower head in the holder and use the shower as a stationary wall- or deck-mount shower. Alternately the user can pull the shower head up out of the holder to use it as a directed hand shower. Such a unit is typically used in a beauty salon or the like for shampooing and is not normally considered practical for a body shower due to the limited ability to change the position of the shower head in the holder.
In another standard system an upright rod is mounted on the shower-stall or bath wall and a holder is provided that can be secured anywhere along the rod and that has a socket in which a base of a shower head fits. The holder itself can be pivoted on the rod to vary the angle of the shower head. Thus the shower can be used stationary, that is with the holder fixed at a desired level and at a desired angle on the rod, or as a movable hand shower. This system is relatively complex and the trailing hose can get in the way of the bather.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved wall-mount adjustable hand shower.
Another object is the provision of such an improved wall-mount adjustable hand shower which overcomes the above-given disadvantages, that is which can be used both as a stationary or hand shower and that is of simple construction.
A further object is to provide such a shower where the hose feeding the shower head is maintained out of the way at least when the shower is being used with the head in the holder.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A shower has according to the invention an elongated C-section holder tube normally made of a rigid plastic and having a laterally open full-length slot open at at least one end of the tube, a bracket securing the holder tube to the wall with the slot open generally parallel to the wall, and a shower head. The head has a guide part snugly engageable in and slidable longitudinally along the holder tube, a narrow neck projecting laterally from the guide part out of the tube through the slot thereof, and a spray part provided with spray holes and mounted on the neck outside the tube. A flexible hose has an inner end connected to the guide part and communicating therethrough with the spray part and an outer end connectable to a source of water under pressure for spraying water from the holes of the spray part. The shower head is slidable along the holder tube with the hose extending from the guide part inside the holder tube and out of the open end of the holder tube. The slot in accordance with the invention is open at a lower end of the tube and the head is displaceable wholly out of the tube at the open lower tube end.
Thus with this system the actual shower head can be used as a standard hand or fist shower, that is with the user holding it in one hand and directing the spray wherever he or she wants and the flexible supply hose being the only connection to the wall. Alternately the shower head can be fitted to the holder tube and can be slid therealong to any desired position, directing spray vertically downward from above for a standard athletic shower or outward from the side when the user wants to bathe without wetting his or her hair, or even lower as for instance to clean the legs and feet after gardening. Whenever the spray head is in the holder, the hose is pulled at least partially into the holder tube so that at least part of it is moved completely out of the bather's way. When the shower head is in the upper portion of the holder, only a small loop of hose extends from the lower holder end to the water supply.
According to the invention the holder tube is arcuate in a plane and the slot opens parallel to the plane. This plane is normally perpendicular to the wall. More particularly the holder tube has an upper portion of a smaller radius of curvature than a lower part of the tube. This allows the spray to be oriented almost vertically downward or from the side as described above.
The holder is fixed to the wall by a bracket itself fixable to the wall. When the tube is arcuate the bracket has a front side with an arcuate seat holding the tube and a flat back side engaging the wall. Screws fix the bracket to the wall. The bracket has a removable cover normally covering the screws and giving the mounting bracket a sleek, finished look. This bracket can be provided with seats or holders for alternate spray plates for the shower head, allowing the user to alter the spray pattern.
The guide part according to the invention is formed with a pair of spaced-apart part-circular ridges and the tube is of generally circular section. Furthermore the spray part is pivotal about an axis on the neck, has two arrays of the holes, and is provided with a valve for directing water to the arrays alternately.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3616466 (1971-11-01), Davis
patent: 4303201 (1981-12-01), Elkins et al.
patent: 4914759 (1990-04-01), Goff
patent: 5230106 (1993-07-01), Henkin et al.
patent: 5307528 (1994-05-01), Nieuwenhuis et al.
patent: D384129 (1997-09-01), Neufeld et al.
patent: 5857225 (1999-01-01), Bischoff et al.
patent: 6256808 (2001-07-01), Graham et al.
Bischoff Bernd
Ellerbrock Holger
Gransow Eckhard
Kirchhoff Andreas
Körfer Sascha
Dubno Herbert
Friedrich Grohe AG & Co. KG
Huson Gregory
Nguyen Tuan
Wilford Andrew
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