US3096526A - Shower stall, bath tub accessory - Google Patents

Description

July 9, 1963 E. A. VECENIE 3,096,526

SHOWER STALL, BATH TUB ACCESSORY Filed Dec. 11, 1961 Fig.I.

INVENTOR. ETHEL AVECENIE her ATTORNEY United States Patent F 3,096,526 SHOWER STALL,BATH TUB ACCESSORY Ethel A. Vecenie, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor of one-half to William J. Ruano, Pittsburgh, Pa. Filed Dec. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 158,405 2 Claims. (Cl. 4-148) This invention relates to a removable bath tub accessory for a shower stall which is readily installed without mechanical connections.

An outstanding disadvantage of the use of shower stalls is that small children are fearful of a shower spray. Furthermore, since a small child will ordinarily need assistance from its mother while bathing, the use of a shower is unsatisfactory.

The use of the ordinary combination shower and tub bath is unsatisfactory for small children and elderly people since the hard porcelain tub might cause injury to the child or elderly person, who is generally unsteady. Furthermore, a child, covered with mud, would track up a living room or hall while going to the main bathroom.

An object of the invention is to overcome the above named disadvantages of a shower stall, generally found in a basement, by supplementing it with a readily removable bath tub accessory of such construction so as to properly drain water from the shower spray, as well as to provide adequate seating for the child or elderly person.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel, plastic bath tub accessory which is readily removable from or readily installed in a shower stall without the necessity of any mechanical connections.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top or plan view of a bath tub accessory embodying the present invention and installed in a shower stall;

FIG. 2 is a vertical, cross-sectional view taken substantially through the center of the structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, vertical, cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a modification of the tub accessory, embodying two seats instead of one.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 of the drawing, numeral 1 denotes a shower stall partition of conventional construction, having a door opening 2 at the trout thereof and a base 3 defining the floor of the shower stall, at the center of which floor is located a drain 4.

A bath tub accessory, denoted generally by numeral 6, is of molded polyethylene or other suitable plastic material and comprises four walls preferably arranged in square outline and an integral floor 8. The top portions of walls 10 are turned outwardly at 12 to provide a suitable rim for grasping by the child or elderly bather.

The floor 8 must "be spaced from the floor of the stall. Such spacing is preferably provided by integrally molded, plastic ribs 14, which are preferably tapered in the manner shown so as to support the floor 8 horizontally and so as to provide reinforcement for the floor. The ribs are shown extending radially outwardly from the drain 4 so that water which falls from the shower, outwardly of the tub accessory 6, will be able to drain readily on the floor of the stall so as to flow directly into drain 4, without obstruction. A plug 20 is provided for closing a drain hole on the floor 8 of the tub accessory to enable the tub 6 to be filled with water when desired. The drain plug 20 is preferably placed in a position where it will not be accidentally kicked open by the b ather. A desirable place is underneath the seat .16, which seat is integrally molded to the tub accessory 6 and has a top seat portion 16 and a reversely bent support portion 18, as shown Patented July 9, 1963 more clearly in FIGURE 3. It will be noted that the width of the tub 6 is greater than the door opening 2. However, the height of the tub 6 is smaller than the door opening. Therefore, the tub is installed through the opening 2 by turning it from the position shown, and then placing it in the position shown while in the stall.

FIG. 4 shows a modification of the tub which is in all respects the same as that shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 except that two seats 16a and 16b are shown, instead of one.

In some instances, ribs or supports 14 may extend parallel to two opposite sides of the tub with breaks therethrough to allow water to flow freely on the floor of the stall into the drain 4.

In operation, a mother may easily install the tub accessory by holding it on end while inserting it through the door 2. Plug 20 is placed in the drain hole of the tub and the shower water is turned on until the tub is partially filled. The shower may then be turned off and the child may be placed in the tub and seated on seat 16 so that the mother can easily wash the childs feet and whereby the child may rest comfortably while bathing.

The tub accessory is especially useful in basement shower stalls so that a mother can wash the child who might be covered with mud, without the necessity of tracking mud on the living room or hall floor leading to the main bathroom.

Since polyethylene and other suitable plastic materials for making tub '6 are soft, even if the child accidentally falls while bathing, he will not be injured.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an efficient and relatively inexpensive plastic bath tub accessory for use in shower stalls, to provide tub baths, particularly for small children or elderly persons who are fearful of taking tub baths in a hard porcelain tub, and which plastic tub accessory is provided with 'a molded seat and a drain underneath it to provide greater comfort and convenience in bathing, also which is provided with ribs integrally molded outside the floor of the tub accessory for reinforcing the floor and for providing adequate spacing between the floor of the tub accessory and the floor of the shower to permit free drainage of water flowing outside the tub accessory; furthermore I have provided a tub accessory which is easily installed or removed from a shower stall without the necessity of making any mechanical connections, such as couplings or the like.

While I have illustrated and described several embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that these are by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a shower stall having four sidewalls defining a substantially rectangular outline with a door opening in one sidewall and having a substantially central drain, a substantially rectangular shaped tub of rigid plastic material with sidewalls slightly spaced from the sidewalls of the shower stall, the top portion of said tub sidewalls being rigid and outwardly rolled to provide a rim for grasping and support of the bather, the width of said tub being greater than the width of said door opening and the height being smaller than the width of said door opening to allow removal through said opening after turning the tub 90, a drain hole in the floor of said tub, a plug for closing said drain hole to enable filling of the tub with water, supporting ribs on the underside of the floor portion of said tub for providing a space between said tub floor portion and the shower stall floor, and an integrally molded plastic seat formed inside of at least one of said sidewalls.

2. Apparatus as recited in :claim 1 wherein said ribs extend radially and are sloped toward said drain to correspond to the slope of the floor of the shower stall, and wherein said seat has an-integral supporting wall tapering downwardly and toward the outside wall of the tub, and wherein said drain hole is located adjacent the base of said support wall underneath the seat to avoid accidental opening by kicking.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Richterkessing Sept. 14, 1948 Otis Oct. 21, 1951 Whittick Aug. 7, 1956 Luorna Mar. 12, 1957 Lattuca May 19, 1959 Lewis Mar. 17, 1962

Claims (1)

1. IN A SHOWER STALL HAVING FOUR SIDEWALLS DEFINING A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGUALR OUTLINE WITH A DOOR OPENING IN ONE SIDEWALL AND HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY CENTRAL DRAIN, A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR SHAPED TUB OF RIGID PLASTIC MA TERIAL WITH SIDEWALLS SLIGHTLY SPACED FROM THE SIDEWALLS OF THE SHOWER STALL, THE TOP PORTION OF SAID TUB SIDEWALLS BEING RIGID AND OUTWARDLY ROLLED TO PROVIDE A RIM FOR GASPING AND SUPPORT OF THE BATHER, THE WIDTH OF SAID TUB BEING GREATER THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID DOOR OPENING AND THE HEIGHT BEING SMALLER THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID DOOR OPENING TO ALLOW REMOVAL THROUGH SAID OPENING AFTER TURNING THE TUB 90*, A DRAIN HOLE IN THE FLOOR OF SAID TUB, A PLUG FOR CLOSING SAID DRAIN HOLE TO ENABLE FILLING OF THE TUB WITH WATER SUPPORTING RIBS ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE FLOOR PORTION OF SAID TUB FOR PROVIDING A SPACE BETWEEN SAID TUB FLOOR PORTION AND THE SHOWER STALL FLOOR, AND AN INTEGRALLY MOLDED PLASTIC SEAT FORMED INSIDE OF AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SIDEWALLS.

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