US3418666A - Shower and tub enclosure - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 31, 1968 Filed March 17. 1966 r. ROCKEY 3,418,666

SHOWER AND TUB ENCLOSURE Sheet 1 of INVENTOR. THOMAS ROCKEY ATTORNEY.

Dec. 31, 1968 T. ROCKEY 3,413,666

SHOWER A N D T U B E N C L O S U RE Filed March 17. 1966 Sheet 2 of 4 l N VEN TOR.

THOMAS ROCKEY syy yweay ATTORNEY.

Dec. 31, 1968 ROCKEY 3,418,666

I SHOWER AND TUB ENCLOSURE Filed March 17, 1966 Sheet 3 of I N VEN TOR.

3 moms ROCKEY y AT TOR N EY.

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United States Patent 3,418,666 SHUWER AND TUB ENCLOSURE Thomas Rockey, Miami, Fla., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Kinlread Industries Incorporated, Chicago, 111., a corporation Filed Mar. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 535,117 1 Claim. (Cl. 4-154) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shower closure having a stanchion guiding and supporting structure including a pair of rollers on an axle fitted in a box-like channel member on a bracket entering the member through an elongated slot. The roller axle fits through an elongated vertical slot in the bracket. A single fastener secures to the stanchion both the bracket and a plate for locking flexible panels to the stanchion.

This invention relates to an enclosure which is adapted to be used in the bath or shower area of a home, and, more particularly, to a rolling type closure including stanchions moveable in the plane of the closure and pliable panels adapted to be traveled into looped engagement out of the plane of closure when the closure is opened.

As is perhaps well known, many home owners prefer to enclose their shower area of bathtub area of their homes and, in the past, there have been numerous devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Letters Patent No. 2,897,515, which pertain to such structures. The instant invention has as an object the provision of an enclosure which includes rollers to facilitate translation of the stanchions of the enclosure and which is composed of extruded members of generally symmetrical configuration so that the constituent elements may be readily assembled at a job site and installed by a home owner.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a tub enclosure of the type described hereinafter which includes a frame adapted to be connected to a wall and define a closure plane, jamb-engaging stanchions and intermediate stanchions interconnected by means of pliable panels arranged so that on rolling movement of the stanchion connections to the frame the panels fold out of the plane of closure and the stanchions may be moved into close adjacent relationship, and means to hold the enclosure in an open position.

It is another object of this invention to provide an enclosure for a bathroom of a home which is composed of extruded materials of symmetrical construction whereby the elements are adapted to be interchanged and readily assembled and installed with a minimum amount of instruction by a home owner.

It is another object of this invention to provide an enclosure which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and is otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which it is intended as is set forth more fully hereinafter and which provides a readily installed tub enclosure and is adapted to be shipped in a knocked'down version.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the instant bath enclosure in a closed position as viewed from the exterior of the enclosed area;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view similar to that of FIG. 1 and illustrating the bath enclosure in an open position;

FIG. 3 is a partial elevation view of the jamb end of the bath enclosure as viewed from the inside of the enclosed area in contrast to the view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view in cross section taken on the plane indicated by the line 44 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is a view in cross section taken on the plane indicated by the line 55 of FIG. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a view in cross section taken along the plane indicated by the line 66 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a partial view of FIG. 2 and illustrating the keeper for holding the enclosure in the position there illustrated; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view in cross section of that area indicated by the arrow 8 in FIG. 6 and illustrating the interconnection of the pliable panels and the stanchion members.

Referring now to the drawings, the numerals 12 and 14 designate jamb members to be connected to the walls on either side of a tub or shower compartment in upstanding vertical relation while the numerals 16 and 18 designate upper and lower guides in bridging relation with respect to the jambs as a head and sill respectively; in combination, the guides and the jamb define a frame for the closure. The jamb members are connected to the Wall 22 by suitable means as by the screws 24. As is apparent in FIG. 6 the jamb members are of generally H-shaped cross section throughout their length and define a longer pair of legs 26 and 28 and a shorter pair of legs 30 and 32 with the aforesaid screw 24 connecting the web 36 of the jamb members to the wall. The upper and lower ends of the web are cutoff so that the end of the head and sill may be received therein and, in the case of the head, be supported in nesting relation on the web of the jambs. To secure it in position a screw 38 may be provided to interconnect the jamb and the header, while the sill may be connected to the upper surface of a bathtub or floor 34 by means of a putty or adhesive compound 37 between the web 39 of the sill and the surface 34 of the tub or like.

The closure, generally designated by the numeral 40 in FIG. 1, comprises a plurality of interconnected pliable panels such as 42, 44, 46, 48 and 50, jamb- engaging stanchions 52 and 54, and intermediate stanchions such as 56. As can be seen in FIG. 6, each of the stanchions is provided with a longitudinally'extending groove such as 58 and 60 along the edges which are adjacent the nearest stanchion. The grooves slideably receive T-head type beads 66 and 68 along the marginal vertical edges of the pliable panels to connect them with the stanchions in train-like form. To interlock the panels and the stanchions, T-shaped members or lock plates, such as that indicated by the numeral 69 of the jamb stanchion of FIG. 3 and by the numeral 70 of the intermediate stanchion are provided and are connected by suitable means, as by the screws 71, to the ends of the stanchion. The extending lip of the bar 72 of the T-shaped member overlaps the openings of the grooves of the stanchions and blocks the bead and, consequently, the panels for movement with the stanchions. The stanchions are connected to the guide tracks by means of a roller assembly included in their respective structures, which assemblies are generally designated by the numeral 76. Each assembly is fastened as by the aforesaid screw 71 to the ends of the respective stanchions. The roller assembly 76 includes bracket 89 having a lip 82 which extends between the sides of the openings of the guide tracks and to the distal ends of which there is mounted a pair of the rollers 84. Thus, it is seen that there is provided a rolling closure adapted to be moved between the closed position shown in FIG. 1 or either of the alternative opened positions illustrated in FIG. 2. A jamb stop member 83 is mounted to the leg 28 of the jamb on the inside of the area to be enclosed by means of a rivet or the like to define, as will be apparent hereinafter, a trap for a latch-type flange 92 on the leading edge of the jamb stanchion in which latch there is a hole 94 for hooked-up engagement with the keeper 96 housed within the U-shaped cross section between the web and the longer legs of the jamb member and which latch is adapted to be received in the hole 94 as the latch is guided into the trap. The keeper 96 may comprise a housing, a spring in the housing and a button biased outwardly. The jamb stanchion is also provided with an extending rib 98 for employment as a handle to open the closure from the inside of the enclosed area. Also, the end or jamb stanchion on the outside surface is provided with a curvate handle 100 which is riveted to the stanchion and is provided in the upper and lower surfaces thereof with a slot or notch 102 so that the ball chain 104 may be utilized to hold the stanchions in close adjacent relation as is indicated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 7 and, by means of a key-shaped slot 106 in the jamb, hold the entire closure panel in the position relative to the jamb indicated in FIG. 2that is, the open position.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the roller assembly 76 includes a pair of rollers at each end of the stanchion and that the rollers ride on the confronting spaced-apart, bent-over rims 119 and 121 of the head member, the rollers being adjustable on movement of the closure relative to the frame by reason of the slots 123 and 125 in the lip of the roller bracket. As can be seen at the upper left-hand corner of FIG. 3, the jamb is provided with slots 127 and 127' at the upper and lower ends thereof to provide clearance for a bearing button 129, two of which are provided as indicated on the iambengaging stanchion and, as is apparent from the top of FIG. 4, each rides in engagement with the confronting surface of the head or sill. Preferably, these buttons are of low friction nylon material and are slideably received in the arcuate depression of the head or sill which are also decorative in appearance. Each of the rollers of the roller assembly preferably includes a first and a second roller 130 and 132, each of which has an axially projecting stem, one of which is a headed male type stud and one of which is female for mating engagement. Weep holes are preferably provided in the sill and header member at spaced intervals along the length thereof.

It will be seen that the vertical members of the frame are of a uniform cross section throughout their length, with the exception of the aforesaid cutouts at the ends thereof to accommodate the nesting of the head and sill members; and, also, the head and sill members are of a common and uniform cross-sectional area throughout their length. Further, the intermediate stanchions, it will be noted, are of a common cross-sectional area as are the end stanchions; and, by reason of this structure, assembly of the enclosure is relatively foolproof and is readily adapted to be sold in an unassembled state or knocked down version for ready assembly at a job installation site. The yieldable adjusting rollers by reason of the enlarged slots 123 and 125, FIG. 5, the diameter of the rollers relative to the depth of the openings between the rim 119 and the web 120 of the sill and header, co-operate'such that in normal movement of the closure relative to the frame, the rollers ride on the rim of the head and the web of the sill and minor adjustments in the previous construction at a job installation are compensated for while at the same time relative tilting of the end stanchion or jamb-engaging stanchion due to forces of a user not being applied at the immediate center of the vertical length of the jamb-engaging stanchion will not interfere with the operation of the closure.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but it to be accorded the full scope of the claim so as to embrace any and all equivalent apparatus and articles.

What is claimed is:

1. A shower closure comprising, in combination, a head member at the top of said closure, a sill member at the bottom of said closure, said members being substantially square in cross section with opposed elongated slots in the midportions of their facing sides, a plurality of substantially vertical stanchions positioned at one side of said members, said stanchions being longer than the spacing between the slotted sides of said members so that the stanchions overlap said members, a plurality of brackets with one bracket being positioned at each end of each stanchion, each of said brackets being formed to extend, from the stanchion end at which it is positioned, over and into the slot of the adjacent member, a plurality of pairs of rollers with each pair being mounted on a common axle passing through an aperture in a respective one of said brackets so that each bracket carries a roller pair, said apertures being elongated vertically so that the roller pairs can float vertically relative to said brackets as well as rotate freely, said rollers being positioned in and proportioned to substantially fill the cross section of said members so as to restrict movement of the brackets in all directions except for free rolling movement along the members, a plurality of flexible panels with each panel being slidably interlocked between adjacent ones of said stanchions, a plurality of lock plates with one plate being positioned at each end of each stanchion so as to block sliding movement of said panels relative to said stanchions, and a plurality of fasteners with one fastener at each end of each stanchion for securing both the lock plate and the bracket to the stanchion end.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,331,822 10/1943 Zechiel et al. 4l54 2,774,973 12/1956 Aarnio 4149 2,885,000 5/1959 Merrill 4-149 2,897,514 8/1959 Collins 4154 2,897,515 8/1959 Collins 4l54 2,911,654 11/1959 Bruno 4-149 3,021,576 2/1962 Conroy 4149 3,037,555 6/1962 Kochanowski 4l54 3,062,279 11/ 1962 Kochanowski 4154 3,074,077 1/ 1963 Taubman 4149 3,102,581 9/1963 Kochanowski 4149 3,111,208 11/1963 Grossman 4149 3,282,328 11/1966 Mushro et al. 4--149 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

D. MASSENBERG, Assistant Examiner.

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