EP1116468A2

EP1116468A2 - Improvements relating to shower enclosure assemblies

Info

Publication number: EP1116468A2
Application number: EP01100508A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jeremy David Lenighan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: LENIGHAN, JEREMY DAVID
Priority date: 2000-01-13
Filing date: 2001-01-09
Publication date: 2001-07-18
Anticipated expiration: 2021-01-09
Also published as: EP1116468A3; EP1116468B1; GB0000599D0; ATE357177T1; DE60127324T2; DE60127324D1; ES2283348T3

Abstract

The invention provides a shower screen enclosure assembly which in the preferred case comprises two shower screen panels connected edge to edge. At the free edges of the panels are mounting rails which are in two parts, namely a first part for connection to the wall, and a second part connected to the adjacent panel edge. Prior to mounting the panels on the wall, the said parts can be adjusted angularly so that when the panels are eventually mounted on the walls, they are mounted relative to the walls at angles selected by the angular adjustment of the parts of the mounting rails.

Description

This invention relates to shower enclosure assemblies being the enclosure part which comprises one or more shower panels, and mounting means for the mounting of the shower panels in relation to the surface onto which the shower water falls. That surface will usually be a shower tray, but could be a suitably prepared floor or a bath surface.
The present invention was conceived in order to deal with the problem existing with shower trays of a particular type, but the invention does have wider application and can be used in other instances.
The particular shower tray type referred to above is a shower tray which comprises two straight sides respectively for fitting against adjacent building walls, and a third side which is of curved configuration (usually a part of a circle). A shower tray of this type known as a quadrant tray is one having the two straight sides of equal length, but other types comprise extended quadrant shower trays wherein the two sides are of unequal length.
With shower trays having two straight sides and a third curved side, the difficulty arises in the mounting of the shower enclosure above the tray in that depending upon the tray design, the enclosure panels at their free edges will meet the adjacent walls at different angles. Heretofore, it has been necessary to provide mounting arrangements of different angular configurations depending upon the type of tray to which the enclosure assembly is to be fitted. It is to be noted that although shower trays of the aforesaid type whilst they may be quadrant or extended quadrant tend to have the curved side of the shower tray of the same length and therefore a supplier can provide the panel or panels of the same configuration for the different forms of tray, but has to provide a multiplicity of different angled mounting arrangements.
Clearly this is a distinct disadvantage, and the present invention aims to overcome this difficulty.
According to the invention there is provided a shower screen enclosure assembly comprising at least one shower screen panel, or two or more panels connect edge to edge, and mounting means at the free edges of the panel or panels for attachment to upright walls where the assembly is to be installed, characterised in that said mounting means at at least one of the free edges of the panel or panels is capable of angular adjustment relative to the adjacent panel or panels and can be locked in adjusted position whereby the panel or panels may be mounted relative to the walls at different angles thereto.
Preferably, there are two shower screen panels hingedly connected edge to edge.
The mounting means at each free edge of the panel or panels may be adjustable as aforesaid.
According to a preferred feature, the or each mounting means comprises a wall rail for attachment to the wall and an intermediate rail which respectively have curved complementary mating surfaces capable of relative angular adjustment and locking means whereby selectively, further angular adjustment of the surfaces can be prevented.
The locking means may comprise teeth or ribs on one surface, and complimentary teeth or grooves on the other surface, or the locking means may comprise a screw or spring loaded locking device.
Preferably, the intermediate rail is adapted to receive the edge of the adjacent panel in a manner whereby the panel is fixed or can be fixed thereto.
The said one panel or one of the said panels is or includes a door panel, and the panel or at least one of the said panels may be curved.
Preferably, the or each panel has a panel frame.
The invention also provides a shower enclosure assembly kit comprising the shower panel and the mounting means as aforesaid as supplied for assembly on site, and a shower installation comprising a shower assembly as aforesaid when installed for use.
It can be seen that with the present invention, the supplier can now provide a basic and single shower enclosure which will be usable with a range of trays, especially quadrant and extended quadrant trays having the same length of curved side. The enclosure can also be adapted for other forms of trays such as square and rectangular trays, if the user can tolerate that part of the tray may well project beyond the surface defined by the enclosure panel or panels.
Also, the invention can be adapted for enclosures having more than two panels, although such enclosures do have more of a stability problem. Again, although the invention can be applied to an arrangement wherein the single panel is used to form the shower enclosure, the best utility of the invention is where the enclosure is made up of two panels which are hingedly connected edge to edge.
Although it may not in some instances be necessary to provide a door in the panel or panels, then the majority of cases, such a door will normally be provided.
The invention provides the advantage that for a range of shower trays, say the quadrant and extended quadrant type, as long as the curved edge is of the same length, a single shower cubicle enclosure is mountable on each, and it is not necessary to provide a range of mountings defining different angles.
The invention main embodiments thereof, is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:-
Fig. 1 is a geometric drawing of a circle with various sections thereof being indicated to show how quadrant and extended quadrant shower trays may be created;
Figs. 2, 3 and 4 show three different shower trays derived from the geometric explanation in relation to Fig. 1, the trays being shown in plan view and also showing how the shower screen enclosure is fitted thereto, these figures have also been used to show the difficulty with conventional shower enclosure of the mountings for these trays;
Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the mounting means and the adjacent shower enclosure panel according to the first embodiment of the invention, and showing the mounting arrangement in one position;
Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the mounting arrangement of Fig. 5 in second and angularly adjusted position;
Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of a mounting arrangement according to the invention; and
Figs. 8 to 12 show in plan view, practical examples of different shower locations which can be fitted with the same shower enclosure.
As geometric considerations have to be made to explain the main utility of the invention, Fig. 1 shows a base circle 10, and over three equal angular extents 12, 14 and 16 are illustrated respectively the profile of a quadrant shower tray, and respectively two extended quadrant shower trays.
The angular extent 12 is a quarter of the circle 10 (but may be more as Fig. 8 shows), and the shower tray profile is made up by the two additional side lengths 18 and 20 which are of the same length and lie on radii of the circle 10, and subtend a 90° angle. The figure made up of the side 12 and the sides 18 and 20 is an exact circle quadrant, but this may be more or less that a quadrant, as long as the straight sides are equal.
The second region bounded by the arc 14 again has two straight sides 22 and 24, but of a different length, and again these subtend a right angle.
The figures subtended by these sides is not a quadrant as is clear, but the arcuate portion 14 has the same radius and the same length as the portion 12.
Finally, the portion subtended by the angular extent 16, which is equal to the angular extents 12 and 14, has the ends joined by straight sides 24 and 26 which again subtend a right angle, but differ more in length than the sides 22 and 24. Because the arcuate extent 12, 14 and 16 is the same in each case, so the straight sides 22 and 24 respectively are further displaced left of the radial line 20, and are shorter progressively, and the sides 24 and 26 progressively are spaced further above the radial line 18 and progressively are longer.
The three shapes described respectively are reproduced in Figures 2, 3 and 4 and show in plan view shower trays of these shapes. The shower trays are respectively designated by references 30, 32 and 34 and each is of conventional manufacture and is provided with an upper rim 36. The trays 30 to 34 are shown as fitted against two building walls 38 and 40 lying at right angles to one another and representing for example the corner of a room in which a shower tray is fitted.
Also shown in each of these figures is a shower enclosure assembly comprising in this case two panels 42 and 44 connected edge to edge pivotally at the pivot point 46, and respectively connected to the walls 38 and 40 at mounting locations 46 and 48.
The panels 42 and 44 are curved in the same curvature as the curved sides of the shower trays 30, 32 and 34, and may be of any conventional construction, apart from the mounting arrangements 46 and 48 which will be described hereinafter. For example, one of the panels 42 and 44 will have a door section which can be opened and closed to allow access in the shower enclosure assembly, as is well known.
Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are shown to indicate the effect of changing the shape of the shower tray. Thus, in Fig. 2, the curved panels 42 and 44 will meet the walls 38 and 40 at right angles thereto as indicated by the meeting lines 50 and 52 shown in chain dotted lines.
With the extended quadrant shower tray shown in Fig. 3 however if the same enclosure panels 42 and 44 are used, the free edges of these panels respectively meet the wall 38 at the angle A1 to the normal 50 and A2 to the normal to the wall 40. A1 and A2 will in fact be equal, but in other embodiments they may not be.
Similarly in relation to the extended quadrant shower tray shown in Fig. 4, the panels 42 and 44 will meet the walls 38 and 40 at an angle A3 and A4 respectively, A3 and A4 in this instance being equal, but being larger than A1 and A2.
When it comes to providing mountings 46 and 48 for the shower trays, individual mounting rails corresponding to the respective angles A1, A2, A3 and A4 have to be provided, and this creates a difficulty in stocking and supply. It also makes the fitting more difficult.
The present invention seeks to overcome this disadvantage, and one embodiment of achieving the invention is illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 to which reference is now made.
Fig. 5 shows the top end of the mounting 46, but the mounting 48 preferably will be identical and therefore one description will suffice. The mounting 46 comprises a mounting rail 60 having a flat rear surface 62 which is applied against the surface of the wall 38 and the rail 60 is secured to the wall 38 by any suitable means such as screws or bolts.
On the front face the rail 60 has a curved recess 64 extending for the length thereof, and that curved recess follows generally a pitch circle indicated by reference 66. In the curved recess is provided a series of parallel grooves 68, 70 and 72 which are equally spaced and parallel and in this example are shown to be of curved configuration.
These grooves are engaged by ribs or projections 74, 76 and 78 when, as shown in Fig. 5, the panel 42 meets the wall 38 at right angles as shown in Fig. 2.
These projections 74, 76 and 78 are formed on an intermediate rail 80 which extends for the length of the rail 60, and comprises a head 82 and side plates 84 and 86, these side plates and head 82 defining a U-shaped channel 88 in which the edge of the screen panel 42 is received, the screen panel sides 90 and 92 being a neat fit between the plates 84 and 86 and being secured thereto for example by screws or bolts.
As will be understood from the configuration of the head 82 and the rail 60, these can be relatively angularly adjusted in position, by disconnecting the head 82 from the rail 60, and by repositioning it for example as shown in Fig. 6 in which the projection 74 is caused to engage groove 70, and projection 76 is caused to engage groove 72, whereby the intermediate rail, and therefore the screen panel 42 becomes angled to the rail 60 and therefore angled to the rail face 62, and in turn angled to the wall 38 on which rail 60 is mounted, for example to correspond to the angularity A1 or A2 in Fig. 3, and by further adjustment of the intermediate rail and mounting rail 60, so the angle can be further adjusted to suit for example the shower tray arrangement of Fig. 4.
Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrams only to illustrate how the functioning of the angular adjustment takes place, but any appropriate coupling arrangement between the rail 60 and the head 82 may be effected, and another example is illustrated in Fig. 7.
As far as the illustrations of Fig. 5 and 6 are concerned, it is clear that the projections and grooves could be replaced by small teeth so that the adjustability and lockability is even greater. When the head 82 and mounting rail 60 are in the desired angular position, they are locked together for example by screw connections or other means as once the mountings 46 and 48 have been fixed, it is not intended that subsequently they should be adjusted.
When the assembly therefore is to be fitted to a shower tray as indicated in Fig. 2, 3 or 4, the fitter arrives with the enclosure panels 42 and 44, and the mounting arrangements according to the invention. When the mountings have been set up at correct angularity they are fixed, and shower panels can then be fitted and fixed to complete the installation. It is not necessary to provide specially designed mountings for the different shower tray configurations.
As indicated herein the mounting arrangements according to the invention can be adopted even when there is no shower tray, or can be utilised for example over baths where showers are provided in relation to such baths.
Figure 7 shows how another mounting arrangement according to the invention may be provided, and this figure will be largely self-explanatory. The mounting rail 104 is attached to the wall by means of a screw 106, and it has attached thereto by means of screws 107 the intermediate member 100. The intermediate member 100 defines curved sections of an arcuate guide as indicated by reference numerals 108 and 110, whilst connected to the screen panel 112 is a correspondingly curved guide member 114 which can be rotated on the surfaces of the guide portions 108 and 110, and can be anchored or held thereto by means of a locking device indicated generally by the reference numeral 116 for the part on the curved guide 114, and by 118 for the part carried by the intermediate member. It will be seen that the arrangement provides that the screen 112 may be tilted relative to the mounting rail 104, and then locked in position for the same reasons as explained hereinbefore in relation to the embodiment of Figs. 5 and 6.
Figs. 8 to 11 are included to show some actual sizes of commonly used quadrant and extended quadrant shower trays, whilst Fig. 12 shows how the same enclosure may be used in a recess shower tray. The figures will be largely self explanatory to the man skilled in the art, but briefly in each figure, the shower enclosure is shown to have two panels 200, 202 hinged together at axis 204, although hinging is not necessary. The mountings (according to the invention) for connecting the panels 200, 202 to the walls are shown at 206, 208, and the figures show that the panel 200 has a door 210, the door in each figure being shown both in the closed position and the open position. The figures also show the shower tray sizes, and the quadrant type (Fig. 8) and the extended quadrant type (Figs. 9 to 11) are sized according to the lengths of their straight sides. It is to be noted that the quadrant type is designed so that the curved side is in fact larger that a quarter of a circle, which means that the panels 200, 202 do meet the walls at an angle other than 90°. In each case there is a shower tray with a curved side of length equal (or substantially equal) to the length of the enclosure, so that as explained herein, one size of enclosure can be used for each tray. In Fig. 12, the enclosure meets opposite walls of a three wall recess in which the shower tray or a prepared floor is provided. The shower trays need not be of the quadrant or extended quadrant type for the shower enclosure shown to be usable, as long as the user can tolerate the shower tray being overhanging and/or located inside the shower enclosure.
The invention provides for the easy and efficient installation of shower screens where the screens have to cover a range of installations where the screens will meet the mounting walls at different angles, without the necessity of having to provide differing mounting rails and the like.

Claims

A shower screen enclosure assembly comprising at least one shower screen panel, or two or more panels connected edge to edge, and mounting means at the free edges of the panel or panels for attachment to upright walls where the assembly is to be installed, characterised in that said mounting means at least one of the free edges of the panel or panels is capable of angular adjustment relative to the adjacent panel or panels and can be locked in adjusted position whereby the panel or panels may be mounted relative to at least one of the walls at different angles thereto.
An assembly according to claim 1, wherein there are two shower screen panels hingedly connected edge to edge.
An assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mounting means at each free edge of the panel or panels is adjustable as aforesaid.
An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the or each mounting means comprises a wall rail for attachment to the wall and an intermediate rail which have curved complementary mating surfaces capable of relative angular adjustment and locking means whereby selectively, further angular adjustment of the surfaces can be prevented.
An assembly according to claim 4, wherein the locking means comprises teeth or ribs on one surface, and complimentary teeth or grooves on the other surface.
An assembly according to claim 4, wherein the locking means comprises a screw locking device.
An assembly according to claim 4, 5 or 6, wherein the intermediate rail is adapted to receive the edge of the adjacent panel in a manner whereby the panel is fixed or can be fixed thereto.
An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the said one panel or one of the said panels is a door panel.
An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the panel or at least one of the said panels is curved.
An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the or each panel has a panel frame.
A shower enclosure assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A shower enclosure assembly kit comprising the shower panel and the mounting means supplied for assembly on site.
A shower installation comprising a shower assembly according to any one of the preceding claims when installed for use.