Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to an improved
shower-tub device, or tub, having at least one
shower-emitting device for douching a person sitting on
a seat disposed within the tub. The shower-bath t~b
comprises a bottom portion provided with a shower-water
discharge and upstanding portion. The inventive
improvement resides in that a holed part of said
upstanding portion forms the bottom of a space within
the tub that is adapted to have said seat disposed
therein during douching. The holed part is spaced
substantially beneath said seat when disposed in said
space and with its hole aligned beneath a hole made in
the seat. Within that space beneath said upstanding
portion there is provided a discharge device for
collecting and flushing away faeces pa8sing down
through said holes in said seat and in said holed part,
respectively.
Shower-bath equipment or devices of the kind
above-noted usually enable a satisfactory douching
effect, but they are unsuited for use at the same time
as water closets. If the douching person should
evacuate his bowels while becoming douched in a
douching tub of the conventional kind - which often
occurs at hospitals and special nursing-homes, then
great problems will arise in connection with
satisfactory cleaning of the tub thereafter.
The present invention has as an object a
shower-bath tub which, on one hand, enables a water
closet function without increasing in space requirement
relative to conventional shower-bath tubs, and, on the
other hand, enables shower water to be discharged at a
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point remote from that for the discharge of faeces, so
that faeces cannot block the shower-water discharge.
Thirdly, this enables the douching person to be washed
and possibly dried from beneath without the necessity
of lifting the douching person above the attitude in
which the douching operation takes place.
The invention therefore contemplates a
shower-bath tub with a lavatory equipment which is
disposed in a raised portion and arranged at the rear
of a shower-bath tub comprising a holder part and a
discharge device disposed in the upper raised portion
beneath a hole, for collecting and flushing waste
faeces, defined in part by the raised portion, whereby
a holed seat is removably disposed in the shower-bath
tub above the raised portion, characterized in that the
shower-bath tub comprises a lower space which is
attached only at one side along the rear part of the
raised portion, whereas the remaining sides are left
open.
The ~bodiments of the invention will now be
disclosed by way of example and reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a
shower-bath tub according to the invention and having a
seat disposed therein;
Fig. 2 illustrates the shower-bath tub of
Figure 1 in side elevation and partly in section; and
Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of a
shower-bath tub according to the invention, the door
being open and the seat of the tub being replaced by a
seat carried by a wheel-chair.
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The shower-bath tub 1, illustrated by way of
example has two side walls 2 and 3, a rear wall 4 and a
front wall 5. The front wall is provided with a door
opening 6. The side walls 2, 3 are provided with
supporting handles 7 to be held by the douching person
while being douched; the rear wall 4 is provided with a
cushion 8 against which the douching person may lean,
and the front wall 6 has guideways 9 enabling a door 10
to be withdrawn and removed if required.
The shower-bath tub 1 has a spray or a similar
shower-emitting device comprising at least one supply
conduit 11 which is connected to the domestic
water-supply inlet (not shown) and which is provided
with a shut-off or control valve 12. This valve opens
into at least one inlet manifold 13 having distributing
orifices 14 or nozzles which project water shower
sprays against the occupant of the tub 1 as the water
flows from the orifices 14. The distribution orifices
14 or nozzles may be disposed in a row in the rear wall
4, but may also be arranged otherwise, such as, for
example, in several rows within more than one wall.
The temperature of the shower water may be controlled
by means of a conventional hot-cold-water mixing cock
(not shown) as those familiar with the unit will know.
The shower-tub 1 comprises a bottom portion
16 provided with a shower-water discharge 15, and,
adjacent thereto, an upstanding flange portion 17. The
shower-water collecting in the bottom portion 16 is
conducted so as to flow down into a conventional gully
17 disposed therebelow for further discharge into a
sewage disposal system 18.
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The objects of the invention enable a water
closet function without the necessity of increasing the
dimensions of the tub, and witho~lt any risk of blocking
gullies serving solely for waste water, and without
creating any difficulties for the subsequent cleaning
progress. They also enable the occupant of the tub to
be cleaned and/or dried from beneath. Thus the
shower-bath tub or equipment 1 according to the
invention is mainly characterized in that a holed part
19 running essentially horizontally and incorporated in
a raised portion 17 forms the bottom of a space 22
adapted to have the seat 20 or 21 disposed therein
during douching. This holed part 19 is æpaced
substantially beneath the seat 20 or 21 disposed within
the space 22 and with its hole 23 beneath a hole 24
provided in the seat 20 or 21. Furthermore, within a
space 25 beneath the upstanding portion 17 a discharge
26 is disposed for collecting and flushing away faeces
passing downward through the holes 24 and 23 in the
seat 20 or 21 and the holed part 19.
In order to accomplish simple and appropriate
collecting and effective removal of faeces, the
discharge 26 comprises a bowl 27 for collecting faeces.
Connected to the bowl 27 is at least one flush-water
pipe 28 being suitably connected to the domestic water
supply (not shown), while the water flushing operation
is controlled by a valve 29. ~he bowl 27 is connected
at its bottom to a discharge con~uit 30 having a drain
trap portion 31 and serving for discharging waste
products into the sewage disposal system 18.
In order to obtain maximum flushing effect
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the holed part 19 has a depending flange 32 extending
about the periphery of its hole 23 and projecting down
into the upper portion of the bowl 27 so as to form
therein an inner wall of a flushing channel 33 which
opens downwardly and into which the flush-water pipe 28
opens.
In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1
and 2, a seat 20 is carried in the space 22 by carrier
numbers 34, 35 affixed to brackets 36 attached to the
side walls 2 and 3.
The shower-bath tub or equipment 1 according
to the invention could, optionally, be used for
douching a person sitting on the seat of a wheel-chair
37. For such usage, the seat arrangement within the
tub 1 is omitted or removed; the door 10 is removed;
and, the wheel-chair 37 is advanced into the tub 1
until its seat 21 occupies its intended position in the
space 22. In this position a hole (not shown) in this
seat 21 is vertically aligned or substantially aligned
above the hole 23 in the upstanding portion 17.
The wheel-chair 37 may comprise a low
undercarriage 38 having three or four wheels 39 and a
telescoping elevating column 40 having built-in lifting
gear (not shown) which is operable by a handle or lever
41. At the top of the vertically movable part of the
elevating column 40 at least one carrier arm 42 is
attached which extends downward and carries the seat
21.
To enable the seat 21 to be disposed in its
intended position within the tub 1 by means of a simple
wheel-chair 37, of the above-described kind, the
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discharge arrangement 26 may be disposed within the
space 25 in the tub 1 which is defined by the raised
portion 17. In this case the drain-trap portion 31, in
part at least, projects into sid space 25 and extends
above the basement surface for the tub 1 so as to form,
beneath the tub 1, a space or compartment 43 which is
open towards three sides of the tub 1. The
undercarriage of the wheel-chair 37 can thereby be
moved in beneath the tub 1.
The space 43 may be created by the use of one
or more U-shaped frame members 44, 45 disposed with
their legs 46, 47 lying horizontally and with their web
portion 48 forming a substantially vertically
extending, carrying frame portion. The drain-trap
portion i8 connected to the sewage system 19 through a
conduit portion 49 which extends downward along the web
portion 48, thereby blocking one side only of the space
43, whereas the remaining sides thereof are left open.
The arrangment described hereinbefore, by way
of example, is intended to elucidate the present
invention without restricting the latter to the
embodiment disclosed. The design and disposition of
details forming part of the exemplified arrangment, of
course, may be varied without departing from the
inventive concept.
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