ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT FOR A SHOWER

SUPPORT REGLABLE POUR DOUCHE

English Abstract

An adjustable support for a shower, including a rod (10) installed in a
substantially vertical position, which is supported near its midpoint by a
support
bracket (12) integrally formed with a mixing valve handle assembly (11). The
rod
(10) vertically extends in two branches (20, 30), an upper branch (20) and a
lower
branch (30) that mounts shower holders (19, 17) for retaining a hand held
shower
head (22). The holders (14, 17) are slidably mounted longitudinally along the
rod
and are equipped with a fastener for affixing them in a desired position. The
rod
(10) can be slidably adjusted longitudinally with respect to the support
bracket (12)
and, in this case, the support bracket for the rod is provided with a fastener
(13) for
affixing the rod (10) in place. The rod can futhermore be supported by a
bracket (21)
in proximity of its upper end.

French Abstract

Ce support réglable pour douche comprend une tige (10) montée en position essentiellement verticale, qui est retenue à proximité de son point central par un étrier de support (12) formé solidaire avec une unité à manette de robinet mélangeur (11). Cette tige (10) se divise verticalement en deux branches (20, 30): une branche supérieure (20) et une branche inférieure (30) sur lesquelles sont montés des porte-pomme de douche (19, 17) destinés à servir de support à une pomme de douche (22) tenant dans la main. Ces porte-pomme de douche (14, 17) sont montés de façon à coulisser longitudinalement le long de la tige et ils sont pourvus d'un élément de fixation servant à les fixer dans la position souhaitée. La tige (10) peut être réglée de façon coulissante longitudinalement par rapport à l'étrier de support (12) et, dans ce cas, l'étrier de support de la tige est pourvu d'un élément de fixation (13) servant à maintenir la tige (10) en position fixe. La tige peut en outre être soutenue par un étrier (21) à proximité de son extrémité supérieure.

Claims

9
I Claim:
1.~An adjustable shower support characterized by:
a support bracket mountable on a wall;
said support bracket mounting a substantially vertically oriented rod
between its upper and lower ends;
said rod has an upper shower holder and a lower shower holder
mounted to the vertically oriented rod respectively above and below said
support
bracket;
at least one of the shower holders being slidably mounted along said
rod and equipped with a fastener for releasably affixing said slidably mounted
shower holder in a desired position along the rod;
each shower holder is constructed to releasably retain a hand held
shower that is connected to a flexible hose that is in turn operably
connectable to a
water supply.
2. ~An adjustable shower support as defined in claims 1 further
characterized by:
said support bracket being mounted on the wall at approximately the
same height as a wall mounted valve device that controls the water supply to
the
flexible hose and hand held shower.

10
3. ~An adjustable shower support as defined in claim 2 further
characterized by:
said support bracket being integrally part of the valve device.
4. ~An adjustable shower support as defined in claim 3 further
characterized by:
said rod is slidably mounted with respect to said support bracket and
said support bracket has a fastener for releasably and longitudinally affixing
said
rod in a desired vertical height.
5. ~An adjustable shower support as defined in claim 4 further
characterized by:
a second support bracket mountable to said wall slidably and
supporting said rod at an upper section thereof.
6. ~An adjustable shower support as defined in claim 3 further
characterized by:
a second support bracket mountable to said wall and supporting an
upper section of said rod.

11
7. ~An adjustable shower support as defined in claim 3 further
characterized by:
one of shower holders being slidably mounted along the rod and one
of the shower holders being permanently affixed to said rod.
8. ~An adjustable shower support as defined in claim 7 further
characterized by:
said upper shower holder being slidably mounted along said rod and
said lower shower holder being permanently affixed to said rod below said
support
bracket.
9. ~An adjustable shower support as defined in claim 2 further
characterized by:
the rod is non-adjustably affixed to the support bracket.
10. ~An adjustable shower support as defined in claim 9 further
characterized by:
both shower holders are slidably mounted along the rod and
equipped with a fastener for releasably vertically affixing said slidably
mounted
shower holder in a desired position along the rod.

12~
11. ~An adjustable shower support as defined in claim 1 further
characterized by:
the rod is non-adjustably affixed to the support bracket.

Description

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ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT FOR A SHOWER
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to an adjustable support for a hand held
shower, including a rod installed in a substantially vertical position, which
allows a
hand held shower supplied by a flexible hose to be mounted on the rod at an
adjusted position.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Two basic types of shower heads are found in residential indoor
bath and shower stalls. One is referred to as a fixed showerhead that is
screwed
onto the end of a rigid pipe at the top end of a shower riser. The second is
usually
called a hand held shower or manual shower which is attached to the end of a
flexible hose. It usually has an elongated handle for manual grasping. While
the
hand held shower is popular because of the flexibility and manual grasping and
freedom of position of the shower, there are many times when a person wants
the
hands free operation that is the feature of the fixed shower head. In order to
have
hands free for operation of the hand held shower, adjustable supports are
mounted
on the shower wall to mount the hand held shower.
2 0 In known adjustable supports, a rod is usually attached to a wall by
means of brackets situated at the rod's two opposite ends. The rod usually has
its
bottom end close to the level of the flow adjustment handles and the rod
extends
upwardly therefrom. A single mounting bracket is slidably mounted along the
rod

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and has a set screw or set knob that allows the securement of the mounting
bracket.
The mounting bracket has a clip or pin that mounts the hand held shower. -
Also
known is an adjustable support for a shower where the rod is threaded into the
body
of a mixing valve assembly for vertical adjustment.
The valve assembly has a securement device for affixing the rod in a
desired position. A shower head supplied through a flexible hose emanating
from
the mixer valve is mounted in a removable manner at the upper end of the rod.
In
this case, the adjustment of the height of the shower head is accomplished by
running the rod in the body of the mixer. All of these adjustable supports for
a
l0 hand-held shower make it possible to adjust the height at which the hand
held
shower is installed but only at relatively high levels close to the stature of
a person.
Naturally, there are cases where one wishes that a shower releases its jet at
a lower
level, for example, for washing confined to the feet or other lower parts of
the body;
or during a bath, one wishes to wash and rinse his/her hair. In these cases,
the
shower must be held manually during the washing operations with subsequent
diminished comfort.
What is needed is an improved support for a hand held shower head
that provides increased choice and range of position for hands free operation.
2 0 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, an adjustable shower
support includes a support bracket mountable on a wall that mounts a
substantially

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vertically oriented rod between its upper and lower ends. The rod has an upper
shower holder and a lower shower holder mounted to the vertically oriented rod
respectively above and below said support bracket. At least one of the shower
holders is slidably mounted along the rod and equipped with a fastener for
releasably affixing the slidably mounted shower holder in a desired position
along
the vertically oriented rod. Each shower holder is constructed to releasably
hold a
hand held shower that is connected to a flexible hose that is operably
connectable to
a water supply.
Preferably, the support bracket is mounted on the wall at
1 o approximately the same height as a wall mounted valve device that controls
the
water supply to the flexible hose and hand held shower. In one embodiment, the
support bracket is integrally part of the valve device. The valve device may
be a
mixing valve, thermostatic mixing valve or a simple faucet tap.
It is desired that the rod is slidably mounted with respect to the
support bracket and the support bracket has a fastener for releasably and
longitudinally affixing the rod in a desired vertical height. In this
embodiment, one
of shower holders is slidably mounted along the rod and one of the shower
holders
is permanently affixed to the rod. The shower holder that is slidably mounted
on
the rod is provided with a fastener to releasably affix the slidably mounted
shower
2 0 holder at a desired position along the rod. Preferably, it is the upper
shower holder
that is slidably mounted along said rod and the lower shower holder that is
permanently affixed to a lower end of the rod below the support bracket.

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Alternatively, the rod is non-adjustably affixed to the support
bracket. In this embodiment, both shower holders are slidably mounted along
the
rod and equipped with a fastener for releasably vertically affixing said
slidably
mounted shower holder in a desired position along the rod.
In one embodiment, a second support bracket is mountable to the
wall and slidably mounts the rod at an upper section thereof.
In this fashion the shower holder, intended for receiving and
retaining a base of a hand held shower, can be shifted independently along the
direction of the rod and can be affixed at desired heights. The one that is on
the
1 o upper branch of the rod is suitable for receiving the hand held shower
when the user
desires to spray the body from a traditional high shower position: The holder
on the
lower branch of the rod is suitable for receiving and retaining the hand held
shower
when the user wishes to spray the lower parts of the body without bathing the
upper
parts or wishes to rinse hair when taking a bath.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of an adjustable support for a hand
held shower;
2 0 Figure 2 is a perspective view similar to Figure I illustrating a
second embodiment;

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Figure 3 is an illustrated variation of the embodiment shown in
Figure 2 where the lower shower holder is non-adjustably affixed to the rod;
Figure 4 illustrates another variation of the embodiment shown in
Figure 2 where the shower rod is non-adjustably affixed to the support
bracket;
5 Figure S is a perspective view similar to Figure 2 illustrating a third
embodiment; and
Figure 6 is a perspective view similar to Figure 1 illustrating a
fourth embodiment.
1 o DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Figure 1 illustrates an adjustable support for a shower, which
comprises a vertical rod 10, which is supported by a supporting bracket I2,
which
in this case also incorporates a mixing valve with operating handle assembly
11
attached to a wall. A rod IO is mounted in a slidable fashion through
supporting
bracket 12. The bracket 12 has a fastener screw 13 for fixing the rod 10 in
the
desired position. Other fastener mechanisms, for example, a screw knob, a push
button, a friction device, detent, or some other suitable device can also be
used in
place of fastener screw 13. Rod 10 extends in two branches, one branch 20
extended above the supporting bracket 12 and the other branch 30 extending
below
2 0 it. On each of these two branches 20, 30, of rod 10, there is mounted a
respective
shower holder, 14 and 17. Each holder adjustably slides longitudinally on rod
10.
A fastener screw 15 and 18, operates in respective shower holder 14 and 17,
for

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releasably affixing the respective shower holder in a desired position. In
this case,
likewise, other fasteners such as a screw know, a push button, a friction
device,
detent, or some other suitable device can substitute for screws 15 and 18.
Furthermore, each of the holders 14 and 17 has a holder mechanism
respectively 16 and 19, for example, in the form of a fork suitable for
releasably
gripping a hand held shower 22, which is supplied from a flexible hose 24 in
this
case coming from mixer 12. The holders 16 and 19 may alternatively take the
form
an upright peg which is received in an aperture at the base of the hand held
shower
22. Therefore, hand held shower 22 can be secured to upper holder 14 in order
to
shower the entire body of the user from above but it can also be affixed to
the lower
holder 17 as shown in phantom. This lower position is amenable to showering a
lower part of the body without bathing higher parts of the body itself or
rinsing a
person's hair after shampooing when the user is taking a bath. This lower
operation
can be carried out without the user holding the shower in the hand and thus
freeing
up both hands.
The height at which slidable holders 14 and 17 (and from which,
therefore, the shower 22 releases its jet) can be adjusted is independent for
the two
holders 14 and 17. Each one can slide along rod 10 and be affixed in a desired
position. Furthermore, rod 10 can slide in the supporting bracket 12 to have
it
2 0 placed in a more suitable position for vertically positioning holders 14
and 17.
Figure 2 shows another embodiment, which differs from the one in
Figure 1, only by virtue of the fact that supporting bracket 2 for rod 1 does
not

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incorporate a mixer valve but a simple faucet tap applied to a wall and from
which
emanates flexible hose 24 which supplies shower 22. Regarding this embodiment,
everything that has been said with regard to the embodiment according to
Figure 1
also applies.
As illustrated in Figure 4, support bracket 12 may be non-adjustably
affixed with rod 10. In this variation the fastener screw 13 can then be
omitted or
need not be available to the user. On the other hand, as illustrated in Figure
3, if the
position of rod 10 is adjustable, one may omit the adjustment screw 18 on the
lower
holder 17 intended to receive the hand held shower 22. The holder 17 is
alternately
l0 fixed at the lower end of the rod 10. The holder 17 can no longer slide
along rod 10
but slides with rod 10. Nevertheless, the positions of the two holders 14 and
17,
intended to receive a hand held shower 22, remain independently adjustable,
the
lower one 17 is adjustable with the adjusted position of rod 10 and the upper
one 14
is adjusted along the rod 10.
Figure 5 shows another embodiment that differs from the one
according to Figure 2 only by virtue of the fact that rod 10 is supported, in
addition
to supporting bracket 12, in proximity to its upper end, by a bracket 21
applied to
the wall 9 itself. Bracket 12 incorporates a tap from which starts flexible
hose 24
that supplies shower 22. This embodiment makes it possible to render rod 10
more
2 0 stable and possibly to lighten its construction. Everything that has been
said with
regard to the embodiments according to Figures 1 and 2 applies to this
embodiment. In particular, if rod 10 is installed so that it can run in
supporting

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bracket 12, it will also be capable of slidable adjustment with respect to the
upper
bracket 21.
In turn, Figure 6 shows an embodiment that differs from the one
according to Figure 5 only by the fact that supporting bracket 12 does not
incorporate any hydraulic tap, valve, or other hydraulic fixture. The hand
held
shower 22 and flexible hose 24 are operably connected to a separate valve
apparatus 31, which can be a mixing valve, thermostatic mixing valve or a
simple
faucettap.
In the above described fashion, the invention allows the user to
l0 mount the shower in a low position useful for spraying the lower parts of
the body
without bathing the upper parts or for rinsing the user's head and hair while
taking a
bath in addition to the high position to use the shower in the traditional
fashion.
Furthermore, for each of the two shower positions, one can adjust the height
of the
hand held shower so that the user may adjust the shower to the user's stature
and
preferences.
Other variations are foreseen without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Representative Drawing