US3005995A - Shower head adapter - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 31, 1961 w, s, c D 3,005,995

SHOWER HEAD ADAPTER Filed Dec. 5, 1959 INVENTOR Walter S. Bickford United States Patent 3,005,995 SHOWER HEAD ADAPTER Walter S. Bickford, 2116 Lone Oak Ave., Napa, Calif. Filed Dec. 3, 1959, Ser. No. 857,197 1 Claim. (Cl. 4-145) This invention relates to a device which may be mounted over a conventional shower head to allow for the adjustment of the shower head to a plurality of elevations.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a movable shower head cammed by a frame which may be mounted over the conventional shower head. A flexible coupling is connected between the movable shower head and the fixed shower head.

A feature and advantage of this invention is that the device is easily adaptable for mounting on conventional shower installations without in any way destroying the plumbing fixtures on the wall forming the shower.

Another feature and advantage of this invention is that the device is easily movable to various positions so as to give optimum shower height for short as well as tall individuals.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel guideway for carrying a movable shower head in which the shower head itself is provided with biasing means which will frictionally lock the shower head at different positions within the guideway.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel mounting device for mounting the movable shower head over the fixed shower head in such a way that the guideway conceals the old shower head and provides a housing to carry a flexible hose connection which provides the water flow to the movable shower head.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referrirrg to the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in each of the several views.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the principal embodiment of the invention shown mounted in position over the conventional shower head.

FIG. 2 is a front plan view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the movable shower head assembly.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 taken at line 4-4.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 showing the structure of the pressure pads.

The principal embodiment of the invention includes a frame A which is mounted to the wall B of a conventional shower. The frame A is hollow so that the old shower head 20 is enclosed within frame A.

Frame A carries a movable shower head C which is reciprocably mounted for vertical movement in a guideway 21.

A hose 25 is connected to stationary shower head 20 and movable shower head C so as to establish fluid communication therebetween.

Housing A is formed in an elongated rectangular shape having a front wall 28, a bottom wall 29, a top wall 30 and two side walls 31. The inside end 32 of top wall 30 is provided with a flange which can be attached to a screw or other mounting means which may be affixed to the wall of the shower area. Should it be desired a similar flange 34 may be provided on the inside of bottom wall 29 so that frame A can be aflixedly mounted to shower wall B.

Prior to installing frame A on wall B hose 25 is connected to old shower head 20 by first removing the actual spray nozzle and screwing the end of the hose using a fitting which will screw onto the threaded end that is 3,005,995 Patented Oct. 31, 1961 normally arranged for receiving the spray head on shower head 20. The opposite end of hose 25 is connected to a right angle elbow 38 which in turn connects directly to the outlet aperture 39 of shower head C.

Shower head C comprises a front plate 40 and a rear plate 41 which are each formed in a dimension slightly larger than the width of guideway 21. Rear plate 41 in the center is provided with a spacer guide 43 formed of slightly narrower width than the width of guideway 21. The spacer guide is formed the entire length of rear plate 41. Screws 45 are arranged to interconnect the front and the rear plates through spacer guide 43.

A group of four spring urged pressure pads 48 are mounted in opposite corners of front plate 40 to urge against front wall 28 on opposite sides of guideway 21. Each pad is mounted within a cutout 49 within front plate 40 and is urged against front wall 28 by springs which are housed within cutout 49 and which engage a flange 51 on the outer end of pads 48. In this way the pads exert continual frictional pressure against front wall 28 to provide sufficient frictional bias against the plate to hold shower head C in position and to prevent gravity and other forces from normally moving the device. The friction exerted by the springs is sufliciently minimal to allow the device to be easily hand moved by normal physical pressure exerted by the operator of the device.

Spacer guide 43 maintains a minimal spacing between the front and rear plates so that pads 48 will have an area for movement.

It is preferable that rear plate 41 be made of softer material than frame A so as to provide a soft bearing surface. Materials such as Plexiglas or similar plastics have been found suitable for such purposes.

The bottom middle portion of front plate 40 is formed with an angularly depending nozzle fitting 55 which is threaded on the outside with threads 56 and is formed internally with aperture 39 the opposite'end of which is connected to elbow 38. Threads 56 allow a conventional spray nozzle such as indicated at 58 to be installed thereon. Elbow 38 is arranged to pass through an aperture 60 in rear plate 41 and spacer guide 43 in order to make union with the rear of aperture 39.

In operation the conventional spray nozzle is removed from the shower head fitting 20 and hose 25 is connected to fitting 20 of movable shower head C. The entire frame A is then mounted on the wall directly over shower head 20 by mounting one or more screws in the wall from which the frame can be hung.

Pressure pads 48 are continually spring urged from front plate 40 against front wall 28 which provides pressure against rear plate 41 to cause a frictional lock to prevent undesirable movement of shower head C within guideway 21. The person thereafter taking a shower may merely by making a hand adjustment of the shower head C change its effective elevation. The pads there after hold the shower head in a fixed position and prevent it from moving unless further moved by the operator.

It is readily apparent that the device is particularly useful in applications where it is desired to provide a movable shower head fixture over existing equipment.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the spirit of the invention as limited only by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed:

A movable shower head of the type having a frame having a front face, a vertical elongated slot formed in the front face of said frame and a shower head mounted for reciprocal movement within said slot comprising said shower head having two faces engaging opposite sides of the walls of the front face of said frame adjacent said slot and a spacer guide within said slot holding said two walls together, spring means carried by one of said two walls .between the wall and front face to frictionally urge the other of said walls against the front face to frictionaily' hol'd said shower head against movement, and a flexible hose connected to saidshower head and a source of water, said hose being confined entirely within said frame.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Attwood Apr. 4, 1944 Daniel Feb. 7, 1950 Lundquist Aug. 3, 1954 Eisner Nov. 11,-1958

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