US1807107A - Splash guard and tile for forming the same - Google Patents

Description

y 1931- I M. STERNBERGH 1,807,107

SPLASH GUARD AND TILE'FOR FORMING THE SAKS Filed April 9. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 26, 1931. M. STERNBERGH SPLASH GUARD AND'TILE FOR FORMING- THE SAIE Filed April 9, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 if 76 Z] W m w Patented May 26, 1931 PATENT OFFICE.

LAYMAN M. STERNBERGH, F OCEAN GROVE, NEW JERSEY SPLASH GUARD AND TILE FOR FORMING THE SAME Application filed April 9,

This invention relates to a shower bath construction and more particularly to a splash guard and tile by means of which the guard may be constructed.

I At the present time when building a shower bath of the alcove type or of the type in which the shower is an auxiliary to a tub, it is customary to provide a curtain in order to prevent water discharged by an overhead nozzle from spraying outwardly onto the floor of a room. The lower end portion of the curtain either extends down wardly into thetub or back of a ledge across the front of an alcove in order to prevent water dripping from the curtain onto the floor but no provision is made to prevent water from striking the walls and splashing past side edges of the curtain. This often causes puddles of water to accumulate on the floor even if care is taken to properly dispose the lower end of the curtain.

Therefore, one object of the invention is to provide a splash guard which by extending vertically and overlapping the inner surfaces of the curtain along sides thereof will serve very effectively to prevent water from splashing past side edges of the curtain.

It also very often happens that a person will be badly injured due to slipping and falling when stepping from a tub and, therefore, another objectof the invention is to so form the splash guards for the side edges of thecurtain that they may also serve as i hand-holds adapted to be easily grasped and thereby prevent danger of slipping.

, Most bath rooms have the walls faced with tiles in order to impart a good appearance and also prevent damage by water and allow the room to be easily and thoroughly cleaned. It is, therefore, another object of the invention to provide a tile adapted to be applied to a wall in the usual manner and having such construction that when a suitable number of these tiles are set in place one above another they serve to form the improved splash guard.

The invention is illustrated in the accompaying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the 1930.- Serial No. 442,914.

improved splash guards erected in operative relation to a tub and shower curtain,

F1g. 2 is a top plan view of one of the tiles from whichthe splash guards are formed,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through adjoining tiles of aguard on the line 33 of Fig. 2,

' Fig. 4c is a sectional view showing a shower bath of the alcove type provided with the improved splash guards,

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of one of the tiles forming the splash guards shown in Fig. i,

and 1 Fig. 6 is a view in elevation showing adoining portions of a splash guard and floor strip formed in accordance with this inven- In Fig. 1, there has shown atub 1 of a conventional construction extending between oppositely disposed walls of a bath room. A shower nozzle 2 projects from one wall over the tub and there has also been provided a shower curtain 3 suspended from a rod 4: so that it may be slid along the rod from the folded position illustrated to an extended position for use in which it extends the full length of the rod with its lower end projecting downwardly a short distance within the tub. This curtain serves to prevent water easily splashing outwardly from the shower and since the lower end of the curtain extends into the tub water dripping off the curtain passes into the tub instead of dripping upon the floor. It has, however, been found that water will often splash against the walls of the room at the ends of the tub and pass between the walls and side edges of the curtain. This water runs downwardly along the walls and accumulates in puddles upon the floor. In order to prevent water from passing between the wall and side edges of the shower curtain, I have provided splash guards in the form of ribs 5 -which extend vertically at the ends of the tub and project from the walls a suflicient distance to overlap the curtain along its sides. By this arrangement the ribs or guards will serve very effectively to prevent water from splashing outwardly between the curtain and the wall. 'Any water at tempting to pass outwardly strikes the inner side faces of the ribs and flows downwardly along the rods until it reaches the tub and instead of forming puddles upon the floor this water will flow into the tub.

Each of the splash guards orribs 5 consists of a number'of. tiles 6-. These-tiles are appliedto'the wall and secured in theusual manner in which tiles are mounted and. each tile consists of a base or body portion? which may be square, oblong or of any other desired shape. Anarm 8 projects-outwardly from the base or body portion 7 of the tile to form a section of the completed. rib or splash guard, and by referring to Figure 2 it will be seenthat the arm tapers outwardly for a portion of its depthand is then-'of'an even thicknessfor a short distance and termina'tes in an enlargedhead or bead 9. By this arrangement the tiles forming the guard maybe set in place against a wall one above another and their beadsor headswill form a rail orgrip 1Q adaptedto be grasped so that a person may step from the tubonto the floor of the room without danger of slipping and being injured by a fall. i The 'upperandlower edge faces of the tiles are recessed, as shown at 11. thereby forming pockets adapted' to befilled with cement placed between the tiles as a binder, as shown at' 12in-Figure 3. By this arrangement the tiles forming the guard will be firmly braced against transverse movement and they will not be liable tobe wrenched loose by a person grasping a 'guardand usingthesarne as a-hand rail to prevent slipping.

In Figurel', there has been shown a showerbath of the alcove type. This shower bath which is indicated-in general-by th-enumeral 13- has' opposed-walls 14 leading from thewalls 1-5 of the room and atthe intersection ofthewalls 14 and 15 it is customary'te use corner til-es having curved side flanges in order to form rounded corners-and impart a good appearance.- Thecorner tiles 16 are similar in construction to thetiles 6, except that they have side flanges or extensions 17-. Amns 18corresponding tothe arms 8 project from thebody portions 19 of these tiles and each arm terminates in an enlarged head orhead 20. It will thus be seenthat case the tub is built into an alcove or recess instead of at one end or side of a room.

In Figure 6, there has been shown another modified construction.tiles 24 which are similar in construction to thetiles 6 are set into a floor in order to form an upstanding ledge extending across the frontof an alcove shower andtaking the place of the shoulder or ledge and the vertically. extending splash guards are formed by'tiles 25 which may be constructed eithenas-shown in Figure 2 or as shown in Figure 5. In order to join the lower end of eachsvertical. splash guard with the adjacent end of the floor ledge, there is employed-atile 26 formed substantially the same asthetiles 24 and25, except thatiit'is substantially triangular in=-shape-in orderto fit into a corner and has its bead27'arouaterinstead of straight so that it merges 1 into the beads ofthetiles 24" and 25. By' this In this forms arrangement both the verticallyextendin'g being o1 sufiicient depth to overlap" aside portion of the curtain and havingits outer portion formed with a hand grip.

2. The combination with a shower structure including a chamber having aside wall, and a splash curtain, of a plurality of tiles applied to said wall one above another, said t-ileshaving wall engaging portions and por- 'tIo nsextending outwardly therefrom between their side edges and forming arms decreasing in thickness towards their free ends, said arms cooperatingto form a rib projiectiligiirom' the wall and of sufficient depth to overlap aside portion of'the'curtain andconstitute a splash guard.

23. The combination withv a showerstructure including a chamber having aside wall, and a splash curtain, of aplurality oftiles appliedto said wall one above another, -said tiles each having arm extending outwardly therefrom and. formed with a head at its outer end,the' arms of saidtiles cooperating to form a rib constituting arsplash guard adapted to overlap aside portiontof the curtain, and the heads forming aihand grip along the .outer'edge of the rib.

4.111 a shower structure, "a chamber: havingopposed side walls, a water retaining 'wall extending across the floorqof the'chamber between the side walls, a splash curtain extending between the side walls with the water-retaining wall overlapping the outer face of its lower portion, and. ribs extending vertically upon the side walls and projecting therefrom to form splash guards adapted to overlap the outer face of the curtain along side portions thereof.

In a shower structure, a chamber having opposed side walls, a water-retaining wall extending across the floor of the chamber between the side walls, a splash curtain extending between the side walls with the water-retaining wall overlapping the outer .face of its lower portion, and ribs extending vertically upon the side walls constituting splash guards to overlap said curtain along opposite sides thereof, the ribs having their free edge portions thickened transversely to form hand grips.

6. In a shower bath construction, a splash guard consisting of a plurality of tiles disposed one against another and each being substantially T-shaped and having a wall engaging portion and a portion extended outwardly therefrom intermediate its side edges to form an arm, the arms of said tiles contacting in end to end engagement with each other and cooperating to form the guard.

7. In a shower bath construction, a splash guard consisting ,of a plurality of tiles disposed one against another and each having a portion extended outwardly to form an arm terminating in a thickened portion forming a bead, the arms cooperating to form a rib and the beads forming a hand grip along the rib.

8. A splash guard forming tile comprising a body, and an arm extending outwardly therefrom and formed with a bead along its free end.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

LAYMAN M. STERNBERGH. [L. 5.]

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