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 theold shower head 20 is enclosed within frame A.

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

Ahose 25 is connected tostationary 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 afront wall 28, abottom wall 29, atop wall 30 and twoside walls 31. Theinside end 32 oftop 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 asimilar flange 34 may be provided on the inside ofbottom wall 29 so that frame A can be aflixedly mounted to shower wall B.

Prior to installing frame A onwall B hose 25 is connected toold 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 onshower head 20. The opposite end ofhose 25 is connected to aright angle elbow 38 which in turn connects directly to theoutlet aperture 39 of shower head C.

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

A group of four spring urgedpressure pads 48 are mounted in opposite corners offront plate 40 to urge againstfront wall 28 on opposite sides ofguideway 21. Each pad is mounted within acutout 49 withinfront plate 40 and is urged againstfront wall 28 by springs which are housed withincutout 49 and which engage aflange 51 on the outer end ofpads 48. In this way the pads exert continual frictional pressure againstfront 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 thatpads 48 will have an area for movement.

It is preferable thatrear 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 offront plate 40 is formed with an angularly depending nozzle fitting 55 which is threaded on the outside withthreads 56 and is formed internally withaperture 39 the opposite'end of which is connected toelbow 38.Threads 56 allow a conventional spray nozzle such as indicated at 58 to be installed thereon. Elbow 38 is arranged to pass through anaperture 60 inrear plate 41 andspacer guide 43 in order to make union with the rear ofaperture 39.

In operation the conventional spray nozzle is removed from the shower head fitting 20 andhose 25 is connected to fitting 20 of movable shower head C. The entire frame A is then mounted on the wall directly overshower 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 fromfront plate 40 againstfront wall 28 which provides pressure againstrear plate 41 to cause a frictional lock to prevent undesirable movement of shower head C withinguideway 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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