Shower Receptor

Abstract

A shower receptor comprising a bottom floor, an upright wall circumscribing the periphery of said floor, a lip on three sides of said wall forming a trough between said wall and said lip, a ledge and connecting flange at the fourth side of said wall, stile-receiving members at each end of said ledge and knob-like members positioned inside said stile-receiving members, is disclosed.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In recent years, the construction of shower stall units of the free-standing variety has increased materially. The earliest of the commercially available shower units of this type were constructed of metal and necessitated intricate attaching means for the various components of the units, i.e. walls, hand rails, headers, receptors etc. In most instances, these attaching means were also metal and, as a result, the complete shower units were susceptible to corrosion, rust etc., at the attached surfaces or any areas where protective coatings (enamel etc.) on the metal were damaged or otherwise removed or disrupted.

More recently, shower stall units have been constructed from various non-corrosive materials such as plastics, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,609,773. Even these plastic showers, however, rely basically on metal fasteners such as clips, screws etc. to secure walls, sills, headers, receptors etc. together and therefore, while relieving some of the corrosion problems, are still beset with corrosion problems of their own.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

I have now discovered a novel receptor component which may be utilized as the floor sector of a free-standing shower stall. My novel receptor is entirely free of metal and includes not only the feature of a built-in channel for receiving shower stall walls but a threshold which will always overflow before the sides and stile-receiving members which afford a tight seal for stiles which form the sides of a shower entranceway.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,267 affords an example of a prior art receptor over which the instant receptor is an improvement in that no means for attaching the walls to the receptor are necessary.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a top view of the receptor showing the upwardly open stile-receiving members and the trough on three sides thereof;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view as seen from the plane indicated by line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the receptor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a stile-receiving member as taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a rib and foot as taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 4;

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION INCLUDING PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates my novel receptor unit and, in particular, depicts the top thereof with specific reference to its interior components. The receptor is an all plastic integrally molded unit and generally can be prepared from any such material which is known to be moldable and has such properties so as to provide rigid, impact resistant molded products. A preferred construction material which may be used is that generally known as "pre-mix compression molding compound", gunk-molding compound", "bulk-molding compound" etc. and which is composed of an unsaturated polyester resin, various fillers such as clay, calcium carbonate, etc., fibers such as fiberglass, nylon, asbestos, etc., pigments and a cross-linking agent such as styrene. The composition is a putty-like material which is formed into the molded receptor by adding catalyst thereto and compression molding the resultant mixture in a molding press with downwardly or upwardly acting matched metal dies.

Again referring to FIG. 1, the receptor comprises an integrally molded shell adapted to constitute the floor of a shower stall. The shell includes sides 1, 2, and 3 with the remaining side comprising the entranceway portion of the receptor and having upwardly open stile-receiving members 4 and 5 at each end thereof. The stile-receiving members are comprised of outer walls 6 and 7 and inner walls 24 and 25 which preferably taper slightly (shown as an angle in FIG. 5) terminating at bottom interiors 8 and 9, respectively. A plurality of knob-like members 10 are positioned equidistant from the innermost tapered portions of said inner and outer walls at said bottom interiors of the stile-receiving members. The stile-receiving members are adapted to receive the stile portion (not shown) of the entranceway of the ultimate shower unit. The stiles are maintained in locked contact with the stile-receiving members by the combination of being of slightly larger width than the space between the walls 6, 7, 24 and 25 and the members 10 at the bottom interiors 8 and 9 and the tapered sides.

A substantially upright section forms a wall 11 around the three edges of the bottom floor 12 at sides 1, 2 and 3, of the receptor while a second sections forms wall 17 on the fourth edge of the bottom floor. Wall 11 extends upwardly above wall 17 as best seen in FIG. 2. A drain opening 13 is positioned in the floor 12 at the lowest point thereof, said floor being sloped in the direction of said drain. An upwardly turned lip 14 is connected to the outer portion of the three sides of the splash wall 11 and extends about a major peripheral portion thereof thereby forming a trough 15 between said splash wall and said lip, the lip preferably being higher than wall 11. Trough 15 preferably has tapered sides as shown in FIG. 2 by an angle in order to tightly receive the wall surround (not shown) of the shower stall. A downwardly extending leg 16 (see FIG. 2) is connected to the bottom portion of said trough in the area of said lip. The leg also extends about a major peripheral portion of the splash wall in conformance to sides 1, 2 and 3. The leg terminates at a point beyond the lowest level of the floor 12 and aids in supporting the receptor while also comprising an apron or skirt around the receptor which conceals the underpinnings thereof and also prevents foreign objects from becoming jammed under the receptor floor.

Wall 17, which begins the formation of the threshold of the entranceway of the ultimate shower stall terminates in a laterally turned flange 18 extending outwardly therefrom. Flange 18 comprises the threshold upper of the shower stall. The outer marginal edge of said flange 18 terminates in a connecting flange 19 which also extends downwardly beyond the lowest level of the floor 12 as does leg 16, preferably to the same point as leg 16.

The walls 6, 7, 24 and 25 of stile-receiving members 4 and 5 blend in to form a contoured surface wherever they meet flanges 18 and 19, lip 14 and leg 16 as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4.

As seen in FIG. 2, a cross-sectional view along line 2--2 of FIG. 1, lip 14 preferably extends above the level of splash wall 11 and flange 18 is preferably sloped inwardly toward the drain opening 13 of the floor 12. As a result, all water which reaches the threshold flows back into the shower unit and out the drain rather than onto the floor around the exterior of the shower stall.

A further feature fully depicted by FIG. 1 is the bullet-shaped configuration of the stile-receiving members 4 and 5. This configuration, although not critical, is preferred in that it lends to the strength and rigidity of the ultimate shower stall.

Cut-outs 20 of FIG. 1 provide a widened sector for receipt of the portion of the stile of the shower stall which engages and securely connects the shower wall surround (not shown) which fits snuggly into the trough 15. As can be seen clearly in FIG. 2, the floors 8 and 9 of the stile-receiving members are slightly lower than the floor of the trough. This deeper recess enables a more secure attaching of the stiles in the stile-receiving members.

FIG. 5 depicts a cross-sectional view of the stile-receiving member taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 1. The outer wall 6 is clearly shown as are knob-like members 10. The tapered sides of the stile-receiving members are shown as an angle, as mentioned above. The difference in height of the floor of the trough 15 and the floor of the stile-receiving member 8 is clearly shown, as is cut-out 20.

The bottom of my novel receptor is shown in FIG. 4. The blending of the stile-receiving member sides 6 and 7 and lip 14 into a contoured surface is best shown here. As can be seen, leg 16 extends around three sides of the receptor and also blends into the sides of the stile-receiving members. A series of supporting ribs 21 extend below the floor 12 of the receptor and are integral therewith in spaced relationship with one another. The ribs radiate outwardly from circular member 22, which circumscribes the periphery of drain 13 and is of the same depth as said ribs, in a spoke-like configuration. Each of said ribs have positioned thereon a set of feet 23 the height of which extend beyond the height of the ribs. The height of each successive foot in each set proceeding outwardly from the drain increases diametrically proportionally to the slope of the floor 12, as best seen in FIG. 2. FIG. 6, a view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 4, best depicts the relative size of said feet in comparison to the ribs.

The receptor of the instant invention is illustrated as being of substantially square configuration, however, rectangular etc. shapes could also be employed.

A series of stacking bosses, not shown, can be added about the receptor along the outer edge of leg 16 in order to allow stacking of a series of receptors inside one another in a nesting arrangement for shipping and storage.

The interior side of the floor 12 may be formed such that a non-skid surface, tiles etc. may be added thereto or molded therewith during the production of the receptor.

Although my invention has been described above with some degree of particularity and generally in its preferred forms, it is to be understood that said preferred forms have been presented by way of illustration only and that many modifications of both the construction and arrangement of parts thereof may be made without departing from the scope of the instant invention.

Claims

I claim:

1. A shower receptor comprising a one-piece, integrally molded structure including a shell adapted to constitute the floor of a shower stall, said shell including a bottom floor and a substantially upright, four-sided splash wall having an inner and outer portion and circumscribing the periphery of said bottom floor, three sides of said splash wall extending upwardly above the fourth side thereof, a drain opening in the bottom floor of said shell, said bottom floor being sloped in the direction of said drain opening whereby said opening is located at the lowest point of said bottom floor, an upwardly turned lip on the outer portion of only said three sides of said splash wall extending the entire length thereof, said lip forming a trough between said wall and said lip, said trough having slightly upwardly tapered inner sides adapted to receive and secure a shower stall wall, said splash wall defining said fourth side terminating in a laterally turned flange extending outwardly therefrom, the outer marginal edge of said flange terminating in a connecting flange extending downwardly beyond the level of said bottom floor, a pair of upwardly open stile-receiving members positioned each at an end of said fourth side, being interconnected with said trough and having an interior bottom lower than the level of said trough, each of said stile-receiving members having walls the inner sides of which are slightly upwardly tapered, said walls of said stile-receiving members extending upwardly above the height of said laterally turned flange to substantially the height of said three sides of said splash wall and a plurality of knob-like members positioned on said interior bottom equidistant from the inwardmost tapered portion of said slightly tapered sides of said walls of said stile-receiving members, said knob-like members forming a section in conjunction with one another and with said walls of said stile-receiving members adapted to receive and secure a stile.

2. A shower receptor according to claim 1 having supporting ribs extending below said bottom floor in spaced relationship with one another, and a circular member circumscribing the periphery of said drain opening, said ribs radiating outwardly from said ring member to the outer edges of said bottom floor in spoke-like arrangement.

3. A shower receptor according to claim 2 wherein said ribs have positioned thereon a set of support feet, the height of each successive foot in each set proceeding outwardly from said drain increasing diametrically proportionally to the slope of said bottom floor.

4. A shower receptor according to claim 1 wherein a leg extends downwardly from said lip along the entire length thereof to beyond the level of said floor and to the lowest level of said connecting flange and joins with said connecting flange via the outer sides of said walls of said stile-receiving members.

5. A shower receptor according to claim 1 wherein said lip extends above the level of said splash wall.

6. A shower receptor according to claim 1 wherein said stile-receiving members are bullet-shaped.

7. A shower receptor according to claim 1 wherein said turned flange is sloped inwardly toward said drain opening.