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(11) | EP 0 765 626 B1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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| (54) |
Movable seat for a shower cubicle or the like Beweglicher Sitz für eine Duschkabine oder ähnliches Siège mobile pour cabine de douche ou similaire |
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| Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). |
[0001] The present invention relates to a shower cubicle with a movable seat according to the precharacterizing part of claim 1.
[0002] As generally known, shower cubicles of this type are preferably provided, among other fixtures, with an internal seat permitting the user to assume a comfortable rest position under certain circumstances. The user may thus be comfortably seated when the cubicle is used as a steam bath or, in the case of a shower cubicle combined with a bath tub, the user may be seated with his feet immersed in the water contained in the tub. The seat is usually fixed so as to project into the interior of the cubicle, as a result of which it may act as an undesirable obstruction, involving the danger of the user being accidentally hurt.
[0003] With a view to overcoming these shortcomings, it has been proposed to employ a movable seat, adapted to be selectively displaced between a non-use position in which it is received in a suitably shaped recess in the internal wall surface of the shower cubicle, and a use position in which it is lowered from the non-use position so as to project horizontally from the wall surface. In the non-use position, the seat extends substantially flush with the internal wall surface of the shower cubicle, while in the use position it projects therefrom for the user to be comfortably seated thereon. Although this solution has its advantages, the handling of the seat by the user can be rather difficult, particularly as regards the failsafe locking of the seat in the use position.
[0004] A shower cubicle with a seat of the aforementioned kind is known from US-A-3480973. The seat is fixed to the frame of the shower. The seat portion is movable about a horizontal axis between two positions. In the first position, which is a non-use position, the seat surface extends essentially vertically. In the second position, which is the use position, the surface of the seat extends horizontally such that a person can sit on the seat surface. Given though, this design allows space saving in the non-use position compared to the use position, as it still requires a lot of room and represents an undesirable obstruction.
[0005] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a movable seat for a shower cubicle or the like, which in addition to being of a simple and straightforward construction, offers the advantage of being readily and safely adjustable between a space-saving non-use position and a projecting use position.
[0006] This object is attained according to the invention by the provision of a movable seat for a shower cubicle or the like incorporating the characteristics set forth in the appended claims.
[0007] The characteristics and advantages of the invention will become more clearly evident from the following description, given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
- fig. 1
- shows a diagrammatic top plan view of parts of a shower cubicle provided with a seat according to the invention, the latter being shown in its projecting use position,
- fig. 2
- shows a sectional view taken along the line II-II in fig. 1,
- fig. 3
- shows a view similar to fig. 1, with the seat in its space-saving non-use position, and
- fig. 4
- shows a view similar to fig. 2, with the seat in its non-use position.
[0008] With reference to the drawings, the seat according to the invention is preferably, although not exclusively, intended for use with a shower cubicle combined with a bath tub or a hydromassage tub having an internal wall partially shown and generally indicated at 5 in figs. 1 and 3.
[0009] The shower cubicle generally has an internal wall surface which may in top plan view substantially coincide with the internal wall surface 5 of the tub, and a substantially vertical wall 6 extending upwards from the rim of the tub (or from the rim of a not shown base plate of a shower cubicle not provided with a tub). The structure as a whole is provided with a support frame 7 having attached thereto, in a substantially conventional manner, the tub (if provided), the wall 6 of the cubicle, and optionally provided exterior covering walls 8, 9.
[0010] The vertical wall 6 is formed with at least one recessed portion 10, preferably at the location of a corner of the shower cubicle (and of the tub) for optimum use of the space available. In addition, wall 6 is preferably extended downwards with a wall portion 11 of substantially C-shaped cross-section (figs. 2 and 4). Wall portion 11 is secured to the bottom side of frame 7 and has a substantially horizontal planar top 12 extending into recessed portion 10, and a front face 13 merging into the wall surface 5 of the shower cubicle.
[0011] In the example described, front face 13 is preferably of convex configuration as illustrated in figs. 1 and 3, it may also, however, of concave shape or substantially coincide with the internal wall surface portion 5 of the shower cubicle. The recessed portion 10 of wall 6 is preferably likewise of curvilinear configuration, but may obviously be of any other suitable shape if so required.
[0012] The movable seat according to the invention is basically composed of a substantially planar seat portion 14 preferably covered with a padding material and provided at an eccentric position with a pin 15 extending downwards therefrom to be freely received in a mounting sleeve 16 with the interposition of a bearing collar 18. Sleeve 16 is secured to frame 7, for instance by means of struts 17 fixedly connected thereto. Bearing collar 18 is disposed between the seat portion 14 and the horizontal top plane 12, and preferably made of a low-friction plastic material.
[0013] The contours of seat portion 14 are preferably of irregular curvilinear configuration as shown in figs. 1 and 3, but may of course be given any other suitable shapes as required. In any case, the eccentric positioning of the swivel pin 15 according to the invention permits the seat portion 14 to freely swivel between an angular use position in which it projects forward beyond the wall surface 5 of the shower cubicle (fig. 1), and an angular non-use position (fig. 3), in which it is received in the recessed portion 10 of wall 6 and does substantially not project beyond wall surface 5 to result in minimum obstruction.
[0014] As shown in fig. 3, the contours of seat portion 14 in its non-use position substantially coincide with front face 13 and with those of the recessed portion 10 of wall 6.
[0015] The seat portion 14 can be readily dismounted, as for being cleaned, by simply extracting swivel pin 15 from sleeve 16.
[0016] The described movable seat may of course undergo numerous modifications within the purview of the invention.
[0017] It is thus possible to provide (preferably between swivel pin 15 and mounting sleeve 16) resilient stop means (known per se and indicated at 19 in figs. 2 and 4) acting to resiliently lock the seat portion 14 in its use and non-use positions to thereby further facilitate the use of the seat.
1. A shower cubicle with a shower seat, said shower seat comprising a seat portion adapted
to be adjusted within the shower cubicle between a substantially retracted non-use
position and a use position in which it projects beyond an internal front wall surface
(5) of the cubicle, said seat portion (14) being adjustable between said non-use and
use positions by swivelling about a swivel pin (15) within the shower cubicle, characterized in that said swivel pin (15) extends eccentrically from the seat portion (14) and in that in said non-use position, said seat portion being received in a recessed portion
(10) in a corner of said shower cubicle.
2. A shower cubicle, according to Claim 1, characterized in that, said swivel pin extends vertically downwards from said seat portion (14) within
the cubicle.
3. A shower cubicle, according to Claim 1, characterized in that the recessed portion (10) is of concave configuration, and said seat portion being
provided with a convex front face (13) to be received by said concave portion in the
non-use position.
4. A shower cubicle, according to one of the preceidng claims, characterized in that said swivel pin (15) is freely extractably received in a mounting sleeve (16) fixedly
connected to a support frame (7, 17) of the shower cubicle.
5. A shower cubicle, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a resilient stop means (19) is provided for releasably locking said seat portion
(14) in said use or non-use positions.
6. A shower cubicle, according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said eccentric swivel pin (15) and said mounting sleeve (16) are formed with complementary
screw threads permitting the height of said seat portion (14) to be vertically adjusted.
1. Duschkabine mit einem Duschsitz, wobei der Duschsitz einen Sitzabschnitt umfasst,
der innerhalb der Duschkabine zwischen einer im Wesentlichen zurückgenommenen Nichtbenutzungsposition
und einer Benutzungsposition eingestellt werden kann, in der er über eine inneren
vorderen Wandfläche (5) der Kabine hervorsteht, wobei der Sitzabschnitt (14) zwischen
der Nichtbenutzungs- und Benutzungsposition durch Verschwenken um einen Schwenkzapfen
(15) innerhalb der Duschkabine einstellbar ist, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass sich der Schwenkzapfen (15) exzentrisch von dem Sitzabschnitt (14) aus erstreckt
und dass der Sitzabschnitt in der Nichtbenutzungsposition in einem vertieften Abschnitt
(10) in einer Ecke der Duschkabine aufgenommen ist.
2. Duschkabine nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass sich der Schwenkzapfen vertikal nach unten von dem Sitzabschnitt (14) innerhalb der
Kabine aus erstreckt.
3. Duschkabine nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der vertiefte Abschnitt (10) eine konkave Ausbildung aufweist und der Sitzabschnitt
mit einer konvexen Vorderseite (13) versehen ist, um von dem konkaven Abschnitt in
der Nichtbenutzungsposition aufgenommen zu werden.
4. Duschkabine nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der Schwenkzapfen (15) frei entfernbar in einer Befestigungshülse (16) aufgenommen
ist, die mit einem Tragrahmen (7, 17) der Duschkabine fest verbunden ist.
5. Duschkabine nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass eine elastische Anschlageinrichtung (19) vorgesehen ist, um den Sitzabschnitt (14)
in der Benutzungs- oder Nichtbenutzungsposition lösbar zu verriegeln.
6. Duschkabine nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der exzentrische Schwenkzapfen (15) und die Befestigungshülse (16) mit komplementären
Schraubengewinden gebildet sind, die es ermöglichen, die Höhe des Sitzabschnitts (14)
vertikal einzustellen.
1. Cabine de douche munie d'un siège de douche, ledit siège de douche comportant une
partie d'assise adaptée pour être ajustée dans la cabine de douche entre une position
de non-usage sensiblement rétractée, et une position d'usage dans laquelle elle fait
saillie au-delà d'une surface de paroi avant interne (5) de la cabine, ladite partie
d'assise (14) pouvant être ajustée entre lesdites positions de non-usage et d'usage
en pivotant autour d'un axe de pivotement (15) situé à l'intérieur de la cabine de
douche, caractérisé en ce que ledit axe de pivotement (15) s'étend de manière excentrée à partir de la partie d'assise
(14), et en ce que dans ladite position de non-usage, ladite partie d'assise est reçue dans une partie
évidée (10) située dans un coin de la cabine de douche.
2. Cabine de douche selon la revendication 1, caractérisée en ce que ledit axe de pivotement s'étend verticalement vers le bas à partir de ladite partie
d'assise (14) à l'intérieur de la cabine.
3. Cabine de douche selon la revendication 1, caractérisée en ce que la partie évidée (10) a une configuration concave, et ladite partie d'assise est
munie d'une face avant convexe (13) devant être reçue par ladite partie concave dans
la position de non-usage.
4. Cabine de douche selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, caractérisée en ce que ledit axe de pivotement (15) est reçu librement, de manière à pouvoir être extrait,
dans un manchon de montage (16) connecté de manière fixe à un châssis de support (7,
17) de la cabine de douche.
5. Cabine de douche selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, caractérisée en ce que des moyens d'arrêt élastiques (19) sont fournis pour verrouiller de manière libérable
ladite partie d'assise (14) dans lesdites positions d'usage et de non-usage.
6. Cabine de douche selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, caractérisée en ce que ledit axe de pivotement excentré (15) et ledit manchon de montage (16) sont munis
de filets complémentaires, qui permettent d'ajuster verticalement la hauteur de ladite
partie d'assise (14).