The present invention relates to a shower cubicle with a movable seat according to the precharacterizing part of claim 1.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The seat portion 14 can be readily dismounted, as for being cleaned, by simply extracting swivel pin 15 from sleeve 16.
The described movable seat may of course undergo numerous modifications within the purview of the invention.
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.
Similarly, the swivel pin 15 and mounting sleeve 16 may be formed with complementary screw threads permitting the user to adjust the height of the seat by simple rotation.
It is finally to be understood that the seat may be mounted for excentric swivelling about an axis other than the vertical one shown in the drawings. To this purpose pin 15 may for instance be mounted horizontally.