BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bathing devices and more particularly pertains to a collapsible bath seat pivotally attached to bathroom wall, which allow bathing both an elderly or persons of limited dexterity in sitting position when the seat is lowered and any one who takes regular shower or bath when the seat is in raising position
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are a number of prior art devices which relate to folding bath seat accomplished in some forms and fashions. Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,690 to Satterfield, U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,741 to Fernandez, U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,651 to Carmen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,255 to Young, U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,892 to Mitchell, and some others. These devices includes a seat pivotally attached to vertical wall to provide motion between vertical and horizontal positions and legs or leg panel folding into a vertical position to support the seat to the floor of the shower or bath.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,807,690 to Satterfield showed a torsion spring means for assisting bathers in raising and lowering the pivotally attached seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,040,335 to Gelman and U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,445 to Bailly, which are not a folding variety of bathing chair, shown a bathing chair assembly whereby the sprays directed from under the seat and can cleans the an genital areas of the body.
While all of these devices fulfill their respective, particular objective and requirement, the aforementioned patents do not disclose an apparatus which does not require any special modification to a conventional tub structure for bathing both people in sitting position with spring device for washing the bottom parts of the body, and people who take regular shower or bath.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an essential objective of the present invention to provide a bath collapsible seat for completely and safety bathing a broad category of users, including elderly and persons of limited dexterity and people who takes a regular shower or bath.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bath collapsible seat with minimum use of available space which not obstacle the users who takes a regular shower or bath.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide inside of the seat a water supply means for spraying bottom parts of the body.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a bath collapsible seat, which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple constructional, easy to use, economically feasible, long lasting, and relatively trouble free in operation.
These together with other objectives of the invention, along with the various features of novelty, which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operation advantages and the specific benefits attained by its uses, refer to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which these are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bath collapsible seat in accordance with the present invention, where the seat in vertical position is exploded and illustrated in hidden lines;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line M-M of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view at arrow “K” of FIG. 2 shown connection the coil hose in the guides of the holder;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial view of the place “A” of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a view of the wall mounting unit;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line N-N of FIG. 5;
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The bath collapsible seat of the present invention is designed to be easily prepared for bathing either an elderly people or persons of limited dexterity in sitting position, when the seat is lowered, and for those people who takes regular shower or bath, when the seat is in raising position. As shown in FIG. 1 the collapsible seat is positioned for use in conjunction with a domestic bathing and showering facility including a bathtub 5, installed in bathroom with front wall 2, adjacent wall 3, and rear wall 4, a pipe 28 with shower head 29, and a water control taps 6. The bath collapsible seat comprises: a seat assembly 10, a wall mounting unit 20, a water supply means 30, means of a bathtub accessories 40, and a catch assembly 50. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the seat assembly 10 comprises: a U-shaped frame 11 with rubber sleeves 12, two hinged means 13 attached to the ends of the frame 11 by screws 14, upper sheet 15 rigidly secured to the frame 11 by glue and rivets 17, lower sheet 16 attached to the frame 11 by screws 18, and a holder 21 (FIGS. 2 and 3) having guides 22. The sheets 15 and 16 are preferable made from plastic PVC, PP, or like and have preliminary drilled or stamped holes 26 for connection with holder 21 to provide solid system. Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 5, the wall mounting unit 20 includes: two bracket means 35, which are rigidly attached to the wall 3 of the bathroom by glue and screws 43, handle 36 for supporting the bather in the process of bathing, and axle 38, on the ends 39 of which are fixed by pins or screws 14 the hinged means 13, to provide pivotally connection the seat assembly 10 to the wall mounting unit 20. The other end of the seat assembly 10 in its turn, supported on the front edge of the tub 5, to secure the seat assembly in horizontal position for bathing. The seat assembly is made flat, without any lugs on the both sides, and in thickness approximately one inch, that it not prevented the user to take a regular shower or bath. The wall mounting unit 20 may be includes a torsion spring 46 (FIG. 1) for assisting the user to raise and lower the seat assembly 10. Attaching the brackets means 35 to the wall 3 is provided when all parts of the wall mounting unit 20 are assembled. The dimension “B” (FIG. 6) between the wall 3 and handle 36 is approximately two inch or larger to provide free hand supporting of the user. The water supply means 30 comprises: two valves 51 and 52, a hand shower 55, two hoses 56 and 57, and a coil hose 25. The valve 51 is installed between domestic pipe 28 and showerhead 29, to direct the flow of water to showerhead, when the user takes a regular shower or bath, or directed to the valve 52 when the user needed to bathing in sitting position. The valve 52, in one's turn, directed the flow of water to the hand shower 55, or to the coil hose 25, for washing bather's bottom parts of the body, or completely shut off the flow. The coil hose 25 is placed in guides 22 of the holder 21 and is fixed there by upper sheet 15. As shown in FIG. 4 the frame 11 is supplied with pipe 24 through which is passed the coil hose 25. Holes 32 (FIGS. 1, 3) for spraying water from coil hose 25, may be drilled in assembly of the collapsible seat 10 through holes 31, which are preliminary made in the upper sheet 15. Connection together the hoses and valves of the water supply means 30 is provided by standard pipe fittings and not described in this specification. The means of bathing accessories 40 (FIG. 1) includes: two bath grab bars 61 and 62, fixed on the bathroom walls 2 and 3 for supporting the bather interring and living the tub, an electrical or hand operated dispenser 66 of liquid soap, support 67 for hand shower 55, piece of bast 68, back scrubber 69, and shelf 64 for holding some bathing accessories. All bathing accessories 40 are installed in the tub so, that they are accessibly to bather in sitting position. As shown in FIG. 1 the catch means 50, in the preferred embodiment, realizably holds the collapsible seat 10 in raising position. Other equivalent decision can be used and this one, also as the plug 27 for the coil hose 25, is just representative of other possible implementation. For bathing in sitting position the user must interring in the bathtub, draw the curtain, and lowering the seat assembly 10. After that the user of limited dexterity have access to bathing.
Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the present invention.
Patent Application
20110283450
