Flexible overhead shower

Abstract

A showerhead assembly includes a flexible support which extends from a wall unit mounted to a shower wall in a cantilever manner. The flexible support supports a multitude of independently adjustable showerheads. The flexible support receives water from the wall unit which also includes a conventional handheld shower sprayer which is received therein.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a shower, and more particularly to a showerhead assembly that may be flexibly relocated within a shower.

Oversized luxury showers and accessories are becoming increasing desirable in new construction and bathroom renovations. Such showers typically include one or more a multi-function showerheads individually mounts to a ceiling or wall of the shower. Each showerhead typically provides a plurality of spray modes, including various standard sprays and pulsed sprays. Multi-function showerheads may also have flow control valves to allow the user to adjust the flow pressure to a desired level.

Although somewhat effective in providing a desired shower experience, conventional showers lack the ability to be particularly tailored to a bather's desires as conventional showerheads are limited to particular locations within the shower.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a showerhead assembly which provides a location adjustable feature to particularly tailor a shower experience to a particular location and bather.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A showerhead assembly according to the present invention includes a flexible support which extends from a wall unit mounted to a shower wall in a cantilever manner. The flexible support supports a multitude of independently adjustable showerheads.

The flexible support includes a corrugated section which permits bending of the flexible support into various desired shapes. The flexible support receives water from the wall unit which also includes a conventional hand held shower sprayer which is received therein. The wall unit communicates water to both the hand held shower sprayer as well as to the flexible support and into the showerheads. As the wall unit supports the spraying operations, installation is readily facilitated.

The present invention therefore provides a showerhead assembly which provides a location adjustable feature to particularly tailor a shower experience to a particular location and bather.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view a shower for use with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a flexible support of a showerhead assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an expanded view of a showerhead attached to a flexible support;

FIG. 4A is a top view of a flexible support of the showerhead assembly in an exemplary position;

FIG. 4B is a top view of a flexible support of the showerhead assembly in another exemplary position; and

FIG. 4C is a top view of a flexible support of the showerhead assembly in another exemplary position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 illustrates a general perspective view of a shower 10. The shower 10 generally includes a base 12, one or more walls 14 and a ceiling 15. It should be understood that the term “base” is not limited to just shower bases but that relatively deeper tubs and the like will also benefit from the present invention. It should also be understood that although a particular component arrangement is disclosed in the illustrated embodiment, other arrangements, e.g. molded surround or tiled construction will benefit from the instant invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a showerhead assembly 16 includes a flexible support 18 which extends from a shower wall 14 in a cantilever manner. The flexible support 18 supports and communicates water to a multitude of showerheads 20a, 20b, 20c which extend therefrom. It should be understood that any number of showerheads may be utilized with the present invention. The showerheads 20a, 20b, 20c are individually articulatable relative the flexible support 18.

The showerheads 20a, 20b, 20c may be individually aimed relative the flexible support 18 through various attachments such as a ball and socket arrangement. A portion of each showerhead 20a, 20b, 20c includes a ball 22 which is received within a complementary socket 24 formed in the flexible support 18 (illustrated schematically in FIG. 3). Each showerhead 20a, 20b, 20c is thereby adjustable to provide a desired spray pattern. A handle 21 extends from each showerhead 20a, 20b, 20c to facilitate adjustment and preferably provide an individual on/off control.

The flexible support 18 includes a corrugated section 26 which permits bending of the flexible support 18 in a plane P defined along the length of the flexible support 18 (FIG. 4A). It should be understood that flexible corrugated sections are well known and that various flexible area will be usable with the present invention. The flexible support 18 may thereby be adjusted into various desired shapes such as those exemplified in FIGS. 4B and 4C. It should be understood that these shapes are for illustrative purposes only and the flexible support 18 preferably provides an effectively infinitely variable shape.

The flexible support 18 includes a multitude of mounts 28 located on a side opposite the showerheads 20a, 20b, 20c. The mounts 28 permit the flexible support to be attached to a shower ceiling 15. The mounts 28 may be permanent or removable such that the flexible support 18 may be fixed in position to the ceiling 15 through, for example, fasteners, or, for example, removably attached to the ceiling 15 through suction cups or the like.

The flexible support 18 receives water from the wall unit 20. The wall unit 20 preferably includes a hand held shower sprayer 30 which is received therein. That is, the wall unit 20 communicates water to the hand held shower sprayer 30 as well as to the flexible support 18 and into the showerheads 20a, 20b, 20c. A set of controls 32 provide individual control of water flow to the showerheads 20a, 20b, 20c and the handheld shower sprayer 30. As the wall unit 20 supports the spraying operations, installation is readily facilitated.

Although particular step sequences are shown, described, and claimed, it should be understood that steps may be performed in any order, separated or combined unless otherwise indicated and will still benefit from the present invention.

The foregoing description is exemplary rather than defined by the limitations within. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. The preferred embodiments of this invention have been disclosed, however, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. For that reason the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.

Claims

1. A showerhead assembly comprising: a flexible support; and a multitude of showerheads mounted to said flexible support.

2. The showerhead assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said multitude of showerheads is independently aimable relative said flexible support.

3. The showerhead assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said multitude of showerheads includes a ball and socket mounting arrangement to said flexible support.

4. The showerhead assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said flexible support is bendable within a plane defined along a length of said flexible support.

5. The showerhead assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said flexible support includes a multitude of mounts extending from said flexible support oppose said multitude of showerheads.

6. The showerhead assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said flexible support extends from a wall unit.

7. The showerhead assembly as recited in claim 6, wherein said flexible support extends from said wall unit in a cantilever arrangement.

8. The showerhead assembly as recited in claim 6, further comprising a handheld shower mounted to said wall unit.

9. The showerhead assembly as recited in claim 8, further comprising a control mounted to said wall unit which controls said multitude of showerheads and said handheld shower.

10. A shower comprising: a shower wall; a wall unit mountable to said shower wall; a flexible support which extends from said wall unit in a cantilever manner; and a multitude of showerheads mounted to said flexible support.

11. The shower as recited in claim 10, wherein said flexible support is bendable within a plane defined along a length of said flexible support.

12. The shower as recited in claim 10, wherein said flexible support is corrugated.

13. The showerhead assembly as recited in claim 10, further comprising a handheld shower mounted to said wall unit.

14. The shower as recited in claim 10, wherein said flexible support includes a multitude of mounts for mounting said flexible support to a shower ceiling.

15. A method of showering water comprising the steps of: (1) flexing a flexible support which extends in a cantilever manner from a wall unit; and (2) showering water from a multitude of showerheads mounted to the flexible support.

16. A method as recited in claim 15, further comprising the step of: bending the flexible support within a plane defined along the length of the flexible support to position each of said multitude of showerheads in a desired pattern.

17. A method as recited in claim 15, further comprising the step of: bending the flexible support within a plane defined along the length of the flexible support to position each of said multitude of showerheads; and mounting the flexible support to a shower ceiling.

18. A method as recited in claim 15, further comprising the step of: independently articulating each of the showerheads relative to the flexible support.