Claims
- 1. A shower appliance comprising:a guide plate adapted for being fixedly positioned relative to a shower wall; a carrier slidably mounted on said guide plate and being adapted to move slidably along said guide plate, said carrier also forming a clamping means which allows said carrier to be fixedly positioned at a user selected location along said guide plate; a perforated, arcuate pipe pivotally attached to said carrier; a pipe inlet communicating with said arcuate pipe; and a hose having a first and a second end, said first end of said hose being coupled to said pipe inlet, and said second end of said hose being adapted for coupling to a liquid source; wherein said guide plate has a first and a second groove on either side thereof, said carrier has a front plate, a first side plate, and a second side plate, said first side plate and said second side plate being perpendicular to and extending from either side of said front plate, said first side plate and said second side plate being parallel to one another, said first side plate and said second side plate each having an edge distal from said front plate, said first side plate having a first rib adapted for engagement with said first groove in said guide plate, and said second side plate having a second rib adapted for engagement with said second groove of said guide plate, said carrier further including a screw having a threaded shaft and a grasping knob, one of said first and second side plates having a clamp screw opening while another one of said first and second side plates has a threaded bore in fixed relationship thereto, said threaded shaft passing through said clamp screw opening and matingly engaging said threaded bore, whereby tightening said screw forces said first and second side plates toward one another to thereby clamp said carrier to said guide plate and releasably fix said carrier at a user selected location along said guide plate.
- 2. The shower appliance according to claim 1, wherein said guide plate is substantially in the shape of an elongated rectangle in plan view and has a front face and a back face, said guide plate has a length and a thickness extending perpendicularly between said front face and said back face, said back face being in contact with the shower wall when said guide plate is installed in a shower, said first and second grooves are located intermediate said front face and said back face on either side of said guide plate, each of said first and second grooves extends for substantially the length of said guide plate, each of said first and second grooves is defined by a bottom and first and second sidewalls which are parallel to said front face and said back face with said first sidewall of each of said first and second grooves being proximate said back face and said second sidewall of each of said first and second grooves being proximate said front face.
- 3. The shower appliance according to claim 2, wherein each of said first and second grooves has a top end and a bottom end and each of said first and second grooves has an obstruction near the bottom end thereof which acts as a stop for preventing said carrier from sliding off of said guide plate.
- 4. The shower appliance according to claim 3, wherein said guide plate has a top end and a first opening near said top end of said guide plate, and said first opening is adapted for allowing the passage of a fluid supply pipe through said guide plate when said guide plate is installed in a shower.
- 5. The shower appliance according to claim 4, further including a retaining plate comprising:a plate portion having a second opening at least large enough to allow passage of the fluid supply pipe through said plate portion; a collar having a bore which is in registry with said second opening, said collar projecting from one side of said plate portion, said collar having a threaded hole transverse to said bore; and a screw engaged to said threaded hole, whereby said screw can be tightened to frictionally engage the fluid supply pipe when said guide plate and said retaining plate are positioned such that the fluid supply pipe extends through said first opening, said second opening, and said bore of said collar, to thereby retain said guide plate in abutting contact against the shower wall.
- 6. The shower appliance according to claim 1, wherein said arcuate pipe has a middle and said pipe inlet is in the form of a pipe provided at about said middle of said arcuate pipe and communicating with said arcuate pipe.
- 7. The shower appliance according to claim 6, wherein said arcuate pipe substantially follows a circular arc defined by a circle having a circumference.
- 8. The shower appliance according to claim 7, wherein said arcuate pipe has a first set and a second set of perforations, said first set of perforations is oriented to discharge a fluid supplied to said arcuate pipe substantially horizontally and toward the center of curvature of the arcuate pipe when said arcuate pipe is pivotally moved such that the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe lies substantially in a horizontal plane, and said second set of perforations is oriented so as to discharge a fluid supplied to said arcuate pipe downward at about a 45° angle relative to the horizontal and toward a vertical line passing through the center of curvature of the arcuate pipe when said arcuate pipe is pivotally moved such that the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe lies substantially in a horizontal plane.
- 9. The shower appliance according to claim 8, wherein said arcuate pipe extends along the circumference of the circle defining the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe for a distance in the range of about one half to about seven eighths of the circumference of the circle defining the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe.
- 10. The shower appliance according to claim 9, wherein said arcuate pipe extends along the circumference of the circle defining the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe for a distance of about three quarters of the circumference of the circle defining the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe.
- 11. The shower appliance according to claim 10, wherein first side plate has a first hole and said second side plate has a second hole, the shower appliance further comprising:a pair of pivot plates extending in parallel from said arcuate pipe with said pair of pivot plates being symmetrically positioned on either side of the middle of said arcuate pipe, said pair of pivot plates being spaced apart such that said carrier can fit therebetween with a first one of said pair pivot plates being positioned proximate said first side plate and a second one of said pair of pivot plates being positioned proximate said second side plate, said first one of said pair of pivot plates having a third hole and said second one of said pair of pivot plates having a fourth hole; and a pair of pivot pins each being positioned to extend through a respective one of said first and second holes and a respective one of said third and fourth holes to thereby pivotally attach said arcuate pipe to said carrier.
- 12. The shower appliance according to claim 11, wherein said third and fourth holes are positioned vertically at a sufficient height above a plane containing the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe when said arcuate pipe is positioned such that the plane containing the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe is substantially horizontal, whereby said arcuate pipe can be pivotally moved such that the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe lies substantially in a vertical plane without said carrier interfering with movement of said arcuate pipe.
- 13. The shower appliance according to claim 1, wherein said arcuate pipe has a middle portion and said pipe inlet is in the form of a pipe elbow provided to one side of said middle portion of said arcuate pipe such that said arcuate pipe can pivotally move between a horizontal position and a vertical position without said carrier interfering with said pipe elbow, and said pipe elbow communicates with said arcuate pipe.
- 14. The shower appliance according to claim 13, wherein said arcuate pipe substantially follows a circular arc defined by a circle having a circumference.
- 15. The shower appliance according to claim 14, wherein said arcuate pipe has a first set and a second set of perforations, each of said first set of perforations is oriented to discharge a fluid supplied to said arcuate pipe substantially horizontally and toward the center of curvature of the arcuate pipe when said arcuate pipe is pivotally moved such that the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe lies substantially in a horizontal plane, and each of said second set of perforations is oriented so as to discharge a fluid supplied to said arcuate pipe downward at about a 45° angle relative to the horizontal and toward a vertical line passing through the center of curvature of said arcuate pipe when said arcuate pipe is pivotally moved such that the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe lies substantially in a horizontal plane.
- 16. The shower appliance according to claim 15, wherein said arcuate pipe extends along the circumference of the circle defining the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe for a distance in the range of about one-half to about seven-eighths of the circumference of the circle defining the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe.
- 17. The shower appliance according to claim 16, wherein said arcuate pipe extends along the circumference of the circle defining the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe for a distance of about three-quarters of the circumference of the circle defining the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe.
- 18. The shower appliance according to claim 17, wherein first side plate has a first hole and said second side plate has a second hole, said arcuate pipe has a middle, the shower appliance further comprising:a pair of pivot plates extending in parallel from said arcuate pipe with said pair of pivot plates being symmetrically positioned on either side of the middle of said arcuate pipe, said pair of pivot plates being spaced apart such that said carrier can fit therebetween with a first one of said pair pivot plates being positioned proximate said first side plate and a second one of said pair of pivot plates being positioned proximate said second side plate, said first one of said pair of pivot plates having a third hole and said second one of said pair of pivot plates having a fourth hole; and a pair of pivot pins each being positioned to extend through a respective one of said first and second holes and a respective one of said third and fourth holes to thereby pivotally attach said arcuate pipe to said carrier.
- 19. The shower appliance according to claim 18, wherein said third and fourth holes are positioned vertically at a sufficient height above a plane containing the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe when said arcuate pipe is positioned such that the plane containing the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe is substantially horizontal, whereby said arcuate pipe can be pivotally moved such that the circular arc followed by said arcuate pipe lies substantially in a vertical plane without said carrier interfering with movement of said arcuate pipe.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/117,237, filed Jan. 26, 1999.
US Referenced Citations (12)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0497290 |
Dec 1950 |
BE |
6-284985 |
Oct 1994 |
JP |
1806719 A1 |
Apr 1993 |
SU |
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/117237 |
Jan 1999 |
US |