Patent Application
20240366036
The invention relates generally to the installation of preformed shower bases.
A shower base (also referred to as a shower pan, shower tray, shower floor, or “former”) is the portion of a shower upon which a user stands when taking a shower. A shower base is typically provided “preformed,” that is, as a sheet or pan-like structure having a drain hole formed therein, and which is installed atop or adjacent the surrounding (sub)floor with its drain hole operatively connected to a waste line beneath. The shower walls are then typically constructed about the shower base, which may itself be tiled over or otherwise covered for cosmetic or other purposes (e.g., to deter a user's slippage when taking a shower).
Shower base installation is a major component of the overall cost of a shower owing to time required and difficulties encountered with installation, and the number of personnel/trades involved. Installation may require licensed and insured personnel such as a carpenter (to cut the floor where the shower base is to be laid atop the joists supporting the floor, or to cut the hole allowing connection of the waste line where the shower base is laid atop the floor), a plumber (to connect the drain hole to the waste line after construction or rerouting of the waste line), and a tiler or other finisher (where the shower base is to be further enhanced after installation), and the scheduling/staging of their respective tasks must be coordinated for efficiency. When personnel have access to the shower base from beneath—as where a shower is being installed on the ground floor of a home, with access to the drain hole being allowed from an unfinished basement ceiling—installation is greatly eased, as the floor can be cut to allow the shower base to rest atop the floor joists supporting the floor (or the shower base might simply be laid atop the floor once an appropriately-located hole is cut in the floor beneath the drain hole), and a plumber can then connect the waste line to the drain hole from the basement. However, where installation occurs on floors that do not allow access to the drain hole from beneath the shower base, it can be difficult and time-consuming to obtain a water-tight connection of the drain hole to the waste line. This increases plumbing costs, and can disrupt the staging of tasks scheduled to occur following installation of the shower base.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,856,702 and 11,284,751 describe drain hole connection assemblies that can greatly ease connection of the drain hole to the waste line. The waste line, which typically extends horizontally between adjacent floor joists and then vertically upwardly to an open end to be connected to the drain hole, has a drain body installed in water-tight fashion about the outer circumference of the waste line's upwardly-facing end. This drain body provides an internally-threaded terminal for the waste line. The shower base is situated atop the floor joists (or floor) such that its drain hole is aligned with the drain body. A short internally and externally threaded conduit having an upper flange—referred to as a “flange nipple”—is then inserted through the drain hole and screwed into the internal threading of the drain body, with its upper flange pressing against the shower base about the perimeter of the drain hole. This effectively connects the shower base drain hole to the waste line. A drain gate frame, which bears a screen/grating, is then threaded into the flange nipple to complete the shower drain.
Assemblies of this nature can greatly reduce the time and cost of connection of the drain hole to the waste line, but problems can still arise, typically from misalignment of the end of the waste line with the drain hole. The waste line may be unsupported and sagging as it extends between the floor joists, and its end may be situated several inches below the floor/subfloor, requiring that it be lifted to effect connection of its end to the aforementioned flange nipple (or other drain hole components). Such lifting is not easily achievable with the shower base resting over the floor joists. Additionally or alternatively, the final length of the waste line might extend at an angle from the vertical, which can make connection to the flange nipple (or other drain hole components) difficult. Furthermore, a gasket is typically fit atop the drain body before affixing it to the bottom of the shower base to better ensure a water-tight conduit is formed from the shower base drain hole to the waste line. When the shower base is situated over the floor joists and efforts are made to affix the misaligned waste line (and its drain body) to the drain hole, this gasket may be dislodged from the drain body. This frustrates the installer, who then needs to remove the shower base to retrieve and reset the gasket, and restart installation efforts.
The invention, which is defined by the claims set forth at the end of this document, is directed to a drain support block, an associated method of installation, and a resulting assembly which at least partially alleviate the aforementioned problems. The following brief summary of the invention provides a basic understanding of some of the features of preferred versions of the invention, with more details being provided elsewhere in this document. To assist in the reader's understanding, the following review makes reference to the accompanying drawings (which are briefly reviewed in the “Brief Description of the Drawings” section following this Summary section of this document).
This is typically done by the installer's placement of the shower base (shown at 400 in
In
The drain support block 100 can then be fit between the adjacent floor joists 206, and each block end 102 can be attached to a respective one of the adjacent floor joists 206. (Preferably, any adaptation of the waste line 208 is done before this step, else the presence of the installed drain support block 100 may hinder adaptation of the waste line 208.) The installation of the drain support block 100 is preferably done using the cleats 150 of
The drain support block 100 is therefore fixed between the adjacent floor joists 206 as shown in
As seen in
The support block 100 therefore allows for easy connection of a shower base drain hole 402 to a drain body 210 and its waste line 208, as a user should not encounter a misaligned, sunken, or deflecting drain body 210. Moreover, the support block 100 decreases the chance that a gasket atop the drain body 210 will be dislodged during connection, and beneficially supports the shower base 400 about its weakest portion (about the drain hole 402), decreasing the likelihood that the shower base 400 will later crack about the drain hole 402 after use. Further potential advantages, features, and objectives of the invention will be apparent from the remainder of this document in conjunction with the associated drawings.
Expanding on the discussion above, the drain support block 100 is preferably formed of cuttable material, with the term “cuttable material” here being used to refer to any material readily cuttable by common hand-held power or manual cutting tools, e.g., circular saws or crosscut or rip-cut saws). Engineered wood (e.g., particle board, chipboard or fiberboard) is a particularly preferred material for the drain support block 100, but other materials such as natural wood (preferably an inexpensive, softer and more easily cut wood such as pine), plastic (e.g., recycled plastic lumber or high-density foamboard), or composite materials (primarily cellulose/wood and/or polymer-based composites for sake of cost, cuttability, and durability) could be used. The material used for the drain support block 100 may be treated to deter rot, fungal decay, and/or termite or other insect infestation, a measure which is particularly preferred where the block 100 is to be installed between concrete joists 206 or otherwise in a space which may be more susceptible to moisture accumulation.
An exemplary preferred version of the drain support block 100 has a block length of 21 inches between the block ends 102, a block width of 11 ¾ inches between the block sides 104. and a block depth of ⅝ inches between the block faces 106. The block hole 108 preferably has an outer diameter sized slightly greater than the upper section of the drain body 210 to be fit in the block hole 108, e.g., an outer diameter of 3 ⅞ to 4 inches (assuming a typical drain body upper section outer diameter of 3 ¾ inches). The block hole 108 is then situated with its center 7 ¼ inches from one of the block ends 102 (that is, with its outer diameter spaced 5 5/16 inches from this block end 102), and equally spaced from each of the block sides 104. It is notable that these dimensions allow the support block 100 to be cut to situate the block hole 108 (and thus a drain body 210 and waste line 208) situated at practically any location between joists 206 conventionally spaced 16 inches between centers (that is, having a distance between joists 206 of roughly 14.5 inches), including situations where the waste line 208 nearly abuts a joist 206 (with any interfering cleat 150 then being notched to accommodate the drain body 210).
The block length can be extended, and the block hole 108 repositioned, if the drain support block 100 is instead to be used with joists 206 having 19-inch or 24-inch spacing (and thus roughly 17 ½ or 22 ½ inch joist-to-joist spacing). Likewise, the block hole 108 may be differently dimensioned if it needs to accommodate a differently-sized drain body 210, e.g., one fit for a smaller waste line 208. (Typical shower waste lines 208 have a 2-inch outer diameter, though a shower waste line may have a 1.5-inch outer diameter where the waste line was originally used for a bathtub, as bathtubs typically use 1.5 inch waste lines.) Beneficially, a cuttable support block 100 is typically also sufficiently “soft” that a drain body 210 having threading about its upper portion (below its upper flange 212) can be threaded into the material about the block hole 108, with the threading gripping the perimeter of the block hole 108. However, it is preferred that the block hole 108 allows some degree of “play” for a drain body 210 inserted therein, as it is often useful to be able to make small adjustments to the location of the drain body 210 during connection to the shower base drain hole 402.
The countersink 110 in the upper block face 106 about the block hole 108 is then sized to receive the drain body upper flange 212 as shown in
Each cleat 150 is preferably rabbeted between at least one of its cleat support surfaces 152 and at least one of its cleat side surfaces 154, as seen in
While the support block 100 is shown as a rectangular prism with a circular block hole 108, the configuration of the block 100 and hole 108 may vary from these forms so long as the block 100 is capable of supporting a drain body 210 between adjacent joists 206.
Installation of the support block can involve other, more, or fewer steps than those described above, and steps may be performed in any suitable order. As an example, the installation of the drain support block 100 as shown in
Throughout this document, where a measurement or other value is qualified by the term “substantially,” “approximately,” “about,” or the like—for example, “substantially concentric”—this can be regarded as referring to a variation of 10% from the relevant state or value. Thus, as an example, “substantially concentric” apertures can be understood to refer to apertures having centers that may be offset by as much as 10% of the distance between the apertures' centers when the apertures are moved to locations where they are no longer overlapping, but are still immediately adjacent one another.
The invention is not intended to be limited to the preferred versions of the invention described above, but rather is intended to be limited only by the claims set out below. Thus, the invention encompasses all different versions that fall literally or equivalently within the scope of these claims. No term(s) expressed within any claim is to be construed in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless the words “means for” or “step for” are explicitly used in the claim in question.
