The present invention relates to shower benches attached to and vertically supported by vertical walls in a shower, but that is not supported by a floor of the shower.
There are shower installations that require benches. A common method for construction of a shelf style bench is to construct a frame of wood supported on a floor of the shower, attach plywood or a cementitous backer board to form a structural bench, and then attach a ceramic tile or natural stone bonded to the top and front surfaces for aesthetics and water resistance. However, units constructed using wood framing are subject to expansion, contraction, and warp due to the extreme variation in temperature and humidity found in a shower environment. The wood framing also provides a food source that supports mold growth. In addition, warping causes grout and tile failures that contribute to deflection.
One known shower bench (called Better Bench®) uses a formed sheet metal pan attached to a shower wall corner. The pan is filled with 50-80 lbs. of mortar depending on its size and configuration. The arrangement is manually intensive to install, and further is difficult to correctly install, such that most people cannot do the installation but instead must hire a skilled worker. The bench develops its strength as the mortar cures. Due to the wet shower environment, salts can leach from the mortar and cause staining of the walls and floor. However, this inherently requires significant cure time for the mortar prior to setting the tile or natural stone. Thus, it is expensive, both due to the requirement of using skilled labor, and due to the fact that the skilled person needs to allow the mortar to cure and return to the job to set the tile and grout the bench.
In one aspect of the present invention, a shower bench includes a first brace adapted for attachment to shower walls. A bench subassembly includes a cross brace, a foam block, and bonding agent that adheres the cross brace to the foam block. The brace and the block are cut so that the bench subassembly fits horizontally into the legs of the first brace, such that the cross brace and corner brace combine to form a rigid geometric arrangement that supports the foam block, with the beam of cured bonding agent further adding strength to the overall assembly.
In a narrower aspect, the cured bonding agent also adds structure to a front of the bench by forming a beam-simulating structure.
In a narrower aspect, ends of the braces are fixed securely together, such as by screws. Notably, the screws can be self-tapping if desired.
In a narrower aspect, the foam block includes large flat surfaces, and tile and grout are applied to cover all or a majority of the flat surfaces.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method comprises steps of providing a first brace with legs, and attaching the legs to adjacent shower walls. The method further includes providing a bench subassembly including a cross brace, a geometrically-shaped foam block, and a beam made of cementitious bonding agent that adheres the cross brace to the foam block; the brace and the block being cut to fit horizontally into the legs. The method further includes installing the bench subassembly to the first brace including forming a rigid geometric arrangement with the first brace and cross brace.
In still another aspect of the present invention, a method comprises steps of providing a foam block and a cross brace. The method includes forming channels in the foam block with one of the channels being shaped to matably receive the cross brace; placing cementitious bonding agent in the one channel, and placing the cross brace in the one channel on the cementitious bonding agent and then curing the bonding agent to form a subassembly with the cured bonding agent strengthening an edge of the foam block.
These and other aspects, objects, and features of the present invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
The present shower bench 20 (
The brace 24 is fit into a channel in the block 25 and is positioned to form a subassembly that fits horizontally into the legs 22 and 23 of the corner brace 21. When engaged, the braces 21 and 24 form a rigid triangular arrangement that supports the foam block 25. Ends of the braces 21 and 24 are screwed together, such as with self-tapping screws 31 to form a rigid support structure for the foam block. The large uniform surfaces of the foam block 25 are relatively easy to cover in tile and grout. The resulting assembly is extremely rigid and non-flexing, such that cracking of the tile and grout is not a problem, even when the bench is loaded up to 400 lbs.
The brace 21 (
The brace 24 (shown individually in
Foam block 25 (
As thus configured, the block 25 and brace 24 as a subassembled unit can be horizontally slid into mating engagement with the brace 21. Then, the self-tapping screws 31 are put in place, securing the brace 24 to the brace 21 and securing the entire assembly together as a rigid matrix to the walls 11 and 12. The foam block 25 is then aesthetically covered, such as with tiles 40 and grout 41 placed on flat surfaces of the block 25, thus finishing the shower bench 20.
It is contemplated that the bench can be different shapes, heights, and thicknesses, and that the foam can be different densities. Also, a latex-like coating can be put on the foam block to increase adhesion of the tile 40 and grout 41 to the foam block 25. Also, the shape and size of the braces 21 and 24 can be modified for different functional requirements, as well as selection of different cementitious bonding agent 26 for particular functional strength and bonding characteristics, can be made, such as for lower weight applications or different looks.
A method of assembly is also considered part of the invention. The method includes providing the raw product for components and manufacturing the various components, such as cutting channels into the foam block to receive the various braces in step 50 (
A significant criteria of the present assembly is that the foam block/subassembly must not flex any substantial amount, since tile and grout crack even with minimal flexure. The present arrangement works well, and is considered to be very rigid, with any flexure being typically less than L/360 deflection as determined by TCNA guidelines (i.e., Tile Council of North America). Nonetheless, the present assembly is made of relatively low cost components, and provides an installation that most non-skilled persons can do.
It is contemplated that the bench can be rectangular (see
It is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structure without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of provisional application Ser. No. 61/022,638, filed Jan. 22, 2008, entitled SHOWER BENCH, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20090183306 A1 | Jul 2009 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61022638 | Jan 2008 | US |