Patent Application
20180257090
The present invention relates to showerheads. More particularly, the present invention relates to handheld showerheads producing a plurality of spray patterns.
Showerheads are commercially available in numerous designs and configurations for use in showers, faucets, spas, sprinklers and other personal and industrial systems. The vast majority of showerheads include spray heads which may be categorized as being either stationary or oscillating and have either fixed or adjustable openings. Stationary spray heads with fixed jets are the simplest constructions consisting essentially of a central conduit connected to one or more spray jets directed to produce a constant pattern. The stationary spray showerheads cause water to flow through the construction to contact essentially the same points on a user's body in a repetitive fashion.
Multifunction showerheads are able to deliver water in many different spray patterns such as a fine spray, a coarse spray, a pulsating spray, or even a flood pattern providing high fluid flow but decreased velocity. Of course, many other spray patterns may also be provided.
A conventional multifunction showerhead generally requires the user to turn a selector ring or dial on the showerhead faceplate in order to select a desired function. Another approach is to provide a faceplate with several spray jets located in concentric circular patterns. An internal controller, such as controlled by buttons or the like, may be operated to direct the incoming water to any of the various patterns. Examples of such constructions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,433,384 and 6,622,945.
Unfortunately, these conventional multifunction controllers suffer from various drawbacks. For example, turning a ring or pushing a button adjacent to the showerhead can be difficult to perform by persons having soapy hands. Furthermore, the showerhead's spray still originates at basically the same location, and thus does not provide a user with the ability to vary where the spray comes from.
A handheld showerhead typically includes a hollow handle connected to a water supply by a flexible rubber hose. Handheld showerheads allow a person to adjust the location and angle of the spray head, and thus where the spray originates and where the spray goes. However, handheld showerheads suffer other problems. In addition to having the above-described drawbacks of it being difficult to rotate a selector dial or push a button with soapy hands, a person holding the handheld showerhead must utilize one's hands to hold the showerhead which can make it difficult for a person to apply soap or shampoo.
More recently, shower stalls have been provided with a primary showerhead, and additional nozzles which project directly from the shower stall's walls and which spray water in different directions than the primary showerhead. Unfortunately, these constructions require that expensive plumbing additions be made to the shower stall facility. Further, the wall nozzles cannot be moved to provide the variety that would be desirable for a shower user.
Thus, it would further be advantageous to provide a showerhead assembly that included a primary spray head as well as one or more secondary spray heads which can be located at different locations within a shower stall.
Further, it would be advantageous to provide a showerhead assembly that included nozzles that could be moved throughout a shower stall which did not require expensive modifications to the traditional shower stall architecture.
Briefly, in accordance with the invention, an improved showerhead assembly is provided including a primary showerhead and one or more ancillary showerheads. Preferably, the primary showerhead has a relatively traditional construction including a showerhead body having a central conduit for transporting water to one or more spray nozzles for spraying water. The showerhead body is connected to a water source by a neck portion which preferably includes a female threaded inlet for connecting to a male threaded pipe providing the source of water. The neck portion includes a conduit for transporting water from the water source to the primary showerhead's central conduit before then being sprayed from the showerhead body's spray nozzles.
In addition to the primary showerhead, the showerhead assembly includes one or more ancillary showerheads which are connected to the showerhead body by flexible hoses. For each ancillary showerhead, the showerhead body includes an ancillary conduit which extends radially from the showerhead body's central conduit to the showerhead body's exterior. In addition, the showerhead assembly includes a flexible hose which extends from each ancillary conduit's outlet to an ancillary showerhead for spraying water from the ancillary showerhead's nozzles. Preferably, each ancillary showerhead includes a structure for affixing the ancillary showerhead to a shower stall wall. The ancillary showerhead may be affixed to a wall using any type of mechanical fastener as can be determined by one skilled in the art including, but not limited to, adhesives, hook and pile fasteners, suction cups, or mechanical threaded fasteners such as screws. However, in a preferred embodiment, each ancillary showerhead includes a magnet for affixing the hose nozzle to a metal surface such as a small plate which has been affixed to a shower stall wall with an adhesive.
A preferred showerhead assembly includes one or more spools rotatably mounted to the showerhead body. Each showerhead spool has a circumferential outer surface which may be cylindrical or concave. The spool is rotatable back and forth from a wound condition to an unwound condition, and preferably the showerhead assembly includes a spring for biasing the spool into the wound direction. The spring may be of any type as can be determined by those skilled in the art such as a helical spring, coil spring, or elastic spring. However, in a preferred embodiment, the spool is biased into the wound condition by a flat spiral torsion spring.
Each ancillary showerhead's flexible hose is wrapped around a spool in a manner that allows the flexible hose to be retractable and extendable relative to the showerhead's body. More specifically, the flexible hose is in a retracted condition when wrapped around the spool's circumferential surface when the spool is rotated so as to be within a wound condition, but the flexible hose is extendable so as to not be wrapped around the spool's circumferential surface when the spool is rotated to an unwound condition.
In preferred embodiments, the showerhead assembly includes one or more ratchet assemblies which are capable of inhibiting the rotation of a spool into the wound direction. Various ratchet assembly constructions can be employed as can be determined by those skilled in the art. However, in a preferred embodiment, the showerhead assembly includes two ratchet assemblies for inhibiting the rotation of two spools, and each ratchet assembly has a relatively traditional construction including a plurality of teeth and a pawl biased to engage the teeth. Preferably, the teeth are affixed to a spool in an annular configuration about the spool's center of rotation. Preferably, each tooth has a moderate sloped sliding edge and a steeped sloped engagement edge. The pawl is positioned relative to the teeth in a manner that allows the spool to freely rotate in the unwound direction with the pawl sliding over the teeth's sliding edge. This occurs upon pulling a hose's distal end so as to rotate the spool in the unwound direction. However, the pawl is positioned to catch against the teeth's engagement edges wherein the spool is rotated in the wound direction so as to prevent the spool from rotating in the wound direction. In addition, the ratchet assembly includes a button wherein depression of the button causes the pawl to move away from the ratchet assembly teeth to allow the spiral torsional spring to bias the spool into the wound direction. The button may be integrated into the pawl or a separate mechanical construction.
The showerhead assembly may include any number of ancillary showerheads, flexible hoses, spools, and ratchet assemblies. However, a preferred showerhead assembly has two ancillary showerheads, and a corresponding number of flexible hoses, spools, and ratchet assemblies. Preferably, the showerhead assembly includes a housing having a central cavity. The housing preferably has a substantially cylindrical or frustoconical shape and the showerhead body, spools, and ratchet assemblies are positioned within the housing's central cavity. In addition, the housing includes one or more openings for the passage of the one or more flexible hoses.
In operation, a person taking a shower can pull upon a hose's distal end so as to unwind the spool and extract the hose from within the showerhead assembly's housing. The corresponding ancillary showerhead is then affixed to the shower stall wall such as by utilizing a magnet or the like. In a preferred embodiment, the ancillary showerhead is affixed to the distal end of the hose and shower stall wall by a swivel mount such as a ball joint so as to allow the user to adjust the direction that the ancillary showerhead nozzles spray water.
Therefore, it as an object of the present invention to provide a showerhead assembly which includes a primary showerhead as well as one or more ancillary showerheads which can be located at different locations within a shower stall.
It is still an additional object of the invention to provide a showerhead assembly that includes a plurality of nozzles that can be moved throughout a shower stall which does not require expensive additions or modifications to a traditional shower stall architecture.
These and other more specific advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, as shown in the drawings, hereinafter will be described the presently preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention, and the present disclosure is not intended to limit the invention to specific embodiments illustrated.
With reference to
The primary showerhead 15 may incorporate various constructions known to those skilled in the art. For example, as illustrated in the figures, the primary showerhead includes nozzles 23 which may have a relatively simple and traditional circular orientation for providing a simple spray pattern. However, the primary showerhead may incorporate more complex constructions for providing selectable and controllable spray patterns. Accordingly, as but an example illustrated in the figures, the showerhead assembly 1 may include a controller 93 for selectively controlling the flow of water through various conduits, such as the central conduit 19.
As best illustrated in
In a preferred embodiment illustrated in
A preferred showerhead assembly 1 includes a spool 55 which is rotatably mounted to the showerhead body 17. The showerhead assembly may include only one spool for winding and retracting multiple flexible hoses so that as one flexible hose is either retracted or extended, the remaining flexible hoses are extended or retracted as well. However, in the preferred embodiment illustrated in the figures, the showerhead assembly 1 includes a spool for each ancillary showerhead and flexible hose. Each spool 55 includes a circumferential surface 59 around which a flexible hose 37 can be wrapped. Preferably, the circumferential surface 59 resides within an annular recess 57 which forms a channel for accepting a flexible hose as it is wound around the spool's circumferential surface 59. Each spool 55 may be rotatably affixed to the showerhead body by any number of constructions as can be determined by those skilled in the art so as to allow one body to rotate relative to another. As illustrated in
The ancillary showerhead's flexible hoses 37 are wrapped around their respective spools 55 with the rotation of the spool causing each flexible hose 37 to be retracted or extended relative to the showerhead's body 17. More specifically, as each spool 55 is rotated in a first direction so as to wind the spool, the flexible hose 37 becomes wrapped around the spool until the flexible hose is fully retracted and the ancillary showerhead housing 43 engages the primary showerhead housing 29. Preferably, the housing includes a concave recess to receive the ancillary showerhead's housing 43. Conversely, each flexible hose 37 and ancillary showerhead 35 can be extended away from the primary showerhead 15. When the ancillary showerhead 35 is pulled away from the primary showerhead 15, a flexible hose is pulled through the housing's opening 33 and the corresponding spool 55 is rotated in a second unwound direction until the flexible hose is in a fully extended unwound condition. Preferably, the showerhead assembly 1 includes a spring 83 for biasing the spool into the wound condition. The spring may be of any construction as can be determined by those skilled in the art so as to bias a rotating body. However, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Moreover, the ratchet assembly includes a button 85 for biasing the pawl 77 away from the spool teeth 63. The button may form part of the pawl. However, as illustrated in
As illustrated in all the figures, and particularly
In an embodiment not illustrated in the figures, the ancillary showerhead nozzles 45 are capable of tilting or pivoting relative to the shower stall wall 97. This can be accomplished utilizing hinges or pivot mounts such as a ball joint for connecting the nozzles 45 to the nozzle housing 43, or for affixing the ancillary showerhead's housing 43 against the shower stall wall 97. To return the ancillary showerhead to engagement with the primary showerhead, the aformentioned steps are reversed with the ancillary showerhead 35 being pulled away from a metal plate 89. A person then depresses the corresponding button 85 which causes a pawl 77 to disengage from spool teeth 63 to, in turn, wind the flexible hose 37 around the spool 55.
While a preferred showerhead assembly has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications of the showerhead assembly can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited except by the following claims. Having described my invention in such terms so as to enable a person skilled in the art to understand the invention, recreate the invention, and practice it, and having identified the presently preferred embodiments thereof, I claim:
