EP1139839B1

EP1139839B1 - Bathtub

Info

Publication number: EP1139839B1
Application number: EP99958533A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Winfried Schleichert
Original assignee: MS BAD INNOVATIONEN GmbH; MS-Bad Innovationen GmbH
Current assignee: MS-BAD INNOVATIONEN GmbH
Priority date: 1998-12-16
Filing date: 1999-12-14
Publication date: 2005-10-26
Anticipated expiration: 2019-12-14
Also published as: EP1139839A1; ES2251245T3; DE69928004T2; WO2000035324A1; DE69928004D1

Description

The subject of this invention is a bathtub designed especially for the use by the sick or disabled persons who may face with difficulties while entering the normal bathtub because of vertical walls used in such bathtubs and this may be a obstacle difficult to overcome for such persons.

So the best solution to cope with this problem is a bathtub with opening type entrance door. A number of technical solutions of such bathtubs are known and most of them is provided with a seat for the person having a bath. The seat is usually profiled inside the bathtub body or it is designed as a separate element inserted into the bathtub.

According to the design solution as presented in the US patent specification No 4.542.545 the door opening is provided in one of the vertical bathtub body walls. The door leaf is secured by means of hinges to one of the vertical edges of the door opening. The door leaf is opened inwards the bathtub and its movement is effected in the horizontal plane. The door leaf rabbet or the door frame rabbet is provided with at least one flat magnetic gasket around the leaf.

Another known solution of a bathtub, designed especially for the sick or disabled persons has been presented in the patent application No. WO 94/07403. According to this solution the door opening is provided in one of the side bathtub body walls. The door leaf that closes this door opening is secured to the upper horizontal beam joining the top edges of both the parts of the bathtub body walls above the door opening. The horizontal beam is fitted on the horizontal hinge attached to one of the top edges of the bathtub body door wall in such a way that it is deflected upwards. The hinge axle passes horizontally and perpendicularly to the surface of the said bathtub body wall. In its closed position the door leaf protects from inside the door opening and the adjacent parts of the bathtub body door wall surface. The bathtub door securing arrangement is so designed as to allow the free end of the horizontal beam to be raised upwards together with the door leaf by turning the beam around the horizontal axle of the hinge on which the other end of the horizontal beam is secured to the bathtub body wall. In the open position the raised door leaf can be turned around the then-vertical beam and the user may enter the bathtub. In this solution, on the external side the door leaf is provided with lugs that operate in conjunction with the door opening edges and protect the door leaf against being swung inside the bathtub, which can lead to the unsealing of the bathtub. The bathtub is provided with a seat to enable the user to sit down while taking a bath.

The bathtub door closing mechanism is an essential element in this bathtub. In the design solution shown in the German patent specification DE-A-26 12 878 the bathtub door is arranged in the vertical side wall of the bathtub body. One of the vertical door edges operates through the hinges with a suitable vertical door opening edge. The door opening rabbets are provided with channel-shaped gaskets mating with the door rabbets. The second of the vertical door edges is provided with at least one lock mechanism with a withdrawable bolt mating with its corresponding opening in the vertical door wall edge. The bolt is withdrawably seated in the horizontal guide sleeve in the vertical door edge. The working end of the bolt forms an arrow-head seated in the sleeve opening. The opposite, rounded end of the bolt is supported on the face of the cam fitted on the vertical pivot. The aim of the said pivot is to control turning of the above mentioned cams using the handle above the upper bathtub door edge and thus movement of the withdrawable bolts mating with the opening in the corresponding vertical wall of the door opening.

A bathtub according to the preamble of claim 1 is disclosed in EP 0 001 258. When a person using the known bathtub wants to close or open the door it will be necessary that this person bows forward to reach the handle. Further, it is important to close the door securely against the fixed bathtub wall, so that no water can flow out of the bathtub. The use wants absolute security about tightness.

The solution of the task will be possible with a bathtub according to said preamble and with the following features:

the vertical shaft is enclosed within the bathtub wall at the second side edge of said door-opening and is rotatable about its longitudinal axis relative thereto,
the upper end of the said shaft is situated above the upper edge of the upright bathtub wall, a lever-type operating handle being attached to the upper end of said vertical shaft and comprising a horizontal bar situated above the upper edge of the bathtub body for manual operation of the door locking-means;
each of the at least one striker members is an eye-shaped opening fixedly mounted on the door leaf at the side edge remote from the hinges for engagement by a respective one of said locking elements, which locking elements are arranged so as to lie in a vertical plane perpendicular to the plane of the door leaf, the at least one locking element being attached to said vertical shaft by means of a flange which in use pivots about the longitudinal axis of the shaft upon rotation thereof, whereby each locking element acts as a pivotal catch to lockingly engage the respective eye-shaped opening, thereby progressively urging the door leaf against the second side edge of the door-opening.

The vertical door leaf edge opposite to the hinge one is provided with at least one eye. The eye is arranged in the vertical plane perpendicular to the door surface. The bolt of the vertical pivot seated inside the vertical edge of the bathtub wall door opening is used as a catch to operate in conjunction with the door leaf eye. The catch is fitted on the vertical pivot by means of a flange. More than one such hinges can be fitted on the vertical pivot. The said vertical pivot according to the invention is a polygonal bar, whilst the flange has a polygonal opening. The cross-section of the bar and the size of the opening in the catch flange or catches correspond to each other. The vertical pivot is an element provided to control the movement of the catch or catches, which according to the invention are executive elements to execute the bathtub door closing operation.

The handle lever is made in the form of a horizontal bar whose one end is fitted on the top end of the vertical pivot, above the top edge of the bathtub body. The horizontal handle lever bar over its length has a flat articulated joint with a horizontal axle of rotation. The horizontal axle of rotation of the handle lever articulated joint is positioned at a distance equal to at least the half of the bathtub body wall thickness, from the symmetry axis of the vertical pivot.

The catch is made in the form of a hook whose inner working surface constitutes a race in the form of a cam. The working hook race mates with the door leaf eye. In this solution the catch is joined with the flange fixedly fitted on the vertical pivot. The inner race of the catch in its end part has a seat for locking the door eye in the "closed" position.

The vertical pivot is a bar having a cross-section of a polygon, for instance, hexagon or dodecagon. A suitable polygonal or dodecagonal opening is provided in the flange through which the vertical pivot is linked with the catch.

The vertical pivot is used to control the turning of the catches in the form of the above-mentioned one or more hooks. The afore-said handle with lever in the form of a horizontal bar with the flat articulated joint is fitted on the vertical pivot above the horizontal top edge of the bathtub body edge.

In order to seal the mating surfaces of the door opening rabbets and door leaf rabbets in the design solution according to this invention it is proposed to use a gasket made of sealing material in the form of a ribbon having a cross-section of a cylinder secured to the horizontal foot through the unsymmetrically fitted vertical leg. Such a sealing element is secured with its foot to the bathtub door rabbet. However, it is not excluded that the sealing element can be secured to the door opening rabbet in the bathtub body.

The door leaf is composed of an inner shell and a protective outer shell. The inner shell can be moulded so as to have vertical folds in the vicinity of vertical door leaf edges. The folds are to be used as an inner handle by the user in the bathtub.

Owing to the proposed bathtub height, not used in the existing solutions so far, in conjunction with the nearly vertical inner bathtub body walls it will be possible to obtain such a bathtub interior to enable the sick or disabled person to remain in the vertical seating position, simultaneously such a person can be subject to bath procedures, including hydropneumatic and pneumatic massages or procedures using bath liquids.

The proposed bathtub interior shape allows finding a place on the vertical inner walls for mounting of nozzles. The outward opened door facilitates the user to enter the bathtub and limits the horizontal bathtub interior section because no space is required for door movement inside the bathtub. This leads to saving of water so needed for bath.

The proposed bathtub solutions according to this invention allow closing of the bathtub in a reliable and stable way as it is easily to pull up the door leaf rabbet to the door opening rabbet. The pulling up, thereby the sealing of the joint is the easier as the vertical pivot is controlled by a lever with arm of significant length as compared with the arm length of the catch in the form of a hook. The lever is divided into two unequal parts by an articulated joint, which causes that the significant part of its length, following the bathtub door closing operation, automatically drops to the vertical position, hanging along the wall inside the bathtub. In this position of the lever it is impossible to accidentally open the bathtub door by any unintentional movement of the user's hand. A vertical pivot of polygonal cross-section has been used as a main bolt control element in the form of catches. One or more flanges with catches are fitted on the said vertical pivot as described above, owing to the use of a suitable polygonal opening in each flange. Having such a design of the executive elements it is possible to secure the catch together with a flange at a suitable height on the vertical pivot. It allows to obtain an appropriate torque at the beginning and at the end of operation of the catch with the eye during the vertical turning of the pivot using the above-mentioned lever. In the "closed" position the door eye position is set in the seat of the working catch race. The use of a polygonal section will also enable the appropriate lever position to be set in the open and closed positions. Both the handle with lever and the flange with catch can be moved on the vertical pivot polygon through a predetermined angle, which usually is sufficient to obtain the desired movement parameters both for the catch and the lever with handle used to control the pivot. The above-described design of the sealing element has been proposed to seal the slot between the door opening rabbet and the door leaf rabbet. By securing the sealing element shaft to its foot on the unsymmetrical leg it was possible to obtain the sealing with a wide range of the permissible slot sizes. Owing to the proposed depth of the bathtub it is possible to fit in its vertical inner walls a row of nozzles for massage of particular parts of the user's body and the whole portions of the user's back or legs.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying figures showing examples of bathtub models, namely:

Fig. 1 -: Bathtub with partly opened door, side view
Fig. 2 -: Bathtub adjacent to wall, with its rear vertical wall moved to the bathroom wall, top view
Fig. 3 -: Corner bathtub, located in bathroom corner, top view
Fig. 4 -: Bathtub looking at door leaf
Fig. 5 -: Bathtub body shell looking at door opening
Fig. 6 -: Bathtub, cross-section in vertical centerline plane
Fig. 7 -: Lock pivot handle lever in "open" position
Fig. 8 -: Lock pivot handle lever in "closed" position
Fig. 9 -: Bathtub lock with swivelling catch
Fig. 10 -: Catch with locking seat
Fig. 11 -: Gasket profile, cross-section
Fig. 12 -: Gasket profile, cross-section, in working position between door leaf rabbet and door opening edge rabbet.

The bathtub is made from the deeply moulded body 1 profiled from an acrylic sheet. However, it does not mean that the bathtub cannot be made from other plastics, for instance, from laminate. The body 1 forms the bathtub interior together with its upper horizontal wall in which cavities for bath accessories can be profiled, whilst armrests for a bathtub user can be profiled in the vertical side walls inside the bathtub. These additional bathtub body elements are not shown on the accompanying figures. The panel walls 2 encase the bathtub body 1. The body 1 inside has the

vertical walls

3,4,5 joined with each other with gentle curvatures. The body 1 is also provided with the profiled seat 6 under which the vertical wall 7 joined with floor 8 is arranged. The water outflow opening 9 is located in the lowermost position of floor 8. The profiled water discharge groove 10 is arranged along the seat 6. Provided in the face wall of bathtub body 1 is the door opening to which the door leaf 12 is secured by hinge 11. The door leaf 12 of body 1 opens outwards, which is shown in Fig. 1. The edge 13 of door leaf 12 and suitable edge 14 of the door opening are provided with mating elements of

bolt lock

15,16. Rows of nozzles 17 are arranged inside the bathtub. Rows of nozzles 17 are arranged both on

vertical walls

3,4,5,7 of the bathtub body 1 and in the discharge groove 10 around the seat 6. The nozzles 17 are supplied with air or water or other liquids used for bath or treatment. The supply systems for such nozzles are known, therefore, they are not shown in the figures.

Figure 2 herein shows the top view of the bathtub according to this invention in the version that allows to move it with its rear wall to the bathroom wall. The figure shows the arrangement of nozzles 17 in discharge groove 10 around the seat 6. Figure 3 shows the same bathtub, but in other version of the outside wall contour. In the latter version the bathtub is provided to be located in a bathroom corner. Figure 4 schematically shows the hinges 11 and elements 16 of the bolt lock. Figure 5 shows the bathtub interior looking at door opening - front view. The figure shows the proposed arrangement of nozzles 17 in rear wall 4 and in vertical wall 7 under seat 6. Nozzles 17 are also arranged in water discharge groove 10 around seat 6. The water outflow opening 9 is situated in the lowermost position of the bathtub floor 8. The horizontal bottom edge of the door opening is located slightly above the level of the bathtub floor 8. As shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 the vertical bathtub walls are inconsiderably only deflected from the vertical and they form the angle α with the base 18 equal to 93°. Rows of hydropneumatic massage nozzles can be arranged on

vertical walls

3,4,5 with the total bathtub height measured from base 18 to the upper horizontal surface of body 1 amounting to 85 cm. An inner bathtub depth of 80 cm is obtained with the above-mentioned outside bathtub height of 85 cm.

The sealing element 20 in the form of a ribbon, mating in the working position with rabbet 22 of the door opening, is arranged around the rabbet 22. The bathtub door can be provided with more than one sealing element 20 and these elements 20 can be arranged parallel to each other. The sealing elements 20 may also be secured to the rabbet 22 of the door opening and at that time they mate with the rabbet 21 around the door leaf 12.

The vertical edge 14 of the bathtub wall, between the panel wall 2 and inner wall 5, opposite to the hinge edge, contains inside the vertical pivot 24 provided with at least one element that constitutes the lock bolt. It is the best solution when two or more bolts are arranged over the length of pivot 24. Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 show only the upper lock bolt having the shape of catch 25 in the form of the hook fitted on pivot 24. The catch 25 is visible in the window 26 of vertical edge 27 of the door opening in the bathtub wall. The top end of pivot 24 above the upper bathtub edge is provided with swivelling handle 28 with lever 29 used to control the turning of pivot 24 with catches 25 which are executive elements of the lock of door leaf 12. Steel eyes 30 secured to adequate vertical edge 31 of door leaf mate with the locks in the form of catches 25. Steel eyes 30 are located in the vertical plane, in principle, perpendicular to the plane of door leaf 12. The eye 30 secured to the edge 31 of door leaf 12 corresponds to each catch 25 on the vertical pivot 24.

Fig. 9 shows the bolt of pivot 24 in the shape of catch 25. The inner face 32 of the catch 25 mates with eye 30 of door leaf 12. The face 32 of catch 25 has a form of a cam with locking seat 33. While the pivot 24 with catch 25 is turned clockwise the inner race 32 of catch 25 takes and pulls the eye 30 up to the bathtub wall together with door leaf 12 attached to it. This causes that the rabbet 22 of the door opening and the rabbet 21 of door leaf 12 will move close to each other and that the joint will be sealed by clamping of the sealing element 20 between

rabbets

21,22. The catch 25 is secured to the flange 34 fitted on the pivot 24. In the "closed" position, the eye 30 of door 12 is locked in the locking seat 33 of catch 25. The catch 25 with seat 33 is shown in Fig. 10.

The handle 28 used to control the pivot 24 has a shape of the lever 29 fitted on the top end of pivot 24. The lever 29 constitutes a piece of horizontal bar provided with the flat articulated joint 35 with horizontal axle of rotation 36. The axle of rotation 36 of the articulated joint passes perpendicular to the symmetry axis of the lever 29 and is located on the lever 29 at a distance from the axle of pivot 24 equal to at least the half of the bathtub wall thickness. As shown in Fig. 7, the lever 29 of catch 28 in the "open" position rests in the seat 27 on the upper horizontal edge 37 of the bathtub wall. Catches 25 of the lock are concealed in the window 26 of vertical edge 14 of the bathtub wall. When the door leaf 12 is set ajar and the lever 29 of handle 28 is turned through an angle of approx. 90°, the catch 25 of the lock conceals in the window 26 and pulls rabbet the 21 of the door to the rabbet 22 of the door opening. The lock passes in the "closed" position. The bar of lever 29 of handle 28 bends in the articulated joint and hangs inside the bathtub thus preventing from the unintentional opening of the bathtub as a result of an accidental bathtub user's movement. This position of the lever 29 of handle 28 of pivot 24 is shown in Fig. 8. In order to open the bathtub when water is discharged from it, set the lever 29 straight in the articulated joint 35, whereupon the vertical pivot 24 can be turned counterclockwise by a quarter of turn. This causes the deflection of catches 25 which will allow the bathtub to be opened as the catches release from seats 33 and then fully release the eyes 30 of door leaf 12.

The lever 29 is put onto the top edge 37 of the bathtub wall, which is shown in Fig. 7 in the "open" position.

One of the main problems with this type of bathtub is the seal of the faying surface of rabbet 21 of the door leaf and rabbet 22 of the bathtub wall door opening. For that purpose it has been proposed to use the sealing element 20 as shown on the cross-section in the position of rest in Fig. 11 and in the working position in Fig. 12. The sealing element 20 is a ribbon 38 cylindrically shaped in cross-sectional view. The ribbon 38 is secured to horizontal foot 39 unsymmetrically, through the vertical leg 40. The whole ribbon of sealing element 20 is made from a homogenous flexible sealing material. The pulling of rabbet 21 of door leaf 12 up to the rabbet 22 of the bathtub door opening causes the leg 40 of the sealing element to be deflected over its whole length as well as the shaft 38 of the sealing element to be pressed down and flattened, consequently, the joint to be sealed.

As shown in Fig. 9 in this bathtub version taken as an example the door leaf 12 of the bathtub has the vertical fold 41 near the vertical edge of door leaf 12. Similar fold is moulded near the other vertical edge of door leaf 12. These folds 41 are used as handle to facilitate the bathtub user to move inside the bathtub.

In the exemplary bathtub version the height of body 1 is 85 cm as measured from the bathroom floor to the upper horizontal edge 37 of the bathtub. The bathtub height is sufficient to provide the inner bathtub walls with a system of nozzles 17 for the supply of water or air jets inside the bathtub to provide treatment or rehabilitation procedures for the bathtub user such as hydropneumatic or pneumatic massages. However, the bathtub height can be higher so as to use a greater number of nozzles 17 in one row.

Reference numbers used in accompanying figures.

1.: Bathtub body
2.: Panel wall
3.: Vertical inner wall
4.: Vertical inner wall
5.: Vertical inner wall
6.: Seat
7.: Vertical wall under seat
8.: Floor
9.: Water outflow opening
10.: Discharge groove
11.: Hinge
12.: Door leaf
13.: Door leaf edge
14.: Vertical door opening edge
15.: Bolt lock element
16.: Bolt lock element
17.: Nozzles
18.: Bathtub base
19.: Horizontal door opening edge
20.: Sealing element
21.: Door leaf rabbet
22.: Door opening rabbet
23.: Horizontal upper bathtub edge
24.: Vertical pivot
25.: Catch
26.: Window
27.: Handle lever seat
28.: Swivelling handle
29.: Handle lever
30.: Eye
31.: Vertical door leaf edge
32.: Inner catch face
33.: Locking seat
34.: Catch flange
35.: Flat articulated joint
36.: Articulated joint axle of rotation
37.: Upper horizontal bathtub wall edge
38.: Sealing ribbon
39.: Horizontal sealing element foot
40.: Sealing element leg
41.: Door fold

Claims

A bathtub for use by disabled persons comprising a moulded body (1), which body has upright inner walls forming a deep receptacle and includes a seat, said bathtub further comprising a door-opening in one of the upright walls which enables a disabled person to walk into or out of the bathtub, a door leaf being hingedly mounted to a first side edge of said door-opening, so as to open outwardly, door-locking means being operative between a second side edge of said door-opening and said door leaf to selectively maintain the door leaf in its closed position by manually rotating a vertically extending shaft (24) into a locking position by means of an operating handle (28) connected thereto such that, whenever the door leaf is set ajar and the vertical shaft is thereupon manually rotated into the locking position, at least one locking element (16) operatively linked to the vertical shaft engages a corresponding striker member (30),
thereby locking the door leaf to the second side edge in a position closing the door-opening,
characterized in

that the vertical shaft (24) is enclosed within the bathtub wall at the second side edge of said door-opening and is rotatable about its longitudinal axis relative thereto,

that the upper end of the said shaft (24) is situated above the upper edge (37) of the upright bathtub wall, a lever-type operating handle (28) being attached to the upper end of said vertical shaft and comprising a horizontal bar situated above the upper edge (37) of the bathtub body (1) for manual operation of the door locking-means;

that each of the at least one striker members is an eye-shaped opening (30) fixedly mounted on the door leaf at the side edge remote from the hinges for engagement by a respective one of said locking elements (16), which locking elements are arranged so as to lie in a vertical plane perpendicular to the plane of the door leaf, the at least one locking element being attached to said vertical shaft by means of a flange (25) which in use pivots about the longitudinal axis of the shaft upon rotation thereof, whereby each locking element acts as a pivotal catch to lockingly engage the respective eye-shaped opening, thereby progressively urging the door leaf against the second side edge of the door-opening.
The bathtub according to claim 1, characterised in that the one end of the horizontal bar is connected to the top end of vertical shaft (24) above the top edge (37) of the bathtub body (1) over an articulated joint (35) of horizontal axle of rotation (36).
The bathtub according to Claim 2, characterized in that the horizontal axle of rotation (36) of joint (35) is located at a distance equal to at least the half of the wall thickness of bathtub body (1), from symmetry axis of vertical pivot.
The bathtub according to claim 1 to 3, characterized in that the pivot (24) is made in the form of a polygonal bar and the flange (34) has a polygonal opening.
The bathtub according to claim 1 characterized in that a water discharge groove (10) is located around the seat (6) moulded in the body (1).
The bathtub according to claim 1 characterized in that the inner vertical walls (4,7) of body (1) of the bathtub are provided with nozzles (17).