US2577011A - Bathroom article holder - Google Patents

Description

BATHROOM ARTICLE HOLDER Filed March 8, 1949 @umumwm;

BY wigm ATTQWNEY.

Patented Dec. 4, 1951 UNITED STATES PAT E NT OF 12,577,011v

eA'rHRooM ARTICLE HOLDER GustavA. hallcnscheid, Loswdngeles, Califi, as

signor, to Hall;Ma ck Company, Los- Angeles, Calif a corporation of California Application- March 8, 1949; Serial 'No. 80,253

SClaims. (c1. sit-2412) 1 The presentinventionrelates to bathroom.fix-' tures,and more particularly to a bathroom-article holder, wherein an 1 article supportingportion thereof is removable for cleaning.

The art pertainingto bathroom fixtures is a crowded one, and themakers of'this type of equipment haveinade numerous changes and impiovements in'their'products during recent years.

This development has been stimulated by the tremendous increase in residence building; Fixtures cot chrome and plastic combinations have been very popular, since their-brightness and ease'of cleaning adds greatlyto the appearance of abathroom. One fixture which has not been satisfactorily designed in sucha combinationis' a soap dish or tumbler holder: Inthe-caseoff sucha fixture it-isdesi'rable that it fit'into a relatively shallow recess in the wall-in which: itis to be installed. Previous attempts to design sucha' fixture have resulted eitherin an arrangement where a metal shelf projected from 'a recessed wall plate, which added to the-oost of manufac= ture and made it-more difiicultto. cleaii, or=where a forwardly projecting plastic insert was. used. in which case the inserteither became -jammed in place by an accretion of soap deposit or 'fell out when the soap.orotherarticle became stuck: to the insert or:was'placed't0o' closetoitsrproe:

jecting forward edge.

An object of the present invention is to make.

an improved combination article holding bathroom fixture.

Anotherobject is to-makean improved articleholding bathroom fixture-with demountable arti== cle support portions.

Another objectis to make a bathroom fixture with a: recessed housing and easilydetachableinterlocking article support portions.

In order toattain these objects there'isprovided in accordance'with one featureof'the in vention ametal' recessed housing adapted for mounting over a hole'ina wall; the housing hav ing a pair of inwardly projectingstuds anda re movable plastic article supportadapted tobe'in' serted in the housing recess and to proje'ct for-- wardly therefrom.

The present invention contemplates-the provision of an article support having a substantially rectangular frame section formed with a semi-'- cylindrical vertical recess, the end walls of which are horizontal, the said recess being provided to accommodate :an article to be supportedand receiving an article supporting member detachabl-y securedin osition and :interlocking 1 in a imam-- ner prevent til-tingof the-article support;

, 2 The;inventionis'illustrated by way of ekainple. in ;the accompanying drawingin which;

Figure 1, is a View in perspective showi gah article holding fixture embodying the present in-.-

vention mountedon a wall.

Fig. 2-is a sectional View takenin the of: the line. 2.-,-.2 of Fig. l and shows the relationship,

0f,.the holderand the demountable member. s

Fig; 3 isan,enlargediragmentary view in ver;

tical sectiontaken,inthe plane of th e line,3 3 of Fig, Zand shows the connection between the:

insert and the housing.

Fig, i; is a fragmentary view central vertiw cal section showing a modified form. of theinvention.

Fig, 5 is a fragmentary view in central section showing another modification of the.

present invention.

In the illustrated embodimentofthe a housinglillismadeof sheet or'cast-metal, such as brass, steel; or die casting metal, and comtarnish-resistant plating, or enamel.

insertedin a hole or recess; providedin a-wall. l6,

as shown in Fig. 2. The framev portion ll contact with the face of thewall so as toconf ceal'theedges of the wall opening. Thehousing may be secured in position as shownin ,li' ig 2 whereawooden header 3. is mounted transver 1y betweenadjacent; studdings [311: on oppos tev sides of thewall openi-ng. 'Ijhe-headeris spaced inwardly; from the; jaee of the wall a distance sufficient to permitthe rear of the. housing I to be. secured; to theheader, by screws I i, with-the:

frame l [in position against-the face of thewal l. In the'case of masonry walls. a seat oiplaster or other suitable adhesive may be mountedin theqwall openingand thehousing lfllpressjed into;

position-inthe material so as to be seated-therein; Whenwintended for setting in suchmaterial the; rearface of thesemicylindrical portion 2 :of the 1 housing. preferably is provided with roughened, areas'or-withprojections of ausual-sort toex;

tend into the-material and increase the adhesionof the material with the housing. p

Apair of studs 15 is mounted-oneon- .eachrside of thesemicylindricalportion l2 of the housing to project inwardly therefrom, as be'strshown in: An article supporting insert H is: molded: preferably of a cleartrans'parent substance such; as.'an acrylicrresin; The insert; member. hasja semi-circular rear face adapted to be inserted in, and to conform to the curvature of, the semicylindrical portion I2 of the housing. The insert I! has an upwardly extending circularly curved rear marginal wall I8 molded integrally with the body of the insert and adapted to conform closely to the curved wall of the recess. The forward end portions of the wall I8 are of a thickness somewhat greater than the length of the studs I5, and are each provided with vertical grooved channels I9, as shown in Fig. 3, adapted to receive the studs I when the insert I1 is inserted into the recess above the level of the studs I5 and then moved slidably downward over them. The forward portion 20 of the insert IT is of a length to extend forwardly beyond the face of the rectangular frame portion II of the housing. The entire upper surface of the insert I! may be molded to form a continuous planiform surface, as illustrated, so that the device can be used for holding soap or a tumbler interchangeably; or if desired, may be given any of the usual special conformations where the holder is to be used only for holding a tumbler, or soap, as the case may be.

The portion 20 of the base which projects forwardly from the rectangular frame portion II is thicker than the portion within the recess I2 of the housing and has a downward step or offset portion 2| (see Fig. 2), to engage and form an interlock with frame I I below the recess I2. This interlock, together with the engagement of the studs I5 with the sides of their respective receiving channels I9, resists downward stresses on the forwardly projecting portion 20 of the support area of the insert. This resistance to such stresses increases in proportion to increase in the stresses.

In the use of the present structure the housing I is suitably mounted within a hole or recess in a building wall by the screws l4, and is disposed so that the semi-circular recess I2 will be vertically positioned. The studs will be positioned adjacent the lower horizontal face of the recess and will be at opposite sides thereof. The article support may then he slipped into the recess so that its arcuate wall I8 will conform to the contour of the recess, and its lower face will rest upon the horizontal lower wall of the frame. The slotted openings I9 of the article support I! are then placed in register with the studs I5 and the article support is moved downwardly until it rests upon the bottom face of the semi-circular recess. At this time the overhanging portion 20 of the article support U will be disposed so that its shoulder or offset portion 2| will rest against the front face of the frame I I. By reference to Fig. 2 it will be evident that this plane of contact is considerably below the points of engagement of the studs I5 with the slots I9. Thus any weight which is disposed upon the overhanging portion 20 will tend to cause the studs I5 to interlock with the slots I9 and to prevent the article support from being dislodged. In fact, the weight of a tumbler or the like disposed on the upper horizontal face of the article support I! will tend to cause the article support to be held in position and any over-balancing weight imposed upon the overhanging portion 20 will act to hold the article support more firmly.

It will be obvious that in the construction here disclosed the cooperation of the studs I5 and the offset shoulder portion 2I will act to hold the article support in position regardless of whether or not any weight is imposed upon it. Due to this construction it is not necessary to provide any complicated attaching means or any means which might become coated or corroded. For this reason the article support may be easily lifted upwardly in the recess so that the studs I5 will not be in engagement with the slotted recesses I9, thus allowing the support to be easily removed and cleaned, and replaced when desired.

By reference to Fig. 4 of the drawings it will be seen that a protrusion 22 is formed on the rear semi-cylindrical wall I6 of the housing I2. This i in a plane to be occupied by the upper edge or face of the article supporting insert I1. This construction embodies an alternate form of the invention 50 that the upper edge of the insert I! may be placed beneath the protrusion and will cooperate with the studs I5 and their slots I9 to hold the insert in position in the same manner as would be accomplished by the shoulder 2I.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 5 of the drawings it will be seen that the insert I1 is formed as previously described with a shoulder 2| which rests against the front face of the frame II. In this particular device the use of slots I9 and the studs I5 is eliminated and in place thereof a hook 23 is secured to the back wall of the housing and projects forwardly to overhang the armate wall I8 of the insert I1. In this device a shoulder 2I and the hook 23 cooperate to secure theinsert I'I detachably and make it possible for the insert to be easily tilted and lifted from the housing and moved to a position of disengagement with the hook 23.

It will thus be seen that the invention here disclosed is simple in construction and will insure that the mounting member may be easily detached and removed.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known to me, it will be understood that various changes may be made in combination, construction and arrangement of parts by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An article holding bathroom fixture having a housing adapted to be mounted on a building wall, said fixture having a forwardly exposed recess therein, a stud mounted on a side of the recessed portion of said housing to project into said recess, an article supporting insert member having a rear face thereof adapted to enter and substantially to conform with the portion of said fixture defining the rear wall of said recess, said insert member being adapted to seat upon the portion of the housing defining the lower end of said recess, said insert member having a vertically disposed channel therein adapted to receive said stud upon moving said insert member downwardly into seated position upon the lower end of said recess, said insert member having a forward portion adapted to project forwardly beyond said housing when inserted therein, and said forward portion having a downwardly extending offset portion adapted to overlie and have interlocking engagement with a forward marginal portion of said housing defining the lower edge of said recess.

2. An article holding bathroom fixture adapted to be mounted in a wall opening, said fixture having a housing with a marginal frame portion and a central forwardly exposed recessed portion, a stud mounted on each side of the recessed portion of said housing to project into the recessed portion, an article supporting insert member adapted to enter and substantially to conform with the lower end of said recessed portion, said insert having a vertically disposed channel in each side thereof adapted to receive said studs on moving said insert downwardly into seated position on the lower end of said recess, said insert member having a forward portion adapted to project forwardly beyond said housing when inserted therein, and said forward portion having a downwardly extending offset portion adapted to overlie and have interlocking engagement with said frame portion below the recessed portion of said housing.

3. An article holding bathroom fixture comprising a metallic housing having a forwardly recessed thin walled portion of semicylindrical shape adapted to be mounted in an opening of Conforming shape and size in a building wall with the cylindrical axis vertical, a marginal frame portion unitary with the recessed portion adapted to lie against the building wall to cover and conceal the edges of the wall opening in which the recessed portion is mounted, a molded plastic article supporting insert adapted to be inserted in said recessed portion to lie adjacent the lower end thereof, said insert having a rear edge thereof curved to conform to the wall of the recessed portion, a rear marginal wall formed integrally with the insert and curved to conform to the curvature of the wall of the recessed portion, said insert having a vertical groove in each side thereof extending from the lower side of said insert up into the wall portion thereof, a pair of lugs mounted above the lower end of said recessed portion to project inwardly into the recessed portion to enter said grooves, a forwardly extending portion formed integrally with said insert and having its upper surface co-extensive with that of the remainder of the insert other than said wall, and a downwardly offset step portion formed integrally with said forwardly extending portion and adapted to overlie and have interlocking engagement with the frame portion of said housing below the level of said studs to resist downward pressure on the forwardly extending portion of said insert.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein the oilset step portion is formed by a substantial thickening of the forwardly extending portion of the insert.

5. An article holding bathroom fixture comprising a housing having a forwardly opening semicylindrical recessed portion therein adapted to be mounted with the cylinder axis vertical in a conforming opening in a building wall, said housing having an inwardly projecting member on each side and spaced upwardly from the lower end of said recessed portion, a molded, easily cleaned decorative insert with fiat upper surface adapted to be inserted into the recess to conform with the lower end thereof, said insert having substantially vertical upwardly extending grooves therein adapted to receive the inwardly projecting members on a downward movement of said insert from an elevated position in said recess, the forward portion of said insert when mounted in said recess being of a length to project forwardly beyond said housing to extend the article supporting area thereof, and a downwardly projecting element on the under side of said forward portion adapted to overlie the lower front margin of said recessed portion below the level of said inwardly projecting members, thereby to resist pivotal movement of the insert about said latter members when downward stresses are applied to the projecting forward end of said insert.

, GUSTAV A. HALLENSCHEID.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,239,076 Baker Sept. 4, 1917 1,536,906 Miller May 5, 1925 2,311,968 Schallis Feb. 23, 1943 2,319,104 Andrews May 11, 1943

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