US2045815A - Combined bathtub safety grip and towel rack - Google Patents

Description

June 30, 1936. R wlEsJAHN 2,045,815

COMBINED BATHTUB SAFETY GRIP AND TOWEL RACK Filed Dec. 28, 1935 INVENTOR. k

Zfi lino/(40A Meyn I W amiww ATTORNEY.

Patented June 30, 1936 UNITED sT rss PATENT OFFICE I COMBINED BATHTUB SAFETY GRIP AND TOWEL RACK This invention relates to safety means for supporting the bodies of bathers whileraising or lowering themselves in a bath tub and more particularly to a combined hand rail safety gripand towel rack which may be demountably arranged on the bath tub.

Accidents. in the home, most frequently happen to bathers who, on raising or lowering themselves in the bath tub, slip on the wet porcelain because there is not conveniently provided on the bath tub adjacent the 'bather, means which may be readily grasped to support the body.

My invention therefore contemplates the .provision of a hand rail safety grip which is adapted to be demountably arranged on the side wall of a bath tub.

Such devices heretofore found in the art are arranged for association only with bath tubs which are provided with a lip, rim or roll'around,

the upper periphery of the'wallswith which the :hand rail supports cooperate for attachment to the tub. Suchdevices are not adapted for associationwithother types of bath tubs, for exampl the built-in bath tub. I

My invention therefore contemplates the provision of means for attachinga hand rail safety grip which may be readily and securely arranged on any type of bath tub, without causing said attaching .means to mark or otherwise disfigure the porcelain ofthe tub while at the same time therebyproviding astrong and convenient sup- ,-port. for the bather. j

In such devices heretofore found, onlyasingle hand railis provided, which hand railisarranged adjacent and above the bath tub side wall and therefore comparatively higher above the shoulder of ;the bather. This does not provide a hand rai-lwhich is conveniently positioned to support the body-of the bather as it israised from the tub.

My invention overcomes this inherent disadvantage by providing a hand rail which may be rotated about the upper .part of the bath tub side wall to be thereby -disposed inwardly of the tub adjacent the waist of the bather, and which when not in use may be rotated to be thereby disposed outwardly of the tub. Devices heretofore used are'unsightly in appearance because of their complexity due to the desire to make them strong and durable. V

My invention-provides a hand rail which when not in :use may be positioned outside of thebath tub to thereby provide a towel rack arranged to enhance the appearance of the device and th bathroom in which it is placed.

My invention further con-templates the provision of a compact, durable and highly efiicient device which is simple in construction and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, assemble and install.

Further objects of my invention will be clear from the description which follows and from the drawing in which 1 I Fig. 1 is a topplan view showing my combined hand rail safety grip and towel rack arranged on a bath tub.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of my combined hand rail safety grip and towel rack.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of the bath tub gripping means.

Fig. 4 isanenlarged detail side view and partial sectional view of the bathtub gripping means.

Fig. -5 is an enlarged detail elevational view of the gripping means in position against the wall of abath tub.

Fig. 6 is a partial side view of my combined hand rail safety grip and towel rack arranged on a bath tub.

In that practical embodiment of my invention which I have illustrated by Way of example, on the frame I 0, I provide a tubular cross bar I I, which is secured at each end to the apertured bar receiving shoulders 12, arranged on the saddle brackets I 4 and which cross bar may, if desired be threaded or forced in the apertures in any suitable manner. I prefer to cement the cross bar in the apertures by means of a suitable waterproof cement in order to prevent any water from entering the tubular cross bar to thereby rust it and causeit to deteriorate.

Arranged adjacent each of the 'bar receiving shoulders, I provide the collar l6 which is rota- V tively arranged on the cross bar. and depending from which collar is a union 18.. Arranged in the union I provide thehand rail supporting rods 20 which are each secured in anapertured leg 22 of the elbow coupling 23, which for purposes of enhancing the appearance of my device, may take the form of a rounded knob. A hand rail 24, arranged parallel to and below the cross bar H, is secured in the other apertured leg 25 of the elbow coupling and which is preferably cemented therein by means of a suitable waterproof cement in any suitable manner. It will be seen that the hand rail is thereby swingably arranged in the frame about the crossbar.

In use, the device is preferably arranged on the side wall 26 of the bath tub 21, the parallel arms 28 and 30 of the saddle brackets being arranged substantially parallel to the side wall of the bath tub and extending at least more than half way toward the bottom of the tub.

It will be apparent that two hand grips are thereby provided adjacent the bather, one a short distance above the top of the tub and the other of which may be arranged inside the bath tub approximately near the waist of the bather, and which are conveniently positioned for use so that they may be readily grasped by the bather to support the body as it is raised from or lowered into the tub.

In order to provide means for demountably and rigidly securing the device to the side wall of the tub, I provide a gripping plate 32 having an aperture 34, through which a pivot rod 36 extends. In order to swivelly secure the plate on the pivot rod so that it may adjust itself to the external bounding surface of the side wall of the bath tub, which in practice varies in shape and outline, the aperture 34 of the plate is made somewhat larger in diameter than the pivot rod, which is peened over at its innermost end 38 adjacent the plate aperture to thereby secure the plate on the pivot rod.

In order to adjust the saddles 0n the bath tub wall and to securely grip the wall of the tub therebetween and accommodate the varying wall thicknesses encountered in practice, I provide the threaded adjusting member 40 which is arranged in a corresponding threaded aperture 42 on the saddle arm 36 and which adjusting member is provided at one end with the hand actuated adjusting head 44, preferably knurled to provide asuitable grip, and on the other end of which adjusting member is arranged the pivot rod 36.

On the saddle arm 28, I preferably provide a bolt 46, which extends through the aperture 48 on the arm and which has secured on its innermost end a second gripping plate 56, swivelly arranged thereon in a manner similar to the plate 34, and oppositely disposed thereto, so that the bath tub wall is gripped therebetween.

It will be apparent that thesaddles may .be arranged on any type of bath tub and in any desired location thereon. In order to securely grip the bath tub between the plates, the adjusting member 40 is actuated to urge the plate 34 toward the plate 50 to thereby rigidly secure the device on the wall therebetween.

In order to securely and rigidly attach my device to a bath tub, I prefer to provide the plates with pliable soft rubber washers 52, so that the adjusting member gripping plate is urged tightly against the bath tub side wall, the rubber washers being sufliciently pliable to securely grip the side wall and conform to the contour thereof without danger of any damage to the porcelain.

In order to increase the gripping effectiveness of the washers, I prefer to provide on the inside faces 54 thereof, the annular channels 56, to thereby effect a suction gripping plate. As the rubber washers are forced against the bath tub side wall, air is forced from the annular spaces provided by the channels, thereby creating a vacuum between the wall and the gripping plates which insures a rigid grip on the tub.

It will be apparent that my device may be rigidly and securely arranged on any type of bath tub regardless of the contour or arrangement of the side wall which is provided.

In order to enhance the appearance of the device when it is not used as a safety grip, the hand rail 24 may be rotated into a position adjacent the bath tub wall and extending outwardly thereof, in which position the cross bar and hand rail may be used as towel racks, so

that the frame and mechanism of the device are hidden from the eye of the observer.

When the device is to be used as a safety grip by a bather the towels are removed and the hand rail rotated into a position on the inside of the bath tub and extending thereinto adjacent the waist of the user. In this position the bather has the use of two bars to assist him in getting into and out of the tub.

It will be apparent that such a device will prevent numerous accidents which occur to bathers because the ordinary and usual bath tub encountered in practice is not provided with convenient hand rails or other means to assist the bather into and out of the bath tub.

It will be apparent that I have provided a device which is extremely simple in construction and which is adapted to be demountably attached to the side wall of any type of bath tub. It will be further apparent that I have provided means for attaching a safety hand grip securely and readily to the side Wall of a bath tub and which means will not mark or otherwise disfigure the porcelain of the tub, while at the same time providing a strong and convenient support for the bather. It will be further apparent that my device may be used as a towel rack to thereby enhance the appearance of the device and the room in which it is used.

While I have described my invention in its preferred embodiment, it will be understood that such disclosure is merely illustrative and that other modifications apparent to those skilled in the art may be made thereto and that I intend to claim my invention as broadly as permissible and limited only by the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

- 1. A combined bath tub safety hand rail and towel rack adapted to be demountably arranged on the wall of the bath tub comprising a frame, a'cross bar arranged in the frame and disposed above the wall of the tub, a second cross bar depending from the first mentioned bar, parallel thereto, and swingable thereabout and means for securing the frame to the bath tub wall including opposed tub engaging plates having soft pliable insets, said insets provided with an annular collar and a threaded adjusting member operatively arranged in the frame, one of said plates swivelly arranged on said threaded adjusting member. I

2. A combined bath tub safety hand rail and towel rack adapted to be demountably arranged on the wall of a bath tub, comprising a frame, a cross bar arranged in the frame and disposed above the wall of the bath tub, a second cross bar depending from and arranged parallel to the first cross bar and swingable thereabout and means on the frame for detachably securing the frame to the wall of the bath tub.

3. In a device of the character described, a

frame, means on the frame for securing the device to the side wall of a bath tub, and a hand rail arranged on the frame and swingable about the frame, whereby the hand rail in one position may be disposed inwardly and extending substantially downwardly of the tub adjacent the said side wall and in another position may be disposed outwardly of the tub and extending downwardly adjacent the said side wall.

4. In a device'of the character described, adjustable means thereon for demountably securing the device on a bath tub side wall, a cross bar on the device arranged above the bath tubside wall and means adapted to be grasped depending from the cross bar and swingable thereabout, whereby said grasping means, in one position, may be disposed inwardly and extending substantially downwardly of the tub side wall adjacent thereto and, in another position, outwardly and downwardly of the tub side wall adjacent thereto.

5. In a device of the character described, a frame, means adapted to be grasped arranged on the frame and swingable thereabout and means for demountably arranging the frame on a bath tub, comprising a tub engaging plate swivelly arranged on the frame, a second tub engaging plate oppositely disposed to the first plate and swivelly arranged on a threaded member, said threaded member operatively engaging the frame to urge the second mentioned plate toward the first mentioned plate.

6. In a device of the character described, opposed tub engaging plates arranged thereon for demountably securing the device to a bath tub and adapted to grasp a part of the tub therebetween, said plates swivelly arranged on the device and thereby adapted to conform to the external bounding surface of said tub and means on the device for urging one of the plates toward the other.

7. A combined bath tub safety hand rail and towel rack adapted to be demountably arranged on the wall of a bath tub and comprising a frame, a cross bar arranged in the frame and disposed above the wall of the bath tub, a second cross bar depending from and arranged parallel to the first cross bar and swingable thereabout and means on the frame for detachably securing the frame to the wall of the bath tub comprising opposed rubber faced adjustable plates swivelly arranged on the frame.

8. A combined bath tub safety hand rail and towel rack adapted to be demountably arranged on the wall of a bath tub and comprising a frame, a cross bar arranged in the frame and disposed above the wall of the bath tub, a second cross bar depending from and arranged parallel to the first cross bar and swingable thereabout and means on the frame for detachably securing the frame to the wall of the bath tub comprising opposed rubber faced adjustable plates arranged on the frame.

9. In a device of the character described, a frame comprising a hand rail, a bracket supporting said hand rail and adapted to be arranged on the side wall of the bath tub, a stationary tub securing plate swivelly arranged on one leg of the bracket and an adjustable tub securing plate arranged on the other leg of the bracket.

10. In a device of the character described a frame comprising a hand rail, a bracket supporting said hand rail and adapted to be arranged on the side wall of the bath tub, a stationary tub securing plate arranged on the leg of the bracket adjacent the inner surface of the bath tub side wall and an adjustable securing plate arranged on the other leg of the bracket adjacent the outer surface of the bath tub side wall, one of said securing plates being swivelly arranged on the frame.

11. In a device of the character described, a frame comprising ahand rail, a supporting bracket arranged at each end of the hand rail, said bracket adapted to be arranged on the side wall of a bath tub, stationary securing plates arranged on one pair of legs of the brackets and. adjustable securing plates arranged on the other legs of the brackets, said securing plates being swivelly arranged on the said brackets.

RUDOLPH WIESJAHN.

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