AU2006200706B2 - Adjustable Shower Arm Assembly - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 Dorf Clark Industries Limited COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Invention Title: Adjustable Shower Arm Assembly The invention is described in the following statement: Adjustable Shower Arm Assembly Field of the invention The invention relates to an adjustable shower arm assembly. In particular, the 5 invention relates to a shower arm assembly which may be rotated from one position to another and more securely held in a particular desired position. Background to the invention Showers are a very convenient and popular means for washing oneself. The vast majority of homes in all industrialised countries would have one or more showers. 10 As is well known, showers come in a number of different arrangements. In one arrangement, a shower head is fixed directly to a ceiling or wall. In another arrangement, a shower head is connected to a flexible hose extension and the shower head is able to be held and moved around by a user. One shower arrangement which has become particularly popular is the type which incorporates a shower head and a 15 shower arm extending from either a ceiling or a wall. Some shower arms are fixed and some are adjustable, typically enabling the shower head to be raised or lowered by rotation of the shower arm in a vertical plane. Adjustable shower arms are now common-place in bathrooms, laundries and industrial washrooms. Typically, adjustable shower arms are connected to a swivel joint 20 on a support structure and adapted to rotate from one position to an alternativedesired position. The swivel joint generally includes a tightening mechanism which, when loosened, enables the shower arm to be rotated about the swivel joint and which, when tightened, is intended to hold the shower arm in place. The tightening mechanism typically includes a screw which bears (directly or indirectly) upon one or more washers 25 within the swivel joint. In order to secure the shower arm in a desired position, the screw is tightened, thereby compressing the washers within the swivel joint, causing a tightening of the swivel joint so that frictional forces between the washer (or washers) and connecting pieces within the screw joint, inhibit rotational movement of the shower arm. 30 However, it is a common problem that shower arms frequently move out of their desired position. This is often caused by the weight of water in the shower arm and/or war and tear of the components of the swivel joint (eg the washers). Alternatively, the temperature of the water passing through the swivel joint can expand or contract metal rpss SO111669405v3 205471018 21.2.2006 2 pieces within the swivel joint thereby loosening the joint and causing the shower arm to move. This movement of the shower arm, which often occurs when the shower is on, can be very annoying and frustrating for a user. Although the shower arm can be moved back to the desired position and further 5 movement of the shower arm can generally be inhibited by further tightening of the swivel joint, this correction of the problem is often only temporary and the problem typically recurs. Also, the ever increasing tightening of a swivel joint can degrade, damage or destroy washers and other pieces within the swivel joint. The present invention is directed towards an improved adjustable shower arm 10 assembly which ameliorates the above problems and, in particular, is less prone to rotational movement of the shower arm away from a desired fixed position. Summary of the invention According to a first aspect of this invention, there is provided an adjustable shower arm assembly including: 15 - a shower arm; 0 a support body for supporting the shower arm; and - a swivel joint at which a first end of the shower arm is rotatably connected to a connecting end of the support body, said swivel joint including position locking means and joint tightening means for enabling said joint 20 to selectively alter between a tight joint orientation and a loose joint orientation, wherein said joint tightening means and said position locking means are adapted to inhibit rotational movementpof the shower arm when said joint is in tight joint orientation and to enable rotational movement of the shower arm when said joint is in loose joint 25 orientation. Preferably, the position locking means includes a set of locking elements in the first end of the shower arm and a corresponding set of locking elements in the connecting end of the support body, said sets of locking elements being adapted to inter-engage when said joint is in tight joint orientation. These sets of locking elements 30 are preferably adapted to disengage when said joint is in loose joint orientation. In a particularly preferred embodiment of this invention, the set of locking elements in the first end of the shower arm includes a set of teeth located in substantially circular arrangement about a first central point. The set of locking rpss SO111669405v3 205471018 21.2.2006 3 elements in the connecting end of the support body also preferably includes a set of teeth located in substantially circular arrangement about a second central point. The first and second central points lie on an axis of rotation of said shower arm. Preferably, the set of teeth in the connecting end of the support body are located 5 on a first vertical face of the support body. In this embodiment, it is preferred that the set of teeth in the first end of the shower arm are located on one face of a removable disk piece positioned within said first end. The disk piece and the first end of the shower arm include disk holding means adapted to inhibit rotation of the disk piece relative to the shower arm. 10 The disk piece is preferably located within a guiding sleeve enabling the disk piece to move selectively towards or away from the first vertical face of the support body under the influence of the joint tightening means. The disk holding means may include sets of corresponding protrusions and recesses about the circumference of the disk piece and on the guiding sleeve which protrusions and recesses cooperate to inhibit 15 rotation of the disk piece. Typically, each of the teeth on the first vertical face of the support body and on the disk piece are shaped so as to inhibit rotational movement of the shower arm when the swivel joint is in tight orientation and to enable relative rotational movement when the swivel joint is in loose orientation. Accordingly, the teeth may have curved, convex, 20 angular, triangular, or other suitable, profiles. It is further preferred that the first end of the shower arm also includes biasing means adapted to bias the disk piece towards the first vertical face of the support body. One reason for the inclusion of this biasing means is so that, when the swivel joint is in loose orientation, the disk piece may still bear against the vertical face and provide the 25 assembly with a firmer 'feel' when the shower arm is being rotated from one position to another. This also enables the loosening of the swivel joint to be more gradual, in preference to transitioning immediately from a tight orientation to a completely loose orientation upon loosening of the tightening means. The biasing means is typically a coil spring which is preferably located between the disk piece and the joint tightening means. 30 The tightening means is preferably a screw piece. The screw piece preferably includes an external thread which cooperates with an internal thread of a screw hole within the first end of the shower arm. A portion of the screw hole may also function as the guiding sleeve for the disk piece. Alternatively, the screw hole may adjoin, and be in communication with, the guiding sleeve. Typically, the screw piece includes a wing 35 handle for easy manual rotation of the screw piece. The screw piece may further rpss S0111669405v3 205471018 21.2.2006 4 include an internal recess for receiving one end of the spring. The disk piece may also include a recess, in a face opposite said screw piece, for receiving the other end of the spring. Preferably the support body includes a water inlet port, a water channel and a 5 water outlet port. The shower arm generally includes a water inlet opening in communication with the outlet port of the support body. Accordingly, this water inlet opening is typically located in the region of the swivel joint. The assembly typically includes sealing means about said outlet port and said inlet opening to inhibit water leakage. This sealing means is typically an O-ring. The O-ring may be partially located 10 within an annular groove within the connecting end of the support body. In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the first end of the shower arm includes a knuckle body having first and second knuckle fingers separated by a gap, said gap being adapted to receive the connecting end of the support body. The first knuckle finger includes an inside face in which the water inlet opening is 15 located. This opening is in fluid communication with a transfer channel within the shower arm for transferring water to the shower head. The second knuckle finger includes an outside face and an inside face and a channel extending between these two faces. The channel includes the guiding sleeve which extends from the inside face, and the screw channel which extends from the 20 outside face. Typically, the support body is fixed to the shower water outlet which is typically located within the wall of a bathroom, shower recess or similar structure. In a particularly preferred form of the invention, the first vertical face of the support body has a circular ridge surrounding the circular set of teeth. The internal wall 25 defined by the circular ridge has a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of the disk piece so that a portion of the disk piece sits within the cavity defined by the internal wall and said first vertical face. In this arrangement, the remaining portion of the disk piece is situated within the guiding sleeve. By having these different portions of the disk piece situated within the abovementioned cavity and within the guiding sleeve, the 30 disk piece thereby performs two additional functions. First, this arrangement enables the disk piece to function as an axle about which the shower arm rotates when the swivel joint is in loose joint orientation. Secondly, this arrangement causes the disk piece also to function as a positioning rod, preventing lateral (or shearing) movement of the first end of the shower arm relative to the connecting end of the support body. rpss S0111669405v3 205471018 21.2.2006 5 Brief description of the drawings A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the following drawings. Fig. 1 is a top cross-sectional view of a shower arm support body according to a 5 preferred embodiment of the invention. Fig 1b is a side view of the support body of Fig 1 showing the set of teeth on a vertical face thereof. Fig 1 c is a front cross-sectional view of the support body of Fig 1 a (along the line A-A of Fig 1a). 10 Fig 1 d is an enlarged view of the portion marked B of Fig 1 c, showing part of the set of teeth on the vertical face. Fig 2 is a top cross-sectional view of the shower arm, showing a knuckle body located at each end, according to a preferred embodiment of this invention. Fig 3a is a cross-sectional plan view of the knuckle body located at each end of 15 the shower arm shown in Fig 2. Fig 3b is a part cross-sectional view of the knuckle body of Fig 3a (along the line A-A of Fig 3a). Fig 3c is a rear view of the knuckle body of Fig 3. Fig 4a is a plan view of a disk piece according to a preferred embodiment of this 20 invention. Fig 4b is a side view of the disk piece of Fig 4a. Fig 4c is an enlarged view of the portion marked A of Fig 4b, showing part of the set of teeth in the disk piece. Fig 5a is a partial cross-sectional plan view of a tightening screw with wing 25 handle according to a preferred embodiment of this invention. Fig 5b is an end view of the tightening screw of Fig 5a. Fig 6a is a partial cross-sectional side view of a shower head according to a preferred embodiment of this invention. Fig 6b is a cross-sectional end view of the shower head of Fig 6b (along the line 30 A-A of Fig 6b). Fig 6c is a partial cross-sectional side view of the shower head of Fig 6a. rpss S0111669405v3 205471018 21.2.2006 6 Fig 7a is a side view of an outlet spigot, for connecting the shower head to the shower arm, according to a preferred embodiment of this invention. Fig 7b is a cross-sectional plan view of the outlet spigot of Fig 7a. Fig 8 is a cross-sectional bottom view of a shower arm assembly according to a 5 preferred embodiment of this invention. Description of preferred embodiment of the invention As described above, the present invention is directed towards an adjustable shower arm assembly including a shower arm, a support body and a swivel joint, having particular features. 10 In a preferred embodiment of the invention, and as shown particularly in Figs la to 1d, the support body 1 has a connecting end 2 and a base end 3. The base end 3 includes an internal threaded channel 4 for receiving a threaded water outlet piece (which is in fluid communication with the shower tap(s)). Extending from the threaded channel 4 is a water inlet channel which, in this embodiment, consists of three sub 15 channels 5a, 5b, 5c, through which water from the water outlet piece passes to a water outlet cavity 6 located in the connecting end 2 of the support body 1. The connecting end 2 has two opposite parallel side faces 7, 8 which, in use, have a vertical orientation. The first vertical side face 7 includes a set of upstanding teeth 9 located in circular orientation about a central point 10 (shown in Fig 1 b). Located 20 about the set of teeth 9 is a circular ridge 11 having an inner side wall 11 a. As more particularly shown in Figs 1b, 1c and 1d, each of the teeth is formed of a narrow raised ridge 9a extending radially towards the circular ridge 11. Between each tooth ridge 9a is a trough 9b. As shown in Fig 2, the assembly of the present invention also includes a shower 25 arm 20 having a support end 21 and a shower head end 21a, the support end 21 includes a knuckle body 22 fixedly engaged (typically welded) with the arm section of the shower arm 20. For ease of installation and maintenance, the shower head end 21a may also include a similar knuckle body 22a adapted to be connected to a shower head. The knuckle body 22 of the support end 21 includes a first knuckle finger 23 and 30 a second knuckle finger 24. The first knuckle finger 23 includes a water inlet cavity 25 having an opening 25a located on an inside face 26a of the first knuckle finger 23. Extending from the water inlet cavity 25 is a water conduit 27 having a water outlet port 28. In this arrangement, water leaving the water outlet cavity 6 of the support body 1 rpss S0111669405v3 205471018 21.2.2006 7 passes into the water inlet cavity 25 of the knuckle body 22, then passes through the water conduit 27, out the water outlet port 28 and into a water channel 29 formed within the arm section of the shower arm. The second knuckle finger 24 of the knuckle body 22 includes a screw hole 30 5 having an opening 30a in an outside face of the second knuckle finger 24. This second knuckle finger 24 also includes a guiding sleeve 31. The guiding sleeve 31 extends from an inside face 26b of the second knuckle finger 24. The guiding sleeve 31 defines a hole which communicates with, and is coaxial with, the screw hole 30. As shown in Fig 3b, the guiding sleeve 31 has a substantially circular shape, the 10 perimeter of which comprises a series of ridges 31 a and troughs 31 b. As is more clearly shown in Fig 3a, the first knuckle finger 23 and the second knuckle finger 24 are separated by a gap 32 adapted to receive the connecting end 2 of the support body 1. As shown in Fig 3c, at the rear of knuckle body 22 there is a knuckle base portion 33. This knuckle base portion 33 is adapted for fixed connection with the arm 15 section of the shower arm 20. The disk piece of this invention is shown in Figs 4a to 4d. The disk piece 40 has a first external face 41 and an opposite second external face 42. The first external face 41 includes a set of teeth 43 which extend up from said face and which are in circular orientation located adjacent the perimeter of the disk piece 40. The set of teeth 43 20 consists of a plurality of individual teeth 43a. These individual teeth 43a consist of ridges extending radially towards the perimeter of the disk piece 40. In between each tooth 43a is a trough 43b. The teeth 43a and troughs 43b of the disk piece 40 are adapted to inter-engage with the corresponding teeth 9a and troughs 9b on the first vertical face 7 of the support body 1, when the swivel joint is in tight joint orientation. 25 The individual teeth 43a on the disk piece 40 have a generally triangular or convex cross section to enable them to cooperate with the corresponding troughs 9b on the first vertical face 7 of the support body 1. Similarly, the individual teeth 9a on the support body also have a generally triangular or convex cross section to enable them to cooperate with the corresponding troughs 43b on the disk piece. 30 The second external face 42 of the disk piece 40 includes a circular ridge 45 located adjacent the perimeter 44 of the disk piece 40, thereby defining a circular cavity 46 adapted to receive an end of a coil spring. Located about the perimeter 44 of the disk piece 40 are a series of radially separated raised portions 44a. These raised portions 44a are adapted to fit rpss S0111669405v3 205471018 21.2.2006 8 within the troughs 31b of the guiding sleeve 31 (eg see Fig 3b). Similarly, the circumferential sections of the disk piece 40 which are intermediate the raised portions 44a are adapted to receive the ridges 31 a of the guiding sleeve 31. Figs 5a and 5b show a tightening screw 50 having a threaded end 51 and a wing 5 handle 52. The threaded end 51 is hollow having a screw cavity 53 bounded by an internal face 54. The preferred embodiment described above is shown, in its assembled form, in Fig 8. As can be seen from Fig 8, and with reference to the other figures referred to above, the support body 1 has a base end 3 which typically abuts a wall of a bathroom, 10 shower recess or the like. Within the base end 3, there is a threaded channel 4 which screws onto a water outlet (typically located within a wall) connected to a shower tap. A support end of the shower arm 20 is connected to the connecting end 2 of the support body 1. This is achieved by the connecting end 2 being located within the gap 32 between the first knuckle finger 23 and the second knuckle finger 24 of the knuckle 15 body 22. In this position, the water outlet cavity 6 of the support body 1 is in alignment with the water inlet cavity 25 within the first knuckle finger. Correspondingly, the first vertical face 7, and the set of teeth 9, of the support body 1 are faced towards the screw hole 30 of the second knuckle finger 24. The disk piece 40 is positioned within the guiding sleeve 31 with the first external 20 face 41, and set of teeth 43, abutting the first vertical face 7 and the set of teeth 9, of the support body 1. In this position, a portion of the disk piece 40 is located within the guiding sleeve 31 of the second knuckle finger and another portion of the disk piece 40 is located within the cavity of the support body 1 which is defined by the first vertical face 7 and the inner side wall 11 a of the circular ridge 11. By spanning both cavities, the disk 25 piece 40 prevents any lateral (or shearing) movement of the knuckle body 22 relative to the support body 1. The tightening screw 50 is located within the screw hole 30 of the second knuckle finger 24. The threaded end 51 of the tightening screw 50 bears against the disk piece 40 so that, when the swivel joint is in tight joint orientation, the set of teeth 43 30 of the disk piece 40 and the set of teeth 9 of the support body inter-engage (by the relative positioning of corresponding teeth and troughs). When inter-engaged in this way, rotational movement of the shower arm 20 is inhibited. When the tightening screw 50 is loosened so that the swivel joint is in loose joint orientation, the corresponding teeth and troughs are able to slide over one another to enable relative rotational 35 movement. rpss S0111669405v3 205471018 21.2.2006 9 A coil spring (not shown) may be placed between the disk piece 40 and the tightening screw 50. For instance, one end of the coil spring may bear against the second external face 42 of the disk piece 40, and the other end of the coil spring may bear against the internal face 54 of the tightening screw 50. This coil spring gently 5 biases the disk piece 40 towards the first vertical face 7 of the support body 1 so that, even when the swivel joint is in loose orientation, the disk piece 40 gently bears against first vertical face 7, in which situation rotational movement of the shower arm 20 may still occur (as explained above). Figs 6a to 6c and Figs 7a and 7b show a shower head 60 and an outlet spigot 61 10 (for connecting the shower head 60 to the shower arm 20) which are suitable for this invention. As can be seen from Fig 2 and Fig 8, the connection between the shower head 60 and the shower arm 20 may be substantially the same as the connection between the shower arm 20 and the support body 1 (described above). As, however, there are generally less problems with shower heads rotating out of their desired 15 positions, there is generally no need to incorporate the locking means of the above invention into the swivel joint at the shower head end. It is, however, still preferable to include a disk piece 40 in the same manner as described above as this disk piece (as explained above) functions as an axis of rotation for the shower head 60, relative to the shower arm 20, and also inhibits lateral movement (or shearing) of the shower head 60 20 from the knuckle body. As will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art, numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without parting from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The presently described embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as 25 illustrative and not restrictive. rpss S0111669405v3 205471018 21.2.2006

Claims (20)

1. An adjustable shower arm assembly including: a shower arm; a support body for supporting the shower arm; and 5 a swivel joint at which a first end of the shower arm is rotatably connected to a connecting end of the support body, said swivel joint including position locking means and joint tightening means for enabling said joint to selectively alter between a tight joint orientation and a loose joint orientation, wherein said joint tightening means and said position locking means are adapted 10 to inhibit rotational movement of the shower arm when said joint is in tight joint orientation and to enable rotational movement of the shower arm when said joint is in loose joint orientation.

2. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 1, wherein the position locking means includes a set of locking elements in the first end of the shower arm and a 15 corresponding set of locking elements in the connecting -end of the support body, said sets of locking elements being adapted to inter-engage when said joint is in tight joint orientation.

3. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 2, wherein the sets of locking elements are adapted to disengage when said joint is in loose joint orientation. 20

4. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 2 or 3, wherein the set of locking elements in the first end of the shower arm includes a set of teeth located in substantially circular arrangement about a first central point.

5. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 4, wherein the set of locking elements in the connecting end of the support body includes a set of teeth located in 25 substantially circular arrangement about a second central point.

6. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 5, wherein the first and second central points lie on an axis of rotation of said shower arm.

7. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 5 or 6, wherein the set of teeth in the connecting end of the support body are located on a first vertical face of the support 30 body.

8. The adjustable shower arm assembly of any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein the set of teeth in the first end of the shower arm are located on one face of a removable disk piece positioned within said first end of the shower arm. rpss SO111669405v3 205471018 21.2.2006 11

9. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 8, wherein the disk piece and the first end of the shower arm include disk holding means adapted to inhibit rotation of the disk piece within said first end of the shower arm. 5

10. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 8 or 9, wherein the disk piece is located within a guiding sleeve enabling the disk piece to move selectively towards or away from the first vertical face of the support body under the influence of the joint tightening means. io

11. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 9 or 10, wherein the disk holding means include sets of corresponding protrusions and recesses about a circumference of the disk piece and on the guiding sleeve, which protrusions and recesses cooperate to inhibit rotation of the disk piece relative to the shower arm. is

12. The adjustable shower arm assembly of any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein each of the teeth on the first vertical face of the support body on the disk piece are shaped so as to inhibit rotational movement of the shower arm when the swivel joint is in the tight joint orientation, and to enable relative rotational movement when the swivel joint is in loose joint orientation. 20

13. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 12, wherein the teeth have profiles selected from curved, convex, angular or triangular.

14. The adjustable shower arm assembly of any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the 25 first end of the shower arm further includes biasing means adapted to bias the disk piece towards the first vertical face of the support body.

15. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 14, wherein the biasing means causes the disk piece to bear against the vertical face of the support body when the swivel 30 joint is in the loose joint orientation, thereby providing the assembly with a firm configuration while the shower arm is being rotated from one position to another.

16. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 14 or 15, wherein the biasing means further enables loosening of the swivel joint in a gradual fashion. 35 12

17. The adjustable shower arm assembly of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first end of the shower arm includes a knuckle body having first and second knuckle fingers separated by a gap, said gap adapted to receive the connecting end of the support body. 5

18. The adjustable shower arm assembly of claim 17, wherein the first knuckle finger includes an inside face in which a water inlet opening is located.

19. The adjustable shower ann assembly of claim 18, wherein the water inlet io opening is in fluid communication with a transfer channel within the shower arm for transferring water to a shower head.

20. The adjustable shower arm assembly of any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein the second knuckle finger includes an outside face and an inside face and a channel extending 15 between the outside face and the inside face. Dated 19 November, 2010 Dorf Clark Industries Limited Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person 20 SPRUSON & FERGUSON