EP1493872A1

EP1493872A1 - Shower head support device for hairdressers

Info

Publication number: EP1493872A1
Application number: EP03425431A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Luigi Gatti
Original assignee: Gamox Rubinetterie Srl
Current assignee: Gamox Rubinetterie Srl
Priority date: 2003-07-01
Filing date: 2003-07-01
Publication date: 2005-01-05
Anticipated expiration: 2023-07-01
Also published as: ATE338852T1; EP1493872B1; DE60308163D1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a shower head support device for hairdressers' sinks comprising a union element (18) intended to be housed in a hole provided in a sink top in order to put a water inlet pipe (16) with a flexible hose (20) connected to the shower head into hydraulic connection, and a support bracket (19) providing support to said shower head extending from said union element. The latter is provided in order to hermetically close the hole in the sink top in such a way as to prevent any passage of water through it.

On the other hand, however, the presence of the shower head support bracket and the flexible hose connected thereto allow for the shower head to be properly and stably positioned on the sink top and the possibility to move the shower head from this position over the whole sink, according to necessity.

Description

The present invention generally relates to the accessories for hairdressers sector and in particular to shower heads for hairdressers' sinks.
As is known, in order to facilitate the head washing operation, hairdressers currently use hairdressers' sinks provided with shower heads that can be extracted from respective seats thereof which are provided on the edge of the sink by making use of the flexibility and elasticity of the hose to which they are connected.
This possibility of handling the shower heads however presents the inconvenience that splashes of water caused by hair washing and drops that form on the shower head run from it down the tube and, by crossing the through hole in the support top of the shower head, fall inside the sink cabinet or directly onto the floor, with obvious unpleasant consequences.
A previous application by the same applicant proposed a drip catcher device that can be applied to extractable shower heads for hairdressers that make it possible to efficiently collect the drops descending from the shower head and to convey them into a special collection tray provided below the support top of the shower head. Such a device comprises a tubular element consisting of a latex sheath fitted onto a helical spring destined to wrap a stretch of the flexible hose that supplies water to the shower head, means for fixing the upper end of said tubular element to the lower side of the support top of the shower head, at the through hole of the flexible hose, and sealing means for blocking the lower end of the tubular element to the flexible hose, where said lower end is connected to a water drop drainage pipe into a collection tray.
This solution, although brilliantly solving the problem of water loss, requires the use of various devices, such as the latex sheath, the spring, the fixing and sealing means, the collection tray, which make manufacturing of the sink global structure somewhat complex and expensive.
The object of the present invention is, on the other hand, to overcome the inconvenience of the passage of drops of water through the hole made in the edge of the hairdressers' sink in a simple and efficient way, without burdening the structure of the sink with additional elements.
This object is achieved with a shower head support device for hairdressers' sinks comprising a union element destined to be housed in the hole which is provided in a sink top in order to put in hydraulic connection a water inlet pipe with a flexible hose connected to the shower head, and a support bracket of said shower head extending from said union element. The latter is provided to sealingly close the hole in the sink top in such a way as to avoid any passage of water threrethrough. On the other hand, the presence of the shower head support bracket and the flexible hose connected thereto allows for the shower head to be properly and stably positioned on the peripheral sink top and the possibility of moving the shower head from it over the whole sink, as required.
Further details of the invention will however be clearer following the description made in reference to the illustrative and non-limiting appended drawings, wherein:
Fig.1 shows, in partial section, an example of the shower head support device according to the invention, fitted on a hairdressers' sink;
Fig.2 shows, in a top perspective view, part of the hairdressers' sink with the support device of Fig.1;
Fig.3 shows a rear view of the hairdressers' sink; and
Fig.4 shows an embodiment of the support device alone.
Throughout said drawings, 10 indicates a generic hairdressers' sink resting on a base 11, optionally with the possibility of oscillating in relation to it. The lower part of the sink 10 and the base 11 can then be placed inside a cabinet, not represented. In the upper part of the sink 10 at least one top 12 is provided, which is raised in relation to the sink bottom, in which a hole 13 is made.
According to the invention, a shower head support device 14 is fixed on top of said hole 13, which in addition to having the function of holding a shower head 15, is destined to putting the latter into hydraulic communication with a water inlet pipe 16 ending beneath the raised top 12. This pipe 16 can come, for example, from a tap 17 provided on the sink itself.
The shower head support device 14 comprises a union element 18 fixed to the top 12 and passing through the hole 13 and a support bracket 19 for the shower head 15 extending from such union element 18 in order to cantileverly protruding from the top 12. The union element 18 is axially crossed by a passage 18' and is connected by its lower side to the pipe 16 and by its upper side to a flexible hose 20 which is connected to the shower head 15. In greater detail, the union element 18 has a plate-shaped head 21 destined to rest on the hole edge 13, thus closing it sealingly by means of a seal element 22 inserted therebetween, and a shank 23 extending down from said head 21 through the hole 13. The head 21 is provided with an attachment 21' for the connection of the flexible hose 20, whereas the shank 23 is externally threaded in order to enable the tightening of the pipe 16.
The union element 18 is firmly fixed to the top 12 by a nut 24 also screwed from below onto the threaded shank 23 and acting on a washer 25 resting on the hole edge 13, on the opposite side to the head 21. In practice, by pulling the nut 24 one clamps the top 12 between the head 21 and the washer 25. The latter can advantageously be provided with a further seal element 25', such as a ring gasket, suitable for hermetically closing the hole 13 also from below.
The attachment 21' is preferably coaxial to the axis of the hole 13, in such a way as to permit greater stretching of the flexible hose 20 (Fig.1), but it can also be oriented orthogonally to said axis (Fig.4).
The bracket 19 is in the form of a rod terminating with a fork 26 into which the shower head 15 is inserted at the attachment of the flexible hose 20. The fork 26 is provided with a guide collar 27 in order to make the shower head rest in a more stable manner.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bracket 19 is made integral with the union element 18, for example by molding. Alternatively, the bracket 19 can be bound to the union element 18 by means of one proximal end 19' thereof which is retained between the plate-shaped head 21 and the top 12 of the sink.
It is understood from the foregoing that there is no possibility that the drops of water accumulating along the shower head and the flexible hose connected thereto may fall either onto the floor or inside the sink cabinet through the hole 13, as this is closed and sealed by the union element 18. The shower head 15 can in any case be moved from its rest position on the bracket 19 and handled as required by the washing operation due to the presence of the flexible hose 20, whose length can be selected according to the size of the sink.
It should also be noted that the water inlet pipe 16, by being connected to the union element 18, which is stationary, and not longer having to permit the handling of the shower head as in current sinks, will be able to have a much shorter length than that of the tubes used to date, as illustrated in Fig.3.
Lastly, it should be underlined that the device of the present invention can be also applied without any modification to all existing hairdressers' sinks.

Claims

Shower head support device for hairdressers' sinks comprising a union element (18) intended to be housed in a hole (13) provided in a top of said sink in order to put a water inlet pipe (16) in hydraulic communication with a flexible hose (20) connected to the shower head, and a support bracket (19) of said shower head extending from said union element.
The shower head support device according to claim 1, wherein the union element comprises a plate-shaped head (21) resting on the hole edge (13) with a seal element (22) being interposed therebetween, an attachment (21') made in said head to couple the flexible tube (20) of connection to the shower head, and a threaded shank (23) extending from said head in said hole to tighten the water inlet pipe (16), the support bracket extending from said plate-shaped head (21).
The shower head support device according to claim 2, wherein the union element is fixed to the peripheral top of the hairdressers' sink by a nut (24) screwed onto said threaded shank and acting on a washer (25) destined to rest on the edge of the hole, on the opposite side to the plate-shaped head (21).
The shower head support device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the attachment for the flexible hose for connection to the shower head is co-axial to the axis of the hole made in the peripheral top of the sink.
The shower head support device according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the attachment for the flexible hose for connection to the shower head is orthogonal to the axis of the hole made in the peripheral top of the sink.
The shower head support device according to any of the previous claims, wherein the support bracket of the shower head is made integral with the union element.
The shower head support device according to any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the support bracket of the shower head is bound to the union element by means of one proximal end (19') thereof which is retained between the plate-shaped head (21) and the sink top.
The shower head support device according to any of the previous claims, wherein the shower head support bracket is in the form of a rod ending with a fork (26) which is destined to be coupled with the attachment of the flexible hose to the shower head.
The shower head support device according to claim 8, wherein said fork has a guide collar (27) in order to make the shower head positioning stable.