EP3709851B1 - Shower stall rod having an integrated illuminant - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL PART

The present invention relates to shower rails.

The technical area can be roughly outlined with the use of illuminants in the sanitary area. 'Sanitary' includes both private bathrooms and toilets as well as larger shower, sauna and swimming pool installations.

Illuminating and illuminating pools, tubs and rooms has long been the subject of research and development. So reveals the U.S. 4,535,489A already in 1985 basic measures and devices with which a bathtub can be illuminated. The U.S. 4,875,958 A consistently develops them further using transparent plastic materials and glasses. The WO 98/10219 A discloses technically established measures and available features for LED light strips.

Generic objects provide for an integration of lighting into an established object of the sanitary area. That's how she beats EP 0 446 365 A propose to integrate LED lighting into a shower head. She beats in the same way U.S. 5,276,595 A propose to equip a toilet lid with an LED lighting device. Meaningful principles, measures and features for power supply, regulation, control and sensor control are disclosed in this document. The DE 44 00 071 A suggests fitting pneumatic lines with additional lamps.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Similar innovations of recent date are in the EP 1 038 434 A2 , the EP 1 075 815 A2 , the DE 10 2004 004 217 B4 , U.S. 2016/143486 A1 , DE 20 2017 102164 U1 and the EP 1 910 738 B1 disclosed.

The disadvantage of the generic, established objects and the newer innovations is that they cannot easily be retrofitted to an existing shower room or provide sanitary facilities; the established devices and facilities always provide for a specific, local integration or even the complete replacement of entire sanitary facilities.

It was therefore the object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a module which, despite integrated lighting, is able to provide simple retrofitting of a sanitary area.

This problem is solved according to the features of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments result from the dependent claims and the following description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, a shower stall rail with an integrated light source is proposed, the shower stall rail being mountable as a curtain holder and/or as a support rail.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND ADVANTAGEOUS FEATURES

Shower stall rods have been known for a long time. That's how they reveal DE 7207925 U , the DE 30 48 047 A1 or the DE 83 25 385 U typical construction methods. The shower stall rod proposed here thus includes established designs and forms of construction such as curtain rods, handle bars and rods for attaching and/or aligning shower heads; the corresponding uses can be provided individually or in combination in the components of the rod. Mounting options depending on the corresponding tensile load are also established and are, for example, in DE 23 31 467 A1 illustrated.

Despite many years of use of such shower stall rails as an add-on or retrofit kit, there is a lack of a sensible combination of such a shower stall rail with an integrated light source on the market. The presently developed object therefore covers a long-standing and hitherto unrecognized need: the shower stall rod equipped with integrated lamps allows both a simple retrofitting of a sanitary area and/or shower room and a sensible illumination in the sanitary area that does not take up any additional space.

In the case of the invention, the lighting means comprises LEDs as lighting means, particularly preferably identical, inexpensive LEDs with a set primary color such as warm white, cold white, sunset red, forest green or morning blue.

Particularly advantageously, multi-colored LEDs can be set and/or adjusted to specific colors to match the individual, user-side room design, and therefore to color tones. For this purpose, the shower stall rail is advantageously designed in such a way that the light source comprises at least one LED light source assembly that can be set to different light colors. Basic tones that can be selected by the user make it particularly preferable to additionally illuminate certain areas of the room and/or to set decorative highlights.

The shower stall rail preferably includes at least one power source, which is advantageously also integrated. The at least one power source is selected from the group consisting of a photovoltaic cell, accumulator, capacitor, hydrodynamic generator, battery, thermocouple, dynamo, manually operated dynamo, contactless excitation coil with attachable field generator and separate power source. A combination of power storage, power generator and power source is particularly advantageous, whereby emergency lighting is always guaranteed via the power storage in the event of a power failure.

The shower rail includes a one-piece, transparent, tubular housing. Such a housing allows light from an internally arranged light source to escape to the outside almost undiminished and allows a complete, independent illumination of a shower cubicle or a sanitary area.

The housing of the shower stall rail is preferably made of waterproof, heat-resistant plastic with an outside, scratch-resistant and water-repellent seal. A scratch-resistant seal with a hydrophobic outer surface increases the service life of the product and, thanks to the hydrophobic finish, offers reliable, long-term light emission that is not affected by limescale or water stains.

In the case of the invention, a strip, which extends essentially over the entire length of the transparent housing and has LED lighting means distributed evenly thereon, is arranged in the housing of the shower stall rail. This allows light to be emitted evenly and over the entire surface and is capable of using an established light source such as to completely replace a warm light neon tube. The energy-saving LEDs make this possible with significantly lower power consumption and can even provide a constant and reliable lighting function for the usual usage time in the sanitary area using relatively small power storage devices.

The integrated light sources can preferably be controlled and/or regulated, particularly preferably switchable between at least two emission ranges, the emission ranges comprising emission ranges from the group consisting of warm light, cold light, UV blue light that indicates dirt, cold white, sunset red, forest green, morning blue.

The shower stall rail preferably has an assembly for wireless control, preferably wireless control and regulation. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, an associated and encrypted remote control, alternatively via mobile phone and application program via password, allows the programming and/or regulation of the lighting means. Controlling and/or regulating is particularly preferably carried out with the integration of a motion sensor, as is already established in the technical field for different bathroom applications.

Optical scattering structures and/or translucent areas are preferably arranged on the shower stall rod, at least on the housing closing on the outside, which are designed to decouple the light of the integrated lamps in a diffuse, planar manner. Diffuse, two-dimensional decoupling surfaces produce an even lighting that is almost free of cast shadows. In addition, a glare effect, which can often occur with bright to very bright spot LEDs, is reliably avoided.

The integrated lamps are preferably arranged in at least one section of the shower stall rail so that they are protected against splashing water. An arrangement in sections advantageously allows certain areas to be illuminated, such as the foot area when using the shower stall rail as a vertical grab handle in a shower stall.

Further advantages result from the exemplary embodiments. It goes without saying that the preferred features, advantages and exemplary embodiments described above are not to be interpreted as restrictive. Advantageous or preferred additional features and additional feature combinations, as explained in the description and explained in the technical area by citation and also established, can be implemented within the scope of the independent claims in the claimed subject matter, both individually and in different combinations, without departing from the scope of the invention.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION USING EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

According to the invention, a shower stall rail has integrated lamps. The shower stall rod can be mounted as a curtain holder and/or as a support rod in the usual manner known from the field of shower stall rods and can be used as a handle and/or as a horizontal curtain holder. The integrated lamps combine this with a lighting function. The light source comprises at least one LED light source assembly that can be set to different light colors. At least one power source supplies electricity to the LED lamp assembly via a control and/or regulation module. The power source is selected from the group consisting of a photovoltaic cell, an accumulator, a capacitor, a hydrodynamic generator, a battery, a thermocouple, a dynamo, a manually operated dynamo, a contactless excitation coil with a field generator that can be applied, and a separate power source. In a preferred variant, such a light source for the sanitary area comprises power storage devices, particularly preferably modular accumulators, in combination with a device for inductive charging, with the power storage devices being exchangeable and/or removable; Such an energy system can be used particularly advantageously in a group of corresponding devices and/or in a building technology system with smart home applications and IOT applications. The power source is preferably a combination of power source and storage unit, with the storage unit energizing emergency lighting when the power source dries up or fails, which on the one hand indicates the emergency power supply but on the other hand ensures emergency lighting which provides the respective user with sufficient illumination of the environment guaranteed. The shower rail includes a one-piece, clear, tubular housing made of clear plastic. The waterproof, heat-resistant plastic has a scratch-resistant and water-repellent siloxane-based seal on the outside. Arranged in the housing is a strip which extends essentially over the entire length of the rod and has LED lighting means distributed evenly thereon. The strip preferably consists of a multi-sided metal profile, which is rotated against gentle resistance by means of magnets and/or levers in the housing and aligned with the areas to be illuminated can. The integrated lamps can also be controlled and/or regulated and can particularly preferably be switched between at least three emission ranges, including warm light, cold light and UV blue light that indicates dirt. The shower stall rail advantageously includes an assembly for wireless control, preferably wireless control and regulation in a smart home network. In addition, the housing that closes on the outside can have optical scattering structures and/or translucent areas, at least in the directly visible sections, which are arranged to couple out the light of the integrated lamps in a diffuse, two-dimensional manner.

In an advantageous embodiment, the shower stall rail comprises a plastic housing which consists of a transparent, stable plastic that is water-repellent on the outside. A metal, longitudinally extending tubular profile with at least one groove is used as an endoskeleton in the housing for stabilization. LED illuminants are arranged at a uniform distance in the at least one groove. The LED lamps can be powered via an integrated power source, preferably replaceable batteries. The energization is preferably switched via an optical proximity sensor, preferably a proximity sensor with a coupled timer, which energizes the LEDs from the signal for the duration of a shower, for example for 10, 15 or 30 minutes. The remote control particularly preferably allows the control and/or regulation of RGB-capable LED assemblies. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the shower stall rail can thus serve as a time indicator, which slowly and steadily switches from green to red in at least one section in order to indicate an ecological and/or previously paid usage period.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The problem with the established sanitary assemblies with integrated lighting is that they do not allow a sanitary area to be easily retrofitted with a lighting function.

The task was to overcome this disadvantage and to propose a device which meets the long-standing need.

The solution is a shower stall bar with integrated lamps.

Especially in the area of private household sanitary rooms, such a device allows a sensible and extremely space-saving combination with the above-described light source function. Advantageously supplemented with a power source, an emergency power buffer store and a control module, the presently disclosed device in this use also increases user-related safety and comfort.

Claims (8)

1. A shower cubicle rod comprising integrated lighting means, wherein the shower cubicle rod can be mounted as a curtain holder and/or as a handrail, and wherein the shower cubicle rod comprises a single-piece, transparent tubular housing, wherein a strip extending substantially over the entire length of the housing is arranged, together with LED lighting means distributed uniformly thereon, in the housing.
2. The shower cubicle rod according to the preceding claim,
   characterized in that the lighting means comprises at least one LED lighting means assembly that can be adjusted to different light colors.
3. The shower cubicle rod according to either of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shower cubicle rod comprises at least one power source selected from the group consisting of a photovoltaic cell, accumulator, capacitor, hydrodynamic generator, battery, thermocouple, dynamo, manually operable dynamo, contactless excitation coil comprising an applicable field generator, and separate power source.
4. The shower cubicle rod according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing is made of watertight, heat-resistant plastics material having a scratch-resistant and water-repellent seal on the outside thereof.
5. The shower cubicle rod according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the integrated lighting means can be controlled and/or regulated, preferably can be switched between at least two emission ranges, the emission ranges comprising emission ranges from the group consisting of warm light, cold light, UV blue light indicating contamination, cold white, sunset red, forest green, and morning blue.
6. The shower cubicle rod according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shower cubicle rod has an assembly for wireless control, preferably wireless control and regulation.
7. The shower cubicle rod according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one housing that is closed on the outside has optical scattering structures and/or translucent-set regions which are arranged so as to couple out the light of the integrated lighting means in a diffusely planar manner.
8. The shower cubicle rod according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the integrated lighting means are arranged in at least one portion of the shower cubicle rod in a manner protected from splashes of water.