ES2251245T3 - BATHTUB. - Google Patents

Abstract

A bathtub for use by disabled persons comprising a molded body (1), said body has straight interior walls that form a deep receptacle and includes a seat, said bathtub further comprising a door opening in one of the straight walls that allows a disabled person enters or exits walking from the bathtub, a door leaf being mounted by means of a hinge on a first side edge of said door opening, which opens outwards, a mechanism for closing the operating door between a second side edge of said door opening and said door leaf to keep the door optionally in the closed position by manually rotating a shaft (24) extending vertically to a closed position by means of a handle operating (28) connected to it so that, when the door leaf is ajar and the vertical shaft is rotated manually to the position of closing, at least one closing element (16) operatively linked with the vertical shaft comes into contact with a corresponding locking element (30) and thus the door leaf is closed against the second side edge in a position that closes the opening of the door, characterized in that - the vertical shaft (24) is contained within the wall of the bathtub in the second lateral edge of said door opening and can rotate about its longitudinal axis with respect to it, - the upper end of said tree (24) is located above the upper edge (37) of the straight wall of the bathtub, a lever-type operating handle (28) being attached to the upper end of said vertical tree and comprising a horizontal bar located above the edge upper (37) of the bathtub body (1) for manual operation of the door closing mechanism; - each of at least one of the locking elements is a ring-shaped opening (30) fixedly mounted on the door leaf at the side edge spaced from the hinges to come into contact with one of said elements of respective closing (16), said closing elements arranged so that they are, in the vertical plane, perpendicular to the plane of the door leaf, at least one of the closing elements is attached to said vertical tree by means of a flange (25) which, during use, rotates on the longitudinal axis of the shaft when it is rotated, and thus each closing element acts as a pivoting hook that comes into contact and closes the corresponding ring-shaped opening, so that it gradually pushes the door leaf against the second side edge of the door opening.

Description

Bathtub.

The object of this invention is a bathtub specially designed for use by sick people or disabled people who may find it difficult to enter a normal bathtub due to the vertical walls of those bathtubs, which they can represent a difficult obstacle to overcome for those people.

Thus, the best solution to overcome this problem It is a bathtub with an entrance door that can be opened. They know each other several technical solutions for these bathtubs and most are provided with a seat for the person who bathes. The seat It is normally profiled in the body of the bathtub or designed as a separate element that is inserted into the bathtub.

According to the design solution presented in the US Patent Specification No. 4,542,545, the Door opening is provided on one of the walls vertical body of the bathtub. The door leaf is secured by hinges to one of the vertical edges of the door opening The door leaf opens to the inside the bathtub and its movement is done in the plane horizontal. The recess of the door leaf or the recess of the frame of the door are provided with at least one flat magnetic gasket surrounding the leaf.

Another known solution of a designed bathtub especially for sick or disabled people it has filed in patent application No. WO 94/07403. According to this solution, the door opening is provided in one of the side walls of the bathtub body. The door leaf that close this door opening is secured to a bar horizontal top that joins the upper edges of both parts of the walls of the bathtub body above the opening of the door. The horizontal bar is installed on a hinge horizontal attached to one of the upper edges of the wall of the bathtub body, so that it moves up. The axis of the hinge extends horizontally and perpendicular to the surface of said wall of the bathtub body. In the position of closure, the door leaf protects from inside the opening of the door and adjacent parts of the wall surface of the bathtub body The device to secure the door is designed so that the free end of the bar can be lifted horizontal together with the door leaf, rotating the bar around the horizontal axis of the hinge on which it is secured the other end of the horizontal bar to the wall of the body of the bathtub. In the open position, the raised door leaf you can rotate around the bar, at that vertical moment, and the User can enter the bathtub. In this solution, the side outside the door leaf is provided with stops that they work together with the edges of the door opening and protect the door leaf so that it does not swing inwards of the bathtub, which can cause the bathtub to stop being hermetically sealed. The bathtub has a seat for the User can sit while bathing.

The closing mechanism of the bathtub door It is an essential element in this bathtub. In the design solution that It is shown in the specification of the German patent DE-A-26 12 878, the door of the bathtub is arranged in the vertical side wall of the body of the bathtub. One of the vertical edges of the door works through of the hinges with a suitable vertical edge of the opening of the door. The recesses of the door opening are provided with corrugated joints that fit with the door recesses. He second vertical edge of the door is provided with at least one locking mechanism with a retractable pin that fits in the corresponding opening at the edge of the vertical wall of the door. The pin is mounted on a horizontal edge guide vertical door, and can retract. The operational end of pin forms an arrowhead mounted in the opening of the guide. The opposite round end of the pin is placed on the face of the cam installed on the vertical pivot. The purpose of said pivot is to control the rotation of the aforementioned cams using the handle located on the upper edge of the door the bathtub and thus move the retractable pins that fit in the opening in the corresponding vertical wall of the opening of the door.

A bathtub according to the preamble of the claim 1 is disclosed in EP 0 001 258. When a person who uses the known bathtub wants to close or open the door, it will be necessary for the person to lean forward to reach the handle. In addition, it is important to close the door so safe against the fixed wall of the bathtub, so that the water does not I can get out of the tub. The user wants absolute security as for the tightness.

The solution to this task will be possible with a bathtub according to said preamble and with the following features:

- the vertical tree is contained in the wall of the bathtub on the second side edge of said door opening and can rotate on its longitudinal axis with respect to this;

- the upper end of said tree is located above the upper edge of the straight wall of the bathtub, and a Lever-type operating handle is attached to the upper end of said vertical tree and comprises a horizontal bar located above from the upper edge of the bathtub body to manually operate the door closing mechanism;

- each of at least one of the members of lock is a ring-shaped opening fixedly mounted on the door leaf on the side edge spaced from the hinges for the gear by one of said respective elements, and these elements come into contact with one of said closing elements respective closing elements that are arranged, in the plane vertical, perpendicular to the plane of the door leaf, the al less a closing element is attached to said vertical tree by middle of a flange which, when in use, pivots on the shaft length of the tree when rotated, so that each element The closure acts as a pivoting hook that comes into contact with the respective ring-shaped opening to lock the door, and so you push the door leaf gradually against the second side edge of the door opening.

The vertical edge of the door leaf contrary to the hinge has at least one ring. The ring is arranged, in the vertical plane, perpendicular to the surface of the door. The vertical pivot pin housed at the vertical edge of the door opening in the wall of the bathtub is used as a hook that works together with the door leaf ring. He hook is installed on the vertical pivot by means of a flange. More than one of these hinges can be installed on the pivot vertical. Said vertical pivot according to the invention is a bar polygonal, and the flange has a polygonal opening. The section cross bar and flange opening size of hook or hooks correspond to each other. Vertical pivot it is an element that is provided to control the movement of the hook or hooks, which according to the invention are executive elements to execute the closing operation of the bathtub door.

The handle of the handle is made in shape horizontal bar, one of whose ends is set in the upper end of the vertical pivot, above the upper edge of the body of the bathtub. The handle lever bar horizontal has an articulated flat joint in its length with an axis of horizontal rotation. The horizontal rotation axis of the articulated articulation of the handle of the handle is located at a distance from the axis of symmetry of the vertical pivot equal to at least half the thickness of the body wall of the bathtub.

The hook is hook-shaped, and its surface Inner operation has a cam-shaped groove. The groove Inside of the hook fits into the door leaf ring. In this solution the hook is attached to the flange installed so fixed on the vertical pivot. The operating groove of the hook in its extreme part has a seat to lock the door ring in The closing position.

The vertical pivot is a bar that has a polygonal cross section, for example hexagonal or dodecagonal. A suitable polygonal or dodecagonal opening is provided in the flange through which the vertical pivot is linked with the hook.

The vertical pivot is used to control the rotation of the hooks in the form of one or more hooks mentioned above. The handle with horizontal bar-shaped lever before mentioned that it has an articulated flat joint is installed on the vertical pivot above the upper edge horizontal of the edge of the bathtub body.

In order to seal the surfaces that fit together from the recesses of the door opening and the recesses of the door leaf in the design solution according to this invention, it is proposed to use a gasket of sealing material in the form of a tape with a section cylindrical transverse, secured to the horizontal base through the asymmetrically installed vertical leg. Said sealing element is secured by its base at the bottom of the bathtub door. However, it is not excluded that the sealing element can be secured under the opening of the door in the body of the
bathtub.

The door leaf is composed of a inner cover and a protective outer cover. The cover inside can be molded so that it has vertical folds near the vertical edges of the door leaf. The folds are used as interior handle for the user of the bathtub.

Due to the proposed height of the bathtub, which does not It has been used in existing solutions so far, along with interior walls of the bathtub body that are almost vertical, it will be possible to obtain an interior of the bath that allows the sick or disabled person remain seated in position vertical, at the same time that person can receive procedures bath, including hydropneumatic and pneumatic massages or procedures with bath liquids.

The proposed form of the interior of the bathtub allows to place nozzles on vertical interior walls. The door open to the outside facilitates user entry into the bathtub and limits the horizontal interior section of the bathtub because no space is needed inside the bathtub for movement of the door. This saves water, so necessary for the bathroom.

The proposed bathtub solutions according to this invention allow the bath to be closed reliably and stably because it is easy to push the recess of the door leaf against the recess of the door opening. The thrust, and therefore the sealing of the joint, is facilitated because the vertical pivot is controlled with a lever with an arm of an important length compared to the hook-shaped hook length. The lever is divided into two different parts by an articulated joint, which causes the greater part of its length, after the closing operation of the bathtub door, to fall automatically in an upright position, and hang by the wall inside the bathtub. In this lever position it is impossible to open the bathtub door by accident due to an unintended movement of the user's hand. A vertical pivot of polygonal cross-section has been used as the main control element of the hook-shaped pin. One or more flanges with hooks are installed in said vertical pivot as described above, due to the use of a suitable polygonal opening in each flange. With this design of the executive elements the hook can be secured together with a flange at a suitable height on the vertical pivot. This allows to obtain a sufficient torsion force at the beginning and end of the operation of the hook with the ring during the vertical rotation of the pivot using the lever mentioned above. In the "closed" position, the position of the door ring is fixed in the seat of the inner groove of the hook. The use of a polygonal section will also allow the lever position to be set in the open and close positions properly. Both the lever handle and the hook flange can be moved in the vertical pivot polygon over a predetermined angle, which is usually sufficient to obtain the desired movement parameters for both the hook and the lever handle used to control the pivot. . The design described above of the sealing element has been proposed to seal the notch between the recess of the door opening and the recess of the door leaf. By securing the shaft of the sealing element to its base on the asymmetric leg it was possible to obtain a seal for a wide variety of allowed notch sizes. Due to the proposed depth of the bathtub, it is possible to install in the vertical interior walls a row of nozzles to massage specific parts of the user's body and entire parts of the back or legs of the
Username.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the attached figures showing examples of models of bathtubs, as follows:

Fig. 1 - Bathtub with partially open door, side view.

Fig. 2 - Bathtub adjacent to the wall, with the vertical rear wall next to the bathroom wall, view higher.

Fig. 3 - Corner bathtub, located in the Bathroom corner, top view.

Fig. 4 - Bathtub looking at the leaf of the door.

Fig. 5 - Cover of the body of the bathtub looking to the door opening.

Fig. 6 - Bathtub, cross section in the plane central vertical

Fig. 7 - Pivot handle lever closing in "open" position.

Fig. 8 - Pivot handle lever closing in "closed" position.

Fig. 9 - Bathtub closure with hook rotary.

Fig. 10 - Hook with closing seat.

Fig. 11 - Joint profile, section cross.

Fig. 12 - Joint profile, section transverse, in operative position between the recess of the leaf of the door and the recess of the edge of the door opening.

The bathtub is made of molded body 1 deeply, profiled of an acrylic sheet. However, this does not mean that the bathtub cannot be made of other plastics, for rolling example. The body 1 forms the inside of the bathtub together with its upper horizontal wall where they can be profiled cavities for bathroom accessories, and armrests for the user of the bathtub can be profiled on the vertical side walls inside the bathtub These additional elements of the body of the Bathtub are not shown in the attached figures. The walls 2 frames cover the body 1 of the bathtub. The body 1 in its interior has vertical walls 3, 4 and 5 joined together by smooth curves A seat 6 is also provided in body 1 profiled under which the vertical wall 7 attached to the floor is arranged 8. The drain opening 9 is located in the lower part of the floor 8. The profile discharge groove 10 is arranged at seat length 6. On the front wall of the bathtub body 1 the opening of the door to which the sheet of the door 12 is secured with hinge 11. The door leaf 12 of the body 1 opens outwards, as shown in fig. 1. The edge 13 of the door leaf 12 and the appropriate edge 14 of the door opening are provided with lock elements with latch 15 and 16 that fit together. The rows of nozzles 17 are arranged inside the bathtub. The rows of nozzles 17 they are arranged in the vertical walls 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the body of the bath 1 and in the discharge groove 10 around the seat 6. The nozzles 17 receive an air or water or other supply liquids used for bathing or treatment. The systems of supply of such nozzles are known, therefore no Show in the figures.

Figure 2 of this document shows the top view of the bathtub according to this invention in the version that allows to move it with its back wall against the bathroom wall. The figure shows the arrangement of the nozzles 17 in the groove of discharge 10 around seat 6. Figure 3 shows the same bathtub, but in another version of the outer wall contour. In the latest version the bathtub is provided to be located in The corner of the bathroom. Figure 4 shows schematically the hinges 11 and lock elements 16 with latch. The figure 5 shows the inside of the bathtub looking at the opening of the Door, front view. The figure shows the proposed provision of the nozzles 17 on the rear wall 4 and on the vertical wall 7 under the seat 6. The nozzles 17 are also arranged in the discharge groove 10 around the seat 6. The opening of drain 9 is located in the lowest part of the ground 8 of the bathtub. The bottom horizontal edge of the door opening It is located slightly above the floor level of the bathtub 8. As shown in Figures 5 and 6 the vertical walls of the bathtub are minimally offset from the vertical and form an angle α with base 18 equal to 93 °. The rows of nozzles Hydropneumatic massage can be arranged on vertical walls 3, 4 and 5 with a total bath height measured from base 18 to the upper horizontal surface of body 1 of 85 cm. A 80 cm internal depth is obtained with the external measurement above mentioned 85 cm.

The sealing element 20 which is tape-shaped and fits into the operative position with recess 22 of the opening of the door is arranged around the recess 22. The door of the bathtub may be provided with more than one sealant element 20 and These elements 20 can be placed parallel to each other. The sealing elements 20 can also be secured to recess 22 of the door opening and in that case fit with recess 21 around the door leaf 12.

The vertical edge 14 of the bathtub wall, between the framed wall 2 and the inner wall 5, opposite the edge of the hinge, contains inside the vertical pivot 24 provided with at least one element that constitutes the lock with latch. It is the best solution when there are two or more pins arranged on the extension of the pivot 24. Figures 7 and 8 show only the lock with upper latch that is shaped like hook hook-shaped 25 installed on pivot 24. The hook 25 is visible in the window 26 of the vertical edge 27 of the opening of the door in the wall of the bathtub. The upper end of the pivot 24 above the upper edge of the tub is equipped with a swivel handle 28 with lever 29 that is used for control the rotation of the pivot 24 with the hooks 25, which are executive elements of the closing of the door leaf 12. The steel rings 30 secured to the appropriate vertical edge 31 of the door leaf fit with hook-shaped locks 25. The 30 steel rings are located in the vertical plane, in principle, perpendicular to the plane of the door leaf 12. Each ring 30 secured to edge 31 of door leaf 12 corresponds to a hook 25 of the vertical pivot 24.

Figure 9 shows the pivot pin 24 in hook shape 25. The inner groove 32 of the hook 25 fits the door leaf ring 30 12. The surface 32 of the hook 25 It is cam-shaped with closing seat 33. While pivot 24 with hook 25 rotates clockwise, the groove inside 32 of hook 25 comes into contact and pushes ring 30 against the wall of the bathtub together with the door leaf 12 subject to him. This causes the recess 22 of the opening of the door and recess 21 of the door leaf 12 approach and that the joint is sealed by the pressure of the sealing element 20 between recesses 21 and 22. The hook 25 is secured to the flange 34 installed on pivot 24. In the "closed" position, the ring 30 of door 12 is locked in closing seat 33 of the hook 25. The hook 25 with the seat 33 are shown in the figure 10.

The handle 28 used to control the pivot 24 is in the form of lever 29 installed at the upper end of the pivot 24. The lever 29 constitutes a rod-shaped piece horizontal which is provided with an articulated flat joint 35 with a horizontal axis of rotation 36. The axis of rotation 36 of the articulated joint is perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the lever 29 and is located on lever 29 at a distance from pivot shaft 24 equal to at least half the thickness of the bathtub wall. As shown in Figure 7, lever 29 of the hook 28 in the "open" position, rests on the seat 27 on the upper horizontal edge 37 of the wall of the bathtub. The hooks 25 of the lock are hidden in the window 26 of the vertical edge 14 of the bathtub wall. When the sheet of the door 12 is ajar and the handle 29 of the handle 28 rotates at an angle of approximately 90 °, the hook 25 of the hidden lock in the window 26 pushes the recess 21 of the door against the recess 22 of the door opening. The lock goes into the position of "closed". The lever bar 29 of the handle 28 is bends in the articulated joint and hangs inside the bathtub, thus avoiding opening the bathtub by accident as a result of an accidental movement of the bathtub user. This position of the lever 29 of the handle 28 of the pivot 24 is shown in the Figure 8. To open the bath after having unloaded it, place the lever 29 in line with the articulation 35 articulated, by so that pivot 24 can be turned counterclockwise of the clock in a quarter turn. This causes the deviation of the hooks 25, which will allow the bathtub to open as the hooks release the closing seats 33 and then fully release the rings 30 of the door leaf 12.

The lever 29 is placed on the upper edge 37 of the bathtub wall, shown in Figure 7 in the "open" position.

One of the main problems of this type of bathtub is the sealed closure of the recess splice surface 21 of the door leaf and recess 22 of the opening of the Door in the wall of the bathtub. For this purpose it has been proposed use the sealing element 20 as shown in the section transverse in the rest position of figure 11 and in the operating position of figure 12. The sealing element 20 is a cylindrical tape 38 in cross section. Tape 38 is secured to the horizontal base 39 asymmetrically, by the vertical leg 40. The tape of the sealing element 20 is made entirely of flexible and homogeneous sealant material. When pushing the recess 21 of the door leaf 12 against the recess 22 of the bath door opening, leg 40 of the sealing element deviates along its entire length and the cylindrical part 38 of the element sealant is pressed and flattened, and consequently the board is sealed.

As shown in Figure 9 in this version of the bathtub taken as an example, the leaf of the door 12 of the bathtub it has the vertical fold 41 near the vertical edge of the sheet of door 12. A similar fold is molded near the other edge vertical of the door leaf 12. These folds 41 are used as handles to facilitate the user of the bath the entrance to the bathtub.

In the example bathtub version, the height of the body 1 is 85 cm measured from the bathroom floor to the upper horizontal edge 37 of the bathtub. The height of the bathtub is sufficient to provide on the interior walls of the bathtub a system of nozzles 17 to supply water or air jets to the interior of the bathtub for treatment or rehabilitation procedures for the bathtub user, such as hydropneumatic massages or tires However, the height of the bath can be greater to use a greater number of nozzles 17 in each
row.

Reference numbers used in the attached figures

one.

Bathtub body

2.

Wall lattice

3.

Wall vertical interior

Four.

Wall vertical interior

5.

Wall vertical interior

6.

Seat

7.

Wall vertical under the seat

8.

Ground

9.

Drain opening

10.

Discharge slit

eleven.

Hinge

12.

Sheet of the door

13.

Edge of the door leaf

14.

Vertical edge of the opening of the door

fifteen.

Lock element with latch

16.

Lock element with latch

17.

Nozzles

18.

Base of the bathtub

19.

Horizontal edge of the opening of the door

twenty.

Sealing element

twenty-one.

Down the leaf of the door

22

Down the opening of the door

2. 3.

Top horizontal edge of the bathtub

24.

Vertical pivot

25.

Hook

26.

Window

27.

Seat of the lever of the handle

28.

Swivel handle

29.

Handle lever

30

Ring

31.

Vertical edge of the leaf door

32

Face inside of the hook

33.

Closing seat

3. 4.

Hook flange

35

Articulated flat joint

36.

Axis of articulated joint rotation

37.

Horizontal upper edge of the wall of the bathtub

38.

Sealing tape

39.

Base horizontal sealing element

40

Paw of the sealing element

41.

Door fold

Claims (6)

1. A bathtub for use by disabled persons comprising a molded body (1), said body has straight interior walls that form a deep receptacle and includes a seat, said bathtub further comprising a door opening in one of the straight walls that it allows a disabled person to enter or exit the bathtub, a door leaf mounted by means of a hinge on a first side edge of said door opening, which opens outwards, a door closing mechanism operative between a second side edge of said door opening and said door leaf to keep the door optionally in the closed position by manually rotating a shaft (24) extending vertically to a closing position by means of an operative handle (28) connected to it so that, when the door leaf is ajar and the vertical shaft is rotated manually to the position of closing, at least one closing element (16) operatively linked with the vertical shaft comes into contact with a corresponding locking element (30) and thus the door leaf is closed against the second lateral edge in a position that closes the door opening, characterized in that - the vertical tree (24) is contained within the bathtub wall at the second side edge of said opening of door and can rotate on its longitudinal axis with respect to East, - the upper end of said tree (24) is located above the upper edge (37) of the straight wall of the bathtub, being an operating handle (28) of the lever-type clamp to the upper end of said vertical tree and comprising a horizontal bar located above the upper edge (37) of the bathtub body (1) for manual operation of the mechanism door closure; - each of at least one of the elements of lock is a ring-shaped opening (30) fixedly mounted on the door leaf on the side edge spaced from the hinges to come into contact with one of said elements of respective closure (16), said closure elements disposed of so that they are, in the vertical plane, perpendicular to the plane of the door leaf, at least one of the elements of closure is attached to said vertical tree by means of a flange (25) that during use rotates on the longitudinal axis of the tree when it is broken, and thus each closing element acts like a hook pivot that comes into contact and closes the opening in the form of corresponding ring, so that it gradually pushes the sheet of the door against the second side edge of the opening of the door. 2. The bathtub according to claim 1, characterized in that one end of the horizontal bar is connected to the upper end of the vertical shaft (24) above the upper edge (37) of the body (1) of the bathtub by means of an articulated joint (35 ) of a horizontal axis (36) of rotation. The bathtub according to claim 2, characterized in that the axis (36) of horizontal rotation of the joint (35) is located at a distance from the axis of symmetry of the vertical pivot equal to at least half the thickness of the body wall (1) of the bathtub. 4. The bathtub according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the pivot (24) is made in the form of a polygonal bar and the flange (34) has a polygonal opening. The bathtub according to claim 1 characterized in that the discharge groove (10) is located around the seat (6) molded in the body (1). 6. The bathtub according to claim 1 characterized in that the interior vertical walls (4, 7) of the body (1) of the bathtub are provided with nozzles (17).