GB2097047A

GB2097047A - Drip channel for doors for shower enclosures

Info

Publication number: GB2097047A
Application number: GB8112507A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-04-22
Filing date: 1981-04-22
Publication date: 1982-10-27

Abstract

A door for a shower enclosure has a drip member 40 attached to the inner face of the door 18. The drip member has a downwardly sloping web 44 with an upturned bead to define a shallow channel, and is inclined to the horizontal so that residual water running from the door when it is opened outwards flows along the channel to the interior of the shower enclosure. The drip member may be of extruded aluminium and fixed to a frame member 22 of the door by screws. The drip member can be fixed at either end of the door, to enable the door to be inverted to change the hand of the door. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to doors for shower enclosures This invention relates to doors for shower enclosures.

The invention relates in particular to such doors of the kind which are pivoted so as to open outwards from the enclosure. The doors may be pivoted on hinges attached to a vertical side member of a frame fixed to the enclosure or on pivots attached to horizontal top and bottom frame members.

It is usual for such doors to be provided with a drip bar or splash bar fixed horizontally to the inner face of the door near the bottom of the door.

The drip bar acts, when the door is closed, to deflect water running down the inner face of the door into the shower enclosure to prevent it from leaking out of the enclosure under the bottom of the door.

A disadvantage with known arrangements is that when the door is opened, the residual water on the inner face of the door can run down onto the floor outside the shower enclosure, in spite df a drip bar.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved door for a shower enclosure.

According to this invention there is provided a door for a shower enclosure adapted to be pivoted to the enclosure so as to open outwards, in which the door includes a drip member and means for attaching the drip member to the inner face of the door in such a manner that, when the door is open, a surface of the drip member slopes downwards towards the interior of the shower enclosure, the drip member being shaped so that water running down the inner face of the door and onto the drip member is constrained to flow along the drip member towards the interior of the enclosure.

The invention is particularly advantageous when applied to shower doors of the type which are pivoted for movement about a vertical axis spaced from one side of the door, so that when the door opens, the part of the door on that side of the pivot axis moves inwards into the shower enclosure. In that case, water running from the drip member when the door is opened tends to be directed into the cavity of the shower tray. The invention is however also applicable to shower doors of the type which are hinged at one side to the enclosure or to a frame fixed to the enclosure.

Shower doors are often made so that the door can be changed from a right-hand to a left-hand door by turning the door upside down, and such doors are known which include identical top and bottom rails both formed with a drip bar. In applying the present invention to such doors, it is advantageous to provide a separate drip member, which can be fitted to either end of the door, depending on whether the door is to be installed as a right-hand or left-hand door. Preferabiy, the drip member can be attached to the door at an adjustable inclination to the horizontal.

The invention can also be applied to doors which are designed to be installed in a particular orientation, and the drip member can be permanently fixed to the door or, for example, formed in one with a bottom rail of the door.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a shower enclosure incorporating a door in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the pivoting of the door, Figure 3 is a vertical section through part of the door and its surrounding frame, showing the lower pivot, Figure 4 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the lower part of the door, showing a drip bar attached to a lower rail of the door, and Figure 5 is a section through the lower rail and drip bar of the door.

Referring to the drawings, a shower enclosure 10 has three walls 12 (which may be fabricated walls, e.g. of metal-framed glass, or the walls of a recess in the room in which the enclosure is installed) and a door 14, surrounding a shower tray 1 6. The door 14 consists of a sheet 1 8 of glass, to the upper and lower sides of which are fixed top and bottom rail members 20 and 22. As shown in Figure 5, the bottom rail 22 is essentially a channel section, e.g. of aluminium.

The top rail 20 is of identical shape. Fixed to the outer edge of the door 14 is a side rail 24 which supports handles 26. When the door is closed the side rail 24 abuts, through a suitable seal, a vertical member of a frame surrounding the door.

The door is pivoted to head and cill members 28 and 30 of the frame on suitable pivots, one of which is shown at 32 in Figure 3, so that the door opens outwards as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The door pivots about a vertical axis spaced from the inner edge 34 of the door, so that the part 36 of the door between edge 34 and the pivot axis moves towards the interior of the shower enclosure as the door is opened. When the door is closed the part 36 moves against a fixed glass plate 38 attached to the frame surrounding the door.

A drip member 40 is fixed to the bottom rail 22 of the door, on the inside of the door. The drip member 40 consists of a length of extruded aluminium, having supporting flange 42 which lies against the bottom rail 22, and a web 44 which extends downwards and outwards from the door as seen in vertical section (Figure 5). The upper edge 46 of the web 44 lies close to the glass sheet 1 8 of the door, so that water running down the inner face of the glass flows onto the web 44. At its outer end the web 44 is formed with an upturned bead 48, which defines a shallow channel along which the water can flow.

As shown in Figure 4, the drip member 40 is fixed to the bottom rail 22 so that it slopes downwards from the outer edge 35 of the door to the inner edge 34. The angle of inclination of the drip member is selected so that water running onto the web 44 tends to flow along the channel towards the inner edge 34 of the door, so that when the door is open the water is directed into the shower tray 16.

The drip member 40 is held in position on the bottom rail 22 by means of two screws 50 which through slots 52 in the vertical flange 42 of the drip member and engage in threaded holes 54 in the bottom rail. The slots 42 enable the inclination of the drip member to be adjusted when it is attached to the bottom rail.

The shower door illustrated may be installed with the door, and its surrounding frame, inverted, so that the "hand" of the door is changed. It would then clearly be necessary to fit the drip member 40 to the rail 20, which becomes the bottom rail. For this reason, the shower door may be supplied to the customer with the drip member separate, so that it can be attached to the appropriate rail on installation of the door.

Claims (Filed on 20/4/82) 1. A door for a shower enclosure adapted to be pivoted to the enclosure so as to open outwards, in which the door includes a drip member and means for attaching the drip member to the inner face of the door in such a manner that, when the door is open, a surface of the drip member slopes downwards towards the interior of the shower enclosure, the drip member being shaped so that water running down the inner face of the door and onto the drip member is constrained to flow along the drip member towards the interior of the enclosure.

2. A shower door as claimed in claim 1, in which the door is pivoted for movement about a vertical axis spaced from one side of the door, so that when the door opens, the part of the door between the said side and the pivot axis moves inwards into the shower enclosure.

3. A shower door as claimed in claim 1, in which the door is hinged at one side to the enclosure or to a frame fixed to the enclosure.

4. A shower door as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the drip member is formed separately from the remainder of the door.

5. A shower door as claimed in claim 4, in which the drip member is formed with a channel along which water is constrained to flow, and the means for attaching the drip member to the inner face of the door are adapted to enable the inclination of the channel to the horizontal to be adjusted.

6. A shower door as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, in which the door can be inverted to enable it to be pivoted at either the left-hand or right-hand side of the shower enclosure, and the means for attaching the drip member to the inner face of the door enable the drip member to be attached at either end of the door.

7. A shower door as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 6, in which the drip member comprises a vertical support flange for attachment to the inner face of the door, a web extending in use downwards and outwards from the support flange, and an upturned bead formed on the outer edge of the web to define the said channel.

8. A shower door as claimed in claim 7, in which the drip member is formed from extruded aluminium.

9. A shower door as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8 in which the means for attaching the drip member to the inner face of the door comprises screws arranged to pass through slots in the support flange and to engage in threaded holes in the door.

10. A door for a shower enclosure constructed and arranged substantially as described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

11. A shower enclosure incorporating a door as defined in any preceding claim.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. drip member is selected so that water running onto the web 44 tends to flow along the channel towards the inner edge 34 of the door, so that when the door is open the water is directed into the shower tray 16. The drip member 40 is held in position on the bottom rail 22 by means of two screws 50 which through slots 52 in the vertical flange 42 of the drip member and engage in threaded holes 54 in the bottom rail. The slots 42 enable the inclination of the drip member to be adjusted when it is attached to the bottom rail. The shower door illustrated may be installed with the door, and its surrounding frame, inverted, so that the "hand" of the door is changed. It would then clearly be necessary to fit the drip member 40 to the rail 20, which becomes the bottom rail. For this reason, the shower door may be supplied to the customer with the drip member separate, so that it can be attached to the appropriate rail on installation of the door. Claims (Filed on 20/4/82)

1. A door for a shower enclosure adapted to be pivoted to the enclosure so as to open outwards, in which the door includes a drip member and means for attaching the drip member to the inner face of the door in such a manner that, when the door is open, a surface of the drip member slopes downwards towards the interior of the shower enclosure, the drip member being shaped so that water running down the inner face of the door and onto the drip member is constrained to flow along the drip member towards the interior of the enclosure.

11. A shower enclosure incorporating a door as defined in any preceding claim.