GB2339686A

GB2339686A - Bath seat assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2339686A
Application number: GB9914087A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ian Sydney Cristol
Original assignee: MYCO CC
Current assignee: MYCO CC
Priority date: 1998-06-19
Filing date: 1999-06-16
Publication date: 2000-02-09
Anticipated expiration: 2019-06-16
Also published as: GB9914087D0; GB2339686B

Description

2339686 BATH SEAT This invention relates to a bath seat with width

adjustment.

Bath seats are well-known and widely used for the care of medical patients and injured and aged persons. One known kind of bath seat consists of a frame with two pairs of opposed feet which rest on opposite edges of a bath. The frame supports a seat or chair which swivels about a vertical axis enabling a person being cared for to be located and seated in the bath.

A requirement which has arisen in respect of a bath seat of this nature is that the width of the seat should be adjustable to accommodate different widths of baths. More particularly, but not exclusively, the width of the bath seat should be capable of being lessened to accommodate a bath ledge which is narrower than usual and which is located against a bathroom wall. In such a case the width of the bath seat needs to be lessened to enable the bath seat properly to span the bath.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a bath seat which can meet the abovementioned requirements or which at least provides a useful alternative to existing bath seats.

According to the invention a bath seat comprises a frame supporting a seat and having opposed supports extending from the frame which bear on opposite edges of a bath to enable the frame to span the width of the bath, each support being 1 extendable and retractable relative to the frame, and a sleeve of elastomeric material surrounding each support.

The sleeve preferably surrounds the support and a part of the frame from which it projects in the manner of a friction fit to hold the support in position relative to the frame.

The support and the frame may have complementarily threaded formations enabling the support to be rotated relative to the frame about a longitudinal axis.

The support preferably threadedly connects to a threaded stud projecting from the frame and having a stop member preventing the supporc from being dislocated from thestud.

The elastomen'c sleeve may include a collar which in an operative position of the bath seat locates against a side of the bath to prevent lateral displacement of the bath seat.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described byway of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

2 Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bath seat of the kind to which the invention can be applied; Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of a foot of the bath seat constructed in accordance with the invention; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the foot of Figure 2 in an assembled condition; Figure 4 is a cross-section thereof; and Figure 5 illustrate alternative embodiments of the invention.

to 8 With reference to Figure 1 a bath seat 1 is shown of the kind to which the invention may be applied. The bath seat 1 is shown in an operative position spanning the width of a bath 2 between opposed ledges 2a, 2b. The bath seat 1 consists of a frame 3 having two pairs of opposed supports in the form of feet 4 extending from the frame and bearina, on the ledges 2a, 2b. A seat 5 is rotatably mounted on the frame 3 about a vertical axis to enable a person being cared for to be positioned on the seat and to be rotated to a position to which the person's legs are located in the bath.

3 It is a feature of the invention that the bath seat 1 is capable of having its width, that is the width of the frame 3 spanning the bath, adjusted. For this purpose each foot 4 'includes of a section 10 which)oins to the frame 3 by means of a threaded stud 11 welded or otherwise secured to the frame 3. At its proximal end the section 10 has a plug 12 with a threaded aperture through which the stud 11 passes to form a threaded engagement. T'his arrangement enables the section 10 to be rotated and thereby to lengthen or shorten the length of the foot, depending on the direction of rotation. A stop memberm" the form of a split pm 1-3) is provided which is passed through a hole 14 near the free end of the stud 11 to prevent dislocation of the section 10 from the stud.

Surrounding the section 10 and a portion of the frame 3 adjacent the stud 11 as a friction fit is an elastomenic sleeve 15. With this arrangement the sleeve 15 may be grasped 'in the region of the section 10 and rotated in one or the other direction, depending on whether the foot 4 'is to be lengthened or shortened. Whatever length is selected, the sleeve 15, because of its frictional fit, will tend to prevent accidental rotation thereof and will therefore serve to retain the section 10 in its selected position. Additionally, holes 16, 17 maybe provided 'in the section 10 and sleeve 15 respectively which, when a1igned, receive a plug 18, pop rivet or the Eke in order to secure the sleeve 15 to the section 10.

4 In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 5, the section 10 is replaced by an optionally longer section 20 should it be required to lengthen the foot 4beyond the length attainable with the section 10. In this case a correspondingly longer sleeve 30 will be used to envelop the section 20 and the end portion of the frame 3 adjacent the stud 11. The sleeve 30 maybe secured to the section 20 in the same manner as the sleeve 15 is secured with the plug 18.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 6 and 7, a sleeve designated by numeral 30 is provided instead of the sleeve 10. Each sleeve 30 is characterized in that it has an annular flange 31 adjacent its proximal end. A sleeve 30 is used for the same purpose as the sleeve 15 described above and, in addition, the annular flange 31 is in use located against the side wall of a bath to serve to retain the frame 3 of the bath seat in position, as shoVVM' in Figure 7. Thus, the flanges 31 when so located against opposite sides of the bath 2, serve to prevent lateral displacement of the frame 3.

Thus the invention provides a useful improvement over prior art bath seats.

Many other embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the scope of the invention described in the appended claims.

5-.

Claims

1. A bath seat comprising a frame supporting a seat and having opposed supports extending from the frame which bear on opposite edges of a bath to enable the frame to span the width of the bath, each support being extendable and retractable relative to the frame, and a sleeve of elastomeric 10 material surrounding each support.

2. A bath seat as claimed in claim I in which the sleeve surrounds the support and a part of the frame from which it extends in the manner of a friction fit to hold the support in position relative to the frame. 15 A bath seat as claimed in claim 1 in which the support and the frame have complementarily threaded formations enabling the support to be rotated relative to the frame about a longitudinal axis. 20 4. A bath seat as claimed in claim 3 in which the support threadedly connects to a threaded stud projecting from the frame.

6 5. A bath seat as claimed in claim 4 'in which the threaded stud has a stop member preventing the support from being dislocated from the stud. 6. A bath seat as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the sleeve 5 includes a collar which in an operative position of the bath seat locates against a side of the bath to prevent lateral displacement of the bath seat. 7. A bath seat substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 10 7