GB2389617A

GB2389617A - Door for easy access bath

Info

Publication number: GB2389617A
Application number: GB0213461A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Joseph Britton
Original assignee: MANTALEDA BATHROOM CO Ltd; SPECIAL NEEDS BATHS Ltd
Current assignee: MANTALEDA BATHROOM CO Ltd; SPECIAL NEEDS BATHS Ltd
Priority date: 2002-06-12
Filing date: 2002-06-12
Publication date: 2003-12-17
Also published as: GB0213461D0

Abstract

An easy access bath 2 has a built-in seat 4, and a door 8 to close an opening (6) in the side wall, attached to the side wall by a two axis hinge structure 14. The hinge structure is pivotally connected to the side wall adjacent the edge of the opening, allowing it to pivot relative to the opening, and the door panel is pivotally connected to the hinge structure, allowing it to pivot about a second axis parallel to, but spaced from the first axis. The door sweeps a reduced area when used, so the leading edge of the seat 4 can be brought forward, and still allow the door 8 to be closed while the user is seated, with a bath of reduced overall length.

Description

- 1 BATHS The present invention relates to baths.

5 So call hip baths, also known as easy access or special needs baths, are used by disabled or elderly people. Such baths consists of a tub with a built in seat and a door in the side of the tub through which the individual requiring a bath can enter the tub and be seated on the seat. The door can then be closed to seal the opening in the side wall of the tub and water admitted in the tub to allow the individual to perform their ablutions. The pressure of 10 the water in the tub pressunses the door to prevent the door being opened until the tub has been emptied.

The problem with previously proposed hip baths is that the built in seat has to be positioned away from the door to allow the door to be opened, to provide sufficient space to I 5 admit an individual and to allow the door to be closed without fouling the feet of the individual when seated on the seat. As a consequence, the volume occupied by the lower leg well of the tub is considerable. This means that more water is needed to fill the bath than required for a regular bath tub. Quite often the amount of warm water required is beyond the storage capacity of a domestic hot water system and the time taken to fill the tub 20 may be more than the user finds comfortable to endure.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved bath.

- 2 According to the present invention there is provided a door comprising a door panel, sized to cover a predetermined opening, a hinge structure hingedly connectable adjacent the perimeter of the opening to allow the hinge structure to pivot about a first axis relative to the opening, the panel being hingedly connected to the hinge structure to allow the panel to 5 pivot relative to the hinge structure about a second axis extending parallel to but spaced I from the first axis.

According to the present invention there is further provided a bath having a built-in seat and an access opening in a side wall thereof, the leading edge of the seat when 10 extended traversing the access opening at a position located between opposite vertical sides of the access opening, a door for closing the access opening, and a hinge structure mounting the door on the side wall adjacent the vertical side of the access opening remote from the seat, the hinge structure having first and second substantially vertical pivotal axis, the first axis extending adjacent said vertical side and allowing pivot movement of the hinge 15 structure relative to said side wall, and the second axis extending vertically adjacent one face of the door at a location between opposite vertical sides of the door and allowing I pivotal movement of door relative to the hinge structure.

A bath embodying the present invention, will now be described, by way of example, 20 with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the bath; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the bath of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the door of the bath when open;

- 3 Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the door of the bath when closed; Figures 5 and 6 are fragmentary plan views of the door of the bath during progressively different stages in moving from the open to the closed position; and Figure 7 is a detail, to an enlarged scale, of the locking device for the door when 5 closed. I As shown in Figure 1, the bath comprises a generally rectangular block 2 in external configuration defining a stepped inner cavity, the step in the cavity defining a seat 4 upon which a user of the bath may sit. To one side of the seat in one side wall of the block 2 10 there is a generally rectangular access opening 6 which is closed by a door 8. The door 8 is generally rectangular and slightly large than the opening 6. The door has a peripheral groove 10 along three sides of the perimeter to reduce the dimensions of the door on its outer face sufficiently to be accommodated within the opening 6. A seal 12 (see Figures 4 to 6) is provided in the groove 10 so as to make sealing contact with the inner face of the 15 wall immediately surrounding the opening. This allows the door to make a liquid tight seal with the block 2 so that the cavity can be filled with water without the possibility of any I leakage past the door 8 when it is closed.

The door 8 is mounted on one side of the opening 6 with the aid of a rectangular: 20 hinge panel 14. The door 8 has a generally rectangular recess 16 in its outer face extending from one side thereof towards the centre of sufficient size to acconunodate the panel 14 when the door is closed.

- 4 One vertical side of the panel 14 is supported on one side of the opening l 6 by a pair of vertically spaced hinges 20 and 22. The opposite vertical side of the panel 14 is supported on the vertical inner side of the recess 16 by a pair of vertically spaced hinges 24 and 26.

In operation, to open the door from the position shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, the door 8 is pushed inwardly to cause it to pivot about the vertical axis common to the hinges 24 and 26 in clockwise sense, as viewed in the figures, and simultaneously the panel is caused to pivot in an anti-clockwise sense about the vertical axis common to the hinges 20 10 and 22 until the door is brought into parallel relationship with the inner face 30 ofthe cavity that lies remotes from the seat 4.

This now allows the user to enter the cavity through the opening 6 and to be seated on the seat 4. To close the door 8, it is moved in the reverse senses as progressively shown 15 in Figures 5 and 6 until it engages the outer perimeter of the opening 6. The corner of the seat 4 closest to the opening 6 is cutaway to define a guide surfaces 32 which guides the leading side of the door 8 into engagement with the perimeter of the opening 6. The recess defined between the seat and the side wall is preferably tapered so as to urge the seal on the leading edge of the door into engagement with the wall under some pressure. The leading 20 edge of the door 8 can be locked to the perimeter of Me opening 6 with the aid of a sliding bolt 34 engaging a bore 36 in the wall. The trailing edge of the door 8 can be locked to the perimeter of the opening by a latch mechanism. The latch mechanism includes spring loaded bolt 4 housed in a bore in the wall surrounding the opening. The leading end

- 5 portion 42 of the bolt 40 has a carn-shaped profile. An L-shaped bracket 44 has one leg secured to the door 8 and carries at the distal end of the other leg, a foot 46. As the door closes, the foot 46 engages the bolt 40 and displaces it into the bore against the resilience of spring 48 until the foot 46 has travelled beyond the bolt 40 at which point the bolt resiles 5 and prevents the foot 46 from returning. To release the foot 46, the bolt 40 must be drawn back into the door with the aid of an arm 50 rigid with the bolt 40.

With the door closed water can now be admided to the cavity through taps (not shown) mounted on the block 2. The water, as it rises in the cavity, will apply increasing 10 pressure on the door to compress the seal 12 more firmly against the opening to ensure that a liquid tight seal is achieved. Also, the pressure of the water on the door will significantly increase resistance to the door being inadvertently opened. When the water is drained from the cavity through a drain hole (not shown) in the bottom of the cavity the removal of the water will once again allow the door to be opened after the latch mechanism and bolt 34 15 have been released.

As will be appreciated, the provision ofthe hinge panel 14 significantly reduces the area swept by the door during opening and closing. This allows the seat 4 to be brought forward so that its leading edge intersects the opening 6 at a location between opposite 20 vertical sides of the opening 6, while at the same time providing for sufficient clearance to accommodate the feet of the occupant of the seat, on the floor of the footwell.

The degree of clearance is determined by the width of the hinge panel 14 which is

( - 6 preferably substantially half the width of the door 8.

Bringing the seat forward reduces the volume of the footwell and therefore the quantity of water needed to fill the bath.

The bath and seat may be of molded plastics or glass fibre reinforced plastics.

Claims

- - CLAIMS

1. A door comprising a door panel, sized to cover a predetermined opening, a hinge structure hingedly connectable adjacent the perimeter of the opening to allow the hinge 5 structure to pivot about a first axis relative to the opening, the panel being hingedly connected to the hinge structure to allow the panel to pivot relative to the hinge structure about a second axis extending parallel to but spaced from the first axis.

2. A door according to Claim 1, wherein the spacing between the first and second axes

I O is substantially half the maximum dimension of the door in a direction perpendicular to the axes.

3. A door according to Claim I or to Claim 2, wherein the hinge structure comprises a rectangular panel with a first pair of axially spaced hinges aligned with said first axis 15 mounted on one side of said hinge panel and a second pair of axially spaced hinges aligned with said second axis and mounted on the opposite side of said hinge panel.

4. A door according to any one of Claims I to 3, wherein said door panel includes a recess in one face thereof spaced to accommodate said hinge structure.

5. A door according to any preceding claim, wherein said door panel includes a peripheral groove which accommodates a compressible seal to Bonn a seal peripherally of said opening.

- 8

6. A bath having an access opening in a side wall thereof and a door according to any preceding claim operable to close said opening.

7. A bath having a built-in seat and an access opening in a side wall thereof, the 5 leading edge of the seat when extended traversing the access opening at a position located between opposite vertical sides of the access opening, a door for closing the access opening and a hinge structure mounting the door on the side wall adjacent the vertical side of the access opening remote from the seat, the hinge structure having first and second substantially vertical pivotal axis, the first axis extending adjacent said vertical side and 10 allowing pivot movement of the hinge structure relative to said side wall, and the second axis extending vertically adjacent one face of the door at a location between opposite vertical sides of the door and allowing pivotal movement of door relative to the hinge structure. 15

8. A bath according to Claim 7, wherein said hinge structure comprises a hinge panel carrying at least one hinge on each of the opposite vertical sides of the panel.

9. A bath according to Claim 8, wherein the outer face of the door has a recess sized to accommodate the hinge panel when the door closes the opening.

1 O. A bath according to any one of Claims 7 to 9, wherein the spacing between said axis is substantially equal to one half of the width of the door.

l

-9 -

1 1. A bath according to any one of Claims 7 to 10, wherein there is a recess between the seat and the side wall adjacent the opening and wherein the profile of the portion of the seat defining one side of the recess provides a guide surface to guide the leading edge of the door into engagement with the portion of the side wall defining the opening as the door is 5 being closed.

12. A bath according to Claim 11, wherein said recess is tapered.

13. A bath according to any one of Claims 7 to 12, wherein the door has a peripheral 10 recess accommodating a compressible seal to sealing engage the perimeter of the wall around the opening when the door is closed.

14. A bath according to any one of Claims 7 to 13, including locking means on opposite sides of the opening to lock the door in its closed state.

15. A bath according to Claim 14, wherein at least one of said locking means comprises an automatic latching mechanism.

16. A bath substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to the accompanying 20 drawings.