GB2476128A

GB2476128A - A compressible seal for a shower curtain

Info

Publication number: GB2476128A
Application number: GB1005100A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Mcguigan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-12-12
Filing date: 2010-03-26
Publication date: 2011-06-15
Also published as: GB201001807D0; GB0921784D0; GB201005100D0; GB201000862D0

Abstract

A sealing device for a shower curtain having a channel member 11 which is mountable in at least one surface and comprises a flange member 12 and two opposing web members 14 each connected to a longitudinal edge 12 of the flange member to define a channel having a recess 16 and a longitudinally extending slot 20; a compressible seal member 22 which is insertable with a portion of the shower curtain into the recess via the slot, wherein the web members are resilient such that they are movable apart from a relaxed state to allow insertion of the seal member. The seal member may have a width which is greater than the width of the slot. The resilient web members may be biased towards the relaxed state to compress the inserted seal member such that the seal member substantially fills the recess. The sealing device may comprise lips 18 which encapsulate the seal member and form the slot. The channel member may be L-shaped and mountable at two perpendicular surfaces, each surface being made up of the web members and having first and second resilient and uncoupled portions.

Description

Shower Curtain Apparatus The present invention relates to shower curtain apparatus. In particular, but not exclusively, the invention relates to a readily mounted sealing device for a shower curtain.

In many buildings, a shower unit is installed above a bath so that the bath provides the showering base, and this provides the user with a choice of bath or shower. This arrangement saves space and the expense of a separate shower cubicle. To perform the function of cubicle walls, typically a shower curtain is suspended from a rail. However, as it is a very flexible sheet and the shower curtain often moves to a position in which water can escape the showering area to the floor beyond which is inconvenient and causes a slip hazard. In particular, the sheet can bulge outwards until the bottom portion of the curtain is exterior to the bath, or the sheet moves away from the wall and water escapes between the wall and curtain.

It is desirable to provide means for restricting outwards movement of the shower curtain. It is desirable to provide means for restricting movement of the shower curtain away from the adjacent wall.

Other forms of sealing devices for shower curtains are known. For some of these, a seal can be inserted into a longitudinally extending channel to trap a portion of the shower curtain which is also located in the channel. However, these devices have a number of disadvantages. In some of these devices, the seal must be fed into the channel from a side edge of the channel. To allow this feeding, the seal is undersized relative to the recess defined by the channel and so the sealing effect is compromised and water can still escape. Also, the feeding from the side edge causes "bunching" of the shower curtain.

US 3205547 describes a device in which the seal is fed into the channel recess via a longitudinal slot of the channel. The recess is significantly larger than the seal but the slot is narrower than the seal and the channel walls are resilient and can be spread apart to allow insertion of the seal. However, once within the channel, the seal is still undersized relative to the recess and so the sealing effect is again limited and water can escape. Also, the device only seals against one wall. To seal against two surfaces, such as a wall and an edge of the bath, would require an L shaped channel. However, a typical L channel has perpendicular walls which are connected together at the corner and this reduces the resilience of the walls in this region, making insertion of the seal at the corner more difficult.

It is desirable to provide a device which allows insertion of the seal using the longitudinal slot of the channel but which provides more effective sealing. It is desirable to provide a device which allows insertion of the seal using the longitudinal slot of the channel and which can seal against two surfaces.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a sealing device for a shower curtain comprising: a channel member which is mountable at at least one surface and comprising a flange member and two opposing web members each connected to a longitudinal edge of the flange member to define a channel having a recess and a longitudinally extending slot; a compressible seal member which is insertable with a portion of the shower curtain into the recess via the slot, the seal member having a width which is greater than the width of the slot, wherein the web members are resilient such that they are movable apart from a relaxed state to allow insertion of the seal member, and wherein the resilient web members are biased towards the relaxed state to compress the inserted seal member such that the seal member substantially fills the recess.

The apparatus may include attachment means for attaching the channel member to the surface. The attachment means may comprise an adhesive strip. The adhesive strip may be provided at the rear surface of the flange member.

The web members may be substantially parallel. The web members may be substantially perpendicular to the flange member.

One or both web members may include a longitudinal lip portion provided at the longitudinal edge of the or each web member opposite the flange member. The lip portion may define the slot. The slot may have a width which is less than the spacing between the web members.

Each lip portion may comprise a seal contacting surface which is oblique relative to the plane of the web members. The seal contacting surface may extend upwards and inwards from the web member.

The seal member may be substantially circular in section. Alternatively, the seal member may be elliptical.

The or each lip portions may be adapted to apply a compression force to the seal member as the web members are biased towards the relaxed state. The oblique seal contacting surface of the or each lip portion may be adapted to apply a compression force to the seal member, the force having at least a component in a direction towards the flange member. The sealing device may be adapted to resist the force component such that the compressed seal member laterally expands towards and contacts the web members. The width of the recess may be greater than the depth of the recess to accommodate the expanded web member.

Each web member may include a discontinuity along its length to define a first and a second web portion. The discontinuity may be adapted to at least contribute to providing a hinge member such that the first and a second web portions are pivotable relative to each other. The first and a second web portions may be pivotable relative to each other to provide an L shaped channel.

The discontinuity may comprise a V groove, the apex of the V groove extending to the flange member. The flange member may be resilient to at least contribute to providing the hinge member. The flange member may be relatively thin in the bending direction to at least contribute to providing the hinge member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a sealing device for a shower curtain comprising: an L shaped channel member which is mountable at two substantially perpendicular surfaces, the channel member comprising a flange member and two opposing web members each connected to a longitudinal edge of the flange member to define a channel having a recess and a longitudinally extending slot; a seal member which is insertable with a portion of the shower curtain into the recess via the slot, the seal member being compressible to substantially fill the recess when inserted into the recess, wherein the web member defines a first and a second web portion on either side of the corner of the L shaped channel member, and wherein the a first and a second web portions are resilient and uncoupled to allow resilient bending of each web member during the insertion of the seal member.

The resilient first and a second web portions may be biased towards a relaxed state following bending to compress the inserted seal member such that the seal member substantially fills the recess.

Each web member may include a discontinuity along its length to define the first and a second web portions. The discontinuity may be adapted to at least contribute to providing a hinge member such that the first and a second web portions are pivotable relative to each other.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an end view of a sealing device with the hinge at a first position and with an inserted portion of shower curtain; Figure 2 is a side view of the sealing device of Figure 1 with the hinge at a second position; and Figure 3 is a side view of the sealing device of Figure 1 with the hinge at a first position.

Figures 1 to 3 show a sealing device 10 for a shower curtain 100. The sealing device 10 is mountable at two perpendicular surfaces, such as a wall and a horizontal surface of a bath and allows insertion of a portion of shower curtain to prevent water escaping from the bath area.

The sealing device 10 comprises a channel 11 having a flange 12 and two opposing webs 14 which are connected to a longitudinal edge of the flange 12 to define a recess 16. The webs 14 are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the flange 12.

At the top edge of each webs 14 is a longitudinal lip 18. As can be seen in Figure 1, it is the spacing between the two lips 18 that defines a slot 20 which provides longitudinal access to the recess 16. The slot 20 has a width which is less than the spacing between the webs 14, in other words less than the width of the recess 16.

The sealing device 1 0 includes a compressible seal 22 which can be inserted with the portion of the shower curtain 100 into the recess 1 6 via the slot 20. The seal 22 is substantially circular when not compressed. The diameter of the seal 22 is greater than the width of the slot 20. However, the webs 14 are resilient and can be moved apart by bending about the connection with the flange 12 to allow insertion of the seal 22.

When the bending force is removed from the webs 14, the resilient webs 14 will be biased towards the original relaxed state. This will compress the inserted seal 22 and cause the seal 22 to substantially fill the recess. The recess need not be fully filled, and unfilled corner portions are shown in Figure 1. However, the seal 22 provides effective sealing between one side of the shower curtain 100 and the other.

Each lip 18 extends upwards and inwards from the web 14 to define a seal contacting surface 24 which is oblique relative to the plane of the webs 14. The depth of the recess 16 is less than the diameter of the seal 22 so that, when the seal 22 is inserted in the recess 16, the lips 18 apply a compression force to the seal 22 when the webs 14 bend back towards the relaxed state. The oblique seal contacting surface 24 will apply a force having a downwards component which will be resisted by the flange 12. The compressed seal member will therefore laterally expand towards, and then contact, the webs 14.

Consequently, there is sealing contact between the seal 22 and the channel 11 at five locations: at the flange 12, at each web 14 and at each lip 18.

As shown best in Figure 3, each web 14 may a discontinuity in the form of a V groove 24 along its length to define first 26 and second 28 web portions on either side of the V groove 24. The apex of the V groove 24 extends to the flange 12.

This allows first and a second web portions to be pivotable relative to each other to form the L shaped channel as shown in Figure 2. The flange 12 bends during this pivoting but the flange 12 is resilient and also relatively thin in the bending direction.

The apparatus includes attachment means in the form of an adhesive strip 30 for attaching the sealing device 10 to the surfaces. However, any suitable known means of attachment could be used.

Whilst specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it will be appreciated that departures from the described embodiments may still fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claims 1. A sealing device for a shower curtain comprising: a channel member which is mountable at at least one surface and comprising a flange member and two opposing web members each connected to a longitudinal edge of the flange member to define a channel having a recess and a longitudinally extending slot; a compressible seal member which is insertable with a portion of the shower curtain into the recess via the slot, the seal member having a width which is greater than the width of the slot, wherein the web members are resilient such that they are movable apart from a relaxed state to allow insertion of the seal member, and wherein the resilient web members are biased towards the relaxed state to compress the inserted seal member such that the seal member substantially fills the recess.
2. A sealing device as claimed in claim 1, including attachment means for attaching the channel member to the surface.
3. A sealing device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the attachment means comprises an adhesive strip provided at the rear surface of the flange member.
4. A sealing device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the web members are substantially parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the flange member.
5. A sealing device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein one or both web members include a longitudinal lip portion provided at the longitudinal edge of the or each web member opposite the flange member.
6. A sealing device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the lip portion defines the slot, and wherein the slot has a width which is less than the spacing between the web members.
7. A sealing device as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein each lip portion comprises a seal contacting surface which is oblique relative to the plane of the web members.
8. A sealing device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the seal contacting surface extends upwards and inwards from the web member.
9. A sealing device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the seal member is substantially circular in section.
10. A sealing device as claimed in any of claims 5 to 9, wherein the or each lip portions is adapted to apply a compression force to the seal member as the web members are biased towards the relaxed state.
11. A sealing device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the oblique seal contacting surface of the or each lip portion is adapted to apply a compression force to the seal member, the force having at least a component in a direction towards the flange member.
12. A sealing device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the flange member is adapted to resist the force component such that the compressed seal member laterally expands towards and contacts the web members.
13. A sealing device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the width of the recess is greater than the depth of the recess to accommodate the expanded web member.
14. A sealing device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each web member includes a discontinuity along its length to define a first and a second web portion.
15. A sealing device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the discontinuity is adapted to at least contribute to providing a hinge member such that the first and a second web portions are pivotable relative to each other.
16. A sealing device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first and a second web portions are pivotable relative to each other to provide an L shaped channel.
17. A sealing device as claimed in any of claims 14 to 16, wherein the discontinuity comprises a V groove, the apex of the V groove extending to the flange member.
18. A sealing device as claimed in any of claims 15 to 17, wherein the flange member is resilient to at least contribute to providing the hinge member.
19. A sealing device as claimed in any of claims 15 to 18, wherein the flange member is relatively thin in the bending direction to at least contribute to providing the hinge member.
20. A sealing device for a shower curtain comprising: an L shaped channel member which is mountable at two substantially perpendicular surfaces, the channel member comprising a flange member and two opposing web members each connected to a longitudinal edge of the flange member to define a channel having a recess and a longitudinally extending slot; a seal member which is insertable with a portion of the shower curtain into the recess via the slot, the seal member being compressible to substantially fill the recess when inserted into the recess, wherein the web member defines a first and a second web portion on either side of the corner of the L shaped channel member, and wherein the a first and a second web portions are resilient and uncoupled to allow resilient bending of each web member during the insertion of the seal member.
21. A sealing device as claimed in claim 20, wherein the resilient first and a second web portions are biased towards a relaxed state following bending to compress the inserted seal member such that the seal member substantially fills the recess.
22. A sealing device as claimed in claim 20 or 21, wherein each web member includes a discontinuity along its length to define the first and a second web portions.
23. A sealing device as claimed in claim 22, wherein the discontinuity is adapted to at least contribute to providing a hinge member such that the first and a second web portions are pivotable relative to each other.
24. A sealing device as claimed in claim 22 or 23, wherein the discontinuity comprises a V groove, the apex of the V groove extending to the flange member.
25. A sealing device as claimed in claim 23 or 24, wherein the flange member is resilient to at least contribute to providing the hinge member.
26. A sealing device as claimed in any of claims 23 to 25, wherein the flange member is relatively thin in the bending direction to at least contribute to providing the hinge member.
27. A sealing device as claimed in any of claims 20 to 26, wherein the apparatus includes attachment means for attaching the channel member to the surface.
28. A sealing device as claimed in any of claims 20 to 27, wherein the web members are substantially parallel to each other and wherein the web members are substantially perpendicular to the flange member.
29. A sealing device as claimed in any of claims 20 to 28, wherein one or both web members include a longitudinal lip portion provided at the longitudinal edge of the or each web member opposite the flange member, the lip portion defining the slot, and wherein the slot has a width which is less than the spacing between the web members.
30. A sealing device as claimed in claim 29, wherein each lip portion comprises a seal contacting surface which is oblique relative to the plane of the web members and which extends upwards and inwards from the web member.
31. A sealing device as claimed in any of claims 20 to 30, wherein the seal member is substantially circular in section.
32. A sealing device as claimed in any of claims 29 to 31, wherein the or each lip portion is adapted to apply a compression force to the seal member as the web members are biased towards the relaxed state.
33. A sealing device as claimed in claim 32, wherein the oblique seal contacting surface of the or each lip portion is adapted to apply a compression force to the seal member, the force having at least a component in a direction towards the flange member., and wherein the flange member is adapted to resist the force component such that the compressed seal member laterally expands towards and contacts the web members.
34. A sealing device as claimed in claim 33, wherein the width of the recess is greater than the depth of the recess to accommodate the expanded web member.