US2534146A

US2534146A - Bathtub and method of producing the same

Info

Publication number: US2534146A
Application number: US655515A
Authority: US
Inventors: Clarence J Rodman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1946-03-19
Filing date: 1946-03-19
Publication date: 1950-12-12
Anticipated expiration: 1967-12-12

Description

Dec. 12, 1950 C J, RODMAN 2,534,146

BATHTUB AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed March 19, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 -3 MFM W Dec. 12, 1950 c. J. RODMAN 2,534,146

BATHTUB AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed March 19, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet Z2 IN V EN TOR.

(lift/reef @0010 Patented Dec. 12, 1950 BATHTUB A NBZMETHOD PRODUCING THE SAME;

Clar nce 1- R m Allian b e; Application. March 1a, 1946; SepiaLNe. 655,515 7. a ms-1 (Cu 7 3,)

IIhe present intention nelatesto anew and im-: prayed! type ofbathtub and, to the method of produeing, the; same.

tubto fi the presentintientioni is drawn from asingl 'z ie eQ eets eel Itte era W W pletely drawn, ina, single; stroke of the, press. he: cause 'this redufifis. to aminimurn, the thinning 0i the metail, This. is. im ortantbecause in the h e Pent-s amel ne of e uham mt sa s d sired-t The was q s n that hene are no flat surfaces thebe l l; all of; thesui faces ein ca cers qu waiidly s t at when a ed and" co e uring h enamel na. the; be x- Bands m c atlia t e u a lm "the ub s de ed; 7 1 use r pr s thew ly he. nont q, ab ill, be e osedh s 'r ntis o ifilfqiw m. arenn the: a tw e nr is hav be n, waited. .9: ef o d e Q iim t b t bea ne e sary #9 t m ce meta fr m h ere: t r duc a Plea in enjpearar ce; In producing the tub of this: invention; the front rim is bentdoyyn and back, and the apron isweldedj to the rim from underrieath be fore thisbendihg of -the rim is completed; After Welding, the isbe tto hide the weld from view. Cbnsequentiy, trimming is unnecessary;

Theftont rim is bent'irrsuch a way that there is: no horizontal surface iii the rixjn in front of the belt or bowI of the tub. The edge of the bell bends gradually outward to; a straight" line which extends across the front of the tub, and from this high line the rim is bent downwardly and then? back toward theuniorr withtheaprona The bent r protrudes: a little front ofithe apron" and? thus provides: a grahrail fora hather to-usei 3 with the apron whemthe tub isviewed from any? 7 ordinatsy angle;

The weld; between the apron and the: rim of the tub is: advantageously formed? by welding; with am am: at. the interface: between the: apron; and! the: rim of; theatub; This minimizes-deformatiom or? drawing: of? the: welded parts without sub- Sta/111119111 distortion of the agront,

2?- Eig. 6=shows the front rim trimmedand-fiarrgem 7: showsthe apron welded to this; flange;

Eigx illustratestthe-preferred method-biweld;

ingt; and

Fig, 9 is a: perspective view; of the completed tub;

Thebathtub; is drawn from a single sheet of: steel and comprises the bell; I the rim 2i,ar1d the flange or lip which prevents. seepage between the edge at; the rim and the. adjoining wallsfot the-bathe'oomh The apron; 5 is welded to the time mi to eain wh t fell ws, Angle braees E; are providedat, each. end of the tuie 'IFheseareweldedl to the interned end flanges ofithe apron ar d tothe underside at the The; method of manufacturing the tlib, is hest ili strated by teieren ce t FigSIQ-Q, Fig, 431111 tragtes. simply the sheet oi?- steel from which. the. wig; is d zav n. Theifiiis toperationr is to draw the,

steel. is then; trimmed mm the front rim of, the

tiib whichwis then turned down at 61 as show i i Fig. 6

In the past it; has been customary. to unite the apren tothefrontrim of the tub by somemethod,

which formsa; weldacross the face of the tuio i hg and-expensive. operation which is entirely, inatediwhen. a tubiis made. according to the plj else, oi this invention 'I-he apron is flanged}. according? to the. process of this. i ver tio the tort flange i: 0;" the apron is. welded to the fror t im ofthe tub before the bending; of. the. rim. completed. Asshowh in Fig. 6,, accordipg t9 the prefir'edmethod, aiter drawing, the front rim is triedifned and flanged at 6, Figs. 7' and;

show how, the edgeof the flange '1 oil'the aprioh, is made to coincide with the edge. oi the flange if on the tub and the two are Welded tbget her p ei 'ed recess o e din lu a ed n B the are prod eed betweenthe carbor electrede- 9,. and the. tub is used, to weld. the edges! at the m m at their interface tQ fonr the welfd, i It is hot necessary to'add. any metal lftomvthe electrode to form the weld The edges oi the flarigesfareconverted to a fused mass which on cooling forms the Weld I I over the ihterfabe.

Afiter welding the bending of the front rim is c mpieted, so as, to: bring the apron down Oren the trout oi th tub as shown in Fig, 9,. 'Ljhe weld tl: is-I thuszbroughtrto the rear of; the aprolt and the motr di g portion. of the rim so that it is,ce cealedifriomviewv The following-r opetatiox si belie l intethetub asshowninFigb, TheieXcess,

This tniir ming undressing is a time-co V are also preferably completed as a part of the same operation: The remaining three sides of the rim are trimmed, notches are cut in the back corners of the rim to permit the flange or lip 4 to be bent up, and this flange is then bent and welded at the corners l2 and [3 where the notches were formed. The overflow I5 is then cut in one end of the bell, and the area i6 surrounding the overflow is countersunk. The drain opening H is cut into the bottom of the bell, and the area l8 surrounding it is countersunk.

The front rim is bent in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3. There is no horizontal ledge at the front edge of the tub. The top portion of the bell 2E! gradually aproaches the high line 2!, and then the angular portion 22 of the rim is bent downward at an angle of about to Below this is the vertical portion 23. The flange 8 extends horizontally backward from this so that the apron is vertical. By having the bell 2!) approach the high line 2! and eliminating any horizontal portion in front of the bell, maximum drainage back into the tub is provided, and buckling of the tub during enameling is prevented.

By making the flange 8 wider than the upper flange l on the apron, a grab rail is formed, and. the front of the union between the rim and the apron is obscured from ordinary view.

After the structural operations have been completed, the tub is enameled. The enameling comprises the application of a ground coat followed by a cover coat and the customary firing. The bell is designed without any flat surfaces. This prevents distortion during the expansion and contraction incident to firing and cooling. Accord- 1 ing to a preferred method of enameling, only the ground coat is sprayed into the recess at the front of the tub between the horizontal flange 8 of the grab rail and the top flange of the apron. This prevents rusting. No cover coat is applied in the recess. This prevents chipping of the enamel which would be apt to occur in such a recess.

In installing the tub, the weight is supported by the apron which rests on the bottom flange 39 and the stringer 3| which is fastened to the studding. The apron may be suitably embossed or otherwise treated to dampen vibration.

The finished tub is strong and attractive in appearance. It is designed to fit into a recess of standard length so that only the front is exposed to view. By concealing the weld between the apron and the tub, the cost of trimming the weld necessary with all prior constructions of this general type is eliminated entirely. The tub is,

therefore, relatively inexpensive, and the cheapness of design does not detract from the appearance, strength or serviceability of the finished article. Modifications in the structure may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A bathtub formed from sheet steel with an apron welded to at least a portion of the front rim thereof, the union of the apron being to an underturned horizontal portion of the rim and being set back from the front edge of the underturned horizontal portion so that the latter protrudesin front of the apron to serve as a grab rail.

2. A steel bathtub with at least a portion of the rim turned down and back, an apron below the downturned rim which screens off what is in back of it, the apron being provided at the top with a rearwardly projecting flange, the back edge of the flange andthe back edge of the back- 4 turned portion of the rim substantially coinciding and being welded at the interface of the coinciding edges.

3. A porcelained steel bathtub with at least a portion of the rim thereof bent down and back, a steel apron below said portion with an inwardly extending flange at the top thereof, the flange being welded to the backwardly bent portion of the rim with the steel surfaces of the fiangeand rim in face-to-face contact, the recess at the outside of said union of the rim and flange being 'protected with ground coat on which there is substantially no cover coat.

4. A porcelained steel bathtub with the front rim turned down and under to form a substantially horizontal portion bent back toward the bell of the tub, a steel apron with a top flange thereon bent back toward the bell of the tub, the

flang being narrower than the substantially horizontal portion of the rim, the back edge of but with substantially no enamel cover coat on.

said ground coat in said recess.

5. The method of manufacturing a bathtub which comprises drawing the bell in a single sheet of steel to produce a tub with a rim, trimming the front edge of the drawn sheet to form a straight edge substantially parallel with the center line of the tub and bending downwardly a narrow flange at the edge thereof, uniting to the flange an apron with a top flange which is narrower than the flange on the tub and which is bent backward from the face of the apron by bringing the flanges together with the edges thereof substantially coinciding and welding the edges at the interface, and then further bending the rim so that the flange on the tub extends backwardly, thereby bringing the apron to a substantially vertical position so that the apron and bent rim conceal the weld and the bell of the tub, and the front part of the backwardly extending portion of the rim protrudes forwardly from the apron to serve as a grab rail.

6. The method of manufacturing a bathtub which comprises drawing the bell in a single sheet of steel to produce a tub with a rim, bending downwardly a narrow flange at the edge of the rim, uniting to the flange an apron with a top flange bent backward from the face of the apron by welding the flanges together, and then further bending the rim so that the flange on the of steel to produce a tub with a narrow rim, trim- V 5 bonds them together, and then further bending Number the rim so that the flanges extend backwardly, 2,087,183 thereby bringing the apron to a substantially 2,122,247 vertical position. 2,199,791 CLARENCE J. RODMAN. 6 2,302,563 2,305,846 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Number file of this patent. m 52522 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,870,836 Cromwell Aug. 9, 1932 Name Date Davock July 13, 1937 Coordes June 28, 1938 Gwynn May 7, 1940 Masters Nov. 17, 1942 Coordes Dec. 22, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Denmark 1- Jan. 4, 1937