WO1999043248A1

WO1999043248A1 - Precast shower base

Info

Publication number: WO1999043248A1
Application number: PCT/US1999/004474
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul Vassallo
Original assignee: Vassallo Precast Manufacturing Corp.
Priority date: 1998-02-26
Filing date: 1999-02-26
Publication date: 1999-09-02
Also published as: CA2288076A1; WO1999043248A9

Abstract

There is disclosed a precast shower base (20) manufactured from fiberglass reinforced plastics and designed for high traffic commercial, industrial and institutional use. The precast shower base (20) has relatively thicker sides (24, 25) and floor (21) and is provided with a groove (27) about the upper periphery (26) of its walls that can readily and easily support heavy shower wall partitions.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

PRECAST SHOWER BASE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a precast shower base. More particularly, this invention relates to a precast shower base that can be readily and easily installed for commercial, industrial and institutional high traffic use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most shower bases and units incorporating shower bases are manufactured and designed for light traffic, residential use. Usually, these shower bases are-provided from light weight, moldable materials such as fiberglass and plastics that are relatively simple to manufacture.

For example, a typical light weight shower bath cabinet is disclosed in U.S. Patent

2,002,789 to E.F. Niedecker having a shower base and walls designed for residential or home use. Another typical shower receptacle; i.e., a shower base, is disclosed in U.S. Patent 3,800,335 to A. Buonaura. A two piece, molded shower unit having a shower base and walls is disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,423,528 to CA. Wiedmeir.

While these typical, prior art shower bases serve their intended function for light traffic, residential type usage, they would not be appropriate for commercial, industrial and institutional high traffic use as they would not provide the strength, durability and rigidity required under such usage. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The precast shower base of the invention is manufactured from strong, durable and rigid commercially available materials such as fiberglass reenforced plastics. The precast shower base of the invention is designed to withstand high traffic commercial, industrial and institutional usage such as that encountered in hospitals, manufacturing plants, schools, institutions for the aged and the handicapped, health and fitness centers, and the like.

In general, the precast shower base of the invention comprises: a floor having a removable strainer drain; opposed front and rear walls and opposed side walls that extend perpendicularly upward from said floor and are continuous to enclose said floor defining a generally rectangular or square shaped shower base; a continuous planar surface at the upper extremity and about the periphery of said walls; a central groove formed in said planar surface extending substantially about the periphery of said planar surface, a portion of said groove being discontinued in said planar surface at said front wall to provide an entry threshold; and, a continuous inner wall surface sloped from the inner edge of said planer surface toward said floor at a constant pitch.

The cross-sectional thickness of the floor and walls as well as the width and depth of the central groove of the precast shower base of the invention are such that heavy shower wall partitions such as metal panels can be fitted into and supported by the central groove in a substantially upright position. Thus, the overall design and construction of the precast shower base of the invention enables it to be readily manufactured, permits it to be quickly and easily transported and installed and is easy to maintain and repair during high traffic usage. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The precast shower base of the invention will become more apparent from the ensuing description when considered together with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating a typical prior art shower base similar to the shower base disclosed in U.S. Patent 3,800,335 identified herein above;

Fig. 2 is an exaggerated, sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the precast shower base of the invention; and,

Fig. 4 is an exaggerated, fragmented, sectional view taken substantially on the line

4-4 of Fig. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING AND THE INVENTION

Turning now to the drawing wherein like reference numerals denote like parts, it can be seen from Figs. 1 and 2 that a typical prior art shower base, generally identified by reference numeral 10, comprises a floor 11 having a central drain 11a and is enclosed by opposed front and rear walls 12a and 12b, respectively, and opposed side walls 13a and 13b. Walls 12a, 12b, 13a and 13b are continuous to enclose a generally rectangular or square shaped shower base 10.

The continuous upper surface 14 of walls 12a, 12b 13a and 13b has a central channel 15 formed therein that extends substantially about the periphery of upper surface 14. Central channel 15 is typically discontinued, as indicated by reference numeral 16, in the upper surface of front wall 12a to provide an entrance to the shower base 10. As can be seen in Fig. 2, the continuous inner surface 17 of walls 12a, 12b, 13a and

13b is arcuate and concaved with respect to the outer surfaces of walls 12a, 12b, 13a and

13b so that the inner surface 17 tapers from a relatively narrow cross-sectional upper surface indicated by 14a to a relatively narrow cross-sectional floor portion indicated by 11 b.

Since this typical, prior art shower base 10 is intended and designed for limited, relatively light usage, the tapered, arcuate inner side wall shape results in lower manufacturing costs, requires less raw material to produce and is substantially light in weight. Such prior art shower bases 10 are generally manufactured from light weight, moldable materials such as fiberglass or from moldable plastics such as polyethylenes, polyurethanes, and the like.

In these prior art shower bases the thickness of the walls and floor are relatively thin. For example, in the typical prior art shower base shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the cross- sectional thickness of the walls 12a, 12b, 13a and 13b at the upper surface 14a is normally from about 3/4" to about 1" as is the cross-sectional thickness of the floor at 11 b. Consequently, the cross-sectional width of central channel 15 is normally about ¹ " and its depth is from about 3/4" to about 1". Thus, channel 15 is designed to receive enclosure panels therein that are generally manufactured from the same type of light weight, moldable fiberglass or plastics as the shower base 10.

The precast shower base of the invention is generally identified in Figs. 3 and 4 by reference numeral 20. Shower base 20 comprises a floor 21 having a removable strainer drain 21a and is enclosed by opposed front and rear walls 22 and 23, respectively, and opposed side walls 24 and 25, these walls being continuous to define a generally rectangular or square shaped shower base 20. The outer surfaces of walls 22-25 extend perpendicularly upward from floor 21 and terminate in a continuous, flat planar surface 26 about the perimeter of floor 21. A central groove 27 is formed in the planar surface perimeter 26 substantially about its periphery, but is discontinued along a portion of front wall 22 to provide a flat, entry threshold 28 into shower base 20 as shown in Fig. 3. The continuous inner surface 29 of walls 22-25 is sloped from the inner edge of the planar surface 26 toward floor 21 at a constant pitch so as to form an obtuse angle with floor 21 as indicated by"a" in Fig. 4.

The precast shower base 20 of the invention is manufactured from materials that are durable and rigid and that will provide sufficient strength to the shower base 20 that will enable it to readily and easily support thick, heavy shower wall partitions such as metal panels fitted into central groove 27. Typically, the precast shower base 20 of the invention can be manufactured from commercially available fiberglass reenforce plastics. This type of material, together with appropriate design dimensions, provides a shower base having the requisite durability, rigidity and strength for its intended high traffic use. Thus, the precast shower base of the invention 20 is manufactured so that the cross-sectional thickness of the floor 21 adjacent walls 22-25 is from about 1-1/2" to about 2-1/2", preferably about 2", and tapers toward strainer drain 21a to provide proper drainage to a cross-sectional thickness of from about 1" to about 2", preferably about 1-1/2". The cross- sectional thickness of the walls 22-25 at the planar surface perimeter 26 can be from about 2-1/2" to about 3-1/2", preferably about 3". The cross-sectional width of groove 27 can be from about 3/4" to about 1-1/2", preferably about 1", while the depth of groove 27 can be from about 2" to about 3", preferably about 2-1/2" enabling heavy shower wall panels or partitions to be readily seated in and supported by groove 27.

Thus, the design and structure of the precast shower base of the invention enables it to be readily and easily transported and installed for commercial, industrial and institutional high traffic use while minimizing maintenance and repair.

Although the precast shower base of the invention has been described with particularity and in some detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A precast shower base comprising:

(a) a floor;

(b) opposed front and rear walls and opposed side walls, the outer surfaces of which extend perpendicularly upward from said floor and which are continuous and enclose said floor to define a generally rectangular or square shaped shower base;

(c) a planar surface at the upper extremity of and extending about the periphery of said walls;

(d) a central groove formed in said planar surface extending substantially about the periphery of said planar surface perimeter, said central groove being of a width and depth that enables heavy shower wall partitions to be seated in and supported by said central groove; and,

(e) a continuous inner wall surface sloped from the inner edge of said planar surface toward said floor at a constant pitch.

2. The precast shower base of claim 1 wherein said central groove is discontinued in said planar surface at said front wall to form a flat entry threshold.

3. The precast shower base of claim 1 wherein said inner wall surface forms an obtuse angle with said floor.

The precast shower base of claim 1 wherein said floor includes a removable strainer drain.

5. The precast shower base of claim 1 wherein the cross-sectional thickness of said floor adjacent said walls is from about 1-1/2" to about 2-1/2".

6. The precast shower base of claim 5 wherein said cross-sectional thickness is about 2".

7. The precast shower base of claim 4 wherein the cross-sectional thickness of said floor at said removable strainer drain is from about 1" to about 2".

8. The precast shower base of claim 7 wherein said cross-sectional thickness is about 1-1/2".

9. The precast shower base of claim 1 wherein the cross-sectional thickness of said walls at said planar surface is from about 2-1/2" to about 3-1/2".

10. The precast shower base of claim 9 wherein said cross-sectional thickness is about 3".

11. The precast shower base of claim 1 wherein the cross-sectional width of said groove is from about 3/4" to about 1-1/2" and the depth of said groove is from about 2" to about 3".

12. The precast shower base of claim 11 wherein said cross-sectional width is about 1" and said depth is about 2-1/2".

13. A precast shower base comprising:

(a) a floor having a centrally positioned, removable strainer drain therein, the cross-sectional thickness of said floor at said strainer drain being from about 1 " to about 2";

(b) opposed front and rear walls and opposed side walls, the outer surfaces of which extend perpendicularly upward from said floor and which are continuous and enclose said floor to define a generally rectangular or square shaped shower base, the cross-sectional thickness of said floor adjacent said walls being from about 1-1/2" to about 2-1/2";

(c) a planar surface at the upper extremity of and extending about the periphery of said walls, the cross-sectional thickness of said walls at said planar surface being from about 2-1/2 " to about 3-1/2";

(d) a central groove formed in said planar surface extending substantially about the periphery of said planar surface, the cross- sectional width of said groove being from about 3/4" to about 1-1/2" and the depth of said groove being from about 2" to about 3" enabling heavy shower wall partitions to be seated in and supported by said central groove; and,

(e) a continuous inner wall surface sloped from the inner edge of said planar surface toward said floor at a constant pitch and forming an obtuse angle with said floor.

14. The precast shower base of claim 13 wherein said central groove is discontinued in said planar surface at said front wall to form a flat entry threshold.

15. The precast shower base of claim 13 wherein the cross-sectional thickness of said floor adjacent said walls is about 2".

16. The precast shower base of claim 13 wherein the cross-sectional thickness of said floor at said removable strainer drain is about 1-1/2".

17. The precast shower base of claim 13 wherein the cross-sectional thickness of said walls at said planar surface is about 3".

18. The precast shower base of claim 13 wherein the cross-sectional width of said groove is about 1" and the depth of said groove is about 2-1/2".