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US 5,208,924 AGranted
Decorative bathtub front enclosure
AssigneeGaylan Industries, Inc.
InventorsTimothy S. Smith, Mostafa Doroudian, Howard D. Dirkson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A front enclosure for a bathtub including a top rail, a bottom rail, and vertical supports arranged to contain panels which fit in the grooves in the rails and vertical supports. The enclosure may be readily assembled and adjusted to fit and be installed on the front of a bathtub to provide an enhanced appearance. The enclosure attaches to the front of the bathtub without requiring any structural modification of the bathroom or significant disruption of the household.
Claims11
A front enclosure for a bathtub, comprising
- a first frame section and a second frame section co-planarly positionable end to end on a floor against a front face of a bathtub with a gap between the first and second frame sections being adjustable to permit alignment of a first side of the first frame section with a first side edge of the bathtub and alignment of a first side of the second frame section with a second side edge of the bathtub;
- a first panel section and a second panel section, each panel section being comprised of:
- a bottom rail having a top surface and a bottom surface with a longitudinal groove centered along the top surface thereof,
- a top rail having a top surface and a bottom surface with a longitudinal groove centered along the bottom surface thereof,
- two vertical end supports each connected at opposite ends to the top and bottom rails thereby forming a rectangular shape for the panel section, wherein said vertical end supports each have a longitudinal groove along an inside surface thereof, the longitudinal grooves on said supports and said rails being co-planar,
- an insert panel installed between adjacent vertical supports within the grooves;
- a foot board secured lengthwise along the floor to the first and second frame sections;
- a center board extending from a top surface of the foot board to a top surface, wherein the center board bridges the gap between the first and second frame sections;
- and
- spacer shims attached to the first and second frame sections, the spacer shims having the same thickness as both the floor board and the center board, thereby forming a planar surface, wherein the first and second panel sections are positionable end to end along said planar surface and attached to the first and second frame sections with a gap between the first and second panel sections being adjustable to permit alignment of a first side of the first panel section with the first side edge of the bathtub and alignment of a first side of the second panel section with the second side edge of the bathtub;
- a top board attached along a top surface of the bathtub and the top of the first and second panel sections,
- wherein the foot board is constructed and arranged to cover a gap between the panel sections and the floor and wherein the center board is constructed and arranged to cover a gap between the first and second panel sections.
9 more elements
A front enclosure such as for a bathtub, comprising
- a first frame section and a second frame section co-planarly positionable end to end on a floor against a front face of a bathtub with a gap between the first and second frame sections being adjustable to permit alignment of a first side of the first frame section with a first side edge of the bathtub and alignment of a first side of the second frame section with a second side edge of the bathtub;
- a first panel section and a second panel section;
- a foot board secured lengthwise along the floor to the first frame section;
- a center board positioned between the first and second frame sections;
- and
- spacer shims attached to the first and second frame sections, the spacer shims having the same thickness as both the floor board and the center board, thereby forming a planar surface, wherein the first and second panel sections are positionable end to end along said planar surface and attached to the first and second frame sections with a gap between the first and second panel sections being adjustable to permit alignment of a first side of the first panel section with the first side edge of the bathtub and alignment of a first side of the second panel section with the second side edge of the bathtub;
- a top board attached along a top surface of the bathtub and the top of the first and second panel sections,
- wherein the foot board is constructed and arranged to cover a gap between the first panel section and the floor and wherein the center board is constructed and arranged to cover a gap between the first and second panel sections.
5 more elements
A method of installing a front enclosure on a bathtub comprising the steps of
- positioning a first rectangular frame section on a floor in front of and against a front of the bathtub and aligning a first side of the frame section along a first side edge of the bathtub;
- positioning a second rectangular frame section on the floor in front of and against the front of the bathtub and aligning a first side of the frame section along a second side edge of the bathtub;
- arranging the first and second frame sections in a single plane along the front of the bathtub and securing the first and second frame sections in front of the bathtub;
- cutting down the length of a floor board having a rear surface and opposed side edges to fit between the first side of the first frame section and a second side of the second frame section;
- positioning the floor board lengthwise along the floor with its rear surface abutting against the frame sections and with its opposed side edges aligning with the first and second side edges of the bathtub;
- cutting down the length of a center board having a rear surface and opposed side edges to fit between a top edge of the floor board and the top edge of the bathtub;
- positioning the center board vertically with its rear surface abutting against the frame sections and centered therebetween and with one side edge abutting the top edge of the floor board and the other side edge aligned with the top edge of the bathtub;
- installing spacer shims on the first and second frame sections, the spacer shims having the same thickness as both the floor board and the center board, thereby forming a planar surface;
- positioning a first rectangular panel section against the planar surface and aligning a first side of the first panel section along the first side edge of the bathtub and securing the first panel section to the first frame section;
- positioning a second rectangular panel section against the planar surface and aligning a first side of the first panel section along the second side edge of the bathtub and securing the second panel section to the second frame section;
- cutting down the length of a top board to fit between the first side of the first frame section and a second side of the second frame section;
- positioning the floor board lengthwise along the floor with its rear surface abutting against the frame sections and with its side edges aligning with the first and second side edges of the bathtub;
- and
- positioning a top board over the top surface of the panel sections and at least a portion of the top surface of the front face of the bathtub, and securing the top board thereto.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.