Bathing apparatus for the infirm

A bathing apparatus comprising a bathtub having a bottom wall on which a bather can stand, a front wall, end walls, and a rear wall, each of the walls being generally upstanding from the bottom wall, a shower enclosure wall upstanding from the rear wall and a shower head comprising a fixed swivel member mounted on the shower enclosure wall and defining a horizontal swivel axis at right angles to the shower enclosure wall, a rigid, one-piece shower mast having one end mounted on the swivel member for pivotal movement about the horizontal swivel axis and on opposite end, the mast having a first portion and a second portion between said ends, said first portion extending substantially in a vertical plane parallel to the shower enclosure wall and said second portion substantially at right angles to the plane so as to extend outwardly from the shower enclosure wall over the bather, a shower nozzle mounted on the second portion proximate said opposite end and arranged in fixed position relative thereto so as to direct water therefrom in a vertical plane parallel to the shower enclosure wall toward the horizontal swivel axis for spraying onto the bather and a handle portion rigidly coupled to the shower mast and graspable by the bather for effecting said pivotal movement such that the shower nozzle moves in an arc from a first position forwardly of bather through a second position over the bather to a third position rearwardly of the bather, the shower nozzle being arranged such that the water therefrom is directed toward the horizontal axis in the first, second and third positions of the shower nozzle.

A bathing apparatus comprising a bathtub having a bottom wall on which a bather can stand, a front wall, end walls, and a rear wall, each of the walls being generally upstanding from the bottom wall, a shower enclosure wall upstanding from the rear wall and a transfer chair for transferring an infirm person from a position outside the front wall into the tub for bathing, the transfer chair comprising a vertical support post, sleeve means slideable along the post and rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the post, means mounting the post at one corner of the bathtub at a junction between the front wall and one end wall and standing upwardly therefrom, lift means for raising and lowering the sleeve means on the post, a support arm projecting horizontally from the sleeve means so as to be rotatable with the sleeve means from a bathing position wherein said support arm is parallel to said one end wall to a transfer position wherein said support arm is parallel to the front wall, a seat portion suspended downwardly and forwardly from the arm, the seat portion being freely pivotal on the arm from a first seating position to a second seating position upwardly and forwardly of the first seating position, and means on the seat portion for engaging the bottom wall of the bathtub such that the seat portion is pivoted upwardly and forwardly with respect to said support arm by engagement with the bottom wall as the arm is moved downwardly.