Bathing enclosure

An apparatus for supporting a door in the entrance to a bathing facility or other area, comprising:

• a fulcrum;
• means for mounting the fulcrum in the entrance to a bathing facility or other area;
• a cantilever extending substantially horizontally from the fulcrum;
• and
• a door having upper and lower edges, being attached to the cantilever between said upper and lower edges so that the plane of the door intersects the fulcrum, and being thusly supported by the cantilever.

An apparatus for mounting a pair of doors on a supporting structure, comprising:

• a column;
• means on the column for attaching a door thereto;
• means on the column for attaching the column to the supporting structure;
• dual cantilevers secured to the column intermediate the ends thereof and extending radially therefrom in opposed spaced relation to each other;
• and
• means on each cantilever for attaching a door thereto.

An enclosure for a bathing or other area where there is an opening for enabling ingress and egress to and from the bathing or other area, comprising:

• a fulcrum;
• means for mounting the fulcrum in such an opening of a bathing or other area;
• first and second cantilevers in space juxtaposed relation to each other having inner ends independently fixed to the fulcrum and outer ends spaced from the inner ends and adapted to extend outwardly in such opening;
• and
• first and second door panels respectively mounted on the first and second cantilevers in adjacent space upstanding positions thereby being adapted to be disposed in such an opening.

An integrated door assembly for bathing areas and other areas to be closed and opened, comprising:

• a column having opposite ends;
• a pair of cantilevers secured to the column intermediate said ends and extending radially therefrom in opposed spaced relation to each other;
• a first door mounted on the column and on one of the cantilevers;
• and
• a second door mounted on the other cantilever for translational movement relative to first door.

An enclosure for a shower in a structure having an opening disposed in a vertical plane for enabling ingress and egress to and from the shower, said opening having a perimeter, comprising:

• first and second shower doors each having a predetermined height;
• a column having a height at least about equal to the height of the doors;
• means for supporting the column on the structure in upstanding position at the perimeter of and in the plane of the opening;
• a first cantilever member secured to the column, extending substantially horizontally therefrom, and adapted to be positioned in the plane of the opening;
• first means attaching the first shower door to the column and to the first cantilever member to mount the door in upstanding position in said plane so as partially to close the opening;
• a second cantilever member secured to the column in juxtaposition to the first cantilever member and extending substantially horizontally therefrom in opposed spaced relation to said first member;
• and
• second means mounting the second shower door on the second cantilever member in opposed face-to-face spaced relation to the first door for movement along a predetermined path toward and away from the column and relative to the first door between positions of various degrees of overlap with the first door thereby to increase and decrease the degree of closure of said opening to the bathing area.

A enclosure for a bathing facility including a bathtub and a shower and situated between spaced upstanding walls that also define an entrance to the tub, said entrance being further defined by a vertical plane intersecting the walls and the outer ledge of the tub and being characterized in that there is no header extending between the walls above the tub, the closure comprising:

• a tubular column having upper and lower ends and a longitudinal axis;
• hinge assemblies attached to the upper and lower ends of the column;
• means for securing the hinge assemblies to one of said walls of the bathing area so that the column is attached to said one wall and is supported in a substantially vertical position on the ledge and stands next to one of the side walls at one side of the entrance with the axis of the column in the plane of the entrance;
• a flat inside cantilever bar having an inner end secured to the column midway between its upper and lower ends and extending perpendicularly outwardly therefrom, an outer end, an inboard surface disposed inwardly of the tub, and an outboard surface disposed outwardly of the tub;
• an inside glass shower door having inboard and outboard surfaces and a frameless circumferential outer edge including inner, outer, upper and lower segments;
• means connecting the inside door to the upper and lower ends of the column and to the cantilever bar with the outboard surface of the door against the inboard surface of the bar, the inner edge segment adjacent to the column and being substantially coterminous therewith, and the lower edge segment in adjacent spaced relation to the ledge;
• the inside door having a width and the bar having a length which are approximately equal to each other;
• a channel-shaped outside cantilever track having an inner end secured to the column midway between the upper and lower ends thereof and extending perpendicularly outwardly therefrom in opposed spaced relation to the cantilever bar, an open channel facing the bar, and an outer end, said channel having upper and lower rails interconnected by a central web, the rails having means providing elongated upper and lower grooves extending lengthwise of the track in opposed spaced relation to each other;
• a U-shaped bearing cage received complementarily in the track and having upper and lower flanges in adjacent spaced relation to the upper and lower rails respectively and interconnected by a central web in adjacent spaced relation to the web of the track, the flanges of the cage having a plurality of upper and lower holes therein;
• a carriage bar fitted in the bearing cage having upper and lower edges in opposed spaced relation to the upper and lower flanges of the cage, respectively, an inboard surface facing the cantilever bar and lying in a vertical plane longitudinally intersecting the column, and an outboard surface facing the web of the cage, the upper and lower edges of the carriage bar having elongated grooves in respectively opposed spaced relation to the upper and lower grooves of the rails, all of said upper and lower grooves and holes being aligned in a common vertical plane on the opposite side of the vertical plane of said axis from the plane of the inboard surface of the carriage bar;
• upper and lower bearings received in the holes and riding in the respectively adjacent aligned upper and lower grooves;
• an outside glass shower door having inboard and outboard surfaces and a frameless circumferential outer edge including inner, outer, upper and lower segments;
• and
• means connecting the outside shower door to the carriage bar with its outboard surface against the inboard surface of the carriage bar, its inboard surface in closely spaced relation to the outboard surface of the cantilever bar, the outer edge segment adjacent to the outer end of the track, and the lower edge segment in adjacent spaced relation to the ledge;
• the outside door having a width and the track having a length which are approximately equal to each other.

An enclosure for a headerless bathing facility having an opening defined by an imaginary plane separating the inside from the outside of the bathing facility and through which a user passes in entering and leaving the facility, comprising:

• first and second panel support means;
• means cantilevering the first and second panel support means independently of each other so that they extend horizontally in said plane of the opening;
• first and second frameless door panels having opposite faces;
• first means mounting the first panel in upright position on the first panel support means;
• and
• second means mounting the second panel on the second panel support means in upright position and in adjacent face-to-face spaced relation to the first panel for movement in a predetermined longitudinal path alongside of the first panel into various degrees of overlap with the first panel thereby to vary the degree of closure of the opening with the panels;
• said opening being free of obstructions except for the panels and the support means.

A door assembly for opening and closing an entryway in a building structure, comprising:

• the first and second doors each having upper and lower edges and being positioned in spaced side-by-side relation to each other;
• first and second, cantilever members supported independently of each other in substantially horizontal positions and each having an inner and an outer end;
• the first cantilever member extending transversely of the first door and secured thereto between the upper and lower edges thereof;
• the second cantilever member extending transversely of the second door in juxtaposed spaced substantially parallel relation to the first cantilever member;
• and
• a carriage bar telescopically mounted on the second cantilever member and being moveable inwardly and outwardly relative thereto between inner retracted and outer extended positions;
• the second door being secured to the carriage bar between the upper and lower edges of the second door and being moveable with the carriage bar between a face-to-face relationship with the first door in said retracted position and an overlapping relationship to the first door in said extending position.