US 6,145,140 AGranted

Bathtub

AssigneeShowerwall Industries Inc.

InventorsGeoffrey Roy Fernie, Brian Peter Doyle

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Abstract

A bathtub for the elderly or physically infirm includes several important innovations, namely a narrow front wall at one end of the bathtub permitting easy access to the bathtub, a wide front platform at the other end of the bathtub, and a plurality of sockets in the top wall of the bathtub for mounting accessories on the bathtub. The accessories include a railing extending around the ends and rear of the bathtub, with a headrest at one end of the railing, an inverted U-tube for mounting proximate the center of the bathtub for use when entering or exiting the bathtub, a seat assembly which can be fixed in one position extending transversely of the bathtub or rotated outwardly to a non-use position, and a backrest for releasable mounting on the seat assembly, so that the seat assembly and the backrest can form a compact unit for storage under the platform.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A bathtub comprising:

(a) a reservoir for receiving a person using the bathtub, said reservoir having an open top end and including a bottom wall, a front wall, a rear wall, and first and second end walls;
(b) a top wall integral with said front wall, said rear wall and said end walls, said top wall completely surrounding and extending horizontally outwardly from said open top end of the reservoir;
(c) an apron spaced apart from the front wall of the reservoir and extending downwardly from the top wall for supporting the top wall;
said apron being bowed inwardly along the entire length thereof and defining the front of the bathtub;
(d) a planar, horizontal platform integral with said top wall at one end of the bathtub extending along slightly more than one-half of the length of the bathtub from one end thereof and cantilevered a substantial distance outwardly from the apron for supporting a person using the bathtub;
(e) a narrow ledge integral with the top wall at a second end of the bathtub extending from said platform to the other end of the bathtub and cantilevered outwardly from the apron;
and
(f) a concave depression in said ledge facilitating access to said bathtub by a person seated on said platform.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.