Bathtub safety device

Abstract

A bathtub safety device which prevents the water level in a bathtub from exceeding a desired level is described herein. This device is relatively simple and does not require a battery. This bathtub safety device is comprised of (1) a base section having a bathtub drain coupling which is adapted for insertion into a bathtub drain in a watertight manner and a vertically mounted water discharge tube having a water discharge slit, and (2) a water discharge adjustment ring having a series of water discharge holes which are arranged at different vertical heights and which are spaced apart radially along the circumference of the inside diameter of the water discharge adjustment ring, wherein the water discharge adjustment ring is positioned over the water discharge tube and is capable of being rotated radially on the water discharge tube.

Claims

1. A bathtub safety device which is comprised of (1) a base section having a bathtub drain coupling which is adapted for insertion into a bathtub drain in a watertight manner, a horizontal flow area which is situated between the water discharge tube and the drain coupling which connects the water discharge tube to the drain coupling and which offsets the discharge tube from the drain coupling by about 2 inches to about 3 inches, and a vertically mounted water discharge tube having a water discharge slit, and (2) a water discharge adjustment ring having a series of water discharge holes which are arranged at different vertical heights and which are spaced apart radially along the circumference of the inside diameter of the water discharge adjustment ring, wherein the water discharge adjustment ring is positioned over the water discharge tube and is capable of being rotated radially on the water discharge tube.

2. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the water discharge slit extends upwardly from a height that aligns it with the lowest water discharge hole on the water discharge adjustment ring and extends upwardly to a point that aligns it with the highest water discharge hole on the water discharge adjustment ring.

3. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the water discharge holes on the water discharge adjustment ring have a diameter which is within the range of about ? inch to about ? inch.

4. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the water discharge holes on the water discharge adjustment ring have a diameter of about ? inch.

5. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the series of water discharge holes includes at least 4 water discharge holes.

6. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the bathtub safety device has 4 water discharge holes.

7. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the bathtub safety device has 5 water discharge holes.

8. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the bathtub safety device has 6 water discharge holes.

9. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 7 wherein the water discharge adjustment ring is of a regular pentagonal design.

10. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 8 wherein the water discharge adjustment ring is of a regular hexagonal design.

11. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 8 wherein the water discharge adjustment ring is of a regular polygonal design.

12. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the horizontal flow area offsets the discharge tube from the drain coupling about 2.5 inches.

13. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the water discharge holes are spaced apart at a vertical increment of about 1 inch from each other.

14. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 13 wherein the water discharge tube has a top opening which has a diameter which is the same as the inside diameter of the water discharge tube.

15. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the water discharge tube includes a top opening.

16. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the discharge tube has a diameter which is within the range of about ? inch to about 1 inch.

17. A method for maintaining a desired water level in a bathtub which comprises (1) connecting the bathtub safety device of claim 1 to a bathtub drain in a single step which consists of inserting the bathtub drain coupling of the bathtub safety device into the bathtub drain in a watertight manner, and (2) filling the bathtub with water.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the desired water level is set by rotating the water discharge adjustment ring of the bathtub safety device.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the series of water discharge holes includes at least 4 water discharge holes, and wherein the water discharge adjustment ring is of a regular pentagonal design or regular hexagonal design.

20. The bathtub safety device as specified in claim 1 wherein the bathtub drain coupling is the lowest component of the bathtub safety device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(3) FIG. 3 is a left side view of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(4) FIG. 4 is a right side view of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(5) FIG. 5 is a front view of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(6) FIG. 6 is a back view of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(7) FIG. 7 is a top view of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(8) FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(9) FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the bathtub safety device of this invention which illustrates various paths through which water can flow through the device.

(10) FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the bathtub safety device of this invention which illustrates the water discharge adjustment ring as being detached from the base section.

(11) FIG. 11A is a view taken from side A (the front) of the water discharge ring of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(12) FIG. 11B is a view taken from side B (the left front side) of the water discharge ring of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(13) FIG. 11C is a view taken from side C (the left back side) of the water discharge ring of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(14) FIG. 11D is a view taken from side D (the right back side) of the water discharge ring of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(15) FIG. 11E is a view taken from side E (the right front side) of the water discharge ring of the bathtub safety device of this invention.

(16) FIG. 12 is left side view of the base section the bathtub safety device of this invention with the water discharge adjustment ring being detached therefrom to better illustrate the water discharge slit on the vertically mounted water discharge tube.

(17) FIG. 13 is right side cut away view of the base section the bathtub safety device of this invention with the water discharge adjustment ring being detached therefrom which illustrates the water discharge slit on the left side of the vertically mounted water discharge tube.

(18) FIG. 14 is back view of the base section the bathtub safety device of this invention with the water discharge adjustment ring being detached therefrom.

(19) FIG. 15 is front view of the base section the bathtub safety device of this invention with the water discharge adjustment ring being detached therefrom.

(20) FIG. 16 is top view of the base section the bathtub safety device of this invention with the water discharge adjustment ring being detached.

(21) FIG. 17 is bottom view of the base section the bathtub safety device of this invention with the water discharge adjustment ring being detached.

(22) FIG. 18 is cross-sectional view of the base section the bathtub safety device of this invention with the water discharge adjustment ring being detached as taken along line 18-18 of FIG. 16.

(23) The reference numerals used in the drawings to identify the elements of the bathtub safety device of this invention are as follows: 1 bathtub safety device 2 base section 3 water discharge adjustment ring 4 drain coupling 5 bathtub 6 bathtub drain 7A water discharge holes on side A of the water discharge adjustment ring (lowest water discharge hole). 7B water discharge holes on side B of the water discharge adjustment ring 7C water discharge holes on side C of the water discharge adjustment ring 7D water discharge holes on side D of the water discharge adjustment ring 7E water discharge holes on side E of the water discharge adjustment ring (highest water discharge hole) 8 water discharge slit 9 water discharge tube 10 top opening of water discharge tube

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(24) The bathtub safety device of this invention 1 is comprised of a base section 2 and a water discharge adjustment ring 3 as illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The base section 2 includes a bathtub drain coupling 4 which is adapted for insertion into a bathtub drain in a watertight manner. The bathtub drain coupling 4 is typically pipe section of a size which allows for it to be inserted snuggly into a bathtub drain in a manner that creates a water tight seal. In other words, the bathtub drain coupling 4 will have an outside diameter which is approximately the diameter of the inside diameter of the bathtub drain of the bathtub on which it will be used. In the case of most standard bathtubs the outside diameter will be approximately 1? inch (3.5 cm). The length of the drain coupling 4 will typically be from about ? inch (1.6 cm) to about 1? inch (3.2 cm) and will normally be within the range of ? inch (1.9 cm) to about 1 inch (2.5 cm). In many cases, the drain coupling 4 will be about ? inch (2.2 cm) long which is normally long enough to attain a tight seal against the bathtub drain pipe without being too long to be accommodated in the bathtub drain. It is, of course, also important for the drain coupling 4 to be of large enough to firmly secure the bathtub safety device 1 to the bathtub so that it does not because easily dislodged from the bathtub while in use.

(25) The bathtub safety device 1 can be installed on a bathtub 5 by inserting the drain coupling 4 securely into the drain of the bathtub (bathtub drain) 6 so as to make a water tight seal. The maximum water level to which the bathtub is capable of being filled can then be set by rotating the water discharge adjustment ring 3 so as to align the appropriate water discharge hole 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, or 7E which is at the desired water level with the water discharge slit 8 on the vertically mounted water discharge tube 9. As can be seen in FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, FIG. 11D, and FIG. 11E the water discharge holes 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, and 7E are arranged at different vertical heights and are spaced apart radially along the circumference of the inside diameter of the water discharge adjustment ring 3. More specifically, water discharge holes 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, and 7E are positioned at higher and higher levels on sides A, B, C, D, and E, respectively, of the water discharge adjustment ring 3. For instance, the water discharge holes can be spaced apart at a vertical increment of about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from each other. In this manner a maximum water level of about 1 inch (2.5 cm), 2 inches (5.1 cm), 3 inches (7.6 cm), 4 inches (10.2 cm), or 5 inches (12.7 cm) could be set by rotating the water discharge adjustment ring 3 to align water discharge hole 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, or 7E, respectively, with the water discharge slit 8 on the vertically mounted water discharge tube 9. The water discharge holes 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, and 7E on the water discharge adjustment ring 3 typically have a diameter which is within the range of about ? inch (1.0 cm) to about ? inch (1.6 cm) and normally have a diameter of about ? inch (1.3 cm). The water discharge slit 8 extends upwardly on the water discharge tube 9 from a height that aligns it with the lowest water discharge hole 11A on the water discharge adjustment ring 3 and extends upwardly to a point that aligns it with the highest water discharge hole 11E on the water discharge adjustment ring 3.

(26) In the design depicted in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 10, FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, FIG. 11D, FIG. 11E, FIG. 14, and FIG. 15 the water discharge adjustment ring 3 has 5 outer sides of equal length (is of a regular pentagonal shape). However, it should be noted that the water discharge adjustment ring 3 can also be circular or of some other shape, such as square, a regular hexagon, a regular heptagon, a regular octagon, or a regular polygon with even more sides of equal length.

(27) The water discharge tube 9 will generally have an inside diameter which is within the range of about ? inch (1.9 cm) to about 1 inch (2.5 cm), such as an inside diameter of about ? inch (2.2 cm). It should be noted that the water discharge tube 9 preferably has a top opening 10 through which water can flow in the event that water is flowing into the bathtub at an excessive rate or in the event that one or more of the discharge holes 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, or 7E are blocked or become clogged. Such a water flow is illustrated in FIG. 9 wherein the water flow (depicted by arrows) enters the water discharge tube 9 through the top opening 10. Under conditions of normal operation water would flow through a water discharge hole 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, or 7E and into the water discharge tube 9 through the water discharge slit 8. In the design illustrated the water then flows through a horizontal flow area 11 which connects water discharge tube 9 to the drain coupling 4. This design allows the vertically oriented water discharge tube 9 and the water discharge adjustment ring 4 to be positioned into a less intrusive area of the bathtub (near the bathtub wall). In the design illustrated the discharge tube 9 and the water discharge adjustment ring 4 are typically horizontally offset from the drain coupling 4 by about 2 inches (5.1 cm) to about 3 inches (7.6 cm), such as by about 2.5 inches (6.4 cm).

(28) While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the subject invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the subject invention.