Bathtub fitting standard external space while affording larger floor area and enclosed volume

Abstract

A bathtub with a limited rectangular footprint and an optimized floor space is formed with a substantially planar base with a length and width that define the limited rectangular footprint and a front wall, a back wall, a first side wall and a second side wall integral with and extending substantially vertically upwards from the substantially planar base. Each of the front, back, first side wall and second side wall have minimal wall thicknesses to define the optimized floor space and the front wall has a substantially planar upper apron deck that extends inwardly from an outer substantially vertical front wall surface for a fixed amount in a substantially parallel relation to the substantially planar base.

Claims

1. A bathtub comprising: substantially vertical back and front walls, first and second side walls, and a flat bottom wall, all of said walls being of rigid material, entry and egress of a user being over said front wall, said back wall abutting or is embedded in a bathroom wall; said bottom wall extending to a rear, vertical surface of said front wall; said back bathroom wall having wall tiles thereon, said back wall of said bathtub having a top edge sufficient in thickness to accommodate bottom edges of said wall tiles, when said back wall of said bathtub abuts, or is embedded in, a bathroom wall; wherein said rear wall comprises a combination of a front rear wall portion of about one quarter inch in thickness, and a hollow air space portion of about three quarter inches extending behind said front rear wall up to the surface of the bathroom wall, to accommodate tile and tile grout therebetween; side bathroom walls abutting said end walls of said bathtub, leaving access and egress only over said front wall of said bathtub; said front wall in contact with said bottom wall is rounded at the intersection thereof; and, each of said bathtub walls having a thickness greater at the bottom thereof than of the top thereof to provide a slightly sloped surface for drainage or for easy removal of the bathtub from a mold.

2. The bathtub of claim 1, wherein said rear bathtub wall has a top thickness of about one inch and with a bottom thickness of about at least one and one quarter inch.

3. The bathtub of claim 1, wherein said front wall is hollow, with an outer front wall of about one quarter inch in thickness and an inner front wall of about one quarter inch in thickness, further with a hollow air space therebetween.

4. The bathtub as in claim 1 further comprising an optional attachment flange being attached to said back wall for attachment to a bathroom wall surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention can best be understood in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a bathroom enclosing a prior art bathtub;

(3) FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of a prior art bathtub with a limited space interior;

(4) FIG. 2 is a perspective detail in partial crossection of a front corner of the prior art tub showing the front deck width;

(5) FIG. 3 is perspective view of a portion of a bathroom enclosing the bathtub of this invention;

(6) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bathtub of this invention;

(7) FIG. 5 is an end view crossection showing the profile of the cantilevered front deck;

(8) FIG. 5A is an end view crossection of an alternate embodiment, showing the profile of the cantilevered front deck;

(9) FIG. 5B is a close-up enlarged crossectional detail view of an optional portion of the rear wall of the bathtub, the front wall being an optional mirror view thereof;

(10) FIG. 5C is a close-up enlarged crossectional detail view of an optional back wall with a thin, front wall position and an air space behind it, the front wall being an optional mirror image thereof;

(11) FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-section detail of the cantilevered front deck; and

(12) FIG. 7 is a side cross-section view of the bathtub of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(13) As shown in Prior Art drawing FIGS. 1 and 2, the prior art tub 2 in bathroom 1 as shown in FIG. 1 is meant to represent any commonly available design. Front deck 3, back deck 4 and side decks 5 are shown. FIG. 2 is a close-up showing the typical wide dimension 8 of front deck 3 as well as the narrower side decks 5 dimension 7.

(14) FIGS. 3-7 pertain to the bathtub of this invention. FIG. 3 shows tub 15 in bathroom 10 which is of the same dimensions as bathroom 1 in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 shows tub 15 in a perspective view with back deck 17 in the forefront and front deck 16 at the far side. It is noted that side decks 18 as well as back deck 17 have wall widths that are equivalent to the thickness or width of the material comprising the side walls, the back wall and the front wall below the front deck. The crossectional views of FIGS. 5, 5A and 6 show the cantilevered shape of front deck 16 in detail, highlighting that the front deck width does not encumber the interior width of the tub floor. It is further noted that the width dimension 19 is the same as dimension 8 in prior art FIG. 2. FIG. 7 is a length wise crossection showing sloping backrest 20 and slight drain slope 21, which is preferred. In these figures, large sections are shown as being solid material just for interior dimensional clarity, however they may in fact have enclosed air spaces. This would be especially true of the large wedge shape under back rest 20 and the cantilevered front deck as in FIG. 6; it would depend on the material used and method of construction.

(15) An expanded space bathtub 15 fits in standard tub dimensions of bathroom 10 having footprint floor area 10a and vertically extending bathroom wall surfaces 10b, 10c and 10d, and has a larger internal floor area 15e of bottom base wall 15f, and larger air volume 30 within. The bathtub 15 includes thin walls, including four vertically extending walls, including front wall 15a, rear wall 15b, left side wall 15c with sloping backrest 20 adjacent thereto and separated from left side wall 15c by hollow interior area 21a, and right side wall 15d having trip lever hole 23. Vertical walls 15a, 15b, 15c and 15d extend vertically upward from rectangular bottom base wall 15f having an exterior footprint to fit within the pre-determined rectangular bathtub insertion floor footprint area 10a of bathroom 10. Bottom base wall 15f has an interior footprint 15e, which, with the inside surfaces of vertically extending walls 15a, 15b 15c and sloping backrest wall 20 of left side wall 15c, define the enlarged air volume 30 extending therebetween.

(16) The thickness of the vertical walls 15a, 15b, 15c, 15d and sloping side backrest 20 is preferably one inch in thickness near the top, up to about one and one quarter inches on the bottom, to provide a slightly sloped surface for easy removal of the tub from a mold. The one inch and one and one quarter inch dimensions need not be solid, so that a wall (not shown) having a thickness of one quarter inch on each side can have a hollow interior of one half inch. A similar hollow area can be provided at the slightly wider bottom width of one and one quarter inches total, combined with the walls and hollow interior. Moreover, for the rear, wall facing wall 15b, the wall 15b can be just one layer of one quarter inch in thickness, with a three quarter inch hollow area behind the one quarter inch wall, up to the bathroom wall surface 25 itself. The one inch thickness at the top 17 of rear wall 15b is required to accommodate tiles of up to inch in thickness and accompanying grout against the bathroom wall surface 25. As shown in FIG. 5A, an optional attachment flange 24 can be attached to rear wall 15b for attachment to bathroom wall surface 25.

(17) Also preferably, the bathtub 15's front wall 15a and rear back wall 15b each have an optional thickness of about one inch.

(18) Optionally, as shown in FIG. 5B, the bathtub's front wall 15a, and rear back wall 15b, are tapered along tapered surface 15g, with a top thickness of about one inch and with a bottom thickness of about one and one quarter inch in thickness.

(19) As shown in FIG. 5C, the bathtub 15's rear wall 15b may optionally have a front rear wall portion 15h of about one quarter inch in thickness and a hollow air space 15i of about three quarter inches extending behind the front rear wall portion 15h, up to the surface of the bathroom wall 10b, to accommodate tile and tile grout therebetween.

(20) Similar to rear back wall 15b shown in FIG. 5C, front wall 15a (optionally a mirror image of rear back wall 15b), also may optionally have a hollow interior, wherein the front wall 15a is also hollow, with an outer front wall portion of about one quarter inch in thickness and an inner front wall portion of about one quarter inch in thickness, further with a hollow air space therebetween, where the inner front wall portion of front wall 15a is positioned similar to positioning of the room wall 10b behind air space 15i of rear back wall 15b in FIG. 5C.

(21) As shown in the crossectional view of FIG. 7, the inside bottom footprint 15e of bottom base wall 15f preferably has a slope 21, sloping downward from the corner 21a defined by sloping backrest 20 and an adjacent edge of interior footprint 15e of bottom base wall 15f, downwards towards water drain hole 22.

(22) The front apron deck 16's width of up to a maximum of 3.5 inches is maintained within normal construction requirements to support the sliding glass door tracks, but without the need for limiting interior bathtub volume with thick walls. The side decks 18 and back deck 17 are limited to the thickness of the tub material. The front apron deck 16 has a width which is maintained to industry standards to support sliding shower wall tracks thereon, but it is cantilevered from the front surface of front wall 15a inward and then rejoins the thin inner wall of the front wall 15a where its inwardly preferably curved backwards undersurface wall 16a meets near the top of the inner surface of front wall 15a of bathtub 15, thereby not reducing the interior floor space 15e or the interior air volume 30 by the front deck 16's width. The bathtub 15 therefore maximizes internal bathtub/shower stall space within the predetermined confines of typical residential bathroom bathtub and shower space dimensions.

(23) The bathtub 15 of this invention can be made of steel or plastic resin materials and finished as is common in the industry.

(24) A comparison of the interior floor space and enclosed air volume (to the top edge of all four vertical walls the tub) has been made to compare a prior art tub and a tub of this invention of the same external dimensions. A prior art front deck of 4 and a back deck of 3 with side decks of 2 in a 60 inch external length by 30 inch tub of 15 average internal depth was assumed for comparison. The wall thickness of the tub of this invention is assumed to be 1. Both tubs have the angled backrest and straight vertical walls. The increased floor area and air volume in the tub of this invention is due to the 1 wall thickness and decks (on 3 edges) vs. the decks of the prior art tub which reduce the internal dimensions.

(25) The results of the comparison are as follows:

(26) Interior Floor Area prior art 1120 sq. in. this tub 1419 sq. in., a 27% increase.

(27) Interior Air Volume prior art 16790 cubic in. this tub 20845 cubic in., a 24% increase

(28) Additionally, the above calculations were based upon a prior art bathtub with a front deck of 4 and a back deck of 3 with side decks of 2 in a 60 inch external length by 30 inch tub of 15 average internal depth for comparison. However, since most prior art tubs have sloping and bottom rounded sides, the numbers of this estimate represent the minimum percentage increases in interior floor area and interior volume. It is estimated that in comparison with other prior art bathtubs, with increased sloping and bottom rounded sides, the savings can be up to approximately 35% increase in interior floor area and interior air volume.

(29) In the foregoing description, certain terms and visual depictions are used to illustrate the preferred embodiment. However, no unnecessary limitations are to be construed by the terms used or illustrations depicted, beyond what is shown in the prior art, since the terms and illustrations are exemplary only, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention.

(30) It is further known that other modifications may be made to the present invention, without departing the scope of the invention, as noted in the appended Claims.