Title of Invention

WALL MOUNTING FOR DETACHABLY MOUNTING A SHOWER HEAD

Abstract A wall-mounting for detachably mounting a shower head having a holder for the shower head (8) characterized in that the holder is configured for engaging at a location on the housing of the shower head (8) provided for the purpose of mounting the latter that is unrecognizable as such and acts by means of an interference fit along the withdrawal and introduction directions.
Full Text Description
The invention is based on an arrangement with which a shower head may be
mounted.
That hand-held shower heads may be held in place by a cone inserted into a
conical holder is already known. The cone is situated on the hand-held shower
heads, usually at the location where the shower hose is attached to their grip.
Holders, into which their grip may be emplaced or inserted, are also known.
Holders where a linkage having an eye that may be slipped onto a pin on a wall
bracket or shower rod is present at the joint between the hose and handgrip are
also known.
In the case of many such holders, the shower head may still be employed as such
while it is in the holder. However, there are also holders where shower heads are
merely held in place by, for example, eyes hung on hooks.
All known arrangements for mounting shower heads have a special facility on the
shower head or its grip that users may recognize as intended for mounting
purposes. Such facilities, or shape alterations, are also frequently regarded as
unsightly.
The problem addressed by the invention is creating a holder for a shower head that
will allow the latter to be used in a wider variety of manners.
In order to solve that problem, the present invention proposes a wall
mounting having novel features as disclosed hereunder.
The invention allows attaching to a holder a shower head that needs no
special mounting devices for attaching it to the former. In particular, the
appearance of the shower head is such that it cannot be recognized that it
has been designed for attachment to a holder and is suitable therefor.
Designers thus have much more freedom in designing shower heads and
their housings.
Introducing the shower head into the holder is also much easier and greatly
simplified. The shape of the shower head eases that introduction which may
be further facilitated by the holder, if deemed necessary.
In the case of the usual conical holders, where the holder engages the grip,
users must first feed the grip or hose on the shower head through the slot in
the holder and then press the shower head into the holder along a direction
orthogonal thereto. In the case of the shower head proposed here, only a
single, extremely simple action, namely, sliding the shower head forward, is
required.
In particular, the holder should be configured such that it engages the
shower head's housing at a location thereon that is provided for that purpose,
but is not recognizable as such from its shape.
The properties of its housing's outer surface thus might be configured for
mounting purposes at certain location thereon, without significantly altering
its housing's shape, which, in the case of this further design feature, will also
allow providing that that location on the shower head's housing is intended
for mating to the holder will not be recognizable as such, based on the
housing's shape.
In particular, the holder may be configured such that it grips the outer
perimeter of the shower head's housing.
The invention proposes under an elaboration thereon, that the shower head
remain operational following withdrawal from the holder in order that may be
employed as a shower head both while it is mated to the holder and after it has
been withdrawn therefrom, which will significantly improve its utility.
In order to arrive at a particularly sensible and, in spite of the shower head's not
having been specially adapted to suit the holder, reliable, mounting, according to
the invention, it may be provided that the holder engages the shower head's
housing at two diametrically opposed locations thereon.
The holder may, for example, have a pair of jaws that are configured for gripping
the shower head's housing for that purpose.
According to the invention, it may be provided that the jaws are tensioned toward
one another while the shower head is present in the holder. That tensioning may
be effected by the introduction of the shower head.
Under a further elaboration on the invention, it may be provided that the jaws on
the holder are interconnected by a tensioning component.
In particular, that tensioning component may be configured such that it contacts the
shower head's housing over an extended area while the shower head is present in
the holder, which may be effected either by adapting the shape of the tensioning
component to suit that of the housing or designing the tensioning component such
that it is flexible.
The tensioning component may also be configured such that it does not contact the
shower head.

According to the invention, it may be provided that the shower head configured in
the form of a hand-held shower head having a grip attached to its housing. The
shower head is attached to the holder by its housing, rather than its grip.
It has proven to be particularly beneficial if the shower head's housing is disk-
shaped.
Further features, details, and benefits of the invention will be evident from the
claims and the abstract, whose wordings are herewith made part of this description
by way of reference thereto, the following description of a preferred embodiment of
the invention, and the accompanying drawings, which depict:
Fig. 1 a schematized side view of a shower-head holder according to the
invention;
Fig. 2 a simplified, schematic representation of a top view of the arrangement
shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 an end view of a variation on the embodiment;
Fig. 4 a view of the shower head;
Fig. 5 a representation, corresponding to that of Fig. 3, of a slightly modified
embodiment.
Fig. 1 depicts a greatly simplified side view of a shower-head holder and a wall
mounting according to the invention. In the case of the example shown, this
shower-head holder is mounted on a wall 1. A mounting fixture 2, which, in the
case of the example shown, is in the form of a console 3 that, for example, is
bolted to the wall, serves to attach it to the wall. Within the console 3, the shower-
head holder is connected to a water line from a mixer faucet. An arm 5 is pivoted
on a protrusion 4 on the console 3. Its pivot axis is horizontal and normal to the
plane of the paper. A setscrew that may be operated by a knob 6 clamps the arm 5
at a particular angular position. The arm extends away from the wall, originating at
the mounting fixture 2, and terminating at its far end 7. A holder, that is not shown
in any great detail in Fig. 1, for a shower head 8 is attached to the arm 5 in the
vicinity of the latter's far end 7. In the case of the embodiment shown, the shower
head 8 is disk-shaped and has a handgrip 9 that is slightly angularly offset from the
plane of the shower head 8. Within the handgrip 9, a shower hose 10, which is not
shown in detail, passes through the former and hangs freely downward therefrom.
The other end of the shower hose 10 is connected to the mounting fixture 2. As
has been mentioned, the arm 5 may be pivoted about a horizontal axis in order that
it may take on various angular positions relative to the wall when swung upward
and downward. The angular travel of the arm 5 is, for example, 180°.
Fig. 2 depicts a simplified view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1. The arm 5 forks
out just beyond its point of attachment to the console 3, thereby forming a pair of
tines 11 that are configured such that they diverge, but are parallel to one another
in the vicinity of the far end 7 of the arm, where a holder 13 that has already been
mentioned is provided between the tips 12 of the tines. The holder retains the
shower head 8, which is also situated between the tips 12 of the tines.
How the holder looks in detail may be seen from a first sample embodiment, which
is shown in Fig. 3. The housing of the shower head 8 is disk-shaped and has a
roughly elliptical outer perimeter. A pair of jaws 14 whose inner surfaces are
contoured to match the outer surface of the shower head's housing is arranged on
the inner faces of the tines 11 of the arm 5, which accommodate the shower head
8 in a sort of form-fit clamp, where the forces exerted by the mating surfaces
involved act upward and downward. However, the clamping action along the
direction normal to the plane of the paper is due to an interference fit. Either an
indirect clamping in each of the clamping jaws 14 or a tensioning of the pair of
clamping jaws 14 toward one another, which may be actuated by a knob 6, may be
employed for that purpose. That tensioning of the clamping jaws 14 toward one
another may be obtained by providing that their separation is slightly less than the
corresponding lateral dimension, or diameter, of the housing of the shower head 8,
which will provide that they will be tensioned when the shower head's housing is
inserted between the pair of clamping jaws 14, normal to the plane of the paper.
Their tensioning will thus be caused by a deformation of the pair of tines 11 of the
arm. The extensions of the clamping jaws 14 normal to the plane of the paper in
Fig. 3 are rather short in order that they will grip the shower head's housing at two
diametrically opposed locations thereon only, and only over very short portions of
its perimeter, as is shown in simplified form in Fig. 4.
Fig. 5 shows how the pair of jaws 14 on the holder might be bound together by a
bail 15 that is either adapted to suit the shape of the housing of the shower head 8
or is configured such that it will flex in a manner that will allow it to conform to the
latter's shape. Employing the bail 15, which is essentially stressed in tension, will
allow attaining a heightening of the clamping action.
One of the clamping jaws 14 is mounted on the tip 12 of each of the pair of tines 11
of the arm such that both are free to rotate in order that the holder, together with
the shower head 8, may be pivoted about a horizontal axis. An arresting
component, similar to the knob 6 shown in Fig. 1, may be provided for the purpose
of providing a facility for locking the shower head at a particular position.
The shower head may be grasped by its grip 9 and withdrawn from the holder
normal to the plane of the paper, preferably toward the wall. If the jaws 14 (cf. also
Fig. 4) have arched inner faces 16 at the central plane of the housing of the shower
head 8, a certain latching of the shower head's housing in the holder will occur,
without need for the shower head's housing having a shape that will allow
recognizing that it is to be held in the holder at that location. When the shower
head is withdrawn from the holder, there are no visible indications that it is
intended for mounting on a shower-head holder.
Fig. 2 depicts an embodiment where the shower head, together with its holder, is
mounted between the tips of a fork. Of course, it will also be feasible to provide that
such a holder may be mounted on an arm that does not constitute a fork, and that
option is also covered by the invention. That option may be implemented by, for
example, providing that the holder, as shown, is mounted on the side of the far end
of an arm. For example, in Fig. 2, one might imagine that one of the pair of tines 11
is absent, in which case, one would obtain an embodiment in which the holder
would be arranged on one side of the remaining arm, or be asymmetrically
arranged thereon.
Of course, it will also be feasible to, for example, mount the center of the
tensioning component 15 on the far end of an arm, in which case, of course,
facilities for incorporating a rotation axis might also be provided.
We Claim:-
1. A wall-mounting for detachably mounting a shower head having a holder
for the shower head (8) characterized in that the holder is configured for
engaging at a location on the housing of the shower head (8) provided
for the purpose of mounting the latter that is unrecognizable as such and
acts by means of an interference fit along the withdrawal and
introduction directions.
2. A wall mounting as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holder is configured
for engaging at a location on the housing of the shower head (8)
provided for the purpose that is unrecognizable as such, based on its
shape.
3. A wall mounting as claimed in claim 1 or claim2, wherein the holder is
configured for gripping the outer perimeter of the housing of the shower
head (8).
4. A wall mounting as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the
shower head (8) remains operational when withdrawn from the mount.
5. A wall mounting as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the
holder for the shower head (8) engages two diametrically opposed
locations on the housing of the shower head(8).
6. A wall mounting as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the
holder for the shower head (8) has a pair of jaws (14) for gripping the
housing of the shower head(8).
7. A wall mounting as claimed in claim 6, wherein the jaws (14) are drawn
toward one another when the shower head (8) is in place therein.
8. A wall mounting as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the pair of jaws
(14) are joined to the holder for the shower head (8) by a component
(15) that is under tension .
9. A wall mounting as claimed in claim 8, wherein the tensioning component
(15) is configured such that it contacts the housing of the shower head (8)
over an extended area.
10. A wall mounting as claimed in claim 8, wherein the tensioning component
(15) is configured such that it does not contact the housing of the shower
head (8) at any location thereon.
11. A wall mounting as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the
holder for the shower head (8) is arranged between tines (11) of a fork.
12. A wall mounting as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the
holder for the shower head (8) is arranged in the vicinity of the far end of
an arm that does not constitute a fork and is mounted on a wall.
13. A wall mounting as claimed in any of the foregoing claims , wherein the
shower head (8) is configured in the form of a hand-held shower head
having a grip attached to its housing.
14. A wall mounting as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the
housing of the shower head is disk-shaped.
A wall-mounting for detachably mounting a shower head having a holder
for the shower head (8) characterized in that the holder is configured for
engaging at a location on the housing of the shower head (8) provided for the
purpose of mounting the latter that is unrecognizable as such and acts by means
of an interference fit along the withdrawal and introduction directions.

Documents:

1322-KOLNP-2005-FORM 27.pdf

1322-KOLNP-2005-FORM-27.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-abstract.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-claims.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-correspondence.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-description (complete).pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-drawings.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-examination report.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-form 1.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-form 18.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-form 2.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-form 26.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-form 3.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-form 5.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-reply to examination report.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-specification.pdf

1322-kolnp-2005-granted-translated copy of priority document.pdf


Patent Number 227815
Indian Patent Application Number 1322/KOLNP/2005
PG Journal Number 04/2009
Publication Date 23-Jan-2009
Grant Date 20-Jan-2009
Date of Filing 11-Jul-2005
Name of Patentee HANSGROHE AG.
Applicant Address AUESTRASSE 5-9, 77761 SCHILTACH
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 HAUG, ANDREAS FRANKLINSTRASSE 77, 70435 STUTTGART
2 KOLLMANN, FABIAN KLEINE FALTERSTRASSE 21, 70597 STUTTGART
3 SCHONHERR, TOM ARGONENESTRASSE 22, 70374 STUTTGART
PCT International Classification Number E03C 1/06
PCT International Application Number PCT/EP2003/013056
PCT International Filing date 2003-11-21
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 102 60 210.7 2002-12-13 Germany