Patent ID: 6154893
Filing Date: 2000-12-05
Classification: A47K

Abstract:
A bathtub bracket for use with a bathtub of the type including a flooring and an integral peripheral generally upright wall with a top out-turned and down-turned arcuate rim portion defining a downwardly concave trough, the bathtub being destined to be attached through the instrumentality of said bracket to an adjacent fixed flat horizontal raised wall from a casing element, the horizontal raised wall of the type having a free edge portion and top and bottom horizontal wall surfaces, said bracket comprising:a rigid elongated head, having a top surface of a shape complementary to that of the bathtub trough and destined to snugly fixedly engage the bathtub arcuate rim portion in the trough;a rigid elongated foot having a free tip portion and a tail end portion opposite said free tip portion, said foot further having an intermediate portion located spacedly between said free tip and tail end portions, and a flat and straight lower surface extending from said free tip portion to said tail end portion; anda resilient arcuate main body defining an upper end integrally attached to said head and a lower end integrally attached to said foot intermediate portion for resiliently spacedly linking said head portion to said foot, said main body further defining a concave front surface and a convex rear surface;wherein said foot is attached to said main body in an inclined fashion relative to said main body so as to form an acute angle between said foot tip portion and said main body front concave surface and an obtuse angle between said foot tail end portion and said main body rear convex surface; and wherein a jaw member is defined between said head portion and said foot free tip portion, said jaw member being sized for through engagement therein of a section of the casing wall free edge portion with deformation of said resilient main body yieldingly under concurrent abutment of both said bracket head against the bathtub rim portion and said bracket foot tip portion against the casing wall bottom wall surface, for resilient positive interlock between the bathtub rim and the casing wall, with said foot allowing positive guiding and positional auto-adjustment of the bathtub during installation thereof in the casing element, by the sliding abutment of said foot flat lower surface against the casing wall edge portion, and with said resilient main body resiliently yielding to compensate for dimensional plays of the tub relative to the casing.