Abstract:
A towel bar attachable to bypass style shower doors. The towel bar has a support bar with two ends engaged with flanged escutcheons. The support bar and escutcheons are located at one side of a door with the escutcheons covering suitably sized and spaced apertures in the door. Two flanged fasteners are inserted into the door apertures from an opposite side of the door to mate with the bar ends. Tightening the fastener biases the flanges toward opposite surfaces of the door to secure the towel bar to the door. The fasteners each have a recessed grip defining handles for sliding the door from the side opposite that from which the bar projects.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     “Bypass” type sliding shower doors can cover the entry to a shower stall. They often have glass or plastic door panels contained within metal frames which slide along parallel tracks. The doors are typically sized to overlap in the center of the entry. Narrow spacing between the tracks and the overlap prevent water from splashing out between the doors. 
     Such doors often have towel/grip bars mounted to the frame of each door, one door with a bar inside the shower stall and the other door with a bar outside the shower stall. See Generally U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,538. 
     Besides providing a place to suspend wet towels for drying, these bars also act as handles for opening and closing the shower doors. Since the doors must be spaced close together to avoid leaking, ordinarily such bars cannot be located on both sides of each door because they would prevent the doors from moving past each other. Thus, a person at one side of the shower stall entryway can easily open only one of the doors, since the other door has no corresponding bar on that side to be used as a handle. 
     Accordingly, an improved bar assembly for bypass shower doors is needed. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a towel bar assembly for mounting on a door, such as a bypass type slidable shower door, having an opening therethrough. The assembly includes a bar having at least one attachment end, an escutcheon having a front with an axial opening in which the attachment end is disposed, and a back having a flange around a rear opening. There is also a fastener having a back end with a flange around a rearwardly directed recessed grip. The fastener is inserted in the rear opening of the escutcheon and mated with one of the escutcheon and the attachment end so that the flanges define a gap therebetween. The recessed grip is then accessible from the rear of the assembly. 
     In preferred forms the recessed grip is a cupped surface, the bar also has a second attachment end, and the assembly also has a second such escutcheon and a second such fastener. The fastener preferably has threads which mate with threads on the attachment end. 
     In another aspect the invention provides a door assembly. There is a door having front and rear sides, and an aperture extending therebetween. There is also a bar having at least one attachment end extending towards the door, an escutcheon having a front with an axial opening in which the attachment end is disposed, and a back having a flange around a rear opening. The flange is of a size such that the escutcheon cannot pass completely through the door aperture. 
     There is also a fastener having a back end with a flange around a rearwardly directed recessed grip, the fastener is positioned through the door aperture, the fastener flange being sized such that it prevents the fastener from passing completely through the door aperture. The fastener is inserted in the rear opening of the escutcheon and mated with one of the escutcheon and the attachment end so that the flanges clamp the door between them around the aperture. When the parts are so assembled, the grip can be used to reposition the door from the rear side of the door. 
     These assemblies permit there to be handles than can easily be gripped on both sides of each door, even in a bypass system. Thus, a door can easily be opened even from the opposite side from which the towel bar projects. The assembly achieves this by providing a low-profile grip on one side of the door that extends inwardly through the door panel itself (rather than outwardly). 
     The foregoing and other advantages of the invention will appear from the following description. In this description reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which there is shown by way of illustration preferred embodiments of the invention. These embodiments do not represent the full scope of the invention. Thus, the claims should be looked to in order to judge the scope of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of a shower enclosure on which is mounted assemblies of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a cut-away exploded view of one end connection of a towel bar of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line  3 — 3  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged view, partially in section, taken along line  4 — 4 FIG. 1; and 
     FIGS. 5A-5F show cross-sections of alternate end connections of the towel bar of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A towel bar  10  of the present invention is used with standard bypass-style shower doors  12 ,  14  covering an entry to a conventional shower stall  15 . Each door  12 ,  14  is preferably a single panel of glass free from framing at its sides. One towel bar  10  can be suitably mounted to each of the doors  12 ,  14 . 
     The towel bar  10  includes a bar  16 , two escutcheons  18 , and two nut/fasteners  20 . The bar  16  preferably comprises a tubular rod having a region  20  for hanging towels and having two attachment ends  22 ,  24  extending substantially perpendicular. The ends  22 ,  24  include an engagement member  26 , preferably consisting of external threads. 
     Each escutcheon  18  is preferably bell-shaped having a front  28  and a rear  30 . At the front  28  an axial bore  32  extends into each escutcheon  18  to define a cylindrical hub  40  supported at its circumference by walls  42  extending to an interior surface of each escutcheon  18 . Each door  12 ,  14  has a set of two suitably located door apertures  64 . Each axial bore  32  includes a front engagement member  44 , preferably consisting of internal threads matable with the threads  26 . At the rear there is a large opening  46  of increased diameter than, and concentric with, the axial bore  32 . A circumferential flange  48  extends around the periphery of the rear  30  of each escutcheon  18 . Each flange  48  is sized larger than a corresponding aperture  64  and defines a catch surface  50 , as will be described. 
     Each fastener  20  includes a front end  52  and a back end  54 , with the front end  52  sized to fit within a corresponding escutcheon  18  through the rear side opening  46 . The front end  52  of each fastener defines a cylindrical hub  56  having an axial opening, such as bore  58 , concentric with the axial bores  32  of the escutcheons. The hub  56  is supported by a plurality of radially extending walls  60  tapering from the front end  52  to an annular surface  62  having a circumference sized to fit within a corresponding door aperture  64  and escutcheon rear side opening  46 . 
     The end  54  of each fastener  20  defines a circumferential flange  66  of a greater diameter than the annular surface  62  and having a catch surface  68  similar to that of the escutcheons  18 . Also at the back end  54  of each fastener  20  is a recessed grip  70 , preferably in the form of a cupped surface  72  extending inwardly toward a door within the diameter of the annular surface  62 . At the periphery of the cupped surface  72 , a lateral ridge  74  extends outwardly to a back surface  76  of each fastener  20 . The back surface  76  joins the catch surface  68  at a chamferred edge  78 . The axial bore  58  of each fastener  20  includes an internal engagement member  80  preferably consisting of threads matable with the threads  26  of a corresponding towel support attachment end  22 ,  24 . 
     The towel bar  10  is attached to a shower door  14  by inserting the end  52  of each fastener  20  into the corresponding apertures  64  in the door  14 . The apertures  64  are sized to receive the annular surface  62  of the fastener  20 , but have a diameter less than that of the flange  66 . In this way, each flange catch surface  68  will prevent the fastener  20  from passing completely through the door apertures  64 . 
     The front end  52  of the fasteners  20  will project past the thickness of the doors  12 ,  14  and will be disposed within the escutcheons  18 . The front end  52  of the fasteners  20  and the cylindrical hub  40  of the escutcheons  18  are sized so that when assembled, each escutcheon flange catch surface  48  will contact an opposite surface of one of the doors  12 ,  14 . The attachment ends  22 ,  24  of the towel support  16  can be threaded into the bore  32  in the escutcheons  18 . Each towel bar is secured to the shower doors  12 ,  14  by rotating the escutcheons  18  and the fasteners  20  until the catch surfaces  50 ,  68  press firmly against each side of the doors  12 ,  14 . An optional gasket (not shown) or sealant may be positioned at the catch surfaces  50 ,  68  of the escutcheons  18  and fasteners  20  to further ensure that water does not leak through the door apertures  64 . 
     Referring to FIG. 4, a towel bar  10  of the present invention is attached to each door  12 ,  14  of a bypass shower door with the bar  16  extending outwardly on the outer door  14  and inwardly on the inner door  12 . The towel bars  10  thus do not interfere with the sliding motion of the doors  12 ,  14  because of the narrow profile of the fasteners  20 . 
     Importantly, each door  12 ,  14  may be opened from both sides using either the bar  16  or the recessed grips  70 . The doors  12 ,  14  can be opened at the fastener side by inserting a finger or thumb into one or both of the recessed grips  70  and applying a slightly inward and sideways pressure on the cupped surface  72 . Thus, the towel bar  10  of the present invention provides “handles” at both sides of the doors  12 ,  14 , while maintaining a sufficiently narrow gap  90  between the doors so that water will not normally leak outside the shower stall at the gap  90 . Also, the present invention permits the towel bar  10  to be mounted directly to a glass or plastic panel, so that no frame is needed for mounting the handle. This reduces material costs and provides for more pleasant looking shower doors. Moreover, the towel bar is not constrained by the size and location of a door frame, such that it can be any suitable length and configuration. 
     FIGS. 5A-5F show alternate end connections of the towel bar  10  to the doors  12 ,  14 . For each embodiment, both end connections are identical, therefore, only one is shown and described. Similar parts are shown with similar numerals, albeit with a suitable designation such as “A,” “B,” “C” where the part is different. 
     Referring in particular to FIG. 5A, a towel bar  10 A has a fastener  20 A identical to that described above. However front threads  100 , at annular surface  62 A, mate with rear threads at the interior of an escutcheon  18 A. In this embodiment, the escutcheon  18 A does not have threads at an axial bore  32 A such that end engagement member  26 A of a bar  16 A attachment end  22 A mates only with the internal engagement member  58  of the fastener  20 A and not with the escutcheon  18 A. As such, this embodiment does not include a cylindrical hub around the axial bore  32 A or interior hub support walls. 
     Referring next to FIG. 5B, a towel bar  10 B has an escutcheon  18 B with front  44  and rear  102  threads. The front threads at the axial bore  32  mate with end engagement member  26 B of a towel support  16 B attachment end  22 B and the rear threads at the interior of the escutcheon  18 B mate with the external engagement member  100  at a annular surface  62 B of a fastener  20 B, as in embodiment  10 A. In this embodiment, the front end  52 B of the fastener  20 B does not include an axial bore or internal threads and is not directly mated with the towel support. 
     Referring to FIG. 5C, a towel bar  10 C has an escutcheon  18 C with no engagement members and a fastener  20 C with only the internal engagement member  80 , preferably threads, at the axial bore  58  for mating with end engagement member  26 C of a towel support  16 C attachment end  22 C. A stop member  104  is suitably located along the towel support  16 C which retains the escutcheons  18 C to the door  14  by contacting an outer surface  106  at the front side  28  of the escutcheon  18 C. The stop member  104  is preferably a fixed annular ring, but it can be any suitable configuration provided it is sized larger than an axial bore  32 C of the escutcheon  18 C. Since axial bore is not threaded, the cylindrical hub and interior walls of the escutcheon of the preferred embodiment are not needed. 
     Referring to FIG. 5D, a towel bar  10 D has a fastener  20 D with the external engagement member  100  at its annular surface  62 D matable with the rear engagement member  102  at the interior of an escutcheon  18 D. In this embodiment, a front end  52 D of a fastener  20 D has no axial bore or internal engagement member. Moreover, an axial bore  32 D of the escutcheon  18 D does not include an engagement member. Rather, a preferably retractable or removable stop member  108 , such as a nut, is fastened to end  22 D at end engagement member  26 D of a towel support  16 D. The stop member  108  is sized larger than the axial bore  32 D and contacts an interior ledge  107  of the escutcheon  18 D. As such, the escutcheon  18 D is secured to the fastener  20 D and a towel support  16 D is held in place by contact of the fastener  20 D to an end surface  110  of the towel support  16 D and the stop member  108  to the ledge  107 . Since the escutcheon  18 D does not include a threaded axial bore, no cylindrical hub and interior walls are needed. 
     Referring to FIG. 5E, in towel bar  10 E, a front end  52 E of a fastener  20 E has a smaller diameter than that of the embodiments described above defining a threaded rod or bolt-like end. In this embodiment, an escutcheon  18 E has separate axial bores  32 F and  111  with respective front  44  and rear  102 E engagement members, preferably threads. Hub  113  defines the axial bore  111  and is supported by interior walls  42 E, which also support the hub  40 E of axial bore  32 E. The front  44  and rear  102 E engagement members mate with external engagement member  100 E of the fastener  20 E and an end engagement member  26 E of attachment end  22 E of the towel support  16 E, respectively. The bottom of each axial bore  32 E,  111  can provide a positive stop for the fastener  20 E and towel support  16 E. 
     Referring to FIG. 5F, in still another alternate embodiment  10 F, a front end  52 F of a fastener  20 F may be a threaded rod (as in towel bar  10 E) that mates at external engagement member  100 F with engagement member  44 F within a lengthwise axial bore  32 F of an escutcheon  18 F. The bore  32 F is defined and supported by hub  40 F and radial walls  42 F. The other end of the axial bore  32 F mates with the engagement member  26 F of the towel support  16 F attachment end  22 F. Also, in this embodiment, the escutcheon  18 F may have a suitably configured opening  46 F and annular surface  112  for fitting around the annular surface  62 F of the recessed grip  70  and within the door aperture  64 . 
     Industrial Applicability 
     The above disclosure provides a towel bar for use with bypass-style shower doors.