Bathtub assembly

A tub assembly is provided wherein a bathtub assembly comprised of a bowl section having an apron extending downwardly therefrom and a pivotally mounted apron brace releasably secured to the bottom of the bowl in a first position to permit nestable stacking of one tub assembly within another for shipping and rigidly securable in a second position to provide lateral support to the apron.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The invention disclosed herein relates to bathtubs, and particularly, 
bathtubs molded from fiberglass reinforced plastic. 
BACKGROUND 
Bathtubs having an apron or skirt extending from the top of the tub down to 
the floor at the front of the tub generally require a lateral support 
system to prevent damage to the apron from inadvertent bumps or kicks to 
the apron. Historically, braces made from wood, metal or plastic have been 
screwed, glued and/or otherwise fastened either at the fabricating plant 
or at the installation site to rigidly reinforce the apron, generally, at 
the lower edge. Generally, one end of the brace is fastened at the distal 
end of the apron and the other end of the brace is fastened at the bottom 
of the tub bowl. 
If the braces were installed at the tub manufacturing facility, such tubs 
were not generally able to be nested within one another to reduce the 
shipped volume of the articles. As such, shipping costs were unnecessarily 
high. 
Others shipped the brace components as separate parts which were to be 
field installed. Such field installations can be very time consuming and, 
thus, labor intensive. Also, such separate parts can easily become 
irretrievably misplaced, requiring reprocurement of the brace resulting in 
construction schedule inefficiencies due to such disruptions. 
The present invention provides a simple cost-effective bathtub assembly 
wherein the apron brace is pivotally attached to the tub body to permit 
the apron brace to be releasably secured at the plant in a first position 
for shipping in such a manner that the tub assemblies are readily nestable 
within one another. The apron brace arrives with the tub assembly and is 
easily snapped into position at installation in a matter of moments. 
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
This invention pertains to a bathtub assembly comprising a bowl section 
having an apron extending downwardly therefrom and a pivotally mounted 
apron brace releasably secured to the bottom of the bowl in a first 
position to permit nestable stacking of one tub assembly within another 
and releasably securable in a second position to provide lateral support 
to the apron.

BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
According to the principles of this invention, a bathtub assembly 5 is 
comprised of a bathtub portion 10 and a brace portion 30. 
Bathtub portion 10 is comprised of a bowl or receptacle body 12 having a 
shelf 11 extending around the upper periphery thereof. Of course, drain 
hole 13 is provided along the bottom of bowl 12. The bottom of bowl 12 
incorporates a plurality of gussets 15 to stiffen the bottom wall of bowl 
12. 
As shown, a plurality of legs 17 project downwardly from the bottom of bowl 
12 at the intersection of the gussets 15 to provide direct support to bowl 
12 by means of legs 17 which are in contact with floor 95 when installed. 
Also provided along the bottom of bowl 12, a pair of posts 19 project 
outwardly therefrom to permit base section 42 of brace 30 to be rigidly 
attached thereto by means of screw type fastener 89. Of course, base 
section 42 may be secured to post or projection 19 by any suitable means, 
such as an adhesive. 
Extending downwardly from the shelf or landing 11 of bathtub portion 10, 
apron 22 is shown extending substantially to approximate engagement with 
floor 95. That is, the distal end of lip 24 of apron 22 extends downwardly 
from shelf 11 to a plane formed by the distal ends 18 of legs 17. Apron 22 
terminates at a slightly protruded lip 24. Extended downwardly from apron 
22, a plurality of pins 25 are spaced from lip 24 at the interior thereof 
to provide a plurality of notches or recesses 26 between pins 25 and lip 
24 to receive foot 34 of brace 30 as will be explained in more detail 
later herein. 
Bathtub portion 10 may be made from any suitable material such as 
fiberglass reinforced plastics, such as sheet molding compound or bulk 
molding compound, when such items are compression molded. Alternatively, 
such tub portions may be fabricated from fibrous glass and resin by the 
"hand layup" method. 
Brace 30 is comprised of a planar section 31, a pair of base sections 42 
having a hinge section 38 located intermediate planar section 31 at each 
base section 42. As shown, planar section 31 includes a plurality of ribs 
33 interconnected over the major surface of the planar section 31 to 
provide torsional stiffness. Such ribs 33 are interconnected with foot 34 
and upset lateral edges or beads 36 to provide an integral structure. 
Apertures 32 in planar section 31 are provided to accommodate some of the 
legs 17 protruding from the bottom of bowl 12 as required when the brace 
30 is in the "shipping" position. 
Each hinge section 38 is provided with a laterally extending indentation 39 
to provide a predetermined line along which hinge section 38 will bend or 
fold. Preferably, hinge section 38 is a "living hinge" although other 
hinge types may be acceptable. As such, planar section 31, hinge section 
38 and base section 42 are injection molded from any suitable material, 
such as polypropylene, as a unitary or integral article. The flexibility 
and toughness of the polypropylene permits the brace 30 to be folded over 
at the hinge point at installation to the second or "installed" position 
as shown in FIGS. 2 (in phantom), 4 and 6. 
Base section 42 of brace 30 is provided with an orifice 46 through which 
fastener 89 extends into post 19 to securely fasten base section 42 
thereto. 
Each base section 42 also includes a locating socket or hole 44 which is 
adapted to snugly receive stud 35 which extends from planar section 31 
near hinge section 38. When in the closed or installed position, stud 35 
is securely located in socket 44 to provide a positive mount for brace 30 
at the bottom of body 12 such that the folded portion of hinge section 38 
need not bear any substantial load. Since the folded material at hinge 38 
has been severely stressed, repeated loadings from bumps and the like over 
the life of the system may cause the hinge to fail in the absence of some 
other positive connection as provided by studs 35 and locating socket 44. 
Further, ribs 48 and 49 are provided on each base section 42 adjacent each 
other to form slot 50 therebetween. Slot 50 is adapted to securely receive 
a portion of a gusset 15 as found along the bottom of bowl 12 to provide 
additional positive load bearing location for brace 30 on bowl 12 
As shown in FIG. 5, when set in the "shipping" position, brace 30 is 
located within the zone formed between the distal ends 18 of legs 17 and 
the exterior surface of the bottom of bowl or body 12. Further, as shown 
in FIG. 2, planar section 31 of brace 30 is snugly located between legs 17 
to provide a secure but releasable first or shipping position. 
According to the principles of this invention, even with brace 30 so 
attached, the tub assemblies are readily nestable witin one another for 
shipping a plurality of such tub assemblies in a compact manner. 
When in the "installed" position as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, stud 35 is 
securely, but releasably, located within socket or hole 44. Further, foot 
34 extends from planar section 31 along distal edge thereof to provide 
"snap-in" attachment to the distal end of apron 22. As such, foot 34 is 
adapted to snugly wedge in recesses 26 formed between lip 24 and pins 25. 
Thus, at installation, the workman merely pulls brace 30 at foot 34 to 
release the brace from between legs 17 and continues to fold the brace 
over along hinge sections 38 to meet the distal end of apron 22. At that 
point, foot 34 is snapped into position between lip 24 and pins 25, and 
studs 35 are snapped into locating sockets 44, all done quickly and easily 
by hand. As such, within a matter of moments, apron 22 is provided with 
secure lateral support. 
It is apparent that within the scope of the invention modifications and 
different arrangements can be made other than as herein disclosed. The 
present disclosure is merely illustrative, the invention comprehending all 
variations thereof. 
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
The invention described herein is readily applicable to the glass fiber 
reinforced plastic bathtub industry.