Dual shower head assembly

A dual shower head assembly for use in personal showers to allow two people to shower independently at the same time, one person to shower in a conventional manner or one person to shower with two separate sprays. The assembly includes an upper shower head, a lower shower head, a substantially "S"-shaped connecting conduit, a diverter valve assembly and an adjustable shut-off valve. The diverter valve assembly is adapted for threaded engagement with the water supply pipe protruding from the shower wall and defines a pair of water outlets, one of which communicates with and is pivotally connected to the lower end of the connecting conduit. The shut-off valve is carried by the diverter valve assembly and communicates with the other of the water outlets in the diverter valve for selectively allowing water flow therethrough. The lower shower head communicates with and is pivotally mounted on the shut-off valve, downstream of the diverter valve. The upper shower head communicates with and is pivotally mounted on the upper end of the connecting conduit. The diverter valve restricts the flow of water and selectively allows water passing therethrough from the water supply pipe to flow only to the shut-off valve or both to the shut-off valve and to the connecting conduit whereby through the coordination of the diverter valve assembly and the shut-off valve, water can be directed to spray only through said lower first shower head, only through said upper shower head, through both shower heads concurrently or through neither shower head. The pivotal mounting of the individual shower heads and "S"- shaped configuration of the connecting conduit provides a substantial flexibility in the positioning of the water spray or sprays for one or two persons.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Today, time and water are in short supply. While recent years have seen 
considerable attention focused on water conservation, one of the more 
inefficient uses of water in the home is still the personal shower. A 
great majority of all personal showers employ only a single head, allowing 
only one person to shower at a time. In addition, such showers generally 
do not employ features which address newly established water conservation 
codes. As a result, considerable water is needlessly wasted during the 
showering process. Various efforts to reduce water use in personal showers 
have been made, such as the use of low flow volume heads and flow 
interrupting shut-off valves. Such devices still permit only a single 
person to shower comfortably at a given time. While a number of dual or 
multi-head shower configurations have been designed, they are generally 
designed to provide a plurality of differently directed sprays for a 
single person and are ill suited for use by two persons showering 
concurrently. Those configurations designed for use by more than one 
person at a given time have heretofore proved largely unsuccessful 
primarily due to their limited versatility and attachment means. 
Examples of multiple head shower devices are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 
3,822,826, 3,913,839, 3,121,235, and 3,971,074. The first two patents each 
teach an attachment assembly for use by two people concurrently wherein 
two shower heads are mounted on a horizontal conduit extending between the 
walls of a shower/bath tub enclosure. Such devices do not provide any 
vertical adjustment for persons of different heights, presents an 
obstruction to the user's heads, are generally unsightly and, cannot be 
used in a shower stall where there is no wall opposite the water supply 
pipe to which the device is secured. In addition, such devices do not 
employ water-saving features. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,971,074 and 3,121,235 employ a multiple number of shower 
heads for providing a plurality of differently angled sprays for a single 
person. They will not comfortably accommodate more than one person at a 
time and thus provide little or no water savings. U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,235 
provides several shower heads extending from a vertically mounted pipe 
communicating with the shower's water supply pipe. While the individual 
shower heads are mounted at different heights along the vertical pipe, 
they do not have the flexibility necessary for convenient use by two 
people concurrently. The upper most head, while extending outwardly from 
the vertical pipe, is below the water supply pipe in the wall and thus 
does not provide the necessary spray angle to reach a second person within 
the shower enclosure. In addition, such a device intrudes both into the 
shower area and into the bath tub rendering a permanent installation of 
such a device very undesirable. U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,074 provides a number 
of shower heads, all of which are designed to converge on a single person. 
Like the device of the preceding patent, this arrangement is also very 
intrusive into the shower area and is generally unsightly. The dual shower 
head configuration of the present invention overcomes these deficiencies 
and provides a space efficient, water-saving configuration highly suitable 
for concurrent use by two people and, if desired, two adjustable sprays 
for use by a single person. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Briefly, the invention comprises a versatile, water-saving shower head 
assembly for use in personal showers to allow two people to shower 
independently at the same time or one person with either a single or two 
separate sprays. The assembly includes a pair of shower heads pivotally 
mounted adjacent the extended ends of an upstanding substantially 
"S"-shaped conduit so as to define an upper shower head and a lower shower 
head. A diverter valve is disposed adjacent the lower shower head for 
limiting the flow of water and selectively allowing water flow either 
solely through the lower shower head or through both the upper and lower 
shower head and an adjustable flow control shut off valve is disposed 
between the lower shower head and the diverter valve for selectively 
allowing water flow to the lower shower head. Through coordination of the 
diverter valve and shut-off valve, water can be directed to spray only 
through the lower shower head, only through the upper shower head, through 
both shower heads concurrently, or through neither shower head. The 
pivotal mounting of the individual shower heads and the substantially 
S-shaped conduit provide a substantial flexibility in the positioning of 
water spray or sprays for one or two persons of varying heights. 
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a versatile 
water-saving shower head assembly for use in personal showers to allow two 
people to shower independently at the same time, one person to shower in a 
conventional manner or one person to shower with two separately adjustable 
sprays. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dual shower head 
assembly which effectively limits the total water flow rate to meet 
conservation codes and evenly distributes the total allowable flow between 
two individuals showering simultaneously. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dual shower 
head assembly wherein the orientation of the individual shower head and 
the relative orientation between the two shower heads is readily 
adjustable for convenient use by two persons at the same time and for 
individuals of varying heights. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a dual shower 
head assembly for use in personal showers which requires solely the 
support of a conventional shower supply pipe outlet for mounting the 
assembly within the shower area. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a dual shower 
head assembly which can be used in a wide variety of shower stalls and tub 
enclosures without modification or adjustment. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a dual shower 
head assembly for allowing two people to shower independently at the same 
time without creating an obstruction within the shower enclosure.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the shower head assembly 10 of the 
present invention includes a first lower shower head 12, a second upper 
shower head 14, a diverter valve 16, an adjustable flow control shut-off 
valve 18 and a substantially "S"connecting conduit 20. Diverter valve 16 
defines a cylindrical threaded fluid inlet 22 adapted to be threadably 
engaged with a conventional shower supply pipe 24, a first fluid outlet 26 
axially aligned with inlet 22 and adapted for threaded engagement with 
shut-off valve 18, a second fluid outlet 28 angularly disposed with 
respect to said first outlet 26 and adapted for threaded engagement with a 
ball joint 29, and a vertical cylindrical wall 32 disposed between fluid 
inlet 22 and outlet 28 and defining a chamber 34 therein. A flow 
restrictor 80 is disposed in the downstream end of the fluid inlet 22. 
Flow restrictor 80 comprises rigidly secured disc member 86 having a 
centrally disposed aperture 88 therein to restrict the fluid flow through 
the diverter valve and a resilient washer 90 disposed adjacent disc 86. If 
desired for construction purposes, an annular disc support member 82 can 
be rigidly secured within the fluid inlet 22 adjacent the downstream side 
of disc 86. It is important that support member 82, if utilized, be 
rigidly secured within inlet 22 to avoid being drawn into the interior of 
the diverter valve 16. 
Chamber 34 within diverter valve 16 has a Closed upper end 36 and an open 
lower end 38. Cylindrical wall 32 defines an elongated fluid inlet 
aperture 40 therein communicating the fluid inlet 22 of the diverter valve 
16 with chamber 34. A first fluid outlet aperture 42 is disposed in 
cylindrical wall 32 across chamber 34 from inlet aperture 40 for the 
passage of water from fluid inlet 22, through flow restrictor 80 and 
chamber 34 to said first fluid outlet 26. A second fluid outlet aperture 
44 is disposed in cylindrical wall 32 above aperture 42 therein for 
communicating chamber 34 with the second fluid outlet 28. 
A cylindrical flow director 46 is disposed within chamber 34 for 
selectively communicating the fluid inlet 22 of the diverter valve 16 with 
either or both of the fluid outlets 26 or 28. Flow director 46 defines a 
first slot 48 extending radially therethrough. When the flow director 46 
is in a first position shown in FIG. 3, slot 48 is in axial alignment with 
both fluid inlet aperture 40 and the first fluid outlet aperture 42, 
whereby upon disposing the flow director 46 in said first position, water 
flow passes from the fluid inlet 22, through slot 48 in the flow director 
46 and outwardly of the diverter valve 16 through fluid outlet 26. A 
second slot 50 extends radially through flow director 46, with the central 
axis thereof intersecting and being perpendicularly disposed with respect 
to the central axis of slot 48. A third slot 52 extends radially through 
flow director 46 above slot 50 such that the central axis of slot 52 is 
parallel to the central axis of slot 50. Upon rotating the flow director 
46 ninety degrees to a second position (see FIG. 4), slot 50 communicates 
the fluid inlet 22 with fluid outlet 2 while slot 52 communicates the 
fluid inlet with the second outlet 28. 
A first O-ring 54 is disposed in an annular groove 56 in the exterior 
surface of flow director 46 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of slot 
52 so as to position O-ring 54 about the second fluid outlet aperture 44 
when the flow selector is in said first position to effectively seal the 
second fluid outlet 28 from fluid inlet 22. A second O-ring 58 is disposed 
within an annular groove 60 about the lower portion of flow director 46 to 
prevent water from passing out the lower open end 38 of the diverter valve 
16. The lower portion 62 of the cylindrical flow director 46 is of a 
reduced diameter to define an annular shoulder 64 which abuts an annulus 
66 fixed in the lower end 38 of the flow director for retaining the flow 
director within the diverter valve. A handle 68 is affixed to the lower 
end 62 of the flow director for rotating the flow director between the 
first and second positions and a recess area 70 is provided in the 
lowermost end 72 of cylindrical wall 32 so as to define stops rotation of 
the flow director 46 within a chamber 34 to the first and second 
positions. Accordingly, by positioning handle 68 against stop 74 the flow 
director 46 is disposed within said first position, limiting the flow 
therethrough from the fluid inlet 22 to the first fluid outlet 26. Upon 
rotating handle 68 ninety degrees so as to abut stop 76, the flow director 
46 is disposed in the second position, whereupon water passes from the 
fluid inlet 22 through both fluid outlets 26 and 28. 
Adjustable flow control shut-off valve 18 is of a conventional 
configuration for selectively allowing water to pass therethrough. In the 
preferred embodiment, shut-off valve 18 employs an elongated handle 78 
which is operatively connected to a valve ball 82 within valve 18. Valve 
ball 82 has an aperture 84 extending therethrough such that upon aligning 
handle 80 with the longitudinal axis of shut-off valve 18, the aperture 84 
in valve ball 82 is correspondingly aligned so as to allow water to pass 
therethrough. Upon rotating handle 78 toward a perpendicular disposition 
with respect to the longitudinal axis of shut-off valve 18, valve ball 82 
is correspondingly rotated to incrementally restrict fluid flow through 
shut-off valve 18. Upon rotating handle 80 to a perpendicular disposition 
with respect to the longitudinal axis of shut-off valve 18, valve ball 82 
is correspondingly rotated to prevent fluid flow through the shut-off 
valve 18. Accordingly, by coordinating the position of handle 78 in 
shut-off valve 18 with the disposition of the flow director 46 within the 
diverter valve 16, water can be directed from the fluid inlet 22 of the 
diverter valve either through both of the fluid outlets, through only one 
thereof, or shut off entirely. 
The lower shower head 12 is pivotally mounted at the outlet end 90 of the 
shut-off valve 18 by ball joint 91. The lower end 92 of conduit 20 
communicates with the second fluid outlet 28 of the diverter valve 16 
thereon by means of a ball joint 29 such that the diverter valve 16, 
shut-off valve 18 and lower shower head 12 are carried by the lower end 92 
of conduit 20 and the lower end 92 of conduit 20 can pivoted with respect 
to the diverter valve 16, shut-off valve 18, and the lower shower head 12. 
The upper shower head 14 is pivotally mounted on the upper end 96 of 
conduit 20 by means of ball joint 94. Due to the aforesaid pivotal 
mountings in combination with the substantially "S"-shaped configuration 
of connecting conduit 20, the angular orientation of the two shower heads 
can be individually adjusted and the orientation and height of the upper 
shower head with respect to the lower shower head can be readily adjusted, 
thereby allowing the shower head assembly 10 to be conveniently used by 
either one person with either a single conventional spray or, by 
activating both shower heads, two separate sprays can be concurrently 
directed against the user's front and back sides, or alternatively, by two 
persons concurrently. The diverter valve 16 and shut-off valve 18 also 
allow for selected interruption of the flow from each sprinkler for 
lathering. By restricting the total flow rate through the assembly, 
providing two separate shower heads with selective shut-offs and 
positioning the shower heads for convenient use by two people, substantial 
water-saving is achieved. It has been found that with two people showering 
at the same time using both shower heads as above described, the assembly 
effectively limits the total water flow to an established maximum rate and 
distributes the available water flow evenly through both heads, resulting 
in a fifty-percent water savings beyond established conservation 
requirements for each shower. Variation in the size of the centrally 
disposed aperture 88 in flow restrictor 80 alters the maximum flow rate 
through the assembly. Other variables being equal, larger apertures yield 
higher flow rates and smaller apertures yield lower flow rates. Thus, 
maximum total flow rates can be set to meet conservation codes and further 
conservation can be achieved through simultaneous showering by two 
persons, each at one-half the total allowable flow rate. 
Various changes and modifications may be made in carrying out the present 
invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Insofar as 
these changes and modifications are within the purview of the appended 
claims, they are to be considered as part of the present invention.