Abstract:
A bracket for mounting a curved shower rod on a previously installed straight shower rod. The bracket includes a body having a first member that defines a first bore for receiving an end of the curved shower rod therein, and a second member defining a second bore for receiving a portion of the straight shower rod therein. The first member extends outwardly from the second member at an angle. The second member comprises first and second regions that are movable away from each other to capture a portion of the straight shower rod between them. A securement mechanism locks the first and second regions together to prevent the bracket from disengaging from the straight shower rod. A second mounting bracket is similarly engaged on an opposite end of the straight shower rod and receives a second end of the curved shower rod therein.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/980,408, filed Dec. 29, 2010, the entire specification of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    This invention generally relates to bath fixtures. More particularly, the invention relates to shower rods. Specifically, the invention relates to a mounting bracket that is engageable with a previously installed straight shower rod and is configured to retain an end of a curved shower rod therein. 
         [0004]    2. Background Information 
         [0005]    Shower curtains are supported by shower rods that extend between opposing side walls of a bathtub enclosure. For many years, the typical shower rod has taken the form of an elongated tubular member that is substantially straight. Recently, however, it has become fashionable to use a curved shower rod. The curved rods tend to let more light into the bathtub enclosure, makes the bathroom more aesthetically appealing, and allows more room in the shower. 
         [0006]    If a homeowner wishes to change the appearance of the bathroom by including a curved shower rod, they can simply remove the straight shower rod and install a curved rod. This operation can be problematic because the type of bracket used to install straight shower rods are not generally suitable for installing curved rods. The homeowner may well have to drill new holes for installing fasteners for the curved rod bracket. If the bathtub enclosure is tiled, repairing the old holes is extremely problematic and unsightly. If the job is not done correctly, there is the risk that moisture could enter through the old bracket holes and lead to the tiles separating from the backer board. If the bathtub enclosure is a prefabricated vinyl material then, once again, making a new set of screw holes creates problems down the road. Additionally, if the homeowner is renting his home, the landlord could object to or prohibit the homeowner from making this type of renovation. 
         [0007]    There is therefore a need in the art for a quick and simple way of mounting a curved shower rod in a bathtub enclosure. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The device of the present invention comprises a bracket for mounting a curved shower rod on a previously installed straight shower rod. The bracket includes a body having a first member that defines a first bore for receiving an end of the curved shower rod therein, and a second member defining a second bore for receiving a portion of the straight shower rod therein. The first member extends outwardly from the second member at an angle. The second member comprises first and second regions that are movable away from each other to capture a portion of the straight shower rod between them. A securement mechanism locks the first and second regions together to prevent the bracket from disengaging from the straight shower rod. A second mounting bracket is similarly engaged on an opposite end of the straight shower rod and receives a second end of the curved shower rod therein. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    The preferred embodiments of the invention, illustrative of the best mode in which applicant has contemplated applying the principles, are set forth in the following description and are shown in the drawings and are particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims. 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a bathtub enclosure with one side wall removed for clarity and showing the shower rod mounting bracket in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the mounting bracket in accordance with the present invention and showing an end of each of a straight shower rod and a curved shower rod engaged therewith; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the mounting bracket exploded outwardly away from a straight shower rod while being engaged with an end portion of a curved shower rod; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the mounting bracket with the curved rod separated therefrom; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a front view of the mounting bracket; 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a rear view of the mounting bracket; 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is bottom view of the mounting bracket; 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is a partial cross-sectional front view of the mounting bracket with an end of a curved rod engaged in a first member thereof, and with a second member thereof in an opened position ready to be engaged with a portion of a straight shower rod; 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is a partial cross-sectional front view of the mounting bracket engaged with the ends of each of the straight and curved shower rods; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional top view of the mounting bracket and ends of the shower rods taken along line  10 - 10  of  FIG. 9 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0020]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-10 , there is shown a mounting bracket for a shower rod in accordance with the present invention and generally indicated at  10 .  FIG. 1  shows a bathtub enclosure  12  having one side wall removed for the sake of clarity. Enclosure  12  includes a straight shower rod  14  extending between a first wall  16  and an opposed second wall (not shown). Shower rod  14  is disposed a distance above the center of a front wall  18  of a bathtub  20  and is generally parallel thereto. A first end  14   a  of straight rod  14  is secured by a standard ring bracket  22   a  to first wall  16 . A second end  14   b  of rod  14  is secured by a second standard ring bracket  22   b  to the second wall. Ring brackets  22   a ,  22   b  are fixedly secured to the first and second walls by fasteners  23  ( FIG. 10 ). Alternatively, ring brackets  22   a ,  22   b  may be secured to first and second walls by an adhesive or some other permanent securement method or may be secured by a semipermanent method such as by a compressive force supplied by spring disposed within rod  14 . 
         [0021]    In accordance with a specific feature of the present invention, mounting bracket  10  is configured to engage the existing installed shower rod  14 . Furthermore, mounting bracket  10  provides a way for securing a curved shower rod  60  in enclosure  12  without having to disassemble and remove the existing straight shower rod  14 . Existing rod  14  may then be employed for other purposes such as hanging towels  66  and other useful items. Curved rod  60  may take any one of a variety of configurations that includes an arcuate or curved section. Bracket  10  is capable of engaging a wide variety of different configurations of curved rod  60 . Curved rod  60  may also be configured to telescope or otherwise adjust so that it can be expanded to fit into different size shower stalls. So, for instance, rod  60  may be able to be adjusted to have a length of between sixty inches and seventy two inches. 
         [0022]    Mounting bracket  10  is a unitary one-piece component molded from a suitable material such as polyvinyl chloride. Bracket  10  comprises a body having a first member  24  and a second member  26  that are substantially coplanar. Preferably, both of first member  24  and second member  26  are substantially tubular in configuration. As will be further described herein, first member  24  is configured to engage a curved shower rod  60  and second member  26  is configured to engage a previously installed straight shower rod  14 . Since first and second members  24 ,  26  are coplanar, curved shower rod  60  is retained by bracket  10  in such a manner that it is substantially coplanar with straight shower rod  14 . 
         [0023]    First member  24  includes a wall  24   a  that is substantially circular in cross-sectional shape and has a first end  24   b  and a second end  24   c . Wall  24   a  defines a tubular first bore  28  therein that extends between the first and second regions  24   b ,  24   c . As shown in  FIG. 7 , first end  24   b  of wall  24   a  includes a beveled edge  30 . First member  24  is of a first diameter D1 ( FIG. 5 ). 
         [0024]    Second member  26  includes a wall  26   a  having a first end  26   b  and a second end  26   c . Wall  26   a  defines a longitudinal bore  30  therein that extends from first end  26   b  to second end  26   c . As shown in  FIG. 10 , second member  26  has a longitudinal axis “Y” that extends between first and second ends  26   b ,  26   c . The longitudinal axis “Y” will be aligned with the longitudinal axis of the straight rod  14  when mounting bracket  10  is engaged therewith. In accordance with another feature of the present invention, second member  26  defines a longitudinally aligned slot  34  ( FIG. 4 ) that extends between first and second ends  26   b ,  26   c  thereof. Slot  34  is in operational communication with second bore  32 . Second member  26  further defines a living hinge  36  therein. Living hinge  36  is disposed opposite slot  34  and effectively divides second member  26  into a first side “B” and a second side “C” ( FIG. 1 ). Preferably, living hinge  36  is formed by cutting a generally U-shaped rectangular notch into the interior wall of second member  26 . The notch preferably has a width of around 0.25″. Because of slot  34  and hinge  36 , first side “B” of second member  26  is rotatable away from second side “C” thereof about hinge  36 . This enables the user to increase the size of slot  34  between first and second sides “B”, “C” and thus the size of second bore  32  therein. It will be understood that the notch of hinge  36  may be formed in a narrower V-shape rather than the wider U-shape without departing from the scope of the present invention. However, it has been found that the U-shaped notch gives greater flexibility to second member  26  when rotating first and second sides “B”, “C” away from each other. Any other types of hinge may be utilized on second member  26  without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
         [0025]    As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the wall  26   a  of second member is of a substantially uniform thickness except proximate first and second ends  26   b ,  26   c . At each of first and second ends  26   b ,  26   c , the wall is of an increased thickness in the regions disposed on either side of slot  34 . The regions of increased thickness form a pair of opposing feet  38 ,  40 , each of which includes a substantially planar bottom face  42 ,  44  ( FIG. 3 ) and complementary inner faces  46 ,  48 . Inner faces  46 ,  48  preferably are disposed at right angles to longitudinal axis “Y” and are positioned a distance “W” apart from each other when bracket  10  is not engaged with rod  14  and is in the at-rest position ( FIGS. 5 &amp; 6 ). In other words, slot  34  has a width “W” when mounting bracket  10  is in an at-rest position. It will be understood that while feet  38 ,  40  preferably are provided only at first and second ends  26   b ,  26   c  of second member  26 , they may, alternatively, extend for substantially the entire length of second member  26  and be disposed on either side of slot  34 . 
         [0026]    Each foot  38  defines an aperture  50  ( FIG. 4 ) and each foot  40  defines an aperture  52  ( FIG. 4 ). Apertures  50 ,  52  are disposed at right angles to longitudinal axis “Y” and are aligned one with the other.  FIG. 9  shows that each aperture  50  preferably is internally threaded. 
         [0027]    In accordance with a specific feature of the present invention, first member  24  is disposed at an angle relative to second member  26 . Angle A″ ( FIG. 10 ) is between 15° and 25° relative to the longitudinal axis “Y” and, preferably, angle “A” is 21.5° relative thereto. Bracket  10  is molded so that an aperture  56  is defined in the area where second end  24   c  of first member  24  intersects wall  26   a  of second region  26 . In this instance, first bore  28  of first member  24  is in communication with second bore  32  of second member  26 . It will be understood, however, that wall  26   a  may be substantially continuous between first and second ends  26   b ,  26   c  (apart from slot  34 ) and there is no communication between first bore  28  and second bore  32 . 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , it can be seen that first end  24   b  of first member  24  extends longitudinally outwardly for a distance beyond first end  26   b  of second member  26 . Furthermore, second end  26   c  of second member  26  extends longitudinally outwardly for a distance beyond second end  24   b  of first member  24 . Preferably, first member  24  is around six inches long and second member  26  is around two and a half inches long. It will be understood, however, that second member  26  could be longer than first member, without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
         [0029]    Mounting bracket  10  is used in the following manner. As indicated previously, it should be understood that bracket  10  is designed to be engaged with a previously installed straight shower rod  14  that is mounted in bathtub enclosure  12  and is secured between first wall  16  and the opposing second wall. When the user wishes to install a curved shower rod  60 , mounting bracket  10  is engaged with straight rod  14 . This is accomplished by grasping first region “B” of bracket  10  and pulling it outwardly away from second region “C” thereof. This movement, illustrated by the arrow in  FIG. 8  causes first region “B” to rotate away from second region “C” about living hinge  36 . The movement causes the width of slot  34  to increase from width “W” ( FIG. 5 ) to a width “W1” ( FIG. 3 ). As is evident when comparing  FIGS. 5 and 3 , width “W1” is substantially larger than width “W”. 
         [0030]    Once slot  34  has expanded in width to a sufficient degree to allow straight shower rod  14  to pass therethrough, bracket  10  is moved toward rod  14  so that rod  14  enters second bore  32  thereof. It will be understood that the second bore  32  will have to be of a width that is at least as wide as the diameter of the straight rod  14  that is to be received therethrough. Once straight rod  14  has passed through slot  14 , first region “B” is released. Width “W1” of slot  34  decreases once again to width “W” and a portion of straight rod  14  becomes encircled by and trapped between first and second regions “B”, “C” as shown in  FIG. 9 . If mounting bracket  10  is not positioned adjacent one of the first and second ends  14   a ,  14   b  of rod  14 , it may be slid along rod  14  until it is in the correct location. The one of the first and second ends  14   a ,  14   b  is therefore received in the second bore  32  of bracket  10 . It should also be noted that bracket  10  may be rotated around the circumference of rod  14  to properly orient bracket  10 . Preferably, bracket  10  is oriented so that slot  34  therein is adjacent a lowermost region of rod  14  that is opposed to the top of sidewall  18  of bathtub  20 . 
         [0031]    At this point, mounting bracket  10  is engaged with straight shower rod  14  but is not securely retained thereon. In order to securely retain mounting bracket  10  in place, a securement mechanism must be engaged. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a fastener  54  is inserted into each pair of aligned apertures  50 ,  52  in both pairs of feet  38 ,  40  at each end of second member  26 . Fasteners  54  are rotated so that threads on the exterior surface thereof become threadably engaged with the threads in aperture  50 . Fasteners  54  are engaged with second member  26  to prevent slot  34  from expanding after the portion of the straight shower rod  14  is captured within the second bore  32 . When fastener  54  is so engaged, mounting bracket  10  is fixedly secured to rod  14  and is not removable therefrom unless the securement mechanism is disengaged, i.e., unless fastener  54  is unscrewed. It will be understood that other types of securement mechanisms can be utilized on mounting bracket  10  without departing from the scope of the present invention. For instance, some type of clamping mechanism can be used to bring first region “B” toward second region “C”. It should be noted that faces  46 ,  48  do not have to contact each other when mounting bracket  10  is engaged on straight rod  14 . It is only necessary that first and second regions “B”, “C” be brought close enough to each other to narrow slot  34  to a point that it is smaller than the diameter of rod  14 . 
         [0032]    Curved rod  60  may be engaged with bracket  10  prior to bracket  10  being engaged on rod  14  or after bracket  10  has been engaged therewith.  FIG. 4  shows an end  60   a  of curved rod  60  being inserted into first bore  28  of first member  24 . Thus, end  60   a  of rod  60  is received in the first bore  28  of bracket  10 . End  60   a  is slid inwardly for a distance of around three inches so that rod  60  has sufficient purchase in bracket  10 . The curvature of typical curved rods starts approximately four inches from either end. Thus, the end  60   a  of curved rod  60  that is engaged with bracket  10  is substantially straight and is not curved. 
         [0033]    Once rod  60  has been engaged with bracket  10  and bracket  10  has been engaged with rod  14 , a second bracket  10   b  ( FIG. 1 ) is engaged with the second end  14   b  of rod  14  in the same manner as has been described above. It should be noted, however, that a second end  60   b  of curved rod  60  preferably is engaged with the second bracket  10   b  prior to that bracket being engaged with second end  14   b  of rod  14 . Additionally, it should be noted that brackets  10   a  and  10   b  are engaged on straight shower rod  14  in such a manner that they are mirror images of each other. It should also be noted that the first members  24  thereof extend outwardly away from the interior of enclosure  12  to ensure that the curvature of curved rod  60  is such that it extends outwardly beyond the front wall  18  of bathtub  20 . Additionally, because first and second members  24 ,  26  are coplanar, straight shower rod  14  and curved rod  60  are retained in coplanar relationship with each other. It should be understood, however, that bracket  10  may be otherwise designed so that straight shower rod  14  and curved shower rod  60  may be held in offset relationship with each other, i.e., that may be held a spaced distance vertically away from each other by vertically offsetting the first and second members  24 ,  26  relative to each other on the body of bracket  10 . 
         [0034]    Once both brackets  10 ,  10   b  have been secured to the first and second ends  14   a ,  14   b  of rod  14 , then a shower curtain  62  can be suspended from rod  60  by a plurality of rings  64  or hooks (not shown). Straight rod  14  can be used in any manner desired by user, but a suitable use for rod  14  is as a place to hang towels  66  and items such as shower caddies (not shown) thereon. 
         [0035]    Should the user desire to ensure that mounting bracket  10  not be able to slide longitudinally along straight rod  14 , or rotated circumferentially about the same, an adhesive strip or other type of movement retarding mechanism is engaged with bracket  10  prior to installation of the same. This is shown in  FIG. 8  where an adhesive strip  57  is applied to first region “B”. 
         [0036]    It should be noted that while it is disclosed that first and second regions “B”, “C” of second member  26  are molded as a unitary piece and are secured together along a living hinge  36 , it will be understood that the two sections “B”, “C” may, alternatively be separate components that are joined together by a separate hinge. 
         [0037]    One of the advantages of bracket  10  is that it can be used to install a curved shower rod  60  without removing the previously installed straight shower rod  14  and thereby running the risk of damaging the first wall  16  and second wall of the enclosure  12 . Another advantage of bracket  10  is that it is not fixedly secured to straight rod  14  itself. If it is later decided to remove curved rod  60 , straight rod  14  has not been damaged by the installation of curved rod  14  such as by drilling screws into the same. Additionally, the installation of bracket and later removal thereof, if desired, is quick and easy and is accomplished with the use of a single screwdriver. 
         [0038]    In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed. 
         [0039]    Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention are an example and the invention is not limited to the exact details shown or described.