Abstract:
A shower seat assembly comprising: a seat; a plurality of upstanding legs; a curved member lying in a substantially horizontal plane and supported by at least some of the legs; and the seat being pivotably supported by at least one leg and being mounted for pivotal movement along the curved member.

Description:
Claims provisional application No. 60/085,246 filed on May 13, 1998. 
    
    
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a device for assisting an elderly person, an invalid or a disabled person to access a stall shower bath while in a sitting position. In particular, it utilizes a pivotally mounted horizontal seat moveable from a first position at the door opening of a shower stall to a second position where the seat is inside the shower stall. The seat can be locked at either the first or second positions. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be better understood from the attached drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a front elevational view; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a rear view from the opposite side of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the front and the right side; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view from above and front showing the device installed in a shower stall with the seat in a first position across the door opening; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the seat pivoted to a second position where the seat is inside the shower stall; 
     FIG. 7 is a top plan view looking down into a shower stall with the device installed and where the seat is partially pivoted toward the second position; and 
     FIG. 8 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 7 but with the seat pivoted fully into the second position. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a horizontal 10 seat, is pivoted about its left end at point 12 above a leg 14. On the right end of the seat are a plurality of rollers 30 which can roll along an arcuately curved pipe 28 so the seat can be pivoted in a horizontal plane from the first position as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 to its second position as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. 
     The rollers 30, preferable two or more in number, are attached to the underside of seat 10 and each roller has concave outer surface which rests on the top of arcuate pipe 28. The axis of rotation of each roller 30 lies approximately horizontally and above arcuate pipe 28, that axis of rotation lying generally on a radial line in relation to arcuate pipe 28. The concave surface of the rollers engage over the top and part of each side of arcuate pipe 28, acting to prevent relative horizontal movement between the seat 10 and the arcuate pipe 28. 
     The arcuate pipe 28 has a stop at each end which is engaged by rollers 30. These stops are identified by numbers 40 and 42 in FIG. 2. Adjacent each stop is a female latch member, 44 and 46, respectively. The female latch members are positioned to be locked into by a spring loaded male latch member 48 (as best seen in FIG. 1) just as rollers 30 make contact with stop 40 and 42 respectively. 
     The male latch 48 is operated by a lever 50 under seat 10 which is connected to latch 48 by cable 52 (see FIG. 1). 
     Vertical legs 14, 18, 20 and 24 support the device and each leg is preferably equipped with a foot, such as a suction cup, 32, 34, 36 or 38. Each leg optionally can be adjustable in length. Leg 18 in the shown embodiment is very short because its foot 34 is resting on a corner seat which is part of the shower stall. If there were no corner seat in the shower stall, then leg 18 would be substantially the same length as the other legs. Similarly, in the case of shower stalls having seats or protrusions in other locations, the length of any or all of the legs can be varied to accommodate the differences. 
     Each of the legs 14, 20 and 24 preferably has an adjustable spacing brace (respectively numbered 16, 22 and 26) which can be extended or retracted and horizontally pivoted to contact the shower stall walls to keep the device rigidly mounted in the stall. Each such brace preferably has a resilient end such as a crutch tip or cane tip to prevent marring the stall walls. 
     Preferably the seat is made of material not affected by water, such as rigid plastic, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5-8. Preferably the seat loosely rests on pivot 12 and its rollers 30 loosely rest on arcuate pipe 28 so the entire seat assembly can easily be lifted off and the shower stall can be used in a conventional manner. 
     As best shown in FIGS. 6-8, it is preferable that there is no horizontal member extending between front legs 14 and 24 so as to provide a clear area for a user&#39;s limbs, especially legs, to swing into the shower. There is, however, preferably a horizontal brace 17 extending between legs 14 and 18. 
     The illustrated embodiment is intended for a shower stall having the shower head on the right side (opposite brace 17). If the shower head is on the left side, then the assembly is a mirror image where the arcuate pipe 28 is on the left side and horizontal member 17 is on the right side. 
     It is also contemplated that this device could be adapted for use with a shower above a bath tub. In such a case, legs 14, 24 and 18 would be very short, resting respectively on the outer and inner top edges of the tub with the arcuate pipe 28 curving across the tub with leg 20 and foot 36 resting on the tub bottom.