Abstract:
A bathing vessel is made of a segmented sheet wall of layered materials that includes a first layer of polyurethane material, a second layer of polyurethane material attached to the first layer, a third layer of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material attached to the second layer, and a fourth layer of acrylic material attached to the third layer. The segmented sheet wall has a width a length and a first thickness. The segmented sheet wall has an integral first portion having a second thickness that is that is thinner than the first thickness. The first portion defines a first wall and a second wall in the segmented sheet wall and the first portion is corrugated.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/413,575, which was filed Nov. 15, 2010. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Typically to extrude bath surrounds or other parts, raw material is fed into a feed hopper which in turn provides a screw that passes from material through a heater. The material is pushed through a die and then may be pushed through coating equipment and extruded towards a trim knife. The cooling material is frequently passed through pull rollers. 
     Bath surrounds for tubs or for showers are usually one piece or several pieces. The one piece surrounds typically have two sidewalls and a back wall. Such one piece construction is problematic in that it is sometimes difficult to handle, difficult to get into a bathroom and expensive to ship because of the odd shapes that are not always nestable. They are also subject to damage while being handled. 
     To overcome these problems, surrounds may be created with three separate parts or two separate parts. The three part surrounds include a separate sidewall and a separate back portion. These walls can then be easily stacked and packed and shipping is easier as is placing the product into the bathroom for installation. However, many designs require that the corners be mated carefully such that leakage does not occur between or within seams between the sidewalls and the back wall. Also, caulk is usually used to seal the joints so that leakage does not get behind the walls thereof. 
     Bathing vessels may be manufactured from a variety of different materials, such as plastic materials. Plastic bathing vessels, however, must meet certain minimum performance requirements. For instance, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) sets forth minimum physical requirements and testing methods for plastic bathtub and shower units. A bathing vessel that meets the requirements is approved for use in homes, buildings or other structures as a plumbing fixture. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to an embodiment disclosed herein, a bathing vessel is made of a segmented sheet wall of layered materials that include a first layer of polyurethane material, a second layer of polyurethane material attached to the first layer, a third layer of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material attached to the second layer, and a fourth layer of acrylic material attached to the third layer. The segmented sheet wall has a width a length and a first thickness. The segmented sheet wall has a first portion having a second thickness that is that is thinner than the first thickness. The first portion defines a first wall and a second wall in the segmented sheet wall and the first portion is corrugated. 
     According to a further embodiment disclosed herein, a bathing vessel is made of a segmented sheet wall of layered materials that include a first layer of polyurethane material, a second layer of polyurethane material attached to the first layer, and a third layer of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material attached to the second layer. The bathing vessel wall has a width a length and a first thickness. The segmented sheet wall has a first portion having a second thickness that is that is thinner than the first thickness. The first portion defines a first wall and a second wall in the segmented sheet wall and the first portion is contoured so that contour stretches apart for shipping or handling and collapses for installation. 
     According to a further embodiment disclosed herein, a method of constructing a bathing vessel includes providing a sheet wall of layered materials, which has a first layer of polyurethane material, a second layer of polyurethane material attached to the first layer, and a third layer of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material attached to the second layer, wherein the wall has a width a length and a first thickness. Other steps include segmenting the sheet wall into a first wall and a second wall by thinning a first portion of the sheet wall between the first wall and the second wall, and contouring the first portion such that the first portion stretches during shipping and handling and storing and compresses during installation. 
     These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a prior art version of a tub surround. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of an extrusion die rollers that are used to construct a panel for use in a shower enclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a back view of the extrusion die rollers of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a top or a bottom view of the wall sections of a bath surround after being subjected to the rollers of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  shows the wall sections of  FIG. 4  experiencing further processing. 
         FIG. 5A  shows the details hinge of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  shows a top view of the wall sections of  FIG. 5  in a stored position for shipping. 
         FIG. 7  shows a top view of the wall sections of  FIG. 6  in a deployed position. 
         FIG. 8  shows a side view of the structure of the wall sections. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a typical prior art view of a one piece bathing vessel  10  includes a tub  15  and a surround  20  having three pieces comprising a sidewall  30 , sidewall  31  and back wall  25  as shown. In this embodiment, the sidewalls  30  and  31  are connected to the back wall  25  at seams  33 . Seam  34  connects the sidewalls  30 ,  31  and the back wall  25  to the tub. Some surrounds known in the prior art are shipped in one piece without seams  33  and without seams  34 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , material  50  is extruded through extrusion rollers  45  and is pulled after extrusion by pulling rollers  46 , a pair of hinge rollers  52  are impressed into the material  50  to create grooves  55 ,  56  or narrowed portions that become living hinges of a shower surround  20 . The rollers  52  are spaced apart such that the edges of the extruded material, after a cutting process (not shown), become surround walls  30 ,  31  and the area between the rollers  45  becomes the back wall  25 . Though not shown to scale, one of the hinge rollers  52  may be narrower or wider than the other such that the grooves  55 ,  56  may be of different widths. By modifying placement of the hinge rollers  52 , towards or away from each other along a width of the material  50  downstream of the extrusion rollers  45 , the width of the back portion  25  and the width of the side portions  30 ,  31  may be modified. Though two hinge rollers  52  are shown, more or fewer hinge rollers may be necessary. For instance, if a bathing vessel, such as a shower enclosure only needs two walls (the rest may be glass or a curtain) only one hinge roller is necessary. Similarly, if more bends are required for a more complex surround  20  more hinge rollers  52  may be provided. Furthermore, other types of rollers or presses may be used to create the narrowed portions  55 ,  56 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a side view of the wall material  50  after it passes through the hinge rollers  52  is shown. The material  50  is a straight section having sidewalls  30 ,  31 , and back wall  25  joined by living hinges  55 ,  56 . The material  50  is ready for shipping and/or storage. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the narrowed (e.g., thinner) portions  55 ,  56  are subject to a compressive force provided to the narrowed portions by jaws  60  and  65  that create an M-shaped (i.e., corrugated-shaped) joint  70  out of the narrowed portions. While an M-shaped joint is shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize from the teachings herein, that other shaped joints are contemplated herein. Essentially the jaws.  60 ,  65  create a contour (not a straight line) that flexes or expands so that when extra length in the hinges  70 ,  71  is required as during shipping and handling, the hinge is stretched or expanded to utilize a length of the hinges  70 ,  71  that is stored in the contour. If the surround is to be installed, the utilized extra length (see  FIG. 6 ) can be stowed back in the contour which may compress even further due to the flexibility of the material  50  used and discussed infra. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that, given the material used, the use of narrowed portions, such as portions  55 ,  56 , may not be necessary to provide a contoured surface that may be flexed as taught herein. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5A , detail of the joint  70  is shown. The M-shaped joint has a pair of legs  75  that are connected to each other by a pair of inner legs  80  that are angled to each side  75  and to each other. The living hinges  70 ,  71  can bend around the joints between each other and between the connection to the walls  31 ,  30  and back wall  25 . The legs  75  may be thicker than the legs  80  by varying the shape of the jaws  60 ,  65  to create stiffer portions of the living hinges  70 ,  71 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , a stowed view of the walls  30 ,  31  and the back wall  25 , for shipping, handling and storage is shown. In this position, wall  30  is bent in close proximity or touching back wall  25 . The hinge  70  allows the walls  75  to become almost parallel to each other and the inner walls  80  to flatten a corrugation  81  therebetween to allow the wall  30  to bend towards the back wall  25 . Similarly, hinge  71  requires the walls  75  to become almost parallel or to bend slightly towards each other and the inner walls  80  to flatten towards 180° degrees to allow wall  31  to bend in close proximity or touching the wall  30  to create a compact package for shipping handling and storage. The thicker width of legs  80  makes bending of the thinner legs  75 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the wall sections  30 ,  31  and  25  are shown in a deployed position for positioning upon a bathing vessel  10 . In this position, the inner walls  80  are joined to each other so that the walls  30 ,  31  and  25  are in close proximity to each other to minimize the amount of caulking required. If the sidewalls  30 ,  31  are at right angles, or the like, to the back wall  25 , the hinges have sections  75  that collapse upon each other. Legs  75  form an obtuse angle at their joint. Note that because of the proximity of the walls  30 ,  31  and  25 , any leakage behind the walls is stopped by the hinges  55 ,  56  from leaking behind surround  20 . 
       FIG. 8  shows a cross-section through a portion of one of the walls  25 ,  30 ,  31  that are a multi-layer structure (i.e., material  50 ) that generally includes a first layer of polyurethane material  130   a , a second layer of polyurethane material  130   b , a layer of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material  130   c , and a layer of acrylic material  130   d  (collectively layers  130   a - d ), such as polymethylmethacrylate. As shown, the layer of acrylic material  130   d  is a top layer and is exposed for view to a user within the bathing vessel  10 . The layers  130   b  and  130   c  are intermediate layers, and the layer  130   a  is a bottommost layer that is generally obscured from view of a user within the bathing vessel  10 . Each of the layers  130   a - d  is bonded to its respective neighboring layer or layers. In embodiments, the specific materials and order of the layers  130   a - d  contributes to providing the bathing vessel with a desired degree of strength, such as to meet ANSI requirements. 
     In embodiments, the layer of acrylic material  130   d  is arranged on the first layer of polyurethane material  130   a , the layer of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material  130   c  is arranged between the layer of acrylic material  130   d  and the first layer of polyurethane material  130   a , and the second layer of polyurethane material  130   b  is arranged between the layer of ABS material  130   c  and the first layer of polyurethane material  130   a . In some examples, additional layers may be arranged among the layers  130   a - d . In other examples, the walls  25 ,  30 ,  31  include only the layers  130   a - d  and are free of other layers, materials, adhesives, or the like. 
     The thicknesses of the individual layers  130   a - d  is not necessarily shown to scale and may vary, depending on the desired wall strength and location in the wall  25 ,  30 ,  31 , for example. In embodiments, the ratio of the thickness of the layer of acrylic material  130   d  to the thickness of the layer of ABS material is no greater than 1, to facilitate meeting strength requirements. 
     In embodiments, the first layer of polyurethane material  130   a , the second layer of polyurethane material  130   b , or both, are foamed polyurethane materials. In some examples, the density of the first layer of polyurethane material  130   a  is different than the density of the second layer of polyurethane material  130   b . For instance, the density of the first layer of polyurethane material  130   a  is greater than the density of the second layer of polyurethane material  130   b , to facilitate achievement of a desired degree of strength of the walls  24 . 
     In a further example, the second layer of polyurethane material  130   b  is a rigid layer and has a density of 1-10 pounds per cubic foot. The first layer of polyurethane material  30   a  is an elastomeric layer and has a density of about 25-65 pounds per cubic foot though in some examples approximately 55-65 pounds per cubic foot are used. In one example, the density is approximately 62 pounds per cubic foot. 
     Although a combination of features is shown in the illustrated examples, not all of them need to be combined to realize the benefits of various embodiments of this disclosure. In other words, a system designed according to an embodiment of this disclosure will not necessarily include all of the features shown in any one of the Figures or all of the portions schematically shown in the Figures. Moreover, selected features of one example embodiment may be combined with selected features of other example embodiments. 
     The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this disclosure. The scope of legal protection given to this disclosure can only be determined by studying the following claims.