Abstract:
A by-pass shower door system has a compression mounting system including a horizontal header and curb and upright jambs. The header includes a header rail with parallel tracks for slidably mounting the door panels and a threaded header expansion assembly. The curb is mounted beneath the header and includes two curb rails and a threaded curb expansion assembly coupled to the curb rails. The compression assemblies have threaded shafts that engage nuts mounted to the rails such that adjusting the compression assemblies (by turning the shafts) applies a compressive force on opposing end walls of a shower enclosure to mount the header and curb. A cap overlapping the header rail conceals the header expansion assembly. A center guide, having parallel tracks for bottom ends of the door panels, conceals the curb expansion assembly.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
         [0001]    Not applicable.  
         STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    Not applicable.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a shower and tub enclosure door system and in particular to an adjustable mounting system for such doors.  
           [0004]    Shower and tub enclosures typically have a back wall, two end walls and an opening therebetween. To prevent water from splashing onto the bathroom floor when showering, the opening is ordinarily closed by a curtain or door allowing ingress into the enclosure. Shower curtains are generally less costly than doors, but provide less sealing around the edges of the opening and usually need to be replaced after extended use. Depending on the size of the opening, shower door systems will usually include a single, hinged (or pivoting) door or a pair of track-mounted sliding by-pass doors.  
           [0005]    In either case, conventional shower door systems must be sized to fit in the enclosure opening. Many enclosure openings are of standard dimensions, however, this is not always the case. Shower door manufacturers often need to specially manufacture the door assembly according to the size of individual enclosures, which is costly. Alternatively, various elements (such as the header track) of standard sized door systems could be cut down, either by the manufacturer or consumer, according to the dimensions of the opening. However, if cut too short, the trimmed item could be unusable such that it would have to be replaced, thereby delaying installation and adding cost.  
           [0006]    Adjustable shower door systems have been developed that allow the doors to be mounted in shower enclosure openings within a range of dimensions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,957 provides a shower door system with a frame that can be adjusted in width to support a pivoting door panel. The upper and lower cross-members have telescoping profiles that can be moved relative to each other as needed to vary the overlap between a fixed panel and the pivoting door panel. The outer ends of the cross-members are mounted to the enclosure walls and the frame is secured together with the door pivots in the adjusted position. While this system provides adjustment, it is only suitable for pivoting (rather than sliding) doors and it must be anchored to the walls of the enclosure, which damages the surfaces of the enclosure walls, which are often tiled.  
           [0007]    U.S. Pat. Nos.  4 , 286 , 343 ;  5 , 033 , 132  and 5,822,810 provide other adjustable systems for closing openings in shower and tub enclosures. However, they are all designed for collapsible screens or curtains, rather than rigid door panels (either pivoting or by-pass). Moreover, the system of the &#39;343 patent mounts the roll-up screen in a vertical orientation and the systems of the &#39;132 and &#39;810 patents must be permanently anchored to the walls. Further, the system of the &#39;862 patent provides a curtain support with a header rail connected to end assemblies having spring biased plungers that press against opposing walls of the enclosure to secure the curtain support in place. Although the spring biased plungers accommodate minor variance in width of the enclosure opening, the curtain rail must be cut down to adjust the width of the curtain support. As with the others, this system is also not suitable to support rigid door panels.  
           [0008]    Thus, an improved shower and tub door system is needed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    The invention provides an adjustable door system that is mounted horizontally across the opening of a shower and tub enclosure by compressive forces exerted by one or more threaded expansion assemblies.  
           [0010]    In one aspect the invention provides a mounting assembly for mounting a door at an opening of an enclosure between opposite walls. The mounting assembly includes a horizontal header rail and an adjustable header expansion assembly. The rail has a track from which a movable door panel is suspended. The compression assembly has a shaft and a nut in threaded engagement that are coupled to an end of the rail. The shaft or nut can be rotated relative to one another for mounting the rail to the enclosure by applying opposing compressive forces on the walls.  
           [0011]    Another aspect of the invention provides a by-pass shower door assembly including a pair of door panels mounted to a horizontal header and curb (via parallel tracks in the header), each having corresponding rails and compression assemblies, and upright jambs extending vertically between the headers.  
           [0012]    In a preferred form, the header expansion assembly has a shaft with an externally threaded end threaded into a nut and a notched end engaging a clamp in a snap fit. The nut mounts to the header rail tightly in a press fit (interference fit). The curb expansion assembly has a curb shaft and two curb nuts in threaded engagement and coupled to inner ends of two curb rails positioned on each side of the curb expansion assembly. The curb shaft has left hand threads and the other end has right hand threads such that rotating the curb shaft moves the curb nuts with respect to the curb shaft in opposite directions. Elongated header and curb stiffening members mount to respective header and curb rails.  
           [0013]    In another preferred form, an extruded cap overlaps the header rail to conceal the header expansion assembly. Also, a second cap can be fit over the end of the header rail opposite the compression assembly. A snap-on center guide having parallel upwardly opening tracks for receiving bottom ends of the door panels covers the curb expansion assembly.  
           [0014]    One object of the invention is a door system that can be mounted over an opening in a shower and tub enclosure without damaging the mounting surfaces of the enclosure. The header and curb are mounted by rotating the shafts such that the header and curb expand outward and press against either the walls of the enclosure of the jambs.  
           [0015]    Another object of the invention is a door assembly that can be mounted in enclosure openings of various widths. In one embodiment, the threaded compression assemblies provide approximately two to three inches of width adjustment.  
           [0016]    Yet another object of the invention is a shower door mounting system that does not require the head or curb rails to be cut down for installation. Thus, the consumer or installer will not inadvertently cut the rails too short, which can happen particularly when the header and curb rails are to be different lengths. The provided width adjustment also reduces the number of header or curb rail sizes required to be manufactured and inventoried.  
           [0017]    Still another object of the invention is a quick and simple and to install mounting system. The header and curb can be secured to the enclosure without tools (or with only a screwdriver or wrench for tightening the shafts). The caps and center guide concealing the compression assemblies simply can be slide on or snapped onto the corresponding rails.  
           [0018]    These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a by-pass shower door system having the compression mounting system of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of one end of a header with a cap removed to reveal a header expansion assembly (shown with a header stiffening member removed);  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective of the door system;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the header expansion assembly;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a curb expansion assembly;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 6 is a front cross-section through line  6 - 6  of FIG. 1 showing the header expansion assembly;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 7 is an end cross-section through line  7 - 7  of FIG. 1 showing the header expansion assembly;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 8 is an end cross-section through line  8 - 8  of FIG. 1 showing the curb expansion assembly; and  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 9 is an end cross-section through line  9 - 9  of FIG. 1 showing the curb expansion assembly and door guide. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0028]    Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention provides a by-pass shower door system  10  for a shower and tub enclosure  12  defined by a back wall  14  and opposite end walls  16  and  18  with an opening  9  therebetween. The shower door system  10  includes as primary components two glass door panels  20  and  22 , a header assembly  24 , a curb assembly  26  and upright wall jambs  28  and  30 . The unique system can be adjusted to fit variously sized enclosure openings without cutting one or more components. Moreover, the system can be securely mounted to the shower enclosure without damaging the abutting walls of the enclosure.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 3 shows an exploded perspective view of the door system  10 . As shown therein, towel racks  32  and  34  are mounted to the door panels  20  and  22  at outer and inner sides thereof, respectively. Mounted at the top of each door panel  20  and  22  are two hanger assemblies  36  with rollers  38  that ride along parallel outer  40  and inner  42  tracks of a header rail  44  of the header assembly  24  (see FIG. 7). The tracks  40  and  42  have upwardly opening grooves sized to cup the rollers  38 .  
         [0030]    The header rail  44  is preferably an extruded aluminum having a uniform cross-section with flat top  46  and back  48  walls and a rounded nose  50 . At one end of the header rail  44  is a header expansion assembly  52  and at the opposite end is plugged by a clamp  54  having a non-slip pad  56  adhered to an outer surface. One side of the clamp  54  has a cross-section sized to mate with the header rail  44  in a press fit. The clamp  54  also has a downwardly extending tab  55  that engages the inner surface of a cross-member  57  of wall jamb  28 . The clamp  54  and the header expansion assembly  52  are concealed by respective caps  58  and  60  that overlap the ends of the header rail  44 . As shown in FIG. 2, the caps  58  and  60  can be slid inwardly over the header rail  44  to access the components at the ends of the header rail  44 .  
         [0031]    Referring to FIGS.  2 - 4  and  6 - 7 , the header expansion assembly  52  has a nut  62 , threaded shaft  64  and a snap-on clamp  66 . The nut  62  is sized so that one end fits into the end of the header rail  44  in a tight, press fit. The nut  62  thus plugs the end of the header rail  44  to prevent the glides  36  from rolling off the tracks  40  and  42 . The nut  62  is flanged to prevent it from being pressed too far into the header rail  44 . The nut  62  has an internally threaded axial opening  68  therethrough that engages ACME (square) threads about the periphery of the shaft  64 . The shaft  64  has a radial opening  70  for inserting a lever arm of some kind (such as a screw driver or hex wrench) for rotating the shaft  64 . If desired, the opening  70  could be replaced by a hex feature for turning the shaft  64  with a wrench. One end of the shaft  64  has a circumferential ring  72  that can be forced past a ridge  74  in an axial recess  76  in the clamp  66  so as to be snapped onto the end of the shaft  64 . The clamp  66  also has a downwardly extending tab  78  that engages the inner surface of a cross-member  57  of wall jamb  30  and a non-slip pad  80  adhered to it an outer surface.  
         [0032]    A stiffening member  82  (see FIGS. 3 and 7) is disposed alongside the header expansion assembly  52 . The stiffening member  82  rests on a ledge  84  extending from the nose  50  and the outer track  40  of the header rail  44 . One end of the stiffening member  82  is confined by the ledge  84 , the nose and the nut  62  but can slide with respect to the header rail  44 . The other end of the stiffening member  82  is fixed to the clamp  66  by a screw  85  (as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The stiffening member  82  is made of a rigid material to prevent bowing and flexing of the header assembly  24 , particularly at the header expansion assembly  52 .  
         [0033]    Referring now to FIGS. 3, 5,  8  and  9 , the curb assembly  26  includes a pair of curb rails  86  and  88 , a center guide  94 , a curb expansion assembly  96 , having a turnbuckle shaft  98  and two nuts  100 , and a stiffening member  102 . The curb rails  86  and  88  are preferably an extruded aluminum having a uniform cross-section defining a front lip  104 , a top ledge  106 , a rear wall  108  and inner walls  110 . The front lip  104  extends up past the bottom edge of the door panels  20  and  22  to prevent water passing thereunder from splashing onto the floor. The ledge  106  slopes downwardly toward the inside of the enclosure so that water splashed thereon will run into the enclosure.  
         [0034]    The curb rails  86  and  88  are joined in the center by the curb expansion assembly  96 . Specifically, the nuts  100 , having a profile corresponding to the configuration of the inner walls  110 , are pressed tightly between the inner walls  110 , until their flanges  112  contact the ends of the curb rails  86  and  88 . The nuts  100  have internally threaded axial openings  114  therethrough for engaging the threads of the turnbuckle shaft  98 , which has left-hand and right-hand square threads on opposite ends. The middle of the turnbuckle shaft  98  has two radial passages  116  therethrough for inserting a tool for rotating the shaft. As with the header assembly, these passages could be replaced with a hex feature for turning the shaft with a wrench. Turning the shaft in one direction threads both ends of the turnbuckle shaft  98  into the nuts  100  to shorten the width of the curb assembly  26 ; turning it the opposite direction will drive the turnbuckle shaft  98  out of the nuts  100  so as to increase the width of the curb assembly  26 .  
         [0035]    The stiffening member  102  runs beneath the curb expansion assembly  96  and inner ends of the curb rails  86  and  88  where it engages the inner walls  110  to prevent bowing and flexing of the curb assembly  26 . The stiffening member  102  has a generally flat bottom  118  with front  120  and back  122  upright walls with downwardly and inwardly extending ends  124  and  126 , respectively, that clip around shoulder portions  128  of the inner walls  110  so that it can snap on to the ends of the curb rails  86  and  88 . The stiffening member  102  can slide with respect to the inner walls  110  (and thus the curb rails  86  and  88 ) as needed when the width of the curb assembly  26  is adjusted.  
         [0036]    The stiffening member  102 , curb expansion assembly  96  and inner ends of the curb rails  86  and  88  are covered by the center guide  94 . The center guide  94  has upright front  130  and rear  132  walls and a top  134  defining a pair of bottom tracks  136  and  138  for the door panels  20  and  22 , respectively. The front wall  130  has an inwardly directed rib  140  along its bottom edge sized to fit into a narrow channel  142  in the curb rails  86  and  88 .(see FIGS. 5 and 9). This allows the center guide  94  to be snapped onto the curb rails  86  and  88  over the curb expansion assembly  96 .  
         [0037]    Turning now to FIG. 3, the wall jambs  28  and  30  have spaced front  144  and rear  146  legs on each side of the cross-members  57 , so that they form an H-shaped cross-section. The legs  144  and  146  overlap the outer edges of the door panels  20  and  22  when they are closed to prevent water from splashing onto the floor. At the bottom of the wall jambs  28  and  30 , the legs  144  and  146  include a concave radius designed to accommodate the rounded, upwardly extending lips at the edges of conventional tubs. This eliminates the need to file or cut the jambs  28  and  30  during installation. Preferably, one or more bumpers  148  are fit between the legs  144  and  146  and secured to the cross-members  57  of the wall jambs  28  and  30  by suitable fasteners (not shown) to absorb the impact of the doors. To improve water barrier performance and increase rigidity, a suitable sealant, such as a silicon based caulk, can be applied along the bottom front edges of the curb rails  86  and  88  and the outer edges of the wall jambs  28  and  30  (and the upper front edge of the head rail  44  if applicable). Additionally, non-slip pads  90  and  92  are adhered to the cross-members  57  at the bottom of the wall jambs  28  and  30  adjacent the outer ends of the curb rails  86  and  88 .  
         [0038]    With reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, to install the door system  10  in a typical shower and tub enclosure  12 , each of the header  24  and curb  26  assemblies are first pre-assembled. This can be done at the installation site, however, preferably it is done at the factory so that the door system ships pre-assembled and ready for installation. In any event, the header assembly  24  is assembled by pressing the clamp  54  and nut  62  into the ends of the header rail  44  and the caps  58  and  60  are slid onto the ends. The header shaft  64  is threaded into the nut  62  and the clamp  66  is snapped onto the free end of the shaft  64 . The stiffening member  82  is than slid into the header rail  44  and fastened to the clamp  66 . The curb assembly  26  is assembled by threading the nuts  100  onto the turnbuckle shaft  98  and pressing the nuts  100  into the inner ends of the curb rails  86  and  88 . The stiffening member  102  is snapped onto the inner walls  110  of the curb rails  86  and  88  beneath the turnbuckle shaft  98 .  
         [0039]    After pre-assembly, the wall jambs  28  and  30  are set onto the front wall of the bath tub against the end walls  16  with the bumpers  148  and non-slip pads  90  and  92  already mounted to the cross-members  57 . The header  24  and curb  26  assemblies are then secured in place one at a time by tightening the shafts  64  and  98  by hand, or with a screwdriver fit through the radial passages therein. As the header assembly is expanded, the tabs of the header clamps are pressed against the wall jamb cross-members  57  and the non-slip pads  56  and  80  contact the end walls  16  and  18 . As the curb assembly is expanded, the outer ends of the curb rails  86  and  88  are pressed against the wall jambs with the pads  90  and  92  therebetween. Once sufficiently tightened, the assemblies will be held in place by compressive forces acting axially outward on the end walls  16  and  18 . In a preferred embodiment, the width of the door system can be adjusted roughly two to three inches so as to fit a range of enclosure openings.  
         [0040]    The caps can then be slid outward to cover the ends of the header assembly including the header expansion assembly and the center guide  94  can be snapped onto the curb rails over the curb expansion assembly. With the hanger assemblies  36  in place, the door panels  20  and  22  can be mounted in the tracks  40  and  42  from inside the enclosure. With both doors moved to one side of the opening, the center guide  94  can be slid beneath the doors and snapped onto the curb rails over the curb expansion assembly.  
         [0041]    Installation is then completed by attaching the towel racks  32  and  34  to the doors with the provided screws and by applying a bead of caulk (or other sealant) around the assembly where it meets the tub and walls of the enclosure.  
         [0042]    In one preferred embodiment, the header  44  and curb  86  and  88  rails and caps  58  and  60  as well as the stiffening members  82  and  102 , wall jambs  28  and  30 , door glides  36  and towel racks  32  and  34  are preferably extruded aluminum. The header clamps  54  and  66  as well as the header nut  62  and the curb nuts  100  are preferably a suitable plastic with low moisture absorption and capable of sustaining compressive loads, such as Noryl®. The header shaft  64  and the curb turnbuckle shaft  98  are preferably aluminum and the center guide  94  is preferably an ABS plastic with a brushed chrome electroplated finish. The door panels  20  and  22  are preferably a tempered glass. The slip resistant pads  56 ,  80 ,  90  and  92  are preferably an extruded rubber foam and the bumpers  148  are a clear PVC.  
         [0043]    The invention thus provides a door system that can be mounted over an opening in a bath and shower enclosure without damaging the mounting surfaces of the enclosure. The header and curb are mounted by rotating the shafts such that the header and curb expand outward and press against either the walls of the enclosure of the jambs. The door system can be mounted in enclosure openings of various widths. The threaded compression assemblies provide approximately three inches of width adjustment. Moreover, the shower door mounting system does not require the head or curb rails to be cut down for installation, thus simplifying installation and reducing errors. And, the header and curb assemblies can be secured to the enclosure with minimal or no tools.  
         [0044]    A preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in considerable detail. Many modifications and variations to the preferred embodiment will be apparent to those skilled in the art, which will be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention should not be limited to the described embodiment. To ascertain the full scope of the invention, the following claims should be referenced.  
       INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY  
       [0045]    The invention provides a non-destructive, compressive shower door mounting system.