SHOWER DOOR GUIDE ASSEMBLY

Various embodiments relate to shower door guide assemblies.

Bypassing glass panels for prior art shower doors are often hung from a supporting cross member within a shower or tub environment. The positioning and support for this crossbeam can be achieved through a variety of methods. In some existing designs, the crossbeam is both positioned and supported at its ends by vertically aligned side supports which are attached to the vertical walls of the bath enclosure, typically a plastic tub surround or ceramic tile. In other existing designs, the crossbeam is both positioned and supported at its ends by cleats which are independently positioned and secured to the vertical walls of the bath enclosure. The crossbeam then hangs on these cleats and is often secured in place through screws which either penetrate or press against the cleat fixtures. In other existing designs, the crossbeam is supported at its ends by collars which are independently positioned and secured to the vertical walls of the bath enclosure. In these designs, the crossbeam is contained within the collars, which are inserted onto the crossbeam prior to attaching these units to the vertical walls.

According to at least one embodiment, a shower door guide assembly is provided with a pair of spaced apart brackets. Each bracket is adapted to be mounted to a support surface. Each bracket has a receptacle formed therein. A crossbeam is provided with a guide formed therein for cooperation with a roller assembly of a door. The crossbeam has a cross-section sized so that terminal ends of the crossbeam are each received in one the receptacles of the pair of brackets for pivoting about a lengthwise axis of crossbeam and translation in the receptacle during installation of the crossbeam terminal ends into receptacles of the pair of brackets.

According to at least another embodiment, a shower door assembly is provided with a shower door guide assembly with a pair of spaced apart brackets. Each bracket is adapted to be mounted to a support surface. Each bracket has a receptacle formed therein. A crossbeam is provided with a guide formed therein for cooperation with a roller assembly of a door. The crossbeam has a cross-section sized so that terminal ends of the crossbeam are each received in one the receptacles of the pair of brackets for pivoting about a lengthwise axis of crossbeam and translation in the receptacle during installation of the crossbeam terminal ends into receptacles of the pair of brackets. At least one shower door is provided. A roller assembly is mounted to the at least one shower door for cooperation with the guide of the crossbeam.

According to another embodiment, a shower assembly is provided with a shower unit. A shower door assembly is provided with a shower door guide assembly with a pair of spaced apart brackets. Each bracket is adapted to be mounted to a support surface of the shower unit. Each bracket has a receptacle formed therein. A crossbeam is provided with a guide formed therein for cooperation with a roller assembly of a door. The crossbeam has a cross-section sized so that terminal ends of the crossbeam are each received in one the receptacles of the pair of brackets for pivoting about a lengthwise axis of crossbeam and translation in the receptacle during installation of the crossbeam terminal ends into receptacles of the pair of brackets. At least one shower door is provided. A roller assembly is mounted to the at least one shower door for cooperation with the guide of the crossbeam.

A method of installing a shower door guide assembly includes providing a shower door guide assembly with a pair of spaced apart brackets that are adapted to be mounted to a support surface. Each bracket has a receptacle formed therein. A crossbeam is provided with a guide formed therein for cooperation with a roller assembly of a door. The crossbeam has a cross-section sized so that terminal ends of the crossbeam are each received in one the receptacles of the pair of brackets for pivoting about a lengthwise axis of crossbeam and translation in the receptacle during installation of the crossbeam terminal ends into receptacles of the pair of brackets. The pair of brackets is installed to the support surfaces. The terminal ends of the crossbeam are inserted into the receptacles. The crossbeam is translated while pivoted into the receptacles.

According to at least another embodiment, a shower door guide assembly is provided with a pair of spaced apart brackets. Each bracket is adapted to be mounted to a support surface. Each bracket has a receptacle formed therein. A crossbeam is provided with a guide formed therein for cooperation with a roller assembly of a door. The crossbeam has a cross-section sized so that terminal ends of the crossbeam are each received in one the receptacles of the pair of brackets. The receptacles and the crossbeam are sized so that each terminal end of the crossbeam can be received in only one receptacle at only one orientation of the installed crossbeam to prevent improper installation.

According to at least another embodiment, a shower door guide assembly is provided with a pair of wall jambs each adapted to be mounted to a support surface. A pair of spaced apart brackets is adapted to be mounted to the support surfaces. Each bracket has a receptacle formed therein. An alignment configuration extends from each bracket to engage one of the pair of wall jambs for alignment of the pair of brackets relative to the pair of wall jambs. A crossbeam has a guide formed therein for cooperation with a roller assembly of a door. The crossbeam has a cross-section sized so that terminal ends of the crossbeam are each received in one the receptacles of the pair of brackets.

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

With reference now to FIG. 1, a shower assembly is illustrated and reference generally by numeral 30. The shower assembly 30 includes a shower tray 32 and a shower surround unit 34 that collectively define a shower space. A shower door assembly 36 encloses one side of the shower space by cooperating with the shower tray 32 and the shower surround unit 34. The shower door assembly 36 includes a shower door guide assembly 38 for supporting a pair of bypassing shower doors 40, 42 for sliding along the shower door guide assembly 38 for opening and closing an entrance to the shower space.

FIG. 2 illustrates another shower assembly 44 according to another embodiment, with a bathtub 46 and a bathtub shower surround unit 48. A shower door assembly 50 is provided similar to the prior embodiment. The shower door assembly 50 includes the shower door guide assembly 38 with a pair of shower doors 52, 54 that are sized to engage the bathtub 46 and bathtub shower surround unit 48.

FIG. 3 illustrates the shower door assembly 36 exploded for illustration of various components. A bottom track rail 56 (FIGS. 3 and 4) is mounted to the shower tray 32. A bottom track guide 58 is mounted to the bottom track rail 56 for lower guidance of the shower doors 40, 42. A pair of wall jambs 60 (FIGS. 3 and 5) are fastened to the shower surround unit 34. A pair of seals 61 (FIGS. 3 and 6) are provided for the shower door 40.

FIG. 3 depicts that the shower door guide assembly 38 includes a pair of brackets 62, 64 for supporting a crossbeam 66 (FIGS. 3 and 7) upon which the glass panel shower doors 40, 42 are hung and supported. As will be explained, the geometric interactions of these system components are designed to provide a method of positioning and securing the crossbeam 66 creating a convenient user experience when installing the shower doors 40, 42. In comparison to the prior art, the shower door guide assembly 38 permits the user to support and secure the crossbeam 66 utilizing an open cleat design which provides the user secure locations to place the crossbeam 66 into pre-positioned brackets 62, 64.

FIG. 8 illustrates one of the brackets 64 enlarged and in greater detail. Although only one bracket 64 is depicted in FIG. 8, the other bracket 62 is similar and a mirror image of the depicted bracket 64 for cooperating with an opposite terminal end of the crossbeam 66. The bracket 64 includes a body 68 with a pair of counter-bored apertures 70 for receiving fasteners to fasten the bracket 64 directly to a support surface, such as sidewall of the shower surround unit 34, a bathtub shower surround unit 48, a ceramic-tiled wall or any suitable support surface in a shower unit. Likewise, the other bracket 62 is mounted to a parallel vertical support surface. By fastening the brackets 62, 64 directly to support surfaces, the brackets 62, 64 support the load of the shower door guide assembly 38 and the shower doors 40, 42 without distributing the load to the wall jambs 60 as is common in the prior art.

With continued reference to FIG. 8, the bracket 64 includes an alignment extension 72 extending from the body 68 with a pilot 74 projecting downward from the extension. The pilot 74 is sized to be received in a cavity 76 formed in the wall jambs 60 as illustrated in FIG. 5. The cooperation of the brackets 62, 64 with the wall jambs 60 does not distribute the load of the shower door guide assembly 38 and shower doors 40, 42 due to the fastened connection of the body 68 to the support surface. The cooperation of the brackets 62, 64 with the wall jambs 60 provides alignment for installation of the brackets 62, 64. This alignment prevents separate measurement for the locations of the brackets 62, 64, which may result in misalignment and inconveniences associated with prior art systems while improving structural integrity over the prior art systems.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the bracket 64 includes a receptacle 78 formed therein with an opening 80 for receipt of one of the terminal ends of the crossbeam 66. Both brackets 62, 64 are installed with corresponding openings 80 of the receptacles 78 facing each other for collectively receiving and supporting both terminal ends of the crossbeam 66 in the receptacles 78. The mounting apertures 70 are conveniently located with counterbores in the receptacle 78 for concealment by the crossbeam 66 upon installation of the crossbeam 66. In other words, the receptacles 78 of the brackets 62, 64 are aligned in a lengthwise direction of the crossbeam 66.

The bracket 64 also includes an ingress opening 82 formed into the body 68 generally perpendicular to a lengthwise direction of the crossbeam. The ingress opening 82 intersects the receptacle 78 and the receptacle opening 80 to permit the crossbeam 66 to pass into the receptacle 78 after the brackets 62, 64 are installed.

FIG. 9 illustrates the bracket 64 with the introduction of the crossbeam 66 for installation into the brackets 62, 64. The crossbeam 66 has a generally consistent cross-section along its length for cooperation with both brackets 62, 64. The crossbeam 66 includes at least one guide formed therein. For the bypassing shower doors 40, 42 of the described embodiment, the crossbeam 66 includes a pair of guides. For example, a concave guide or track 84 is formed in the crossbeam 66 for receipt of a lower roller assembly 86 of the shower door 42. (The lower roller assembly 86 is illustrated in FIG. 3). By way of another example a convex guide or rail 88 is provided on an upper end of the crossbeam 66 to support an upper concave roller assembly 90 of the shower door 40. (The upper roller assembly 90 is also illustrated in FIG. 3).

The crossbeam 66 is illustrated partially pivoted in FIG. 9 about a lengthwise axis for alignment with the ingress opening 82. FIG. 10 illustrates the lower end of the crossbeam 66 further translated for insertion through the ingress opening 82 into the receptacle 78. FIG. 11 illustrates the lower end of the crossbeam 66 further translated into the receptacle 78 as the crossbeam is pivoted partially towards vertical for alignment in the receptacle 78 and further translation through the ingress opening 82. FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate the crossbeam 66 fully translated into the receptacle 78. At this orientation, the crossbeam 66 is pivoted to an upright orientation.

FIGS. 12 and 13 also illustrate a retainer 92 that is shaped to match an outer profile of the bracket body 68. The retainer 92 includes a pair of keys 94 oriented in the lengthwise direction of the crossbeam 66. Likewise a pair of keyways 96 is formed in the bracket body 68 at the ingress opening 82. The retainer 92 includes an inner profile 98 that is formed consistent with the receptacle 78. As illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13, the retainer keys 94 are inserted into the keyways 96 to enclose and block the egress opening 82 to retain the crossbeam 66 in the receptacle 78 to prevent inadvertent disassembly. A fastener 100 is installed into the retainer 92 in engagement with an aperture 101 in the bracket body 68 to secure the retainer 92 in the installed position of FIG. 14. Additionally, the assembly steps can be reversed for disassembly of the shower door assembly 36.

With continued reference to FIG. 14, the receptacle 78 includes a lower contact region 102, a pair of lateral side contact regions 104, 106, and an upper contact region 108 for contacting the installed crossbeam 66. A clearance region 110 is also provided to permit clearance for pivoting and translation of the crossbeam during installation and disassembly. The ingress opening 82 is formed through the upper contact region 108 and the lateral side contact region 104 thereby prescribing the pivoting while translating installation of crossbeam 66. This arrangement does not permit a vertical drop-in of the crossbeam 66 as in the prior art. The pivoted and translated installation requires an abnormal application of motion in order to disassemble the crossbeam 66. Additionally, by retaining the crossbeam 66 with the upper contact region 108, the crossbeam 66 is retained by the bracket 64 and then locked by the retainer 92.

Once the shower doors 40, 42 are installed to the crossbeam 66, a load is applied to crossbeam 66 between the brackets 62, 64. This loading causes a downward deflection upon the center of the crossbeam 66 with a resultant upward deflection at the terminal ends of the crossbeam 66. The resultant upward deflection is constrained by the upper contact region 108. By minimizing deflection at the terminal ends, the causal deflection along the length of the crossbeam 66 is also minimized.

According to one embodiment, the receptacles 78 and the crossbeam 66 are sized and shaped so that each terminal end of the crossbeam 66 can be received in only one receptacle 78 of the brackets 62, 64. This feature prevents improper installation of the crossbeam 66 into the brackets 62, 64.

In order to prevent improper installation of the crossbeam 66, the lateral side regions 104, 106 of the receptacle 78 are formed with different shapes. For example, the lateral side region 104 adjacent the ingress opening 82 is generally flat, while the other lateral side region 106 is generally curved. The crossbeam 66 includes a pair of corresponding contact surfaces 112, 114, which are formed flat and curved respectively to mate with the corresponding receptacle regions 104, 106.

FIGS. 15-17 illustrate the installation of the shower door 42 to the shower door guide assembly 38. The shower door 42 is inserted into the bottom track guide 58. Then the lower roller assembly 86 is inserted into the track 84 of the crossbeam 66.

FIGS. 18 and 19 illustrate the installation of the shower door 40 to the shower door guide assembly 38. The shower door 40 is inserted into the bottom track guide 58. Then the upper roller assembly 90 is placed upon the rail 88 of the crossbeam 66.

While various embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.