Shower curtain liner assembly

Abstract

A shower curtain liner assembly with an easy to detach liner comprising a liner header, which attaches to a bar in a shower enclosure, a liner body which is easily attachable and detachable to the liner header, and attachment means to attach the liner body to the liner header and a plurality of shower curtain hooks which attach the liner header to the bar within the shower enclosure.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a shower curtain liner assembly which includes a liner body which is easily detachable.

(2) Description of the Prior Art

Devices to prevent the escape of water from a shower enclosure when a person takes a shower are well known in the art. Shower curtains are the most common of these devices and are usually hung on a shower enclosure rod within a shower stall. Hooks are normally used to hang shower curtains to the enclosure rod. The hooks tend to be cumbersome to install as they must be inserted in each hole of the shower curtain liner and around the rod. This process, in addition to being cumbersome, takes a good deal of time. A sanitation issue is present with use of shower curtains. Shower curtains are usually made of plastic and may accumulate mold, dirt and soap deposits with normal use. Because standard shower curtains are cumbersome to remove, cleaning and/or replacement can be a time consuming chore.

Disposable shower curtains are also well known in the art. Disposable shower curtains tend to be simple in design and material and do not have the aesthetic appeal of the standard shower curtains made in varied designs, colors, and in combination of fabrics.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a shower curtain assembly with a liner body, which is easy to attach or detach for cleaning or replacement purposes. There is also a need in the art for a shower curtain assembly with an easily detachable liner body, which can be aesthetically appealing with choices of design, color and use of fabric.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a shower curtain assembly with an easy to detach liner. The assembly comprises a liner header which attaches to a bar within the shower enclosure, a plurality of shower curtain hooks to attach the liner header to the bar, a liner body and attachment means to attach the liner body to the liner header. The shower curtain liner assembly is made in a plurality of different lengths and widths to fit within different sized shower enclosures.

The liner header is made of plastic liner material with a fabric layer on each side. The fabric layers and plastic layer may be sewn or bonded together. Bonding comprises the application of heat to the combined layers after glue has been placed between the layers. The liner header further includes holes to receive shower hooks and the holes are equally spaced apart for the width of the liner header. Grommets are mounted through both sides of the holes. The grommets may be made of metal or plastic. The liner header has a height of not greater than three inches and includes an attachment means on the bottom of the liner header. The liner header further includes fabric flaps, which are on both sides of the liner header. The fabric flaps extend below the attachment means, are a height of not greater than two inches and extend for the width of the liner header. The attachment means may be selected from the group consisting of zippers, snaps, hooks, and Velcro strips.

The liner body is made of plastic liner material and includes an attachment means on the top of the liner body. The attachment means may be selected from the group consisting of zippers, snaps, hooks and Velcro strips. The liner body may include an exterior fabric layer which may be sewn or bonded to the plastic liner body. Bonding comprises placing glue between the plastic and fabric layer and applying heat to the layers.

Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a shower curtain liner assembly with an easily detachable and attachable liner body for cleaning purposes without removing the entire assembly from the shower enclosure.

Another aspect of the invention is to permit the assembly user to easily changer liner bodies to change colors, or design of the liner body for aesthetic purposes.

These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a reading of the following description of the preferred embodiment when considered with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a frontal view of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a frontal view depicting the liner header and liner body partially attached; and

FIG. 3 is a front view of the liner assembly indicating the placement of the header flaps according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views. Also in the following description, it is to be understood that such terms as “forward,” “rearward,” “left,” “right,” “upwardly,” “downwardly,” and the like are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms.

Referring now to the drawings in general and FIGS. 1-3, it will be understood that the illustrations are for the purpose of describing a preferred embodiment of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention thereto.

As seen in FIGS. 1-3, the shower curtain linter assembly 12 fits within a shower enclosure 10. The shower curtain liner assembly 12 includes a liner header 16 and a liner body 34, which are easily attached and detached by attachment means 28/36. The shower curtain liner assembly 12 further includes a plurality of shower hooks 18 utilized to attach the shower curtain liner assembly 12 to a shower enclosure bar 14 within the shower enclosure 10. The shower hooks 18 may be made of plastic or metal and may be constructed in various shapes, sizes and colors. Shower hooks 18 are well known in the art and are readily available in the marketplace.

Again referring to FIGS. 1-3, the liner header 16 is made of plastic liner material with a fabric layer affixed to either side. The plastic layer and fabric layers may be sewn together. These layers may also be bonded together by placing glue between the layers and applying heat to bond the layers together. The liner header 16 has holes 24 which are spaced equally across the width of the liner header 16. Grommets 26 are mounted in the holes 24 through both sides of the liner header 16. The grommets 26 may be made of plastic or metal and be of a variety of colors. The shower curtain hooks 18 are placed in the holes 24 in the liner header 16 and are attached to the shower enclosure bar 14, thereby keeping the shower curtain assembly 12 in place within the shower enclosure 10. The grommets 26 are used to reinforce the holes 24 to prevent the shower curtain hooks 18 from tearing the material when the shower curtain liner assembly 12 is in place. The liner header 16 has a height of not greater than three inches. The liner header 16 has fabric flaps 32 on either side of the header liner 16. The fabric flaps 32 are of a height of not greater than two inches and extend for the entire width of the header liner 16. The fabric flaps 32 cover the attachment means 28/36 on the header liner 16 and liner body 34 to provide a more aesthetically pleasing shower curtain liner assembly 12.

Again referring to FIGS. 1-3, the liner body 34 is made of a thin layer of plastic liner material and includes an attachment means 36 at the top of the liner body 34. The liner body 36 may also have an exterior fabric layer. The fabric layer and plastic layer may be sewn or bonded together. The liner body 34 may be of varying lengths and widths to fit within different sized shower enclosures.

Referring to FIG. 2, the attachment means 28/36 is depicted in a partially closed position. Attachment means 28/36 are located at the bottom of the liner header 16 and the top of the liner body 34. The attachment means 28/36 may be selected from the group consisting of zippers, snaps, hooks and Velcro straps. A zipper is used as the attachment means in the preferred embodiment. The zipper of the preferred embodiment provides the user with the ability to easily remove or attach the liner body 34 to the liner header 16. Because the liner body 34 is easy to remove, it can be cleaned regularly and easily re-attached to the liner header 16. The liner body 34 may be easily replaced to change colors or designs for aesthetic purposes or to simply and easily replace a worn liner body 34.

It should be understood that all such modifications and improvements have been deleted herein for the sake of conciseness and readability but are properly within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A shower curtain liner assembly with an easy to detach liner comprising:

a liner header which attaches to a bar in a shower enclosure;

a plurality of shower curtain hooks to attach said liner header to the bar in said shower enclosure;

a liner body; and

an attachment means to attach said liner body to said liner header.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liner header is made of a plastic liner material with a fabric layer on each side.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said plastic layers and fabric layers may be sewn together.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said plastic layers and fabric layers may be bonded together

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said bonding comprises placing glue between the plastic and fabric layers and applying heat to said layers.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liner header further includes holes to receive shower hooks.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said holes are equally spaced apart for the width of said liner header.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein grommets are mounted in the holes of said liner header.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said grommets are mounted through both sides of said liner header.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said grommets may be made of metal.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said grommets may be made of plastic.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liner header has a height of not greater than three inches.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liner header further includes an attachment means on the bottom of said liner header.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liner header further includes fabric flaps extending below the bottom of said liner header.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said fabric flaps are on both sides of said liner header.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said fabric flaps may be of a height not greater than 2 inches and extend for the width of said liner header.

17. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said attachment means may be selected from the group consisting of zippers, snaps, hooks and Velcro strips.

18. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liner body is made of plastic liner material.

19. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liner body further includes an attachment means on the top of said liner body.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said attachments may be selected from the group consisting of zippers, snaps, hooks and Velcro straps.

21. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said plastic liner body may have an exterior fabric layer.

22. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said fabric layer may be sewn to said plastic liner body.

23. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said fabric layer may be bonded to said plastic liner.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said bonding comprises placing glue between the plastic an fabric layers and applying heat to said layers.

25. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said shower curtain liner assembly is made in a plurality of different lengths and widths to fit within different sized shower enclosures.

26. A method to install a shower curtain liner assembly with an easy to detach liner comprising:

procure a shower curtain liner assembly with an easy to detach liner;

attach shower curtain hooks through grommets of a liner header;

attach shower curtain hooks with liner header to a bar in a shower enclosure; and

attach a liner body to the liner header utilizing an attachment means.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the attachment means is selected from the group consisting of zippers, snaps, hooks and Velcro strips.