Adjustable shower caddy

Abstract

A shower caddy is made up of a hanger section which is mounted within a shower stall to extend downwardly and has parallel transversely spaced legs which are telescopically engaged with corresponding legs on an extension member with adjustable stops such that the extension member can be selectively moved up and/or down to be placed at desired elevations.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed toward shower caddies which extend downward along or parallel to a wall of a shower stall and which contain shelves or hooks or similar members for holding accessories normally used in a shower stall. More particularly, the invention is aimed at providing a vertically adjustable shower caddy whereby the shelves or hooks or the like can be selectively placed at different heights or elevations to accommodate the height of the user of the shower and/or provide suitable distance between shelves on the shower caddy to accommodate different sized containers or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,351 by Zadro illustrates a shower caddy which is supported by the shower head pipe and hangs down therefrom and has shelves and other items which are attached to the descending legs or stanchions by tubular members which are welded to the back of the shelves with appropriate thumb screws used for selectively sliding the shelves on the descending legs to appropriate or selected locations. This design appears to be somewhat awkward and can result in the shelves being skewed or slanted.

U.S. publication 2005/0072748 dated Apr. 7, 2005 by Shai also illustrates a pair of transversely spaced legs or stanchions with a set of shelves coupled thereto by rubber O-rings to stop the shelves from sliding down the vertically oriented legs. No mention is made nor is there any suggestion about selectively adjusting the location or height of the shelves but even if, speculatively, they can be, it is questionable how reliable it would be considering the amount of water and soap, shampoo, etc. that would be used frequently in the shower.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The shower caddy of the present invention comprises two members, a hanger member which has an upper end and two transversely spaced rigid parallel downward extending legs and an extension member having a pair of transversely spaced rigid legs with at least one shelf attached between its legs with the hanger and extension member legs slidably engaged or telescoped with one another so that the extension member can be selectively adjusted vertically to different heights. Means are provided to releasably latch the extension member with respect to the hanger member to suitably position the shelf on the extension member to accommodate the height of the person using the shower and to accommodate the height of containers which are commonly found in a shower stall on the shelf such as containers for shampoo, liquid soap, etc. In one form the hanger and extension legs are generally U-shaped channels slidably engaged with one another and in another form the telescopically engaged legs are cylindrical or tubular.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an embodiment of the invention as it would normally appear in use;

FIG. 2 is a break-apart back or rear perspective view illustrating the telescopic arrangement of the two sections of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a latching mechanism for use in an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 illustrating in part an embodiment wherein the telescoped legs are tubular;

FIG. 5 is an alternate embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates the hanger section of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 illustrates the extension section of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring initially to FIGS. 1-4, a shower caddy 10 comprises an upper or hanger member 11 having a pair of transversely spaced vertical rigid legs 11A and 11B joined together at one end which, in use, is referred to as the upper end, by a rigid arch 12, preferably an arcuately-shaped arch. One way in which the caddy is mounted so that it will hang down along a wall of the shower stall is by virtue of a cutout or recess 13 on arch 12 for engaging and resting on a pipe, not shown, for a showerhead, not shown. Typically hanger member 11 may have a shelf 16 attached between parallel transversely spaced legs 11A and 11B on which shower paraphernalia, such as soap, shampoo, lotion, etc. (not shown) rests for use by the person using the shower. Typically, with no limitation thereto intended, shelf 16 is fixedly attached to legs 11A and 11B. The manner in which the shelf 16 is attached to hanger 11 is not considered to be an essential element of the instant invention but after it is attached, it is considered to be a permanent attachment, not adjustable with respect to legs 1 1A and 1 1B.

Coupled to hanger member 11 at its open or lower end is an extension member generally designated by reference numeral 18. Extension member 18 comprises a pair of transversely spaced parallel rigid legs 18A and 18B with at least one shelf 19 fixedly held between legs 18A and 18B. For illustrative purposes, no limitation intended, the embodiments illustrated in the drawings show the hanger element as having a pair of shelves 19. Typically at the lower end a set of hooks 20 may be attached to extension member 18.

As seen most clearly in the break-apart views in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, hanger member 11 and extension member 18 are designed so that the respective legs 11A and 11B and 18A and 18B are telescopically or slidably engaged with one another. This permits extension member 18 to be adjustable with respect to hanger member 11 to place the shelves 19 or any other element contained on the extension member at different elevations or heights. This is especially handy when the shower is being used. In this fashion the shower caddy can be adjusted to accommodate the height of the user and/or to accommodate the size of any container or other article for use in the shower. In FIGS. 2 and 3 legs 18A and 18B and 11A and 11B are shown as channels which are U-shaped in cross section for slidable engagement with one another. FIG. 4 illustrates the corresponding legs 1 1A, 1 1B and 18A and 18B as tubular or cylindrical construction for slidable telescopic engagement.

A mechanism for locking the hanger and extension members at various locations is illustrated in greater detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. A series of detent openings 21 may be formed on the outwardly facing wall of leg 18A on extension member 18 and an outwardly biased resilient stop member 22 is integrally formed with leg 11A on hanger 11. Conventionally, as the two sets of legs are engaged and slidably moved with respect to one another when stop member 22 reaches one of the detent openings 21 it springs outward to engage the opening 21 to stop the further sliding movement between the two sections and to hold them secured at that position or location. To release the locking mechanism stop member 22 is depressed far enough to allow the edge of the opening 21 to slide over stop member 22 so that extension member 18 can then be slidably moved to another location or height.

Preferably the caddy members are made out of a suitable molded or extruded plastic although they may be made out of a suitable, preferably lightweight, metal such as aluminum or stainless steel.

The adjustable caddy illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 is very similar to the caddy illustrated in FIGS. 14 so the same reference numerals are used in FIGS. 5-7. The caddy 10 which is illustrated in FIGS. 14 has the legs 1 1A and 11B of hanger member 11 telescoped within the corresponding legs 18A and 18B of extension member 18, i.e., legs 1 1A and 11B are the inner legs and legs 18A and 18B are the outer legs. The caddy 10 illustrated in FIGS. 5-7 has the respective legs reversed, i.e., extension legs 18A and 18B are telescoped within legs 11A and 11B so that the latter are the outer legs and the former are the inner legs in the telescopic arrangement. Correspondingly, stop member 22 is located on a leg of the extension member 18 and the corresponding detent openings 21 are located on a leg of hanger member 11.

Claims

1. An adjustable shower caddy comprising:

a) a hanger member comprising a pair of rigid laterally-spaced elongated parallel legs joined together at one end by an arch;

b) means on said arch for engaging and resting on a shower head pipe, said legs thereby extending downward from said arch;

c) an extension member comprising a pair of rigid laterally-spaced elongated parallel legs with a shelf attached between said legs;

d) said extension member legs telescopically engaged with said hanger member legs for selectively moving said extension member vertically; and

e) a latch mechanism releasably locking said extension member to said hanger member at different elevated locations.

2. An adjustable shower caddy as described in claim 1 wherein said hanger member legs and said extension member legs are tubular.

3. An adjustable shower caddy as described in claim 1 wherein said hanger member legs and said extension member legs are U-shaped channels in cross-section.

4. An adjustable shower caddy as described in claim 1 wherein said latch mechanism comprises a series of detent openings longitudinally spaced on a leg and a stop member in the telescopically engaged other leg biased to engage said detent openings, said stop member selectively manually adjustable for disengaging the stop member from the detent opening.

5. An adjustable shower caddy as described in claim 1 wherein said hanger member and said extension member are made out of a suitable plastic.

6. An adjustable shower caddy comprising:

a) a hanger member having a pair of rigid laterally-spaced elongated parallel legs joined together at one end said hanger member adaptable for mounting in a shower stall to hang downward from said one end;

b) an extension member comprising a pair of rigid laterally-spaced elongated parallel legs with a shelf attached between said legs;

c) said extension member legs telescopically engaged with said hanger member legs for selectively moving said extension member vertically; and

d) a latch mechanism releasably locking said extension member to said hanger member at different elevated locations.

7. An adjustable shower caddy as described in claim 6 wherein said hanger member legs and said extension member legs are tubular.

8. An adjustable shower caddy as described in claim 6 wherein said hanger member legs and said extension member legs are U-shaped channels in cross-section.

9. An adjustable shower caddy as described in claim 6 wherein said latch mechanism comprises a series of detent openings longitudinally spaced on a leg and a stop member in the telescopically engaged other leg biased to engage said detent openings, said stop member selectively manually adjustable for disengaging the stop member from the detent opening.

10. An adjustable shower caddy as described in claim 6 wherein the extension member legs are telescopically engaged within the hanger member legs.

11. An adjustable shower caddy as described in claim 6 wherein the hanger member legs are telescopically engaged within the extension member legs.