Wall Mounted Shower Rack
A shower rack fastened on the wall above the shower enclosure for more secure mounting that can allow a second shower rack to mount below the wall mounted shower rack. Accordingly, a shower rack that can be disassembled and can be transported with a mostly flat package and can be assembled without the need for tools.
Currently there are a lot of commercially available shower organizers or shower racks. Shower racks hold things like shampoo bottle, conditioner bottle, skin scrubber, shaver or soap that are usually needed while taking a shower in an enclosure. Most shower enclosures are made of fiberglass or tiles for waterproof purposes. Hence, securely mounting the shower rack in the shower enclosure is not as simple as drilling a hole or fastening the shower rack with a screw or nail. Drilling a hole in tile or fiberglass materials for screws or hammering nails is not ideal since the hole will be hard to cover up once the hole is no longer needed and it might make the waterproof material less waterproof. That is why most shower racks are either hung on the shower head pipe, mounted using suction cups, mounted using adhesive strips or mounted using a pole extending from the ceiling to the shower floor. These types of mountings are loosely attached and are not as secure as nailing or screwing to the wall.
There are a lot of patents that describes different types of shower racks with different ways of mounting in the shower enclosure. An example of this is the shower shelf described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,811 which shows a shower rack that hangs from the shower pipe. Another one is U.S. Pat. No. 7,931,161 which describes a wall organizer for the shower that is attached to the wall via adhesive strips. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,938,279, a wall hanging bathroom organizer is described that is mounted using over the wall hooks. Lastly, in U.S. Pat. No. 9,107,495, it describes an adjustable pole caddy which is just a shower rack that stays in place using a pole that extends from the shower floor to the ceiling. These are just some of the many patents that list different mounting options for shower racks.
Unlike the present invention some of the current shower racks are usually rigidly assembled so they are bulky for transport and shipping. Not all are also as expandable and cannot easily add an additional rack to increase the holding capacity with using just one set of mounting.
SUMMARYIn accordance with the present invention, a shower rack for holding items in a shower enclosure with a secure way of mounting to the wall above the shower enclosure, with an option to mount another shower rack below the wall mounted shower rack, having a generally flat shape when disassembled for easier transport and can easily be assembled without tools.
Objects and AdvantagesAccordingly, it is the object of this invention to provide a shower rack that is securely mounted on the wall above the shower enclosure.
Another object of this invention is to make an easy to expand shower rack that can increase in holding capacity using just one set of shower rack wall mounting.
Yet another object of this invention is to have a shower rack with a generally flat package size when disassembled to lower transport cost and at the same time to have an easy to assemble shower rack that can be assembled without the need for tools or fasteners.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred and an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
In
Thus, the descriptions above provide a shower rack that is more securely mounted than the prior art. By mounting using conventional fasteners to a wall above the shower enclosure and further affixed by suction cups it is more securely mounted as compared to mounting via suction cups only, mounting on the shower pipe, mounting via adhesive strips or mounting via a floor to ceiling pole. It can be assembled without tools by connecting the parts using matching holes, grooves and protrusion with tight fit connections and can be disassembled flat for easier transport and for lower shipping cost. A second rack can be mounted at the bottom of a first wall mounted shower rack to increase the capacity without having to mount the second shower rack to the wall.
Several versions of the wall mounting and affixing mechanisms along the extended member were shown but the present invention is not limited to those versions and they are just examples of different ways of hanging and locating a vertical frame member to a wall mount as described in the present invention. The members and components of the shower rack were also shown in the preferred and alternative embodiment as having a tight fit connection to allow assembly and disassembly but the present invention's parts and components are not limited to that arrangement and can already be permanently connected as one big piece while still having vertical frame sections and horizontal platform sections. The tight fit connection between the components can also be substituted by fastened connections, while the hooks or loops described in the present invention can also be substituted with clamps, clips, hook and eye, fasteners, clasps, or similar connection mechanisms.
Claims
1. A shower rack for holding items used in a shower enclosure comprising:
- a. at least one wall mounting plate, each having at least one hole for fastening to a wall above said shower enclosure
- b. attached to each wall mounting plate is an extended mounting member that will be extending away from said wall when said wall mounting plate is fastened to said wall
- c. at least one horizontal platform for holding said items used in a shower enclosure
- d. at least one vertical frame member supporting said at least one horizontal platform and each having a connecting means for attaching to said extended mounting member
- e. and at least one locating means for adjustable placement of said connecting means on said vertical frame member along the length of said extended mounting member to allow said vertical frame member to be located closer to or farther away from the wall to adjust to the thickness of the shower enclosure.
2. The shower rack in claim 1 further comprising at least one attachment means for attaching at least one suction cup to provide additional affixing of said shower rack onto said shower enclosure
3. The shower rack in claim 1 further comprising at least one bottom mounting means compatible with said connecting means on said at least one vertical frame member whereby one of said shower rack can be mounted on said wall above said shower enclosure and said connecting means of said at least one vertical frame member of another of said shower rack can be mounted to said at least one bottom mounting means of said wall mounted shower rack to expand the item holding capacity using only one set of wall mounting.
4. The shower rack in claim 1 wherein said connecting means on said at least one vertical frame member is either a loop or a hook and said shower rack further comprising at least one bottom hook that said loop or hook on said at least one vertical frame member can attach to whereby one of said shower rack can be mounted on said wall above said shower enclosure and said loop or hook of said at least one vertical frame member of another of said shower rack can be mounted on said at least one bottom hook on said wall mounted shower rack to expand the item holding capacity using only one set of wall mounting.
5. The shower rack in claim 1 wherein said at least one horizontal platform and said at least one vertical frame member attaches to each other using a plurality of matching grooves, protrusions or holes on said at least one horizontal platform and on said at least one vertical frame member such that said shower rack can be assembled and disassembled without tools.
6. The shower rack in claim 1 wherein said at least one horizontal platform and said at least one vertical frame member are both generally flat and removably attached to each other such that said shower rack can be disassembled and transported in a relatively flat package.
7. The shower rack in claim 1 wherein said at least one vertical frame member connecting means is a hook or a loop and said locating means are teeth on said extended mounting member with gaps between said teeth to restrain said hook or loop when said hook or loop is seated in one of said gaps between said teeth.
8. The shower rack in claim 1 wherein said locating means are holes along said extended mounting member and a pin that can be inserted in said holes along said extended mounting member and said vertical frame member connecting means is a hook or loop with a hole that said pin can also be inserted into such that said pin can fix said hook or loop along said extended mounting member by inserting said pin through said hole on said hook or loop and through one of said holes on said extended mounting member.
9. The shower rack in claim 1 wherein said vertical frame member connecting means is a hook or loop and said locating means is a threaded hole and a set screw on said hook or loop to fix the location of said hook or loop along said extended mounting member by tightening said set screw.
10. A shower rack for holding items used in a shower enclosure comprising:
- a. at least one wall mounting member, each comprising a flat plate with at least one hole to allow fastening to a wall above said shower enclosure and an extended mounting member with teeth and having gaps between said teeth
- b. at least one horizontal platform for supporting said items used in a shower enclosure
- c. at least one vertical frame member to support said at least one horizontal platform, each vertical frame member having a hook or loop that can hang on said extended mounting member and sit into any of said gaps between said teeth along said extended mounting member thereby allowing the variable mounting of said at least one vertical frame member along the length of said at least one extended mounting member to be able to adjust to different shower enclosures with varying thickness.
11. The shower rack in claim 10 further comprising at least one attachment means for attaching at least one suction cup to provide additional affixing of said shower rack onto said shower enclosure
12. The shower rack in claim 10 further comprising at least one bottom hook at the bottom of said shower rack compatible with said hook or loop on said at least one vertical frame member such that one of said shower rack can be mounted on said wall above said shower enclosure and said loop or hook of said at least one vertical frame member of another of said shower rack can be mounted on said at least one bottom hook of said wall mounted shower rack to extend the item holding capacity using only one set of wall mounting.
13. The shower rack in claim 10 wherein said at least one horizontal platform and said at least one vertical frame member attaches to each other using a plurality of matching grooves, protrusions or holes on said at least one horizontal platform and on said at least one vertical frame member such that said shower rack can be assembled and disassembled without tools.
14. The shower rack in claim 10 wherein said at least one horizontal platform and said at least one vertical frame member are both generally flat and removably attached to each other such that said shower rack can be disassembled and transported in a relatively flat package.
15. A shower rack for holding items used in a shower enclosure comprising:
- a. at least one wall mounting plate, each having at least one hole for fastening to a wall above said shower enclosure
- b. attached to each wall mounting plate is an extended mounting member that will be extending away from said wall when said wall mounting plate is fastened to said wall
- c. at least one horizontal platform for holding said items used in a shower enclosure
- d. at least one vertical frame member supporting said at least one horizontal platform and having an affixing means for variably attaching along the length of said extended mounting member to allow hanging of said vertical frame member closer to or away from the shower encloser to clear the shower enclosure.
16. The shower rack in claim 15 further comprising at least one bottom mounting means compatible with said affixing means on said vertical frame member whereby one of said shower rack can be mounted on said wall above said shower enclosure and said affixing means on said at least one vertical frame member of another of said shower rack can be mounted to said at least one bottom mounting means on said wall mounted shower rack to extend the item holding capacity using one set of wall mounting.
17. The shower rack in claim 15 wherein said affixing means for attaching said vertical frame member to said extended mounting member is a top loop or top hook and said shower rack further comprising a least one bottom hook such that one of said shower rack can be mounted on said wall and said top loop or top hook of said at least one vertical frame member of another of said shower rack can be mounted on said bottom hook of said wail mounted shower rack to extend the item holding capacity using one set of wall mounting.
18. The shower rack in claim 15 wherein said affixing means for attaching said vertical frame member to said extended mounting member is a loop or hook that has a tight fit with said extended mounting member keeping it stationary along the length of said extended mounting member.
19. The shower rack in claim 15 wherein said affixing means for attaching said vertical frame member to said extended mounting member is a loop or hook and wherein said extended mounting member is angled upward from said wall mounting plate and said loop or hook can slide on said extending mounting member such that the weight of said shower rack and the contents of said shower rack will pull and slide said loop or hook downwards along said angled extended mounting member while the shower enclosure wall prevents said shower rack and attached said look or hoop from further sliding down said angled extended mounting member thereby allowing adjustable mounting of said shower rack on different shower enclosures with different thickness.
20. The shower rack in claim 15 wherein said vertical frame member affixing means is a threaded nut and wherein said extended mounting member further comprising a matching thread to said threaded nut to be able to rotate said threaded nut on said threaded extended mounting member and vary the position of said threaded nut along said threaded extended mounting member.
21. The shower rack in claim 15 further comprising at least one attachment means for attaching at least one suction cup to provide additional affixing of said shower rack onto said shower enclosure
22. The shower rack in claim 15 wherein said at least one horizontal platform and said at least one vertical frame member attaches to each other using a plurality of matching grooves, protrusions or holes on said at least one horizontal platform and on said at least one vertical frame member such that said shower rack can be assembled and disassembled without tools.
23. The shower rack in claim 15 wherein said at least one horizontal platform and said at least one vertical frame member are both generally flat and removably attached to each other such that said shower rack can be disassembled and transported in a relatively flat package.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 5, 2021
Publication Date: Dec 8, 2022
Inventors: Eric Saqueton Bautista (Portland, OR), Ian Marco Bautista (Portland, OR)
Application Number: 17/303,714