IP Library › Granted Patent US 12692708
Granted Patent B2
US 12692708 · App. 18/562,785 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Bath or shower enclosure walls

Inventors: Ronald D. Barndt (Bethlehem, PA); Matthew Kuhns (Youngstown, OH); Corey Michael Peterson (Bordentown, NJ); Christophe Bucher (Hillsborough, NJ)
Assignee: Project Soak, LLC
E04F13/185E04F13/0871E04F13/0873B29L2031/7696B32B2419/04E04C2002/005
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12692708
App. No.
18/562,785
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A thermoplastic panel for a bath or shower wall, comprising at least one thermoformed thermoplastic layer, wherein the thermoplastic panel comprises a front side and a back side, the front side is configured to be visible and face an interior space, and comprises a tile pattern having a plurality of recessed grout lines surrounding a plurality of raised tile surfaces, the back side comprises a complimentary pattern having a plurality of raised grout lines surrounding a plurality of recessed tile surfaces, and wherein the thermoplastic panel back side raised grout lines comprises two or more protruding parallel surfaces.

Claims (30)

1 . A thermoplastic panel for a bath or shower wall, comprising at least one thermoformed thermoplastic layer, wherein

the thermoplastic panel comprises a front side and a back side,

the thermoplastic panel front side is configured to be visible and face an interior space,

the thermoplastic panel front side comprises a tile pattern having a plurality of recessed grout lines surrounding a plurality of raised tile surfaces,

each of the plurality of recessed grout lines includes two laterally spaced recessed groove surfaces and a raised intermediate surface positioned between the two recessed groove surfaces,

the raised intermediate surface is elevated relative to the two recessed groove surfaces and recessed relative to the raised tile surfaces,

the two recessed groove surfaces and the raised intermediate surface are each planar surfaces,

the thermoplastic panel back side is configured to face away from the interior space, and

the thermoplastic panel back side comprises a complimentary pattern having a plurality of raised grout lines surrounding a plurality of recessed tile surfaces, and

the thermoplastic panel back side raised grout lines comprises two or more protruding parallel surfaces.

2 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , wherein the back side raised grout lines comprise two protruding parallel surfaces, wherein each protruding parallel surface is positioned towards an opposing outer edge of the grout lines.

3 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , wherein the front side recessed grout lines comprise two or more grooves corresponding to the back side two or more protruding parallel surfaces.

4 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , wherein the recessed grout lines comprise a largest depth and an intermediate depth, the largest depth being greater than the intermediate depth.

5 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 4 , wherein the largest depth corresponds to the two recessed groove surfaces and the intermediate depth corresponds to the raised intermediate surface.

6 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , wherein the raised intermediate surface, the two recessed groove surfaces, and the raised tile surfaces are substantially planar and parallel to one another.

7 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , wherein a largest depth of the recessed grout lines is from about 0.5 mm to about 4.0 mm.

8 . The thermoplastic panel according claim 1 , wherein an intermediate depth of the recessed grout lines is from about 0.2 mm to about 3.5 mm.

9 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , wherein a width of the recessed grout lines is from about 2.0 mm to about 9.8 mm.

10 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , wherein a width of the recessed grout lines is from about 0.2 mm to about 3.5 mm.

11 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , wherein the back side protruding parallel surfaces comprise a rectangular shape, a triangular shape, or an arc shape.

12 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , comprising a single thermoformed thermoplastic layer.

13 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , comprising two or more thermoformed thermoplastic layers.

14 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , prepared via vacuum thermoforming.

15 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one thermoformed thermoplastic layer comprises polyvinylchloride, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, a poly(meth)acrylate, a polystyrene, a polyolefin, a polyamide, or a polyester.

16 . The thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , wherein the panel comprises an average thickness of from about 1.7 mm to about 5.0 mm.

17 . A method for preparing a thermoplastic panel according to claim 1 , the method comprising contacting a back side of a thermoplastic sheet to a mold under vacuum thermoforming conditions,

wherein the mold comprises a plurality of raised surfaces surrounded by a plurality of recessed surfaces, and wherein the recessed surfaces comprise two or more grooves.

18 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the thermoplastic sheet comprises a single thermoplastic layer.

19 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the thermoplastic sheet comprises polyvinylchloride, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, a poly(meth)acrylate, a polystyrene, a polyolefin, a polyamide, or a polyester.

20 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the thermoplastic sheet comprises an average thickness of from about 1.7 mm to about 5.0 mm.