Adjustable Shower Drain Frame for Level Tile Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional drainage channels for floor-level showers require precise installation, are inflexible, and involve high labor costs due to the need for precise leveling and adaptation to varying floor structures, limiting their application and aesthetic integration.
Innovation Solution
A drainage channel system comprising a channel module, a frame with adjustable projections, and support means that allows for easy and flexible installation by enabling fine adjustments in position and height, ensuring the grate can be fitted flush or symmetrically with tiles or natural stone slabs without the need for precise initial positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional drainage channels are installed flush with the floor, then a level floor and good visual impression are achieved, but installation time and labor costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The drainage channel system is divided into separate components: a channel body, a frame, and a grate. The frame acts as an independent adjustment element that can be positioned separately from the channel body, allowing the channel to be installed quickly without precise leveling while the frame provides the necessary positioning adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The frame serves as an intermediary element between the channel body and the grate. It provides adjustment projections that engage with the channel body, enabling the grate to be positioned precisely relative to surrounding tiles without requiring the entire assembly to be precisely leveled during installation.
2Reliability
If drainage channels are specially adapted to specific installation locations, then proper drainage function is ensured, but the number of different gutter types increases and flexibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The frame and channel body are designed with standardized engagement features that allow the same components to be used in various installation locations and configurations. The adjustment projections on the frame can engage with the channel body in multiple positions, enabling a single universal component design to adapt to different floor layouts, tile patterns, and drainage requirements without requiring location-specific customizations.
3Manufacturing precision
If precise installation work is carried out for conventional gutters, then a level floor and good visual impression are achieved, but labor costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The frame includes adjustment projections that automatically engage with the channel body when the frame is placed on top. This self-aligning mechanism allows the grate to be positioned correctly relative to the channel and surrounding tiles without requiring complex manual adjustment or precise initial positioning, significantly simplifying the installation process while maintaining visual precision.
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3
AI summary
The channel (1) has a tray-shaped groove (2.1) and a channel module (2) with a drain opening (2.2), where a frame (3) is attachable on the channel module. A grid (4) is inserted in the frame that includes projections (3.2, 3.3) at two sides that are adjacent and/or opposite to each other. The projections are formed to engage the frame in the channel module. The projections are arranged to each other, such that the frame is movable about 5 millimeters in a contact area of the projections in a horizontal direction relative to the channel module.