Angled Rod Support for Floor Drying Airflow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for drying elevated flooring portions with subsurface layers struggle to ensure proper drying of both the subfloor and the surface layer, often leading to microbial growth or overdrying issues.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a rod with a perpendicularly angled end is used to support the subsurface layer at a controlled distance from the subfloor, creating air gaps that allow for balanced drying airflow below and above the subsurface layer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the subsurface layer is resting on the subfloor during drying, then the subfloor surface can be dried, but microbial growth may occur due to insufficient drying
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the drying space into two separate ventilation zones by lifting the subsurface layer at specific locations. This segmentation allows independent control of drying airflow to the subfloor and surface layer, enabling the subfloor to be dried effectively without compromising the surface layer, thus preventing microbial growth while maintaining drying productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a vertical dimension to the drying process by creating air gaps below the subsurface layer using rods. This dimensional change enables airflow to access the subfloor from below, creating a three-dimensional drying pattern that effectively dries the subfloor without requiring the subsurface layer to remain in direct contact, thereby preventing microbial growth.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the drying process is enhanced to sufficiently dry the subfloor surface, then microbial growth is prevented, but the surface layer above may be damaged by overdrying
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by creating different drying conditions in different locations. The subsurface layer is lifted at specific points (using rods) to create localized air gaps that direct airflow preferentially to the subfloor in those areas, while other areas maintain normal contact. This allows enhanced drying of the subfloor without uniformly overdrying the surface layer, preventing both microbial growth and surface damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses partial action by lifting the subsurface layer only at specific locations rather than entirely. This partial lifting creates targeted airflow channels to the subfloor where needed, providing sufficient drying action to prevent microbial growth in those critical areas without applying excessive drying force to the entire surface layer, thus avoiding damage.
3Productivity
If the subsurface layer is intermittently attached at patches to the bottom of the surface layer, then drying airflow can enter the ventilating space above the subsurface layer, but the method becomes cumbersome and unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the function of creating air gaps from the complex patch attachment system and replaces it with simple rods inserted through openings in the surface layer. This extraction simplifies the device by removing the need for intermittent patch attachments while maintaining the essential function of creating ventilating spaces for improved drying airflow distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces rods as intermediary elements that pass through openings in the surface layer to lift and support the subsurface layer. These rods serve as simple mediators that create the necessary air gaps and airflow channels without requiring complex attachment mechanisms, making the system more reliable and easier to implement while maintaining effective drying airflow distribution.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach prevents overdrying of the surface layer by ensuring more dry air flows beneath the subsurface layer than above it, thereby ensuring the subfloor is sufficiently dried before the surface layer.
Implementation Method 1
when dry air is forced into the opening in the flooring, two air gaps will be exposed in the opening... the dry air will flow along the floor structure both below and above the subsurface layer
Data Source
AI summary
A method and device for holding a subsurface layer of an elevated flooring portion of a floor structure at a distance from a subfloor in a vicinity of an opening in the flooring portion during a process of drying the floor structure. According to the invention there is provided at least one rod having a substantially perpendicularly angled end. The rod is inserted below the subsurface layer through the opening and the angled end of the rod is attached to an edge of a surface layer in the opening of the flooring portion in a manner that the rod supports the subsurface layer at said distance from the subfloor when the flooring portion is elevated.