Convertible Bath Wall Locking Grid for Watertight Shower-Bath Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bathroom designs that convert from shower to bath face challenges in ensuring tightness and resistance to water pressure and user weight, particularly with removable walls, which often fail to maintain stability and sealing effectively.
Innovation Solution
A bathroom system featuring a removable bath wall with a locking mechanism that transitions from a horizontal position in shower mode to a vertical position in bath mode, utilizing a rotatable grid system to ensure watertightness and stability, supported by a rigid frame and elastically deformable materials for compression and sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a removable wall is used to convert shower to bath, then the bathroom can be transformed between configurations, but the tightness and resistance to water pressure and user weight deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is designed to be dynamic, rotating between horizontal and vertical positions to adapt to different bathroom configurations. In bath mode, it rotates to vertical position to provide structural support and sealing; in shower mode, it returns to horizontal position to clear the floor space.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism changes its spatial orientation parameter from horizontal to vertical position. This parameter change enables the same component to serve dual functions: providing structural support and sealing in bath mode, while maintaining floor clearance in shower mode.
2Ease of operation
If the locking means occupies horizontal position on the floor, then ease of transformation is improved, but stability and resistance to water pressure deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism dynamically changes position based on operational mode. During transformation, it passes through intermediate positions for ease of operation. In final bath configuration, it settles in vertical position to provide maximum structural strength and resistance to water pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism transitions from occupying the horizontal plane (floor level) to the vertical dimension. This dimensional change allows it to provide structural support against water pressure while maintaining ease of transformation through rotational movement along its axis.
3Reliability
If the blocking means covers a large area of the accessory surface, then tightness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides structural support for the removable wall, creates sealing contact over a large surface area to ensure tightness, and maintains a simple rotational design that avoids excessive complexity. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction between sealing effectiveness and mechanism simplicity.
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
The solution provides a stable and watertight transformation from shower to bath configuration, ensuring resistance to water pressure and user weight, while allowing for easy transformation and maintaining hygiene and self-cleaning capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
a means of blocking and pressure of the exterior surface of the accessory in a bathtub wall configuration in order to ensure its resistance and its tightness
Implementation Method 2
It may consist of a rigid frame surrounded by an elastically deformable flexible part
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The washroom has an accessory (11) representing a removable bathtub wall. A top grate (7) is placed over a wastewater drainpipe for covering the drainpipe. The grate is provided to lock and press on an outer surface of the accessory, in a bathtub wall configuration. The grate exerts a pressure along the outer surface of the accessory. The grate takes up a horizontal position on a floor in a shower configuration of the washroom and a vertical position in a bathtub configuration.