Egg-Shaped Support Pan Structure for Crack-Resistant Condensate Drainage
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fluid collection pans are prone to cracking, premature failure, and collapse due to unbalanced weight distribution and temperature fluctuations, especially when used under condensate-producing units like air conditioning systems, and they often require complex installation and frequent maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A fluid collection pan with integrated egg-shaped supports and vibration isolators that distribute weight evenly, resist temperature fluctuations, and facilitate easy installation, featuring a sturdy construction with stress-transmitting ribs and a quick-mounting shelf for the float switch, ensuring stable operation and reduced maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional fluid collection pans are used under heavy furnace or air conditioning units, then the pans can collect condensate and fluids, but they are prone to cracking, premature failure, and collapse due to unbalanced weight distribution and temperature fluctuations
Solution Approach 1:
The pan is divided into multiple discrete egg-shaped supports distributed across the bottom surface, each independently bearing weight and resisting thermal stress. This segmentation allows the structure to distribute loads evenly and prevents single-point failure that would occur in conventional solid-bottom pans.
Solution Approach 2:
The egg-shaped supports feature curved, spheroidal geometries that naturally distribute stress throughout their surfaces rather than concentrating it at specific points. This curvature provides structural strength while accommodating thermal expansion and contraction, preventing the cracking that plagues flat-bottomed pans under temperature fluctuations.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the pan is designed with integrated egg-shaped supports for weight distribution, then the pan strength and stability are improved, but the installation complexity and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The egg-shaped supports are integrated directly into the pan body as a unified molded structure rather than separate components requiring assembly. This merging of the support structure with the pan itself simplifies installation while maintaining the stability benefits of distributed weight bearing.
3Reliability
If vibration isolators are added to the egg-shaped supports to prevent unit movement, then the reliability of float switch operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Vibration isolators are introduced as intermediary elements between the egg-shaped supports and the supported unit. These isolators absorb vibrations and prevent movement transmission to the float switch, ensuring reliable operation without requiring complex mechanical constraint systems.
4Strength
If the pan uses large upwardly-extending egg-shaped supports across the pan surface, then weight distribution is improved, but the pan nesting capability for compact storage is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The egg-shaped supports are designed with hollow interiors that allow smaller pans to be nested within larger ones for compact storage. The hollow structure maintains the external dimensions needed for weight distribution while reducing the overall volume when pans are stacked for storage or transport.
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 pan provides enhanced material strength, prevents premature failure, and reduces the likelihood of collapse and fluid pooling, ensuring reliable float switch operation and efficient fluid management, while meeting non-combustible clearance requirements.
Implementation Method 1
an indentation in the top surface of each egg-shaped support that is configured to receive at least one vibration isolator, which collectively provide safety-enhancing contact between the egg-shaped supports and the bottom surface of the supported unit for weight distribution management that reduces the opportunity for the supported unit to move relative to the pan after installation, and thereby lessens the likelihood of unit vibration shifting it during routine operation
Implementation Method 2
vibration isolators also provide the additional advantage of enhanced heat deflection around a supported unit
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid-collection pan configured for supporting a unit or system responsible for fluid damage risk to its surroundings. Multiple large egg-shaped supports upwardly extend from the pan's bottom surface and are integrated with it. They also each have an arcuate top surface that is transformed into an elliptical base as it meets the pan's bottom surface. Each support also has an upwardly-tapering protrusion with a convexly-shaped top edge that extends centrally from one of the longer sides of the elliptical base toward the support's top surface. The protrusion and the narrow sides of the elliptical base form a substantially triangular shape, which broadens the weight distribution of the supported fluid-causing unit across the pan's bottom surface. The top surface of each support also has a central indentation configured for receipt of a vibration isolator that provides contact with the supported unit. Optional stress-transmitting ribs may extend between adjacent egg-shaped supports.