Flap-Valve Stench Trap for Low-Height, Easy-Clean Drainage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional stench traps with U-shaped channels are prone to dirt accumulation, hair entrapment, and difficulty in cleaning, and their siphoning mechanism requires a minimum height to maintain effectiveness, leading to increased overall height and issues with water evaporation and ventilation.
Innovation Solution
A stench trap design featuring a flexible flap closing the outflow opening and a curved or flat closing surface around it, eliminating the need for a U-shaped channel, enhancing flow, ease of cleaning, and improving ventilation and pressure resistance, with a sealable peripheral surface for easy installation and removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a U-shaped channel is used in the stench trap, then stench trapping function is provided, but dirt and hair accumulate easily and cleaning becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the U-shaped channel structure from the stench trap design. Instead of using a U-shaped channel, the patent employs a linear channel combined with a water seal mechanism that performs the stench trapping function without creating accumulation zones for dirt and hair, thereby solving the cleaning difficulty while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention inverts the traditional approach by not relying on the U-shaped channel geometry for stench trapping. Instead, it uses a water seal in a linear channel configuration, fundamentally changing the design paradigm to eliminate the harmful accumulation effect while preserving the beneficial stench blocking function
2Reliability
If a U-shaped channel with sufficient height is used to prevent water evaporation, then stench trapping reliability is improved, but the overall height of the stench trap increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the U-shaped channel structure that necessitates large height. By replacing it with a linear channel and water seal mechanism, the design achieves effective stench trapping with significantly reduced overall height, eliminating the need for tall U-shaped structures while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of increasing channel height to ensure water seal effectiveness, the invention inverts the approach by using a water seal mechanism in a horizontal or shallow vertical linear channel, achieving the same reliability with minimal height increase
3Productivity
If a flexible flap is used to close the outflow opening, then throughflow is increased and cleaning is simplified, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies a flexible flap that dynamically responds to water flow and pressure differences. The flap automatically opens to allow throughflow and closes to prevent stench, providing adaptive functionality without requiring complex mechanical actuators or control systems, thus increasing productivity while managing complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible flap operates autonomously based on natural pressure differentials and water flow. It self-opens during drainage and self-closes when flow stops, eliminating the need for external control mechanisms and reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high throughflow capability
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 design reduces dirt and hair accumulation, simplifies cleaning, maintains effective stench trapping without water evaporation issues, and allows for reduced height while ensuring reliable ventilation and pressure resistance, making it easier to integrate into existing systems.
Implementation Method 1
a flexible flap (10) closing the outflow opening (8)
Implementation Method 2
the flexible flap will lie against the closing surface under tension and thereby provide an improved closure
Implementation Method 3
the contact of the flexible flap against the closing surface will thereby be supported by the force of gravity
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
A stench trap, comprising: • - a body with an upper surface (2) and a peripheral surface (4) directed downward from the peripheral edge of the upper surface; • - a seal (5) arranged substantially parallel to the peripheral edge and enclosing the peripheral surface for the purpose of sealing the peripheral surface against a wall of an outlet pipe or housing; • - a channel (6) extending through the body, wherein the channel debouches at a first end in an inflow opening arranged in the upper surface and debouches at a second end in an outflow opening, wherein the outflow opening lies opposite the inflow opening relative to the plane through the seal; • - a closing surface (9) which is formed on the body and is arranged all around the outflow opening; and • - a flexible flap (10) which is fastened with an edge to the body and lies against the closing surface in order to close the outflow opening.