Floating Faucet Coupler Geometry for Pipe Misalignment Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing joints between a water pipe and a faucet/mixer are inflexible and prone to misalignment errors, leading to stress and potential damage during installation and post-tightening, especially in old buildings and systems, where the inflexibility and misalignment cause joint deterioration and increased stress on the water pipes and faucet elbows.
Innovation Solution
A joint apparatus featuring a coupler with conical or spherical surfaces on its flange, which provides a floating connection capable of compensating for installation errors without additional stress, replacing the traditional planar surfaces and allowing for flexible alignment with the attachment nut and eccentric fitting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional planar surfaces are used in the coupler flange, then the joint structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the joint becomes inflexible and prone to misalignment errors causing stress and potential damage during installation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional planar surfaces with conical or spherical surfaces on the coupler flange. This curvature allows the joint to accommodate misalignment errors and provide flexible adjustment during installation, eliminating the stress and potential damage caused by rigid planar connections while maintaining ease of manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a floating connection mechanism that allows dynamic adjustment during installation. The conical or spherical surfaces enable the joint to self-align and accommodate positioning errors, transforming the static rigid connection into a dynamic adaptable connection that reduces stress on pipes and fixtures.
2Manufacturing precision
If eccentric fittings are used to correct spacing errors, then spacing misalignment can be compensated, but the joint becomes forced and inflexible, causing stress on the water pipes and faucet elbows
Solution Approach 1:
The conical or spherical surfaces on the coupler flange provide a self-aligning mechanism that naturally compensates for spacing and alignment errors without requiring forced eccentric fittings. This eliminates the stress concentration that occurs with traditional eccentric fitting connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the joint surfaces from planar to conical/spherical, which fundamentally alters the connection characteristics. This parameter change enables the joint to accommodate a range of misalignments through geometric self-adjustment rather than forced mechanical alignment.
3Reliability
If a floating connection is implemented with conical or spherical surfaces, then the joint flexibility and stress compensation improve, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
While conical or spherical surfaces do increase manufacturing complexity compared to planar surfaces, the patent maintains relative simplicity by using standard geometric forms that can be produced with conventional machining processes. The benefit of stress-free flexible connection outweighs the moderate increase in manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The conical or spherical surface design serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides the floating connection for flexibility, compensates for misalignment errors, distributes stress evenly, and maintains ease of assembly. This multi-functionality justifies the moderate increase in manufacturing complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a coupler (110) capable of being used between a water pipe (2) and a faucet body (101) to compensate installation error inflicted stresses in the water pipes (2). The coupler comprises an outward directed bracket (115) and an attachment nut (108) with corresponding inward directed bracket (120). At least one of the surfaces (116, 117) of the coupler's (110) outward directed bracket (115) is shaped as a surface deviating from a plane perpendicular to the coupler's (110) center axis (114). Furthermore, the attachment nut (108) may have a surface (125) of its inward directed bracket (120) shaped correspondingly.