Floor Box Cover Extraction via Base Sealing Inversion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floor boxes embedded in cast screed face issues with cover extraction due to angled outer edges and poor sealing, leading to concrete infiltration during screed pouring.
Innovation Solution
A floor box design where the cover's side wall edges align with the base's edges, forming a lost formwork that can be easily extracted by hand and provides good sealing by partially covering the base's outer face, preventing concrete infiltration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the cover has an angled outer edge embedded in the screed, then the cover can be securely fixed during pouring, but the cover cannot be extracted without cutting
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of creating an angled outer edge on the cover that embeds into the screed (which prevents extraction), the invention inverts the approach by creating a corresponding angled inner edge on the base. This allows the cover to be securely positioned during pouring while maintaining extractability, as the sealing function is transferred to the base rather than the cover.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention separates the sealing function from the cover component and assigns it to the base component. By segmenting the sealing mechanism into the base's angled inner edge rather than the cover's outer edge, the cover becomes extractable while the base provides the necessary sealing and fixing strength.
2Ease of manufacture
If the cover is inserted via the front opening inside the housing, then the cover can be positioned, but concrete can infiltrate between the base wall and cover side wall
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of relying on the cover's outer edge to seal against the base (which allows concrete infiltration), the invention inverts the sealing mechanism by placing the sealing edge on the base's inner surface. The angled inner edge of the base actively prevents concrete infiltration while the cover simply needs to be positioned within the housing.
3Volume of moving object
If the cover has a considerable side wall height to rise from the base, then the cover provides adequate coverage, but the cover becomes bulky and expensive to produce
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring the cover to have excessive height to provide adequate coverage, the invention uses partial action by implementing the sealing and positioning function at the base level. The cover only needs to partially cover the base opening, as the angled inner edge of the base provides the primary sealing and structural function, reducing the cover to a simpler, less expensive component.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a floor box (10) to be embedded in a screed poured on a floor, said box including: a base (100) intended to be attached to the floor, including a wall (120, 130) which defines a cavity with a front opening opposite a flat bottom (110), and - a cover (200) comprising a front wall (210) bordered by at least one side wall (220), connected on the base so that the front wall closes the front opening of said cavity. According to the invention, a portion of the free edge (221) of the side wall of the cover is positioned edge to edge with a portion of the free edge (125A) of the wall (125) of the base, while a portion of the side wall of the cover, extending perpendicularly to the flat bottom of the base, partially covers the outer surface of the wall (133) of the base so that the cover forms a permanent formwork to be extracted from the screed around the floor box.