Floor Drain Concealed Fastening for Membrane Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current floor drains with mounting flanges face challenges in achieving a tight and aesthetically pleasing connection to building membranes, particularly during modernization or rebuilding of multi-storey buildings, as they require numerous visible screws or rivets, leading to an unaesthetic appearance and dirt accumulation.
Innovation Solution
The floor drain design incorporates tubular rivets with threaded bushings for secure attachment of the clamping flange and grate, hiding the screws and allowing for a single or few visible fasteners, with elongated apertures for adjustable positioning and a bent central rim for effective water prevention, made from stainless steel sheets for durability and ease of manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If numerous screws or rivets are used to clamp the building membrane to the mounting flange, then the connection tightness and structural integrity are improved, but the aesthetic appearance deteriorates and dirt accumulation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fastening function from the visible surface by using tubular rivets with threaded bushings that allow screws to be concealed within the drain bowl structure. The building membrane is clamped between the mounting flange and clamping flange, with fasteners hidden inside the drain bowl rather than visible from above, thus maintaining connection tightness while eliminating visible fasteners and dirt accumulation areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements nesting by placing the threaded bushings and screws within the hollow structure of the tubular rivets and drain bowl. The fastening mechanism is nested inside the drain bowl structure, allowing the building membrane to be securely clamped while the fasteners remain hidden, resolving the contradiction between connection reliability and aesthetic appearance.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the grate is securely fastened to the drain bowl with multiple screws, then the structural stability is improved, but the aesthetic appearance and ease of cleaning deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fastening function for the grate by using tubular rivets with threaded bushings that allow screws to be concealed within the drain bowl structure. The grate is secured to the drain bowl with fasteners hidden inside, eliminating visible fasteners and preventing dirt accumulation while maintaining grate stability through secure internal fastening.
3Ease of manufacture
If the drain bowl is made from stainless steel sheets with tubular rivets, then the ease of manufacture and durability are improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the manufacturing process into distinct components: stainless steel sheets for the drain bowl, separate tubular rivets with threaded bushings, and modular assembly steps. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently with standard tolerances, then assembled together, improving ease of manufacture while maintaining adequate precision through modular construction.
Data Source
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AI summary
There is described a floor drain (1) with a drain bowl having an upper edge and a drain connection which is adapted for connecting with a drain pipe. The drain bowl includes a grate (12) forming a detachable lid and with a mounting flange (4) made integral with the drain bowl at a rim area at the upper edge of the drain bowl. In order to achieve an aesthetic surface, the mounting flange (4) has a bent central rim area encircling the upper edge of the drain bowl. Between the drain bowl (1) and the grate (12) there is provided a clamping flange (15) in the bent area of the mounting flange. This clamping flange (15) is adapted to be clamped against the mounting flange (4), as a slot is formed there between for clamping a building membrane extending into the drain bowl. The grate (12) is disposed over and covering the clamping plate (15), as it extends across the entire bent central rim area and as an annular slot is formed between the grate (12) and the outer end of the bent rim area for clamping the building membrane into the drain bowl.