Floor Drain Adapter with Jack Screws for Leveling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Floor drains often sit in shallow depressions below the surrounding floor surface, creating trip hazards due to uneven installation during construction, and existing solutions like Graybeal and Papp designs are not adaptable for retro-fitting existing installations or effectively prevent cementation in hardened concrete.
Innovation Solution
A leveling and elevation adapter comprising a base ring and set ring with jack screws and locking screws that can be securely fastened to the strainer head, allowing for adjustment and solidification within the existing strainer head and grout, ensuring the grate is flush with the tile floor.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the floor drain is installed during construction, then the drain functions properly for water drainage, but the grate sits in a depression below the floor surface creating a trip hazard
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs adjustable leveling legs with threaded mechanisms that allow the floor drain grate to be dynamically adjusted in height and levelness. The legs can be extended or retracted to compensate for uneven installation, enabling the grate surface to be raised to match the surrounding floor level while maintaining proper drainage function.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the vertical position parameter of the grate by incorporating adjustable legs with variable lengths. These legs allow modification of the drain's elevation and tilt angle, transforming a fixed, low-lying installation into an adjustable one that can achieve flush alignment with the floor surface.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If existing floor drains are retro-fitted, then trip hazards can be reduced, but the strainer head is already cemented in hardened concrete making adjustment difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the floor drain system into separable components: the existing strainer head remains cemented in the concrete, while a new adjustable adapter assembly is installed on top of it. This segmentation allows the retro-fit to proceed without removing or damaging the original cemented components, simply adding an adjustable layer above.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary adapter assembly that sits between the cemented strainer head and the grate. This mediator component provides the adjustment mechanism while connecting to both the fixed strainer head and the movable grate, enabling height adjustment without affecting the cemented installation.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If adjustable mechanisms are added to level the grate, then the trip hazard is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs adjustable leveling legs with threaded mechanisms that allow the floor drain grate to be dynamically adjusted in height and levelness. The legs can be extended or retracted to compensate for uneven installation, enabling the grate surface to be raised to match the surrounding floor level while maintaining proper drainage function.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable legs incorporate self-leveling features through gravitational force and mechanical threading, allowing the system to automatically find and maintain its leveled position once adjusted. This reduces the need for complex external control mechanisms while achieving the leveling objective.
Data Source
AI summary
An adapter provides leveling and elevation adjustment between the grate and strainer head of a floor drain. The strainer head is cemented in hardened concrete and has an upper seat for removably accepting the grate. The strainer head also has a tubular body defining the tubular lumen that is the drain hole. The adapter for the grate has a base ring, a set ring and a plurality of jack screws. The base ring gets seated in the strainer head's seat. The set ring forms a replacement seat for the grate to seat. Jack screws threaded into inboard tabs of the base ring provide elevation adjustment to the overlying set ring. The jack screws are disposed relative the strainer head such that the tip end and lower exposed thread portions thereof occupy and travel in the tubular lumen of the strainer head.