Flush-Mount Sink Lip Structure for Top-Down Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sink installation methods, particularly undermount sinks, require installers to work underneath the sink, which can be difficult, and often feature lips that create a ridge inside the sink, obstructing water flow and requiring clips for retention.
Innovation Solution
A sink design with a narrow, continuous outer lip that rests on a ledge cut into the countertop, allowing for top-down installation and seamless water flow, eliminating the need for clips and ensuring easy cleaning and sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If an undermount sink with clips is used, then the sink can be securely retained, but the installer must work underneath the sink which is difficult and requires complex installation procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional undermount installation approach by enabling top-down installation. The sink is designed with a lip that fits into a ledge formed in the countertop, allowing the installer to work from above rather than below the sink, thereby eliminating the need to access the underside for clip installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the retention function from the clip mechanism and relocates it to the ledge structure in the countertop. The ledge with its specific geometry (beveled surfaces, rounded edges) provides the retention function directly, eliminating the need for separate clips and simplifying the installation process.
2Ease of operation
If a traditional lip design with distinct corner points is used, then the sink can be manufactured, but it creates interior ridges that obstruct water flow and require additional retention mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature by rounding the corners and edges of the sink lip. This creates a continuous, smooth perimeter without sharp angles or interior ridges, allowing water to flow freely around the lip without obstruction and eliminating the need for complex retention structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies specific local features of the lip (corner regions) by rounding them, while maintaining the overall lip structure. This localized change eliminates water flow obstructions at critical points without requiring a complete redesign of the entire lip structure.
3Ease of operation
If an above countertop installation with a high lip is used, then water flow is assisted, but the countertop surface cannot be the topmost surface which complicates cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional above-countertop lip design by positioning the lip below the countertop surface level. The lip fits into a ledge that is recessed in the countertop, allowing the countertop to remain the topmost surface and facilitating easy cleaning, while still providing water flow assistance through the beveled and rounded edge geometry.
Data Source
AI summary
A sink and its installation are shown and described. A lip of the sink defines a continuous outer perimeter which is preferably received within a first inner perimeter of a portion of a countertop so that an upper surface of the countertop extends at or at an elevation above the upper surface of the lip. Preferably a slope leads from the upper surface of the countertop to an upper surface of the lip wherein water or food may be directed from the countertop into the sink. The sink preferably rests on a ledge of the countertop which has been machined or otherwise formed into the countertop. Furthermore, the outer perimeter of the lip of the sink preferably has no discontinuous points thereon wherein when a derivative is taken of an equation defining the outer perimeter, a solution is provided for all points.