Sanitary Foot Unit With Pivot Joint For Tool-Free Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sanitary mounting devices with footrests are complex to produce and difficult to align, especially in tight spaces, making them laborious to assemble and adapt to various structures.
Innovation Solution
A foot unit with a swivel joint connecting the foot element to a connecting element, allowing the foot element to pivot between two positions, enabling easy adjustment to different support structures without tools, thus simplifying alignment and adaptation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the footrest is inserted into a hollow profile in positions offset by 90 degrees, then the foot unit can be positioned at different orientations, but the entire footrest must be pulled out and reinserted, making alignment tedious and complicated especially in confined spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The footrest is designed with a pivot joint that enables continuous rotational movement between 0 and 360 degrees, transforming the static insertion/extraction operation into a dynamic pivoting operation. This allows the footrest to be adjusted to any orientation by simply rotating it around the pivot axis while remaining inserted in the hollow profile, eliminating the need to pull it out and reinsert it.
Solution Approach 2:
The footrest assembly is divided into a stationary connecting element (hollow profile) and a movable foot element that can rotate independently. This segmentation allows the connecting element to remain fixed in the hollow profile while the foot element pivots freely, enabling easy repositioning without removing the entire assembly.
2Reliability
If traditional mounting devices are used, then they provide stable support, but they are very complex to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting device is divided into modular components: a hollow profile for structural support, a connecting element for attachment, and a pivotable foot element for positioning. Each component can be manufactured independently using standard processes, and they are assembled through simple connection mechanisms, significantly reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining overall stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The introduction of the pivot joint transforms a rigid, complex assembly into a simpler system where movement is achieved through a single rotational degree of freedom. This dynamic element replaces multiple adjustment mechanisms, reducing the number of parts and simplifying the manufacturing process while providing stable support in the installed position.
Data Source
Figure 1~1a
Figure 2~2a
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A foot unit (1) for a sanitary mounting device (2) comprises a connecting element (3) with a connecting section (4) for connecting the foot unit (1) to the mounting device (2) and a foot element (5) with a bearing surface (6) with which the foot element (5) can be supported on a support structure (7), wherein the connecting element (3) and the foot element (5) are connected to each other via a pivot joint (8), wherein the pivot joint (8) has a foot element-side pivot section (9) and a connecting element-side pivot section (10), which pivot sections (9, 10) are each pivotably engaged with each other, and wherein the foot element (5) can be pivoted about a pivot axis (S) relative to the stationary connecting element (3) between a first position and a second position via the pivot joint (8).