shower
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing showers have fixed or complex mechanisms for adjusting the height of the top showerhead, which are cumbersome and provide a poor operating experience.
Innovation Solution
A shower design featuring a fixed support tube, a force-balanced mechanism, and a movable water outflow portion with a coil spring to counteract gravity, allowing the water outflow portion to move along the height direction, facilitated by a guide wheel mechanism for smooth operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the top showerhead is directly fixedly connected to the shower column, then the structure is simple, but the height cannot be adjusted according to user needs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the fixed showerhead connection into a dynamic, movable connection. The water outflow portion is made movable along the shower column through a guide wheel mechanism, allowing height adjustment while maintaining structural simplicity. This resolves the contradiction by enabling adaptability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a force-balanced mechanism with a coil spring to counteract the weight of the movable water outflow portion. This counterweight mechanism enables smooth height adjustment by balancing gravitational force, allowing the showerhead to be moved easily along the column without requiring complex motorized systems.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a complex adjustment mechanism is used to adjust the top showerhead height, then height adjustment is possible, but the structure becomes complex and adjustment is inconvenient
Solution Approach 1:
The coil spring-based force-balanced mechanism counteracts the weight of the water outflow portion, making it easy to move up and down along the shower column. This eliminates the need for complex motorized or heavily mechanical adjustment systems, providing both height adjustability and operational convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical fastening systems (screws, clips) with a simplified guide wheel and force-balanced mechanism. The guide wheel rolls along the shower column, and the coil spring provides continuous force balancing, substituting complex mechanical operations with a simpler, more intuitive rolling and spring-balanced system.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the water outflow portion is made movable for height adjustment, then height adaptability is improved, but stability and shaking control become challenges
Solution Approach 1:
The guide wheel acts as an intermediary between the movable water outflow portion and the fixed shower column. It provides guided movement along the column while maintaining stable contact, preventing lateral movement and shaking. The guide wheel mechanism ensures the movable portion stays aligned with the column axis during height adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The coil spring provides continuous force balancing that stabilizes the movable water outflow portion at any selected height. By counteracting gravity, the spring prevents the portion from drifting or shaking, maintaining positional stability while allowing easy movement when force is applied.
4Reliability
If traditional fastening components are used to fix the water outflow portion after adjustment, then positioning is achieved, but additional components increase device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The force-balanced mechanism with coil spring provides self-maintaining positioning. When the water outflow portion is moved to a desired height, the coil spring automatically balances the weight and holds the position without requiring additional fastening components. The system serves itself by using the weight of the component and spring force to maintain positioning, eliminating the need for separate fixing mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and eliminates the need for traditional fastening components (screws, clips, latches) by using the force-balanced mechanism alone for both movement and positioning. The coil spring system takes over the positioning function that would traditionally require separate fastening hardware, simplifying the overall component structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables stable and labor-saving height adjustment of the water outflow device with a good operating feel, eliminating the need for additional fixing components and reducing shaking during lifting and lowering.
Implementation Method 1
the force-balanced mechanism is a coil spring, the coil spring comprises a coiled steel sheet
Implementation Method 2
the force-balanced mechanism is configured to at least partially counteract a gravity applied to the movable water outflow portion
Implementation Method 3
a guide wheel mechanism is disposed between the movable water outflow portion and the fixed support tube, and the movable water outflow portion is movably connected to the fixed support tube through the guide wheel mechanism
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A shower comprises a fixed support tube (1), a force-balanced mechanism (2) and a movable water outflow portion (3); and a water outflow device (32) is disposed on the movable water outflow portion (3), the movable water outflow portion (3) comprises a water passage connected to the water outflow device (32), the movable water outflow portion (3) is configured to move on the fixed support tube (1) at least along a height direction, the force-balanced mechanism (2) is configured to at least partially counteract the weight of the movable water outflow portion (3); the movable water outflow portion (3) comprises a housing (34) and a water passage component (35) in communication with the water outflow device (32), and the water passage component (35) is disposed in the housing (34); the housing (34) is at least slidably sleeved outside of a part of the fixed support tube (1); the housing (34) comprises a fixed plate (341); and the housing (34) further comprises a support arm (343), one end of the support arm (343) is fixedly connected to an upper end of the fixed plate (341), and the other end of the support arm (343) is fixedly connected to the water outflow device (32). The present technical solution is used to provide a good operating feel, and height positioning of the water outflow device (32) can be achieved without additional fixing and positioning components.