Horizontal Trapway Arrangement with Butterfly Valve
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional toilet systems require high water consumption and a higher water head to flush faecal matter, leading to inefficiencies, bulkiness, and complex manufacturing processes, while also necessitating different designs for varying sump water requirements across regions, resulting in increased management costs.
Innovation Solution
A horizontal trapway arrangement with a butterfly valve mechanism and adjustable auxiliary flow member that connects the toilet bowl to the drain line, allowing for efficient water usage, reduced space requirements, and simplified manufacturing by eliminating the need for complex U-shaped channels and allowing for adjustable sump water levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional inverted U-shaped trapway is used, then the water seal function is maintained, but water consumption increases and higher water head is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional inverted U-shaped trapway into a substantially horizontal configuration. Instead of requiring contents to climb upward through vertical channels, the horizontal trapway allows gravity-assisted flow directly from the water closet to the drain line, reducing water consumption and eliminating the need for high water head while maintaining the water seal function through the trap portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a vertical/dimensional trapway structure to a horizontal arrangement. By changing the spatial orientation from vertical channels to a substantially horizontal configuration, the system eliminates the need for contents to overcome gravitational resistance in vertical channels, thereby reducing water consumption and flush pressure requirements.
2Reliability
If a conventional inverted U-shaped trapway is used, then the water seal function is maintained, but the system becomes bulkier and requires more space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional inverted U-shaped trapway into a substantially horizontal configuration. Instead of requiring contents to climb upward through vertical channels, the horizontal trapway allows gravity-assisted flow directly from the water closet to the drain line, reducing water consumption and eliminating the need for high water head while maintaining the water seal function through the trap portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a vertical/dimensional trapway structure to a horizontal arrangement. By changing the spatial orientation from vertical channels to a substantially horizontal configuration, the system eliminates the need for contents to overcome gravitational resistance in vertical channels, thereby reducing water consumption and flush pressure requirements.
3Adaptability or versatility
If region-specific trapway designs are used for different sump water requirements, then local sanitation regulations are met, but manufacturing complexity and management costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs a universal trapway arrangement that can accommodate different sump water levels and regional sanitation requirements through a single standardized configuration. The substantially horizontal trapway with adjustable trap portion allows the same design to be used globally, eliminating the need for region-specific variants and simplifying manufacturing and management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates an adjustable trap portion that can be modified to accommodate different sump water levels and flow requirements. This dynamic adjustability allows a single standardized design to adapt to various regional conditions without requiring different trapway configurations, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining compliance with local regulations.
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
This solution reduces water consumption, enhances functional efficiency, optimizes space, and simplifies manufacturing, while enabling adaptability to different sump water requirements without the need for region-specific designs, thus improving the eco-friendliness and usability of toilet systems.
Implementation Method 1
a butterfly valve mechanism... allowing for efficient water usage
Implementation Method 2
a substantially horizontal trapway arrangement... for allowing/restricting the flow of contents of the toilet bowl to the drain line
Implementation Method 3
The trapway also maintains a water seal of sump water in the toilet bowl, to avoid fowl smell
Data Source
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AI summary
Described herein is a trapway arrangement [106] for selectively fluidly connecting a toilet bowl [102] to a drain line [110] in a toilet system [100]. The trapway arrangement [106] includes a horizontally positioned trapway member [120], and a valve member [124]. The trapway member [120] is fluidly connected between the toilet bowl [102] and the drain line [110], and defines a main fluid passage [130] therethrough. The valve member [124] is installed within the main fluid passage [130] of the trapway member [120], and is capable of being adjusted between an open configuration and a closed configuration. In the open configuration, the valve member [124] allows contents in the toilet bowl [102] to flow to the drain line [110] through the main fluid passage [130]. In the closed configuration, the valve member [124] restricts the contents of the toilet bowl [102] from flowing to the drain line [110] through the main fluid passage [130].