Modular Sump Pit with Nested Tank Portions for Compact Shipping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sump pits are bulky and large, making them difficult to install and ship, and are designed for only a single sump pump, limiting their functionality and space efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A modular collection tank design featuring a separable lower and upper tank portion with a frustoconical upper portion that can be nested and stacked, allowing for disassembly and multiple pump platforms, enabling easier installation and reduced shipping space, and accommodating multiple pumps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a sump pit is designed as a unitary construction, then the structural integrity is improved, but the bulkiness and large size make installation and shipping difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The sump pit is divided into separate upper and lower tank portions that can be manufactured, shipped, and installed independently. The lower tank portion includes a base and first sidewalls, while the upper tank portion includes a second sidewall and rim, allowing for compact shipping and easier installation in confined spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The upper tank portion is designed to nest within the lower tank portion during shipping and storage. The first sidewalls of the lower tank portion extend beyond the second sidewall of the upper tank portion, creating a nested configuration that reduces the overall volume occupied during transportation while maintaining structural integrity when assembled.
2Device complexity
If a conventional sump pit is designed for a single pump, then the device complexity is reduced, but the adaptability and versatility are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The sump pit base is designed with a multi-functional pump platform that can accommodate one or multiple sump pumps simultaneously. The platform includes a flat upper surface and vertical sides that create a basin for collecting water, allowing flexible configuration for single or multiple pumps without requiring different sump pit designs.
3Ease of manufacture
If the upper tank portion is open at the top, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the structural stability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The second sidewall of the upper tank portion is formed with a frustoconical shape, featuring curved surfaces that transition from the rim at the top to the base at the bottom. This curvature provides structural strength and stability while maintaining ease of manufacture through conventional molding processes, and the curved surfaces help distribute loads more effectively compared to flat walls.
Data Source
AI summary
A collection tank for mounting under a floor of a building for collecting water from an area under the floor comprises upper and lower tank portions removably securable by rotatable mating of tabs in cavities. Additionally, a pump platform of the tank is formed by a plurality of ridges which form therebetween a channel so that the water is collectable in the tank between the ridges. Furthermore, the upper and lower tank portions are separable, and a width of the top of the upper tank portion is smaller than a width of the open top of the lower tank portion such that the upper tank portion can be received in the lower tank portion in an inverted orientation, in which the collection tank is inoperable for collecting the water, so as to decrease a height of the collection tank.