Reinforced Modular Bathroom Floor Resists Bending and Twisting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Bathroom pod construction faces challenges in creating a sturdy, monolithic bathroom floor that can withstand weight and forces during fabrication, transport, and installation, as traditional methods result in floors prone to sagging, bending, and twisting, leading to potential damage and installation issues.
Innovation Solution
A one-piece prefabricated bathroom floor system with integrated weight-bearing and anti-torsional features, utilizing foam and plastic members encapsulated in a waterproof membrane, which includes cross-brace transverse strengthening members and a raised platform to support both floor and wall components, allowing for quick assembly and installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional construction methods are used to create shower enclosures with framed studs, felt paper, and mortar layers, then the floor can be formed with a sloped surface for drainage, but the construction process becomes time-consuming and requires skilled labor to maintain proper pitch and uniformity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-forming the shower base with the correct sloped surface and drainage features before installation. The molded base is manufactured in advance with precise pitch and uniformity, eliminating the need for on-site mortar shaping and pitch adjustment, thereby reducing construction time while maintaining manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and form of the floor structure by transitioning from a built-up mortar and frame construction to a pre-molded plastic base. This parameter change allows the floor pitch and drainage characteristics to be established during manufacturing rather than during installation, resolving the contradiction between precision and time.
2Shape
If a thick mortar layer is applied to form a sloped shower floor surface, then the floor can be shaped to drain water toward the drain, but the curing time required before applying tile increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from mortar to molded plastic, which allows the sloped floor shape to be formed during manufacturing without requiring curing time. The plastic base is molded with the correct slope and drainage features, eliminating the waiting period associated with mortar curing while maintaining the necessary shaped surface for water drainage.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional shower construction methods are used with separate components and materials, then the shower enclosure can be assembled, but the overall construction cost increases due to required labor and time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate construction elements (shower base, drainage system, curb, and siding support structures) into a single integrated molded plastic base. This consolidation simplifies the manufacturing process and dramatically increases installation speed, as the entire assembly is installed as one unit rather than being constructed from multiple separate components, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
Reinforced floor components of prefabricated bathroom pods. The floor components are reinforced and integrated into bathroom pods or other building units in such a manner as to add significant strength to the bathroom pods to resist bending, twisting and sagging, and/or to aid in lifting and supporting the weight of the bathroom pods, and thereby add to the structural integrity of the prefabricated bathroom pods to which they are attached.