Sanitary Ware Assembly With Rolling Siphon for Compact Drainage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sanitary ware designs, such as those with flexible siphons featuring bellows, suffer from increased size due to pivoting movements that require significant space and incomplete drainage due to grooves trapping water, leading to inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
A sanitary ware assembly with a flexible pipe element that moves from a siphon position to a drainage position, folding over itself to minimize space requirements and ensure complete drainage, using a rolling bellows mechanism made of elastomeric materials like EPDM, with a smooth inner surface and controlled actuation for efficient water flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a flexible bellows siphon is used with pivoting movement from closed to draining position, then the siphon can be emptied, but the cavity space required increases considerably
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of the traditional pivoting movement where the bellows rotates within the cavity, the patent inverts the approach by having the second end of the pipe element move along the outside of the pipe element toward the first end. This external rolling motion allows the siphon to empty while maintaining a compact cavity space, as the movement occurs outside rather than within the confined cavity area.
Solution Approach 2:
The pipe element is designed to roll over itself during the emptying process, with the second end moving along the exterior surface toward the first end. This self-nesting configuration allows the flexible element to compactly store its movement path, minimizing the space required in the cavity while still achieving complete emptying of the siphon area.
2Adaptability or versatility
If grooves are provided in the flexible element, then flexibility is improved, but water flow is blocked and complete drainage is prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different surface qualities to different parts of the pipe element. The outer surface is designed with grooves or ridges to provide flexibility and structural integrity during bending, while the inner surface facing the water flow is kept smooth to ensure complete drainage. This local differentiation of surface properties allows the element to be both flexible and fully drainable without contradiction.
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
The solution achieves a compact design that allows for complete drainage with minimal space usage and efficient water management, ensuring rapid and thorough emptying of the siphon area while maintaining an odor trap.
Implementation Method 1
In the siphon position, the pipe element is positioned such that a second end of the pipe element is at a height higher than the drainage pipe, so that a siphon region can be provided with the drainage space, the drainage pipe, and the pipe element, such that an odor trap can be provided by water in the siphon region.
Implementation Method 2
The pipe element is made of a flexible material and can therefore also be referred to as a flexible pipe element. When moving from the siphon position to the drain position, the pipe element is folded over itself or rolled over itself on the outside.
Data Source
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AI summary
A sanitary article arrangement (1) comprises a sanitary article (2) with a receiving chamber (3) and a drain chamber (24) adjoining the receiving chamber (3) with a drain pipe (4), a pipe element (5) which connects to the drain pipe (4) at a first end (6), and an actuating element (7) connected to the pipe element (5) by which the pipe element (5) can be moved from a siphon position to a drain position, wherein the pipe element (5) is in the siphon position such that a second end (8) of the pipe element (5) is at a height higher than the drain pipe (4), so that a siphon area (9) can be provided with the drain chamber (24), the drain pipe (4) and the pipe element (5), such that a water seal can be provided by water in the siphon area (9), and wherein the pipe element is used to empty the siphon area (9). (5) is moved into the emptying position,wherein, during the movement from the siphon position to the draining position, the pipe element (5) is moved with its second end (8) on the outside towards the pipe element (5) in the direction of its first end (6).