Self-Contained Bathroom With Extendable Wastewater Drainage
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Solution Overview
Problem
The installation of traditional prefabricated bathrooms in dwellings requires complex and costly work to set up wastewater evacuation ducts and often involves weakening the floor to integrate a waste water storage tank, which is inaccessible and difficult to empty.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous bathroom with a prefabricated enclosure that includes a tank for storing wastewater, an extendable conduit device for orienting the drain flow, and a reversible pump for emptying the tank, allowing for independent collection and storage of wastewater without the need for duct installation or floor integration, and providing hot and cold water supply independently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional wastewater evacuation ducts are installed in the room, then wastewater can be evacuated effectively, but the installation becomes complex and costly requiring major work
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the wastewater storage function from the traditional duct-based evacuation system. Instead of installing complex ductwork throughout the room, the system uses a self-contained tank that collects and stores wastewater locally, eliminating the need for extensive duct installation while maintaining evacuation effectiveness through the tank's drainage connection to the sewer system.
Solution Approach 2:
The tank acts as an intermediary device between the sanitary fixtures and the sewer system. Rather than directly connecting fixtures to sewer pipes through complex ductwork, the tank serves as a intermediate storage point that simplifies the connection process and reduces installation complexity while ensuring reliable wastewater evacuation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a waste water storage tank is integrated under the floor, then the bathroom becomes autonomous, but the floor must be weakened and the tank becomes inaccessible and difficult to empty
Solution Approach 1:
The tank is designed with mobility rather than fixed installation. It can be moved to different locations within the room and positioned for easy access during emptying operations. This dynamic positioning capability maintains bathroom autonomy while ensuring the tank remains accessible for maintenance and emptying without requiring floor modifications.
3Shape
If the tank is placed under the floor, then it is hidden from view, but it becomes inaccessible to the user and difficult to empty
Solution Approach 1:
The tank's movable design allows it to be positioned strategically - hidden when not in use for aesthetic purposes, but easily accessible when emptying is required. This dynamic repositioning capability resolves the contradiction between aesthetic integration and ease of maintenance.
4Ease of manufacture
If the bathroom is made autonomous without duct installation, then installation work is reduced, but the wastewater must be stored and periodically emptied
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a pump with automatic activation to transfer wastewater from the tank to the sewer system. This automated hydraulic solution eliminates the need for manual emptying operations, reducing the time loss associated with frequent emptying while maintaining the installation advantages of the autonomous tank system.
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 eliminates the need for costly duct installations and floor modifications, providing a self-sufficient bathroom that is easy to install and maintain, with the ability to empty the tank without external access, while ensuring easy access for users with reduced mobility.
Implementation Method 1
The expandable conduit device may for example be a flexible hose mounted on a winder/unwinder placed in the prefabricated enclosure or, in a variant embodiment, an extendable and flexible helical hose
Implementation Method 2
The emptying means is preferably a reversible emptying pump making it possible not only to empty the waste water stored in the tank but also to pump clean water for cleaning said tank and/or the extendable conduit device
Implementation Method 3
These bathrooms make it possible to dispense with a connection to a domestic waste water drainage network by evacuating the latter by gravity and recovering them in a storage tank arranged under the floor of the vehicle
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention relates to a self-contained bathroom comprising a prefabricated chamber intended to be placed on the floor of a room in a dwelling, said chamber containing sanitary fittings (6, 7, 8). The bathroom also includes: a means (30) for supplying clean water to the prefabricated chamber; a means (14) for collecting the wastewater generated by the sanitary fittings (6, 7, 8); and a tank (11) for storing the wastewater, said tank being connected to a drain means (14') placed inside the prefabricated chamber in order to drain the wastewater stored in the tank. The invention is characterised in that the drain means (14') is connected to a extendable hose (17) positioned inside the prefabricated chamber, and, while the tank remains inside the chamber, the extendable hose can be used to convey and direct the drain flow towards a drain point outside the chamber.