Shower Door Bottom Rail for Sloped Threshold Leveling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Shower door hardware faces challenges in accommodating sloped shower thresholds, leading to installation difficulties and aesthetic issues due to the need for custom-cut frame members that can create rough edges and hazards.
Innovation Solution
A shower door frame system featuring an elongated rail with adjustable sidewalls and grooves allows for easy modification to fit different slopes, ensuring a level door installation with concealed and safe edges, comprising a bottom portion with sidewalls and a top portion with channels to receive the cut edges of the sidewalls, enabling adaptation to various threshold angles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the lower frame member is modified onsite by cutting to accommodate the slope, then the shower door can be installed on a sloped threshold, but the edges become rough and unsightly, diminishing aesthetics and creating safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The lower frame member is divided into two separate components: a bottom portion that contacts the sloped threshold and a top portion that supports the shower door. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the bottom portion can be cut to match the slope while the top portion maintains a clean, level appearance for door support.
Solution Approach 2:
The elongated rail acts as an intermediary component between the sloped threshold and the level shower door. The rail's bottom portion adapts to the slope while its top portion provides a level mounting surface, mediating between the uneven threshold and the requirement for a level door installation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the lower frame member is manufactured in different fixed slopes, then accommodation of various threshold slopes is possible, but the device complexity and inventory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of providing multiple fixed-slope frame members, the invention uses a dynamic adjustment mechanism where the bottom portion of the rail can be cut or adjusted to various angles. This allows a single base configuration to adapt to different slope requirements, eliminating the need for multiple pre-manufactured variants.
Solution Approach 2:
The slope angle parameter of the lower frame member is made variable through onsite cutting or adjustment of the bottom portion. This allows the same component to be customized for different threshold slopes, replacing the need for multiple fixed-parameter versions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the top portion of the rail is sloped to match the threshold, then the door can be installed on sloped surfaces, but the door may not remain level during operation
Solution Approach 1:
The rail is segmented into a bottom portion that slopes to match the threshold and a top portion that remains level to support the door. This separation allows the mounting surface for the door to be independent of the threshold slope, ensuring the door stays level during operation while still accommodating the sloped installation surface.
Data Source
AI summary
A shower door assembly including at least one door panel having a bottom surface, a bottom frame member including a top portion and a bottom portion, the top portion including two grooves on a lower side thereof, the bottom portion including two sidewalls each having a top edge engaged in one of the two grooves, the door panel adjacent to and above the top portion of the bottom frame member, wherein the bottom surface of the at least one door panel is in a plane divergent to a plane of a bottom surface of the bottom frame member.