Shower floor assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Shower floor formers with fixed drainage apertures often require cutting joists to position the shower waste correctly, leading to weakened support and an asymmetric, unappealing finish due to the difficulty in centering the drainage aperture, especially when tiling is involved.
Innovation Solution
A shower floor former assembly with a non-circular waste-plate receiver and a drain waste plate having an offset drainage aperture, allowing for central alignment and multiple positioning options to avoid joists, along with a multi-faceted surface for simplified tiling and improved watertightness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the drainage aperture is positioned eccentrically to avoid joists, then the shower waste can be positioned to avoid cutting joists, but the drainage aperture cannot be centered in the shower floor former resulting in an asymmetric appearance
Solution Approach 1:
The waste-plate receiver is intentionally designed with an asymmetric, non-circular shape that is offset from the center of the shower floor former. This asymmetric design allows the drainage aperture to be positioned away from the center to avoid joists while maintaining structural integrity, and the offset itself becomes a functional feature rather than a defect.
Solution Approach 2:
The drain waste plate is designed to be rotatable within the waste-plate receiver, providing multiple positioning options. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the installer to rotate the plate to different angles and positions to achieve both structural requirements (avoiding joists) and aesthetic requirements (central alignment or pleasing asymmetry).
2Reliability
If a circular drain plate is used with eccentric drainage aperture, then the shower waste can avoid joists, but the curved edges are extremely difficult to cover neatly with tiles
Solution Approach 1:
The waste-plate receiver and drain waste plate are designed with straight-edged, non-circular geometries (such as square, rectangular, or polygonal shapes). This asymmetric design with straight edges eliminates the curved edges problem entirely, allowing tiles to be laid directly against the plate edges without requiring complex curved cuts, significantly simplifying the tiling process.
3Device complexity
If the drainage aperture is fixed in position, then the shower floor former structure is simple, but the shower waste may overlap with joists requiring cutting
Solution Approach 1:
The drain waste plate is designed with rotational freedom within the waste-plate receiver, creating a dynamic positioning system. The plate can be rotated to multiple angular positions and locations, allowing the drainage aperture to be aligned with or away from joists as needed. This dynamic capability provides installation flexibility without adding significant structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A shower floor former assembly is provided which comprises a shower floor former having a non-circular waste-plate receiver and a drain waste plate which is dimensioned to be receivable in the waste-plate receiver. A centre point of the waste-plate receiver is offset from a centre point of the shower floor former, and the drain waste plate has a drainage aperture therethrough, a centre point of the drainage aperture being offset from a centre point of the drain waste plate. The drain waste plate is receivable in the waste-plate receiver in a first condition in which the centre point of the drainage aperture is offset relative to the centre point of the shower floor former. The drain waste plate is also receivable in the waste-plate receiver in a second condition in which the centre point of the drainage aperture is coincident with the centre point of the shower floor former.