Shower Head Deformable Lip Sealing Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional shower heads lack a simple and effective mechanism for creating a precise seal between different groups of jet outlet openings, leading to inefficient water distribution and potential leakage.
Innovation Solution
A shower head design featuring a deformable elastomeric lip that acts as a valve device, sealing between groups of jet outlet openings based on water pressure, eliminating the need for movable parts and allowing for varying stiffness and shape to ensure precise water flow control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional shower heads use multiple separate water guides and valve mechanisms to control water flow to different jet outlet groups, then water distribution control is achieved, but device complexity increases and sealing precision becomes difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sealing function from complex mechanical valve mechanisms and concentrates it into a single deformable seal element that responds directly to water pressure. This eliminates the need for separate valve components while maintaining water distribution control, thereby reducing device complexity while preserving operational functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable seal element automatically responds to water pressure changes without requiring external valve mechanisms. The seal itself performs the flow control function by deforming under pressure to open or close passages, making the system self-regulating and eliminating the need for complex manual or automated valve systems.
2Ease of operation
If conventional shower heads use mechanical valve devices with movable parts to seal between jet outlet groups, then water flow control is achieved, but reliability decreases due to potential leakage and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical valve systems with movable parts with a deformable seal element that responds elastically to water pressure. This eliminates wear-prone mechanical contacts and potential leakage points associated with conventional valve mechanisms, significantly improving sealing reliability while maintaining water flow control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal element's physical state changes in response to water pressure parameters. Under low pressure, the seal maintains its original shape to close passages; under high pressure, it deforms to open passages. This dynamic parameter-based control eliminates the need for mechanical valve movement, improving reliability.
3Reliability
If conventional shower heads use multiple sealing components to seal between water guides, then sealing is achieved, but ease of manufacture decreases due to assembly complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sealing functions into a single deformable seal element that performs all sealing operations between different water guide groups. This unified approach eliminates the need for multiple separate sealing components and their complex assembly, significantly improving ease of manufacture while maintaining comprehensive sealing effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The single deformable seal element serves multiple sealing functions simultaneously, sealing between different water guide groups and responding to pressure changes to control flow to multiple jet outlet groups. This multi-functional design replaces what would traditionally require multiple specialized sealing components, simplifying manufacturing and assembly.
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
Ensures that water enters and exits only through assigned groups of jet outlet openings, providing efficient and precise water distribution without increasing the number of parts, and allowing for customizable water flow patterns.
Implementation Method 1
the seal is formed by an element that can be deformed by water pressure and that rests against a preferably fixed edge of the opening between the two groups of jet outlet openings
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The spray head has a water inlet located in a spray head housing (2). The water discharge units (11-13) are provided in the spray head housing. The water discharge units are led towards the groups of jet outlet openings in a jet disc (3). A seal portion is located between two groups of jet outlet openings so as to close an aperture between the groups of jet outlet openings temporarily such that the groups of jet outlet openings are sealed against each other.