Tub installation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tub installations face challenges in achieving a flat installation with reliable weight distribution, as they often result in a C-shaped edge that is higher than adjacent tile coverings, leading to mechanical stress and potential deformation and corrosion issues.
Innovation Solution
A tub installation design featuring a shower tray with a downwardly directed web on its circumferential edge, supported by a profile that protrudes below the web, allowing weight loads to be distributed via the profile and minimizing mechanical stress on the edge, while maintaining a low installation height and flat profile.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the bent edge rests directly on the screed to achieve low installation height, then the installation height is reduced, but the edge is subjected to high mechanical stress causing deformation and corrosion
Solution Approach 1:
The support function is extracted from the fragile angular edge and transferred to the robust support profile. The angular edge is taken out from its role as the primary load-bearing element and becomes solely the sealing and finishing element, which is much more resistant to mechanical stress and corrosion.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of the edge supporting the tray directly on the screed, the invention inverts the support hierarchy: the support profile supports the tray, which in turn supports the angular edge. This inversion protects the angular edge from direct mechanical stress while maintaining low installation height.
2Shape
If a C-shaped bent edge is used, then the tray can be supported, but the manufacturing process becomes complex requiring multiple bending steps
Solution Approach 1:
The complex C-shaped bent edge is segmented into two simpler components: an angular edge with a single bend and a separate sealing strip. This segmentation simplifies the manufacturing process by reducing the number of bending steps required for the main tray structure, while the sealing strip can be manufactured separately and attached afterward.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C~1E
AI summary
A bathtub installation comprises a shower tray (1) and at least one support profile (10) for supporting the shower tray (1), wherein the shower tray (1) has a drain opening (3) and a shower surface (2) inclined to the horizontal relative to the drain opening (3), wherein the shower surface (2) is surrounded by a circumferential rim (4) formed on at least one side by an angled section with a downwardly directed web (5), wherein the at least one support profile (10) is arranged adjacent to the angled section under the shower surface (2) and projects downwards beyond a lower end of the downwardly directed web (5). This allows the bathtub installation to be mounted particularly flush with a substrate.