Sink Spout Hand Dryer Layout for High-Velocity Drying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hand dryers, especially high-speed models, face challenges in optimizing nozzle separation for effective hand drying due to airflow diffusion, leading to reduced performance when positioned on walls rather than over sinks.
Innovation Solution
A fixture integrating a water tap and hand dryer with opposing pairs of nozzles mounted on a spout over the sink, allowing optimized nozzle separation and positioning for efficient hand drying, where the spout acts as a partition between left-hand and right-hand nozzles, and supply ducts with varying cross-sectional profiles control airflow velocity for enhanced drying performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high-speed airflow is used for effective hand drying, then drying performance is improved, but airflow diffusion causes airspeed to fall off dramatically over short distances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from wall-mounted nozzles to nozzles positioned on the spout, utilizing the vertical dimension above the sink basin. This spatial repositioning allows optimized nozzle separation distances that maintain high airflow velocity over the hand-drying zone, counteracting the natural diffusion-induced velocity decay.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes the separation distance between opposing nozzles as a critical parameter. By adjusting this distance to specific values (e.g., 20-40mm), the system maintains effective airflow velocity and drying performance while accommodating the rapid velocity decay characteristic of high-speed jets.
2Ease of manufacture
If nozzles are positioned on walls, then installation is simple, but nozzle separation cannot be optimized for high-speed airflow
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the hand dryer nozzles with the water tap spout assembly, creating an integrated fixture. This combination allows the nozzles to be positioned on the spout where optimal separation distances can be achieved, while the entire assembly remains a single installable unit, maintaining ease of installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The spout structure serves multiple functions: it conveys water for washing and simultaneously supports the hand dryer nozzles at optimized positions. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate wall mounting while achieving optimal nozzle separation for high-speed airflow.
3Speed
If opposing nozzles are positioned close together, then airflow velocity is maintained, but hand span coverage is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the hand drying function into multiple nozzle groups: opposing nozzles for velocity maintenance and laterally extending nozzles for width coverage. This segmentation allows each nozzle group to specialize in one aspect (velocity or coverage) while collectively achieving both high velocity and full hand span coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extends nozzle coverage laterally away from the spout in addition to positioning opposing nozzles close together. This lateral extension in the horizontal dimension compensates for the reduced spacing in the vertical dimension, maintaining both high velocity and adequate hand span coverage.
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 configuration ensures effective, high-speed hand drying with optimized nozzle separation and controlled airflow, maintaining performance across the hand span without the need for shaped nozzles, while allowing for compact and user-friendly design.
Implementation Method 1
a motor-driven fan to force air at high pressure through an opposing pair of narrow, slit-like nozzles
Implementation Method 2
This creates two opposing thin sheets, or 'blades', of high velocity air which act to strip water from the front and backs of a user's hands
Implementation Method 3
high velocity air which act to strip water from the front and backs of a user's hands as they are 'dipped'—palms flat—between the opposing nozzles
Data Source
AI summary
A fixture for a sink—for example provided in a commercial washroom or the like—incorporating a water tap and a hand dryer. The water tap comprises a spout arranged to project over the basin of the sink. The hand dryer comprises: an opposing pair of left-hand nozzles mounted on the spout for directing air onto the front and back of a user's left hand as it is passed—with palm open—in between the opposing nozzles, and an opposing pair of right-hand nozzles mounted on the spout for directing air onto the front and back of a user's right hand as it is passed—with palm open—in between the nozzles.