Sink Tap Fixture With Split Air Nozzles for In-Basin Hand Drying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hand dryers at sinks often require users to move away from the sink to use them, and those mounted over sinks can lead to inefficient airflow distribution, affecting drying performance.
Innovation Solution
A dual-purpose fixture for a sink that integrates a water tap with hand-dryer nozzles on either side of the spout, optimizing nozzle placement for high-speed airflow and user comfort, allowing for efficient hand drying without the need to move from the sink.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If hand dryers are mounted separately on the wall away from the sink, then drying performance is improved, but user convenience deteriorates as users must move away from the sink
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the hand dryer nozzles with the water tap fixture, integrating two previously separate functions (washing and drying) into a single unified fixture. The nozzles are positioned on either side of the spout, creating a combined washing-drying station that eliminates the need for users to move between separate fixtures while maintaining effective drying performance through optimized nozzle placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixture serves multiple functions: it provides both water dispensing for hand washing and high-speed air drying for hand drying. The spout acts as a dividing partition between the left and right nozzles, while the same fixture structure supports both washing and drying operations, making the system versatile and eliminating the need for separate wall-mounted dryers.
2Ease of operation
If hand-dryer nozzles are mounted directly over the sink, then user convenience is improved, but airflow distribution deteriorates affecting drying performance
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzles are positioned at specific locations on either side of the spout rather than directly over it, creating localized high-speed airflow zones targeted at the user's hands. This asymmetric positioning optimizes airflow distribution to match the typical hand-washing position, delivering effective drying performance while maintaining the convenience of having the dryer integrated at the sink location.
3Device complexity
If a single water tap fixture is used, then device complexity is reduced, but functionality deteriorates as it cannot provide both washing and drying
Solution Approach 1:
The single fixture incorporates both water dispensing and hand drying capabilities. The spout serves as both the water outlet and a structural dividing partition between the left and right nozzles. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate wall-mounted dryers while maintaining simplicity in the overall fixture structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The washing function (water tap) and drying function (hand dryer nozzles) are merged into a single integrated fixture. The nozzles are positioned on either side of the spout, sharing the same mounting structure and space, thereby reducing overall device complexity while providing combined washing-drying functionality.
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
The fixture provides effective, high-speed hand drying with optimized airflow distribution, ensuring efficient water removal and user convenience by integrating hand-drying nozzles into the sink's design, improving drying performance and user experience.
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
each left-hand nozzle is located on the left-hand side of the spout and each right-hand nozzle is located on the right-hand side of the spout so that the spout acts as a dividing partition between the left-hand and right-hand nozzles
Data Source
AI summary
A dual-purpose fixture for a sink or wash basin, incorporating both a water tap and a hand dryer. The water tap has a spout arranged to project over the basin of the sink, and the hand dryer incorporates two or more hand-dryer nozzles—at least one for each of a user's hands. The left-hand nozzle is located on the left-hand side of the spout and the right-hand nozzle is located on the right-hand side of the spout, specifically so that the spout acts as a dividing partition between the two hand-dryer nozzles. This encourages correct usage of the hand-dryer. The fixture may be fitted to a sink or wall-mounted above the sink.