Sliding Shower Bench Structure for Zero-Threshold Bath Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bath and shower environments often present barriers for users, such as thresholds and lack of accessibility features, which can impede easy entry and exit, especially for individuals with mobility issues, and do not provide adequate support or hygiene facilities.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a knee wall, stanchion, and a bench that can slide into the bathing environment, with armrests, a back support, and a pivot mechanism to allow users to comfortably enter and exit, while also featuring a zero-threshold drain, grab bars, and hygienic seating with water-resistant materials and drainage slots.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a threshold is installed to keep water from escaping, then water containment is improved, but user accessibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the traditional threshold structure entirely and replaces it with a level-entry bench system. The bench integrates with the shower floor at the same level, eliminating the barrier while maintaining water containment through alternative means (curbless shower tray, proper grading). This directly resolves the contradiction by extracting the harmful threshold element while preserving accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The bench serves as an intermediary element that mediates between the need for water containment and user accessibility. It provides a stable seating surface that allows users to easily enter and exit the shower while the overall shower tray design maintains water containment without requiring a threshold. The bench acts as a transition zone that facilitates easy access.
2Ease of operation
If fixed seats are attached to the interior of tubs, then user support is improved, but adaptability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a movable bench system that can be adjusted or repositioned within the shower space. Rather than being permanently fixed, the bench can be moved to different positions or configurations to accommodate various user needs and shower setups. This dynamic capability allows the same bench to serve multiple functions and adapt to different scenarios, resolving the contradiction between providing support and maintaining versatility.
3Reliability
If grab bars are attached to provide hand holds, then user safety is improved, but device complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the grab bar function directly into the bench structure itself. Rather than being separate attachments, the bench incorporates built-in handholds or armrests that serve both as seating support and as grab bars for safety. This merging of functions eliminates the need for additional separate grab bar fixtures, thereby maintaining user safety while reducing overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A bathing environment such as a shower or a tub, has a knee wall in a wall of the environment, a stanchion disposed across from the knee wall, and a bench supported by the knee wall and the stanchion so a user may slide across said bench into said bathing environment. According to an embodiment of the invention, the stanchion has a groove having a depth equal to a thickness of the bench for receiving the bench therein while maintaining a flush surface across the stanchion and the bench to allow a user to slide thereacross.