Surface Disruptor for Laminar Jet Fountain Illumination
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Water handling devices, particularly laminar jets in pools and spas, face challenges in maintenance and aesthetic enhancement due to their subgrade installation, making adjustments difficult and light visibility issues with smooth laminar water flow.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a fluid handling device with a surface disruptor that modifies the laminarity of a first stream of fluid by intersecting it with a second stream, enhancing light refraction and illumination, and includes adjustable mechanisms for varying flow rates and trajectories, allowing for easier maintenance and enhanced visual effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If jets are installed beneath grade to contribute to aesthetic appeal, then aesthetic appeal is improved, but maintenance and adjustment difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The jet system is divided into separable components: the jet body can be removed from the housing while the housing remains in place. This segmentation allows maintenance personnel to access and service the jet components without excavating or disturbing the subgrade installation, thus maintaining aesthetic appeal while improving ease of maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
A removable housing or access mechanism serves as an intermediary between the subgrade installation and the jet components. This intermediary structure allows technicians to access jets for maintenance while keeping the final aesthetic installation intact, resolving the contradiction between permanent installation and serviceability.
2Illumination intensity
If laminar water flow is used to create smooth visual effects, then aesthetic appeal is improved, but light visibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The disruptor applies localized disturbance only at specific points within the laminar flow where light refraction is needed, rather than disrupting the entire flow. This maintains laminarity in most of the water column while creating localized zones of enhanced light scattering and visibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The disruptor introduces a small amount of controlled turbulence or surface disturbance that is sufficient to enhance light visibility but minimal enough to preserve the overall laminar character of the flow. This partial action achieves the desired optical effect without completely destroying the laminar structure.
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 solution improves the maintenance and aesthetic appeal of water handling devices by allowing for adjustable and enhanced lighting effects, making it easier to adjust and maintain the devices without removing them from their housings and improving light visibility in laminar water flows.
Implementation Method 1
the appearance of the light in the first stream may be modified as its laminarity is modified. For example, light introduced into the first stream of fluid may be caused to refract outward from the first stream of fluid and thus enhance illumination of the first stream of fluid
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid handling device, for example, a laminar jet fountain, includes a jet emanating a first stream of substantially laminar fluid. The jet fountain also includes a surface disruptor that includes a body, a water inlet, a valve, a fluid outlet, and a trajectory adjuster emanating a second stream of fluid from the fluid outlet. The second stream of fluid may be positioned to intersect the first stream of fluid and perturb its laminarity. By adjusting a valve controlling the force and volume of flow of the second stream and/or by adjusting the trajectory adjuster, the intersection of the first and second streams may be modified and, therefore, the laminarity of the first stream may be modified. By disrupting the laminar surface of the first stream, light introduced into the first stream may be caused to refract outward from the first stream and thus enhance illumination of the first stream.