Tilted Side Walls for Litter Box Tray Leakage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional animal litter boxes face issues with liquid excrement droplets adhering to interior walls and leaking, due to the design of the excrement tray and absorbent structure, which complicates odor management and cleanliness.
Innovation Solution
The design features a tilted arrangement of side walls on the excrement tray to reduce the apparent length dimension in the vertical direction, combined with a liquid passable tray and through-holes to manage fluid communication, preventing droplets from leaking and enhancing odor containment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the clearance between the tray and upper side cover is increased to allow smooth tray movement, then the tray can be moved easily, but the fall length of liquid excrement increases causing droplets to spatter and leak
Solution Approach 1:
The side walls are designed to be tilted relative to the vertical direction, changing the geometric orientation from vertical to inclined. This dimensional change allows the vertical height to be reduced while maintaining sufficient side wall length for droplet containment, thereby resolving the contradiction between clearance requirements and fall length reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The side wall inclination angle is optimized to balance two competing requirements: a smaller angle reduces the vertical projection (fall length) to prevent spatter, while a larger angle provides more horizontal space for tray movement. By adjusting this parameter, the design achieves both smooth tray operability and effective droplet containment.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the side wall length is reduced to shorten fall length, then droplet spatter is reduced, but the opening area of the tray is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
By tilting the side walls away from the vertical direction, the design extends the side wall length in the inclined direction while reducing its vertical projection. This allows the opening area (horizontal dimension) to be maintained or even enlarged while the effective fall length (vertical dimension) is reduced, preventing droplet spatter.
3Area of stationary object
If the side walls are made vertical to maximize opening area, then the opening area is maximized, but the fall length increases causing droplets to adhere to interior walls and leak
Solution Approach 1:
The side walls are inclined at an angle to the vertical direction, which reduces the vertical projection (fall length) while maintaining adequate horizontal opening area. This geometric transformation allows the tray to achieve both sufficient opening size and effective droplet containment by utilizing the inclined geometry rather than vertical walls.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If the fall length is shortened to reduce droplet spatter, then droplet formation is reduced, but the side wall length in vertical direction is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The side walls are designed with an inclination angle relative to the vertical direction, which separates the vertical projection (fall length) from the actual side wall length. This allows the vertical projection to be minimized for droplet containment while the actual side wall length in the inclined direction remains sufficient for structural integrity and function.
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 effectively reduces the fall length of animal liquid excrement, minimizes leakage, and improves odor management by enlarging the opening area and maintaining the length of side walls and flaps, ensuring better absorbency and cleanliness.
Implementation Method 1
a fall length (La) of animal liquid excrement, for example, urine of animals is equal to a length calculated by subtracting a thickness (Hc) of the absorbent structure 92 in the vertical direction Z from a sum of an interior height (Ha) of tray 90 in vertical direction Z and a height (Hb) of the clearance 91 in the vertical direction Z
Implementation Method 2
a liquid passable litter tray interposed between the upper side cover and the lower container... with use of a liquid passable tray and through-holes to manage fluid communication
Implementation Method 3
The absorbent structure 92 used for the litter box includes a liquid-permeable topsheet 93, a liquid-impermeable backsheet 94 and an absorbent core 95 interposed between these sheets 93, 94
Implementation Method 4
The absorbent core 95 is formed of, for example, a mixture of wood fluff pulp and superabsorbent polymer particles
Data Source
AI summary
An animal litter box has a transverse direction, a longitudinal direction and a vertical direction and includes a lower container having an opening at an upper end thereof and allocated on the lower side, an upper side cover allocated above the lower container and a liquid passable litter tray interposed between the upper side cover and the lower container and cooperating with the lower container to close the opening. The lower container has an excrement tray provided so as to be manually movable in the longitudinal direction between a put-in position at which the excrement tray is set within the receiving space below the liquid passable litter tray and a drawn out position outside the receiving space and an end opening through which the excrement tray is put into or drawn out from the receiving space.