Two-Layer Vanity Unit Design for Multi-Height User Accessibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vanity and sink units installed in collective buildings, such as apartments or multi-family houses, are typically set at a height suitable for average adults, making them uncomfortable for individuals of shorter stature or wheelchair users to use effectively.
Innovation Solution
A two-layer vanity or sink unit design featuring an upper vanity unit on a cabinet and a lower vanity unit that can be selectively withdrawn from the cabinet, allowing for adjustable height placement and independent control of water supply, temperature, and direction through lever-operated faucets, ensuring usability for users of varying heights.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If vanity units are installed at a fixed height suitable for average adults, then the installation is simple and standardized, but the unit becomes unusable or uncomfortable for children and wheelchair users
Solution Approach 1:
The vanity unit is divided into two separate layers: an upper vanity unit fixed on top of the cabinet and a lower vanity unit that can be selectively inserted into and removed from the cabinet. This segmentation allows each layer to serve different user groups (adults and children/wheelchair users) independently, resolving the contradiction between fixed installation and adaptability for different users.
Solution Approach 2:
The lower vanity unit is designed to be dynamically adjustable - it can be inserted into the cabinet when needed and removed when not needed. This dynamic configuration allows the vanity system to adapt to different user requirements without requiring complex adjustable mechanisms, maintaining structural simplicity while improving ease of operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a lower vanity unit is added inside the cabinet to serve children and wheelchair users, then usability for different heights is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cabinet space serves multiple functions: it provides storage when the lower vanity unit is not in use, and it accommodates the lower vanity unit when needed. This multi-functionality allows the system to adapt to different user heights without adding permanent complex structures, as the same space serves different purposes based on need.
Solution Approach 2:
The lower vanity unit is nested within the cabinet structure, allowing it to be stored inside the cabinet when not in use and easily accessed when needed. This nesting approach minimizes the permanent structural complexity while maintaining high adaptability for different user groups.
3Ease of operation
If independent water control is provided for both upper and lower vanity units, then each user can control water supply independently, but the plumbing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The water supply system merges the cold and hot water lines from the upper vanity unit to also supply the lower vanity unit. This combining approach allows independent water control at each vanity while avoiding the need for completely separate plumbing systems, thus reducing overall plumbing complexity while maintaining ease of operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a two-layer vanity unit. The two-layer vanity unit includes: a cabinet; an upper vanity unit disposed on a top of the cabinet and exposed to the outside; a lower vanity unit disposed inside the cabinet so that it is selectively put into the cabinet when not in use and withdrawn from the cabinet when in use; drain pipes connected to the upper and lower vanity units; and cold and hot water pipes connected to the upper vanity unit. Control is performed to adjust one or more of water supply and water cutoff for the upper or lower vanity unit and an amount and temperature of the available water according to an operation mode of the lever of the faucet provided on the upper or lower vanity unit, thereby controlling a type of supply of available water.