Urinal Bowl Surface Curvature for Enhanced Cleaning
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional urinals with outer wall portions surrounding the bowl surface require additional enclosures, leading to increased size and water usage, and often fail to adequately clean the side sections due to inefficient flush water distribution, resulting in unsatisfactory cleanliness and sanitation.
Innovation Solution
A urinal design with a bowl surface that spreads flush water in leftward and rightward directions, devoid of side walls at opposite sides, featuring a concavely curved front face portion that inclines rearwardly and downwardly, allowing flush water to reach and clean a wider area, including the side edges, while preventing water from running off and reducing difficult-to-clean areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If outer wall portions are provided to surround the bowl surface, then flush water can reach spilled water on outer walls, but the urinal size increases and requires additional enclosures
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the outer wall portions from the urinal structure. Instead of surrounding the bowl surface with additional enclosures, the design uses only the essential bowl surface with forwardly projecting side walls, removing the redundant outer walls that caused increased size and complexity while maintaining cleaning functionality through optimized flush water distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using outer walls to guide flush water to side sections (conventional approach), the invention inverts the approach by making the bowl surface itself with forwardly projecting side walls the primary structure that directs flush water. The flush water is discharged to spread leftward and rightward across the bowl surface, naturally reaching the side edges without requiring surrounding enclosures.
2Shape
If side walls project forwardly from left and right side edges, then the bowl surface is defined, but flush water does not fully reach the side sections, creating areas that are not cleaned
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by creating forwardly projecting side walls at the left and right side edges of the bowl surface. These localized structural features extend the bowl surface forwardly, and the flush water discharge is specifically designed to spread leftward and rightward across the bowl surface, ensuring that the flush water fully reaches and cleans these forwardly projecting side wall areas.
3Reliability
If the bowl surface is cleaned more effectively, then sanitation is improved, but more flush water is required
Solution Approach 1:
The invention implements self-service by designing the bowl surface with forwardly projecting side walls that naturally guide and concentrate the flush water flow. The flush water discharged onto the bowl surface automatically spreads leftward and rightward, following the contour of the bowl surface and side walls, to reach and clean all areas including the side edges. This self-directed flow pattern ensures complete cleaning coverage without requiring additional water quantity or complex water distribution mechanisms.
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 design enhances cleanliness and sanitation by ensuring a wider area of the bowl surface is flushed and cleaned, reduces water usage, and allows users to move closer without discomfort or urine splashing, while maintaining privacy.
Implementation Method 1
the upper region of the bowl surface on which the flush water discharging device is provided being formed by only a front face portion which faces the user, the front face portion being formed by a concavely curved surface which extends continuously in the leftward and rightward direction
Data Source
AI summary
A urinal having the bowl surface formed by only the front face portion in an upper region which does not have any forwardly projecting plate-like side walls at opposite sides thereof as in the conventional urinal. Flush water cleans a wider part of the bowl surface than in the prior art as well as reduce an area of the bowl surface that is not cleaned and provide an improved cleanliness and sanitation of the bowl surface. The urinal includes: a bowl surface being arranged so as to situate between a line segment connecting the left and right side edges and an arcuate segment of a circle having a diameter corresponding to the line segment, as viewed in the horizontal section through the flush water discharging device.