Urinal Coupler with Inclined Bushing for Drain Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
In liquid flow paths from water-free urinals to external drains, sediment and debris often collect in conduits due to inadequate slope, leading to impedance or blockages, which is difficult to address in existing systems, especially in retrofitting scenarios where altering the conduit orientation is not feasible.
Innovation Solution
A fitting with a bushing and tubing system that aligns with the urinal exit tube's slope, creating a gravitationally directed flow path to the drain pipe, ensuring smooth fluid flow regardless of the conduit's orientation, and is designed for easy retrofitting into various conduit and drain pipe configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the conduit is connected to the drain pipe without adequate slope, then the installation is simpler and can be retrofitted easily, but liquid flow becomes impeded and sediment collects in pools within the conduit
Solution Approach 1:
The fitting introduces a vertical dimension to the flow path by creating a downwardly directed flow channel within the fitting body. This vertical flow component compensates for the inadequate horizontal slope of the conduit, ensuring continuous liquid flow to the drain pipe without requiring changes to the conduit's horizontal orientation or slope.
Solution Approach 2:
The fitting acts as an intermediary device between the horizontally oriented conduit and the drain pipe. It receives liquid from the conduit and redirects it through a vertically directed flow path within the fitting, mediating the transition from horizontal to vertical flow to eliminate pooling and ensure continuous drainage.
2Reliability
If the conduit orientation is altered to provide adequate downward slope, then liquid flow improves and sediment deposition is reduced, but the installation complexity increases and retrofitting becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The solution segments the drainage system into two functional parts: the existing conduit that can remain in its original horizontal orientation, and the new fitting that provides the necessary vertical flow component. This segmentation allows the conduit to stay simple while the fitting handles the slope requirement, avoiding the need to alter the entire conduit system.
Solution Approach 2:
The fitting is pre-designed with the downwardly directed flow path geometry built into its structure. This preliminary design of the flow director geometry eliminates the need for field modifications or complex routing calculations during installation, as the slope correction is already embodied in the fitting's manufactured shape.
3Device complexity
If a simple conduit connection is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but liquid may pool within the conduit creating blockages
Solution Approach 1:
The fitting's flow director incorporates curved surfaces and smooth transitions to guide liquid flow downward. The curved geometry promotes continuous flow by eliminating sharp angles or flat surfaces where liquid might pool, ensuring that sediment-carrying liquid maintains momentum and flows smoothly to the drain pipe without deposition.
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 ensures continuous, unimpeded fluid flow into the drain pipe, minimizing sediment deposition and preventing stagnant fluid collection, while accommodating different conduit lengths and existing hardware, thus enhancing the reliability of liquid waste disposal.
Implementation Method 1
A fitting with a bushing and tubing system that aligns with the urinal exit tube's slope, creating a gravitationally directed flow path to the drain pipe
Data Source
AI summary
A bushing (58) has an entry portion (68) which is secured to a urinal housing (50) and an exit portion (70) which faces a drain pipe (54, 54a, 54b). The entry portion interior surface (74) is fittable about and sealingly grips the urinal exit tube (52). The interiors of the entry and exit portions lie on a common axis (58x) and with the axis (52x) of the urinal exit tube. These axes define a sloped incline and, thus, a built-in, gravitationally-directed downwardly-disposed inclination. Because the axes usually do not fall on the axis (56x) of the conduit, they are angled and offset from the conduit axis. The offset of the bushing raises it above the axis of the conduit. Tubing (60, 60a) is secured at its end (62, 62a) to the bushing exit portion so that the tubing axis at its end (62, 62a) similarly is raised above the conduit axis. The tubing extends from the bushing at an incline that is determined by the built-in incline of the bushing. This tubing is smaller in its outer diameter than the inner diameter of the conduit so that the tubing can pass through the conduit and into the drain pipe. The interior surface (74) of the bushing is offset from its outer surface which is secured to the conduit. Thus, the tubing is allowed to ensure that the conduit will not so contact the tubing as to deleteriously affect the downward inclination of the tubing. An orientation indicator tab (92) on the bushing ensures that its inclined orientation is properly positioned vis-a-vis the conduit. The exterior surfaces of the bushing are designed to enable it to fit within a variety of conduits, to accommodate new and existing connections such as flanges and hardware associated with the drain pipe, to ensure its durability, and to otherwise enable retrofitting to new and existing installations.