Variable Mounting Sanitary Fittings for Uniform Flush Appearance

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Sanitary fittings with concealed installations face challenges in maintaining a uniform appearance due to varying installation depths of wall-side inlet pipes for cold and hot water, leading to inconsistent protrusion of the cartridge housing beyond the cover rosette, and existing solutions do not adequately adapt to different installation positions or depths.

Innovation Solution

The sanitary fitting is composed of two preassembled structural units: one with a deflection unit and four pipe extensions, and another with a mixing unit and support, featuring telescopically interlocking pipe connections for adjustable positioning and sealing, allowing the mixing unit to be positioned at different distances from the deflection unit, and an optional intermediate piece for alignment adjustments.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If the installation box is used with fixed connection pieces for wall-side inlet pipes, then the connection structure is simple, but the sanitary fitting cannot adapt to different installation depths of inlet pipes, resulting in non-uniform visual appearance

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveadaptability to different installation depthsVSAvoidcomplexity of connection structure
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The connection pieces are made movable relative to the installation box, allowing them to adjust their position along the inlet pipes to accommodate different installation depths. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the sanitary fitting to adapt to varying installation conditions while maintaining a uniform visual appearance, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and structural simplicity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The connection structure is divided into modular components: the installation box, the deflection unit, and the connection pieces. Each connection piece can independently adjust its position, allowing the system to adapt to different installation depths without requiring complete redesign of the connection structure, thus balancing adaptability with structural simplicity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Adaptability or versatility

If the cartridge housing protrudes beyond the cover rosette by different amounts, then the installation can accommodate varying inlet pipe depths, but the visual appearance becomes non-uniform

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaccommodation of varying inlet pipe depthsVSAvoiduniformity of visual appearance
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSShape

Solution Approach 1:

The connection pieces are designed to be movable, allowing them to adjust their extension beyond the installation box to match the inlet pipe installation depth. This ensures that the cartridge housing consistently protrudes by the same amount beyond the cover rosette regardless of the actual inlet pipe depth, maintaining uniform visual appearance while accommodating varying installation conditions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Reliability

If additional sealing measures and assembly steps are implemented to ensure proper sealing, then the sealing reliability is improved, but the ease of installation is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesealing reliabilityVSAvoidease of installation
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The connection pieces are designed to automatically seal when brought into contact with the inlet pipes through their inherent geometric shape and material properties. The sealing surfaces are configured such that proper sealing occurs automatically during the connection process without requiring additional sealing measures or complex assembly steps, thus maintaining both sealing reliability and ease of installation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP2101002B1Built in box with variable mounting of sanitary fittings
Publication Date: 2014.12.17 IDEAL STANDARD INT
  • EP2101002B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP2101002B1 patent drawingFigure 3~6

AI summary

The box (10) has a deflection unit (18) with pipe coupling supports arranged in a vertical plane, and provided for conveying cold water, hot water and mixed water. A mixing unit (20) is held on a carrier (19), and is engaged into the pipe coupling supports of the deflection unit, which has three pipe connections formed on the mixing unit and with the carrier mounted on the box in a telescopically sealing manner. The pipe connections are engaged into the pipe coupling supports of the deflection unit, are formed on a separate intermediate piece, and are made of a soft rubber bearing.