Wall-mounted wash basin
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial kitchen wash basins with stainless steel bowls and lower-grade ferritic steel skirts face issues such as difficult cleaning due to sharp corners and edges, protruding fasteners, and potential injury hazards, especially in sterile environments, as well as high costs for all-stainless steel designs with curved fronts and deburred edges.
Innovation Solution
A wash basin design featuring a metal bowl unit bonded to a thermoplastic skirt with a unitary moulding, eliminating sharp edges and fasteners, allowing for easy cleaning and customizable shapes, and made at a lower cost by using thermoplastic materials for the skirt and stainless steel for the bowl, with a hands-free water control system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If ferritic steel is used for the skirt to reduce cost, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but corrosion resistance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines a metal bowl unit (providing corrosion resistance) with a thermoplastic skirt (providing cost effectiveness and formability). This composite construction allows each material to contribute its superior properties: the metal bowl maintains hygiene and corrosion resistance where required, while the thermoplastic skirt provides complex curved shapes and eliminates sharp edges without the high cost of all-metal construction.
2Ease of manufacture
If the skirt is formed with simple square box shape to ease manufacturing, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but ease of cleaning deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs curved surfaces throughout the skirt design, eliminating sharp corners and edges. The thermoplastic material is moulded into smooth, continuous curved forms that prevent dirt accumulation and facilitate easy cleaning. This curvature principle is applied to the entire skirt structure, including the front curve and side profiles, ensuring no sharp edges protrude to cause injury or trap contaminants.
3Strength
If bolts or rivets are used to fasten the basin to the skirt, then structural strength is improved, but ease of cleaning deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the bowl unit and skirt into a unified assembly through bonding, eliminating separate fastening components. The bonding creates a seamless joint between the metal bowl and thermoplastic skirt, removing protruding bolts or rivets that would interfere with cleaning. This merged construction maintains structural integrity while achieving smooth, continuous surfaces that are easy to clean and maintain sterile conditions.
4Ease of operation
If all stainless steel construction with curved front and deburred edges is used to improve safety and ease of cleaning, then ease of cleaning and safety are improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a composite construction with a metal bowl unit and thermoplastic skirt to achieve the benefits of all-metal construction without the high cost. The thermoplastic material inherently provides smooth, curved surfaces without requiring expensive deburring operations, while the metal bowl maintains corrosion resistance. This composite approach delivers safety and ease of cleaning at a lower manufacturing cost.
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 provides a safe, easy-to-clean, and aesthetically pleasing wash basin with reduced costs and enhanced safety, suitable for sterile environments, while avoiding the need for expensive metal shaping processes and deburring, and allowing for customizable shapes and color options.
Implementation Method 1
the bowl unit and the skirt are bonded together around the peripheral rim of the skirt
Data Source
AI summary
A wash basin (2) includes a bowl unit (4) and a skirt (6) that supports the bowl unit. The bowl unit (2) is made mainly or entirely of metal and the skirt (6) is made mainly or entirely of a moulded thermoplastic material. The skirt (6) includes a peripheral rim (28) that is located beneath an edge portion (29) of the bowl unit to support that bowl unit, and the bowl unit (4) and the skirt (6) are bonded together.