Wall-Mounted Shower Drain for Single-Slope Tile Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tiling a floor with a center drain in a shower stall is challenging due to the need for multiple slopes, which is time-consuming and aesthetically distracting, especially with large tiles, and elongated drains with visible floor grates detract from the visual appeal.
Innovation Solution
A wall-mounted drain assembly that allows the floor to slope in a single direction, featuring a drain body with horizontal and vertical outlets, drain extensions, and a grate-less design with a positionable tile cover, reducing installation complexity and enhancing aesthetics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a center drain is used in a shower stall, then water drainage is effective, but the floor tiling becomes complex and time-consuming due to multiple slopes
Solution Approach 1:
The drain assembly is extracted from the traditional floor-center location and mounted on the vertical wall instead. This removes the need for complex multi-directional floor slopes, allowing the floor to slope in a single direction toward the wall-mounted drain, thereby simplifying the tiling process and increasing installation speed
2Ease of manufacture
If a center drain with multiple slopes is used, then water drainage is effective, but the aesthetic presentation is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The drain assembly is relocated from the floor center to the vertical wall, extracting the visual distraction from the floor surface. This allows for cleaner, more continuous floor tiling with uniform slopes, significantly improving the aesthetic quality of the shower stall
Solution Approach 2:
The drain is moved from the horizontal floor plane to the vertical wall plane, changing the dimensional location of the drainage function. This enables the floor to maintain a clean, uniform slope without the visual disruption of a center drain and complex slope intersections
3Ease of manufacture
If an elongated drain with floor grates is used, then single-direction sloping is enabled, but visible grates detract from visual appeal
Solution Approach 1:
The drain assembly is mounted on the vertical wall instead of the horizontal floor, moving the drainage function to a different dimension. This eliminates the need for visible floor grates while maintaining effective water collection, as the drain receives water from the sloped floor surface without requiring surface-mounted grating
Data Source
AI summary
A drain assembly that is installed at and against the wall of a shower stall providing an inlet along the intersection of the wall with the floor, and the methodology of installing the drain assembly are described. In at least some embodiments of an installed configuration, only a thin slit along the wall/floor intersection is visible in a finished shower enclosure.