Wedge-Shaped Modular Urinal Unit for Privacy and Space Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a lack of convenient and hygienic urinal facilities for women at outdoor events, leading to longer queues and increased costs and maintenance issues with traditional toilets.
Innovation Solution
A modular urinal structure with a wedge-shaped base and removable walls that provides privacy and support, allowing efficient space utilization and easy cleaning, featuring a pedestal positioned to face outward for easy access without direct line-of-sight to maintain hygiene.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional temporary enclosed toilets are used for female users, then privacy and enclosed space are provided, but queue times increase, cleaning difficulty increases, and user contact with multiple surfaces increases hygiene risks
Solution Approach 1:
The urinal unit is segmented into modular components: a wedge-shaped base, removable side walls, an outer wall, and an internal barrier wall. This segmentation allows multiple units to be efficiently arranged in parallel rows, increasing throughput and reducing queue times while maintaining privacy through strategic wall placement that blocks direct line-of-sight between adjacent units.
2Reliability
If traditional temporary enclosed toilets are used, then enclosed space is provided, but cleaning difficulty increases due to multiple surfaces and user contact points
Solution Approach 1:
The side walls are designed to be removable from the base, extracting the enclosure function from permanent structure. This allows the base and pedestal to be easily accessed for cleaning, and the removable walls can be detached for thorough washing or replacement, significantly improving hygiene maintenance compared to traditional enclosed toilets with fixed multi-surface construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The internal barrier wall is positioned to extend only partway across the base, creating localized privacy protection without fully enclosing the space. This selective enclosure maintains hygiene by reducing total surface area that requires cleaning while still providing sufficient privacy through strategic placement that blocks direct line-of-sight to the pedestal.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multi-stall urinal units are used (such as Pollee system), then urinal functionality for women is provided, but space utilization is inefficient as units cannot be installed together
Solution Approach 1:
The wedge-shaped base features an asymmetric design with a narrower apex end and a wider outer edge, allowing units to be arranged in tight parallel formations. The asymmetric wall placements (side walls at the narrower end, outer wall at the wider end) enable efficient space utilization when multiple units are installed together, contrasting with symmetric multi-stall units that cannot be efficiently clustered.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple wedge-shaped units can be merged in parallel arrangements where the outer wall of one unit adjoins the side wall of the next unit. This combining capability allows efficient space utilization in festival and event settings, enabling dense installations that maximize urinal throughput while minimizing the area occupied per unit.
4Ease of operation
If the pedestal is positioned for direct access, then ease of use is improved, but privacy and hygiene are compromised due to direct line-of-sight
Solution Approach 1:
The internal barrier wall acts as an intermediary element positioned between the entrance area and the pedestal. It extends partway across the base to block direct line-of-sight from the outer edge to the pedestal, providing privacy protection while maintaining ease of access. Users can approach the pedestal directly for urination while the barrier wall prevents visual exposure from adjacent units or passersby.
Data Source
AI summary
A urinal unit formed from a wedge-shaped base, side walls, outer walls, an internal wall, and a barrier wall. The base has an inner angle, sides, and an outer edge. The side walls extend along each side of the base from the inner angle to the outer edge. The outer wall extends from the outer end of each side wall part-way along the outer edge of the base towards the other side wall so that a space is formed between adjacent ends of the outer walls. The internal wall extends from the inner angle between the side walls part-way to the outer edge. The barrier wall is located at the outer end of the inner wall so as to extend perpendicularly to the internal wall part way towards the side walls. A urinal pedestal is located between each side wall and the internal wall and positioned so that a user faces the outer edge. The lengths of the outer walls and the barrier wall are such that there is no direct line-of-sight through the space between the outer walls to the pedestals. A urinal installation can be formed from a series of urinal units arranged so that the side wall of one unit is positioned adjacent the side wall of another unit.