3028 results about "Laundry washing machine" patented technology

The invention provides an electrochemical active oxygen supply device for a washing machine and a preparation method. The device comprises a shell, a single closed reaction chamber is formed in the shell, a bifunctional anode electrode and a bifunctional cathode electrode are integrated in the reaction chamber, and a compact and uniform reaction area is formed between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. When water flows through the reaction area, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and / or hydroxyl radicals (OH) are / is electrochemically generated on the surface in situ by accurately adjusting the electrode potential of the difunctional anode, so that instant generation and instant utilization of active oxygen are realized. The active oxygen directly enters a washing system of the washing machine along with water flow, bacteria, viruses and fungi can be efficiently inactivated under the normal-temperature or low-temperature washing condition without additionally adding chemical disinfectants, organic stains and peculiar smell molecules are synchronously degraded, and green, efficient and intelligent healthy washing is achieved.

The utility model discloses a multifunctional clothes washing cabinet with an ironing board, which relates to the technical field of clothes washing cabinets and comprises a cabinet body and the ironing board, a second sliding frame is slidably arranged on the outer side of the ironing board, a first limiting mechanism is arranged in the ironing board, first sliding frames are symmetrically arranged at positions, corresponding to the lower part of the second sliding frame, in a placing groove, and the first limiting mechanism is arranged in the first sliding frame. A bearing plate is slidably arranged between the inner sides of the two first sliding frames, a mounting pipe is fixedly arranged at one end of the bearing plate, and a second limiting mechanism is arranged in the mounting pipe. The ironing plate is arranged on the inner side of the second sliding frame in a sliding mode, so that an ironing position is conveniently provided when clothes are ironed, the first limiting mechanism is arranged, the ironing plate can be fixed when the ironing plate is in a storage state and a use state, the ironing plate is prevented from sliding when the clothes are ironed, and the ironing effect is improved. And the bearing plate is slidably arranged between the two first sliding frames, so that the washing machine body can be quickly moved out of the interior of the placing groove.

The invention relates to the technical field of multi-drum washing machines, in particular to a dehydration control method of a multi-drum washing machine and the multi-drum washing machine, and aims to solve the problem that when two or more washing drums of an existing multi-drum washing machine enter a dehydration procedure, dehydration requirements conflict exists between the two or more washing drums. In order to achieve the purpose, the dewatering control method comprises the steps that whether a plurality of washing drums are small drums or not is judged; when the plurality of washing drums are all small drums, the plurality of washing drums are controlled to independently execute dehydration operation; and when at least one of the plurality of washing drums is a large drum, controlling one or a group of washing drums to perform dehydration operation, and stopping the other washing drums or rotating at a low speed or rotating reversely. According to the invention, the dewatering sequence under the condition that the dewatering stages of the plurality of washing drums are overlapped is limited, so that the resonance of the whole machine caused by mutual dewatering conflicts can be avoided, the washing effect is ensured, and the washing efficiency can be improved.

A self-cleaning method of a washing machine comprises the steps that after each washing procedure is finished, a system automatically detects the real-time humidity and the residual dirt concentration of an inner container of the washing machine, if the humidity is higher than a preset threshold value and the dirt concentration exceeds a datum line, an ultraviolet disinfection process is automatically triggered, UV-C lamp tubes installed on the top and the side wall of the inner container are started for irradiation sterilization, and the ultraviolet disinfection process is stopped; the duration time is 10-30 minutes, the built-in water flow nozzle module is activated in a set period or when a high dirt accumulation level is detected according to dynamic adjustment of the environment temperature and humidity and the use frequency, and the wall face of the inner container, the door seal ring and the drainage pipeline are flushed in all directions through high-pressure pulse water flow. According to the invention, the fundamental conversion from passive response to active prevention is realized, the equipment can perceive the environmental state of the inner container in real time by integrating a multi-dimensional sensor network and an AI prediction model, trend pre-judgment is carried out based on big data of user use habits, water quality conditions and washing modes, and a cleaning program is started when pollution does not appear so as to nip in the bud.

The invention relates to the technical field of washing machine part machining, in particular to special punching equipment for a washing machine tripod, the special punching equipment comprises a base frame and a top shell, the top shell is fixedly mounted at the top of the base frame, and a placing mechanism is arranged in the top shell; the placement mechanism comprises a mounting frame fixedly connected to the top of the base frame, a guide disc is fixedly mounted at the top of the mounting frame, three arc grooves are formed in the guide disc in the circumferential direction at equal intervals, three reference rods are fixedly mounted at the top of the guide disc, and a rotary disc is rotationally connected to the interior of the mounting frame; and three positioning rods are fixedly arranged in the circumferential direction of the turntable. Through cooperative cooperation of the guide disc, the reference rod, the rotary disc and the positioning rod and combination of driving of the first motor, rotation adjustment can be automatically conducted on a tripod workpiece with placement deviation, under the limiting effect of the reference rod, the tripod workpiece is accurately aligned to the machining positions of the three drilling units, and the positioning precision and the machining consistency are improved.

A method of operating a washing machine appliance includes initiating a spin cycle by operating the motor to spin the wash basket to a first speed, performing a first acceleration by operating the motor to accelerate the wash basket from the first speed to a second speed, obtaining a first average motor power of the motor while performing the first acceleration, decelerating the wash basket to the first speed, performing a second acceleration by operating the motor to accelerate the wash basket from the first speed to the second speed, obtaining a second average motor power of the motor while performing the second acceleration, and stopping the spin cycle in response to determining that a reduction in a remaining moisture content exceeds a target reduction in the remaining moisture content based at least in part on the first average motor power and the second average motor power.

This invention discloses a clothing processing device, comprising: a drum; an end cap located at the center of the drum's bottom; the end cap and the drum bottom together form a chamber; the chamber is divided into an independent water inlet channel and a ventilation channel; the water inlet channel introduces water from the washing machine into the drum, and the ventilation channel connects the inside and outside of the drum. Through this arrangement, the end cap at the bottom of the drum integrates both the water inlet and ventilation structure of the non-perforated drum, simplifying the equipment and reducing costs. Furthermore, by integrating the water inlet channel and ventilation channel onto the same end cap, the ventilation channel is positioned close to the water inlet channel, ensuring that the air pressure at the water inlet channel matches that outside the drum, preventing excessively high or low pressure at the water inlet of the non-perforated drum from affecting water flow. Moreover, this invention has a simple structure, significant effects, and is suitable for widespread use.

The invention provides an electrochemical active oxygen supply device for a drum of a washing machine and the washing machine. The device serves as a functional inner component, is tightly attached to the inner wall of an outer barrel of the washing machine or in a barrel gap, does not need to be connected with an external water path, achieves high integration with the roller, and reduces occupation of the effective washing volume of the roller to the maximum extent. A first shell and a second shell are combined to form a reaction space, and a difunctional anode electrode and a difunctional cathode electrode are integrated in the reaction space and are electrically connected with a positive electrode and a negative electrode of an external power supply respectively to form a complete electrochemical loop. When water flow naturally flows through the reaction space in the washing process, a specific working potential is applied to the difunctional anode electrode under constant potential control, so that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and / or hydroxyl radicals (OH) are / is generated on the surface of the difunctional anode electrode in an in-situ electrochemical mode.

The present application belongs to the technical field of washing, and specifically provides a washing device. The present application aims to solve the problems that the existing washing machine is easy to cause damage to clothes, incomplete cleaning and inconvenient cleaning of small clothes when cleaning clothes, and simultaneously improve the problems of complex installation, large space occupation and the like of the traditional extrusion type washing machine. For this purpose, the washing device of the present application comprises a support, an extrusion assembly, a driving assembly and a flexible barrel, the flexible barrel is fixedly arranged on the support, the driving assembly is connected with the extrusion assembly, the extrusion assembly is connected with the support, and the extrusion assembly is arranged to extrude or move away from the flexible barrel under the driving of the driving assembly, and the position of the extrusion assembly abutting against the flexible barrel is located on the side wall of the flexible barrel close to the barrel bottom. The present application can effectively solve the problems of poor washing effect and easy damage to clothes of the existing washing machine, and the swinging extrusion mode of the present application is more easy to realize the purpose of more gentle extrusion and more sufficient and effective washing of the clothes in the flexible barrel.

A method of operating a washing machine appliance includes rotating a wash basket within the washing machine appliance and monitoring a humidity for a period of time while rotating the wash basket. The method also includes determining a slope of the monitored humidity over the period of time. In response to the determined slope being less than a minimum threshold, the method includes providing a user notification.

The invention relates to the technical field of washing machine inner barrel testing, and discloses a washing machine inner barrel dynamic balance rapid testing tool which comprises a base and a roller. One end of a hydraulic cylinder is fixedly connected with a first rack, one side of the first rack is in meshed connection with a connecting gear, and one side of the connecting gear is fixedly connected with a threaded rod; the outer portion of the threaded rod is in threaded connection with a connecting base, the inner side of the connecting base is fixedly connected with a detection ring, the inner side of the detection ring is fixedly connected with two pressure sensing detection assemblies, a second motor is started, a first gear drives a second gear to rotate, the second gear drives a roller to rotate through a rotating shaft, a prism block and a connecting shaft, and then a hydraulic cylinder is started; the hydraulic cylinder drives the first rack to move back and forth, the first rack moves to drive the connecting gear and the threaded rod to rotate, the threaded rod drives the connecting seat to move, and the detection ring drives the pressure sensing detection assembly to move, so that the dynamic balance of the roller can be rapidly tested.

A washing machine appliance may include a tub, a basket, an impeller base, and an extended post. The impeller base may include one or more impeller fins extending radially outward from the rotation axis, a mounting face disposed radially inward from the one or more impeller fins, and an impeller cap. The mounting face may include a central bracket defining a mounting channel. The impeller cap may be slidably seated within the central bracket. The extended post may be removably attached to the impeller base and include a connector column, a shader collar, and a mating face. The connector column may selectively rest on the impeller cap and defining a cam groove above a bottom end. The shader collar may be disposed about the connector column and include a follower pin seated within the cam groove. The mating face may include a locator wing received within the mounting channel.

A washing machine appliance includes a tub, a rotatable basket within the tub, and an annulus defined between the tub and the basket. A method of operating the washing machine appliance includes activating a drain pump to remove standing wash liquid from the annulus. The method also includes deactivating the drain pump after removing the standing wash liquid and rotating the basket within the wash tub for a first time period after deactivating the drain pump. The drain pump remains deactivated during the first time period. The method further includes determining a level of wash liquid in the annulus after rotating the basket within the wash tub for the first time period and determining a load type of the load of articles based on the level of wash liquid in the annulus after rotating the basket within the wash tub for the first time period.

The present application relates to the technical field of washing machines, and specifically discloses a permanent magnet brushless motor and a washing machine. The permanent magnet brushless motor comprises a rotor iron core, a stator iron core, and a plug-in assembly; the stator iron core is sleeved on the rotor iron core; the rotor iron core is provided with permanent magnets at intervals in the circumferential direction; the stator iron core is provided with windings at intervals in the circumferential direction; the plug-in assembly is connected to the windings so as to energize the windings; the stator iron core has a plurality of mounting portions; each mounting portion protrudes from the outer side wall of the stator iron core in a direction moving away from the rotor iron core; the outer side wall of the stator iron core comprises straight-line portions and arc-shaped portions; each arc-shaped portion is connected between a mounting portion and a straight-line portion. By adjusting the shape of the outer side wall of the stator iron core, the outer side wall of the stator iron core can adapt to the path of magnetic induction lines, and the magnetic induction lines will not extend to the mounting portions so as to prevent components such as screws at the mounting portion from interfering with the magnetic induction lines; in addition, compared with conventional stator iron core structures, the stator iron core in the present application uses less material, thereby achieving weight reduction.

The invention relates to a mixing apparatus (1) with a main line (3), in which a liquid (F) flows along a direction of flow (FR), and a secondary line (9). The main line (3) has an inlet (4), an outlet (5) for discharging the liquid (F) conducted through the main line (3), and a three-way valve (8) at a beginning (6) and at an end (7). The secondary line (9) is connected via the three-way valves (8) to the main line (3) and, together with the main line (3), forms a mixing circuit (MKL). The liquid (F) can be pumped with a pump (11) through the main line (3) and through the secondary line (9) in the mixing circuit (MKL). In addition, at least one additive inlet opening (26) is provided on the main line (3) for adding an additive into a mixing zone (M) of the main line (3). The mixing apparatus (1) furthermore has at least one swirling means (13) in the main line (3). The invention moreover relates to a washing machine having such a mixing apparatus (1) and to a method for intermixing an additive with a liquid (F).

The present application relates to the field of household appliances, and specifically provides a control method of a public washing machine, aiming at solving the problem that users need to spend a lot of waiting time to wash clothes in the prior art. To this end, the control method of the present application comprises: when receiving a terminal instruction, obtaining the running state of all public washing machines within a preset range; for each public washing machine in a stop state, obtaining the image in the washing drum of the public washing machine; based on the image, judging whether there is clothes in the washing drum; if there is clothes, further selectively determining the public washing machine as an idle washing machine or a non-idle washing machine based on the comparison result of the humidity of the clothes and a preset value, and returning the determination result to the terminal. The present application can determine which public washing machine is an idle washing machine based on the running state of the public washing machine and the humidity of the clothes in the washing drum, and the user can directly go to the idle washing machine to wash clothes, thereby saving a lot of time for the user.

The invention relates to the technical field of washing machine fault detection, in particular to a washing machine fault detection method based on data processing. The method comprises the steps of obtaining vibration signals and current signals of a to-be-monitored washing machine in multiple operation cycles; for any operation cycle, the health vector of the operation cycle is calculated, and the health vectors of the multiple operation cycles form a health state sequence; calculating accumulated degradation potential energy of the health state sequence, and judging that the washing machine has a fault when the accumulated degradation potential energy exceeds a preset alarm threshold value. The method has the effect of improving the accuracy and reliability of early warning of the washing machine.

The embodiment of the invention discloses a washing machine dewatering control method and device, a washing machine and a storage medium, and the method comprises the steps: in the process of executing a dewatering function, increasing the rotating speed of an inner cylinder of the washing machine to a first preset rotating speed, and controlling the inner cylinder to drain water; after continuously operating at the first preset rotating speed for a first preset duration, determining whether the washing machine finishes draining; after determining that the washing machine finishes drainage, controlling the rotating speed of the inner drum to be reduced to a second preset rotating speed, and injecting water into the inner drum; after the water level of the inner cylinder reaches the preset water level, the rotating speed of the inner cylinder is increased to a third preset rotating speed, and the water level fluctuation amplitude of the preset water level is obtained; if the water level fluctuation amplitude does not exceed the fluctuation amplitude threshold value, high-speed dehydration operation is executed. Eccentric weight increase caused by incomplete drainage is effectively avoided, the risks of vibration and barrel collision in the dewatering process are greatly reduced, the working reliability of the washing machine is improved, and the service life of the washing machine is prolonged.

The application relates to the technical field of heat energy recycling, and particularly discloses a laundry room heat energy recycling system, which comprises a heat pump unit, a wet gas recycling device, a heat storage water tank and a steam generating device. The steam generating device is connected with washing machines and ironing machines through pipelines. The wet gas recycling device comprises a supply air pipe provided with a high-temperature heat exchanger, a return air pipe provided with a dehumidification heat exchanger, an evaporation circulation pipeline and a condensation circulation pipeline. The return air pipe is used for sending the wet hot air in a washing room or a drying room to the dehumidification heat exchanger for condensation and dehumidification. The supply air pipe is used for sending the hot air at the high-temperature heat exchanger to the drying room. The heat storage water tank is connected with the water inlet of the washing machine through a pipeline. The patent aims to solve the problems that the existing laundry room waste heat recycling system lacks comprehensive utilization of the waste heat of drainage and wet hot air, the waste heat recycling rate is low, and the dehumidification of the laundry room is insufficient.

A washing machine includes: a cabinet having an inlet disposed on an upper part thereof; a tub disposed inside the cabinet and configured to accommodate washing water; a rotating drum rotatably disposed inside the tub; a pulsator rotatably disposed at an inner bottom of the rotating drum; a driving device configured to drive the rotating drum and the pulsator; and at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, individually and / or collectively, configured to cause the washing machine to perform washing and dehydration processes.

The invention discloses a washing machine motor detection method, and relates to the field of electric digital data processing, and the method comprises the following steps: S1, collecting signals of a plurality of sensors when a motor operates; s2, performing feature extraction on the signal of each sensor by using a multi-head self-attention feature extraction module fused with a Transform block to obtain a feature vector reflecting the running state of the motor; s3, constructing a residual network classification model, inputting the extracted feature vector into the model, and outputting a prediction type of a motor fault; s4, based on a sample set training model composed of normal operation data and fault data of the washing machine motor, a cross entropy loss function quantification model is adopted to predict the difference between a fault type and an actual fault type; and S5, minimizing a loss function by adjusting model parameters until the model prediction precision reaches a preset standard, processing a real-time operation signal of the motor by using the trained model, and carrying out fault detection. The optimal sensor configuration and high-precision fault detection of the motor power system of the washing machine are realized.

The invention provides a generating device for electrochemically generating hydrogen peroxide integrated in a drum of a washing machine and the washing machine. The device serves as a functional inner component, is tightly attached to the inner wall of an outer barrel of the washing machine or in a barrel gap, does not need to be connected with an external water path, achieves high integration with the roller, and reduces occupation of the effective washing volume of the roller to the maximum extent. A first shell and a second shell are combined to form a reaction space, and a difunctional anode electrode and a difunctional cathode electrode are integrated in the reaction space and are electrically connected with a positive electrode and a negative electrode of an external power supply respectively to form a complete electrochemical loop. When water flow naturally flows through the reaction space in the washing process, a specific working potential is applied to the difunctional anode electrode under constant potential control, so that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and / or hydroxyl radicals (OH) are / is generated on the surface of the difunctional anode electrode in an in-situ electrochemical mode.

The present application relates to the technical field of household appliance production and manufacturing, in particular to a washing machine inner drum forming machine integrating edge folding, round holding and seaming, the right side of the feeding roller is provided with an edge folding machine, the upper side of the edge folding machine is provided with a round holding and seaming machine, the front side of the edge folding machine is provided with a discharging roller, the rear side of the round holding and seaming machine is provided with a hydraulic station, the hydraulic station is connected with an external electric control system, the feeding roller comprises a rack one, and a plurality of roller bodies are arranged in the rack one, in the present application, the current washing machine inner drum edge folding, round holding and seaming are completed by independent special machines, and manual feeding and discharging are required, a set of integrated forming equipment is designed by organically combining a conveying roller, a hydraulic system, a pneumatic system, a mold and a linear guide rail, the washing machine inner drum edge folding, round holding and seaming work can be simultaneously completed, manual feeding and discharging are not required, a plurality of models and specifications of inner drums can be simultaneously produced, automatic and rapid switching is realized, and intelligent production is realized.

The present application belongs to the technical field of washing machines, and particularly relates to a pulsator washing machine electrolysis water system, which comprises a fixed shell of a washing machine and a rotating inner drum, the bottom of the rotating inner drum is provided with a washing pulsator, the washing pulsator is coaxially and fixedly provided with a conductive ring outside, the periphery of the conductive ring is respectively provided with an electrolysis electrode one and an electrolysis electrode two in the form of a circular arc on the left side and the right side, the two electrolysis electrodes are fixed on the inner side wall of the rotating inner drum, the two electrolysis electrodes cooperatively form a non-closed surrounding for the conductive ring, an isolation gap is left between the two ends of the two electrolysis electrodes, and an electrolysis gap is left between the two electrolysis electrodes and the conductive ring; the outer side wall of the rotating inner drum is provided with two annular contacts which are electrically connected with the two electrolysis electrodes; a rotating rod is arranged on the outer side of the fixed shell, the rotating rod is provided with two brush contacts, and a direct current power supply is electrically connected with the two annular contacts through the two brush contacts. The washing pulsator drives the water flow to continuously flush the electrolysis gap, so that the deposition of stains is prevented and the efficiency of electrolysis water is ensured.

A dryer appliance and a method of operating a dryer appliance are provided. The dryer includes a drum defining a drying chamber rotatably mounted within a cabinet, an additive dispensing assembly to provide a dryer additive to the drying chamber, and a controller for initiating a drying operation. The controller obtains washer operating parameters from a washing machine, determines a drying operation based on the received parameters, initiates a dry cycle, and directs a dryer additive to be dispensed based on the dryer operating schedule.

The invention discloses a drying control method for a multi-drum washing machine. The method comprises the steps that a drying instruction of a user is received; according to the identification information of the target washing drum, an air path switching device on the corresponding drying branch is controlled to be started, and a draught fan on the drying pipeline is started; according to the selected drying mode, at least one heating unit in the multi-stage heating body is controlled to be started so as to generate hot air flow; the inlet air temperature is collected through an inlet air temperature sensor in real time, and the outlet air temperature is collected through an outlet air temperature sensor corresponding to the target washing drum; calculating the temperature difference, analyzing the change characteristics of the temperature difference, and evaluating the real-time drying degree of the clothes in the target washing drum according to a preset drying degree judgment model. Through intelligent matching of the multi-stage heating body and the drying mode and the dryness judgment model based on the inlet and outlet air temperature difference dynamic characteristic, the clothes drying state can be accurately sensed, excessive drying is avoided, and energy consumption is remarkably reduced while the effect is guaranteed.

The invention relates to the technical field of voltage detection, and specifically provides a voltage detection circuit and method, and a household appliance. The voltage detection circuit comprises a rectification unit used for rectifying alternating current output by an alternating current power supply; the current limiting unit is used for limiting the rectified current within a preset range; the detection resistor unit is used for receiving the current after current limiting; the optical coupler unit is used for being switched on or switched off according to the voltage at the two ends of the detection resistor unit; the control unit is used for controlling an output level signal according to the voltage at the two ends of the detection resistor unit; and the switch unit is used for switching on or switching off the connection with a load in response to the level signal. Zero-cross detection and voltage detection of the washing machine are combined into one, the cost is reduced, the voltage of the mains supply can be judged, and load protection can be carried out.

The invention belongs to the technical field of washing machine dewatering, and discloses a dewatering treatment method and system of an intelligent washing machine and the intelligent washing machine. The method comprises the steps that first eccentricity detection is conducted on clothes to be dewatered, and a first eccentricity value is obtained; when the first eccentric value meets a preset eccentric value threshold value, performing forward weighing and second eccentric detection on the to-be-dehydrated clothes to obtain a first weight value and a second eccentric value of the to-be-dehydrated clothes; when the second eccentric value meets the preset eccentric value threshold value, dewatering the to-be-dewatered clothes based on the first weight value and a preset first dewatering strategy; when any one of the first eccentric value and the second eccentric value does not meet the preset eccentric value threshold value, dewatering the clothes to be dewatered by using a preset second dewatering strategy; different dehydration strategies are selected to replace a single dehydration strategy in the prior art, the most appropriate dehydration strategy is selected based on the eccentric value, and the success rate of one-time dehydration is increased.

The invention belongs to the technical field of motor rotor machining and discloses a washing machine motor rotor polishing device which comprises a workbench, supporting legs are fixedly connected to the two sides of the lower end of the workbench, supporting rods are fixedly arranged on the two sides of the upper end of the workbench, the upper ends of the supporting rods are fixedly connected with a top plate, and fixing boxes are assembled on the two sides of the lower end of the top plate. The grinding assembly and the moving assembly are matched for grinding of rotors of multiple sizes, a to-be-ground rotor is arranged on the outer side of a fixing cylinder in a sleeving mode, a second motor drives a first bidirectional lead screw to drive a moving plate to get close, and through transmission of a connecting rod and the like, an arc-shaped abutting block stretches out and draws back in the radial direction, coaxially abuts against the inner wall of the rotor and is matched with different inner diameters for fixing; the third motor drives the grinding roller, the first motor drives the rotor to rotate synchronously, grinding is conducted through relative movement, when the rotor is not attached to the grinding roller, the fourth motor drives the second bidirectional lead screw to drive the grinding roller to move to adjust the distance, the device is suitable for rotors with different diameters, and the adaptability and flexibility of the device are greatly improved.

This utility model provides a washing machine. The washing machine includes: a body assembly comprising a first body and a second body, each with a mounting cavity on its top, and a corresponding washing tub assembly mounted in each mounting cavity. Each washing tub assembly is detachably mounted within a mounting cavity via a lower housing; and a rotating shaft mechanism, through which the first and second bodies are movably connected, allowing one body to rotate relative to the other to an unfolded position and a folded position. When the first and second bodies are in the unfolded position, each washing tub assembly is detachably placed on the first and second bodies; when the first and second bodies are in the folded position, they overlap. This application solves the problems of inconvenience in using and storage of twin-tub washing machines in space-constrained environments in the prior art.