Adjustable Dryer Vent Joint for Easier Installation and Lint Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current dryer vent technologies face challenges in easy and efficient installation of solid vent piping and often collect debris, leading to inefficiencies and increased risk of dryer fires.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of an adjustable vent tube joint and pipe system that allows for easy connection between a dryer's exhaust outlet and an external environment without the need for extensive cutting, measuring, or crimping, featuring rotatable segments and a seamless design to prevent lint accumulation, along with an insert for retrofitting existing exhaust terminations to improve airflow and debris prevention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional vent piping installation methods are used, then vent piping can be installed, but extensive cutting, measuring, and crimping are required on site, increasing installation time and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The vent piping system comes pre-assembled in modular sections with pre-formed elbows and connectors. The rigid vent pipe sections are pre-cut to standard lengths and pre-equipped with coupling mechanisms, eliminating the need for on-site cutting, measuring, and crimping operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The vent piping system is divided into modular rigid pipe sections that can be easily connected using simple coupling mechanisms. Each section is a discrete, pre-manufactured unit that can be assembled like building blocks, significantly simplifying the installation process compared to traditional continuous piping methods.
2Reliability
If louvered exhaust terminations are used, then exhaust can be vented, but they collect debris such as dryer sheets or lint, increasing the possibility of a dryer fire
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using traditional louvered openings that trap debris, the invention employs a smooth-walled rigid pipe termination that directs exhaust flow outward. The inverted approach eliminates internal corners and crevices where lint and dryer sheets could accumulate, replacing them with a streamlined exit that promotes debris-free exhaust discharge.
3Reliability
If solid vent piping is installed in inconvenient locations, then proper venting can be achieved, but extensive cutting and forming are required, increasing installation difficulty
Solution Approach 1:
The rigid vent pipe system incorporates pre-formed elbows and directional sections that allow the piping to navigate around obstacles and reach inconvenient locations without requiring complex on-site forming operations. The modular design with standardized angles enables installers to route vent pipes dynamically around structural elements while maintaining proper ventilation.
Data Source
AI summary
In accordance with at least one aspect of this disclosure, an adjustable vent tube joint for passing airflow therethough includes, a first segment, a flange extending radially from an outer diameter of the first segment, configured to mount to the vent tube joint to a structure, a second segment rotatably connected to the first segment, and a third segment rotatably connected to the second segment. In accordance with at least one aspect of this disclosure, an adjustable vent pipe can include, a first segment and a second segment concentric with the first segment, the second segment being slidable relative to the first segment. In accordance with at least one aspect of this disclosure, an insert for an exhaust termination can include, a frame configured to fit within an existing louvered exhaust termination, a hinge member, and a flap operatively connected to the frame via the hinge member configured to open with an exhaust flow to connect a dryer exhaust outlet to an ambient external environment through the exhaust termination.