Clothes Storage Airflow Control Based on User Usage Patterns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Clothes treating apparatuses experience excessive power consumption and reduced heater/heat pump lifespan due to continuous operation for storage functions, as they cannot determine when users will retrieve stored clothes.
Innovation Solution
A clothes treating apparatus that analyzes user usage patterns through a communication unit, memory, and controller to identify use and non-use time zones, controlling the air supply device to operate only during predicted use times, thereby reducing unnecessary power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the heater or heat pump is continuously driven to maintain storage function, then the clothes keeping function is maintained, but power consumption is excessively increased and lifespan is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the heater/heat pump operation based on learned user patterns. Instead of continuous static operation, the controller modifies operation timing and duration according to extracted usage patterns, enabling the system to maintain reliability while reducing unnecessary energy consumption during non-use periods
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from usage history data to continuously improve operation optimization. The controller extracts patterns from past usage data and uses this feedback to intelligently control heater/heat pump operation, creating a closed-loop system that learns and adapts to user behavior to balance reliability and energy efficiency
2Reliability
If the heater or heat pump is continuously driven to maintain storage function, then the clothes keeping function is maintained, but lifespan of heater or heat pump is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts operation duration based on predicted user needs. By learning from usage patterns, the controller extends operation only when user presence or upcoming usage is predicted, and reduces or stops operation during confirmed non-use periods, thereby extending component lifespan while maintaining service reliability
3Use of energy by moving object
If the air supply device is operated in a preset pattern within extracted use time zone, then energy consumption is reduced, but the system complexity increases due to usage pattern analysis
Solution Approach 1:
The controller performs multiple functions: it manages the air supply device, analyzes usage patterns from communication unit data, extracts time zones, and makes operational decisions. This multi-functionality consolidates complexity into a single control unit rather than requiring separate systems for each function, making the added intelligence manageable and integrated
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
This approach reduces power consumption and extends the lifespan of the heater/heat pump by optimizing operation based on user patterns, ensuring efficient energy use and enhanced user convenience.
Implementation Method 1
an air supply device for supplying heated air into the accommodation space
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a clothes treating apparatus, including a communication unit to transmit or receive information related to a usage history of the clothes treating apparatus, a memory to store the information related to the usage history, an air supply device to heat air supplied into an accommodation space of the clothes treating apparatus, and a controller to extract a use time zone of the clothes treating apparatus based on the information related to the usage history, drive the air supply device in a preset pattern within the extracted use time zone, and stop an operation of the clothes treating apparatus at a time zone except for the extracted use time zone.