Clothes treating apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Clothes treating apparatuses face excessive power consumption and reduced heater/heat pump lifespan due to continuous operation during storage functions, as they cannot determine when users will retrieve clothes, leading to unnecessary energy usage.
Innovation Solution
A clothes treating apparatus equipped with a communication unit, memory, and controller that analyzes usage history and electric charge data to identify usage patterns, allowing the air supply device to operate only during predicted use times and reducing cycles outside those times, thereby optimizing energy 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 controller performs preliminary analysis of usage history data to predict future usage patterns before the actual usage occurs. By pre-determining the most likely usage time period based on historical data, the system can proactively adjust heater operation to match predicted needs, avoiding continuous operation while ensuring readiness when clothes are actually needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors and analyzes usage history feedback to dynamically adjust heater operation. By comparing actual usage patterns with predicted patterns and updating the prediction model accordingly, the system refines its understanding of user behavior over time, enabling more accurate prediction and more efficient heater control that reduces power consumption while maintaining reliability.
2Reliability
If the heater or heat pump is continuously driven, then the clothes keeping function is maintained, but the lifespan of the heater or heat pump is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The controller uses preliminary analysis of usage history to predict when clothes will be needed, allowing the heater to operate only during predicted necessary periods rather than continuously. This preliminary planning extends the intervals between heater operations, reducing cumulative operating hours and thereby extending the overall lifespan of the heater while still maintaining the clothes keeping function when needed.
3Use of energy by moving object
If the heater operates only during predicted use times, then power consumption is reduced, but the accuracy of predicting user needs must be high
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously refines prediction accuracy through feedback loops that analyze actual usage patterns versus predicted patterns. By monitoring discrepancies between predicted and actual usage over time, the controller adjusts and improves its prediction model, gradually increasing accuracy. This ongoing feedback mechanism ensures that prediction accuracy improves with use, making the reduced operation strategy increasingly effective at lowering power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The prediction system is dynamic rather than static, continuously adapting to changing user behaviors and patterns. As user habits evolve, the system dynamically updates its prediction model based on new usage history data, ensuring that prediction accuracy remains high even as patterns change. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain optimal prediction accuracy while maximizing energy savings.
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 solution reduces power consumption and extends the lifespan of the heater/heat pump by ensuring the apparatus only operates when needed, enhancing energy efficiency and user convenience while maintaining storage functionality.
Implementation Method 1
an air supply device to heat air supplied into an accommodation space of the clothes treating apparatus
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C
AI summary
The present invention relates to a clothes treating apparatus (100), including a communication unit (110) to transmit or receive information related to a usage history of the clothes treating apparatus (100), a memory (170) to store the information related to the usage history, an air supply device (30) to heat air supplied into an accommodation space (20) of the clothes treating apparatus (100), and a controller (180) to extract a use time period of the clothes treating apparatus (100) based on the information related to the usage history, drive the air supply device (30) in a preset pattern within the extracted use time period, and stop an operation of the clothes treating apparatus (100) at a time period except for the extracted use time period.