Clothesline Spacer Structure for Faster Drying and No Imprints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing clothes drying devices fail to effectively improve air flow between parallel clothes surfaces on a conventional clothes line, leading to longer drying times and potential slippage of lightweight lines, while also leaving imprints on dried clothes.
Innovation Solution
An auxiliary device comprising two mirror-symmetrical constituent pieces with grooves and pins that securely attach to a clothes line, increasing the distance between clothes surfaces and allowing for improved air flow, preventing line slippage, and eliminating imprints on dried clothes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If clothes are hung parallelly on a conventional clothes line, then the clothes line structure is simple, but the air flow between clothes surfaces is poor leading to long drying times
Solution Approach 1:
The auxiliary device is divided into two separate constituent pieces that can be independently attached to the clothes line. Each piece has a groove for receiving the clothes line and features for securing, allowing the device to be segmented yet function as a unified structure to improve air flow while maintaining simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The auxiliary device acts as an intermediary between the clothes line and the clothes being dried. By positioning these constituent pieces on the clothes line, they create additional spacing between parallel clothes surfaces, improving air circulation without requiring a complete redesign of the clothes line system.
2Loss of time
If an auxiliary device is added to improve air flow, then drying time is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the auxiliary device into two constituent pieces, the complexity is distributed and managed more easily. Each piece can be independently manufactured, attached, and positioned on the clothes line, reducing the overall complexity burden while achieving the time-saving drying improvement.
Solution Approach 2:
The auxiliary device applies local quality improvement by focusing the air flow enhancement function at specific points along the clothes line where clothes are hung. Rather than redesigning the entire drying system, the constituent pieces locally modify the air circulation pattern between clothes surfaces, achieving time reduction with minimal added complexity.
3Ease of operation
If lightweight clothes line is used, then the device is simple and easy to handle, but the line may easily slip out from the line-receiving portion
Solution Approach 1:
The constituent pieces are designed with grooves and securing features that are prepared in advance to receive and hold the clothes line. This preliminary structural arrangement ensures that when the lightweight clothes line is attached, it is securely held without requiring heavy materials, maintaining ease of operation while improving reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The grooves in the constituent pieces are designed to flexibly accommodate the clothes line while providing secure retention. The groove structure acts as a flexible constraint that holds the lightweight line firmly in place during use, preventing slippage without adding excessive weight or complexity to the overall system.
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional clothes line is used, then the structure is simple, but imprints are left on dried clothes requiring ironing
Solution Approach 1:
The auxiliary device serves as an intermediary support structure between the clothes line and the clothes. By positioning the constituent pieces on the clothes line, they provide additional support points that distribute the clothes weight and prevent direct contact between the clothes line and large surface areas of clothes, thereby eliminating imprints while keeping the overall structure simple.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an auxiliary device for clothes lines for improving the drying time of laundry hung on the clothes line, comprising a groove for receiving the clothes line and constituent pieces adapted for keeping the parallelly hanging stretches of drying clothes at a predetermined distance from each other. The auxiliary device according to the invention is characterised by that it has a regular or irregular polygonal, circular or elliptic prism shaped body constituted by two constituent pieces, each constituent piece having a groove for receiving the clothes line.