Portable, collapsible clothes dryer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Travelers and college students face challenges in quickly drying small clothing items due to limited space and the lengthy drying time when using hotel sinks or dorm room facilities, often risking damage to property by hanging clothes on lamps.
Innovation Solution
A portable, collapsible clothes dryer that utilizes a hair dryer to create a vortex flow of hot air, spinning clothing items within a cylindrical enclosure to efficiently dry them, with a collapsible design for easy storage and use of common travel accessories.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If clothes are hung on a lamp or drape over a lampshade to reduce drying time, then drying time is reduced, but the hotel property may be stained or damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a portable dryer as an intermediary device between the wet clothes and the hotel environment. The dryer contains a heating element and airflow system that circulates hot air through the clothes in a controlled manner, enabling rapid drying without direct contact with hotel furniture or fixtures, thus preventing damage while reducing drying time
2Productivity
If a horizontal drum is used to tumble clothes, then clothes can be dried, but a more powerful motor is required adding size, cost and weight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical tumbling system with a pneumatic system. Instead of using a motor-driven drum to physically tumble clothes, the invention uses a heating element combined with controlled airflow to circulate hot air through the clothes, achieving drying through thermal and fluid dynamic forces rather than mechanical motion, thereby eliminating the need for a powerful motor
3Stability of the object's composition
If the dryer housing is rigid and fixed-size, then it provides stable structure, but it occupies excessive storage space when not in use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a collapsible housing structure that transitions between an expanded operational state and a compressed storage state. The housing includes collapsible walls with structural supports that maintain rigidity when expanded for drying, but can be folded or collapsed to minimize volume for portability and storage, dynamically adapting to different usage conditions
4Productivity
If wet clothes are tumbled horizontally, then drying can occur, but considerable force is required which a hair dryer cannot provide
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical tumbling force with thermal and pneumatic forces. A heating element generates hot air that is circulated through the clothes using a fan or airflow mechanism. The hot air directly contacts the wet clothes, transferring thermal energy to evaporate moisture, eliminating the need for mechanical tumbling force that a hair dryer cannot provide
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
The solution allows for rapid drying of small clothing items in under one hour, minimizing space requirements and preventing damage to hotel or dorm room property, while being compact and easy to store.
Implementation Method 1
The inlet opening is oriented to direct hot air from the hair dryer substantially horizontally and to one side of the central vertical axis to thereby create a vortex flow of air within the housing enclosure
Implementation Method 2
The airflow is powered by the hair dryer... to quickly dry a few light items of clothing... efficiently dry small articles of clothing in less than one hour
Data Source
AI summary
A portable, collapsible clothes dryer, for use in drying small articles of clothing while traveling and/or for use in households with limited space, is composed of a cylindrical collapsible central housing with an inlet opening at the bottom, an airflow adapter at the inlet to attach a portable hair dryer, a spin-able clothes hanger, and a removable top member with air exhaust vents. When collapsed, the assembly assumes a compact, flat disk shape. When expanded, the portable hair dryer can blow hot air into the housing, forming a vortex stream within the cylindrical enclosure that exits through the exhaust vents in the top. The top member can be removed to attach articles of clothing to the spin-able clothes hanger. The unit is designed such that the vortex air stream that flows upward within the cylindrical enclosure and out the upper exhaust vents spins the clothes hanger with the articles of clothing, thereby ensuring complete coverage of the hot air over the clothing surfaces and speeding the drying time.