Detergent Drawer Reservoir Layout for Stable Front Refilling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing washing machines require the detergent drawer to be pulled out too far for refilling, leading to instability and a high risk of spills when adding laundry treatment agents, as the refill opening is often positioned far from the operator's reach and is not easily accessible.
Innovation Solution
The spatial arrangement of reservoirs extending into the front area of the drawer allows for partial storage containers to be positioned closer to the front, reducing the distance needed to refill and ensuring the drawer's stability during refilling, with the option to arrange chambers and reservoirs flexibly, including the possibility of omitting certain chambers for automatic dosing and using an electrically operable feed pump for efficient dispensing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the drawer is pulled out far to make the refill opening accessible, then the operator can reach the refill opening, but the drawer becomes unstable and spills risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent repositions the refill opening from a rear position to a front position on the drawer face, changing its spatial location from deep inside the drawer to the accessible front surface. This dimensional repositioning allows refilling to occur with the drawer in a stable, partially-inserted position rather than requiring it to be fully pulled out, thus maintaining both accessibility and stability.
2Quantity of substance
If the reservoir is positioned at the rear of the drawer to maximize storage capacity, then more laundry treatment agent can be stored, but the refill opening becomes difficult to access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a front dispensing chamber as an intermediary between the rear reservoir and the user. The reservoir remains at the rear for maximum storage capacity, while the front chamber receives detergent from the reservoir and presents it for user access. This intermediary chamber allows the refill opening to be positioned at the front for easy access while the main storage remains at the rear.
3Adaptability or versatility
If chambers are arranged in the front area for manual dosing, then individual portions can be added, but space for the reservoir is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the detergent dispensing system into two distinct parts: a front chamber for manual dosing of individual portions and a rear reservoir for bulk storage. This segmentation allows each component to serve its specific function optimally - the front chamber provides versatility for manual dosing while the rear reservoir maximizes storage capacity, resolving the space conflict between these two functions.
Data Source
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AI summary
In an automatically controlled washing machine, a detergent dispenser 8 is arranged in the housing 1. This dispenser is equipped with a drawer 9 accessible from the front, the drawer 9 containing at least one chamber 11, 12 for manually adding a portion of washing powder or liquid. Furthermore, at least one reservoir 17 for liquid laundry treatment agents is located within the drawer 9, from which portions of laundry treatment agent can be automatically dispensed and introduced into the washing process.In order to arrange the storage container(s) 17 in such a way that, in every case of filling the storage container(s) 17, the drawer 9 does not have to be pulled out of the housing 1 as far as before, although at least one chamber 11, 12 is provided for a manually metered addition of individual portions of liquid or powdered laundry treatment agent, for which the same premise applies, the spatial parts 20 of the storage container(s) 17 shall extend into the front area of the drawer 9 so that the spatial part(s) 20 are located next to the chamber(s) 11.