Laundry treating apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional laundry treating apparatuses with mesh-type filter units are prone to damage from laundry collisions, allowing foreign substances to re-enter the drum and fail to effectively spray washing water onto laundry, limiting washing efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A laundry treating apparatus with flow path units and filter units where the filter units are designed to filter and spray water, with a body formed from the same material as the drum, including a rotatable second body with a filter on its inner surface to enhance water pressure and a backflow prevention unit to prevent foreign substances from being discharged externally.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If mesh-type filter units are used to filter water, then foreign substances can be removed from washing water, but the filter units may be damaged due to collision with laundry during washing
Solution Approach 1:
The filter unit material is changed from mesh type to a more durable material that can withstand laundry collision while maintaining filtering capability. This parameter change in material composition resolves the contradiction between filtering effectiveness and structural durability.
2Reliability
If mesh-type filter units are torn, then foreign substances remaining in the filter unit may be re-introduced into the drum, but replacing the filter unit increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The filter unit is designed with enhanced durability from the beginning to prevent tearing and maintain filtering effectiveness throughout the washing process. This preventive design approach eliminates the need for complex replacement mechanisms while ensuring continuous filter effectiveness.
3Productivity
If mesh-type filter units are used, then foreign substances can be filtered out, but the filter units cannot spray washing water to laundry, thereby causing a difficulty in increasing washing efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The filter unit is designed to perform multiple functions: filtering foreign substances from water and spraying the filtered water onto laundry. This multi-functional design integrates the spray mechanism with the filter structure, enabling water delivery to enhance washing efficiency without requiring separate spray devices.
4Productivity
If filter units are designed to spray water to enhance washing efficiency, then water pressure needs to be increased, but this may cause foreign substances to be discharged externally
Solution Approach 1:
The filter unit structure is segmented into distinct functional zones: a filtering section that removes foreign substances and a spray section that delivers pressurized clean water to laundry. This segmentation ensures that high-pressure spray does not compromise the filtering function, preventing foreign substance discharge while maintaining washing efficiency.
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 apparatus effectively filters water, prevents re-introduction of foreign substances, and enhances washing efficiency by strongly spraying water onto laundry, while maintaining unity in design and material consistency with the drum.
Implementation Method 1
filter units to filter water moving along the flow path unit
Implementation Method 2
an agitation unit provided within the drum so as to be rotatable and forming a water stream
Data Source
AI summary
A laundry treating apparatus may include a tub, a drum provided within the tub to accommodate laundry, flow path units provided on the drum to provide moving paths of water, an agitation unit provided within the drum so as to be rotatable and moving at least a part of water within the drum to the flow path units during rotation, and filter units to filter water moving along the flow path units. Each of the filter units includes a body configured to provide a storage space of foreign substances, an inflow part to introduce water in the flow path unit into the body, a filter provided on the body to filter water introduced into the body and then to discharge filtered water to the drum, and discharge parts provided on the body to discharge water containing foreign substances in the tangential direction of a rotating trajectory of the drum.