Laundry treating apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing washing machines with lifters in the drum face issues such as foreign substance accumulation leading to hygiene problems, complex assembly, and potential deformation due to misaligned or poorly designed components, increasing manufacturing costs and time.
Innovation Solution
A laundry treating apparatus with a lifter design featuring a spacing rib to maintain a uniform distance between the lifter frame and frame cover, allowing smooth assembly and preventing foreign substance accumulation, along with a curved protruding surface for easier mounting and a supporting rib to stabilize the frame cover against external forces, using a synthetic resin lifter frame and metallic frame cover for enhanced stability and hygiene.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the gap between the first member and second member is narrow to reduce space, then space utilization is improved, but foreign substances may get stuck in the gap causing hygiene issues
Solution Approach 1:
A spacer member is introduced as an intermediary component between the first member and second member. This spacer maintains a predetermined gap that prevents foreign substances from getting stuck, while still allowing the lifters to function effectively within the drum space.
Solution Approach 2:
The lifter structure is divided into separate members (first member, second member, and spacer) that can be assembled together. This segmentation allows for a designed gap between components that prevents foreign substance accumulation while maintaining compact overall dimensions.
2Ease of manufacture
If the first member and second member are assembled separately to form the lifter, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but assembly complexity increases and may cause errors
Solution Approach 1:
The first member, second member, and spacer are assembled together to form an integrated lifter unit. This merging of components simplifies the overall assembly process and reduces the number of separate parts that need to be managed during manufacturing and installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer acts as a mediating component that facilitates the assembly of the first and second members. By providing a standardized interface and maintaining proper spacing, it enables straightforward assembly without complex alignment procedures.
3Ease of manufacture
If the upper plates of the first member and second member are not formed to correspond to each other, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but deformation resistance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The first member and second member are designed with asymmetric upper plate configurations that correspond to their specific functional requirements. The spacer compensates for this asymmetry by maintaining proper alignment and spacing, allowing each member to be manufactured simply while the assembled structure achieves the required deformation resistance.
Data Source
AI summary
A laundry treating apparatus includes: a drum and a lifter that is disposed at an inner circumferential surface of the drum, that revolves, that includes a frame cover and a lifter frame including (i) a frame base coupled to the inner circumferential surface and including a seating groove provided along a circumference of the frame base, (ii) a frame upper plate spaced apart from the frame base in a direction toward a center of the drum, and (iii) a frame sidewall connecting the frame upper plate to the frame base. The frame cover includes a cover upper plate and a cover sidewall having (i) a lower end mounted on the seating groove to couple to the frame base and (ii) an upper end connected to the cover upper plate. A spacing rib providing a space between the cover sidewall and the frame sidewall protrudes from the seating groove.