Rotary-Drum Dryer Base Assembly for Airtight Air Recirculation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current rotary-drum home laundry dryers have complex structures with numerous components, leading to potential air leakages due to intricate airtight coupling requirements.
Innovation Solution
A simplified design for a rotary-drum laundry dryer with a hot-air generator integrated into a lower supporting base, featuring a split impeller housing and heat exchangers within the air recirculating conduit, reducing the number of components and improving airtight coupling by forming a central section of the conduit with interlocking half-shells.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the hot-air generator and air circulating means are integrated into the lower supporting base with interlocking half-shells forming the air recirculating conduit, then the number of components is reduced and assembly is simplified, but the requirement for precise airtight coupling between components increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the hot-air generator and air circulating means into the lower supporting base, integrating multiple functions into a single structural unit. The first and second portions of the impeller housing are merged with the lower and upper half-shells respectively, forming an integrated assembly that reduces the total number of separate components while maintaining functional independence through internal positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The lower supporting base is segmented into lower and upper half-shells that interlock to form the air recirculating conduit. The impeller housing is similarly segmented into first and second portions that couple with respective half-shells. This segmentation allows for easier manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance while the interlocking design ensures airtight coupling between segments.
2Ease of manufacture
If multiple separate components are used for the hot-air generator and air circulating means, then manufacturing and assembly are easier, but air leakages increase due to multiple coupling interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the hot-air generator and air circulating means into the lower supporting base structure, the patent reduces the number of external coupling interfaces. The first portion of the impeller housing merges with the lower half-shell and the second portion merges with the upper half-shell, creating fewer potential leakage points while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through modular half-shell construction.
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
This design reduces air leakages and simplifies assembly, enhancing the efficiency and reliability of the drying process while minimizing component count.
Implementation Method 1
at least one heat exchanger located along the air recirculating conduit and structured to cool the moist air arriving from the rotatable drum so to cause the condensation of the surplus moisture inside the airflow
Implementation Method 2
an impeller which is housed in axially rotating manner inside the impeller housing to generate the airflow
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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AI summary
Rotary-drum laundry dryer (1) comprising a revolving drum (3) structured for housing the laundry to be dried, a hot-air generator (6) structured to circulate a stream of hot air through said revolving drum (3), and a lower supporting base or socle (9) which is structured for resting on the floor and for housing at least part of the hot-air generator (6); the hot-air generator (6) in turn comprising: an air recirculating conduit (12) having its two ends connected to the revolving drum (3); air circulating means (13) which are located along the air recirculating conduit (12) and are structured to produce, inside the air recirculating conduit (12), an airflow (f) which flows through the revolving drum (3) and over the laundry inside the drum (3); and at least one heat exchanger (15) located along the air recirculating conduit (12) and structured to cool the moist air arriving from the rotatable drum (3) so to cause the condensation of the surplus moisture inside the airflow (f); the lower supporting base or socle (9) comprising a lower half-shell (9a) structured for resting on the floor, and an upper half-shell (9b) stacked up on top of, and rigidly coupled to said lower half-shell (9a); said lower half-shell (9a) and upper half-shell (9b) being shaped so as to form, when coupled to one another, a section of the air recirculating conduit (12) which houses at least the heat exchanger (15) of said hot-air generator (6); the air circulating means (13) of the hot-air generator (6) comprising an impeller housing (18) which communicates with said section of the air recirculating conduit (12), and an impeller (19) which is housed in axially rotating manner inside the impeller housing (18) to generate the airflow (f); the laundry dryer (1) being characterized in that the impeller housing (18) of the air circulating means (13) comprises a first portion (18a) realized in one piece with the lower half-shell (9a), and a second portion (18b) realized in one piece with the upper half-shell (9b); and in that said first portion (18a) and said second portion (18b) are structured for being coupled to one another so as to form a substantially circular, basin-shaped casing (18a, 18b) that at least partly covers the impeller vanes (19a).