Clothes Dryer Door Optical Layer Design to Reduce Lighting Costs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing clothes treating apparatuses with light source modules increase manufacturing costs and consume additional power, compromising cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A clothes treating apparatus with a door featuring a transparent plate, pattern layer, color layer, and reflective layer that creates an optical effect without the need for a separate light source module, using inclined portions to enhance aesthetic appeal and reduce costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a light source module is added to provide optical effect, then aesthetic feeling and convenience are improved, but manufacturing costs and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The door structure utilizes natural light from the environment and reflects it through the inclined portion to create the optical effect. The door serves itself by using ambient light rather than requiring an external light source module, thereby eliminating additional manufacturing costs and power consumption while still providing the desired aesthetic optical effect
Solution Approach 2:
The inclined portion acts as an intermediary element that redirects ambient light to create the optical effect. Instead of using a direct light source, the patent introduces the inclined surface as a mediator that manipulates existing light to achieve the aesthetic effect, reducing the need for additional lighting components
2Illumination intensity
If a light source module is added to provide optical effect, then aesthetic feeling and convenience are improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The door structure utilizes natural light from the environment and reflects it through the inclined portion to create the optical effect. The door serves itself by using ambient light rather than requiring an external light source module, thereby eliminating additional manufacturing costs and power consumption while still providing the desired aesthetic optical effect
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electrical light source system with an optical geometry solution. Instead of using electrical components to generate light, the invention uses the geometric configuration of the inclined portion to redirect and manipulate ambient light, substituting a passive optical system for an active electrical system
3Illumination intensity
If multiple layers (pattern layer, color layer, reflective layer) are added to the door, then optical effect and aesthetic appeal are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a dimensional element by adding the inclined portion with a specific angle to the door structure. This angular dimension creates the optical effect by redirecting light at different angles, adding visual interest and aesthetic appeal through geometric configuration rather than through complex material compositions or multiple functional layers
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 provides an aesthetic optical effect while reducing manufacturing costs and power consumption, enhancing user experience and product quality without the need for additional lighting components.
Implementation Method 1
a plate that covers a side of the door body that, when the inlet port is dosed by the door, is a front side of the door body, and provided to transmit light
Implementation Method 2
a reflective layer between the color layer and the door body and that reflects light transmitted through the color layer toward the plate
Data Source
AI summary
A clothes treating apparatus includes a main body having an inlet port on a front surface of the main body, a tub, and a door rotatably coupled to the main body to open and dose the inlet port. The door includes a door body, a plate that covers a side of the door body, a pattern layer between the plate and the door body and including an optical pattern that transmits at least a portion of light transmitted through the plate, a color layer arranged between the pattern layer and the door body and that transmits at least a portion of light transmitted through the optical pattern, and a reflective layer between the color layer and the door body and that reflects light transmitted through the color layer toward the plate, the reflective layer including an inclined portion extending in a direction that is not parallel to the plate.