Dual Filter Cartridge Removal in Clothes Dryer Air Circulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional clothes dryers often fail to intuitively indicate a dual filter structure, leading to incomplete filter cartridge cleaning, where the outside filter cartridge remains in the dryer, causing reduced capacity, overheating, and frequent malfunctions due to accumulated foreign matter.
Innovation Solution
A clothes dryer design featuring a rotatable drum with a dual filter cartridge system where the inside filter cartridge is received in the outside filter cartridge, with interference and restraint protrusions ensuring both are removed simultaneously, preventing the outside filter from being overlooked during cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the inside filter cartridge is freely separable from the outside filter cartridge, then the inside filter cartridge can be easily removed for cleaning, but the outside filter cartridge may be left in the dryer, causing foreign matter accumulation and overheating
Solution Approach 1:
The patent couples the inside filter cartridge and outside filter cartridge together using a coupling structure with coupling protrusions and coupling recesses. This merging ensures that when the inside filter cartridge is removed, the outside filter cartridge is simultaneously detached from the dryer, preventing foreign matter accumulation and overheating while maintaining ease of operation.
2Device complexity
If the filter cartridge is disposed mostly in the circulation channel with only a portion exposed, then the filter cartridge can be compactly installed, but the user cannot intuitively recognize the dual filter structure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent positions the opening of the outside filter cartridge at the front of the dryer, creating a visual indicator that extends into the user's field of view. This dimensional arrangement allows users to intuitively recognize the dual filter structure through the visible opening location, while the filter cartridges remain compactly disposed in the circulation channel.
3Ease of repair
If the inside filter cartridge and outside filter cartridge are separated, then they can be independently cleaned, but both cartridges may be lost during removal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a coupling structure where the inside filter cartridge and outside filter cartridge are temporarily merged during removal operations. The coupling protrusions and recesses ensure both cartridges are removed together as a unit, preventing loss. During cleaning, the cartridges can be separated for independent maintenance, then reassembled using the same coupling mechanism.
Data Source
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AI summary
A clothes dryer including a rotatable drum (4), a drum supporter (5) for supporting the drum (4), the drum supporter (5) being provided with a discharge port (52h) for discharging air from the drum (4), a circulation channel (53, 81) for guiding the air discharged through the discharge port (52h) into the drum (4), and a filter cartridge (7) disposed in the circulation channel (53, 81) for filtering air, wherein the filter cartridge (7) includes an inside filter cartridge (71) for filtering air discharged from the drum (4) and an outside filter cartridge (74) for filtering air that has passed through the inside filter cartridge (71), the outside filter cartridge (74) being disposed in the circulation channel (53, 81) in the state of being supported by the drum supporter (5), the inside filter cartridge (71) being separably received in the outside filter cartridge (74) through an opening (74h) formed in the top surface (745) of the outside filter cartridge (74), and wherein the inside filter cartridge (71) is provided with an interference protrusion (715), and the outside filter cartridge (74) is provided with a restraint protrusion (746) for restraining the interference protrusion (715) such that the outside filter cartridge (74) is moved simultaneously with the inside filter cartridge when the inside filter cartridge (71) is pulled in the direction in which the inside filter cartridge (71) is withdrawn through the opening (74h) from the state in which the outside filter cartridge (74) is supported by the drum supporter (5).