External Cloth Color Sensing for Washing Machine Load Sorting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing laundry washing machines often fail to effectively separate clothes by color, leading to reduced washing effectiveness and potential damage, especially for users with vision impairments who struggle to sort laundry accurately.
Innovation Solution
A washing machine equipped with a sensor positioned outside the door opening to identify the color of clothes before they enter, coupled with a control system that confirms compatibility with the selected washing program and alerts the user if the colors are mismatched, allowing for presorting and preventing damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a sensor is positioned inside the washing machine to detect cloth color, then the color detection can occur during the washing process, but the user cannot sort clothes by color before loading and users with vision impairments cannot identify colors
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor is positioned outside the door opening to detect cloth color before the clothes are loaded into the washing machine. This preliminary detection allows the control system to identify colors in advance, provide feedback to the user, and enable proper sorting before the washing cycle begins, thereby preventing color mixing from the start
Solution Approach 2:
The control system acts as an intermediary between the sensor and the user. It receives color data from the sensor, processes the information, and provides feedback through various output mechanisms (visual displays, audible signals, haptic feedback) to help users identify and sort clothes by color, especially benefiting users with vision impairments
2Productivity
If mixed loads of different colors are washed together, then washing machine capacity is maximized and energy efficiency is improved, but color transfer occurs and washing effectiveness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary color detection and sorting guidance before the washing cycle starts. By identifying cloth colors in advance and providing feedback to users, the system enables proper color-based sorting, ensuring that only compatible colors are mixed in the same load, thereby maintaining washing effectiveness while allowing for optimized load composition
3Temperature
If high temperature washing is used for colored clothes, then sanitization and stain removal are improved, but the cloth color may be damaged or faded
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor detects cloth color before loading, and the control system uses this information to automatically select or recommend appropriate washing programs. For colored clothes detected by the sensor, the system can prevent selection of high-temperature cycles that would damage colors, or provide warnings to users, thereby protecting cloth color while still allowing effective washing at suitable temperatures
4Ease of operation
If users with partial or complete blindness manually sort laundry by color, then color sorting can be achieved, but it is very difficult or impossible for these users to identify colors
Solution Approach 1:
The control system serves as an intermediary that translates visual color information detected by the sensor into accessible formats for users with vision impairments. Through audible signals, haptic feedback, or simplified visual displays, the system communicates cloth color information to users, enabling them to sort clothes by color without relying on their own visual perception
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the need for manual visual inspection and sorting by users with an automated optical sensing system. The sensor automatically detects cloth colors and the control system processes this information, substituting the manual mechanical sorting process with an automated optical-electronic system that provides feedback to assist users in proper sorting
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
Ensures that clothes are washed with compatible colors, preventing color transfer and damage, and facilitates easy sorting for users with disabilities by providing audible, visual, or haptic alarms for accurate color identification.
Implementation Method 1
A sensor is positioned to sense color of the cloth prior to passing the cloth through the door opening. The sensor is positioned so that the sensor senses the cloth in a dedicated area outside of the washing machine adjacent the door opening.
Data Source
AI summary
A laundry washing machine includes a housing with conventional washing elements within the housing. A door on a door opening of the housing enables access inside the housing to the conventional washing elements. A sensor senses color of cloth prior to passing the cloth through the door opening. The sensor is positioned so that it senses the cloth in a dedicated area outside of the machine adjacent to the door or door opening.