Flexible Clothes Mover Vanes for Low-Water Washer Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional washing machines with low-profile clothes movers are less effective in moving laundry items, especially when the laundry load is treated with a reduced level of wash liquid, as they fail to provide sufficient mechanical energy for effective cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A washing machine design featuring a clothes mover with a centrally located hub and a plurality of flexible vanes, where the vanes have a first flexibility in their body portion and a greater second flexibility in their tips, allowing for upward force imparted on laundry items during rotation, enhancing movement and cleaning efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a low-profile clothes mover (impeller) is used, then the device complexity and space requirements are reduced, but the mechanical energy transfer to laundry items is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies flexible vanes that can bend and deform during rotation. These flexible vanes are positioned to engage laundry items and transfer mechanical energy more effectively than rigid low-profile structures. The flexibility allows the vanes to adapt to the laundry load and maintain contact during the washing cycle, resolving the contradiction between low profile and sufficient power transfer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimensional aspect by using flexible vanes that extend upward from the low-profile base. This adds vertical engagement capability without increasing the base profile height, allowing the clothes mover to effectively interact with laundry items at multiple height levels while maintaining a compact overall structure.
2Quantity of substance
If a low-profile clothes mover is used with reduced wash liquid, then water consumption is reduced, but the effectiveness of moving laundry items deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible vanes are designed to work effectively in reduced wash liquid conditions. Their flexibility allows them to directly engage and move laundry items without relying heavily on water as a medium, maintaining cleaning effectiveness even when wash liquid levels are reduced.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the clothes mover by introducing flexible materials and specific vane geometries that enhance mechanical energy transfer. This allows the system to maintain effective laundry movement with reduced wash liquid, as the flexible vanes compensate for the reduced hydraulic action.
3Power
If flexible vanes with varying flexibility are used, then the mechanical energy transfer and cleaning effectiveness are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating vanes with varying flexibility along their length. Different portions of the vane structure have different flexural properties, with the base being more rigid and the tips being more flexible. This localized variation in properties optimizes energy transfer to laundry items at different heights and positions without requiring complete redesign of the entire vane structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible vanes are constructed using composite structures that combine materials or geometries with different mechanical properties. This allows the creation of a single integrated vane component that exhibits varying flexibility along its length, achieving enhanced mechanical energy transfer while avoiding the complexity of assembling multiple separate components.
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 flexible vane design improves the mechanical energy transfer to laundry items, ensuring effective cleaning even in low-water wash cycles by imparting an upward force that enhances the movement and cleaning efficiency without causing damage, thus improving the overall cleaning performance.
Implementation Method 1
The flexible body portion defines a first flexibility and the flexible tip defines a second flexibility, and wherein the second flexibility is greater than the first flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A washing machine for treating laundry comprising a basket rotatable about a first rotational axis, having a peripheral side wall extending upwardly from a bottom wall to at least partially define a treating chamber; a clothes mover proximate the bottom wall, having a base with a centrally located hub concentric with a second rotational axis about which the clothes mover reciprocally rotates; and at least one vane having an elongated body extending away from the hub and projecting upwardly from the clothes mover.