Hanging Clothes Dryer Air Recirculation for Gentle Drying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional clothes dryers, including tumble and cabinet types, face issues such as fabric damage from mechanical friction, low energy efficiency, static charge creation, and uncontrolled air mixing, which lead to inefficient drying and increased energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
A forced convection hanging clothes dryer with separate drying chambers, controlled blower and heating elements, and a control system that utilizes temperature and moisture sensors to optimize air recycling and purging, allowing for customizable drying cycles and energy-efficient operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a rotating drum is used to tumble clothes, then the surface area of clothing exposed to heated air is increased, but mechanical friction damages the fabric
Solution Approach 1:
The drying chamber is divided into multiple separate drying chambers, each with independently controlled blowers and heating elements. This allows different drying conditions to be applied to different sections of laundry, optimizing drying efficiency while reducing mechanical stress on fabrics through gentler air circulation patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical rotating drum system with a stationary cabinet design that uses forced convection air circulation. Instead of mechanically tumbling clothes, heated air is circulated through the laundry using blowers and ducts, eliminating mechanical friction while maintaining drying effectiveness through controlled thermal and fluid dynamics.
2Productivity
If oversized heating elements are used to heat air quickly, then the air reaches high temperature for drying, but excess energy is wasted due to air overheating and insufficient saturation
Solution Approach 1:
The heating system is segmented into multiple heating elements distributed across different drying chambers, each with its own blower and air circulation path. This allows precise control of heating in each zone, preventing overall overheating while ensuring adequate saturation of air in each chamber. The segmented design enables energy-efficient operation by heating only the air that will be used for drying in each specific chamber.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs temperature and moisture sensors to monitor conditions in each drying chamber, with the control system adjusting heating and air circulation accordingly. This feedback mechanism prevents energy waste by maintaining optimal temperature and humidity levels rather than continuously overheating air, ensuring efficient energy utilization while achieving thorough drying.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If recirculated air is mixed with room air in conventional cabinet dryers, then the drying process continues, but energy efficiency is reduced due to uncontrolled air mixing
Solution Approach 1:
The air circulation system is segmented into separate recirculation paths for each drying chamber, with controlled dampers that prevent uncontrolled mixing with room air. Each chamber maintains its own microclimate, allowing continuous drying operation while preserving the thermal energy invested in heating the air. The segmented design ensures that warm, moisture-laden air remains in the drying chambers rather than mixing with cooler ambient air.
4Device complexity
If a single cabinet construction is used, then the structure is simple, but all clothing are subjected to the same drying cycle regardless of different drying requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The single cabinet is segmented into multiple independent drying chambers, each with its own blower, heating element, and control system. This segmentation allows different drying cycles, temperatures, and air circulation patterns to be applied to different chambers simultaneously, accommodating various fabric types and drying requirements while maintaining a unified cabinet structure. The modular segmented design provides versatility without excessive complexity.
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 solution enhances energy efficiency by ensuring air saturation before purging, reduces fabric damage, and allows for customizable drying cycles, accommodating varying laundry loads and types, while minimizing static and wrinkling issues.
Implementation Method 1
forced convection hanging clothes dryer including a drying chamber that is divided into two or more separate drying chambers each of which have separately controlled blower or fan elements and heating elements associated therewith
Implementation Method 2
heating elements associated therewith
Implementation Method 3
heated air is then passed through the drum and exhausted from the dryer
Implementation Method 4
utilizing temperature and moisture sensors to optimize air recycling and purging
Data Source
AI summary
A clothes dryer has a cabinet forming a drying chamber and a drying rack slidably mounted to the cabinet and movable between a retracted position where the drying rack is within the drying chamber and an extended position where the drying rack is exteriorly of the cabinet. A removable dividing panel is retained by the drying rack and divides the drying chamber into two horizontal and vertically extending drying chambers. A control system associated with the dryer has selectable modes to operate the divided drying chambers independently or concurrently as a single large drying chamber. A recycle system associated with the dryer permits recycling of heat air to increase drying efficiency.