Hinge-Mounted Door Connector for Laundry Control Panel Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Laundry treatment apparatuses with rotatable doors face aesthetic deterioration and assembly inefficiencies due to conventional connection mechanisms for power and data transmission between the main body and electronic devices installed on the door, particularly when the door is pivotally coupled to the cabinet with a hinge, leading to difficulties in coupling power and communication lines.
Innovation Solution
A connector system that includes a door connector affixed to the hinge unit and cabinet connectors on the front panel, allowing for variable rotation direction and easy assembly, with movable panel terminals that can connect to cabinet terminals, ensuring secure and efficient power and data transmission between the control panel on the door and the power supply and information processing devices in the cabinet.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional connection mechanism is used to connect power supply and information processing devices in the main body to electronic devices installed in the rotatable door, then the door can be pivotally coupled to the cabinet with a hinge, but aesthetic deterioration occurs and assembly efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The connection mechanism is divided into two separate connectors: a door connector installed on the door and a cabinet connector installed on the cabinet. These connectors can be separately assembled and then coupled together, simplifying the overall assembly process while maintaining the rotatable door functionality. The segmentation allows each connector to be optimized independently for its specific installation location.
Solution Approach 2:
The door connector and cabinet connector are pre-installed on the door and cabinet respectively before final assembly. This preliminary action allows the connectors to be positioned and secured in advance, making the final coupling process simpler and more efficient, while avoiding aesthetic deterioration that would occur with exposed connection components.
2Adaptability or versatility
If electronic devices are installed in the door with pivotal rotation, then design diversity is pursued, but difficulty in coupling power supply and communication lines occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The door connector and cabinet connector act as intermediary components that facilitate the coupling of power supply and communication lines between the door and cabinet. These connectors provide standardized connection interfaces that simplify the coupling process, eliminating the difficulty of directly connecting lines while maintaining installation flexibility for various electronic devices.
3Reliability
If wires or cables are used to connect power supply and information processing devices to electronic devices in the door, then power and data transmission is enabled, but assembly efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The door connector and cabinet connector combine multiple functions into integrated components. Instead of separately managing power cables, data cables, and mechanical connections, the connectors merge these functions into a single coupling action. This merging maintains reliable power and data transmission while dramatically improving assembly efficiency by reducing the number of separate connection steps.
Data Source
AI summary
A connector is provided that includes a cabinet connector at a cabinet that includes at least one of a power supply device and an information processing device and a device connector at a control object device to be controlled by at least one of the power supply device and the information processing device. The device connector may be separably coupled to the cabinet connector. The device connector may be movable along at least two of an X-axis and a Y-axis defining a plane parallel to a cross section of the cabinet connector and a Z-axis perpendicular to the cross section of the cabinet connector.