Laundry Appliance Door Seating Design to Reduce Forward Protrusion

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional laundry treating apparatuses have doors that protrude forward, causing inconvenience and space issues, and the existing gap designs around the door can lead to sagging and increased area size, compromising usability and appearance.

Innovation Solution

A laundry treating apparatus with a door seating portion that accommodates the door, featuring a recessed design to reduce forward protrusion and a variable gap width for smooth pivoting, ensuring the door remains usable even when sagging, and maintaining a visually flat front panel appearance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the door area size is increased to cover the door seating portion, then the sealing effectiveness is improved, but the forward protrusion amount increases occupying space in front of the cabinet

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesealing effectivenessVSAvoidforward protrusion amount

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSVolume of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The door is nested within a door seating portion that is recessed relative to the front surface of the cabinet. The door seating portion has a door receiving space that accommodates the door when it is in the closed state, allowing the door to be sealed effectively while not protruding forward from the cabinet's front surface.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Solution Approach 2:

The door seating portion is positioned in a recessed dimension relative to the front surface, creating a stepped structure. This dimensional change allows the door to achieve effective sealing contact with the cabinet while the overall assembly maintains a flush front surface, eliminating forward protrusion.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Ease of operation

If the gap width around the door is increased uniformly to secure pivoting range, then the door pivoting smoothness is improved, but the door seating portion area size increases unnecessarily

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedoor pivoting smoothnessVSAvoiddoor seating portion area size

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The gap between the door and door seating portion is designed with non-uniform width: a first gap at the hinge side with greater width to accommodate pivoting motion, and a second gap at the opposite side with smaller width. This local differentiation provides sufficient pivoting range while minimizing the overall area of the door seating portion.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The gap configuration is asymmetric, with the first gap being wider than the second gap. This asymmetry is deliberately designed to match the pivoting requirements of the door, providing adequate clearance at the hinge side where motion occurs, while reducing unnecessary space at the opposite side.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #4Asymmetry

Data Source

PatentUS20250101668A1Laundry treating apparatus

Publication Date: 2025.03.27 LG ELECTRONICS INC

AI summary

Disclosed is a laundry treating apparatus including a cabinet, an accommodation portion to accommodate laundry therein, a door seating portion, and a door, wherein the door includes a door frame pivotably coupled to a front panel and accommodated in the door seating portion, and a door cover covering a front surface of the door frame and exposed forward, wherein the door frame is accommodated in the door seating portion so as not to protrude forward of the front panel.