Laundry treating apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional laundry treating apparatuses face issues with door sagging and breakage due to concentrated load on fastening bosses, and require separate designs for different installation positions, increasing manufacturing costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A laundry treating apparatus with a door assembly featuring symmetrical left and right cover seating portions on the door frame, allowing the hinge and latch assemblies to be freely positioned without rotating the door, dispersing the load across the door cover and frame, and using a modular hinge assembly to simplify assembly and prevent sagging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the hinge assembly is fixed to the door rear surface by a fastening boss, then the door can be coupled to the cabinet, but the load of the door is concentrated on the fastening boss, causing door sagging and breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The door frame is divided into multiple sections with left and right cover seating portions, allowing the hinge assembly to be distributed across multiple mounting points rather than concentrated at a single fastening boss. This segmentation distributes the door load across multiple structural elements, preventing sagging and breakage.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover seating portions are positioned at both left and right edges of the door frame, extending the load distribution from a single-point (0D) or line (1D) connection to a distributed two-dimensional mounting structure. This dimensional expansion allows the door weight to be borne across multiple spatial locations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple hinge structures are formed at different edges to allow pivot shaft selection, then the door can be installed at different positions, but the manufacturing cost increases and vertical load is excessively applied to the front panel
Solution Approach 1:
The left and right cover seating portions are designed with asymmetric positioning relative to the door centerline, allowing the hinge assembly to be selectively mounted at different edges. The asymmetric design enables versatile installation configurations while maintaining a unified door structure, avoiding the need for multiple door variants.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the door shape and structure are made symmetrical to allow 180-degree rotation for hinge position change, then the pivot shaft can be changed, but this restricts design flexibility and may not work for asymmetrical door designs
Solution Approach 1:
The door frame incorporates universal left and right cover seating portions that can accommodate the hinge assembly at either edge. This universal design allows a single door structure to serve multiple installation configurations without requiring symmetrical rotation or specialized asymmetric door variants.
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect of the present disclosure, a laundry treating apparatus includes a door including: a door cover; and a door frame coupled to a rear surface of the door cover. A left cover seating portion and a right cover seating portion are respectively defined in a left edge and a right edge of a rear surface portion of the door frame. The left cover seating portion and the right cover seating portion are shaped to be symmetrical with each other with respect to a vertical line bisecting the door horizontally. Each of the left cover seating portion and the right cover seating portion is shaped to be symmetrical with respect to a horizontal line bisecting the door vertically.