Laundry treating apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing laundry dryers face issues with inefficient filtering of lint due to biased accumulation and potential deviation of the filter assembly, leading to reduced air flow and potential contamination of mechanical components or outside air, necessitating frequent manual cleaning and risking reduced dryer efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A laundry treating apparatus with a filter structure that includes a support body with a pressurizing inclined surface and a compressing portion to maintain the filter's installed state, ensuring uniform airflow and preventing lint accumulation, featuring a brush assembly for continuous cleaning and a design that prevents filter deviation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a symmetrical filter is used with a center-mounted cleaner, then the filter structure is simple and manufacturing is easy, but lint accumulates biased toward the blowing fan side reducing filtering efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by positioning the filter cleaner offset from the center of the filter, specifically toward the drum side rather than the blowing fan side. This asymmetric positioning counteracts the biased lint accumulation that occurs toward the blowing fan side, ensuring more uniform lint distribution across the filter surface and maintaining filtering efficiency throughout the filter's service life.
2Volume of stationary object
If the blowing fan is located next to the drum for space efficiency, then the dryer volume is minimized, but air flow becomes biased causing uneven lint distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by pre-positioning the filter cleaner offset toward the drum side before operation begins. This preemptive positioning counteracts the biased air flow and lint accumulation that would otherwise occur due to the blowing fan's location next to the drum, ensuring uniform lint distribution from the start of operation.
3Reliability
If manual filter cleaning is performed regularly, then lint accumulation is removed, but user time and effort are consumed and cleaning cannot be done after every drying cycle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by implementing an automatic filter cleaner that continuously or periodically cleans the filter without user intervention. The cleaner is driven by a motor and automatically removes lint from the filter surface, eliminating the need for manual cleaning operations while maintaining filter cleanliness throughout the dryer's operation.
4Device complexity
If the filter cleaner rotates along a circular orbit, then the cleaning mechanism is simple, but lint is concentrated on one side creating free space on the other side
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by positioning the filter cleaner offset from the center of the filter toward the drum side. This asymmetric positioning causes the cleaner to traverse different portions of the filter surface during its cleaning cycle, preventing biased lint accumulation toward the blowing fan side and ensuring more uniform lint distribution across the entire filter.
Data Source
AI summary
A laundry treating apparatus includes a cabinet, a door, a drum, a driver that is accommodated inside the cabinet and rotates the drum, a circulating duct that circulates air discharged from the drum and re-supplies the air to the drum, a heat supplier including one or more heat exchangers that are installed inside the circulating duct, a mounting portion defined to allow the inlet and the circulating duct to be in communication with each other to guide air inside the drum to the circulating duct, and a filter seated in the mounting portion to filter foreign substances introduced into the circulating duct. A door glass protrudes toward the drum and has a pressurizing inclined surface at a protruding lower portion thereof, and the filter includes a pressurized portion in contact with the pressurizing inclined surface as the door is closed to pressurize the filter toward the mounting portion.