Laundry Fastening Structure for Preventing Bedding Tangles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Large laundry items such as bedding and clothing often twist, tangle, or wad during washing and drying, leading to inefficient cleaning and drying, appliance imbalance, and increased wear-and-tear, with no effective method to prevent these issues in existing technologies.
Innovation Solution
A laundry device with a center base and attachment system that secures multiple corners or portions of laundry items, using male and female elements to lock and contain fabric, reducing the probability of twisting and tangling, and preventing smaller items from becoming lodged in larger ones.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If large laundry items are laundered in washing machine or dryer, then cleaning and drying function is achieved, but the articles twist, tangle, ball and wad preventing efficient cleaning and drying
Solution Approach 1:
The device attaches to laundry articles before they are placed in the washing machine or dryer, preventing twisting and tangling from the outset rather than requiring post-laundering intervention. The attachment system secures articles in a predetermined configuration that maintains shape stability throughout the laundering process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary device that acts as a mediator between the laundry articles and the washing/drying environment. This device prevents direct interaction between articles that causes tangling, while still allowing water and air to penetrate for effective cleaning and drying.
2Stability of the object's composition
If consumers manually manipulate laundry loads to eliminate twists and tangles, then article shape is restored, but time and energy are consumed and appliances go off-balance
Solution Approach 1:
The device enables laundry articles to maintain their own shape stability without requiring consumer intervention. The attachment system automatically prevents twisting and tangling during the laundering process, eliminating the need for manual manipulation to restore article shapes.
3Quantity of substance
If dryer capacity is increased, then more articles can be dried simultaneously, but twisting and tangling problems increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device segments the laundry load by individually attaching to each article, preventing them from interacting and tangling even when packed closely in a high-capacity dryer. Each article is independently secured, maintaining shape stability regardless of the total quantity of laundry being dried.
4Quantity of substance
If washing machine capacity is increased, then more articles can be washed simultaneously, but off-balance problems increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device preliminarily secures articles in a balanced configuration before washing begins, preventing them from shifting and causing off-balance conditions during the wash cycle. The attachment system maintains load stability throughout the washing process.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for attaching large articles of bedding such as bed sheets, blankets, duvet covers, comforters, and quilts, as well as other machine-washable large items such as sleeping bags, tablecloths, shower curtains, and shower curtain liners, in order to prevent or greatly reduce said articles from twisting, tangling, balling and/or wadding either independently or with each other in either or both the automatic washing machine or automatic clothes dryer. Exemplary fabric securing devices include a rigid base having keyholes and slit-holes, and flexible straps or tongues having a hollow post to engage a base keyhole and a crescent-shaped beveled edge to engage a base slit-hole.