Lint Brush with Rotatable Extendable Tool and Automatic Retraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional lint brushes lack a mechanism for compact storage and efficient retraction of the lint tool, leading to bulkiness and inconvenience in handling.
Innovation Solution
A lint brush design featuring a housing with a movable lint tool that can be extended and rotated, utilizing an actuator like a torsion spring to automatically retract back into the housing, allowing for compact storage and easy handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the lint tool is made extendable for effective cleaning, then the cleaning effectiveness is improved, but the device becomes bulkier and harder to store
Solution Approach 1:
The lint tool is designed with movable components that allow it to transition between extended and retracted positions. The tool body can extend along the longitudinal axis during cleaning operations and then retract into the housing for compact storage, enabling the device to adapt its size based on operational needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The lint tool is designed to be housed within the housing when not in use. The tool body, including the lint-removing material and mechanical components, can be nested inside the housing structure, allowing the extended cleaning tool to be stored in a compact form factor that reduces overall device volume.
2Ease of operation
If the lint tool is made movable and rotatable for versatile cleaning, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lint tool incorporates rotational movement capability around the longitudinal axis, allowing the tool to be rotated to different orientations during cleaning operations. This dynamic positioning enables users to access different surfaces and angles more easily while maintaining a relatively simple mechanical structure through the use of rotational joints and actuated mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If an actuator is added to automatically retract the lint tool, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator mechanism is designed to automatically perform the retraction function without requiring manual intervention. The actuator, which may be a spring-based or motor-driven mechanism, autonomously moves the lint tool from the extended position back to the retracted position within the housing, eliminating the need for users to manually manipulate complex retraction mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables a more compact and user-friendly lint brush with improved storage and handling capabilities, maintaining effective lint removal functionality.
Implementation Method 1
An actuator is mounted to one of the housing and the lint tool. The actuator is configured to move the lint tool from the first rotated position back to the deployed position.
Data Source
AI summary
A lint brush includes a housing and a lint tool having a lint-removing material. The lint tool is movable along a longitudinal axis of the housing between a stowed position where the lint tool is housed in the housing and a deployed position where the lint tool is extended from the housing. The lint tool is rotatable relative to the longitudinal axis from the deployed position to a first rotated position. An actuator is mounted to one of the housing and the lint tool. The actuator is configured to move the lint tool from the first rotated position back to the deployed position.