Noncircular Laundry Drum Guide Structure for Space and Vibration Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional dryers face challenges in maximizing the space for holding laundry due to their rotatable drum design, which limits efficient drying and can cause unbalanced distribution of laundry, leading to vibration and inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates circular guides and auxiliary guides that support the drum's noncircular looped curve shape, ensuring maximum space utilization and minimizing friction, while a lift module and drum sealer enhance laundry tumbling and prevent vibration-induced issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a rotatable drum is used to hold laundry, then the drum can rotate to move laundry around, but the space for holding laundry cannot be maximized
Solution Approach 1:
The drum structure is segmented into multiple flat plates arranged radially, with guide rails provided between adjacent plates. This segmentation allows the laundry to be distributed across multiple levels and regions, maximizing the utilization of the drum's internal space while maintaining structural integrity during rotation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a conventional three-dimensional cylindrical drum to a multi-level plate structure that utilizes radial dimension. By arranging flat plates radially and providing guide rails between them, the design creates additional spatial dimensions for laundry placement, effectively maximizing space utilization within the same drum envelope.
2Productivity
If a rotatable drum is used, then laundry can be moved during drying, but unbalanced distribution of laundry occurs leading to vibration
Solution Approach 1:
Guide rails are provided between adjacent flat plates to act as intermediaries that guide and constrain the laundry movement. These guide rails ensure that laundry is properly distributed and positioned on each plate during rotation, preventing unbalanced distribution and reducing vibration while maintaining effective tumbling action for drying.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the structural parameters of the drum interior by providing multiple flat plates at different radial positions and angles. This parameter change allows for better control of laundry distribution patterns during rotation, ensuring more uniform weight distribution and reducing vibration while maintaining drying efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a laundry treating apparatus including a drum, a circular guide, and a panel. The drum holds laundry, has a front side and a rear side opened, and has a cross-section of a noncircular looped curve in which a distance from a rotation center is not uniform. The circular guide rotatably supports a portion of the drum in which a section curvature is uniform. The panel is provided on a front side or a rear side of the drum and supports the circular guide such that the circular guide is rotatable.