Plastic Dryer Drum with Stationary Rear Wall for Uniform Air Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tumble dryer laundry drums face issues with non-uniform air flow, noise, high manufacturing costs, material complexity, and corrosion due to steel components, and require complex assembly processes.
Innovation Solution
A laundry drum structure with a pivoting plastic side wall and stationary rear wall, supported by separate front and rear rollers, allowing for a single injection molding process, reducing noise and enabling controlled air flow distribution without welding or gluing, and eliminating the need for a cantilever support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a rigid pivoting drum structure is used, then structural strength is improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The drum structure is divided into separate functional components: a stationary rear wall assembly and a pivoting side wall assembly. The rear wall includes a stationary rear support portion and a stationary rear wall portion, while the side wall includes a pivoting side support portion and a pivoting side wall portion. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently using injection molding, then assembled together, reducing overall manufacturing complexity while maintaining structural integrity.
2Strength
If steel sheet material is used, then structural strength is improved, but weight and corrosion resistance worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The material parameter is changed from traditional steel sheet to plastic material for both the stationary and pivoting wall portions. This parameter change reduces the weight of the moving drum components while providing adequate structural strength for the application. The plastic material also inherently provides better corrosion resistance compared to steel.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the rear wall rotates with the drum, then structural integrity is improved, but air flow uniformity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The rear wall portion is extracted from the rotating assembly and made stationary relative to the drum's rotation axis. The stationary rear wall is positioned at the rear end of the pivoting side wall, creating a fixed reference point for air flow entry. This extraction of the rear wall from the rotating components allows for uniform air flow distribution through the perforations while the side wall continues to pivot for structural integrity.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple components are joined together, then structural assembly flexibility is improved, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The stationary rear support portion and stationary rear wall portion are merged into a single injection-molded component. Similarly, the pivoting side support portion and pivoting side wall portion are merged into another single injection-molded component. This merging reduces the total number of parts that need to be assembled, simplifying the assembly process while maintaining the structural benefits of having separate support and wall functions.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
A drum structure (4) for a tumble dryer (1) comprises a pivoting side wall (7) made of a plastic material, tubular in shape, having an annular rear edge (9) delimiting a rear opening (10), as well as an annular front edge (11) delimiting a front opening (12), a stationary rear wall (13) forming an annular receiving seat (14) which engages the rear edge (9) of the side wall (7) pivotally about a rotation axis (8) and so that the stationary rear wall (13) closes the rear opening (10) of the pivoting side wall (7), and a perforation (22) to allow the drying air flow (15) to pass through the stationary rear wall (13) in a laundry compartment (3) delimited by the pivoting side wall (7) and the stationary rear wall (13), a plurality of rear support rollers (16) and a plurality of front support rollers (18) which support the side wall (7) pivotally about the rotation axis (8) with respect to the stationary rear wall (13).