Sliding U-Frame Clothes Drying Rack for Capacity and Compact Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing clothes drying racks with hinged or extractable secondary frames have limited functionality, as they can only accommodate small items due to their size, restricting the hanging of larger items like sheets and towels to the main frame.
Innovation Solution
A clothes drying rack design featuring two sliding, U-shaped frames that can combine to form a larger central hanging frame, allowing for increased capacity without compromising stability or compactness, and manufactured using known technologies and materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If secondary frames are made larger to increase hanging capacity, then the drying rack can accommodate larger items, but the stability and compactness are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The drying rack is divided into a main frame and multiple secondary frames that can be independently configured. Each secondary frame can be positioned at different locations along the longitudinal members, allowing the system to be segmented into functional units that can be optimized for both capacity and stability independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The secondary frames are made movable along the longitudinal members rather than being fixed. This dynamic configuration allows the user to adjust the position and number of secondary frames based on the load requirements, enabling the structure to adapt its stability and capacity dynamically rather than being constrained by fixed dimensions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If secondary frames are made larger to hang large items, then functionality is improved, but the frames cannot be compacted for storage
Solution Approach 1:
The secondary frames are designed to nest within or alongside each other and the main frame when not in use. The rod-like elements and U-shaped frames can be collapsed into a compact configuration that minimizes storage volume, similar to nested dolls, while maintaining full functionality when deployed.
Solution Approach 2:
The frames transition between two states: a deployed state with large volume and high functionality for hanging items, and a compacted state with small volume for storage. The dynamic mechanism allows easy transformation between these states, providing adaptability without compromising storage efficiency.
3Ease of manufacture
If the drying rack structure is simplified for easy manufacture, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but the ability to accommodate large items is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The same basic U-shaped frame structure and rod-like elements serve multiple functions: they form both the main frame and secondary frames, provide hanging capacity for various item sizes, and enable structural stability. This universal component design allows the system to accommodate large items while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through component standardization.
Data Source
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Figure 4
AI summary
A clothes drying rack (10), which comprises two supporting longitudinal members (11, 12) for two mutually opposite frames (13, 14) which can slide with respect to each other, with mutual sliding means, between a first substantially superimposed configuration so as to form a single central hanging frame (15) and a second configuration of complete and mutual extraction, both completely available for hanging, supporting means (16) for the clothes drying rack (10) being associated with the longitudinal members.