Top-Load Washer Chamber Design for Unit Dose Package Dissolution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Top-loading washing machines have difficulty quickly dissolving and dispersing the contents of unit dose detergent packages, leading to potential staining and damage to laundry due to slow dissolution and high local concentrations of additives.
Innovation Solution
A laundry washing machine design featuring a rotatable basket and post with a chamber system that alternates water levels to mechanically and hydraulically assist in breaking open and dissolving unit dose packages by varying the rotation speed and water flow, ensuring even distribution of detergent throughout the wash cycle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If unit dose packages are dropped into the drum with laundry at the beginning of washing, then the detergent is added to the wash cycle, but the UDP pouch dissolves slowly and creates high local concentration that can stain or damage laundry
Solution Approach 1:
The washing machine drum is segmented into two functional zones: an outer drum for washing and an inner rotating basket for UDP dissolution. This spatial segmentation isolates the detergent dissolution process from direct contact with laundry, allowing complete dissolution before detergent contacts the clothes, thereby eliminating staining and damage risks while ensuring proper detergent addition to the wash cycle
Solution Approach 2:
The inner rotating basket acts as an intermediary device between the UDP package and the laundry. It provides a controlled environment for dissolution with water spray and mechanical agitation, mediating the transition from concentrated detergent package to uniformly dispersed detergent solution, preventing direct harmful contact with laundry
2Productivity
If unit dose packages are dropped into the drum with laundry, then the washing process can begin, but the UDP becomes tightly trapped in laundry leading to slow dissolution
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the dissolution environment from the washing environment through the inner basket structure, the system eliminates the problem of UDP becoming trapped in laundry. The dedicated dissolution chamber with water spray and rotation ensures rapid, consistent dissolution independent of laundry volume or density, reducing dissolution time and improving overall washing cycle efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The inner basket rotates periodically during the dissolution phase, creating cyclic water flow patterns and mechanical agitation. This periodic motion continuously exposes different portions of the UDP pouch to water spray and shear forces, accelerating dissolution rates and ensuring complete breakdown before the washing phase begins
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
This method enhances the dissolution and distribution of unit dose package contents, preventing staining and damage to laundry by ensuring uniform detergent dispersion throughout the wash cycle.
Implementation Method 1
A laundry washing machine design featuring a rotatable basket and post with a chamber system that alternates water levels to mechanically and hydraulically assist in breaking open and dissolving unit dose packages by varying the rotation speed and water flow
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for breaking a unit dose package in a chamber within a post located in a basket of a laundry washing machine. The method includes filling the basket and the chamber, increasing a rotation speed of the basket and/or the post to raise the water level in the basket and lower the water level in the chamber to cause a unit dose package within the chamber to move downwards; reducing the rotation speed to lower the water level in the basket and raise the water level in chamber to cause the unit dose package within the chamber to move upwards; and repeating the steps of increasing and reducing the rotational speed to cause the unit dose package to break open and at least partially dissolve. A laundry washing machine configured to perform this process is also provided.