Tumble Dryer Air Plenum and Lifter Design for Dynamic Air Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing clothes dryers face inefficiencies in air distribution, leading to reduced drying performance, fabric care issues, and increased wrinkles due to complex designs that result in uneven air flow and inadequate adaptation to traditional dryer configurations.
Innovation Solution
A tumble dryer design featuring a distribution device in the air inlet plenum chamber that delivers air either indirectly through lifters or directly through a rear perforated wall, allowing for adjustable air flow based on the lifter's position, ensuring efficient air distribution and reduced energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If air flows always and entirely through the lifters, then the air distribution is simplified, but the drying effectiveness is reduced when lifters are in upper position and the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the air flow path dynamic by allowing it to switch between two modes: flowing through the lifter when the lifter is in the lower position, and flowing through the rear wall when the lifter is in the upper position. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by optimizing drying effectiveness for each lifter position while maintaining a relatively simple overall system structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The air flow path alternates periodically as the drum rotates, switching between lifter-based distribution and rear wall-based distribution. This periodic action ensures that air is delivered effectively regardless of lifter position, maintaining high drying effectiveness without requiring complex real-time control mechanisms.
2Reliability
If a circulation passage is formed on the back of the rear wall using concentric air plenum chambers, then air circulation is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the air circulation function from the complex concentric plenum chamber design and implements it through a simpler distribution device with a shaped air plenum chamber that faces only a lower portion of the rear wall. This extraction simplifies the overall structure while maintaining effective air circulation through the drum.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a complex full-circumference plenum chamber system, the patent applies air distribution locally through a shaped plenum chamber facing only the lower portion of the rear wall. This local approach achieves effective air circulation without the complexity of a complete circumferential system.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the distribution device delivers air only through the lower portion of the rear wall, then the system adapts to traditional dryer configurations, but air distribution coverage is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent compensates for the limited coverage of the lower-portion-only plenum chamber by making the air distribution dynamic through drum rotation. As the drum rotates, different portions of the rear wall are exposed to the plenum chamber at different times, ensuring comprehensive air distribution throughout the drum while maintaining compatibility with traditional dryer configurations.
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 design enhances drying efficiency, reduces wrinkles, and improves fabric care by ensuring consistent air flow to clothes, even when the lifter is not aligned with the air plenum chamber, while being adaptable to traditional dryers and energy-efficient.
Implementation Method 1
a shaped air plenum chamber which faces only a lower portion of the rear perforated wall, from its side opposite to the drum, so that air is delivered to the drum only through the lower portion of the rear perforated wall
Data Source
AI summary
A domestic clothes dryer comprises a rotating drum defining a drying chamber, an air inlet upstream the drum and at least a hollow lifter mounted in the drum, wherein said hollow lifter is in communication with the air inlet for distributing air inside the drum through a plurality of openings. The air inlet comprises a shaped air plenum chamber facing a lower portion of a rear perforated wall of the drum and capable of delivering air to said lifter and/or directly to the drum through said rear perforated wall.