Washing Machine Door Sealing for Ozone Leak Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electric washing machines face issues with gas leakage, particularly ozone and fragrance gases, when the laundry protrudes during loading and unloading, leading to gaps between the tub and door, which compromise the sealing and result in gas leakage outside.
Innovation Solution
The electric washing machine incorporates a packing mechanism that covers the tub opening's peripheral edge and comes into contact with the door to seal gaps, along with a cover member and door design featuring ribs, a guide wall, and a shutter portion to prevent gas leakage by guiding gases into a retention space when the door is closed, and includes a sensor to detect door alignment and alert users of protruding laundry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the door is closed with laundry protruding through the access opening, then the laundry can be contained in the tub, but a gap forms between the door and tub peripheral edge causing gas leakage
Solution Approach 1:
A packing member is introduced as an intermediary element between the door and the tub peripheral edge. This packing member fills and seals the gap that would otherwise form when laundry protrudes, preventing ozone and fragrance gases from leaking without requiring the laundry to be perfectly positioned or the door to exert excessive closing force.
2Reliability
If the packing is positioned close to the access opening to seal gaps, then gas-tightness is improved, but laundry may protrude through the access opening causing door closure issues
Solution Approach 1:
The packing member is positioned in a space below the access opening rather than directly at the opening itself. This spatial arrangement allows the packing to seal gaps between the door and tub edge without interfering with the laundry loading/unloading operation through the access opening, thus maintaining both gas-tightness and operational ease.
3Reliability
If the door is designed to close tightly against the tub, then gas leakage is prevented, but foreign matter and water can reach electrical components
Solution Approach 1:
The packing member provides localized sealing at the critical gap between the door and tub peripheral edge where gas leakage occurs. This targeted sealing approach prevents gas leakage without requiring the entire door assembly to be perfectly sealed, thereby allowing controlled access points that prevent water and foreign matter from reaching electrical components while maintaining gas-tightness where needed.
Data Source
AI summary
An inventive electric washing machine is configured so that a gas to be used for performing a specific process (decontamination process) on laundry is prevented from leaking to the outside. In the electric washing machine, a packing (120) to be brought into intimate contact with a door (12) for sealing a gap defined between the door (12) and a peripheral edge of an outer tub opening (118) when the door (12) is closed is opposed to a housing opening (14) with a space (129) defined between a lower edge portion of the housing opening (14) and the packing (120). If the door (12) is closed with laundry protruding through the lower edge portion of the housing opening (14), the protruding laundry is caught between the door (12) and the packing (120), so that the packing (120) is not brought into intimate contact with the door (12). If ozone is supplied into an outer tub (21) in this state, the ozone flows toward the housing opening (14) through a gap between the door (12) and the packing (120) at which the laundry is caught. However, the ozone flows into the space (129) (as indicated by a broken-line arrow X) and is retained in a housing (11) to be thereby prevented from leaking to the outside.