Washer Door Hinge Structure for Wide Opening and Clean Appearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional laundry treating apparatuses face challenges in achieving a large open angle for the door while maintaining a simple appearance and ensuring operation reliability, especially with asymmetric door designs and concaved-type doors that do not protrude from the body.
Innovation Solution
A dual hinge structure with asymmetric connection points and an eccentric hinge unit design allows the door to open beyond 90°, incorporating a press-type locking mechanism and a rotatable design that accommodates a display unit, ensuring reliability and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a conventional door opening/closing structure is used, then the structure is simple, but the open angle is limited and appearance is degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The door opening/closing structure is divided into multiple components: a door opening/closing unit with hinge and actuator, and a separate locking unit with locking protrusion and groove. This segmentation allows each unit to be optimized independently - the opening/closing unit provides simple operation while the locking unit enables the door to maintain a large open angle without degrading appearance when closed.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking function is extracted as a separate locking unit from the door opening/closing mechanism. This allows the door to be locked at various angles including fully open positions, enabling a large open angle while maintaining a clean appearance when the door is closed or locked in position.
2Device complexity
If a simple hinge structure is used, then the structure is simple, but operation reliability and durability are lowered
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge structure is segmented into a door opening/closing unit and a separate locking unit. The door opening/closing unit handles the movement and opening/closing operations, while the locking unit provides reliable positioning and locking at various angles. This segmentation allows each unit to be optimized for its specific function, improving overall reliability without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking unit with locking protrusion and groove provides beforehand cushioning by pre-positioning and securing the door at specific angles before operation begins. This ensures the door remains reliably positioned during use, preventing unintended movement and enhancing operation reliability.
3Ease of operation
If a large open angle is implemented, then the door opens widely, but the appearance becomes complex and reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking function is extracted as a separate locking unit that independently manages the door's positioned states. This allows the door opening/closing unit to focus solely on providing a large open angle, while the locking unit ensures the door remains securely positioned, preventing complexity from increasing overall system design.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking unit serves multiple functions: it locks the door at various angles including fully open positions, maintains appearance when closed, and provides operational reliability. This multi-functionality allows a large open angle to be achieved without proportionally increasing device complexity.
4Shape
If a concaved-type door is used, then the appearance is simple, but conventional opening/closing structures cannot be applied
Solution Approach 1:
The door opening/closing unit with hinge and actuator is designed as a universal mechanism that can be applied to various door types including concaved-type doors. The separate locking unit provides additional functionality that adapts to the specific geometry of concaved doors, allowing the same basic structure to serve multiple door configurations while maintaining simple appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge and actuator mechanism provides dynamic adjustment capability that adapts to the concaved door geometry. The locking unit with movable locking protrusion can engage at various positions along the locking groove, allowing the structure to accommodate the unique shape of concaved-type doors while maintaining simple appearance and functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A laundry treating apparatus includes a body having a laundry introduction opening of a circular shape; a door configured to open or close the laundry introduction opening and having a display and a circular shape eccentric from the laundry introduction opening; a controller electrically connected to the display and provided at the body; and a hinge mounted to the body, configured to rotatably connect the door to the body, and formed to accommodate therein at least part of an electric wire to electrically connect the controller to the display.