Washing Machine Door-Lock with Blocking Lever to Reduce Pin Stress
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing door-lock devices for washing machines face difficulties in reopening the door when the drum is overloaded with bulky, non-wet clothes, causing excessive stress on the locking pin and preventing the door from being opened for additional loading.
Innovation Solution
A door-lock device featuring a blocking lever that pivots to reduce the stress on the locking pin, allowing it to move from a retracted to an extracted position, enabling the door to be reopened by redistributing the force and maintaining the pin's functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the door-lock device uses a locking pin to prevent door opening during washing cycles, then the door security is improved, but the door cannot be reopened when overloaded with bulky clothes
Solution Approach 1:
The blocking lever is designed to dynamically change position based on applied force. When excessive force is applied (bulky clothes pushing), the lever automatically moves from blocking the pin to allowing pin movement, enabling door reopening without compromising normal locking function
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the mechanical state parameter of the blocking lever from a fixed blocking position to a movable position that responds to force magnitude, allowing the locking mechanism to adapt between secure locked state and releasable state based on operational conditions
2Reliability
If the locking pin is held in extracted position to keep door locked, then the door remains securely closed, but excessive stress on the pin causes it to block and fail to return to retracted position
Solution Approach 1:
The blocking lever acts as an intermediary mechanical element between the slider and the locking pin. It mediates the force transmission by blocking the pin's movement path when necessary, preventing excessive direct stress on the pin while maintaining the locked state through geometric constraint rather than pure force
3Reliability
If the slider engages with the locking pin to maintain locked position, then the door remains closed, but friction between slider and pin causes blocking under excessive stress
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is segmented into distinct functional elements: the blocking lever, the locking pin, and the slider. The blocking lever handles the primary blocking function, allowing the slider-pin interface to operate with reduced friction and stress, separating the high-force blocking function from the engagement function
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
The solution allows for easy reopening of the door even with bulky loads, reduces stress on the locking pin, and ensures the correct functioning of the locking mechanism, preventing the door from becoming stuck during washing cycles.
Implementation Method 1
the friction between the lateral surface of the slider for opening, and the pin can cause the latter to block
Implementation Method 2
a slider, having an opening and movable with respect to the containment casing between a rest position, in which it is held by a return or thrust spring
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a Door-lock device (1) for a household appliance, such as a washing machine and the like, wherein said household appliance comprises a door provided with a prong (14), comprising a containment casing (10), a holding unit (12), arranged in said containment casing (10), intended to engage with the prong (14) for holding it, a slider (15), contained in a containment casing (10), associated with said holding unit (12), so as to assume a rest position and a working position, when said prong (14) is engaged with said holding unit (12), an electromechanical control module comprising a locking pin (16), capable of assuming a retracted position, in which it disables the power supply of said household appliance, and an extracted position, in which it enables the power supply of said household appliance, characterized in that it comprises a blocking lever (13) arranged so as to assume a first position, in which with its own dimensions it prevents said locking pin (16) to move from said retracted position to said extracted position, and a second position, in which it releases said locking pin (16), so as to allow the movement from said retracted position to said extracted position, and in that said slider (15) and said blocking lever (13) are configured so that the movement of said slider (15) from said rest position to said working position causes the movement from said first position to said second position of said blocking lever (13). The present invention also relates to a household appliance.