Washing Machines... Unnecessary Weight...
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Posted by: A Jangbrand Posted on: Wednesday, 20th February 2008, 1:53 PM.
Having to move my washing machine in order to get it repaired I realized that it contains a massive and heavy "thing" that will keep the mashine (more) stable when tumbling. A thing that only needs to be there when tumbling. So - in TRIZ terms - it should be there when tumbling and not be there when the machine is being transported or repaired.
And my next thought was in direction; "what other resources are available". And one resource that always is available close to washing machines is water.
Why not replace that heavy thing with a (system of) container(s) where water going to the machine (or from?) could keep the machine stable? Using water the machine could dynamically add or remove stabililization weight. Or even re-distribute the water between small containers to compensate for laundry distribution.....
We could also let inflow of water get some warming up in that system of containers from the outflow...
And think of all the weight we would not have to transport on the roads (=saving fuel and environment). And how many hurting backs we would save. Not having to lift that extra heavy weight..
Well, I contacted a major washing machine manufacturer and they acknowledged this as a "great idea - but reliability and security" were issues.
So - Any washing machine engineers out there that could help out developing this idea? Or maybe even knows what kind of problems the manufacturer were thinking of? I cannot let go of this until someone gives me the definitive "Thats a really bad idea - because...."-response.
(And with some more consideration I guess we could find even better ways of improving the classic washing machine....) Message Thread:  Return To Discussion ForumPost A New MessageRead the Forum Guide to Good Etiquette
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