Annular Spin-Tub Balancer Assembly for Replaceable Dynamic Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional washing machines with ball balancers have high manufacturing costs and long assembly times due to seam-welded structures, and the balancers are not easily replaceable, leading to noise, vibration, and reduced lifespan of parts.
Innovation Solution
A washing machine with annular-shaped balancers manufactured from metal pipes, where opposite ends are welded to form a closed structure, allowing for easy assembly and replacement, and featuring a viscous fluid and balls for dynamic balance, with optional quadrilateral or circular cross sections to minimize weld beads and enhance stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If ball balancers are seam-welded to the spin tub or fused with upper and lower plates, then the balancer structure is strong and stable, but the manufacturing cost increases and assembly time lengthens
Solution Approach 1:
The balancer is divided into an upper balancer and a lower balancer that are assembled separately and then coupled together. This segmentation allows each part to be manufactured independently using simpler processes, avoiding the need for complex seam-welding or fusion operations, thereby reducing manufacturing cost and assembly time while maintaining structural strength through the coupling mechanism.
2Strength
If ball balancers are seam-welded or fused to form a closed structure, then the balancer is structurally sound, but replacement becomes difficult and costly
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the balancer into separable upper and lower parts that are coupled rather than welded or fused, the design enables easy disassembly and replacement. When one balancer fails, it can be quickly removed and replaced without affecting the spin tub or requiring complex dismantling operations, significantly improving ease of repair while maintaining structural integrity during operation.
3Stability of the object's composition
If long fusion portions are created during balancer manufacturing, then the balancer structure is complete, but fusion scraps generate irregular stepped structures causing noise and vibration
Solution Approach 1:
The segmentation of the balancer into upper and lower parts that are coupled with minimal welding or fitting eliminates the need for long fusion portions. This reduces the generation of fusion scraps and irregular stepped structures, thereby minimizing the noise and vibration that would otherwise be generated by balls moving along uneven surfaces during operation.
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 reduces manufacturing costs and assembly time, allows for quick replacement of balancers, minimizes noise and vibration, and maintains dynamic balance effectively, thereby extending the lifespan of parts.
Implementation Method 1
when the spin tub is spun without maintaining a dynamic balance due to an unbalanced eccentric structure of the spin tub itself and a lopsided distribution of the laundry in the spin tub, the steel balls compensates for this unbalance, and thus the spin tub can maintain the dynamic balance
Data Source
AI summary
A washing machine is provided having at least one balancer and a method of manufacturing a balancer thereof is further provided, the method and machine capable of reducing a manufacturing cost and an assembly time, and allowing the balancer assembled to a spin tub to be easily replaced with a new balancer. The balancer applied to the washing machine and the method of manufacturing the balancer of the washing machine are adapted such that a pipe is formed in an annular shape and is assembled to a spin tub, so that a manufacturing cost and an assembly time can be reduced to improve mass productivity. Further, when the balancer is determined to fail after being assembled to the spin tub, the balancer can be rapidly and conveniently replaced with a new balancer, so that material costs can be reduced.