Balance Ring Fastener Guide Design to Prevent Sink Mark Interference
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Solution Overview
Problem
Washing machines experience vibrations and imbalance during spin cycles due to uneven distribution of laundry, which can cause noise and damage, and existing balance rings with plastic construction often develop sink marks that impede counterweight movement.
Innovation Solution
A balance ring with a fastener guide system that minimizes sink marks by using a separated boss structure to attach to the wash basket, ensuring counterweights can move freely and effectively counterbalance imbalances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the balance ring is constructed from plastic using injection molding, then the manufacturing cost and complexity are reduced, but sink marks are formed on the surfaces that impede counterweight movement
Solution Approach 1:
The balance ring is divided into multiple molded halves that are joined together. By segmenting the ring into separate sections with thinner wall sections between fastener guides, the molding process can complete more uniformly without excessive material thickness, thereby preventing sink marks while maintaining ease of manufacture
Solution Approach 2:
Fastener guides are introduced as intermediary elements that serve dual purposes: they provide attachment points for fasteners and create thinner wall sections that prevent sink marks. These guides act as mediators between the manufacturing process and the counterweight movement function, allowing both requirements to be satisfied
2Strength
If the balance ring has thick sections to provide structural strength, then the ring is stronger, but sink marks are more likely to form during molding
Solution Approach 1:
The balance ring is segmented into sections with varying wall thicknesses. Thinner sections are positioned between fastener guides where sink marks would form, while other sections maintain adequate thickness for structural strength. This segmentation allows the ring to be strong overall while preventing localized sink marks
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the balance ring have different wall thicknesses optimized for their specific functions. Areas requiring strength have thicker walls, while areas where counterweights move or where fastener guides are located have thinner walls to prevent sink marks. This local variation in quality resolves the contradiction between strength and manufacturing precision
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 vibrations and noise by allowing counterweights to move freely within the balance ring, enhancing the appliance's stability and extending its lifespan by preventing damage from imbalance-induced stress.
Implementation Method 1
the liquid or solid balls will move to a position within the ring that counters the centrifugal forces created by the articles in the wash
Implementation Method 2
the off centering and centrifugal forces create an imbalance that can generate undesired strain in the washing machine components, an undesirable level of noise, and/or 'walking' of the appliance
Data Source
AI summary
A balance ring for an appliance, such as e.g., a washing machine, is provided. The balance ring can reduce or eliminate features such as sink marks that might otherwise impede the movement of counterweights in the balance ring. The counterweights are used to stabilize a rotating element of the appliance.