Ball Balancer Viscosity Detection for Stable Washer Spin Cycles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional drum washing machines face inefficiencies due to unbalanced laundry distribution, leading to vibrations and increased energy consumption, which are not adequately addressed by existing balancer technologies.
Innovation Solution
A system that determines the viscosity of a fluid-filled ball balancer by analyzing oscillation signals, allowing for adaptive spin cycle control and optimized appliance operation without the need for direct temperature measurement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the rotational speed of the drum is increased to improve productivity, then the washing cycle becomes faster, but vibrations and noise increase due to unbalance conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The ball balancer uses movable balls that automatically position themselves to counterbalance the unbalanced laundry distribution in the drum. The balls move to create counterweights that offset the harmful vibrations and noise generated during high-speed rotation, enabling the drum to operate at higher speeds without excessive vibrations.
Solution Approach 2:
The ball balancer employs dynamic elements (movable balls) that continuously adjust their positions in response to changing unbalance conditions during drum rotation. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain balance effectiveness across varying rotational speeds and laundry distributions, resolving the contradiction between speed and vibration control.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a ball balancer with fluid is used to stabilize ball movement and prevent collision noise, then vibration control improves, but the control optimization requires additional knowledge about ball position and laundry position that increases system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The ball balancer system is self-regulating through the natural movement of balls under gravity and centrifugal force. The fluid provides automatic damping without requiring external control inputs, and the balls automatically position themselves to counterbalance unbalance conditions, eliminating the need for complex sensors and control algorithms to track ball and laundry positions.
Solution Approach 2:
The fluid acts as an intermediary that provides damping and stabilization of ball movement without requiring active control. It mediates between the mechanical ball elements and the unbalance forces, providing passive stabilization that reduces system complexity while maintaining ball position stability.
3Loss of time
If the drum rotates at high speed to reduce washing time, then productivity increases, but energy consumption increases due to vibrations
Solution Approach 1:
The ball balancer reduces energy consumption at high speeds by eliminating vibrations through counterbalancing. The movable balls create opposing forces that cancel out the harmful vibrations generated by unbalanced laundry, allowing the drum to rotate at high speeds without the excessive energy losses associated with vibration damping.
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
This approach facilitates controlled resonance passes, reduces the number of spin attempts, and enhances the efficiency and longevity of home appliances by accurately determining fluid viscosity and temperature from oscillation patterns.
Implementation Method 1
a fluid such as silicone oil, for example, is sealed brought in the ball balancer. This allows the prevention of collision noise of the ball and stabilization of the ball movement in the ball balancer.
Implementation Method 2
These oscillations are caused by unbalances in spinning which are always existing. In the special case of a balancer appliance, the oscillation caused by the laundry unbalance is overlayed by an unbalance oscillation caused by the rotating balancer balls.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a home appliance (100), in particular a washing machine and/or a dryer, comprising: a rotary drum (101) fillable with laundry (102); a ball balancer (103) attached around the rotary drum (101), wherein the ball balancer (103) is at least partially filled with a fluid (104) embedding one or more free moving balancer balls (105) to balance a laundry (102) unbalance of the rotary drum (101); a sensor (106) configured to sense an overlay signal (107) generated due to an overlay of the laundry (102) unbalance with an unbalance of the one or more balancer balls (105); and a controller (108) configured to determine a viscosity of the fluid (104) based on a predetermined correlation of the viscosity of the fluid (104) with the overlay signal (107).