Liquid Balancer with Guiding Means for Active Drum Unbalance Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional laundry treatment apparatuses face challenges in actively eliminating drum unbalance and noise caused by non-uniform laundry distribution, as existing balancing units are ineffective in transient states and struggle to immediately correct unbalance issues.
Innovation Solution
A laundry treatment apparatus with a balancing unit that includes equidistantly spaced balancers around the drum, a liquid feeder, and a flow path structure to guide liquid to the balancers, which senses unbalance and supplies liquid to counteract it by increasing the load on the opposite side of the drum, thereby actively eliminating unbalance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional ball balancers or fluid balancers are used to control unbalance, then unbalance can be controlled in steady state, but the system cannot actively eliminate unbalance in transient states before vibration reaches steady state
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by detecting unbalance in transient states before vibration reaches steady state and actively supplying liquid to balancers to counteract the unbalance. The control unit monitors vibration during transient rotation and preemptively adjusts liquid distribution to eliminate unbalance before it becomes a persistent steady-state issue, rather than waiting for the conventional steady-state control mechanism to activate.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If conventional balancing units are used, then they can operate continuously, but they cannot actively and immediately correct unbalance as soon as it occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamics by transitioning from passive continuous operation to active dynamic control. The control unit continuously monitors vibration signals during drum rotation and dynamically adjusts liquid supply to balancers in real-time based on detected unbalance conditions. This enables the system to actively respond to and correct unbalance as it occurs, rather than merely operating continuously without active correction capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies feedback by using vibration sensors to detect unbalance during drum rotation and feeding this information back to the control unit. The control unit then adjusts liquid supply to balancers based on this feedback signal, creating a closed-loop control system that actively eliminates unbalance. This feedback mechanism enables immediate correction of unbalance conditions as they are detected, rather than relying on open-loop continuous operation.
3Reliability
If liquid is supplied to balancers to counteract unbalance, then unbalance is eliminated, but the system complexity increases with additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by integrating multiple functions into the balancing unit. The liquid supply system serves both as a balancer weight adjustment mechanism and as part of the active control system. The control unit that manages liquid distribution also handles vibration monitoring and decision-making, combining what could be separate systems into a unified multi-functional device that eliminates unbalance while managing complexity through functional integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses hydraulics by supplying liquid to balancers to adjust their weight and counteract unbalance. This hydraulic approach allows for continuous, adjustable weight compensation compared to mechanical ball balancers, enabling precise active control of balance conditions while using fluid mechanics to manage the complexity of weight adjustment mechanisms.
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 apparatus effectively eliminates drum unbalance and noise by actively adjusting the load distribution during rotation, ensuring balanced operation and reducing vibration and noise across all planes.
Implementation Method 1
Dynamic balance refers to a state of a rotating rotator in which centrifugal force or moment of centrifugal force becomes zero with respect to a rotation axis of the rotator
Implementation Method 2
Rotation of the unbalanced drum causes vibration, and in turn noise is generated as vibration of the drum is transmitted to a tub or a cabinet
Data Source
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AI summary
A balancer for being used in a balancing unit of a laundry treatment apparatus, comprising: a receptacle (551, 552) to be mounted to an inner circumferential surface of a drum of said apparatus, the receptacle providing an inner space for storage of liquid; an inlet (557) formed at the receptacle, through which liquid can be introduced into the receptacle (551, 552); an outlet (558) for discharging the liquid stored in the receptacle (551, 552); and guiding means (559) for guiding liquid introduced into the receptacle (551, 552) through the inlet (557) such that the liquid moves from a center of the receptacle to an edge thereof.