Laundry washing machine
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-end front-loading laundry washing machines experience mechanical stress and potential leakage due to concentrated centrifugal forces on ball balancing rings at high rotation speeds, leading to microcracks and structural issues.
Innovation Solution
A toroidal ball balancing ring design featuring two discrete and complementary annular hemishells with C-shaped cross sections, joined along mating annular rims, reduces mechanical stress by distributing the forces more evenly and preventing leakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single-piece toroidal housing is used for the ball balancing ring, then the structure is simple and manufacturing is easier, but concentrated centrifugal forces at high rotation speeds cause microcracks and potential leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The toroidal housing is divided into two separate annular members instead of being a single piece. This segmentation allows each member to be optimized independently and reduces stress concentration at any single location, preventing microcracks while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through separate fabrication and assembly of the two members
2Strength
If two annular members are fused together to form the toroidal housing, then structural integrity improves, but concentrated centrifugal forces continuously stress the welding area causing microcracks and leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The design distributes the structural requirements locally across different areas of the two annular members rather than concentrating stress at the welding junction. Each member is shaped to handle specific stress patterns, and the mating surfaces are designed to share loads evenly, reducing continuous stress on any single welding point and preventing microcrack formation
3Reliability
If the ball balancing ring is designed to withstand high centrifugal forces, then reliability at high speed improves, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the housing into two annular members, each can be designed and manufactured with optimized geometry for handling centrifugal forces independently. This reduces the overall complexity compared to designing a single complex piece, while the assembly of two simpler components achieves the required high-speed reliability
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 design allows for stable operation at high drum rotation speeds without long-term structural problems, minimizing noise and simplifying assembly while maintaining effective vibration reduction.
Implementation Method 1
a viscous liquid that damps out the movement of the spherical masses inside the inner cavity
Implementation Method 2
During spin phases, the spherical masses tend to group together and to move altogether inside the inner cavity so as to balance the unbalanced load (laundry) momentarily placed inside the drum
Data Source
AI summary
A laundry washing machine having an outer casing, a washing tub, a rotatable drum and at least one balancing ring rigidly secured to the drum for reducing vibrations thereof. The balancing ring comprises an annular housing rigidly secured to the drum, an internal closed annular inner cavity, and balancing masses in free movable manner inside the annular inner cavity. The annular housing has first and second discrete and complementary annular hemishells that are joined to one another to form the annular inner cavity. The annular hemishells are substantially coplanar and concentric to one another, and have approximately C-shaped cross sections that are substantially complementary to one another. The hemishells are joined to one another along corresponding first and second mating annular rims, which are arranged on opposite sides of a given intermediate plane perpendicular to the central axis of the annular housing.