Spin Tub Balancer Structure for Fast Assembly and Low Vibration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional washing machines with ball balancers face issues of reduced lifespan due to deformation under centrifugal force, assembly challenges, and vibration/noise caused by fusion scraps, which affect the dynamic balance and durability of the spin tub during high-speed spinning.
Innovation Solution
The washing machine incorporates a balancer with annular-shaped first and second housings fused to form a closed internal space, featuring protruding supports for strength and guiding the balancer's installation, and pocket structures to collect fusion scraps, ensuring precise positioning and preventing internal debris, thus enhancing durability and reducing noise and vibration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ball balancers are used with upper and lower plates fused together, then the balancer can maintain dynamic balance during high-speed spinning, but the balancer deforms under centrifugal force and its lifespan is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The balancer is divided into an upper plate and a lower plate that are coupled together through coupling protrusions and coupling grooves rather than being fused as a single piece. This segmentation allows each plate to independently withstand centrifugal forces without deforming the entire structure, thereby maintaining dynamic balance while extending the balancer's lifespan.
2Reliability
If conventional ball balancers are installed on the spin tub, then dynamic balance is maintained, but assembly time is increased due to lack of positioning guidance
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling protrusions and coupling grooves are pre-formed on the upper and lower plates before assembly. These pre-formed features automatically guide the plates into correct alignment during installation, eliminating the need for additional positioning steps and reducing assembly time while ensuring proper dynamic balance.
3Stability of the object's composition
If upper and lower plates are fused together to form the balancer, then a closed structure is created, but fusion scraps fall inward and outward causing vibration and noise
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of fusing the upper and lower plates into a single closed structure, the invention segments them into separate components that are coupled through protrusions and grooves. This segmentation eliminates the fusion process entirely, preventing fusion scraps from being generated and falling inward to cause vibration and noise, while still maintaining structural integrity through the coupling mechanism.
4Stability of the object's composition
If the balancer structure uses fused plates, then a closed internal space is formed, but assembly complexity increases and positioning precision is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling protrusions and coupling grooves are pre-formed on the upper and lower plates during manufacturing. These pre-formed features ensure precise positioning when the plates are assembled, eliminating the need for complex fusion processes and maintaining manufacturing precision while achieving the closed internal space structure.
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 increases the balancer's strength and durability, allows for rapid and precise installation, and minimizes noise and vibration by maintaining dynamic balance during high-speed spinning, thereby extending the lifespan of the balancer and reducing assembly time.
Implementation Method 1
the ball balancers are continuously supplied with centrifugal force that is generated when the steel balls make a circular motion
Data Source
AI summary
A washing machine is provided that has at least one balancer that increases durability by reinforcing the strength of the balancer and is installed on a rotating tub in a rapid and convenient way. The balancer includes first and second housings that have an annular shape and are fused to form a closed internal space, and the first housing including at least one support for reinforcing the strength of the balancer. A spin tub includes an annular recess corresponding to the balancer so as to be coupled with the balancer. The support protrudes from the first housing and comes into contact with a wall of the recess and guides the balancer to be maintained in the recess in place. The supports are continuously formed along and perpendicular to the opposite walls of the first housing, or are disposed parallel to the opposite walls of the first housing at regular intervals.