Laundry treatment apparatus including a balancer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Laundry treatment devices face issues with unbalance during high-speed rotation of drums, leading to noise and vibration, which existing balancers fail to effectively address while also limiting the laundry receiving space.
Innovation Solution
A balancer with a concave-shaped housing and multiple circulation flow paths is integrated into the laundry treatment apparatus, featuring a ring-shaped circulation flow path within the balancer housing to dampen vibrations and maintain low center of gravity, thereby minimizing unbalance and maximizing laundry space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a conventional balancer is used to damp vibration during high-speed rotation, then vibration and noise are reduced, but the laundry receiving space is limited and the unbalance extent is not minimized
Solution Approach 1:
The balancer housing is divided into multiple circulation flow paths (first circulation flow path and second circulation flow path) that are separated by a partition. This segmentation allows liquid to flow through multiple independent paths, improving vibration damping effectiveness while maintaining a compact structure that maximizes laundry receiving space.
Solution Approach 2:
The circulation flow paths are configured in a ring shape within the balancer housing, creating a three-dimensional liquid flow pattern. This ring-shaped configuration allows the liquid to circulate along the periphery of the drum, providing effective vibration damping at high speeds while keeping the central area available for laundry, thus solving the space limitation problem.
2Reliability
If a balancer with large volume is used to effectively dampen high-speed vibration, then unbalance is reduced, but the laundry receiving space is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The balancer housing includes a recess part that creates a concave shape at the location where liquid accumulates during high-speed rotation. This local structural modification allows the liquid to form a stable concave surface that enhances vibration damping effectiveness precisely where needed, while the rest of the balancer housing remains compact to preserve laundry receiving space.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring-shaped circulation flow paths are positioned along the periphery of the balancer housing, utilizing the outer region for liquid circulation while leaving the central region available for laundry. This spatial arrangement effectively separates the vibration damping function from the laundry storage space, achieving both unbalance attenuation and space maximization.
3Measurement precision
If multiple circulation flow paths are configured to resolve unbalance precisely, then unbalance attenuation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The balancer housing is divided into multiple circulation flow paths using a simple partition structure. This segmentation allows liquid to flow through multiple independent paths, improving unbalance resolution precision by distributing the damping effect across multiple flow channels, while the partition itself is a straightforward structural element that does not significantly increase device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring-shaped circulation flow paths serve multiple functions: they provide vibration damping during high-speed rotation, maintain structural integrity of the balancer housing, and define the boundaries for laundry receiving space. This multi-functionality allows precise unbalance resolution without proportionally increasing device complexity, as the same structural elements perform multiple roles.
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 effectively attenuates unbalance during high-speed drum rotation, stabilizes liquid flow, and secures a larger laundry receiving space by maintaining a low center of gravity, reducing noise and vibration while improving efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a circulation flow path configured in a ring shape within the balancer housing to provide a moving route of liquid
Implementation Method 2
a balancer connected to a top side of the drum to damp vibration generated from rotation of the drum
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
Disclosed is a laundry treatment apparatus including a balancer. This apparatus for treating laundry comprises a drum (3) having a drum entrance (33) formed in a top side to put the laundry therethrough and a drum body (31) defining a space where laundry is washed, and a balancer (7) provided to the drum (3) to resolve unbalancing of the drum (3), the balancer (7) comprising a recess part (711) configured to reduce a top side of a space for storing liquid in the balancer (7). Accordingly, the center of gravity of the balancer can be lowered and a laundry receiving space can be increased.