Viscous Ball Balancer Structure for Quieter Laundry Drum Rotation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional laundry apparatuses experience significant noise and vibration during the rotation of the drum, particularly in drying-spinning cycles, which affects user comfort and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A ball balancer is introduced, comprising a circular housing with a motion space filled with viscous fluid and ball members that move to compensate for eccentric drum rotation, using partition members to distribute the ball members and prevent them from colliding, thereby reducing noise and vibration. The ball balancer is designed to be efficiently manufactured with a closing member and fluid inlet/air outlet system to maintain the viscous fluid within the housing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a ball balancer is introduced to reduce noise and vibration, then noise and vibration levels decrease, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ball balancer is divided into distinct functional components: a housing containing multiple ball members, viscous fluid, and partition members. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently while contributing to the overall noise and vibration reduction system.
Solution Approach 2:
Viscous fluid is introduced as an intermediary substance between the ball members and the housing. This fluid mediates the interaction by providing damping effects that reduce noise and vibration generated by ball member movement, while allowing the balls to still perform their balancing function.
2Manufacturing precision
If partition members are added to distribute ball members uniformly, then balancing performance improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is segmented into multiple compartments by partition members, creating distinct spaces that guide and distribute ball members uniformly. This segmentation ensures consistent balancing performance while maintaining a relatively simple manufacturing process using standard machining operations.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the housing are created with different functions through the partition members. Each local space is designed to contain a specific number of ball members, optimizing the balancing effect in different areas while keeping the overall structure manufacturable.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If viscous fluid is filled in the motion space, then noise reduction improves, but ease of manufacture decreases due to additional sealing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
Viscous fluid serves as an intermediary damping medium between moving ball members and the housing structure. This fluid intermediary absorbs impact energy and reduces noise without requiring complex mechanical damping mechanisms, simplifying the overall design despite the need for sealing.
Solution Approach 2:
The noise reduction function is extracted from mechanical design and implemented through the viscous fluid medium. This separates the damping function from the structural components, allowing the housing to focus on containing the balls while the fluid handles the noise reduction independently.
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 ball balancer effectively reduces noise and vibration by compensating for drum eccentricity and distributing load, enhancing user experience and appliance efficiency while being manufactured with improved efficiency through innovative assembly and design.
Implementation Method 1
viscous fluid filled in the motion space via the fluid inlet formed in the housing
Data Source
AI summary
A ball balancer and a laundry apparatus having the same are disclosed. A ball balancer includes a circular housing comprising motion space formed therein, a fluid inlet and an air outlet, a plurality of ball members movable in motion space of the housing, a closing member closing up the fluid inlet and the air outlet, and viscous fluid filled in the motion space via the fluid inlet formed in the housing. The ball balancer according to the present invention may be fabricated more efficiently.