Washing Machine Balancer Housing With Oil-Damped Ball Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Washing machines with balancers installed on rotating tubs face challenges in reinforcing the strength of the balancer housing and restricting ball movements at high speeds while allowing smooth movement at low speeds.
Innovation Solution
A washing machine design featuring a cylindrical part with a balancer housing having an annular race and multiple balls, where the balancer is supported by the cylindrical part's inner surface, and viscous oil is used to control ball movement, with the oil surface below the balls' diameter and a bottom surface inclined outward, allowing balls to sink at high speeds and protrude at low speeds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the balancer housing is made stronger to reinforce its strength, then the strength parameter is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the need for coupling grooves, coupling protrusions, and welding processes
Solution Approach 1:
The balancer housing is divided into a first balancer housing and a second balancer housing that are coupled together. This segmentation allows each housing to be manufactured separately and then joined through coupling grooves and protrusions, reinforcing the overall structure while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The first and second balancer housings are merged through coupling grooves and protrusions that are welded together. This merging creates a unified, strengthened housing structure that can withstand high-speed rotation forces while distributing structural requirements across multiple components.
2Ease of operation
If the race width is increased to allow smooth ball movement at low speeds, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the larger race dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The race is designed with different local qualities: a wider width for smooth ball movement and an inclined bottom surface for high-speed ball sinking. This local differentiation allows the single race structure to perform multiple functions - facilitating smooth operation at low speeds while enabling ball stabilization at high speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The race design incorporates dynamic adaptability through its inclined bottom surface. At low speeds, balls rest on the wider race for smooth movement. At high speeds, centrifugal force pushes balls onto the inclined surface, causing them to sink and reduce movement, thus adapting the ball behavior dynamically based on rotation speed.
3Stability of the object's composition
If viscous oil is added to restrict ball movements at high speeds, then the stability is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the additional lubricant system
Solution Approach 1:
Viscous oil is introduced as an intermediary substance between the balls and the race. This oil layer provides damping and restriction to ball movements at high speeds, enhancing the stability of the rotating tub without requiring complex mechanical restraint mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes a hydraulic principle by employing viscous oil to control ball movement. The oil's viscosity provides resistance to ball motion, and the inclined race surface facilitates ball sinking into the oil at high speeds, creating a fluid-based damping system that stabilizes the rotating tub.
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
This design enhances the strength of the balancer and ensures smooth operation by restricting high-speed ball movements while allowing low-speed movement, effectively stabilizing the rotating tub during spin-drying.
Implementation Method 1
a viscous oil which fills the race to have an oil surface at a lower height than diameters of the plurality of balls
Implementation Method 2
a bottom surface of the race is toward an outside in the radial direction and is inclined upward
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a washing machine which includes a cylindrical part having a cylindrical shape and at least one balancer installed in the cylindrical part. The balancer includes a first balancer housing provided with a race in an annular shape with an open top and a second balancer housing to be coupled with the first balancer housing to cover the open top of the race. The balancer is installed in the cylindrical part in such a way that a coupling portion of the first balancer housing and the second balancer housing corresponding to an inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical part is covered by the cylindrical part, thereby reinforcing a strength of the balancer by the cylindrical part.