Washing Machine Ball Balancer Structure for Deformation Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional washing machine balancers suffer from deformation under centrifugal force, prolonged assembly time, and internal fusion scraps that hinder ball movement and cause noise and vibration, reducing their lifespan and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The washing machine incorporates a balancer design with reinforced first and second housings forming an annular space, featuring supports that protrude to guide and strengthen the balancer, preventing deformation and collecting fusion scraps in dedicated pockets to maintain smooth operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the balancer uses fused upper and lower plates with steel balls, then dynamic balance is maintained during high-speed spinning, but the balancer walls deform due to continuous centrifugal force, reducing lifespan
Solution Approach 1:
The balancer is divided into an upper plate and a lower plate that are separable rather than fused. The upper plate can be removed to access and replace steel balls, allowing maintenance without replacing the entire balancer assembly. This segmentation enables easier repair and extends the overall lifespan of the balancer system.
Solution Approach 2:
The balancer design allows the upper plate to be dynamically removed and reinstalled. During operation, the upper plate is removed to allow steel balls to be added or replaced, then reinstalled to maintain dynamic balance. This dynamic accessibility resolves the contradiction between maintaining balance and extending lifespan through easier maintenance.
2Ease of manufacture
If the balancer is designed without installation guidance features, then manufacturing is simpler, but assembly time is prolonged as it takes time to assemble balancers to the spin tub
Solution Approach 1:
The balancer incorporates self-aligning features including guide pins on the balancer that fit into corresponding guide holes in the spin tub, and positioning protrusions on the spin tub that align with positioning grooves on the balancer. These self-service guidance features automatically guide the balancer into correct position during assembly, eliminating the need for complex alignment procedures or specialized tools, thus reducing assembly time without complicating manufacturing.
3Strength
If the balancer uses fused plates structure, then the balancer can maintain structural integrity, but fusion scraps fall inward and outward, preventing ball motion and generating vibration and noise
Solution Approach 1:
The design extracts the problematic fusion process by eliminating the need to fuse the upper and lower plates together. The plates remain separable, so no fusion scraps are generated. This extraction of the fusion step completely eliminates the source of harmful scraps that would otherwise interfere with ball motion and generate vibration and noise.
Solution Approach 2:
The separable plate design converts what would have been a harmful fusion process into a beneficial maintenance feature. By not fusing the plates, the design eliminates fusion scraps while simultaneously enabling easy access to steel balls for replacement, turning a potential structural weakness into a maintenance advantage that extends balancer lifespan.
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 balancer durability by preventing deformation and reducing assembly time, ensuring smooth ball motion, minimizing noise and vibration, and extending the lifespan of the balancer while maintaining dynamic balance during high-speed spinning.
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
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AI summary
A washing machine, comprising: a spin tub (10) to hold laundry to be washed, and at least one ball balancer (30), the ball balancer (30) comprising: a first housing (32) having an open side, first and second walls (32a,32b) facing each other and a third wall (32c) formed between the first and second walls (32a,32b), a second housing (33) to cover the open side of the first housing (32), wherein the first and second housing (32,33) together form an annular shaped space (30a), and a plurality of balls (31) movably disposed in the annular shaped space (30a), wherein the first wall (32a) of the first housing (32) is more distant from the center of rotation of the ball balancer (30) than the second wall (32b) thereof, wherein a plurality of supports (34) are provided to the first housing (32) at predetermined intervals along at least the first wall (32a).