Washer Drum Liquid Balancers for Transient Unbalance Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional laundry treatment apparatuses face challenges in actively eliminating drum unbalance and noise caused by non-uniform laundry distribution, as existing balancing units are ineffective in transient states and struggle to anticipate and correct unbalance as soon as it occurs.
Innovation Solution
A laundry treatment apparatus with a balancing unit that supplies liquid to agitate laundry, using equidistantly spaced balancers and a flow path structure to guide liquid to the unbalanced areas, controlled by a sensing unit and controller to actively correct unbalance during rotation, thereby maintaining dynamic balance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional ball balancers or fluid balancers are used to control unbalance, then unbalance can be controlled in steady state, but the system cannot anticipate or actively eliminate unbalance in transient states
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by detecting unbalance in transient states before it develops into full steady-state vibration, and by proactively supplying liquid to balancers to prevent unbalance from occurring. The sensing unit continuously monitors drum rotation to detect unbalance early, and the liquid supply mechanism is activated in advance to counteract the unbalance before it affects drum operation significantly.
2Stability of the object's composition
If liquid is supplied to balancers to eliminate unbalance, then dynamic balance is improved, but the system complexity increases due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs hydraulics by using liquid (water) as the balancing medium supplied to the balancers. The liquid supply mechanism uses hydraulic principles to distribute liquid to the balancers positioned at specific locations on the drum, allowing dynamic adjustment of mass distribution. This hydraulic approach is simpler than mechanical ball balancers and enables rapid response to unbalance conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses liquid as an intermediary substance to transfer mass between the water supply system and the balancers. The liquid acts as a mediator that can be quickly added to or removed from balancers to adjust the mass distribution on the drum, providing a flexible and responsive balancing mechanism without requiring direct mechanical intervention.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If balancing units are added to actively eliminate unbalance, then vibration and noise are reduced, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a hydraulic liquid supply system instead of complex mechanical balancing mechanisms. This hydraulic approach simplifies manufacturing compared to traditional ball balancers or sophisticated mechanical systems, as it uses readily available components like pumps, valves, and fluid conduits that are easier to manufacture and assemble.
Solution Approach 2:
The balancing system incorporates self-service features through automatic detection and response. The sensing unit automatically detects unbalance conditions and triggers the liquid supply mechanism without requiring external intervention or complex control systems, simplifying both manufacturing and operation.
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 apparatus effectively eliminates drum unbalance and noise by actively correcting mass distribution during rotation, ensuring stable operation and reduced vibration.
Implementation Method 1
Dynamic balance refers to a state of a rotating rotator in which centrifugal force or moment of centrifugal force becomes zero with respect to a rotation axis of the rotator
Data Source
AI summary
A laundry treatment apparatus including a rotatable drum in which laundry is stored, at least three balancers mounted to the drum so as to be spaced apart from one another by the same angle around a rotation center of the drum. Liquid is introduced into and discharged from the balancers via a feeder supplying the liquid and a flow path structure mounted to the drum to guide liquid supplied from the feeder to the balancer located in a direction for removal of unbalance of the drum.