Washing Machine Active Liquid Balancer for Transient Vibration Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional laundry treatment apparatuses struggle to actively eliminate drum unbalance and vibration noise due to the difficulty in anticipating and addressing transient vibrations and unbalanced states effectively.
Innovation Solution
A laundry treatment apparatus with a balancing unit that includes a feeder to supply liquid into a flow path structure guiding the liquid to balancers opposite the nonuniform mass distribution, using a sensing unit and controller to determine the unbalance position and timing for liquid supply, ensuring active unbalance elimination in both diameter and longitudinal directions.
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 transient vibration states cannot be anticipated or actively eliminated
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid supply system is activated in advance when unbalance is detected, before the drum reaches steady state rotation. The controller supplies liquid to the balancer based on detected unbalance conditions during the transient phase, proactively preventing severe vibration rather than merely responding to it.
Solution Approach 2:
The balancing system transitions from a static passive configuration to a dynamic active control system. The liquid supply mechanism allows real-time adjustment of balancer mass distribution based on detected unbalance conditions, enabling the system to adapt during transient states rather than only maintaining steady state balance.
2Device complexity
If passive balancing units are used, then device complexity is reduced, but the ability to actively eliminate unbalance as soon as it occurs is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
A sensing unit detects unbalance conditions in real-time and provides feedback to the controller, which then activates the liquid supply mechanism to adjust the balancer mass distribution. This closed-loop feedback system enables active unbalance elimination while maintaining relatively simple device structure by using basic sensing and control components.
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 vibration noise by actively adjusting the liquid distribution to counteract unbalanced laundry, providing a stable and quiet operation.
Implementation Method 1
the liquid supplied to the balancer moves, under the action of gravity, from the uppermost point of a rotation trace of the drum to the lowermost point of the rotation trace of the drum
Implementation Method 2
Rotation of the unbalanced drum causes vibration, and in turn noise is generated as vibration of the drum is transmitted to a tub or a cabinet
Data Source
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AI summary
A laundry treatment apparatus (100) including a rotatable drum (3) in which laundry is stored, at least three balancers (55) mounted to the drum (3) so as to be spaced apart from one another by the same angle around a rotation center of the drum (3). Liquid is introduced into and discharged from the balancers (55) via a feeder (57) supplying the liquid and a flow path structure mounted to the drum (3) to guide liquid supplied from the feeder (57) to the balancer (55) located in a direction for removal of unbalance of the drum (3).