EP1094143A1 - Disposif pour équilibrer des objets tournant autour d'un axe - Google Patents

Disposif pour équilibrer des objets tournant autour d'un axe Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1094143A1
EP1094143A1 EP00104591A EP00104591A EP1094143A1 EP 1094143 A1 EP1094143 A1 EP 1094143A1 EP 00104591 A EP00104591 A EP 00104591A EP 00104591 A EP00104591 A EP 00104591A EP 1094143 A1 EP1094143 A1 EP 1094143A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
balancing
liquid
chambers
cylindrical axis
chamber
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP00104591A
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German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Sigvard Hoornaert
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Primus NV
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Primus NV
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Primus NV filed Critical Primus NV
Priority to EP00972848A priority Critical patent/EP1222332B1/fr
Priority to AU11437/01A priority patent/AU1143701A/en
Priority to AT00972848T priority patent/ATE287000T1/de
Priority to DE60017436T priority patent/DE60017436D1/de
Priority to PCT/EP2000/010429 priority patent/WO2001029304A2/fr
Publication of EP1094143A1 publication Critical patent/EP1094143A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F37/00—Details specific to washing machines covered by groups D06F21/00 - D06F25/00
    • D06F37/20—Mountings, e.g. resilient mountings, for the rotary receptacle, motor, tub or casing; Preventing or damping vibrations
    • D06F37/22—Mountings, e.g. resilient mountings, for the rotary receptacle, motor, tub or casing; Preventing or damping vibrations in machines with a receptacle rotating or oscillating about a horizontal axis
    • D06F37/225—Damping vibrations by displacing, supplying or ejecting a material, e.g. liquid, into or from counterbalancing pockets
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
    • D06F33/00—Control of operations performed in washing machines or washer-dryers 
    • D06F33/30—Control of washing machines characterised by the purpose or target of the control 
    • D06F33/48—Preventing or reducing imbalance or noise

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a rotating object and a method of balancing the object, which turns around an axis and which is provided with balancing chambers which can be selectively filled with a balancing liquid supplied by an appropriate number of liquid feed devices, e.g. a liquid flow controlled by solenoid valves.
  • the liquid feed devices are operated when the out-of-balance operation of the rotating object exceeds a certain maximum limit and the balancing is continued until the movement is again under this pre-set limit.
  • the present invention may relate to a machine containing a drum for extracting liquid out of liquid absorbent goods like a washing or drying machine whose drum rotates about a horizontal or vertical axis and more particularly to the prevention or reduction of vibration due to imbalanced forces caused by an unequal dividing of the absorbent goods about the inner periphery of the drum during the intermediate or final spin stage.
  • US 4,991,247 describes a method of balancing a washing machine whose drum rotates about a horizontal axis. Cavities are provided evenly distributed along the periphery of the drum 5 and these having openings via which liquid can be selectively introduced into a cavity.
  • a sensor is provided for sensing vibrations caused by imbalanced forces resulting from unequally divided linen in the drum. The output signal of the sensor is a measure of the current out-of-balance operation of the drum.
  • the drum is brought to a first rotational speed and the sensor signal is read.
  • a pre-determined amount of liquid is introduced into a randomly selected cavity along the periphery of the drum.
  • the sensor signal is again read and the value is compared with the preceding sensed value.
  • predetermined amount of water is introduced into the selected cavity while if the value is equal to or greater than the preceding one the predetermined amount is introduced into the immediate following cavity along the periphery.
  • This sequence is repeated until the sensor signal is lower than a predetermined, permissible value at which the container is brought to rotate at a second rotational speed, higher than the first one.
  • the sequence described is repeated for different rotational speeds until the desired rotational speed has been reached and the sensor signal is lower than the predetermined value.
  • US 5,280,660 describes a method of balancing a washing machine whose drum rotates about a horizontal axis and is provided with cavities evenly distributed along the periphery thereof and having openings via which liquid can be selectively introduced into a cavity.
  • the magnitude of the out-of-balance is determined by means of an accelerometer mounted on the housing between drum and housing.
  • the location of the out-of-balance is determined by measuring the time that has lapsed between the passage of a target mounted on the rotatable drum and the moment when the accelerometer generates a signal above a certain threshold.
  • the passage of the target is sensed by means of an inductive sensor. By comparing this lapsed time, knowing the speed of the drum, with values stored in a memory element the injector to be activated is determined.
  • the injector stays activated as long as the magnitude of the imbalance exceeds the threshold value.
  • a single stage cavity injection process is implemented. If time t indicates the imbalance is located directly across from a cavity, that cavity is injected with water until the magnitude of the imbalance falls below an acceptable level. If time t indicates the imbalance is not located directly across from a cavity, then two predetermined cavities are injected simultaneously, at the same rate, to effectively move the location of the imbalance directly to be across from another cavity, at which time that new cavity is injected to counterbalance the imbalance.
  • EP 0 856 604 describes a method for balancing the drum of a washing machine equipped with three or more hollow water chambers distributed along the internal periphery of the drum.
  • the imbalance is compensated while the drum accelerates from a low initial speed to a high final maximum spinning speed.
  • Water is injected into a selected water chamber which is situated diametrically opposite the imbalance position.
  • the addition of compensating water is continuous, by means of a pre-determined flow, during continuous and gradual acceleration, while vibrations are measured continuously, and only the rate of acceleration is dependent upon the result of the vibration measurement..
  • smooth rotation is achieved without exceeding an admissible washing machine vibration value by means of drum acceleration at a gradual rate until reaching a maximum speed. It is alleged that the imbalance of the clothes is compensated for in a shorter total process time.
  • the balancing chambers or cavities come into contact with soapy water from the drum which can reach a temperature of 90° C. This can cause the openings of the balancing chambers or the injectors of the injection system to be blocked by chalk residue or other contamination. Regularly cleaning of those elements is required which leads to high maintenance costs and can also lead to higher water consumption because of residue liquids in the balancing chambers caused by above mentioned items.
  • a sealed liquid balancing system This may include a simple sealed balancing ring which contains liquid. Due to out-of-balance motion of an unbalanced drum, the free liquid is thrown in a direction which compensates for the movement. Such a simple system can still have serious out-of-balance vibration. More sophisticated designs as disclosed in US 5,913,951 include a motor and pump mounted on the rotating drum to pump liquid between balancing cavities arranged around the periphery of the drum. This increases the complexity and cost of the design and places larger loads on the drive shaft.
  • the present invention may provide an apparatus including a rotating object and a method for balancing the rotating object.
  • the object may be a hollow drum which turns around a horizontal or vertical axis and which is provided with balancing chambers as may be used, for instance in washing machines.
  • the drum may, in particular rotate about a horizontal axis as is typical for front loading or side loading washing machines.
  • the drum has at least three balancing chambers more towards the front (the side on which items may introduced into the drum) and/or more towards the rear side of the drum.
  • the chambers may be evenly distributed along the inner or outer periphery of the drum.
  • the apparatus in accordance with the present invention may be constructed in such a way that the balancing liquid can be re-used.
  • the drum is provided with a draining chamber whose outer radius is larger then the outer radius of the balancing cavities which makes system with non-return valves redundant.
  • the dehydration chamber may be located next to the balancing chambers at the rear of the apparatus. While the liquid is kept within this draining chamber a completely closed system is provided in an easy way which requires no extensive maintenance. From the draining chamber the spent balancing water may be channelled back for use in the next washing cycle. This reduces the water consumption and accordingly the extra heating energy to almost zero thus providing significant environmental savings.
  • the angular velocity of the container can be increased in pre-defined velocity steps until the desired maximum rotational speed is achieved. On each intermediate step there may be performed a balancing operation if the degree of out-of-balance motion justifies this.
  • This partially closed system meets the demand of water supply approvals organisations without needing to inject water from a separate tank because the injection system is separated from the waste water.
  • the means for detecting the imbalance can be a simple microswitch and there is no requirement for extra synchronisation of the imbalance signal with the rotational speed of the drum. As a consequence this system is cheaper to manufacture than known systems even on small capacity washing machines.
  • the present invention will be described with reference to certain drawings and certain embodiments but the present invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims.
  • the present invention will mainly be described with reference to front-loaded washing machines in which the shaft of the drum is horizontal and cantilevered from a bearing but the present invention is not limited thereto.
  • the present invention may be applied advantageously to top-loading washing machines in which the shaft of the drum is vertical as shown, for example and merely for explanatory purposes, in US 5,269,159 and US 5,829,084 or in International Patent Application WO 97/00349.
  • the methods and apparatus of the present invention may find advantageous use outside washing machines as exemplified by the applications described in US 4,688,355 and US 5,561,993.
  • front, back, top, bottom, upper, lower etc. relate to a front loading washing machine in its usual operational position, i.e. the washing is loaded through a door at the front into a drum which is rotatably mounted in a cantilever fashion at the back of the machine.
  • Machine 1 includes a housing 2 on suspension units, e.g. rubber blocks 3, and mounted in a frame 4 and a rotatable drum 5 within the housing which is cantilevered from a bearing 32.
  • the housing has a front door 38 for loading washing into the drum 5.
  • a motor 17 is provided for driving the drum, e.g. through a belt and pulley system.
  • a water supply 30, a drain valve 34 for waste water and a pump 36 for pumping out the waste water are also provided. It is well known that the damping support for a machine should ideally have a low elastic modulus, i.e. be very "soft", with viscous damping to reduce oscillations.
  • the system should be designed so that 1.414 times the natural resonant frequency of the system should lie well below the operating frequency of the system.
  • This approach has been used extensively for automobile suspensions and requires an expensive, bulky and sophisticated damper arrangement.
  • Such a suspension system is not very suitable for a washing machine which has to work at low frequencies during washing cycles and higher frequencies during drying cycles.
  • the present invention starts from the use of a simple suspension such as provided by rubber blocks, while actively reducing the out-of-balance forces and movements to a minimum or even to a negligible amount. In such a case the rubber blocks do not absorb significant motions or energies but rather are only provided to suppress noise.
  • At least one balancing chamber is provided which may be filled with water to provide the balancing.
  • the water used for balancing may be re-used oin the next cycle.
  • the chamber is segregated from the drum by means of a seal. A sela also prevents dirty water from the drum enetering the balancing chamber.
  • the out-of-balance operation of the drum is preferably corrected by two-plane compensation using at least two balancing chambers one of which is plced closer to the front of the machine 1 than the other.
  • a washing machine 1 to be balanced comprises a housing 2 fixed on suspension units such as rubber blocks 3 or springs which themselves are connected to a frame 4 (frame 4 is not shown in Fig. 2 for clarity purposes).
  • a drum 5 for holding the washing rotates about a horizontal shaft 3a.
  • the drum 5 has a plurality of circumferentially and preferably contiguously distributed and preferably equally spaced balancing chambers 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e, 6f on the front vertical surface of drum 5 and a plurality of circumferentially and preferably contiguously distributed and preferably equally spaced chambers 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e, 7f on the rear vertical surface of the drum 5.
  • Injection pipes 8a, 8b supply water from a water source, e.g. a water main, to the front balancing chambers 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e, 6f via cylindrical space 35 and through connection pipes 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 5f respectively and to rear balancing chambers 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e, 7f via cylindrical space 37.
  • the water supply is regulated by controllable water valves 13a, b which are under the control of a controller 17.
  • the out-of balance sensor 18 may be a microswitch, a strain gauge an accelerometer or similar.
  • microswitches may be activated by the movements of an upper frame 21 which is part of or attached to the housing 2 (see Fig. 3).
  • the outer surface of drum 5 may be used to activate the microswitches 18 but this is less preferred as the movement of drum 5 will cause wear of the microswitch contact surfaces.
  • a dehydration unit 9 which may comprise a plurality of circumferentially and contiguously arranged draining chambers.
  • the dehydration unit 9 is preferably divided into the same number of chambers as the number of balancing chambers, e.g. six chambers 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e, 9f connected with to the front chambers 6a, 6b ,6c ,6d ,6e, respectively through dehydration tubes 10a, 10b; 10c, 10d; 10e, 10f; 10g, 10h; 10i, 10j; 10k, 10l.
  • each front chamber 9 is connected to a pair of dehydration tubes 10. One of the pair can drain water while the other allows entry of air. Otherwise the front chambers 6 are closed so that water ingress and extraction is only by the connections described above.
  • a mechanical seal 12 is preferably provided at the centre of the dehydration unit 9 to prevent soapy water from the drum 5 entering into any of the balancing chambers 7.
  • the balancing chambers 6, 7 are connected with the housing 2 through cylindrical spaces 35, 37 and pipes 14b, 14c which can be isolated from each other by means of a valve 15.
  • a water container 14 may be provided to catch surplus balancing water which is recovered from the draining chamber 9 and/or the rear chambers 7.
  • 14a represents a connection to the open air which is an overflow when container 14 is full.
  • Item 16 is a seal which prevents water entering into the bearings.
  • An AC motor 19 may be controlled by a frequency converter 20 so that the drum 5 can be rotated with speeds between 10 rpm and 1000 rpm or higher.
  • the speed may be gradually increased according to any one of the following non-limiting speed series: Series 1 Series 2 Series 3 n 1 100 rpm 125 rpm 100 rpm n 2 200 rpm 250 rpm 150 rpm n 3 400 rpm 500 rpm 300 rpm n 4 800 rpm 1000 rpm 400 rpm n 5 1000 rpm 550 rpm n 6 1200 rpm 800 rpm n 7 1000 rpm It is clear that any other sequence can be chosen according the construction parameters of the machine.
  • a drum balancing operation may be performed by injecting balancing liquid independently into any one or both sets of balancing chambers 6 and/or 7 if drum 5 is out-of-balance, e.g. because the washing inside the drum 5 is located all at one spot the drum has an out-of-balance motion to be corrected.
  • a microswitch 18 is activated when the movement of the flexible frame 21 which is mounted on the housing 2 exceeds a certain limit caused by the out-of-balance operation of the drum 5.
  • out-of-balance movements of forces on the housing 2 can be detected in different ways such as with a magnetic switch, an inductive sensor or strain-gauge or a piezo-electrical element or any other suitable proximity or force sensor.
  • housing 2 or frame 21 is not necessary for balancing in accordance with the present invention.
  • rigidly journalled drums 5 there may be little movement but significant forces which may be detected by strain gauges placed in appropriate positions, e.g. on the bearings within casing 2A.
  • a checking cycle or parameter cycle is performed in which a time T1 which elapses between when a signal of the microswitch 18 becomes high and low is measured as well as a time T2 between when the signal of a microswitch 18 becomes low and then high again.
  • T1 + T2 is a measure of the period time or cycle time T of one rotation of the drum 5.
  • balancing cycles are performed, which are based on the moment at which a microswitch 18 switches from on position to off position. Ideally, water is injected into the balancing chambers 6, 7 either side of the middle point of time period T1 into those chambers 6, 7 which lie opposite the out-of-balance load in the drum 5.
  • balancing chambers 6, 7 are filled which are opposite the out-of-balance load in drum 5. It is preferred in accordance with the present invention if water is injected into a sufficient number of contiguous balancing chambers 6,7 which together make up a certain angle ⁇ of the circumference of drum 5. Preferably, this angle is about 120°, e.g. 120° ⁇ 30°, or more preferably 120° ⁇ 15°. This may be achieved by 6 equally spaced balancing chambers 6, 7 which each have an included angle of 60°. Water should be injected in such a way that 2 chambers are filled with balancing water thus making up 120° of the circumference of the drum 5.
  • the water injection must only be continued for a time equal to or less than T/3. Therefore, the water injection time T/3 must be located within the time T1 if this time T1 is greater than T/3 - see Fig. 7. In this case the water injection is started at a time T6 after the microswitch 18 activates. However, if time T1 is less than T/3 then water may be injected for the time T1 or the time T/3 whichever is preferred. As a small time T1 indicates a position close to balance it is preferred if the water injection is only over time T1 if T1 is less than T/3 as usually in this condition less water is necessary to achieve balancing.
  • phase correction is preferably applied for determining when water should be introduced into the balancing chambers 6, 7.
  • This correction coefficient is an experimentally determined value which takes into account the phase angle deviation between the movement of the drum 5 and the out-of-balance load in the drum 5.
  • the phase correction changes as the operation becomes closer to or further away from the natural resonant frequency of the rotating system and it is within the scope of the present invention that the water injection control includes corrections which take into account the frequency of rotation of drum 5.
  • this phase correction is often roughly constant over the frequency range 100 to 1000 rpm so that a fixed correction may be applied to obtain sufficient accuracy.
  • microswitch 18-1 at the front of the washing machine 1 is used to control the injection of balancing liquid into the balancing chambers 6 at the front of the machine 1 and the output of the other microswitch 18-2 is used to control the water injected into the rear balancing chambers 7. Both these control procedure are carried out independently of each other so that complex gyratory motions of the drum 5 may be balanced automatically.
  • the advantage of balancing in two planes is that the centre of gravity point of the respective balancing liquid in the front or rear chambers 6, 7 can be exactly in line with the one of the imbalance forces generated by unequal loads of washing in drum 5. This leads to reduced shear forces on the main shaft carrying drum 5.
  • the effect of the balancing step will be to reduce movement of drum 5 and at some time both microswitches 18 are no longer activated in any rotation cycle, or, alternatively T1 becomes less than a certain value in relation to the speed of the drum 5.
  • T1 becomes less than a certain value in relation to the speed of the drum 5.
  • the current balancing step is completed and the drum 5 is accelerated until the next pre-determined speed is reached at which there is performed a further balancing operation. If T1 already exceeds a certain maximum value during the acceleration phase then the acceleration can be stopped early and a balancing operation can be performed at a speed between two pre-determined values.
  • the balancing operations are repeated until the final spinning speed is reached.
  • the washing machine 1 is held at maximum speed until enough water has been extracted from the washing load in accordance with the machine design specification.
  • the drain valve 34 of the washing machine 1 is closed and the water valve 15 opened. All water that is in the balancing chambers 6, 7 and is submitted to a centrifugal force of less then 1 G will be drained into the bottom of housing 2. This draining occurs as the drum 5 turns slowly and is without pumping, i.e. the drainage is gravimetric. This clean water is used in the next cycle for washing purposes. Thus, no clean water is lost in accordance with the present invention.
  • the balancing liquid in the front balancing chambers 6 is drained in the following way.
  • a front balancing chamber 6 In the upper position of a front balancing chamber 6 the water is drained through the pipes 5 and 14 to the housing 2. In this case the tubes 10 act as an air inlet.
  • the balancing chamber 6 When the balancing chamber 6 is in the lower position the water is drained from the front balancing chambers 6 into the specially constructed drain chamber 15 through pipes 10.
  • the pipes 5 act as an air inlet.
  • the water is taken up to higher position through the shutters 33 in the draining chamber (see Fig. 6) so that the balancing liquid is drained to the central cylindrical space 39 and from there into the housing 2 through the pipe 14.
  • a water level sensor 31 is provided to detect when a certain pre-determined level of water is in the housing 2 and when this level is reached, the water valve 15 is closed and the rest of the balancing liquid is caught in the container 14. Balancing water from the rear chamber 7 drains down through pipe 14b into housing 2. Any excess water drained after the water level indicator has been activated is drained into container 14. Water in container 14 is released later into the housing 2 at the moment when the washing machine 1 requires water for pre-, main-wash or rinsing operations by opening valve 15. Not only fresh water is saved but also energy is conserved. When the balancing water is in the balancing chambers 6, 7 is absorbs heat from the drum 5 remaining after the washing cycle. Thus, when this water is re-used in the next cycle less heat energy is required to heat up the water.
  • FIG. 8 to 12 Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figs. 8 to 12 in which three longitudinal discrete balancing chambers 7a, 7b, 7c are provided which are drained by dehydration unit 9.
  • Reference numbers in the drawings which are the same as the numbers in Figs. 1 to 6 refer to the same items.
  • the chambers are located in a longitudinal direction on the outer rim of drum 5. All other aspects of collecting and re-using water are as described above. As only one set of chambers 7 is provided, only one out-of-balance sensor 18 is required.
  • Dehydration unit 9 may be provided by narrow channels 9a, 9b, 9c as shown in Fig. 11.
  • the number of discrete chambers 7 may be increased to 6 or 12 for instance.
  • FIG. 13 to 16 Reference numbers in the drawings which are the same as the numbers in Figs. 1 to 6 refer to the same items.
  • two sets of discrete balancing chambers 6, 7, one at the front (6) and one at the back (7), are provided on the rim of drum 5.
  • Each set of chambers 6, 7 has its own draining chamber 9, 11 respectively for draining balancing water from the front chambers 6 and rear chambers 7 respectively.
  • Each dehydration unit is similar to the dehydration unit of the first embodiment. All other aspects of water and energy conservation are maintained.
  • FIG. 17 Yet another embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 17 and 18.
  • Reference numbers in the drawings which are the same as the numbers in Figs. 1 to 6 refer to the same items.
  • one set of discrete balancing chambers 6a to f at the front are provided on the rim of drum 5.
  • a further set of balancing chambers 7a to f may be provided at the back but these will not be described.
  • Each balancing chamber 6a to f has its own draining chamber 9a to f, respectively, of a dehydration unit for draining balancing water from the front chambers 6.
  • Each dehydration unit is similar to the dehydration unit of the first embodiment. All other aspects of water and energy conservation are maintained.
  • connection pipes 5a to f for supplying balancing liquid to the front chanbers 6a to f are combined with the return pipes 10 a to 1 so that supply of liquid to front chambers 6 as well as draining of liquid to the dehydration unit 9 is done through pipes 10 a to l.
  • Liquid is supplied to these tubes 10 from liquid supply tube 8 via the draining chambers 9a to f.
  • Rear balancing chambers 7a to f if present, are filled directly from tube 8.
  • all the front chambers 6 a to f are linked by a tube system, e.g. by a connecting pipe 40, which is located at an inner radial position with respect to the chambers 6a to f.
  • the liquid level in the chambers 6a to f and 9a to f will be the same as these chambers are linked by the pipes 10 to f.
  • the drum rotation reduces until the force on the liquid in the chambers 6, 9 is below 1G.
  • the liquid in chambers 9 which are at the top flows down towards the central axis of drum 5 and exits through chamber 14 which is shown here as surrounding horizontal shaft 3a.
  • Chamber 14 holds sufficient balancing liquid for this quantity to be a useful addition to the washing water in the next cycle.
  • the liquid flows down through pipe 40 to the lower ones of chambers 6 at that moment. From here the liquid returns along pipes 10 to the draining chambers 9. When these chambers 9 reach the top again, this liquid drains to the centre and from there to chamber 14. The liquid may be released from chamber 14 by valve 15.
  • a balancing method of an object such as a container or hollow drum is described which turns around a horizontal or vertical axis and which is provided with balancing chambers.
  • These chambers may be combined in various ways, e.g. at least three chambers evenly distributed in the inner or outer periphery of the drum or with at least 6 chambers (preferably, is 12 chambers) in the front and/or rear side of the drum.
  • the chambers on the outer or inner periphery of the drum may be further divided into two a front and rear set.
  • Each of the distributed chambers is connected with a cylindrical shaped volume 35, 37 so that balancing liquid can be supplied continuously.
  • the water may be supplied from one cylindrical shaped volume having tubes likes spokes of a wheel leading to the chambers. In this case it is sufficient to have only one water valve for each balancing plane.
  • Filling of the axial chambers is done continuously by means of connecting each separate chamber to a respective cylindrical shaped volume 35., 37 or discontinuously by means of connecting each chamber in a direct or indirect way to the respective part of a cylindrical shaped volume 35, 37 divided in an equal number of chambers like the number of balancing chambers in the front respective the rear side of the drum.
  • a flexibly mounted rotating machine whose out-of-balance movement is detected by means of a suitable sensor, such as a microswitch, a strain gauge, the plunger of the water valve, inductive-, optical sensor or any other means that can directly or indirectly can detect a movement.
  • a suitable sensor such as a microswitch, a strain gauge, the plunger of the water valve, inductive-, optical sensor or any other means that can directly or indirectly can detect a movement.
  • a suitable sensor such as a microswitch, a strain gauge, the plunger of the water valve, inductive-, optical sensor or any other means that can directly or indirectly can detect a movement.
  • a suitable sensor such as a microswitch, a strain gauge, the plunger of the water valve, inductive-, optical sensor or any other means that can directly or indirectly can detect a movement.
  • the microswitch is mounted so that the direction of its movement is perpendicular to the movement that is caused by the imbalance
  • the machine may also be
  • the balancing chambers is sealed from the housing by means of a mechanical seal.
  • An injection collector volume is provided with a small diameter which is connected through pipes with the balancing chambers.
  • a means is provided for quick draining of the balancing chambers.
  • Two or more tubes connect each front chamber for draining towards the back. One tube is situated on the maximum radius of the chamber. The other tube is situated on the smallest radius of the chamber. Those tubes are situated in the spare space formed between the outer periphery of the drum and the rib of the washing drum.
  • the tubes on the outer periphery are all connected with a cylindrical chamber at the rear side of the drum also divided in an equal number of chambers as there are at the front side of the drum.
  • the outer radius of this cylindrical chamber is bigger then the radius of the front balancing chambers and the width of it as small as possible. In this way a quick draining of the front chambers is achieved.
  • Acceleration may be provided by predetermined steps of increasing speed. Each increment of speed is followed by a balancing operation until the measured time of microswitch operation, T1, falls under a certain limit according the speed of the drum.
  • a balancing cycle may consist out of determining the respective microswitch operating times T1 Front and T1 Rear during which the microswitch in the front respectively in the rear, is activated and time T2 Front and T2 Rear during which the microswitches, in the front, respectively in the rear, are not activated.
  • T4 Rear or T4 Front may be determined independently which is the delay time before activating the injection water valve after detecting the rising edge of the microswitch.
  • the water valve is generally activated for a period T/3.
  • a balancing system is provided for a washing machine which is sealed from the housing of the washing machine so that there are no problems to comply with water approval authority regulations and with which no problems are to be expected due to contamination in the balancing chambers.
  • the housing drain valve is closed before decelerating the drum.
  • the water valve 15 is opened during deceleration so that the balancing water drains to the housing.
  • Water valve 15 is closed if a water level sensor senses that the water has reached almost the outer diameter of the drum so that the rest of the balancing water is collected in a container 14. The moment that there is a request for water for washing or rinsing the valve 15 is opened until water is drained out of the container 14 towards the drum 5 and then closed again.
  • the bottom of the container 15 is higher then the highest water level to be expected in the housing 2 when receiving the maximum to be expected balancing liquid.
  • the volume of the container 14 is preferably equal to the maximum to be expected imbalance liquid minus the volume of water that can be contained in the housing before the water touches the drum.
  • the dehydration unit may divided in an equal number of chambers as there are balancing chambers in the respective balancing plane.
  • This draining chambers have a radius bigger then the one of the balancing chamber and are connected to each other with at least one pipe at the maximum radius of the balancing chamber. This assures a complete dehydration of the balancing chambers and makes it also possible by this to make a closed system without any mechanical or electrical dehydration valves.
  • the controller 17 may be a microcontroller or a programmable microcontroller and may include some local intelligence, e.g. a microprocessor for controlling the operation of the water valves and/or the motor 19.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Control Of Washing Machine And Dryer (AREA)
  • Testing Of Balance (AREA)
  • Centrifugal Separators (AREA)
  • Constituent Portions Of Griding Lathes, Driving, Sensing And Control (AREA)
  • Rolls And Other Rotary Bodies (AREA)
EP00104591A 1999-10-21 2000-03-15 Disposif pour équilibrer des objets tournant autour d'un axe Withdrawn EP1094143A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP00972848A EP1222332B1 (fr) 1999-10-21 2000-10-20 Systemes et procedes permettant d'equilibrer un objet en rotation autour d'un axe
AU11437/01A AU1143701A (en) 1999-10-21 2000-10-20 Systems and methods for balancing an object rotating about an axis
AT00972848T ATE287000T1 (de) 1999-10-21 2000-10-20 Systeme und verfahren zum auswuchten eines sich um eine achse drehenden teils
DE60017436T DE60017436D1 (de) 1999-10-21 2000-10-20 Systeme und verfahren zum auswuchten eines sich um eine achse drehenden teils
PCT/EP2000/010429 WO2001029304A2 (fr) 1999-10-21 2000-10-20 Systemes et procedes permettant d'equilibrer un objet en rotation autour d'un axe

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9924832 1999-10-21
GBGB9924832.0A GB9924832D0 (en) 1999-10-21 1999-10-21 Method of balancing an object which rotates about an axis

Publications (1)

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EP1094143A1 true EP1094143A1 (fr) 2001-04-25

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Family Applications (2)

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EP00104591A Withdrawn EP1094143A1 (fr) 1999-10-21 2000-03-15 Disposif pour équilibrer des objets tournant autour d'un axe
EP00972848A Expired - Lifetime EP1222332B1 (fr) 1999-10-21 2000-10-20 Systemes et procedes permettant d'equilibrer un objet en rotation autour d'un axe

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP00972848A Expired - Lifetime EP1222332B1 (fr) 1999-10-21 2000-10-20 Systemes et procedes permettant d'equilibrer un objet en rotation autour d'un axe

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EP (2) EP1094143A1 (fr)
AT (1) ATE287000T1 (fr)
AU (1) AU1143701A (fr)
GB (1) GB9924832D0 (fr)
WO (1) WO2001029304A2 (fr)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2009083352A1 (fr) * 2007-12-28 2009-07-09 Arcelik Anonim Sirketi Machine à laver ayant des réservoirs intégrés dans les nervures à des fins d'équilibrage et de projection de jets d'eau de lavage
WO2011066912A1 (fr) * 2009-12-01 2011-06-09 Miele & Cie. Kg Lave-linge doté d'un réservoir de lessive et d'un dispositif d'équilibrage
EP2385164A4 (fr) * 2009-03-09 2015-05-13 Panasonic Corp Lave-linge

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2008125498A1 (fr) * 2007-04-16 2008-10-23 Arcelik Anonim Sirketi Machine à laver séchante
CN102560962A (zh) * 2010-12-24 2012-07-11 博西华电器（江苏）有限公司 洗衣机的滚筒组件以及设有该滚筒组件的洗衣机
KR102032845B1 (ko) * 2013-02-13 2019-10-16 엘지전자 주식회사 의류처리장치
EP3947803A1 (fr) * 2019-03-27 2022-02-09 Vestel Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. Système d'équilibrage pour machine à laver

Citations (5)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR986259A (fr) * 1948-05-26 1951-07-30 Perfectionnements aux machines à laver et à nettoyer
US2791917A (en) * 1953-09-30 1957-05-14 Frank J Kahn Automatic balancing of rotatable hollow cylinders
WO1989012132A1 (fr) * 1988-05-30 1989-12-14 Aktiebolaget Electrolux Procede d'equilibrage d'une enceinte tournant autour d'un axe essentiellement horizontal
US5280660A (en) * 1992-10-05 1994-01-25 Pellerin Milnor Corporation Centrifugal extracting machine having balancing system
EP0856604A2 (fr) * 1997-01-31 1998-08-05 FAGOR, S.Coop Méthode pour l'equilibrage d'une machine a laver

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5913951A (en) * 1997-12-17 1999-06-22 Maytag Corporation Radially oriented motor for a fluid balance ring

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR986259A (fr) * 1948-05-26 1951-07-30 Perfectionnements aux machines à laver et à nettoyer
US2791917A (en) * 1953-09-30 1957-05-14 Frank J Kahn Automatic balancing of rotatable hollow cylinders
WO1989012132A1 (fr) * 1988-05-30 1989-12-14 Aktiebolaget Electrolux Procede d'equilibrage d'une enceinte tournant autour d'un axe essentiellement horizontal
US5280660A (en) * 1992-10-05 1994-01-25 Pellerin Milnor Corporation Centrifugal extracting machine having balancing system
EP0856604A2 (fr) * 1997-01-31 1998-08-05 FAGOR, S.Coop Méthode pour l'equilibrage d'une machine a laver

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2009083352A1 (fr) * 2007-12-28 2009-07-09 Arcelik Anonim Sirketi Machine à laver ayant des réservoirs intégrés dans les nervures à des fins d'équilibrage et de projection de jets d'eau de lavage
CN101910500B (zh) * 2007-12-28 2012-03-28 阿塞里克股份有限公司 具有在凸缘内的用于平衡和洗涤喷淋的贮水器的洗衣机
US8991219B2 (en) 2007-12-28 2015-03-31 Levent Hasanreisoglu Washing machine with reservoirs in the ribs for balancing and wash sprays
EP2385164A4 (fr) * 2009-03-09 2015-05-13 Panasonic Corp Lave-linge
WO2011066912A1 (fr) * 2009-12-01 2011-06-09 Miele & Cie. Kg Lave-linge doté d'un réservoir de lessive et d'un dispositif d'équilibrage

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9924832D0 (en) 1999-12-22
EP1222332B1 (fr) 2005-01-12
WO2001029304A3 (fr) 2001-09-13
ATE287000T1 (de) 2005-01-15
EP1222332A2 (fr) 2002-07-17
WO2001029304A9 (fr) 2002-09-12
WO2001029304A2 (fr) 2001-04-26
AU1143701A (en) 2001-04-30

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