EP2507425B1

EP2507425B1 - Laundry processing drum and laundry processing apparatus using the same

Info

Publication number: EP2507425B1
Application number: EP20100795963
Authority: EP
Inventors: Huijun Tang; Weinan Ge; Jianning Liu
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2009-12-03
Filing date: 2010-12-01
Publication date: 2015-04-22
Anticipated expiration: 2030-12-01
Also published as: EA201270644A1; WO2011067287A1; CN102884239A; EP2507425A1; PL2507425T3; EA021319B1; CN201538898U

Description

The present invention relates to a laundry processing drum for a laundry processing apparatus, the laundry processing drum comprising: a main body, having a drum wall that basically shapes like a cylinder, a front cover and a rear cover, respectively disposed on opposite axial ends of the drum wall, and defining an accommodating cavity together with the drum wall, so as to accommodate laundry to be processed; wherein the main body comprises at least one lifting rib integrally formed on the drum wall and protruding into the accommodating cavity, so as to lift the laundry during rotation of the laundry processing drum.
Such laundry processing drum is disclosed in WO 2001/061098 A2 .
The present invention further relates to a laundry processing apparatus using the above laundry processing drum.
Such laundry processing apparatus is also disclosed in WO 2001/061098 A2 .
An existing laundry processing apparatus, for example, a drum washing machine, usually includes a casing, an tub installed in the casing, and a laundry processing drum driven by a motor and rotatably disposed in the tub. As shown in FIG. 3, a laundry processing drum 95 approximately shapes like a drum, and three lifting ribs 96 protruding inward are integrally formed on a drum wall thereof. In this way, when the washing machine operates, the laundry processing drum 95 is rotatably driven by the motor, the lifting ribs 96 lift the laundry in the drum 95 to a high position, and then, the laundry falls freely, so as to achieve the function of cleaning the laundry. However, during the spin, the laundry processing drum 95 needs to rotate at a very high speed. In this process, the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the laundry in the drum 95 mainly concentrates on the lifting ribs 96, so that the root of the junction of the lifting ribs 96 and the drum wall 95 possibly wrinkles and even cracks after a long period of time, thereby shortening the service life of the apparatus.
In view of this, it is necessary to improve the existing laundry processing drum, so as to solve the above problem.
The present invention is directed to a laundry processing drum, in which a strengthening structure is disposed near a lifting rib, so as to improve the strength of the laundry processing drum and prolong the service life of the laundry processing drum.
The present invention is further directed to a laundry processing apparatus using the above laundry processing drum, in which the laundry processing drum employs a strengthening structure to improve the strength, thereby prolonging the service life of the laundry processing apparatus as a whole.
To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a laundry processing drum for a laundry processing apparatus and a laundry processing apparatus as specified in the respective independent claim as appended. Preferred embodiments of the invention are specified in dependent claims as appended as well as in the subsequent description, wherein each preferred embodiment of the drum corresponds to a preferred embodiment of the laundry processing apparatus and vice versa, even if not indicated expressly herein.
According to the invention, the laundry processing drum for a laundry processing apparatus comprises:

a main body, having a drum wall that basically shapes like a cylinder,
a front cover and a rear cover, respectively disposed on opposite axial ends of the drum wall, and defining an accommodating cavity together with the drum wall, so as to accommodate laundry to be processed; wherein
the main body comprises at least one lifting rib integrally formed on the drum wall and protruding into the accommodating cavity, so as to lift the laundry during rotation of the laundry processing drum, and at least one strengthening rib disposed on the drum wall close to the lifting rib.

As a further improvement of the present invention, the strengthening rib basically extends axially towards the opposite axial ends of the drum wall.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the strengthening rib has a pair of opposite axial ends, and a distance between each of the axial ends of the strengthening rib and the corresponding axial end of the drum wall exceeds 3 mm.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the strengthening rib protrudes into the accommodating cavity.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the main body includes three lifting ribs that are uniformly distributed on the drum wall and extend axially, and a pair of strengthening ribs disposed on the drum wall close to opposite sides of each of the lifting ribs in a circumferential direction.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the strengthening rib is integrally formed on the drum wall.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the main body includes a plurality of through holes formed in the drum wall.
To achieve the above objectives, the present invention also provides a laundry processing apparatus, which includes a housing, a laundry processing drum installed in the housing to accommodate laundry to be processed, and a motor installed in the housing to rotatably drive the laundry processing drum. The laundry processing drum includes a main body and a front cover and a rear cover. The main body has a drum wall that basically shapes like a drum. The front cover and the rear cover are respectively disposed on opposite axial ends of the drum wall, and define an accommodating cavity together with the drum wall, so as to accommodate the laundry. The main body includes at least one lifting rib integrally formed on the drum wall and protruding into the accommodating cavity, so as to lift the laundry during rotation of the laundry processing drum, and at least one strengthening rib disposed on the drum wall close to the lifting rib.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the strengthening rib has a pair of opposite axial ends, and a distance between each of the axial ends of the strengthening rib and the corresponding axial end of the drum wall exceeds 3 mm.
As a further improvement of the present invention, the strengthening rib protrudes into the accommodating cavity.
Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects. Since the strengthening rib is disposed beside the lifting rib formed integrally with the drum wall, the stress concentration area is reinforced, thereby improving the strength of the laundry processing drum as a whole and prolonging the service life of the laundry processing apparatus. In addition, since the strengthening rib protrudes towards the inside of the accommodating cavity, on one hand, the friction with the tub is avoided, and on the other hand, the friction with the laundry is increased, thereby improving the cleaning rate of the laundry.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the appended drawing. In the drawing:

FIG. 1: is a schematic plan view of a specific embodiment of a laundry processing apparatus;
FIG. 2: is a schematic three-dimensional view of a specific embodiment of a laundry processing drum; and
FIG. 3: is a schematic three-dimensional view of a laundry processing drum in the prior art.

A laundry processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is a washing and drying machine 100 integrating a washing function and a drying function. Of course, persons of ordinary skill in the art can easily think of that the laundry processing apparatus may also be a drying machine having only the drying function or a washing machine having only the washing function. Therefore, the washing and drying machine is taken as an example below to illustrate the specific implementation; however, the implementation is not limited by such apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 1, a washing and drying machine 100 includes a housing 10, a tub 20 disposed in the housing 10, a laundry processing drum 30 rotatably disposed in the tub 20, a motor 40 for driving the laundry processing drum 30 to rotate, a drainage system 50, 51 connected with the laundry processing drum 30, and an airflow passage 60 in communication with the laundry processing drum 30. A pivotally openable and closable door 11 is disposed at a front part of the housing 10, for loading laundry to be washed or dried into the laundry processing drum 30. The tub is usually supported by a buffer device (not shown) in the housing 10. A rotating shaft (not shown) extends from a rear wall of the laundry processing drum 30, and a belt 41 connects the rotating shaft with a motor shaft (not shown) of the motor 40, so that the motor 40 can drive the laundry processing drum 30 to rotate. The drainage system 50, 51 includes a drainage pump 50 and a drainage pipe 51, so that laundry water can be drained out of the tub 20 through the operation of the drainage pump 50.
In this embodiment, the airflow passage 60 is in communication with the laundry processing drum 30, so as to establish an airflow path. A fan 80 is disposed in the airflow passage 60, and the fan 80 can generate a blowing and suction force to drive an airflow to flow along the airflow path, as shown by the arrows in the Figure. The airflow passage 60 includes a condensing duct 61 and a heating duct 62. A heating device 70 is disposed in the heating duct 62 to heat the airflow passing through the heating duct 62 and ready to enter the laundry processing drum 30. In this embodiment, an air condenser 90 is disposed in the condensing duct 61, and includes a plurality of first passages (not shown, perpendicular to the figure) and second passages (not shown, parallel to the airflow path) which are disposed in an intersecting manner but not in communication. The first passages allow external air to pass there-through, and the second passages allow wet air drained from the laundry processing drum 30 to pass there-through. Through this structure, moisture in the wet air with a high temperature can be condensed into water, thus achieving a good condensation effect. Persons of ordinary skill in the art can easily think of that the condensing device may also be a sprayer disposed in a condensing area or a liquid condensing device capable of performing heat exchange with the condensing area.
Referring to FIG. 2, the laundry processing drum 30 includes a main body 31 having a drum wall 31 that approximately shapes like a cylinder, and a front cover 32 and a rear cover 33 fastened on opposite axial ends of the main body 31. The main body 31, the front cover 32, and the rear cover 33 together define an accommodating cavity 34, so as to accommodate laundry to be washed or dried. The drum wall of the main body 31 is formed by curling a metal plate, and a plurality of though holes (not shown) is disposed in the drum wall 31, so as to drain water or air. A plurality of lifting ribs 311 that is uniformly distributed circumferentially and protrudes into the accommodating cavity 34 is integrally formed on the drum wall 31 of the laundry processing drum 30, for lifting the laundry to a high position during the rotation of the laundry processing drum 30, which then falls to the bottom inside the laundry processing drum 30. In this embodiment, the number of the lifting ribs 311 is three. A strengthening rib 312 is disposed on the drum wall 31 close to a side of each of the lifting ribs 311 in a circumferential direction. In this embodiment, the number of the strengthening ribs 312 is six, and the strengthening ribs 312 are respectively disposed on opposite sides close to each of the lifting ribs 311 in the circumferential direction. As a preferred embodiment, the strengthening ribs 312 are preferably integrally formed on the drum wall 31 and protrude into the accommodating cavity 34, so as to avoid friction with the tub 20 and at the same time increase the friction with the laundry to improve the cleaning rate of the laundry. In addition, the strengthening ribs 312 may basically extend axially towards the opposite axial ends of the drum wall 31, and for ease of manufacturing and assembly, a distance between the axial ends 3121 and 3122 of the strengthening ribs 312 and the corresponding axial ends of the drum wall 31 is preferably greater than 3 mm, usually about 5 mm.
Since the strengthening rib 312 is disposed beside the lifting rib 311 formed integrally with the drum wall 31, the stress concentration area is reinforced, thereby improving the strength of the laundry processing drum 30 as a whole and prolonging the service life of the laundry processing apparatus. In addition, since the strengthening rib 312 protrudes towards the inside of the accommodating cavity 34, on one hand, the friction with the tub 20 is avoided, and on the other hand, the friction with the laundry is increased, thereby improving the cleaning rate of the laundry.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

100: Laundry processing apparatus
10: Housing
11: Door
20: Tub
30: Laundry processing drum
31: Main body
311: Lifting rib
312: Strengthening rib
3121: Axial end
3122: Axial end
32: Front cover
33: Rear cover
34: Accommodating cavity
40: Motor
41: Belt
50: Drainage system, drainage pump
51: Drainage system, drainage pipe
60: Airflow passage
61: Condensing duct
62: Heating duct
70: Heating device
80: Fan
90: Air condenser
95: Laundry processing drum
96: Lifting rib

Claims

A laundry processing drum (30) for a laundry processing apparatus (100), the laundry processing drum (30) comprising:
a main body (31), having a drum wall that basically shapes like a cylinder,

a front cover (32) and a rear cover (33), respectively disposed on opposite axial ends of the drum wall (31), and defining an accommodating cavity (34) together with the drum wall (31), so as to accommodate laundry to be processed; wherein

the main body (31) comprises at least one lifting rib (311) integrally formed on the drum wall (31) and protruding into the accommodating cavity (34), so as to lift the laundry during rotation of the laundry processing drum (30), characterized in that at least one strengthening rib (312) disposed on the drum wall (31) close to the lifting rib (311).
The laundry processing drum (30) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the strengthening rib (312) basically extends axially towards the opposite axial ends of the drum wall (31).
The laundry processing drum (30) according to claim 2, characterized in that, he strengthening rib (312) has a pair of opposite axial ends (3121, 1322), and a distance between each of the axial ends (3121, 3122) of the strengthening rib (312) and the corresponding axial end of the drum wall (31) exceeds 3 mm.
The laundry processing drum (30) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the strengthening rib (312) protrudes into the accommodating cavity (34).
The laundry processing drum (30) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the main body (31) comprises three lifting ribs (311) that are uniformly distributed on the drum wall (31) and extend axially, and a pair of strengthening ribs (312) disposed on the drum wall (31) close to opposite sides of each of the lifting ribs (311) in a circumferential direction.
The laundry processing drum (30) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the strengthening rib (312) is integrally formed on the drum wall (31).
The laundry processing drum (30) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the main body (31) comprises a plurality of through holes in the drum wall (31).
A laundry processing apparatus (100), comprising a housing (10), a laundry processing drum (30) according to claim 1 installed in the housing (10) to accommodate laundry to be processed, and a motor (40) installed in the housing (10) to rotatably drive the laundry processing drum (30).
The laundry processing apparatus (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that, the strengthening rib (312) has a pair of opposite axial ends (3121, 3122), and a distance between each of the axial ends (3121, 3122) of the strengthening rib (312) and the corresponding axial end of the drum wall (31) exceeds 3 mm.
The laundry processing apparatus (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that, the strengthening rib (312) protrudes into the accommodating cavity (34).