EP3517678A1 - Bearing device for a tub in a laundry processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A laundry treatment device, in particular a washing machine, comprises a housing (1), a tub (2) arranged in the housing (1) with a drum (3) and a storage device for storing the tub (2) inside the housing (1). The storage device comprises bearing connections (5, 6, 8, 9) with a spring element (53) which can be moved by means of an actuator (52, 82) in such a way that this movement causes the tub (2) to be vertical relative to the loading opening (4) is movable.

Description

Field of the invention

The invention relates to a laundry treatment device, in particular a washing machine or a washer-dryer, comprising a tub disposed in a housing, a drum arranged in the tub for receiving laundry to be vibrated, and a storage device for storing the tub within the housing. The bearing device comprises at least one bearing connection with a spring element. Furthermore, the laundry treatment device comprises a controller and a charging opening, through which the laundry can be stored in the drum.

background

Washing machines or washer-dryers comprise a spin cycle in which the wet laundry is removed by centrifuging the water. If the laundry is not evenly distributed inside the drum, then an imbalance forms. The drum does not turn evenly. The drum, the tub and the whole case of the device begin to vibrate.

Strong vibrations are particularly undesirable when the devices are installed in kitchens in which relatively little space is available. If the vibrations can be reduced, the distance between the device housing and the adjacent wall can be kept smaller so that more space is available for the device itself.

So that the tub transmits the smallest possible vibrations to the housing, the spring stiffness of the storage of the tub should be set correspondingly small. However, this leads to the fact that the tub drops sharply when loading the drum with laundry or when filling with water in the tub.

Presentation of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a laundry treatment apparatus in which the vibrations are reduced during the spin operation.

• ein Gehäuse,
• einen Laugenbehälter und eine im Laugenbehälter angeordneten Trommel zur Aufnahme von zu schleudernder Wäsche,
• mindestens eine Lagervorrichtung, zum Lagern des Laugenbehälters innerhalb des Gehäuses, aufweisend mindestens eine Lagerverbindung mit einem Federelement,
• eine Steuerung,
• eine Beschickungsöffnung, durch welche hindurch die Wäsche in die Trommel einlagerbar ist,

dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass mittels einem Aktuator eine Bewegung der mindestens einen Lagerverbindung bewirkbar ist, derart, dass durch diese Bewegung der Laugenbehälter relativ zur Beschickungsöffnung vertikal bewegbar ist.Accordingly, the laundry treatment device, in particular the washing machine or the washer-dryer,

• a housing,
• a lye container and a drum arranged in the tub for receiving laundry to be hurled,
• at least one bearing device, for supporting the tub within the housing, comprising at least one bearing connection with a spring element,
• a controller,
• a feed opening through which the laundry can be stored in the drum,

characterized in that by means of an actuator movement of the at least one bearing connection is effected, such that is vertically movable by this movement of the tub relative to the charging opening.

The storage device is a device for storing the tub within the housing. The tub can be stored for example by means of a suspension, by means of supports from below or by means of a combination of suspension and supports in the housing. The storage takes place in particular in an elastic manner and has a damping.

Furthermore, the storage device comprises at least one bearing connection. The bearing connection is a mechanical connection that transfers the force from the tub to the housing.

The bearing connection is, for example, a damping element, which is arranged at the bottom of the housing and attaches to the underside of the tub. Also, it may be a suspension with which the tub - directly or via a deflection - from above, for example, suspended on the ceiling of the housing. A tub can be stored in the housing in particular by means of at least two, at least three, or at least five bearing connections.

The actuator acts on at least one bearing connection, in such a way that it can move the tub vertically, ie in the direction of gravity. The vertical movement does not necessarily have to be vertical. But it has at least one vertical component. The movement of the tub may, for example, also have a horizontal component in addition to a vertical component. In particular, though Also an embodiment conceivable in which the tub from the actuator is exclusively vertically movable.

For example, if laundry is introduced into the drum or water in the tub, the drum is lowered, especially in a soft suspension, i. a spring with low spring stiffness, with the tub down due to the weight down and is no longer in concentricity with the feed opening.

To undo or counteract this undesirable shift, the spring element of the bearing connection can be clamped with the device according to the invention, for example even before the start of the washing process or, in particular immediately after, the water is admitted into the tub by means of the actuator, so that the Lye container or the drum vertically against the gravitational direction moves back into concentricity to the feed opening.

In at least one advantageous embodiment, the spring rigidity and thus also the storage behavior do not change as a result.

The tub is centered clean again after the actuator caused movement of the bearing connection within the housing.

In particular, the bearing connection by means of the actuator is continuously or in discrete stages movable.

Advantageously, the laundry treatment device has a measuring device, in particular an optical sensor or a plunger coil, wherein the measuring device is configured to determine a position of the tub and / or the drum (in particular the vertical position) within the housing, and / or to determine a load-dependent weight of the tub. In particular, the controller can the Control actuator depending on the measured value of the measuring device.

This makes it possible for the deviation of the tub and / or the drum from the desired position to be determined or at least estimated. Depending on the measurement signal, the actuator can then be precisely controlled in order to reduce or eliminate the deviation from the desired position.

Advantageously, the controller is configured to reduce a deviation from the concentric bearing of the drum and feed opening by actuating the actuator.

In a particular embodiment, the actuator has an electric cylinder, a spindle, a hydraulic cylinder, a rotary drive for a torsion bar, or a slide control.

The electric cylinder may e.g. electromotive a traction or traction means linear extend and retract and shorten by this linear movement, for example, the bearing connection or extend. The spindle has e.g. a thread which interacts with another component to convert a rotary motion into a translational motion. Thus, the spindle can be driven by an electric motor with a rotating movement.

Advantageously, the at least one bearing connection has an attachment (i.e., a point of attachment) to the housing, the spring element, and an attachment (i.e., attachment point) to the tub. In particular, the actuator forms the attachment to the housing and / or the actuator is arranged between the spring element and the attachment to the housing.

The actuator is thus removed as far as possible from the tub and placed close to the housing. Sufficient distance from the tub there is enough space to arrange the actuator within the housing.

In an advantageous embodiment, the at least one bearing connection has at least one deflection device, in particular a deflection roller, a pivot lever or a torsion bar spring, for deflecting the bearing forces. In particular, the deflection device is arranged or suspended in the upper half, in particular in the upper third, in particular in the upper quarter, of the housing or on the housing cover.

The diverter allows the actuator to be located anywhere within the housing. It is therefore not necessary to arrange the actuator on a direct path between the attachment to the tub and the attachment to the housing.

While the bearing connection between the attachment to the tub and the deflection moves according to the movements, in particular the wobbling movements of the tub in different directions, the bearing connection between the deflector and the attachment to the housing is limited to a linear movement, because both the deflection and the attachment to the housing are arranged at fixed positions. Thus, for example, an actuator or a measuring device, which are arranged between the deflection device and attachment to the housing, relatively little mechanically loaded.

In particular, the measuring device along the bearing connection between the deflection device and the attachment to the housing or between the deflection device and the spring element is arranged.

Advantageously, the spring element is arranged along the bearing connection between the deflection device and the attachment to the housing, in particular the spring element is arranged in the lower half of the housing.

In addition, the bearing device can have further non-movable by means of actuator bearing connections. In order to be able to precisely position the tub within the housing, it is not necessary that each bearing connection can be moved by means of an actuator. Thus, the number of required actuators can be kept small and manufacturing costs can be saved.

Advantageously, the at least one bearing connection has a roll-up by means of the actuator strip spring. By rolling up the band spring, the band section between the roller and the connection to the housing is tensioned so that the tub can be lifted to the desired position.

Furthermore, the laundry treatment device may comprise an imbalance compensation device, which in particular has a plurality of water-fillable equalization tanks on the drum. The unbalance compensation device and the movability of the bearing connection together cause a reduction of the transmitted from the tub to the housing vibrations, since only thanks to this combination storage with very low spring stiffness is possible, i. the combination works synergistically.

In particular, the controller is configured such that it adjusts the actuator after filling the drum with laundry and before introducing water into the drum, in particular depending on the amount of water still to be admitted (and adjusts its setting), and / or before , during, and / or at the end of a spin phase (ie adjusts its setting).

In one embodiment, the setting is carried out in particular at a drum rotation of less than 700 revolutions per minute. In another embodiment, the adjustment is carried out in particular at a drum rotation of more than 700 revolutions per minute.

Since the laundry loses a particularly large amount of water at about 700 to 800 revolutions per minute, the control of the device is advantageously designed to readjust the actuator or actuators when starting the centrifuging process in the speed range of 700 to 800 revolutions per minute.

The force acting on the tub weight force can change several times during the laundry treatment process. A change results, for example, when filling the laundry, when letting in and draining off water during washing or even during the spin process, as long as water is drained from the tub during this process. For this reason, it may be useful to activate the actuator at different times during the process, i. change its setting. In particular, it is also possible to actuate the actuator after filling the laundry. The movement of the bearing connection then takes place as a function of the weight caused by the laundry and the amount of water still to be admitted.

Furthermore, the bearing device has at least two, in particular at least three actuatable by actuators bearing connections.

Brief description of the drawings

Further embodiments, advantages and applications of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims and from the following description with reference to the FIG. 1 , which schematically illustrates a washing machine with a storage device according to the invention.

Way to carry out the invention

In the Fig. 1 a washing machine is shown schematically. This comprises a housing 1, one in the housing 1 arranged liquor container 2 and arranged in the tub drum 3. On the front side, a charging opening 4 is provided, through which laundry in the drum 3 can be stored. The charging opening 4 is an opening of the housing 1. While the charging opening 4 is fixedly arranged on the housing 1, the tub 2 and the drum 3 can move relative to the housing 1.

The drum 3 is used to hold the laundry and their walls are at least partially permeable to water, and the surrounding tub 2 serves to receive the process water.

Advantageously, the drum 3 has a substantially horizontal axis of rotation about which it can be rotated for cleaning and / or centrifuging the laundry. In this case, an "essentially horizontal axis of rotation" is an axis which assumes an angle of at most 45 °, in particular of at most 15 °, when the device is mounted to the horizontal as intended.

Advantageously, the drum 3 is arranged in a rotary bearing on the tub 2.

Towards the end of a waking process, the wet laundry in the drum 3 is thrown. The drum 3 is rotated at high speed, so that the water moves away from the wet laundry due to the centrifugal force. The water is pumped continuously or intermittently from the tub 2.

If the laundry is not uniformly distributed within the drum 3, an imbalance is formed and the drum 3 no longer rotates evenly. The drum 3 and the tub 2 bring the housing 1 to vibrate.

The vibrations of the housing can be reduced if the tub is stored as soft as possible within the housing. That is, the spring elements of Bearing device should have a deep spring stiffness. However, a deep spring stiffness means that during loading of the drum 3 with laundry or when water is admitted to the tub 2, the tub 2 within the housing 1 drops sharply and is no longer optimally arranged.

To solve this problem, the washing machine is stored according to the invention. The bearing device has in the present embodiment a total of five bearing connections 5 to 9, which transmit forces between the tub 2 and the housing 1. The bearing connections 5 to 7 are suspensions, and the bearing connections 8 and 9 are damping elements arranged at the bottom of the housing 1. The weight of the tub 2 acts on the suspension to train and the damping elements to pressure.

The bearing connection 5 comprises a connection 51 on the housing 1, an actuator 52, a spring element 53, a measuring device 54, a deflection roller 55 and a connection 56 on the tub 2.

In the present case, the actuator 52 is an electric cylinder with which the torque tube 57 (or another push or pull means) can be extended and retracted linearly. If the torque tube 57 retracted, the spring element 53 is pulled closer to the bottom of the housing 1. As a result, the tub 2 is shifted upward against the gravitational direction. When the actuators of all bearing connections 5 - 7 are actuated uniformly, the tub 2 is moved vertically up or down.

The guide roller 55 is arranged close to the ceiling on the side wall of the housing 1. This deflection allows the electric cylinder in the bottom portion of the housing 1 can be arranged. The washing machine components can be flexibly arranged within the housing 1 and the space can be optimally utilized.

At the bearing connection 5 and a measuring device 54 is arranged. With this can be measured how much tensile force acts on the bearing connection 5. Based on this measured value can be calculated how much weight acts on the tub and where the tub 2 is disposed within the housing 1. Alternatively or additionally, the position of the tub 2 can also be measured directly, e.g. by means of an optical sensor 10, which is arranged at the top or at the bottom of the housing 1.

The measuring devices 10 and 54 are connected to the controller 11. Depending on the measurement signals, the controller 11 controls the actuators and thereby brings the tub 2 in the optimum vertical position. The position of the tub 2 is optimal, for example, when the drum 3 is arranged concentrically to the charging opening 4 of the housing 1.

The bearing connections 6 and 7 are configured identically to the bearing connection 5.

However, it is not necessary that all bearing connections have an actuator.

The bearing connections 8 and 9 are damping elements which, upon movement of the tub, are e.g. Generate frictional forces and thus dampen its vibrations. The damping elements may also comprise an actuator 82 and / or a spring element 83, e.g. is integrated in the actuator 82 include. In particular, the actuator is a free-lift damper.

The controller 11 is designed such that a first adjustment of the actuators and thus a vertical movement of the tub 2 takes place as soon as the laundry has been filled. Each actuator is adjusted depending on the measured laundry weight and the still to be admitted amount of water. During the spinning process and at the end of the spin cycle, the setting is adjusted again.

Alternatively or additionally, a further adjustment of the actuators can take place after or during the filling of the process water.

The drum has a plurality of drivers 11, in which Ausgleichtanks 12 an imbalance compensation device are arranged. By means of this unbalance compensation device, the vibrations during the spin process can be additionally reduced. Corresponding systems are for example EP3042992 known.

In principle, the device may also have only one actuator, e.g. vertically above or below the lye container center of gravity attacks.

It is also conceivable that a single actuator acts on several bearing connections simultaneously, e.g. in that the traction means (for example traction ropes) of a plurality of bearing connections are guided to a common actuator in order to simultaneously and uniformly adjust a plurality of bearing connections with only one actuator. For example, the actuator may be designed as a rotatably driven winding roll on which the ends of the traction means of at least two bearing connections are wound up.

In the example above, a washing machine was shown. However, the invention may of course be applied in the same way e.g. also be used in a washer-dryer, which combines in addition to the functions of a washing machine with those of a tumble dryer.

While preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the present application, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto and may be embodied otherwise within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (14)

Laundry treatment device, in particular washing machine or a washer-dryer, comprising a housing (1), a tub (2) and a tub (2) arranged in the drum (3) for receiving laundry to be spun, at least one bearing device, for supporting the tub (2) inside the housing (1), comprising at least one bearing connection (5, 6, 8, 9) with a spring element (53), a controller (11), a charging opening (4) through which the laundry can be stored in the drum (3), characterized in that by means of an actuator (52, 82) a movement of the at least one bearing connection (5, 6, 8, 9) is effected, such that by this movement of the tub (2) is vertically movable relative to the feed opening. Laundry treatment device according to claim 1, wherein the laundry treatment device comprises a measuring device (10, 54), in particular an optical sensor (10) or a plunger coil, wherein the measuring device (10, 54) is designed to - To determine a position of the tub (2) and / or the drum (3), within the housing (1), and / or - To determine a load-dependent weight of the tub (2). Laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the controller (11) controls the actuator (52, 82) in dependence on the measured value of the measuring device (10, 54). A laundry treating appliance according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the controller (11) is adapted to reduce a deviation from concentric storage of the drum (3) and charging opening (4) by actuating the actuator (52, 82). A laundry treating appliance according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the actuator (52, 82) comprises an electric cylinder, a spindle, a hydraulic cylinder, a torsion bar rotary drive, or a slide control. Laundry treatment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one bearing connection (5, 6, 8, 9) a connection to the housing (51), - The spring element (53), and - has a connection to the tub (56), in particular wherein the actuator (52, 82) forms the attachment to the housing and / or between the spring element (53) and the attachment to the housing (51) is arranged. Laundry treatment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one bearing connection (5, 6, 8, 9) at least one deflection device (55), in particular a deflection roller, a pivot lever or a torsion bar spring, for deflecting the bearing forces,
in particular wherein the deflecting device (55) is arranged in the upper half, in particular in the upper third, in particular in the upper quarter, of the housing (1) or on the housing cover. Laundry treatment device according to claim 2 and claim 7, wherein the measuring device (10, 54) along the bearing connection (5, 6, 8, 9) between the deflecting device (55) and the attachment to the housing (1) is arranged. Laundry treatment device according to claim 6 and according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the spring element (53) along the bearing connection (5, 6, 8, 9) between the deflection device (55) and the attachment to the housing (1) or between the deflection device (55) and the spring element (53) is arranged, in particular wherein the spring element (53) in the lower half of the housing (1) is arranged. Laundry treatment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the bearing device further not by means of actuator movable bearing connections (7). Laundry treatment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one bearing connection (5, 6, 8, 9) has a by means of the actuator (52, 82) roll-up band spring. Laundry treatment device according to one of the preceding claims, comprising an imbalance compensation device, which in particular has a plurality of water-fillable Ausgleichtanks (12) on the drum (3). Laundry treatment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the controller (11) is designed such that it controls the actuator (52, 82) - adjusts after filling the drum (3) with laundry and before the introduction of water, in particular depending on the amount of water still to be admitted, and / or - sets before, during and / or at the end of a spin phase. Laundry treatment device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the bearing device has at least two, in particular at least three actuatable by actuators (52, 82) bearing connections (5, 6, 8, 9).

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