KR20040110240A - Drum Type Washing Machine for Reducing Vibration - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A drum washing machine for reducing vibration is provided to decrease vibration from the drum washing machine efficiently by using a damper assembling vibration reducing member for satisfying the hardness. CONSTITUTION: A drum washing machine is composed of a base of a cabinet for forming the exterior of the drum washing machine, a tub installed in the cabinet, and a damper installed between the tub and the base by a vibration damping member. The vibration damping member is formed of a block copolymer composed of a hard block and a soft block. The hard block satisfies dynamic properties, and the soft block reduces vibration. The glass transition temperature of the soft block is normal temperature from - 30 deg.C to 30 deg.C. The hard block is made of polystyrene and the soft block is made of vinyl-polyisoprene.

Description

Drum Type Washing Machine for Reducing Vibration

The present invention relates to a vibration reduction drum washing machine, and more particularly, to a vibration reduction drum washing machine having a vibration damping member for damper coupling that can effectively dampen the vibration generated when the drum washing machine is operated.

The washing machine is a device that exfoliates contaminants by applying energy such as impact to laundry, and may be divided into a pulsator washing machine, a drum washing machine, and an agitator washing machine according to a method of applying energy to laundry. In the drum washing machine, the laundry is dropped by the rotation of the drum, thereby impacting the laundry, and washing is performed by adding a detergent. In the pulsator washing machine and the agitator washing machine, the laundry is impacted by the rotation of a pulsator or agitator mainly coupled to a washing shaft installed vertically in an inner tank, and washing is performed by adding a detergent action.

That is, the washing machine is a method of washing by giving a shock to the laundry mainly by a mechanical method, and for this purpose, the washing tank or the drum on which the laundry is placed is rotated, and thus vibration is usually generated. Therefore, the washing machine is provided with various vibration reduction means capable of reducing vibration.

First, a general drum washing machine will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 as follows.

The cabinet 3 constituting the body of the washing machine is composed of a front part 34, a side part 32, an upper cover 38, and a lower base 36. The front part 34 of the cabinet 3 is installed so that the door 4 can be opened and closed, and the base 36 is provided with the leg 5 which supports the washing machine on the floor on which the washing machine is placed.

A tub 7 for storing the wash water is installed in the cabinet 3, and a drum 9 in which the laundry is placed is rotatably installed in the tub 7. The tub 7 is directly connected to a motor 11 for generating a driving force for rotating the tub 7.

On the other hand, when the washing machine is operated, the drum 9 rotates at a high speed, thereby causing vibration. In particular, since the drum 9 rotates at a high speed in the dehydration stroke, the generation of vibration is severe. Therefore, various devices for reducing the vibration or attenuating the generated vibration in the design of the washing machine are installed in the washing machine.

For example, in order to prevent and reduce vibration generated in the drum 9 from being transmitted to the cabinet 3 or the like, a spring 13 is installed between the tub 7 and the upper cover 38 and the tub ( A damper 15 is provided between 7) and base 36. The material and thickness of the cabinet 3, in particular, the side portion 32 or the base 36 may be adjusted, or the beads 32a may be formed in the side portion 32 of the cabinet 3.

On the other hand, as described above, the damper 15 is installed between the tub 7 and the base 36 to reduce the vibration and noise transmitted to the base 36. At this time, the damper 15 is installed through the vibration damping member to further prevent vibration transmission to the base 36.

Referring to Figure 3, when explaining the installation structure of the damper via the vibration damping member as follows.

First, the coupling structure of the lower end of the damper 15 and the base 36 will be described. A pair of brackets 170 are opposed to and coupled to the base 36, and an assembly hole 170a is formed at an upper portion of the brackets 170. In addition, an assembly hole 154a corresponding to the assembly hole 170a of the bracket 170 is installed at the lower end of the damper 15. That is, after matching the position of the assembly hole 154a of the damper 15 and the assembly hole 170a of the bracket 170, the bolt 172 and the nut 174 are coupled to the assembly holes 170a and 154a. Meanwhile, in order to prevent vibrations that are not attenuated by the damper 15 from being transmitted to the base 36, the cylindrical holes 154a of the damper 15 and the assembling holes 170a of the bracket 170 are respectively substantially cylindrical. Members 160 and 162 are inserted. The vibration damping members 160 and 162 are usually made of butyl rubber for dustproof. Thus, vibration that is not attenuated by the damper 15 is further attenuated by the vibration damping members 160 and 162. The upper portion of the damper 15 is also coupled to the tub similar to the above.

However, the conventional vibration damping member for damper assembly and drum washing machine using the same have the following problems.

First, the vibration damping member for a conventional damper assembly has a limitation in efficiently damping vibration because vibration damping performance is not perfect.

Second, the conventional damper assembly vibration damping member has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to satisfy the mechanical performance other than the vibration damping performance.

Third, the conventional vibration damping member for damper assembly has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to effectively reduce the vibration over the entire range of rotational speed of the drum or motor.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vibration reducing drum washing machine having a vibration damping member for damper coupling that can efficiently reduce vibration.

1 is a perspective view showing a typical drum washing machine

2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing in detail the coupling structure of the damper of FIG.

Figure 4 schematically shows the structure of the damper coupling vibration damping member used in the vibration reducing drum washing machine according to the present invention

Figure 5 is a graph comparing the damping force of the damper coupling vibration damping member used in the vibration reducing drum washing machine according to the present invention and the conventional vibration damping member

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

3: cabinet 15: damper

32: side part 34: front part

36: base 32a: bead

5: leg 170: bracket

160: vibration damping member 162: vibration damping member

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a base of the cabinet forming the drum washing machine, a tub installed inside the cabinet, and a damper provided between the tub and the base via a vibration damping member. In the drum washing machine comprising a, the vibration damping member provides a drum washing machine, characterized in that the block copolymer of the hard block and soft block.

It is preferable that the hard block is a material that satisfies the required mechanical properties, and the soft block is a material that satisfies vibration reduction characteristics.

In addition, the soft block is preferably a glass transition temperature of room temperature, the glass transition temperature is more preferably -30 ℃ ~ 30 ℃.

In addition, the hard block is polystyrene, the soft block is preferably polyisoprene, and more preferably, the soft block is vinyl polyisoprene.

On the other hand, the block copolymer is an olefin thermoplastic resin, ethylene-alpha olefin copolymer, ethylene-vinylacetate copolymer, ethylene-ethyl acrylate copolymer, styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer, styrene-isoprene-styrene copolymer It is preferably formed in blend with at least one.

Therefore, according to the present invention described above, it is possible to efficiently reduce the vibration generated in the drum washing machine.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present inventors studied to find a method of effectively reducing vibration. As a result, a patent application has been applied to find a material suitable for vibration damping and to apply it to a leg coupling member coupled to a leg to damp vibrations (see Patent Application No. 10-2003-138115). The present inventors further found that even when a material proved effective in the leg coupling member is used in the damper coupling vibration damping member, the effect is also excellent.

4 and 5, the structure and principle of the damper coupling vibration damping member according to the present invention will be described.

The damper coupling vibration damping member is required to have excellent vibration reduction characteristics, and it is desirable to satisfy other various conditions. For example, it is desirable to also satisfy conditions such as mechanical properties such as hardness, moldability indicating ease of manufacture, and the like. This is because, for example, even if the vibration reduction characteristic is satisfied, if there is no appropriate hardness, a resonance phenomenon may occur in any region of the use RPM RM of the washing machine.

In the prior art, it is difficult to select an optimal damper coupling damping member that satisfies all of these conditions. Therefore, to date, empirically, butyl rubber (Isobutylene-isoprene Rubber) was mainly used as a damper coupling vibration damping member, but vibration damping had a limitation.

In order to solve this problem, the present inventors studied the material of the damper coupling vibration damping member. As a material of the damper coupling vibration damping member, a block copolymer of a hard block and a soft block is used. I found it very effective to use. That is, as shown in Figure 4, it was found that it is preferable to manufacture a vibration damping member for damper coupling using a copolymer in which the hard block HS and the soft block SS are meshed. . Because when the block copolymer of hard block and soft block is used as the material of the vibration damping member for damper coupling, the hard block selects a material that satisfies mechanical properties such as the required hardness, and the soft block satisfies the vibration reduction characteristics. This is because the material can be selected. Therefore, it is possible to relatively easily design the damper coupling vibration damping member that satisfies the vibration reduction characteristic and satisfies other conditions.

In view of the vibration reduction effect, the block copolymer according to the present invention, particularly the soft block, it is preferable to use a material exhibiting a glass transition phenomenon, it is more preferable that the glass transition temperature is near the use temperature of the washing machine. Because at higher temperatures than the glass transition temperature, the thermal motion of each part of the chain-shaped polymer having a net-like structure becomes violent, indicating a rubbery state, but below the glass transition point, the thermal motion decreases in its own volume. This is because it is suppressed and hardened (glassy state), and the vibration reduction effect is lowered.

In the case of a non-nodular polymer material such as rubber, the glass transition phenomenon is exhibited. Therefore, a rubber material is preferably selected as the damper coupling vibration damping member, and the butyl rubber is currently used in glass transition phenomenon. However, as mentioned above, the damper coupling vibration damping member is required to satisfy not only the vibration reduction characteristics but also other characteristics, but butyl rubber is a copolymer made by copolymerizing a small amount of isoprene in isobutylene and according to the present invention. Unlike block copolymers of hard blocks and soft blocks, it is difficult to satisfy other properties than vibration reduction properties. In terms of vibration reduction properties, butyl rubber has a glass transition temperature of -40 ° C to -60 ° C, which is much lower than the temperature at which the washing machine is used. As shown in FIG. 5, in the case of butyl rubber, the damping performance is generally uniform in the operating temperature range of the washing machine, but the damping performance is lower than that of the damper coupling vibration damping member according to the present invention.

As described above, the damper coupling vibration damping member according to the present invention uses a block copolymer of a hard block and a soft block as a material of the damper coupling vibration damping member, the hard block is selected in terms of mechanical properties, the soft block Is chosen in terms of vibration damping. Therefore, the soft block is preferably selected from a material whose glass transition temperature is close to the operating temperature of the washing machine, for example, -30 ° C to 30 ° C. Of course, the hard block is preferably selected from the material required in terms of mechanical properties such as hardness.

As a result of experiments with various materials, it is preferable that the hard block is polystyrene, and the soft block is polyisoprene, particularly vinyl-polyisoprne.

Although the block copolymer may be used alone when fabricating the damper coupling vibration damping member, the block copolymer may be an olefin-based thermoplastic resin, an ethylene-alpha olefin copolymer, an ethylene-vinylacetate copolymer, an ethylene-ethyl acrylate copolymer, It is of course also possible to blend and use at least one of a styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer and a styrene-isoprene-styrene copolymer. In addition, it is also possible to appropriately add additives such as a crosslinking agent, a filler, a softener and the like based on the above-described block copolymer, which is obvious in the art, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

When the vibration damping member for damper coupling is made using the block copolymer of the hard block and the soft block as described above, it is possible to form the damper coupling vibration damping member that satisfies the vibration reduction characteristics and other necessary characteristics.

In order to confirm this, experiments were conducted using materials that generally satisfy the above-mentioned conditions among commercially available materials. The material used in the experiment was Kuraray's Hybrid. Hibra is a block copolymer of polystyrene and polyisoprene and has a glass transition temperature of approximately -19 ° C to 8 ° C near room temperature. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the vibration damping member for damper coupling using the hibra was very excellent in the damping force near room temperature. Of course, the material suitable as the damper coupling vibration damping member is not limited to the HiBra, and any material that satisfies the above conditions may be used.

On the other hand, as described above, the damper coupling vibration damping member is preferably excellent in formability, workability, etc. in view of the manufacturing cost of the washing machine as well as the vibration reduction characteristics. In addition, the hibra can be made of a thermoplastic resin that can be injected and extruded, or a thermosetting resin that can be pressed. However, in order to use the thermosetting resin, a separate crosslinking agent is required.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make modifications without departing from the concept of the present invention, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention.

Referring to the effects of the damper coupling vibration damping member according to the present invention and the drum washing machine using the same as follows.

First, the damper coupling vibration damping member according to the present invention has an advantage of excellent vibration damping performance can effectively reduce the vibration generated in the drum washing machine.

Secondly, according to the present invention, there is an advantage that a vibration damping member for damper coupling that satisfies not only vibration reducing characteristics but also other necessary characteristics, for example, hardness, can be selected.

Claims (7)

In a drum washing machine comprising a base of a cabinet forming an outer shape of a drum washing machine, a tub installed inside the cabinet, and a damper provided between the tub and the base via a vibration damping member. The vibration damping member is a drum washing machine, characterized in that the block copolymer of the hard block and soft block. The drum washing machine according to claim 1, wherein the hard block is a material satisfying the required mechanical properties, and the soft block is a material satisfying vibration reduction characteristics. The drum washing machine according to claim 2, wherein the soft block has a glass transition temperature of room temperature. The drum washing machine according to claim 3, wherein the glass transition temperature is -30 ° C to 30 ° C. The drum washing machine according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the hard block is polystyrene and the soft block is polyisoprene. 6. The drum washing machine according to claim 5, wherein the soft block is vinyl polyisoprene. The method of claim 6, wherein the block copolymer is an olefinic thermoplastic resin, ethylene-alpha olefin copolymer, ethylene-vinylacetate copolymer, ethylene-ethyl acrylate copolymer, styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer, styrene-isoprene- Drum washing machine, characterized in that the blend is formed with at least one of the styrene copolymer.