Classifications

• • 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
  • D06F37/26—Casings; Tubs
  • D06F37/264—Tubs provided with reinforcing structures, e.g. ribs, inserts, braces
• • 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
  • D06F37/26—Casings; Tubs
  • D06F37/267—Tubs specially adapted for mounting thereto components or devices not provided for in preceding subgroups
  • D06F37/269—Tubs specially adapted for mounting thereto components or devices not provided for in preceding subgroups for the bearing of the rotary receptacle
• • 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
  • D06F37/02—Rotary receptacles, e.g. drums
  • D06F37/04—Rotary receptacles, e.g. drums adapted for rotation or oscillation about a horizontal or inclined axis
• • 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
  • D06F37/26—Casings; Tubs
  • D06F37/261—Tubs made by a specially selected manufacturing process or characterised by their assembly from elements
  • D06F37/262—Tubs made by a specially selected manufacturing process or characterised by their assembly from elements made of plastic material, e.g. by injection moulding
• • 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
  • D06F37/26—Casings; Tubs
  • D06F37/267—Tubs specially adapted for mounting thereto components or devices not provided for in preceding subgroups
  • D06F37/268—Tubs specially adapted for mounting thereto components or devices not provided for in preceding subgroups for suspension devices
• • 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
  • D06F39/00—Details of washing machines not specific to a single type of machines covered by groups D06F9/00 - D06F27/00 
  • D06F39/12—Casings; Tubs

Definitions

• Washing machine tank provided with external reinforcing cap on bottom wall.
• the present patent application for industrial invention relates to a washing machine tank provided with an external reinforcing cap on the bottom wall.
• the washing unit of washing machines or dryer/washer combos comprises a basically cylindrical drum designed to be loaded with laundry, which rotates inside a tank obtained by moulding plastic materials.
• a similar tank is frontally provided with a large opening to load the laundry, while the bottom wall is provided with a central hole that ends in a rear cylindrical nozzle, where the shaft protruding from the bottom wall of the drum contained in the tank is exactly inserted, with the interposition of a bearing support.
• the shaft slightly protrudes outside the tank in order to be coupled with the electrical motor designed to drive the drum into rotation.
• the electrical motor is mounted in peripheral position with respect to the bottom wall of the cylindrical tank; in such a case, a drive belt is provided to ensure the joint rotation of the shaft of the electrical motor and the shaft of the drum, which are both suitably provided with corresponding pulleys.
• the so-called "direct drive” technology is used, according to which the stator of the electrical motor is mounted in the centre of the bottom wall of the tank in such a way that the rotor is directly splined to the shaft of the drum.
• the bottom wall of the washing machine tank must be characterised by high structural rigidity in order to withstand without damages the high mechanical stress induced by the centrifugal force generated by the mass of the laundry contained in the rotating drum.
• the bottom wall of the tank is given an "omega" profile in which some sections of the wall protrude inwards. In fact, such a configuration gives the bottom wall of the tank a high inertia momentum.
• a manufacturer of washing machine tanks must produce at least five different models of tanks, each of them with different rigidity and resistance according to the rotation speed of the specific appliance.
• the tanks with bottom wall provided with "omega" profile are impaired by the fact that they create considerable turbulence in the water mass contained inside the tank, with consequent high noise level inside the appliance, formation of foam that requires more rinsing water, and considerable washing residues in the concave areas of the bottom wall that are not removed by the rinsing water.
• the washing residues originate the so-called "biofilm", which is considered detrimental because it favours the proliferation of bacteria and consequent production of bad odours.
• the purpose of the present invention is to find a solution to the aforementioned problems of the prior technique, in order to reduce production costs and increase technical-functional efficiency and versatility considerably.
• the inventive idea of the present invention consists in a special composite structure of the bottom wall of a washing machine tank.
• the tank of the invention is provided with a bottom wall with smooth surface both internally and externally.
• the plastic moulded cap is preferably provided with a plurality of spokes, being otherwise defined as cross-piece.
• spokes of the cap are internally hollow, it appears evident that, in cooperation with the external side of the flat bottom of the tank of the invention, the spokes originate a box-shaped structure with multiple spokes, which is effectively able to guarantee a considerable inertia momentum both with respect to flexural and torsional stress.
• both the smooth bottom wall of the tank and the cap have modest inertia values due to reduced thickness.
• the presence of a perfectly smooth bottom wall ensures better practical and economic characteristics with reference to moulding, not only because of the lower complexity of the moulds, but also because of the lower quantity of plastic material used.
• the elimination of the inward protruding sections that are typical of tanks with "omega" bottom completely prevents the formation of the undesirable biofilm.
• the presence of the smooth bottom wall of the tank of the invention generates an excellent distribution of the surface tension that tend to be created in a totally non-uniform way in the more complicated structures of the pre-existing tanks, impairing the mechanical characteristics of the same tanks.
• the composite structure of the bottom wall of the tank of the invention ensures practical and economic characteristics also with reference to the production of different models of tanks for washing machines with different rotation speeds.
• each specific type of washing machine requires a specific tank with specific rigidity and mechanical resistance properties according to the maximum rotation speed.
• a manufacturer that makes use of the technology of the invention will produce a single model of tank, which will be adapted to each specific model of washing machine by means of a diversified production of caps (according to the different thickness and profile of the caps).
• - fig. 2 is an axonometric external view of the said cap
• - fig. 3 is an axonometric internal view of the said cap
• - fig. 4 is an axonometric view of the aforementioned components one in front of the other one, without permanent fixing;
• - fig. 5 is an axonometric view of the tank in assembled condition
• the tank of the invention (1 ) is usually composed of a plastic moulded cylindrical structure and designed to be frontally closed with a circular flange (not shown in the enclosed figures) provided with a large opening used to load laundry inside the traditional rotary drum (not shown in the enclosed figures) housed in the tank.
• the peculiarity of the new tank (1) consists in the presence of a smooth bottom wall (2) without stiffening ribs or inward projecting areas.
• the wall (2) is provided with a central hole (2a) that receives the shaft of the drum housed in the tank (1 ).
• the second component of the tank (1 ) consists in a sort of circular cap (3) provided with a plurality of internally hollow spokes (3a) obtained by moulding plastic materials.
• spokes (3a) protrude from a central cylindrical nozzle (3b) and are joined at the peripheral ends with the internally hollow annular border (3c) of the cap (3).
• the central nozzle (3b) is considerably longer than the thickness of the annular perimeter border (3c); because of this, the spokes (3a) have a section with decreasing height from the centre to the peripheral area.
• the cylindrical nozzle (3b) is designed to house a metal bearing support (SP) that receives exactly the shaft of the drum after passing through the hole (2a) of the bottom wall (2) of the tank (1 ); reference is made to figure 2 that shows the said support (SP) in an exploded view.
• SP metal bearing support
• the bearing support (SP) is preferably co-moulded with the cap (3).
• the cap (3) is designed to be fixed in external position on the flat bottom wall (2) of the tank (1 ), with the concave side facing the flat wall (2).
• the cap (3) has a basically identical diameter as the bottom wall (2) of the tank (1 ) and the central nozzle (3b) of the cap (3) is perfectly aligned with the hole (2a) obtained in the bottom wall (2).
• the cooperation between the cap (3) and the bottom wall (2) of the tank (1) allows to obtain a box-shaped structure on the back of the tank, which is composed of a series of radial compartments (V1 ), each of them is bordered by one of the spokes (3a) of the cap (3), and an annular compartment (V2) bordered by the annular border (3c) of the cap (3).
• V1 radial compartments
• V2 annular compartment bordered by the annular border (3c) of the cap (3).
• the presence of the box-shaped structure allows the bottom wall (2) to acquire the necessary resistance to withstand without damages the mechanical stress transmitted by the rotations of the shaft of the drum full with wet laundry.
• the stable fixing of the cap (3) against the bottom wall (2) of the tank (1 ) can be obtained according to different suitable modes, such as gluing, welding or screwing.
• the cap (3) can be also provided on the external side with basically cylindrical appendixes (4, 5) obtained during the same process and with the same moulding material used for the cap (3).
• the appendixes (4, 5) have a parallel position to the central nozzle
• each appendix (4, 5) is frontally provided with a corresponding axial hole (4a, 5a) used to screw a corresponding screw.
• a first opposite pair (4) of appendixes is provided at a higher height directly protruding from the annular border (3c), and a second pair (5) of appendixes is provided at a lower height protruding on the front of corresponding small hollow arms (5b) that protrude radially from the annular border (3c).
• a third pair (6) of similar appendixes is provided between the two appendixes of the second pair (6), protruding on the front of corresponding small hollow arms (6b), designed to be used to fix the electrical motor that drives into rotation the shaft of the drum housed inside the cylindrical nozzle (3b) of the cap (3) by means of a drive belt.
• the appendixes (6) of the third pair are frontally provided with axial holes (6a) for suitable fixing screws.
• the small radial arms (5a, 6a) are provided with corresponding internal cavities designed to be exactly covered, when the cap (3) is engaged to the bottom wall (2) of the tank (1 ), by corresponding ears (50a, 60a) that protrude from the border of the bottom wall (2) of the tank (1 ) to generate relevant box- shaped structures.
• figure 6 shows the embodiment of the cap (3) designed to mount the electrical motor according to the direct drive technology.
• the external surface of the cap (3) is provided with three fixing holes (3d) for the stator (ST), with a corresponding rotor (RT) that rotates outside it splined to the shaft of the drum that partially protrudes from the cylindrical nozzle (3b) of the cap (3).

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Main Body Construction Of Washing Machines And Laundry Dryers (AREA)
• Detail Structures Of Washing Machines And Dryers (AREA)
• Containers Having Bodies Formed In One Piece (AREA)
• Rigid Containers With Two Or More Constituent Elements (AREA)

Priority Applications (16)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=39684222

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (17)

Cited By (7)

Families Citing this family (13)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 2008
  • 2008-02-15 ES ES08720243T patent/ES2375587T3/es active Active
  • 2008-02-15 WO PCT/IT2008/000098 patent/WO2008102396A2/en active Search and Examination
  • 2008-02-15 AU AU2008218504A patent/AU2008218504A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2008-02-15 AT AT08720243T patent/ATE529560T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2008-02-15 JP JP2009550778A patent/JP2010532671A/ja active Pending
  • 2008-02-15 CN CN2008800057002A patent/CN101631907B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2008-02-15 BR BRPI0810058-6A patent/BRPI0810058A2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2008-02-15 KR KR1020097018649A patent/KR101578776B1/ko active IP Right Grant
  • 2008-02-15 RU RU2009135025/12A patent/RU2454492C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2008-02-15 MX MX2009008949A patent/MX2009008949A/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2008-02-15 EP EP08720243A patent/EP2129823B1/en active Active
  • 2008-02-15 PL PL08720243T patent/PL2129823T3/pl unknown
  • 2008-02-15 CA CA002677886A patent/CA2677886A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2008-02-15 SI SI200830515T patent/SI2129823T1/sl unknown
  • 2008-02-15 US US12/449,496 patent/US20100287995A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2009
  • 2009-08-16 EG EG2009081236A patent/EG25143A/xx active
• 2012
  • 2012-01-12 HR HR20120034T patent/HRP20120034T1/hr unknown

Patent Citations (3)

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