WO2016102029A1

WO2016102029A1 - Gasket for use in a laundry washing machine

Info

Publication number: WO2016102029A1
Application number: PCT/EP2014/079342
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ergin METIN; Coskun Filiz; Servet CATALTEPE; Salih YILDIRIM; Bugra CETINKAYA
Original assignee: Arcelik Anonim Sirketi
Priority date: 2014-12-25
Filing date: 2014-12-25
Publication date: 2016-06-30
Also published as: EP3237666B1; CN107278237A; CN107278237B; EP3237666A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a gasket (1) for use in a front loading type laundry washing machine (2) comprising a body (3), a tub (4), a drum, a door (5) which has an opening (6) for accessing the drum. The gasket (1) comprises a flexible annular collar (7) for leak-tightly sealing the region between the tub (4) and the door (5) around the opening (6) and a radially extending tongue (8) for diverting the laundry inside the drum away from the region immediately between the drum and the annular collar (7).

Description

GASKET FOR USE IN A LAUNDRY WASHING MACHINE

The present invention relates to a laundry washing machine, in particular to a front loading type laundry washing machine. The present invention more particularly relates to the gasket of the front loading type laundry washing machine that leak-tightly seals the tub from the interior of the appliance.

Front loading type laundry washing machines are commonly known. For increasing the user-convenience such laundry washing machines are also commonly provided with a drying function for drying the laundry by means of hot process air. In the present application, the term “laundry washing machine” is intended to comprise both the front loading type laundry washing machine with the drying function or without the drying function. A washing machine generally comprises a body, a tub inside the body, a drum which is rotatably disposed into the tub so as to rotate the laundry about a rotational axis, a front door which has an opening for accessing the drum. In general, the drum is connected to the shaft of an electric motor which is located behind the tub. The drum has a loading/unloading aperture which faces the opening of the front door. Also the tub has an aperture which is usually concentrically arranged with the loading/unloading aperture of the drum. Therefore, the region between the tub and the front door around the opening must be leak-tightly sealed by a gasket. In general, the gasket comprises an annual collar, an outer rim for coupling the annular collar with the periphery of the opening of the front door and an inner rim for coupling the annular collar with the periphery of the aperture of the tub. To compensate for the vibrations which are generated during the rotation of the drum, the tub is generally supported by a damping mechanism. Thus, during the operation, both the tub and the drum are in continual relative motion with respect to the opening of the front door. Therefore, the annular gasket is generally provided with a flexible annular bending section which joins the outer rim and the inner rim and thus, permits relative movement of the tub and absorbs the vibrations.

During the rotation of the drum, the laundry inside the drum is periodically moved to the region immediately between the annular collar and the flange of the loading/unloading aperture of the drum. Therefore, during the operation, the laundry is very often rubbed against the gasket. Thus, there is a risk that the laundry gets damaged, in particular receives traces of rubber. Another risk is that the laundry can move into the gap between the tub and the drum. To prevent the aforementioned undesired incidents, the gasket is generally provided with a radially extending tongue for diverting the laundry away from the region immediately between the drum and the annular collar. Such tongues are commonly referred to as diverters. TR 2003 00616 T1 discloses a washing machine which comprises a gasket having a diverter. In general, a diverter must be suffiently strong to withstand the thrust of the rotating laundry both during the washing process and the spin-drying process. Therefore, the diverters are usually manufactured as solid rubbers. However, the production of such a diverter is comparatively expensive both in terms of material costs and labor costs.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a gasket and a laundry washing machine having the same which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art in a cost effective way and which enables a sufficient thrust and also gently handles the sensitive laundry.

This objective has been achieved by the gasket as defined in claim 1 and the laundry washing machine as defined in claim 11. Further achievements have been attained by the subject-matters respectively defined in the dependent claims.

In the gasket of the present invention, the axially inwardly facing surface of the tongue and the axially outwardly facing surface of the tongue each comprises a plurality of ribs and a plurality of recesses.

With the present invention, particularly by virtue of the ribs and recesses, the tongue has been rendered, on the one hand, sufficiently strong to withstand the thrust of the laundry which is particularly made from heavy fabric and, on the other one hand, sufficiently flexible against the laundry which is particularly made from easily tearable fabric. Thereby, the sensitive laundry can be gently diverted away from the critical region. In particular, the risk of occurrence of any rubber traces on the laundry has been eliminated or reduced as much as possible as the contact area of the tongue has been decreased through the provision of the recesses and also as the flexibility of the exposed surface of the tongue has been increased through the provision of the ribs. With the present invention, the diverting function of the tongue has been improved. Thereby, the consumer satisfaction can be increased. With the present invention, particularly by virtue of the recesses, also the amount of rubber required for the production of the tongue has been comparatively decreased without compromising the resiliency thereof. Thereby, the manufacturing time, in particular the time required for the vulcanization process has also been comparatively shortened. With the present invention, the material costs and the labor costs have been comparatively reduced.

In the gasket of the present invention, the ribs and recesses can be arranged and aligned onto the axially opposite surfaces of the tongue in various different ways and can assume various different sizes and shapes. Thereby, the resiliency of the tongue can be accurately adjusted in accordance with the thrust of the laundry and the type of the fabric.

In an embodiment, the ribs and the recesses are arranged so as to alternate.

In other alternative embodiments, the centers of the ribs on the axially opposite surfaces of the tongue are respectively located either back-to-back or, alternatively shifted with respect to each other such that the centers of the ribs and the centers of the recesses on the axially opposite surfaces of the tongue are respectively located back-to-back.

In other alternative embodiments, the ribs and the recesses have respectively same or, alternatively different widths.

In other alternative embodiments, the ribs and the recesses may have rectangular cross sections, v-shaped cross sections, arc-shaped cross sections or the like.

In another embodiment, the ribs on the axially opposite surfaces of the tongue extend respectively away from each other in the axial direction and are substantially parallel to each other in the radial direction.

In another embodiment, the gasket has one or more than one flexible bending section so as to more easily permit relative movement of the tub with respect to the front door.

In another embodiment, the entire gasket is molded from rubber as a single piece.

In another embodiment, the tongue is located on the inner periphery of the annular collar, particularly in close proximity to the loading/unloading aperture of the drum and extends a predetermined distance radially across the flange of the drum. Thereby, the laundry which is moved towards the critical region can be more reliably diverted back towards the center of the drum.

In another embodiment, the gasket is fixed onto the laundry washing machine such that tongue is located at the top side of the tub aperture and extends radially downwards.

Additional advantages of the gasket and the laundry washing machine of the present invention will become more apparent with the detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 – is a partial perspective view of a laundry washing machine which has a gasket according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 – is a partial front view of the laundry washing machine which has the gasket according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 – is a partial sectional view of the laundry washing machine which has the gasket according to an embodiment of the present invention, taken along the line A-A of Fig. 2;

Figure 4 – is an enlarged view of the detail B of Fig. 3;

Figure 5 – is a partial perspective view of the gasket which has a tongue according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 6 – is another partial perspective view of the gasket which has the tongue according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 7 – is a partial radial view of the gasket which has the tongue according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 8 – is a partial axial view of the gasket which has the tongue according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 9 – is another partial sectional view of the gasket which has the tongue according to an embodiment of the present invention, taken along the line C-C of Fig. 8.

The reference signs appearing on the drawings relate to the following technical features.

Gasket
Laundry washing machine
Body
Tub
Front door
Opening
Annular collar
Tongue
Inward surface
Outward surface
Rib
Recess
Outer rim
Inner rim
Aperture
Bending section

The gasket (1) is suitable for use in a front loading type laundry washing machine (2) with the drying function or without the drying function.

The front loading type laundry washing machine (2) comprises a body (3), a tub (4) which is disposed into the body (3), a drum (not shown) which is rotatably disposed into the tub (4) about a rotational axis, a front door (5) which has an opening (6) for accessing the drum (Fig. 1 to 9).

The gasket (1) comprises a flexible annular collar (7) for leak-tightly sealing the region between the tub (4) and the front door (5) around the opening (6) and a radially extending tongue (8) for diverting the laundry (not shown) inside the drum away from the region immediately between the drum and the annular collar (7).

In the gasket (1) of the present invention, each of the axially inwardly facing surface (9) and the axially outwardly facing surface (10) of the tongue (8) comprises a plurality of ribs (11) and a plurality of recesses (12).

The laundry washing machine (2) of the present invention comprises the gasket (1) according to the present invention.

In an embodiment, the plurality of ribs (11) and the plurality of recesses (12) are alternately disposed onto each of the axially inwardly facing surface (9) and the axially outwardly facing surface (10) of the tongue (8).

In another embodiment, the centers of the ribs (11) on the axially inwardly facing surface (9) of the tongue (8) and the centers of the recesses (12) on the axially outwardly facing surface (10) of the tongue (8) are respectively located back-to-back.

In another embodiment, the ribs (11) and the recesses (12) have respectively different widths in the transverse direction along which they are alternately arranged (Fig. 1 to 9). The transverse direction is perpendicular to the axial direction, namely the rotational axis of the drum.

In another embodiment, the widths of the ribs (11) are respectively larger than the widths of the recesses (12) in the transverse direction along which they are alternately arranged.

In another embodiment, the ribs (11) on the axially inwardly facing surface (9) and the axially outwardly facing surface (10) of the tongue (8) extend respectively in opposing axial directions.

In another embodiment, the gasket (1) comprises a flexible outer rim (13), a flexible inner rim (14) and one or more than one flexible annular bending sections (16). The flexible outer rim (13) is suitable for coupling the annular collar (7) with the periphery of the opening (6) of the front door (5). The flexible inner rim (14) is suitable for coupling the annular collar (8) with the periphery of an aperture (15) of the tub (4). The flexible annular bending sections (16) serially join the outer rim (13) and the inner rim (14).

In another embodiment, the annular collar (7), the tongue (8), the ribs (11), the recesses (12), the rims (13, 14) and the bending sections (16) are molded as a single piece gasket (1). In another embodiment, the single piece gasket (1) is molded from rubber.

In another embodiment, the tongue (8) has a size such that it extends a predetermined distance radially across the flange (not shown) of the loading/unloading aperture of the drum when the gasket (1) is assembled with the laundry washing machine (2).

In another embodiment, the tongue (8) points radially downwards when the gasket (1) is assembled with the laundry washing machine (2).

Claims

A gasket (1) for use in a front loading type laundry washing machine (2) comprising a body (3), a tub (4) which is disposed into the body (3), a drum which is rotatably disposed into the tub (4) about a rotational axis, a front door (5) which has an opening (6) for accessing the drum, the gasket (1) comprising a flexible annular collar (7) for leak-tightly sealing the region between the tub (4) and the front door (5) around the opening (6) and a radially extending tongue (8) for diverting the laundry inside the drum away from the region immediately between the drum and the annular collar (7),

the gasket (1) being characterized in that each of the axially inwardly facing surface (9) and the axially outwardly facing surface (10) of the tongue (8) comprising a plurality of ribs (11) and a plurality of recesses (12).
The gasket (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the plurality of ribs (11) and the plurality of recesses (12) are alternately disposed onto each of the axially inwardly facing surface (9) and the axially outwardly facing surface (10) of the tongue (8).
The gasket (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the centers of the ribs (11) on the axially inwardly facing surface (9) of the tongue (8) and the centers of the recesses (12) on the axially outwardly facing surface (10) of the tongue (8) are respectively located back-to-back.
The gasket (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the centers of the ribs (11) on the axially inwardly facing surface (9) and the axially outwardly facing surface (10) of the tongue (8) are respectively located back-to-back.
The gasket (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the ribs (11) and the recesses (12) have respectively different widths in the transverse direction along which they are alternately arranged.
The gasket (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the ribs (11) and the recesses (12) have respectively same widths in the transverse direction along which they are alternately arranged.
The gasket (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the ribs (11) on the axially inwardly facing surface (9) and the axially outwardly facing surface (10) of the tongue (8) extend respectively in opposing axial directions.
The gasket (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a flexible outer rim (13) for coupling the annular collar (7) with the periphery of the opening (6) of the front door (5) and a flexible inner rim (14) for coupling the annular collar (8) with the periphery of the aperture (15) of the tub (4) and one or more than one flexible annular bending section (16) which joins the outer rim (13) and the inner rim (14).
The gasket (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that the annular collar (7), the tongue (8), the ribs (11), the recesses (12), the rims (13, 14) and the bending sections (16) are molded as a single piece.
The gasket (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the tongue (8) has a size such that it extends a predetermined distance radially across the flange of the loading/unloading aperture of the drum when the gasket (1) is assembled with the laundry washing machine (2).
A laundry washing machine (2) comprising a body (3), a tub (4) which is disposed into the body (3), a drum which is rotatably disposed into the tub (4) about a rotational axis, a front door (5) which has an opening (6) for accessing the drum, characterized in that the gasket (1) as defined in any one of claims 1 to 10.
The laundry washing machine (2) according to claim 11, characterized in that the gasket (1) is assembled with the laundry washing machine (2) such that the tongue (8) points radially downwards.