Drum type washing machine

Details Drum type washing machine Drum type washing machine

2000-11-15

2003-05-06

Stinson, Frankie L. (Department: 1746)

Textiles: fluid treating apparatus

Machines

Combined

C068S024000, C068S058000, C068S140000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06557383

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a drum type washing machine comprising an outer cabinet, a water tub provided in the outer cabinet, a rotating tub provided for rotation in the water tub, the rotating tub having a front and a rear, an electric motor driving the rotating tub, an elastic supporting element elastically supporting the water tub, and a loading element loading the supporting element and having a center of gravity located between substantially the middle of a dimension from the front to the rear of the rotating tub and the rear of the rotating tub, wherein the elastic supporting element includes a pair of front supporting members disposed ahead of the center of gravity of the loading element and a pair of rear supporting members disposed in the rear of the center of gravity of the loading element, and a distance from each front supporting member to the center of gravity of the loading element is substantially equal to a distance from each rear supporting member to the center of gravity of the loading element.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electric motor
109
is provided on a lower portion of the water tub
102
. The motor
109
includes a rotational shaft
109
a on which a driving pulley
110
is mounted. A transmission belt
112
extends between the pulleys
110
and
108
. The pulleys
108
and
110
and the belt
112
constitute a belt transmission mechanism
111
. In the above-described construction, torque developed by the motor
109
is transmitted via the belt transmission mechanism
111
to the rotating tub
104
so that the tub is rotated.
In the drum type washing machines such as described above, vibration or oscillation generally tends to be produced during a dehydrating or spinning operation since laundry stuck to the inner circumferential face of the rotating tub
104
is raised against gravity. For reduction in the vibration, counterbalances
113
and
114
are mounted on upper and lower front portions respectively so that load is uniformly applied to the suspension mechanisms
103
and so that weight distribution with respect to the center of rotation of the rotating tub
104
is well balanced.
However, an amount of load received by each suspension mechanism
103
is varied due to an amount of the laundry accommodated in the rotating tub or the weight distribution with respect to the center of rotation during the washing or dehydrating operation. As a result, a sufficient amount of vibration due to rotation of the rotating tub
104
cannot be reduced. Thus, a further improvement is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a drum type washing machine in which the vibration due to rotation of the rotating tub can effectively be reduced.
The present invention provides a drum type washing machine comprising an outer cabinet, a water tub provided in the outer cabinet, a rotating tub provided for rotation in the water tub, the rotating tub having a front and a rear, an electric motor driving the rotating tub, an elastic supporting element elastically supporting the water tub, and a loading element loading the supporting element and having a center of gravity located between substantially the middle of a dimension from the front to the rear of the rotating tub and the rear of the rotating tub, wherein the elastic supporting element includes a pair of front supporting members disposed ahead of the center of gravity of the loading element and a pair of rear supporting members disposed in the rear of the center of gravity of the loading element, and a distance from each front supporting member to the center of gravity of the loading element is substantially equal to a distance from each rear supporting member to the center of gravity of the loading element.
There are several causes for the vibration due to rotation of the rotating tub. The inventors noted one of such causes, that is, a location of the center of gravity of a member (a loading element) loading the elastic supporting element. The inventors carried out an experiment to confirm the relationship between the location of the center of gravity of the loading element and occurrence of vibration. The experiment shows that the vibration is reduced when the center of gravity of the loading element is located between substantially the middle of a back-and-forth dimension from the front to the rear of the rotating tub and the rear of the rotating tub. The above-described construction can reduce the vibration and noise produced during rotation of the rotating tub. Further, the water tub can stably be supported on the two pairs of the supporting members disposed ahead of and in the rear of the center of gravity of the loading element. Moreover, since the load of the loading element is applied uniformly to the supporting members, the vibration due to rotation of the rotating tub can be reduced.
The drum type washing machine preferably further comprises a bearing assembly provided on the rear of the water tub for supporting the rotating tub for rotation. In this case, the loading element includes at least the water tub, rotating tub, bearing assembly and motor. Each of the water tub, rotating tub, bearing assembly and motor contributes to the center of gravity of the loading element since each of them has a relatively large weight. Accordingly, when the weights of these parts and locational relations among these parts are adjusted during the manufacture, the center of gravity of the loading element can be set at a suitable location.
Either the water tub or the rotating tub is preferably provided with a counterweight disposed ahead of substantially the middle of the dimension from the front to the rear of the rotating tub. A location and weight of the counterweight are adjusted such that the center of gravity of the loading element can easily be set at a suitable location.
The elastic supporting element preferably includes a pair of front supporting members disposed ahead of the center of gravity of the loading element and a pair of rear supporting members disposed in the rear of the center of gravity of the loading element, and a distance from each front supporting member to the center of gravity of the loading element is substantially equal to a distance from each rear supporting member to the center of gravity of the loading element. Consequently, the water tub can stably be supported on the two pairs of the supporting members disposed ahead of and in the rear of the center of gravity of the loading element. Moreover, since the load of the loading element is applied uniformly to the supporting members, the vibration due to rotation of the rotating tub can be reduced.
The elastic supporting element preferably includes a pair of front supporting members disposed ahead of the center of gravity of the loading element and a pair of rear supporting members disposed in the rear of the center of gravity of the loading element, and a distance from each front supporting member to the center of gravity of the loading element is substantially longer than a distance from each rear supporting member to the center of gravity of the loading element. Since a distance or span between the two pairs of the supporting members supporting the water tub is increased, the water tub can further stably be supported.
The load of the loading element is applied non-uniformly to the front and rear supporting members when the distance from the center of gravity of the loading element to each front supporting member differs from the distance from the center of gravity of the loading element to each rear supporting member. To solve the problem, the drum type washing machine preferably further comprises a first fixing member to which the front supporting member is fixed and a second fixing member to which the rear supporting member is fixed. In this construction, a mounting dimension from the first fixing member to a portion of each front supporting member on which the water tub is supported differs from a mounting dimension from the

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