EP2441874B1 - Waschmaschine mit einem verbesserten Balg - Google Patents

Waschmaschine mit einem verbesserten Balg Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2441874B1
EP2441874B1 EP12150484.9A EP12150484A EP2441874B1 EP 2441874 B1 EP2441874 B1 EP 2441874B1 EP 12150484 A EP12150484 A EP 12150484A EP 2441874 B1 EP2441874 B1 EP 2441874B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
drum
annular lip
vertical annular
bellows
laundry machine
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Not-in-force
Application number
EP12150484.9A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP2441874A1 (de
Inventor
Daniele Favaro
Luca Gruppo
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Original Assignee
Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Electrolux Home Products Corp NV filed Critical Electrolux Home Products Corp NV
Priority to EP12150484.9A priority Critical patent/EP2441874B1/de
Publication of EP2441874A1 publication Critical patent/EP2441874A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP2441874B1 publication Critical patent/EP2441874B1/de
Not-in-force legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

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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
    • D06F37/266—Gaskets mounted between tub and casing around the loading opening

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a laundry machine.
  • the present invention may be used to particular advantage in a laundry washing machine, to which the following description refers purely by way of example.
  • a standard laundry washing machine comprises a casing resting on a floor on a number of feet.
  • the casing supports a cylindrical tub enclosing a revolving perforated drum, which rotates about a rotation axis, and front access to which is closed by a door hinged to the casing.
  • a back end of the tub is closed by a back wall, and a front end of the tub, opposite the back end, is open to define a door opening, and is connected to a circular fixed frame of the hinged door by an annular elastic watertight bellows. More specifically, a back end of the bellows is connected rigidly (e.g. interference fitted) to the front end of the tub, and a front end of the bellows, opposite the back end, is connected rigidly (e.g. interference fitted) to the circular fixed frame of the hinged door.
  • the bellows comprises a vertical annular lip (so-called “bellows nose”), which closes the annular gap between the front end of the tub and the front end of the drum to prevent the laundry being washed from slipping accidentally between the tub and the drum.
  • This is a particularly dangerous situation, on account of any laundry items slipping accidentally between the tub and drum being located between a fixed part (the tub and bellows) and a rotating part (the drum), and so subject to tearing or wear by friction.
  • rotation of the drum may be slowed (braked) or even stopped, thus resulting in mechanical and electric stress of the entire rotating part of the washing machine.
  • the inner edge of the vertical annular lip has substantially the same diameter as, and is located opposite and separated slightly from, the open front end of the drum. It is important to note that the vertical annular lip of the bellows must be a given distance from the drum to allow for manufacturing tolerances, and to prevent the drum - which, only being supported at the rear, tilts slightly downwards when loaded - from sliding on the vertical annular lip of the bellows.
  • washing machines are characterized by a continual increase in rated capacity, i.e. the maximum amount of laundry (normally measured in kg) that the drum can hold.
  • rated capacity i.e. the maximum amount of laundry (normally measured in kg) that the drum can hold.
  • part of the laundry falls out of the drum by gravity and weighs on the bottom portion of the bellows, thus flexing the bellows so that the vertical annular lip rotates forwards (i.e. towards the door), thus widening the gap between the inner edge of the vertical annular lip and the front end of the drum, and so increasing the likelihood of a laundry item slipping accidentally between the tub and the drum.
  • DE 10 2006 031 352 discloses a front loadable washing machine comprising a housing provided with a front opening, a washing tub provided with a frontal opening, and a rotatable drum provided with a front filling opening.
  • the front opening of the housing is liquid-tight connected to the frontal opening of the tub by a an elastic sleeve; in the annular gap between the opening of the drum and the opening of the tub there is arranged a check lip which abuts against an annular region of the drum.
  • Number 1 in Figure 1 indicates as a whole a washing machine comprising a casing 2 resting on a floor 3 on a number of feet 4.
  • Casing 2 supports a revolving perforated drum 5, which rotates about a horizontal rotation axis 6 (in alternative embodiments not shown, rotation axis 6 may be tilted), and front access to which is closed by a door 7 hinged to casing 2.
  • Drum 5 is rotated about rotation axis 6 by an electric motor 8 connected to drum 5 by a drive, which comprises a belt 9 connecting a pulley 10, fitted to the shaft of drum 5, directly to a pulley 11 fitted to the shaft of electric motor 8.
  • electric motor 8 is coaxial with drum 5, and the shaft of drum 5 is connected rigidly to the shaft of electric motor 8.
  • Washing machine 1 also comprises a cylindrical tub 12 supported by casing 2 and enclosing drum 5.
  • a back end of tub 12 is closed by a back wall 13, and a front end of tub 12, opposite the back end, is open to define a door opening, and is connected to a front panel 14 by an annular elastic watertight bellows 15.
  • a back end 16 of bellows 15 is interference-fitted rigidly to a front end of tub 12; a front end 17 of bellows 15, opposite back end 16, is interference-fitted rigidly to front panel 14; and bellows 15 comprises a vertical annular lip 18 close to a front end 19 of drum 5.
  • a bottom portion of vertical annular lip 18 has an inner edge 20 larger in diameter than the open front end 19 of drum 5, and which is substantially coplanar with and surrounds the open front end 19 of drum 5 radially. It is important to note that the bottom portion of vertical annular lip 18 has no horizontal projections parallel to rotation axis 6 ( Figure 2 ). The bottom portion of vertical annular lip 18 has a number of horizontal through drain holes 21 opening into tub 12.
  • inner edge 20 which is smaller in diameter than open front end 19 of drum 5, is positioned facing and offset horizontally with respect to open front end 19 of drum 5, and has a horizontal projection 22 which fits partly inside drum 5.
  • the bottom portion of vertical annular lip 18 slopes slightly towards drum 5 by an angle generally ranging between 5° and 30°, and preferably between 10° and 20°; and flexure of the bottom portion of vertical annular lip 18 of bellows 15 in no way interferes with flexure of drum 5, so that, when bellows 15 and drum 5 are flexed by the laundry inside drum 5, the bottom portion of vertical annular lip 18 in no way interferes with open front end 19 of drum 5, thus preventing drum 5, as it rotates, from sliding on vertical annular lip 18.
  • flexure of vertical annular lip 18 should be tangent to that of drum 5, but, to allow for inevitable manufacturing tolerances, is preferably separated from flexure of drum 5 by a distance at least equal to the manufacturing tolerances.
  • the distance between inner edge 20 of the bottom portion of vertical annular lip 18 and the open front end 19 of drum 5 remains more or less constant (even allowing for downward flexing of drum 5 by the weight of the laundry), thus substantially preventing any laundry items from slipping between vertical annular lip 18 and the open front end 19 of drum 5 (i.e. between drum 5 and tub 12) when drum 5 is fully loaded.
  • horizontal rib 23 extends radially along a limited area of the top portion of vertical annular lip 18, and gradually varies axially in size between a minimum of zero at the ends and a maximum at the centre. More specifically, the variation in the axial size of the rib, between a minimum of zero at the ends and a maximum at the centre, is roughly sinusoidal, as opposed to linear.
  • horizontal rib 23 The function of horizontal rib 23 is to intercept any laundry items rotating with drum 5 and slipping partly between vertical annular lip 18 and the open front end 19 of drum 5, and to push the escaping laundry items back towards drum 5 (or, at any rate, prevent them from penetrating any further between vertical annular lip 18 and the open front end 19 of drum 5).
  • drum 5 When drum 5 is fully loaded, part of the laundry rests on the bottom portion of bellows 15, thus flexing bellows 15, which in turn bends horizontal rib 23 downwards (i.e. towards drum 5) to bring it closer to drum 5 and so improve its effectiveness.
  • Laundry washing machine 1 as described above has numerous advantages, by being cheap and easy to produce. More specifically, bellows 15 as described above is no more expensive than an equivalent standard bellows, and substantially prevents any laundry items from slipping between drum 5 and tub 12, when drum 5 is fully loaded, by virtue of the design of the bottom portion of vertical annular lip 18, and provision of horizontal rib 23. As such, the same drum 5 may safely be loaded with a larger amount of laundry, thus increasing the rated capacity of laundry washing machine 1, with no increase in the internal or external dimensions of the machine.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Textile Engineering (AREA)
  • Main Body Construction Of Washing Machines And Laundry Dryers (AREA)

Claims (12)

  1. Waschmaschine (1), die Folgendes aufweist:
    ein Gehäuse (2) mit einer vorderen Schwenktür (7),
    eine sich drehende durchlochte Trommel (5), die sich um eine horizontale oder geneigte Drehachse (6) dreht,
    eine Wanne (12), die die Trommel (5) umschließt, und
    einen elastischen ringförmigen Balg (15) mit einem hinteren Ende (16), das mit einem vorderen Ende der Wanne (12) verbunden ist, einem vorderen Ende (17), das mit dem Gehäuse (2) um die Tür (7) herum verbunden ist, und einer vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18), die sich nahe einem vorderen Ende (19) der Trommel (5) befindet,
    wobei die vertikale ringförmige Lippe (18) des Balgs (15) mindestens eine horizontale Rippe (23) aufweist, die sich horizontal von einer hinteren Wand (24) der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) erstreckt, im Durchmesser größer ist als das offene vordere Ende (19) der Trommel (5) und sich zwischen der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) und der Trommel (5) befindet, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass sich die horizontale Rippe (23) radial entlang eines begrenzten Bereichs des oberen Abschnitts der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) erstreckt und der obere Abschnitt der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) einen inneren Rand (20) aufweist, der im Durchmesser kleiner ist als das offene vordere Ende (19), in Bezug auf das offene vordere Ende (19) zugewandt positioniert und horizontal versetzt ist und einen horizontalen Vorsprung (22) hat, der teilweise in die Trommel (5) passt.
  2. Waschmaschine (1) nach Anspruch 1, wobei sich die horizontale Rippe (23) graduell axial in der Größe zwischen einem Minimum von null an den Enden und einem Maximum in der Mitte unterscheidet.
  3. Waschmaschine (1) nach Anspruch 2, wobei der axiale Größenunterschied der horizontalen Rippe (23) zwischen einem Minimum von null an den Enden und einem Maximum in der Mitte ungefähr sinusförmig ist.
  4. Waschmaschine (1) nach einem oder mehreren der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei mindestens ein Bodenabschnitt der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) des Balgs (15) einen inneren Rand (20) hat, der im Durchmesser größer ist als das offene vordere Ende (19) der Trommel (5), und der im Wesentlichen mit dem offen vorderen Ende (19) der Trommel (5) koplanar ist, um das offene vordere Ende (19) der Trommel (5) radial zu umgeben.
  5. Waschmaschine (1) nach Anspruch 4, wobei mindestens der Bodenabschnitt der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) des Balgs (15) keine horizontalen Vorsprünge hat, die parallel zu der Drehachse (6) sind.
  6. Waschmaschine (1) nach Anspruch 4 oder 5, wobei mindestens ein Bodenabschnitt der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) des Balgs (15) leicht hin zu der Trommel (5) abfällt.
  7. Waschmaschine (1) nach Anspruch 6, wobei mindestens ein Bodenabschnitt der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) des Balgs (15) hin zu der Trommel (5) in einem Winkel abfällt, der im Bereich von zwischen 5° und 30° liegt.
  8. Waschmaschine (1) nach Anspruch 6, wobei mindestens ein Bodenabschnitt der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) des Balgs (15) hin zu der Trommel (5) in einem Winkel abfällt, der im Bereich von zwischen 10° und 20° liegt.
  9. Waschmaschine (1) nach einem der Ansprüche 4 bis 8, wobei die Biegung mindestens eines Bodenabschnitts der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) des Balgs (15) in keiner Weise die Biegung der Trommel (5) stört, so dass, wenn der Balg (15) und die Trommel (5) durch die Wäsche im Inneren der Trommel (5) gebogen werden, der Bodenabschnitt der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) in keiner Weise das offene vordere Ende (19) der Trommel (5) stört, wodurch verhindert wird, dass die Trommel (5), wenn sie sich dreht, auf der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) gleitet.
  10. Waschmaschine (1) nach Anspruch 9, wobei die Biegung mindestens eines Bodenabschnitts der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) des Balgs (15) zu der Biegung der Trommel (5) tangential ist.
  11. Waschmaschine (1) nach Anspruch 9, wobei die Biegung mindestens eines Bodenabschnitts der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) des Balgs (15) von der Biegung der Trommel (5) in einem Abstand getrennt ist, der mindestens gleich den Fertigungstoleranzen ist.
  12. Waschmaschine (1) nach einem der Ansprüche 4 bis 11, wobei der Bodenabschnitt der vertikalen ringförmigen Lippe (18) des Balgs (15) eine Anzahl von horizontalen Durchgangsabflusslöchern (21) hat.
EP12150484.9A 2008-01-14 2008-01-14 Waschmaschine mit einem verbesserten Balg Not-in-force EP2441874B1 (de)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP12150484.9A EP2441874B1 (de) 2008-01-14 2008-01-14 Waschmaschine mit einem verbesserten Balg

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP12150484.9A EP2441874B1 (de) 2008-01-14 2008-01-14 Waschmaschine mit einem verbesserten Balg
EP08150245.2A EP2078777B1 (de) 2008-01-14 2008-01-14 Waschmaschine mit verbesserten Dichtungsbälgen

Related Parent Applications (3)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP08150245.2A Division-Into EP2078777B1 (de) 2008-01-14 2008-01-14 Waschmaschine mit verbesserten Dichtungsbälgen
EP08150245.2A Division EP2078777B1 (de) 2008-01-14 2008-01-14 Waschmaschine mit verbesserten Dichtungsbälgen
EP08150245.2 Division 2008-01-14

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2441874A1 EP2441874A1 (de) 2012-04-18
EP2441874B1 true EP2441874B1 (de) 2018-07-25

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EP12150484.9A Not-in-force EP2441874B1 (de) 2008-01-14 2008-01-14 Waschmaschine mit einem verbesserten Balg
EP08150245.2A Active EP2078777B1 (de) 2008-01-14 2008-01-14 Waschmaschine mit verbesserten Dichtungsbälgen

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EP08150245.2A Active EP2078777B1 (de) 2008-01-14 2008-01-14 Waschmaschine mit verbesserten Dichtungsbälgen

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Families Citing this family (14)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR20100080415A (ko) 2008-12-30 2010-07-08 엘지전자 주식회사 세탁장치
KR101635870B1 (ko) * 2009-01-07 2016-07-04 엘지전자 주식회사 세탁장치
KR20100129161A (ko) 2009-05-28 2010-12-08 엘지전자 주식회사 세탁장치
KR101692727B1 (ko) * 2009-05-28 2017-01-04 엘지전자 주식회사 세탁장치
KR101663610B1 (ko) 2009-05-28 2016-10-07 엘지전자 주식회사 세탁장치
KR20100129174A (ko) 2009-05-28 2010-12-08 엘지전자 주식회사 세탁장치
US9828715B2 (en) 2009-05-28 2017-11-28 Lg Electronics Inc. Laundry maching having a drying function
TR200909579A2 (tr) * 2009-12-20 2011-07-21 Bsh Ev Aletler� San. Ve T�C. A.�. Önden yüklemeli bir çamaşir makinesi
EP2453053B1 (de) * 2010-11-15 2019-03-27 Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V. Waschmaschine
WO2016102029A1 (en) * 2014-12-25 2016-06-30 Arcelik Anonim Sirketi Gasket for use in a laundry washing machine
US11208750B2 (en) 2018-12-29 2021-12-28 Whirlpool Corporation Laundry appliance with a deflector
US11761134B2 (en) 2019-05-23 2023-09-19 Whirlpool Corporation Laundry appliance
US11377772B2 (en) 2019-05-23 2022-07-05 Whirlpool Corporation Laundry appliance
DE102023204229A1 (de) * 2023-05-08 2024-11-14 BSH Hausgeräte GmbH Dichtungsmanschette für ein Haushaltsgerät zur Pflege von Wäschestücken mit spezifisch geformtem S-förmigen Bereich, sowie Verfahren und Haushaltsgerät

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DE3843386C2 (de) * 1988-12-23 1996-04-25 Aeg Hausgeraete Gmbh Stirnseitig beschickbare Trommelwaschmaschine
DE9202138U1 (de) * 1992-02-19 1992-10-22 Licentia Patent-Verwaltungs-Gmbh, 6000 Frankfurt Waschmaschine o.dgl.
DE102006031352A1 (de) * 2006-07-06 2008-01-10 BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH Von vorn beschickbare Waschmaschine

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP2078777B1 (de) 2016-04-13
EP2078777A1 (de) 2009-07-15
EP2441874A1 (de) 2012-04-18

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