WO2009132957A1

WO2009132957A1 - A dryer

Info

Publication number: WO2009132957A1
Application number: PCT/EP2009/054367
Authority: WO
Inventors: Solen Ozkan; Resul Kanlikuyu; Kadir Ceran
Original assignee: Arcelik AS
Current assignee: Arcelik AS
Priority date: 2008-05-02
Filing date: 2009-04-14
Publication date: 2009-11-05
Anticipated expiration: 2010-11-02
Also published as: EP2281083B1; EP2281083A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dryer (1) which comprises a drum (2) with capacity of rotating around itself, having a horizontal axis cylindrical body (3) and a ring shaped front lid (4) forming the front surface of the body (3), and at least two wheels (5, 105) whereon the front lid (4) sits and have a parallel rotation axis with the rotation axis (X) of the drum (2) and can rotate around itself as a result of the movement of the drum (2) during drying operation and support the drum (2) and are positioned such that there is at least one on each of the both sides of the drum

Description

PatXML 1/5 BB1424-7.741

Description

A DRYER

[0001] The present invention relates to a dryer comprising a drum.

[0002] As is known, laundry to be dried is loaded inside a drum. A drying process is performed by the spinning of said drum driven by a motor.

[0003] In state of the art, sliding and wheeled systems are employed for front bearing of the drum. Fracture problem is seen due to the fatigue of the front lid of the drum in advantageous wheeled system owing to the fact that the drum is less dependent on the surface flatness of the drum. Producing the drum with completely or respectively thick and strong material to prevent fracture increases the overall cost of drum.

[0004] In state of the art Chinese Patent Application No CN1970875, a drum comprising more than one support mechanisms, which have more than one wheel positioned on the same shaft, is explained.

[0005] In state of the art British Patent Application No GB1285345, an embodiment relating to a drum comprising a support mechanism, which consists of two wheels with double sides in the front and back, is explained.

[0006] In these applications, lots of wheels and connection members are needed and thus the cost increases.

[0007] The aim of the present invention is the realization of a drum wherein the strength of the drum is increased.

[0008] The dryer realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention is explicated in the attached claims.

[0009] The drum of the present invention rotates on the wheels whereon the front lid leans. To increase the endurance for fatigue occurring in the front lid due to the friction of the wheels, a wheel on one side of the drum is positioned in the back in comparison with the wheel on the other side. In other words, the wheels are positioned such that they are not on the same line in the direction of rotational axis of the drum.

[0010] Thus, the life of front lid against the fatigue impact occurring due to pressure of wheels is extended and damages due to the fatigue are prevented without increasing the cost of material. PatXML 2/5 BB1424-7.741

[0011] In an embodiment of present invention, the drum also comprises at least two channels formed all around the surface of the front lid. Wheels in the front are disposed on the front channel and the wheels at rear are disposed on the rear channel.

[0012] In an embodiment of the present invention, for instance, the wheel on the right and front is close to the bottom of the drum and the wheel on the left and back is respectively further and higher and thus is disposed on vertically different levels.

[0013] In the dryers wherein the drum is supported with the wheels whereon the front part of the wheel is seated, the surfaces whereto the wheels on both sides of the drum contacts differentiates and fatigue due to the contact is dispersed to different parts and hence life time of the drum is improved.

[0014] The model embodiments related to the dryer realized in order to attain the aim of the present invention are illustrated in the attached figures, where:

[0015] Figure 1 - is the schematic view of a dryer.

[0016] Figure 2 - is front view of drum and wheels.

[0017] Figure 3 - is schematic view of front lid and wheel in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 4 - is schematic view of front lid and wheel from below in another embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 5 - is sideways schematic view of front lid and wheel in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] The elements illustrated in the figures are numbered as follows:

1. Dryer

2. Drum

3. Body

4. Front lid

5. 105. Wheel

6. 106. Channel

[0021] The dryer (1) of the present invention comprises a drum (2) rotating on its own horizontal axis (Figure 1). The dryer (1) of the present invention, is preferably a horizontal axis dryer (1).

[0022] The drum (2) comprises a cylindrical body (3), a ring shaped front lid (4) PatXML 3/5 BB1424-7.741

forming the front part of the body (3) (Figure 2).

[0023] The dryer (1) furthermore comprises at least two wheels (5, 105), whereon the front lid (4) is seated, having a rotational axis parallel with rotational axis (X) of the drum (2), and supporting the drum (2) by rotating around themselves during drying process.

[0024] The wheels (5, 105) are positioned in a way that there exists at least one wheel on each of the both sides of vertical axis (Y) passing through the center of drum (2). The wheels (5, 105) are positioned in such a staggered way that the line where the wheel (5) on one side of the drum (2) touches on the front lid (4) while rotating is different from the line where the wheel (105) on other side touches on the front lid (4). Thus during the rotation of the drum (2) the line on the front lid (4) where a wheel (5) touches is different from the line where the other wheel (105) touches. Consequently, the fatigue on the front lid (4) resulting from contact with the wheels (5, 105) spreads over various parts and so the life of the drum (2) is enabled to improve.

[0025] In an embodiment of the present invention, the drum (2) also comprises at least two channels (6, 106) with front and rear sides, formed around front lid (4), in each of which at least one wheel is positioned.

[0026] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, two wheels (5, 105) are used and the wheels (5, 105) are preferably disposed on both sides of the front lid in such a way that one wheel (5, 105) is seated in each channel (6, 106). As a result, fatigue and attrition in front lid (4) faced in the course of time is minimized by positioning a wheel (5, 105) in each of the channels (6, 106) formed in both sides instead of the advancement of the wheels (5, 105) on the same line on the front lid (2) (Figure 3).

[0027] In an embodiment of the present invention, the wheels (5, 105) are positioned in both sides in direction of rotational axis of the drum (2) such that the wheels also are not aligned vertically (Figure 2). In other words, distances (d-i, d₂) of the wheels (5, 105) to vertical axis (Y) passing through the center of drum (2) are not equal. Hence, the drum (2) is supported in a balanced way during its rotation.

[0028] By means of the dryer (1) of the present invention, the drum is realized to PatXML 4/5 BB1424-7.741

resist to fatigue and fractures thereof on the front lid (4) where wheels (5) press on. [0029] It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed above and an expert in the technique can easily introduce different embodiments. These should be considered within the scope of the protection postulated by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

PatXML 5/5 BB1424-7.741Claims

1. A dryer (1) that comprises a drum (2) rotating around itself having a horizontal axis, a cylindrical body (3) and a ring shaped front lid (4) forming the front surface of the body (3) and at least two wheels (5, 105) having parallel rotational axis with the rotational axis (X) of the drum (2) and supporting the drum (4) by rotating around themselves during the rotation of the drum (2) and positioned in such a way that at least one wheel exists on each side of the drum (2), and characterized by the wheels (5, 105) positioned in a staggered way that the line where the wheel (5) on one side of the drum (2) contacts on the front lid (4) during its rotation is different from the line where other wheel (105) on the other side contacts on the front lid (4).

2. A dryer (1), as in Claim 1 , characterized in that the drum (2) comprises at least two channels (6, 106) on both sides, in each of which at least one wheel (5, 105) is positioned and formed all around the front lid (4).

3. A dryer (1), as in Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the two wheels (5, 105) which are not aligned in the same line vertically.