Patent Application
20250034784
The present disclosure relates to cross pieces for washing or laundry machines.
Laundry appliances such as washers and dryers are configured to clean and dry clothes, garments, textiles, or other articles. Such appliances often include several components and parts configured to allow the applicant to perform various functions. Many of these functions require a drum of the appliance to rotate or spin.
In one embodiment, a crosspiece forming a spider for a laundry appliance, may include a plurality of support arms extending from a center, the support arms configured to be attached to a drum of the laundry appliance, wherein the center is configured to receive a shaft of a drive mechanism of the laundry appliance and translation rotational motion to the drum during use; and where the support arms are formed from a first part and a second part, where the first part is coupled to the second part to form a hollow interior and increase inertia momentum of the spider during use.
In another example, the support arms form a quadrilateral cross-section.
In another embodiment, the support arms form a square cross-section.
In one example, the first part is formed of three sides and wherein the second part is a single side configured to close the three sides of the first part.
In another example, wherein the first part is U-shaped.
In another embodiment, the first part is welded to the second part.
In one example, the first part is made of a first material and the second part is made of a second material.
In another example, the first material is the same as the second material.
In another embodiment, the first material is different than the second material.
In one example, the first part and second part are each formed from a plastic material.
In another example, a fill material is included within the cavity to increase wear resistance and inertial momentum.
In one embodiment, a crosspiece forming a spider for a laundry appliance, includes a plurality of support arms extending from a center, the support arms configured to be attached to a drum of the laundry appliance, wherein the center is configured to receive a shaft of a drive mechanism of the laundry appliance and translation rotational motion to the drum during use; and where the support arms are formed from a first part and a second part, where the first part is coupled to the second part to form a quadrilateral cross-section to increase strength and inertia momentum of the spider during use.
In another embodiment, the support arms form a square cross-section.
In one example, the first part is formed of three sides and wherein the second part is a single side configured to close the three sides of the first part.
In another example, wherein the first part is U-shaped.
In another embodiment, the first part is welded to the second part.
In one example, the first part is made of a first material and the second part is made of a second material.
In another example, the first material is the same as the second material.
In another embodiment, the first material is different than the second material.
In one example, the first part and second part are each formed from a plastic material.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments may take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the embodiments. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures may be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations.
Disclosed herein is a welded crosspiece for a spider of a laundry appliance. The crosspiece is formed by a first material such as a plastic material and includes a front part and a rear part coupled together to form a box-like shape. Such coupling may be done via welding. The crosspiece is overmolded with a shaft and by coupling the front part and rear part together, the crosspiece section resistance is increased. The crosspiece may define a cavity configured to be filled. Such box-like shape, as well as any filling of the cavity, maximizes the inertia moment and section resistance during use of the laundry appliance.
The drum assembly 100 may include a cylindrical drum 102 configured to rotate during use of the laundry appliance. The drum 102 may define a tub having an opening configured to receive and house items to be washed or dried as part of a laundry cycle. The assembly 100 may include a spider 104 arranged on the side of the tub opposite the opening. The spider 104 has one or more support arms 106 extending from a center 108. A shaft 110 may extend from the spider 104. The shaft 110 may be coupled to a motor (not shown) configured to generate rotational motion. The shaft 110 may transmit the motion from the shaft 110 to rotate the drum 102. At a distal end 112 of each support arm 106, the support arm 106 may include an attachment mechanism to attach to the drum 102. Such an attachment mechanism may include screws to couple the spider 104 to the edge of the drum 102.
The spider 104 may include three arms 106, as shown by way of example in
The second part 118 may form the “back” of the support arm 106 and may include a generally flat piece configured to close the U-shaped or trapezoidal cross-section of the first part 116. That is, the first part 116 may include three sides forming the cross-section described above, and the three sides are configured to be closed by a single side of the second part 118. In another example, the second part 118 may have a non-flat piece such. In this example, the second part 118 may be similar in shape (e.g., trapezoidal) to the first part 116. The second part 118 may be formed of a second material such as a plastic material similar to those described for the first part 116. In some examples, the second part 118 may be of similar composition to that of the first part 116. Alternatively, the second part 118 may be formed of a different composition than the first part 116.
The plastic material for the crosspiece 114 may be any one or a combination of, for example, acrylic (PMMA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), nylon (polyamide, PA), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), polyoxymethylene (POM), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), etc.
The second part 118 may be coupled at the distal ends 124 of the sides 120 of the first part 116. Such coupling may include welding of the second part 118 to the first part 116. As in the example of
The first part 116 and the second part 118 may form a quadrilateral cross-section (e.g., four straight sides), specifically a square cross-section to create the box-like structure that aids in the increasing of the inertia momentum. Other quadrilateral cross-section such as rectangles, parallelograms, rhombus, etc., may be considered, as well as other non-quadrilateral c cross-sections such as circular, oval, etc., may be realized. The support arms 106 may have a generally consistent cross-section across the length of the arms. Further, each arm 106 may be similar to the others in shape and dimension, though differing geometries may also be appreciated.
Once the first part 116 and the second part 118 are coupled, the first part 116 and second part 118 may form a cavity 126 therebetween. The cavity 125 may be filled with a filler material (not shown) configured to affect the weight, but also add rigidity and strength to the spider 104. In one example, the filler material may include a resin, foam, plastic, etc., configured to be poured into the cavity 126. The filler material may partially or fully fill the cavity. In one example, an expandable filler material may be used so as to ensure the cavity 126 is devoid of any air pockets, fully filled, etc.
The crosspiece 114 may thus form a hollow plastic support structure forming the spider 104 when the first part 116 and the second part 118 are coupled together. The crosspiece 114 may be overmolded with the shaft 110. Thus, the crosspiece 114 may transfer rotational motion from the shaft to the drum 102. The plastic materials used for the first part 116 and the second part 118, as well as the coupling thereof, allows for an increase resistance and strength of the spider 104 over traditional designs. Further, the box-like shape allows for maximization of inertial movement when the shaft 110 is rotated. Adding additional fill material may also increase the performance of the crosspiece 114 and overall performance of the laundry appliance.
Thus, a spider crosspiece with an increased strength and inertia momentum is disclosed herein. Specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures can be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative examples for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure however could be desired for particular applications or implementations.
Moreover, except where otherwise expressly indicated, all numerical quantities and ranges in this disclosure are to be understood as modified by the word “about.” Practice within the numerical limits stated is generally preferred. Also, unless expressly stated to the contrary, the description of a group or class of materials by suitable or preferred for a given purpose in connection with the disclosure implies that mixtures of any two or more members of the group or class may be equally suitable or preferred.
The term “substantially,” “generally,” or “about” may be used herein to describe disclosed or claimed embodiments. The term “substantially” may modify a value or relative characteristic disclosed or claimed in the present disclosure. In such instances, “substantially” may signify that the value or relative characteristic it modifies is within ±0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% or 10% of the value or relative characteristic.
It should also be appreciated that integer ranges explicitly include all intervening integers. For example, the integer range 1-10 explicitly includes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Similarly, the range 1 to 100 includes 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . 97, 98, 99, 100. Similarly, when any range is called for, intervening numbers that are increments of the difference between the upper limit and the lower limit divided by 10 can be taken as alternative upper or lower limits. For example, if the range is 1.1. to 2.1 the following numbers 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, and 2.0 can be selected as lower or upper limits.
“One or more” includes a function being performed by one element, a function being performed by more than one element, e.g., in a distributed fashion, several functions being performed by one element, several functions being performed by several elements, or any combination of the above.
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.
