Patent Application
20250075406
The present disclosure generally relates to laundry treating appliances such as a dryer or washing machine.
Laundry appliances, such as clothes washers, dryers, refreshers, and non-aqueous systems, may include a rotating drum for receiving items to be laundered or dried.
A laundry machine includes a drum and a cabinet. The drum is configured to receive clothing articles. The drum is also configured to rotate at less than or equal to a maximum operating frequency. The cabinet houses the drum. The cabinet has exterior panels. At least one of the exterior panels includes an array of embossments. The depths of the embossments vary between embossments within the array. The depths of the embossments increase along the array in first and second opposing directions that extend away from a central region of the array such that a natural frequency of the at least one of the exterior panels is greater than the maximum operating frequency.
A laundry machine cabinet includes a rear panel and a side panel extending from the rear panel. The side panel includes a plurality of embossments. The embossments are aligned in an array. Depths of the embossments increase along the array in opposing directions that extend outward from a central region of the side panel.
A laundry machine includes at least one side panel. The at least one panel includes a plurality of embossments. Depths of the embossments vary. The depths of the embossments increase opposing directions that extend away from a central region of the at least one panel such that a natural frequency of the at least one of the panel is greater than an operational frequency of the laundry machine.
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.
The laundry holding system comprises a tub 14 supported within the cabinet 12 by a suitable suspension system and a drum 16 provided within the tub 14, the drum 16 defining at least a portion of a laundry treating chamber 18. The laundry treating chamber 18 may be referred to as an internal cavity and may also be at least partially defined by and within the cabinet 12. The laundry treating chamber 18 is configured to receive laundry articles (e.g., textiles, clothing articles, bedding, etc.) for treatment therein. The drum 16 may include a plurality of perforations 20 such that liquid may flow between the tub 14 and the drum 16 through the perforations 20. A plurality of baffles 22 may be disposed on an inner surface of the drum 16 to lift the laundry load received in the treating chamber 18 while the drum 16 rotates. It is also within the scope of the disclosure for the laundry holding system to comprise only a tub with the tub defining the laundry treating chamber.
The laundry holding system may further include a door 24 which may be movably mounted to the cabinet 12 to selectively close both the tub 14 and the drum 16 at an access opening 25. A bellows 26 may couple the access opening 25 of the tub 14 with the cabinet 12, with the door 24 sealing against the bellows 26 when the door 24 closes the tub 14. Alternatively, a bellows may not be included, and the door 24 can seal directly against the tub 14 when closed.
The washing machine 10 may further include a suspension system 28 for dynamically suspending the laundry holding system within the structural support system.
The washing machine 10 may further include a liquid supply system for supplying water to the washing machine 10 for use in treating laundry during a cycle of operation. The liquid supply system may include a source of water, such as a household or commercial water supply 40, which may include separate hot and cold water supplies. Hot and cold water may be supplied through inlet conduits 42, 44, respectively, directly to the tub 14 by controlling hot and cold water supply valves 46 and 48, respectively. The valves 46, 48 may direct the flow of liquid to a tub outlet conduit 50 which may be provided with a spray nozzle 52 configured to spray the flow of liquid into the tub 14. In this manner, water from the water supply 40 may be supplied directly to the tub 14.
The washing machine 10 may also be provided with a dispensing system for dispensing treating chemistry to the treating chamber 18 for use in treating the laundry according to a cycle of operation. The dispensing system may include a treating chemistry dispenser 62, described in further detail below. The dispenser 62 may be configured to dispense one or more treating chemistries directly to the tub 14 or one or more treating chemistries mixed with water from the liquid supply system through a dispensing outlet conduit 64. The dispensing outlet conduit 64 may include a dispensing nozzle 66 configured to dispense the treating chemistry into the tub 14 in a desired pattern and under a desired amount of pressure. For example, the dispensing nozzle 66 may be configured to dispense a flow or stream of treating chemistry into the tub 14 by gravity, i.e. a non-pressurized stream.
Valves 54, 56 control the flow of hot and cold water, respectively to the dispenser 62. Water may be supplied to the dispenser 62 from the water supply 40 opening one or both of the valves 54, 56 to direct the flow of water to dispensing supply conduits 58, 60, respectively. One hot and one cold dispensing supply conduit 58, 60 is shown in
Non-limiting examples of treating chemistries that may be dispensed by the dispensing system during a cycle of operation include one or more of the following: water, liquid detergents, powder detergents, fabric softeners, bleach, enzymes, fragrances, stiffness/sizing agents, wrinkle releasers/reducers, antistatic or electrostatic agents, stain repellants, water repellants, energy reduction/extraction aids, antibacterial agents, medicinal agents, vitamins, moisturizers, shrinkage inhibitors, and color fidelity agents, and combinations thereof.
The washing machine 10 may also include a recirculation and drain system for recirculating liquid within the laundry holding system and draining liquid from the washing machine 10. Liquid supplied to the tub 14 through tub outlet conduit 50 and/or the dispensing outlet conduit 64 typically enters a space between the tub 14 and the drum 16 and may flow by gravity to a sump 70 formed in part by a lower portion of the tub 14. The sump 70 may also be formed by a sump conduit 72 that may fluidly couple the lower portion of the tub 14 to a pump 74. The pump 74 may direct liquid to a drain conduit 76, which may drain the liquid from the washing machine 10, or to a recirculation conduit 78, which may terminate at a recirculation inlet 80. The recirculation inlet 80 may direct the liquid from the recirculation conduit 78 into the drum 16. The recirculation inlet 80 may introduce the liquid into the drum 16 in any suitable manner, such as by spraying, dripping, or providing a steady flow of liquid. In this manner, liquid provided to the tub 14, with or without treating chemistry may be recirculated into the treating chamber 18 for treating the laundry within.
The liquid supply and/or recirculation and drain system may optionally be provided with a heating system which may include one or more devices for heating laundry and/or liquid supplied to the tub 14, such as a steam generator 82 (
Additionally, the liquid supply and recirculation and drain system may differ from the configuration shown in
The washing machine 10 also includes a drive system for rotating the drum 16 within the tub 14. The drive system may include a motor 88, which may be directly coupled with the drum 16 through a drive shaft 90 to rotate the drum 16 about a rotational axis during a cycle of operation. The motor 88 may be a brushless permanent magnet (BPM) motor having a stator 92 and a rotor 94. Alternately, the motor 88 may be coupled to the drum 16 through a belt and a drive shaft to rotate the drum 16, as is known in the art. Other motors, such as an induction motor or a permanent split capacitor (PSC) motor, may also be used. The motor 88 may rotate the drum 16 at various speeds in either rotational direction. The motor 88 may be configured to rotate the drum 16 at less than or equal to a maximum rotational speed or less than or equal to a maximum operating frequency. For example, the motor 88 may rotate the drum 16 at the maximum rotational speed and the maximum operating frequency during a spin cycle and may rotate the drum 16 at less than the maximum rotational speed and less than the maximum operating frequency during a washing cycle.
The washing machine 10 also includes a control system for controlling the operation of the washing machine 10 to implement one or more cycles of operation. The control system may include a controller 96 located within the cabinet 12 and a user interface 98 that is operably coupled with the controller 96. The user interface 98 may include one or more knobs, dials, switches, displays, touch screens and the like for communicating with the user, such as to receive input and provide output. The user may enter different types of information including, without limitation, cycle selection and cycle parameters, such as cycle options.
The controller 96 may include the machine controller and any additional controllers provided for controlling any of the components of the washing machine 10. For example, the controller 96 may include the machine controller and a motor controller. Many known types of controllers may be used for the controller 96. It is contemplated that the controller is a microprocessor-based controller that implements control software and sends/receives one or more electrical signals to/from each of the various working components to effect the control software. As an example, proportional control (P), proportional integral control (PI), and proportional derivative control (PD), or a combination thereof, a proportional integral derivative control (PID control), may be used to control the various components.
The controller 96 may be operably coupled with one or more components of the washing machine 10 for communicating with and controlling the operation of the component to complete a cycle of operation. For example, the controller 96 may be operably coupled with the motor 88, the pump 74, the dispenser 62, the steam generator 82, valves 46, 48, 54, 56, and/or the sump heater 84 to control the operation of these and other components to implement one or more of the cycles of operation.
While illustrated as one controller, the controller 96 may be part of a larger control system and may be controlled by various other controllers throughout the washing machine 10. It should therefore be understood that the controller 96 and one or more other controllers can collectively be referred to as a “controller” that controls various actuators in response to signals from various sensors to control functions the washing machine 10 or subsystems. The controller 96 may include a microprocessor or central processing unit (CPU) in communication with various types of computer readable storage devices or media. Computer readable storage devices or media may include volatile and nonvolatile storage in read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), and keep-alive memory (KAM), for example. KAM is a persistent or non-volatile memory that may be used to store various operating variables while the CPU is powered down. Computer-readable storage devices or media may be implemented using any of a number of known memory devices such as PROMs (programmable read-only memory), EPROMs (electrically PROM), EEPROMs (electrically erasable PROM), flash memory, or any other electric, magnetic, optical, or combination memory devices capable of storing data, some of which represent executable instructions, used by the controller 96 in controlling the washing machine 10 or subsystems.
Control logic or functions performed by the controller 96 may be represented by flow charts or similar diagrams in one or more figures. These figures provide representative control strategies and/or logic that may be implemented using one or more processing strategies such as event-driven, interrupt-driven, multi-tasking, multi-threading, and the like. As such, various steps or functions illustrated may be performed in the sequence illustrated, in parallel, or in some cases omitted. Although not always explicitly illustrated, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that one or more of the illustrated steps or functions may be repeatedly performed depending upon the particular processing strategy being used. Similarly, the order of processing is not necessarily required to achieve the features and advantages described herein, but is provided for ease of illustration and description. The control logic may be implemented primarily in software executed by a microprocessor-based controller, such as controller 96. Of course, the control logic may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware in one or more controllers depending upon the particular application. When implemented in software, the control logic may be provided in one or more computer-readable storage devices or media having stored data representing code or instructions executed by a computer to control the washing machine 10 or its subsystems. The computer-readable storage devices or media may include one or more of a number of known physical devices which utilize electric, magnetic, and/or optical storage to keep executable instructions and associated calibration information, operating variables, and the like.
The controller 96 may also be coupled with one or more sensors 104 provided in one or more of the systems of the washing machine 10 to receive input from the sensors, which are known in the art and not shown for simplicity. Non-limiting examples of sensors 104 that may be communicably coupled with the controller 96 include: a treating chamber temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, a weight sensor, a load amount sensor, a chemical sensor, a position sensor and a motor torque sensor, which may be used to determine a variety of system and laundry characteristics, such as laundry load inertia or mass.
Referring to
At least one of the exterior panels includes a plurality of indentations, embosses, or embossments 114. More specifically, the side panels 112 may each include the embossments 114. However, the other exterior panels (e.g., top panel 106, a rear panel 108, a front panel 110, etc.) may include the embossments 114 in lieu of or in addition to the side panels 112. The embossments 114 may extend inward from an exterior surface 116 of a correspond panel (e.g., one or more of the side panels 112). The embossments 114 may be arranged or aligned in an array 118. More specifically, the embossments 114 may be arranged along the array 118 such that the embossments 114 are stacked in a vertically extending column as illustrated.
Alternatively, the embossments 114 could be arranged along the array 118 such that the embossments 114 are aligned in a horizontally extending row (i.e., the embossments 114 could be rotated 180° relative to what is illustrated in
Depths of the embossments 114 may vary between the embossments 114 within the array 118. The depths of the embossments 114 may correspond to the distance that the embossments 114 extend inward relative to the exterior surface 116 of the correspond panel (e.g., one or more of the side panels 112). More specifically, the depths of the embossments 114 may increase along the array 118 in first and second opposing directions 120, 122 that extend outward or away from a central region 124 of the array 118 and/or from one or more centrally positioned embossments 114. The central region 124 of the array 118 may also correspond to a central region of the correspond panel (e.g., one or more of the side panels 112). If the embossments 114 are arranged along the array 118 such that the embossments 114 are stacked in a vertically extending column as illustrated, the depths of the embossments 114 may increase along the array 118 in directions extending upward and downward from the central region 124 of the array 118 and/or from the one or more centrally positioned embossments 114 (i.e., if the embossments 114 are arranged along the array 118 such that the embossments 114 are stacked in a vertically extending column, the first and second opposing directions 120, 122 may extend upward and downward, respectively).
The embossments 114 may extend inward from an exterior surface 116 of a correspond panel (e.g., one or more of the side panels 112) to a corresponding depth. The depths of the embossments are illustrated as d1, d2, and d3, wherein (i) d1 is less than or smaller than d2 and d3 and (ii) d2 is less than or smaller than d3. The embossments 114 having depths of d1 correspond to the one or more centrally positioned embossments 114. The embossments 114 having depths of d2 correspond to the embossments 114 that are positioned away or outward in the first and second opposing directions 120, 122 from the embossments 114 having depths of d1. The embossments 114 having depths of d3 correspond to the embossments 114 that are positioned away or outward in the first and second opposing directions 120, 122 from the embossments 114 having depths of d2. If the embossments 114 having depths of d3 are said to have a depth that is 100% of a maximum depth (e.g., d3 is equal to the maximum depth), then d2 may range between 50% and 100% of the maximum depth while d1 may range between 0% and 50% of the maximum depth.
The embossments 114 may be rectangular in shape. Each embossment 114 may extend between 65% and 95% of a first dimension (e.g., a width, W) of a corresponding panel (e.g., one or more of the side panels 112). The array 118 of embossments 114 may extend between 65% and 95% of a second dimension (e.g., a height, H) of the corresponding panel.
Each embossment 114 may include a fillet or chamfer 126 extending from the exterior surface 116 of a corresponding panel (e.g., one or more of the side panels 112) to the corresponding depth (e.g., d1, d2, or d3,). Each fillet or chamfer 126 may extend about an outer periphery 128 of a corresponding embossment 114. The depth (e.g., d1, d2, or d3,) of each embossment 114 may be substantially constant within an entirety of area 130 that is internal relative to a corresponding fillet or chamfer 126 such that each embossment 114 is substantially flat within the area 130 that is internal relative to the corresponding fillet or chamfer 126. Substantially constant may refer a depth having a desired value that remains constant or may refer a depth having a corresponding value that may deviate up to one millimeter from the desired value. Substantially flat may refer to a surface that remains constant relative to a perfectly flat plane or to a surface that may deviate up to one millimeter relative to a perfectly flat plane.
The configuration of the cabinet 12 (e.g., the cabinet having side panels 112 that each include the array 118 of embossments 114) is configured to reduce noise, vibration, and harshness of the washing machine 10. More specifically, the first natural frequency of the panels that include the embossments 114 may be greater than the maximum operating frequency or operational frequency of the washing machine 10 (e.g., the maximum frequency at which the drum 16 may rotate). This ensures that the natural frequency of the panels that include the embossments 114 is never aligned with the operating frequency of the washing machine 10, which in turn ensures that the cabinet 12 of the washing machine 10 will not be subject to noise, vibration, and harshness.
The laundry machine 10 may have a maximum operating frequency that is approximately 26.7 Hertz while the first natural frequency of the panels that include the embossments 114 may be approximately 34 Hertz. These values however may change as the size of the washing machine 10 is either scaled up or down. Therefore, the design of the washing machine 10 may be controlled so that the first natural frequency of the panels that include the embossments 114 remains greater than the maximum operating or operational frequency of the washing machine 10 plus some nominal value. For example, the design may be controlled so that the first natural frequency of the panels that include the embossments 114 is always at least 20% greater than the maximum operating frequency of the washing machine 10. As another example, the design may be controlled so that the first natural frequency of the panels that include the embossments 114 is between 20% and 30% greater than the maximum operating frequency of the washing machine 10.
Although the configuration of the cabinet 12 is illustrated as being utilized on a front-loading washing machine, such a configuration could also be utilized on a top-loading washing machine, a front-loading dryer, a top-loading dryer, or any other configuration for a laundry machine known in the art.
It should be understood that the designations of first, second, third, fourth, etc. for any component, state, or condition described herein may be rearranged in the claims so that they are in chronological order with respect to the claims. Furthermore, it should be understood that any component, state, or condition described herein that does not have a numerical designation may be given a designation of first, second, third, fourth, etc. in the claims if one or more of the specific component, state, or condition are claimed.
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 disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics may be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and may be desirable for particular applications.
