Patent Application
20120291302
The present invention is directed to a noise-reducing laundry drum for a domestic household appliance, and more particularly, to a laundry drum having a noise-reducing coating or liner, and more particularly, to a domestic household appliance having a laundry drum having a noise-reducing coating or liner.
A domestic household appliance, such as a laundry washer or dryer, generally includes a housing having a door that covers an opening for accessing the interior of the appliance. The household appliance commonly includes a washing unit or drying unit in the interior of the appliance housing. The washing unit of a washer includes a tub having a cylindrical washing drum rotatably mounted inside the tub and a driver device for driving the rotating drum. The drying unit of a dryer includes a cylindrical drum rotatably mounted inside the housing and a driver device for driving the rotating drum.
Front-load clothes washers and dryers, which have a door positioned on the front of the appliance, have become increasingly popular in recent years for household use. Such front-load washers and dryers commonly include glass or see-through portions in the door to allow an operator to monitor the laundry while it is in the rotating drum.
In operation, the door of the appliance is opened and clothes or laundry are inserted into the household appliance through the opening and placed in the rotating drum and the door is then closed. In the case of a washer, the household appliance wets the laundry to be washed with washing liquid and mechanically moves the laundry to release contaminants from the laundry, for example, during a low speed tumbling cycle in which the drive system rotates the drum at a low speed. In the case of a dryer, the household appliance tumbles and mechanically moves the laundry within the drum, for example, while heating the air within the drum and/or extracting moisture from the air within the drum to dry the laundry.
Household appliances that operate quietly also have become increasingly popular in recent years for household use. During the rotation of the drum of a front-load washer or dryer, the laundry may be lifted upward within the drum along the circumferential interior surface of the drum before dropping back toward a lower area of the drum. The falling laundry items, particularly falling laundry items having metal parts (e.g., buckles, buttons, etc.), may emit noise when the items contact the interior surface of the drum.
These problems and others are addressed by the present invention, a first exemplary embodiment of which comprises a drum for a household appliance, the drum comprising a cylindrical shell, a front sheet on a front of the cylindrical shell, and a rear sheet on a rear of the cylindrical shell, wherein a portion of the cylindrical shell includes a noise-dampening coating.
Another exemplary embodiment of the invention comprises a household appliance including a housing having a door formed in a front panel thereof for accessing an interior of the housing, and a rotating drum disposed within the housing, the drum comprising a cylindrical shell, a front sheet on a front of the cylindrical shell, and a rear sheet on a rear of the cylindrical shell, wherein a portion of the cylindrical shell includes a noise-dampening coating.
Yet another exemplary embodiment of the invention comprises a household appliance comprising a housing having a door formed in a front panel thereof for accessing an interior of the housing, and a rotating drum disposed within the housing, the drum including a cylindrical shell, a front sheet on a front of the cylindrical shell, and a rear sheet on a rear of the cylindrical shell, wherein a portion of one of the cylindrical shell, the front sheet, and the rear sheet includes means for dampening noise.
In this manner, the embodiments directly address the particular source of noise resulting from falling laundry items having metal parts (e.g., buckles, buttons, etc.) contacting the interior surface of the drum. More particularly, the embodiments can coat the inside of the drum directly at the starting point/source of the noise. The inside of the drum can be coated or lined (i.e., directly coated or lined) with a noise-dampening coating or material, such as an elastic material, rubber, synthetic rubber, or any other noise-dampening material. The drum can be pre-coated with the noise-dampening coating or material during the assembly process, or post-coated with the noise-dampening coating or material subsequent to the assembly of the drum within the household appliance.
The drum can be partially or fully (i.e., entirely or completely) coated with the noise-dampening coating or material. For example, in an embodiment, only the circumferential drum shell may be coated with the noise-dampening coating. The noise-dampening coating may be provided on the interior surfaces of the drum, the outside surfaces of the drum, or on all parts of the drum.
The drum can be a dryer drum or a washer drum that is coated with an elastic material, rubber, synthetic rubber, or any other noise-dampening material to reduce the noise emitted by falling laundry items, especially of falling laundry items that have metal parts (e.g., buckles, buttons, etc.). The coating is applied directly at the source of the noise (metal or other hard items on clothing hitting the inside of the metal drum), thereby providing a greater level of noise reduction.
In an embodiment, the noise-dampening coating or material can have a low flame point and/or emit a large amount of CO, CO2, NOx, or the like when exposed to high levels of heat or fire, thereby providing an additional advantage of smothering any fire that may occur inside the drum of the appliance, for example, as a result of an overheating of laundry in the household appliance. In this manner, the noise-dampening coating can provide a fire retardant/containment/abatement function, in addition to reducing noise.
Furthermore, the noise-dampening coating can be provided in various colors, thereby improving aesthetic qualities of the portions of the drum that are visible to a user.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description and drawings.
These and other aspects and features of embodiments of the present invention will be better understood after a reading of the following detailed description, together with the attached drawings, wherein:
The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Referring now to the drawings,
As illustrated in
Referring to
Referring to
With reference to
As shown in
In an embodiment, the noise-dampening coating or material 40 can have a low flame point and/or emit a large amount of CO, CO2, NOx, or the like when exposed to high levels of heat or fire, thereby providing an additional advantage of smothering any fire that may occur inside the drum 10a, 10b of the appliance, for example, as a result of an overheating of laundry in the household appliance. In this manner, the noise-dampening coating 40 can provide a fire retardant/containment/abatement function, in addition to reducing noise.
Furthermore, the noise-dampening coating 40 can be provided in various colors, thereby improving aesthetic qualities of the portions of the drum that are visible to a user.
One or more surfaces of the drum 10a, 10b can be partially or fully (i.e., entirely or completely) coated with the noise-dampening coating or material 40. For example, in an embodiment, only the circumferential drum shell 30 may be partially or fully coated with the noise-dampening coating 40. In other embodiments, the noise-dampening coating 40 may be provided on an interior surface of the drum 10a, 10b, an outside or exterior surface of the drum 10a, 10b, or on all parts of the drum 10a, 10b (i.e., interior and exterior surfaces of the drum 10a, 10b).
For example, with reference again to the embodiment of
With reference to
With reference to
In other embodiments, only the exterior surface of the cylindrical shell may have the noise-dampening coating 40. Furthermore, a portion of the front sheet 32 and/or the rear sheet 34 can include the noise-dampening coating 40.
For example, with reference to the exemplary embodiment of
In other embodiments, a portion of the exterior surfaces of the front sheet 32 and/or the rear sheet 34, or the entire surface of the front sheet 32 and/or the rear sheet 34, can include a noise-dampening coating 40.
Additionally, other features or elements formed on or coupled to the drum 10a, 10b can include a noise-dampening coating 40. For example, curved or contoured portions, perforated portions, paddles, reinforcing features or supports for mounting the drum 10a, 10b within the household appliance and/or driving the rotation of the drum 10a, 10b within the household appliance, or the like can include a noise-dampening coating 40.
The drum 10a, 10b can be a washer drum (i.e., a drum for a washer 12) or a dryer drum (i.e., a drum for a dryer 14) that is coated with an elastic material, rubber, synthetic rubber, or any other noise-dampening material (e.g. 40) to reduce the noise emitted by falling laundry items, especially of falling laundry items that have metal parts (e.g., buckles, buttons, etc.). In this manner, the coating 40 can be applied directly at the source of the noise (metal or other hard items on clothing hitting the inside of the metal drum), thereby providing a greater level of noise reduction.
With reference to
Another exemplary embodiment is directed to a household appliance including a housing 18 having a door 16 formed in a front panel thereof for accessing an interior 22 of the housing 18, and a rotating drum (e.g., 10a, 10b) disposed within the housing 18. The drum (e.g., 10a, 10b) can include a cylindrical shell 30, a front sheet 32 on a front of the cylindrical shell 30, and a rear sheet 34 on a rear of the cylindrical shell 30. A portion of the cylindrical shell 30 can include means for dampening noise (e.g., 40).
In another embodiment, a portion of one of the cylindrical shell 30, the front sheet 32, and the rear sheet 34 can include means for dampening noise (e.g., 40). The portion can include the interior and/or the exterior surfaces of one or more of the cylindrical shell 30, front sheet 32, and rear sheet 34.
The present invention has been described herein in terms of several preferred embodiments. However, modifications and additions to these embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the foregoing description. It is intended that all such modifications and additions comprise a part of the present invention to the extent that they fall within the scope of the several claims appended hereto.
