Patent Grant
11970811
Aspects of the disclosure relate to a basket base for a laundry appliance having a metallic hub and an overmolded plastic base.
Laundry treating appliances may include a perforated basket or drum for holding a laundry load and a tub holding the basket to contain the wash liquid. A laundry mover may be rotationally mounted in the bottom of the basket and adapted for angular oscillation in order to agitate the laundry load. In one configuration, the basket, the laundry mover, and the tub may be oriented about a vertical axis. The basket may be supported by a basket base assembly.
The basket base assembly may be produced via an overmolding process. Overmolding is a process by which a substrate material is at least partially covered by a second material to create a part. Overbuilding may be performed to gain the advantages of multiple types of materials. For instance, it may be advantageous for a part to have the rigidity of the substrate material but the lower weight of the second material.
In one or more illustrative examples, a hub for an overmolded basket base assembly of a laundry appliance is provided. The hub includes a central core defining an opening along an axis configured to receive a drive shaft. The hub further includes a disc, extending radially outwardly from the core about the axis, the disc configured to be overmolded in polymeric material that forms an overmolded plastic base, the disc including a plurality of posts arranged around the core and extending upward from a top surface of the disc to form a circumferentially-extending array to align the hub when applying torque to the hub.
In one or more illustrative examples, an overmolded basket base assembly of a laundry appliance is provided. An overmolded plastic base is composed of polymeric material. A hub includes a central core defining an opening along an axis configured to receive a drive shaft. The hub further includes a disc, extending radially outwardly from the core about the axis, the disc configured to be overmolded in the polymeric material that forms the overmolded plastic base, the disc including a plurality of posts arranged around the core and extending upward from a top surface of the disc to form a circumferentially-extending array to align the hub when applying torque to the hub.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments can 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 present disclosure. 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 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.
Moreover, except where otherwise expressly indicated, all numerical quantities in this disclosure are to be understood as modified by the word “about” in describing the broader scope of this disclosure. 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.
A basket base may be used to support a laundry drum in a laundry treatment appliance. The basket base may have an overmolded hub. The hub may be a metallic material, such as aluminum, aluminum alloy, or another formable metallic material. As opposed to a typical center hub insert, the hub includes an outwardly extending disc having various features to improve hub characteristics. The hub disc includes posts that interface with the die casting guns in the production line, to keep the base in place when applying torque to assemble the base. The hub disc also includes a groove about the circumference of the top surface of the hub to improve the bonding condition after injection so the plastic will shrink into the hub. The hub disc also includes apertures to further aid in the interface between the metallic and the polymeric material, as the polymeric material will flow through the apertures during overmolding to keep a constant thickness and prevent voids and other injection issues. The hub disc also includes a vertical wall extending around the circumference of the hub, both to improve the interfacing of the hub with the polymeric material and also to provide greater robustness against deflections. Accordingly, this design improves cost by delivering an overmolded hub with a better interface between the polymeric material and substrate and better performance.
The hub 102 generally includes a hub disc 108 circumferentially extending outward from a cylindrical core 110 onto which the plastic base 104 may be overmolded. As best seen in
The cylindrical core 110 may extend along the vertical axis 106 for the height of the basket base assembly 100. The cylindrical core 110 may define an axially-extending through opening 120 for engagement with a drive shaft (not shown). The axially-extending opening 120 may have a plurality of grooves or interior teeth 122 along at least a portion of the depth of the opening 120 to provide for engagement with corresponding teeth of the drive shaft. This may allow the hub 102 to facilitate the transfer of torque about the vertical axis 106 from the drive shaft to the basket base assembly 100.
The hub disc 108 may extend outward from the cylindrical core 110 a distance from the top of the cylindrical core 110. In an example this distance may be consistent with the distance that the teeth 122 extend into the opening 120, approximately one third of the overall height of the hub 102.
The hub disc 108 may further define a vertical wall 130 extending downward from the bottom face of the hub disc 108 about the circumference of the hub 102. In an example, the vertical wall 130 may extend downward to approximately the same lower extent as the lower extent of the cylindrical core 110. Once overmolded, the vertical wall 130 may improve the interfacing of the hub 102 with the polymeric material and provide greater robustness of the overall basket base assembly 100 against deflections.
The hub 102 may also define radial reinforcing ribs 132 to further increase the strength of the hub 102. The radial reinforcing ribs 132 may extend downward from the lower surface of the hub disc 108, radially outward from the outer diameter of the cylindrical core 110 to the interior of the vertical wall 130. These radial reinforcing ribs 132 may be provided at equal intervals from one another in many examples. As shown, the hub 102 includes twelve radial reinforcing ribs 132, but hubs 102 having more or fewer radial reinforcing ribs 132 are contemplated. In some instances, to provide for further structural integrity of the hub 102, at least a portion of the radial reinforcing ribs 132 may include support rods 134 extending downward from the lower surface of the hub disc 108. As shown, every other radial reinforcing rib 132 includes a support rod 134, although this is only one example.
The hub disc 108 may include posts 136 extending upward from the top surface of the hub disc 108 to form a circumferentially-extending row or array. In an example, the posts 136 may be placed approximately halfway between the cylindrical core 110 and the circumference of the hub disc 108. The posts 136 may be designed to interface with die casting guns in the production line (not shown). This interfacing may allow for the basket base assembly 100 to better remain in place when applying torque to assemble the basket base assembly 100 to the laundry machine. As shown, the hub 102 includes six posts 136, but hubs 102 having more or fewer posts 136 are contemplated.
The hub disc 108 may also include a groove 138 about the circumference of the top surface of the hub 102. The groove 138 may define a recess into the top surface of the hub disc 108, thereby providing a lip about the circumference of the hub disc 108. This groove 138 may serve to improve the bonding condition after injection basket base assembly 100 the plastic will shrink and lock down into the groove 138 and onto the hub 102.
The hub disc 108 may further include through apertures 140 to aid in the interface between the material of the hub 102 and the material of the overmolded plastic base 104. During the overmolding, flowing polymeric material may traverse the apertures 140 to aid in the maintaining of a constant thickness of the overmolded plastic base 104 and the prevention of voids.
In an example, the radial reinforcing ribs 132 may define open-bottomed chambers between the exterior of the cylindrical core 110, the interior of the vertical wall 130, and the lower surface of the hub disc 108. Accordingly, to provide for the flow of polymeric material during the overmolding process, the apertures 140 are placed in the surface of the hub disc 108 open to each of the chambers. As best seen in
Turning to the structure of the overmolded plastic base 104, the overmolded plastic base 104 includes a base wall 150 formed as an outwardly extending disc. One or more reinforcing rings 152 may extend concentrically with respect to the vertical axis 106 downward from the base wall 150. In addition, radially extended reinforcing ribs 154 may extend outward from the center of the overmolded plastic base 104, preferably, at equal distances from one another to increase the strength of the overmolded plastic base 104. As such, a stable construction of the overmolded plastic base 104 is provided.
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms encompassed by the claims. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments can be combined to form further embodiments of the disclosure 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 can be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. These attributes may include, but are not limited to cost, strength, durability, life cycle cost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, serviceability, weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. 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 can be desirable for particular applications.
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