Patent Application
20230212806
The present disclosure relates generally to laundry appliances and more particularly to suspension mounts for supporting the wash unit tub / hung mass inside the cabinet of a top load / vertical axis washing machine.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Laundry appliances (i.e., laundry machines and washing machines) are prolific in both residential and commercial settings, where they are used to clean laundry, such as clothes, towels, and bedding.
Many washing machines have a top-load appliance configuration, where the washing machine includes an appliance housing with a top appliance opening that is accessed by a top-mounted appliance door. Such laundry appliances typically have a wash unit tub that is hung within the appliance housing by multiple suspension rods, which allow the wash unit tub to move and oscillate to some degree inside the appliance housing. As a result, the wash unit tub is sometimes referred to as the “hung mass” of the laundry appliance. A drum is positioned inside the wash unit tub and is rotatable with respect to both wash unit tub and the appliance housing about a vertical axis of rotation. As a result, laundry appliances of this configuration are sometimes referred to as vertical axis washing machines.
A motor housed within the appliance housing rotates the drum. The drum typically has an upper drum end with a drum opening that provides access to a laundry compartment inside the drum and a lower drum end that is coupled to the motor. During wash cycles, a mixture of wash water and detergent is introduced into the laundry compartment as the drum rotates to clean the laundry located inside the laundry compartment. The degree to which the wash unit tub oscillates inside the appliance housing can increase when a heavy and/or uneven load of laundry is placed inside the laundry compartment. This can lead to unwanted vibration and noise during operation of the laundry appliance. As a result, solutions for eliminating or decreasing the vibrations the wash unit tub transmits to the appliance housing are desirable.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a suspension mount assembly for a laundry appliance is provided. The laundry appliance generally includes an appliance housing, a wash unit tub disposed inside the appliance housing, and a drum that is rotatably supported within the wash unit tub. In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, the laundry appliance has a top-load configuration. Thus, the appliance housing includes an upper frame supporting an upper housing wall, a laundry compartment opening in the upper housing wall, and an appliance door that is pivotally mounted to the upper frame and/or upper housing wall to open and close the laundry compartment opening. The wash unit tub includes an upper tub end, a lower tub end, and a tub sidewall that extends between the upper and lower tub ends. The wash unit tub also includes a tub opening at the upper tub end, where the tub opening is aligned with the laundry compartment opening in the upper housing wall. The drum is rotatably supported within the wash unit tub for rotation about a substantially vertical axis. As such, the laundry appliance may generally be characterized as a vertical axis washing machine. It should therefore be appreciated that the drum includes a laundry compartment that is accessible through the laundry compartment opening in the upper housing wall.
The laundry appliance includes a plurality of suspension rod assemblies that extend between the upper frame of the appliance housing and the wash unit tub. The wash unit tub is hung from and supported by these suspension rod assemblies. Each suspension rod assembly includes a suspension rod that extends from an upper rod end to a lower rod end. A plurality of upper suspension mount assemblies pivotally couple upper rod ends of the suspension rods to the upper frame of the appliance housing. Each upper suspension mount assembly includes a socket that is disposed in the upper frame of the appliance housing, an upper washer positioned on the upper rod end at a fixed location, and a resilient upper bushing. The upper rod end extends through the resilient upper bushing and all or part of the resilient upper bushing is received in the socket in the upper frame of the appliance housing. As a result, the resilient upper bushing is positioned between the socket and the upper washer.
As the name implies, the resilient upper bushing is made of a resilient material. As such, the resilient upper bushing permits relative movement between the upper rod end and the socket in the upper frame of the appliance housing. The resilient upper bushing is configured to reduce and dampen vibrations transmitted between the upper rod end and the upper frame of the appliance housing. It should be appreciated that rotation of the drum during operation of the laundry appliance (e.g., during wash and/or spin cycles) can cause the wash unit tub to vibrate or oscillate. These vibrations and/or oscillations can be particularly noticeable or severe when there is a heavy and/or unbalanced load of laundry inside the laundry compartment. Advantageously, the resilient upper bushings of the present disclosure reduce and/or dampen the vibrations and oscillations that the suspension rods transmit from the wash unit tub to the appliance housing to reduce the amount of noise and vibration that is perceivable from outside the laundry appliance.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a plurality of lower suspension mount assemblies couple the lower rod ends to the wash unit tub and more specifically to the tub sidewall. Each lower suspension mount assembly includes a lower suspension mount receptacle that is positioned along the tub sidewall, an upper spring seat that is positioned on the suspension rod, and a resilient lower bushing. The resilient lower bushing is received in the lower suspension mount receptacle and is positioned between the lower suspension mount receptacle and the upper spring seat. The resilient lower bushing is made of a resilient material. As such, the resilient lower bushing permits relative movement between the suspension rod and the lower suspension mount receptacle. Advantageously, the resilient lower bushing is configured to reduce and/or dampen vibrations and oscillations that the wash unit tub transmits to the suspension rods, which in turn reduces the amount of noise and vibration that the suspension rod assemblies transmit to the appliance housing.
Thus, it should be appreciated that the upper and lower suspension mount assemblies of the present disclosure may be incorporated into the laundry appliance separately or together on opposing ends of each suspension rod. In other words, the upper suspension mount assemblies described herein may be incorporated into a laundry appliance without inclusion of the lower suspension mount assemblies disclosed herein. Alternatively, the lower suspension mount assemblies described herein may be incorporated into a laundry appliance without inclusion of the upper suspension mount assemblies disclosed herein.
Other advantages of the present disclosure will be readily appreciated, as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, various suspension rod assemblies 32, 32′ for a laundry appliance 22 are illustrated.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
For purposes of description herein the terms “up,” “down,” “above,” “below,” “upper,” “lower,” “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “rear,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the orientations shown in
The laundry appliance 22 illustrated in
A drum 38 is positioned inside the tub cavity 36 and is rotatably supported within the wash unit tub 30 such that the drum 38 is rotatable with respect to the wash unit tub 30 about an axis 40. Because the laundry appliance 22 in the illustrated examples has a top-load configuration, it should be appreciated that the axis 40 extends substantially vertically (i.e., at an angle that is 80-100 degrees from horizontal). As such, the laundry appliance 22 may generally be characterized as a vertical axis washing machine. The drum 38 has a top end 42, a bottom end (not shown), and a cylindrical shape. A drum opening 46 at the top end 42 of the drum 38 provides access to a laundry compartment 48 inside the drum 38. Thus, it should be appreciated that in use, laundry (e.g., clothes, towels, and bedding) is placed inside the laundry compartment 48 where it is cleaned during a wash cycle. A drive shaft (not shown) is fixedly coupled to the bottom end of the drum 38 such that the drive shaft and the drum 38 rotate together as a single unit within the wash unit tub 30. A motor (not shown) is positioned in the appliance housing 24, beneath the drum 38, and is coupled to the drive shaft. The motor drives rotation of the drive shaft and the drum 38 relative to the wash unit tub 30 and the appliance housing 24 during operation of the laundry appliance 22, such as during wash and spin cycles.
The wash unit tub 30 includes an upper tub end 50, a lower tub end 52, and a tub sidewall 54 that extends longitudinally between the upper tub end 50 and the lower tub end 52. The tub sidewall 54 is generally cylindrical and includes four suspension support brackets 66. The suspension support brackets 66 may be fixed to or integrated in the tub sidewall 54 to provide an attachment point for the suspension rod assemblies 32, which support the wash unit tub 30 within the appliance housing 24.
The appliance housing 24 includes an upper frame 68 supporting an upper housing wall (removed in
The wash unit tub 30 is hung from and supported by the suspension rod assemblies 32, which extend between the upper frame 68 of the appliance housing 24 and the wash unit tub 30. With additional reference to
A plurality of upper suspension mount assemblies 80 pivotally couple the upper rod ends 76 of the suspension rods 74 to the upper frame 68 of the appliance housing 24. Each upper suspension mount assembly 80 includes a cup-shaped socket 82 that is disposed in the upper frame 68 of the appliance housing 24, an upper washer 84 that is positioned on the upper rod end 76 at a fixed location, and a resilient upper bushing 86. More specifically, the upper frame 68 of the appliance housing 24 includes four corner gussets 88 and each corner gusset 88 includes one of the cup-shaped sockets 82. The upper rod end 76 extends through the resilient upper bushing 86 and at least part of the resilient upper bushing 86 is received in the cup-shaped socket 82 in the upper frame 68 of the appliance housing 24. As a result, the resilient upper bushing 86 is positioned between the cup-shaped socket 82 and the upper washer 84.
As the name implies, the resilient upper bushing 86 is made of a resilient material, such as rubber or an elastomer, for example. As such, the resilient upper bushing 86 permits relative movement between the upper rod end 76, upper washer 84, and cup-shaped socket 82 in the upper frame 68 of the appliance housing 24. The resilient upper bushing 86 is configured to reduce and dampen vibrations transmitted between the upper rod end 76 and the upper frame 68 of the appliance housing 24. It should be appreciated that rotation of the drum 38 during operation of the laundry appliance 22 (e.g., during wash and/or spin cycles) can cause the wash unit tub 30 to vibrate or oscillate. These vibrations and/or oscillations can be particularly noticeable or severe when there is a heavy and/or unbalanced load of laundry inside the laundry compartment 48. Advantageously, the resilient upper bushings 86 reduce and/or dampen the vibrations and oscillations that the suspension rods 74 would otherwise transmit from the wash unit tub 30 to the appliance housing 24 and ultimately reduce the amount of noise and vibration that can be perceived from outside the laundry appliance 22.
A plurality of lower suspension mount assemblies 90 couple the lower rod ends 78 to the wash unit tub 30 and more specifically to the tub sidewall 54. Each lower suspension mount assembly 90 includes a lower suspension mount receptacle 92 that is positioned in the suspension support brackets 66 on the tub sidewall 54, an upper spring seat 94 that is positioned in sliding engagement on the suspension rod 74, and a lower spring seat 96 that is positioned on the lower rod end 78 at a fixed location, a spring 98 that extends helically about the suspension rod 74 between the upper and lower spring seats 94, 96, and a resilient lower bushing 100. Optionally, each lower suspension mount assembly 90 may include a bump stop 102 that acts as an upper travel limit for the wash unit tub 30.
The resilient lower bushing 100 is received in the lower suspension mount receptacle 92 and is positioned between the lower suspension mount receptacle 92 and the upper spring seat 94. The resilient lower bushing 100 is made of a resilient material, such as rubber or an elastomer, for example. As such, the resilient lower bushing 100 permits relative movement between the suspension rod 74, upper spring seat 94, and lower suspension mount receptacle 92 / suspension support bracket 66. Advantageously, the resilient lower bushing 100 is configured to reduce and/or dampen vibrations and oscillations that the wash unit tub 30 would otherwise transmit to the suspension rods 74, which in turn reduces the amount of noise and vibration that the suspension rod assemblies 32 transmit to the appliance housing 24.
As best seen in
With reference to
Like in the previous embodiment, the resilient upper bushing 86′ illustrated in
Like in the embodiment described above, the upper frame 68′ of the appliance housing 24′ includes four corner gussets 88′. Each corner gusset 88′ includes one of the cup-shaped sockets 82′ and a slot 126′ that extends from an edge 128′ of the corner gusset 88′ to the cup-shaped socket 82′ to allow the suspension rod 74′ to slide laterally into the cup-shaped socket 82′ during assembly. While the slot 126′ in the illustrated example extends from an outer edge 128′ of the corner gusset 88′, it should be appreciated that the slot 126′ could alternatively extend from an inner edge of the corner gusset 88′ / upper frame 68′.
Like in the previous embodiment, the resilient upper bushing 86″ illustrated in
In the illustrated embodiment shown in
Although other shapes are possible, in the illustrated example, the protrusion 130″ has a cylindrical shape. More specifically, the protrusion 130″ has a cylindrical sidewall 136″ and an end wall 138″. The cylindrical sidewall 136″ extends longitudinally away from the inboard face 114″ of the resilient upper bushing 86″ in a direction away from the outboard face 116″ and terminates at the end wall 138″, which has a flat, circular shape.
The cup-shaped socket 82, 82′ in the upper frame 68, 68′ is complementary in shape to the shape of the protrusion 130″ and the inboard face 114″ of the resilient upper bushing 86″. As a result, the protrusion 130″ aids in limiting/preventing any sliding or rolling motion of the resilient upper bushing 86″ relative to and within the cup-shaped socket 82, 82′. Such sliding/rolling motions of the resilient upper bushing 86″ are not preferred. Instead, tilting/gimbling movements of the upper rod end 76, 76′ inside the through-bore 120″ are preferred as this mode of movement provides better dampening performance. The protrusion 130″ therefore helps facilitate this preferred dampening mode by holding the resilient upper bushing 86″ in place with respect to the cup-shaped socket 82, 82′ in the upper frame 68, 68′.
While
Many modifications and variations of the apparatus and assemblies described in the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings and may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described while within the scope of the appended claims. These antecedent recitations should be interpreted to cover any combination in which the inventive novelty exercises its utility.
This is application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/295,595, filed on Dec. 31, 2021. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63295595 | Dec 2021 | US |
