Suspensionless laundry apparatuses and methods of balancing a laundry apparatus

A laundry apparatus comprising:

• an exterior housing comprising an opening and a door hingedly coupled to the opening;
• and
• a tub and drum assembly positioned within the exterior housing, the tub and drum assembly comprising:
• a tub defining a fluid containment envelope;
• one or more tub mounts rigidly mounting the tub to the exterior housing;
• a drum positioned within the fluid containment envelope of the tub and rotatable relative to the tub about a primary rotation axis, the drum comprising a laundry-receiving portion for receiving one or more articles of laundry;
• a control unit;
• a motor coupled to the tub, wherein the motor is communicatively coupled to the control unit and operatively coupled to the drum to cause rotation of the drum, wherein the motor is isolated from fluid within the fluid containment envelope;
• one or more load imbalance sensors communicatively coupled to the control unit and configured to output a load imbalance signal to the control unit, the load imbalance signal being indicative of a load imbalance within the drum;
• and
• a dynamic balancing assembly communicatively coupled to the control unit, the dynamic balancing assembly comprising one or more counterweight devices configured to be orbited about the primary rotation axis to counteract a detected load imbalance in the drum,
• wherein the tub is unsupported by any displaceable suspension members extending between the tub and the exterior housing;
• and
• wherein the dynamic balancing assembly comprises:
• an orbital balancing passage arranged concentrically around the motor;
• wherein said counterweight devices comprise:
• a first counterweight device positioned within the orbital balancing passage and responsive to the control unit, wherein the control unit controllably moves the first counterweight device along the orbital balancing passage to adjust an angular position of the first counterweight device around the primary rotation axis to counteract the detected load imbalance in the drum;
• and
• a second counterweight device positioned within the orbital balancing passage and responsive to the control unit, wherein the control unit controllably moves the second counterweight device along the orbital balancing passage to adjust an angular position of the second counterweight device around the primary rotation axis to counteract the detected load imbalance in the drum.

A method of balancing a laundry apparatus comprising:

• rotating a drum positioned within a fluid containment envelope of a tub with a motor about a primary rotation axis, the motor being positioned within a motor receiving envelope that isolates the motor from a fluid within the fluid containment envelope, wherein tub is rigidly mounted to an exterior housing by one or more tub mounts;
• detecting, with a control unit, a load imbalance signal output by one or more load imbalance sensors, wherein the load imbalance signal is indicative of a load imbalance within the drum;
• and
• controlling a dynamic balancing assembly coupled to the drum and positioned within the fluid containment envelope, the dynamic balancing assembly comprising an orbital balancing passage arranged concentrically around the motor, a first counterweight device positioned within the orbital balancing passage, and a second counterweight device positioned within the orbital balancing passage, to:
• controllably move the first counterweight device positioned within the orbital balancing passage to adjust an angular position of the first counterweight device around the primary rotation axis to counteract a detected load imbalance in the drum;
• and
• controllably move the second counterweight device positioned within the orbital balancing passage with the control unit to adjust an angular position of the second counterweight device around the primary rotation axis to counteract the detected load imbalance in the drum;
• and
• wherein the orbital balancing passage is arranged concentrically around the motor.