# US 9,518,352 B2 · Unitary balance ring for a washing machine appliance > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,518,352 B2 - Document ID: US9518352B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/591,026 - Filed: 2015-01-07 - Published: 2016-07-07 - Granted: 2016-12-13 - Earliest claimed: 2015-01-07 - Assignees: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. - Applicants: General Electric Company - Inventors: James Quentin Pollett - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9518352B2 ## CPC - D06F 37/245: {Damping vibrations by displacing, supplying or ejecting a material, e.g. liquid, into or from counterbalancing pockets} - B22F 5/10: of articles with cavities or holes, not otherwise provided for in the preceding subgroups - B29C 64/135: the energy source being concentrated, e.g. scanning lasers or focused light sources - F16F 15/32: Correcting- or balancing-weights or equivalent means for balancing rotating bodies, e.g. vehicle wheels {(suppression of vibrations in rotating systems by using freely rotating masses F16F15/14; compensation of inertia forces F16F15/22; compensating imbalance for testing purposes G01M1/30)} - B22F 10/28: Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM] - B22F 2005/005: {Article surface comprising protrusions} - B33Y 10/00: Processes of additive manufacturing - B33Y 80/00: Products made by additive manufacturing - Y02P 10/25: Process efficiency - D06F: LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES - B22F: WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER (making alloys by powder metallurgy C22C); APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) - F16F: SPRINGS; SHOCK-ABSORBERS; MEANS FOR DAMPING VIBRATION - B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING - Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS ## Abstract A unitary balance ring for a washing machine appliance includes a first plurality of ribs and a second plurality of ribs positioned within a tubular body of the unitary balance ring. Each rib of the first plurality of ribs has a bottom edge that is positioned at a bottom surface of the interior volume, and each rib of the second plurality of ribs has a bottom edge that is spaced apart from the bottom surface of the interior volume. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A unitary balance ring for a washing machine appliance, comprising: a tubular body defining an interior volume; first plurality of ribs positioned within the tubular body, each rib of the first plurality of ribs having a bottom edge that is positioned at a bottom surface of the interior volume, in contact with the bottom surface across an entire width of the interior volume; and a second plurality of ribs positioned within the tubular body, each rib of the second plurality of ribs having a bottom edge that is spaced apart from the bottom surface of the interior volume, wherein the bottom edge of each rib of the second plurality of ribs and the bottom surface of the interior volume define a gap along a vertical direction, the gap being at least an eighth of an inch. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The unitary balance ring of claim 1, wherein each rib of the first plurality of ribs is positioned between a respective pair of ribs of the second plurality of ribs. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The unitary balance ring of claim 2, wherein the ribs of the first and second pluralities of ribs are uniformly spaced along a length of the tubular body. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The unitary balance ring of claim 1, wherein the ribs of the first plurality of ribs are uniformly spaced from one another along a length of the tubular body. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The unitary balance ring of claim 4, wherein the ribs of the second plurality of ribs are uniformly spaced from one another along the length of the tubular body. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The unitary balance ring of claim 1, wherein each rib of the first plurality of ribs has a top edge that is spaced apart from a top surface of the interior volume, each rib of the second plurality of ribs also having a top edge that is spaced apart from the top surface of the interior volume. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The unitary balance ring of claim 6, further comprising a fluid sealed within the interior volume of the tubular body. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The unitary balance ring of claim 1, wherein the tubular body, the first plurality of ribs and the second plurality of ribs are integrally formed of a single continuous piece of material. ### Claim 9 A method for forming a unitary balance ring for a washing machine appliance, comprising: establishing three-dimensional information of the unitary balance ring; converting the three-dimensional information of the unitary balance ring from said step of establishing into a plurality of slices, each slice of the plurality of slices defining a respective cross-sectional layer of the unitary balance ring; and successively forming each cross-sectional layer of the unitary balance ring with an additive process; wherein, after said step of successively forming: (1) a tubular body of the unitary balance ring defines an interior volume; (2) each rib of a first plurality of ribs is positioned within the tubular body and has a bottom edge that is positioned at a bottom surface of the interior volume, in contact with the bottom surface across an entire width of the interior volume; and (3) each rib of a second plurality of ribs is positioned within the tubular body and has a bottom edge that is spaced apart from the bottom surface of the interior volume, wherein the bottom edge of each rib of the second plurality of ribs and the bottom surface of the interior volume define a gap along a vertical direction, the gap being at least an eighth of an inch. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the additive process comprises at least one of fused deposition modeling, selective laser sintering, stereolithography, and digital light processing. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein each rib of the first plurality of ribs is positioned between a respective pair of ribs of the second plurality of ribs after said step of successively forming. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the ribs of the first and second pluralities of ribs are uniformly spaced along a length of the tubular body after said step of successively forming. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising directing a fluid into the interior volume of the tubular body and sealing the fluid within the interior volume of the tubular body during said step of successively forming. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the tubular body, the first plurality of ribs and the second plurality of ribs are integrally formed of a single continuous piece of material after said step of successively forming.