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US 9,790,631 B2Granted
Balancer and washing machine having the same
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsDong Ha Jung, Jeong Hoon Kang, Min Sung Kim, Doo Young Rou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A washing machine includes a cabinet, a drum rotatably arranged within the cabinet, an annular recess provided in the drum, and a balancer to offset an unbalanced load caused within the drum during rotation of the drum. The balancer includes a balancer housing mounted to the recess and has an annular channel therein, at least one mass movably disposed in the channel, and at least one ball disposed between the balancer housing and the mass to generate rolling motion.
Claims13
A washing machine comprising:
- a cabinet;
- a drum rotatably arranged within the cabinet;
- an annular recess provided at a front side of the drum;
- and
- a balancer disposed in the annular recess,
- wherein the balancer comprises
- a balancer housing having an annular channel therein;
- at least one mass movably disposed in the channel;
- at least one groove formed on an inner surface of the balancer housing and accommodating the mass;
- and
- a magnet disposed between the balancer housing and the annular recess of the drum, the magnet extending along the groove,
- wherein both ends of the groove are provided with support portions to prevent the mass from being decoupled from the groove when an RPM of the drum is within a specific RPM range, and
- a surface of the groove is not even such that a distance between a surface of the groove and the magnet varies between both ends of the groove where the distance between the surface of the groove and the magnet increases to a maximum approximately at a center of the groove and decreases to a minimum approximately at both of the ends of the groove.
10 more elements
A balancer of a washing machine, comprising:
- a balancer housing which is mounted to at least one of a front surface and a rear surface of a drum of the washing machine and has a channel extending in a circumferential direction of the drum;
- a plurality of masses movably accommodated in the channel;
- at least one groove which is formed on a wall of the channel;
- a damping fluid accommodated in the channel;
- and
- a magnet disposed at a rear side of the balancer housing to be positioned between the balancer housing and either the front surface or the rear surface of the drum, the magnet extending along the groove,
- wherein the groove comprises
- first support portions provided at both ends of the groove so as to support the masses in the circumferential and radial directions of the balancer housing;
- and
- a second support portion provided between the first support portions so as to support the masses in the radial direction of the balancer housing, the second support portion comprising at least one inclined surface protruding toward an inner space of the channel, the second support portion being configured so that a distance between a surface of the groove and the magnet varies between both ends of the groove where the distance between the surface of the groove and the magnet increases to a maximum approximately at a center of the groove and decreases to a minimum approximately at both of the ends of the groove.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.