WASHING MACHINE
A washing machine including a drum capable of improving washing efficiency is provided. The washing machine includes a body, a tub provided at an inside the body to store wash water, a drum rotatably provided at an inner side of the tub to accommodate laundry, a driving apparatus to rotate the drum, protrusions that are formed of polygons having polygonal shapes and protruding inward from the drum, and a through-hole provided between adjacent protrusions to drain water. A protrusion having polygons generates frictional force between laundry and the drum, thereby increasing the washing power. The through-holes are uniformly located around the protrusion, thereby preventing a spin dry water bottleneck phenomenon that occurs when water from a spin dry is concentrated on a certain through-hole, and thus enhancing the spin dry efficiency.
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This application is related to, and claims priority to, Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0112649, filed on Oct. 10, 2012, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a washing machine including a drum for enhancing the washing efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, washing machines are a pulsator type washing machine or a drum type washing machine depending on a washing method. Each of the pulsator type washing machine and the drum type washing machine includes a tub and a drum.
However, in a case of the pulsator type washing machine, a rotary shaft of the drum where washing is performed may be provided to be perpendicular to the ground. A pulsator may be installed at a lower portion of the drum to generate water current. In a pulsator type washing machine, when the drum and the pulsator are rotated by a motor in a state in which laundry and detergent water are put into the drum, the pulsator stirs the laundry put into the drum together with wash water, thereby removing dirt from the laundry.
In a case of the drum type washing machine, lifters may be disposed inside the drum to lift laundry upward.
In both of the pulsator type washing machine and the drum type washing machine, the drum may be formed at a circumferential part thereof with through-holes that allow water of the tub to be introduced to the drum during a washing operation, and the water of the drumtub to be discharged during a drainage and spin dry operation.
Conventionally, the through-holes are arranged on an inner surface of the drum, which is flat. Thus, the laundry does not easily encounter substantial friction with the inner surface of the drum, and thus resulting in a limitation to the washing efficiency.
SUMMARYIt is an aspect of the present invention to provide a washing machine having an improved structure of a drum that is capable of enhancing the washing power of laundry while efficiently introducing and discharging wash water to, and from, the drum.
Additional aspects of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a washing machine includes a body, a tub, a drum, a driving apparatus, a plurality of protrusions, and at least one through-hole. The tub may be provided inside the body to store wash water therein. The drum may be rotatably provided at an inner side of the tub to accommodate laundry therein. The driving apparatus may be configured to rotate the drum. The plurality of protrusions may protrude inward from the drum. The protrusion may be formed by a plurality of polygons that may each have a polygonal shape. The at least one through-hole may be provided between adjacent protrusions among the plurality of protrusions to drain water.
The protrusions may be spaced apart from one another.
Each of the polygons may have a different angle with respect to a surface of the drum.
The polygon may be a triangle having three sides.
The plurality of triangles may gather at a center of the protrusion, to form a hexagonal shape.
An outline of the protrusion may be a curved line such that the protrusion has an approximately circular shape.
The plurality of through-holes may be formed at depressions that are provided more outwardly of the drum than the protrusion.
The depression may be substantially flat.
The depression may include a concave part formed by recessing at least one portion of the depression.
An arrangement of the through-holes provided around the protrusion may have an approximately hexagonal shape.
The plurality of protrusions may be provided in a plurality of rows and columns.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a washing machine includes a body, a tub, a drum, a driving apparatus, a plurality of protrusions and through-holes. The tub may be provided at an inside of the body to store wash water. The drum may be rotatably provided at an inner side of the tub to accommodate laundry therein. The driving apparatus may be configured to rotate the drum. The plurality of protrusions may protrude from the drum toward one side. The protrusion may be formed by a plurality of polygons that may be each provided on a different plane. The through-holes may be provided at an outermost area of the drum while being provided on a same plane.
Each of the plurality of protrusions may have a predetermined pattern.
The plurality of protrusions may be provided in a first row and a second row such that a protrusion forming the first row is disposed between protrusions forming the second row.
Each of the plurality of through-holes may be provided between respective protrusions.
Assuming that the through-hole has a diameter of d, a closest distance between the protrusions may be between d and d+10.
Each of the plurality of polygons may be a triangle having three sides, the plurality of triangles may gather to form a hexagonal, and triangles may be disposed at a circumference of the hexagonal to form a single protrusion of the plurality of protrusions.
A portion between the polygons may be rounded.
An exemplary drum of the washing machine in accordance with the an embodiment of the present invention includes a protrusion having a plurality of polygons that generate frictional force between laundry and the drum, thereby increasing the washing power.
The through-holes may be uniformly located around the protrusion, thereby preventing a spin dry water bottleneck phenomenon that occurs when water from spin dry is concentrated on a certain through-hole, and thus enhancing the spin dry efficiency.
Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
These and/or other aspects of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
Referring to
The tub 20 may be slantingly installed at a predetermined angle a with respect to an installation surface of the washing machine 1 such that a front side part 20a in which an inlet thereof is formed is disposed to be higher than a rear side part 20b of the tub 20. The drum 30 inside the tub 20 may be slantingly installed in the same way as the tub 20. However, the configurations of the tub 20 and the drum 30 are not limited thereto, and therefore the tub 20 and/or the drum 30 may be not slantingly installed.
The drum 30 may be rotatably supported by a rotary shaft 13 that may be coupled to a rear side part 30a of the drum 30 while passing through the rear side part 20b of the tub 20. A driving motor 14 may be installed at an outer side of the rear side part 20b of the tub 20 to rotate the rotary shaft 13. As the driving motor 14 rotates the rotary shaft 13, the drum 30 inside the tub 20 rotates. The driving motor 14 rotates the drum 30 at a low speed during a washing operation, and may rotate the drum 30 in one direction at a high speed during a spin dry operation.
At an upper side of the tub 20, a detergent supply apparatus 15 may be provided to supply the inside of the tub 20 with detergent, and a water supply apparatus 16 may be provided to supply the inside of the tub 20 with wash water. The detergent supply device 15 may be installed adjacent to a front side of the body 20. The water supply apparatus 16 includes a first water supply pipe 16 connecting an external water supply pipe 16a to the detergent supply apparatus 15, a second water supply pipe 16c connecting the detergent supply apparatus 15 to the tub 20, and a water supply control valve 16d installed on the first water supply pipe 16d to control supply of water. Such a configuration allows water to be supplied to the inside of the tub 20 via the detergent supply apparatus 15 such that detergent is supplied to the tub 20 together with water.
A heater 17 may be installed at a lower portion of the inside of the tub 20 to heat the wash water of the tub 20. To facilitate installation of the heater 17, a heater receiving part 20c may be provided at a lower portion of the tub 20 while protruding downward to receive the heater 17 while collecting wash water therein.
At a lower portion of an outer side of the tub 20, a drainage apparatus 40 may be installed to drain wash water of the tub 20, and a wash water circulation apparatus 50 may be installed to supply wash water in the tub 20 to the inside of the drum 30. The drainage apparatus 40 includes a first drain pipe 42 connecting to a drain port 41 formed at a lower portion of the tub 20, a drain pump 43 installed on the first drain pipe 42, and a second drain pipe 44 connecting to an outlet of the drain pump 43.
The wash water circulation apparatus 50 includes a bypass valve 51 installed on the second drain pipe 44 at a side of the outlet of the drain pump 43, a wash water circulation pipe 52 extending from the bypass valve 51 to an inlet 31 of the drum 30, and a spray nozzle 53 installed at an outlet of the wash water circulation pipe 52. The bypass valve 51 converts a passage such that wash water of the outlet of the drain pump 43 is drained to the outside or flows toward the wash water circulation pipe 52. The bypass valve 51 may be an electromotive three way valve. If the drain pump 43 is driven in a state in which the bypath valve 51 operates to allow wash water to flow toward the wash water circulation pipe 52, the wash water in the tub 20 may be sprayed to the inside of the drum 30 through the first drain pipe 42 and the wash water circulation pipe 52. If the drain pump 43 is driven in a state in which the bypath valve 51 operates to allow wash water to flow toward the second drain pipe 44 that guides wash water to the outside, the wash water in the tub 20 may be drained.
The drum 30 includes a rear side part 30a that may be coupled to the rotary shaft 13, a front side part 30b having an inlet 31, and a circumference part 30c provided in a cylindrical shape and having both ends coupled to the front side part 30b and the rear side part 30a, respectively. A plurality of lifters 33 may be installed at an inner surface of the circumference part 30c of the drum 30 to lift and drops laundry inside the drum 30 when the drum 30 rotates. A plurality of stirring protrusions 32 may be installed at an inner surface of the rear side part 30a of the drum 30 to improve the cleaning power. A plurality of protrusions 34 and a plurality of through-holes 36 are arranged on an inner surface of the drum 30.
Referring to
As illustrated in the
The polygon 35 may be provided as a regular triangle, or an isosceles triangle. With respect to a single protrusion 34, a maximum distance between a point P1 and a point P2 of the protrusion 34 in a direction of a rotary shaft of the drum 30 may be defined as S1, and a maximum distance between a point P3 and a point P4 of the protrusion 34 in a circumferential direction of the drum 30 may be defined as S2. In a case in which a polygon 35 is provided as a regular triangle, S1 is equal to S2. In a case in which a polygon 35 is provided as an isosceles triangle, S1 may have a size of half to two times a size of S2. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention in which the protrusion 34 is composed of twenty-four triangles, S2 may have a size four times a height of the triangle. When the number of triangles used exceeds twenty-four, S2 may be increased in units of multiplication by 2. For example, in a case in which the protrusion 34 is composed of forty-eight triangles, S2 may have a size six times a height of the triangle. A depth of the protrusion 34 formed on the surface of the drum 30 may be defined as S3. In a case in which the polygon 35 is a regular triangle, S1 and S2 each may have sizes five times to thirty times a size of S3. In a case in which the polygon 35 is an isosceles triangle, a larger one of S1 and S2 may have a size five times to thirty times a size of S3. As an example, in a case in which S3 is 2mm, one of S1 and S2 may have a size within a range between 10 mm to 60 mm.
In a case in which the polygon 35 is a triangle, a single protrusion 34 may include a maximum number of polygons. Accordingly, the cleaning power may be increased while minimizing the damage of laundry that occurs as a result of the laundry coming into contact with the inner side of the protrusion 34. However, the polygon 35 is not limited to the triangle. The polygon 35 may be provided as a quadrangle, and a hexagon, for example. Sides of the polygon 35 forming an outline of the protrusion 34 may be provided in a curved line. Accordingly, the protrusion 34 may have an approximately circular shape. A portion between the polygons 35 forming the protrusion 34 may be rounded. For example, a portion between the polygons 35 may have a radius of curvature (r) of about 0.2 r to 0.5 r. Accordingly, the surface of the drum 30 may be smoothly formed to prevent laundry from being damaged.
The protrusions 34 may be spaced apart from each other. The protrusions 34 may have various arrangements. The plurality of through-holes 36 may be provided around the protrusion 34. At least one through-hole 36 may be provided between the protrusions 34. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the through-hole 36 is illustrated as being provided in one unit thereof between the protrusions 34, but the number of the through-holes 36 provided between the protrusions 34 is not limited thereto.
The plurality of through-holes 36 may be provided in a depression 37 that is provided further outward from the drum 34 than the protrusion 34. The depression 37 may be provided to be flat when the drum 30 is extended. However, in a case in which the drum 37 is rolled and bonded, the depression 37 may correspond to a curved surface. The through-hole 36 may be provided in the depression 37. Accordingly, the through-hole 36 may be located distant from the center of the drum 30, so that wash water is efficiently introduced and discharged due to a centrifugal force. For example, when the through-hole 36 is provided in a piercing scheme, the through-hole 36 may have a diameter (see, for example, d1 in
The protrusion 34 may have various arrangements. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the protrusion 34 may be provided in a plurality of rows L1 and L2 and a plurality of columns R1 and R2. A row located at an upper side (see, for example,
As illustrated in
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in
In an embodiment of the present invention illustrated in
In an embodiment of the present invention illustrated in
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the through-hole 66 is provided as a burring hole that is formed through a burring process. Through the burring processing, a rim 68, that is, an outer rim 68 protrudes around the through-hole 66 toward the outer side of the drum 30. Rims 67 and 68 provided on the drum 30 include an inner rim 67 and the outer rim 68. The inner rim 67 has a diameter decreasing outwardly in the drum 30, and the outer rim 68 has a diameter increasing outwardly in the drum 30. The outer rim 68 is located more outward the drum 30 than the inner rim 67.
When a diameter including the rims 67 and 68 formed through the burring process is defined as d2, and a diameter of the through-hole 64 is determined as d3, a gap G between the most adjacent portions of the protrusions 64 may have a size of the diameter (d3) or larger and the diameter (d3) plus about 10 mm or smaller. In the burring process, a cross section of a depression 69 may be determined in consideration of the diameter (d3) of the through-hole 66 that is increased due to the diameter d2, referred to as an inner diameter, during the burring process. Accordingly, when compared to a case without having a burring process, the gap G between the most adjacent portions of the protrusions 64 is increased.
In a case in which the burring process is not performed, the laundry may be torn due to a cutting surface of the through-hole. However, in a case in which the burring process is performed, a cutting surface may be formed outside the drum 30, thereby preventing the laundry from being damaged.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a depression 77 may include a concave part 79 formed by recessing at least one portion thereof. That is, the concave part 79 is recessed from the inner side to the outer side of the drum 30. A through-hole 76 is provided at a portion of the concave part 79. The through-hole 76 may be provided at the center of the recess part 79. The through-hole 76 may be located at an outermost area of the drum 30, so that wash water is smoothly introduced and discharged due to a centrifugal force during rotation of the drum 30.
Although a few embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A washing machine comprising:
- a body;
- a tub provided at an inside of the body to store wash water therein;
- a drum rotatably provided at an inner side of the tub to accommodate laundry therein;
- a driving apparatus to rotate the drum;
- a plurality of protrusions protruding inward from the drum, wherein a protrusion of the plurality of protrusions being formed by a plurality of polygons each having polygonal shapes; and
- at least one through-hole provided between adjacent protrusions among the plurality of protrusions to drain water.
2. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein the protrusions are spaced apart from one another.
3. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein each of the polygons has a different angle with respect to a surface of the drum.
4. The washing machine of claim 3, wherein the polygon is a triangle.
5. The washing machine of claim 4, wherein the plurality of triangles gather at a center of the protrusion, to form a hexagonal shape.
6. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein an outline of the protrusion is provided in a curved line such that the protrusion has an approximately circular shape.
7. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein the plurality of through-holes are formed at depressions that are provided more outward from the drum than the protrusion.
8. The washing machine of claim 7, wherein the depression is provided to be substantially flat.
9. The washing machine of claim 7, wherein the depression includes a concave part formed by recessing at least one portion of the depression.
10. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein an arrangement of the through-holes provided around the protrusion has an approximately hexagonal shape.
11. The washing machine of claim 2, wherein the plurality of protrusions are provided in a plurality of rows and columns.
12. A washing machine comprising:
- a body;
- a tub provided at an inside of the body to store wash water;
- a drum rotatably provided at an inner side of the tub to accommodate laundry therein;
- a driving apparatus to rotate the drum;
- a plurality of protrusions protruding from the drum toward one side, wherein a protrusion of the plurality of protrusions being formed by a plurality of polygons each provided on a different plane; and
- through-holes provided at an outermost area of the drum while being provided on a same plane.
13. The washing machine of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of protrusions has a predetermined pattern.
14. The washing machine of claim 13, wherein the plurality of protrusions are provided in a first row and a second row such that a protrusion forming the first row is disposed between protrusions forming the second row.
15. The washing machine of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of through-holes is provided between the protrusions.
16. The washing machine of claim 15, wherein when assuming that the through-hole has a diameter of d, a closest distance between the protrusions is between d and d+10.
17. The washing machine of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of polygons is a triangle having three sides, the plurality of triangles gather to form a hexagonal, and triangles are disposed at a circumference of the hexagonal to form a single protrusion of the plurality of protrusions.
18. The washing machine of claim 12, wherein a portion between the polygons is rounded.
19. A drum for a washing machine comprising:
- a plurality of protrusions protruding inward from the drum, wherein a protrusion is formed of a plurality of polygons having polygonal shapes; and
- a through-hole provided between protrusions to drain water.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 9, 2013
Publication Date: Apr 10, 2014
Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. (Suwon)
Inventors: In Cheol JANG (Hwaseong), Ji Sung KIM (Seongnam), Eun Suk BANG (Hwaseong), Nam Ki Sul (Suwon), In Ju LEE (Yongin), Seong Su JEONG (Ulju-gun), Bong Wha KWAK (Hwaseong), Dool Pil KIM (Suwon), Ki Sun PARK (Suwon), Jong Sung PARK (Seoul), Ji Hoon CHOI (Hwaseong)
Application Number: 14/049,598
International Classification: D06F 37/26 (20060101);