Basement assembly for reducing noise levels of a household appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10458059-B2
Application number	US-201715696655-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 6, 2017
Priority date	Sep 6, 2017
Publication date	Oct 29, 2019
Grant date	Oct 29, 2019

Abstract

A basement assembly of a household appliance is provided herein. A basement has a bottom compartment and a top compartment. The bottom compartment is separated from the top compartment and includes a plurality of voids. A plurality of acoustic pads are configured to reduce noise levels produced by the household appliance. Each of the acoustic pads is configured to be received in one of the voids. A cover member is coupled to the basement and is configured to confine the acoustic pads therein.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A basement assembly of a household appliance, comprising:
a basement having a bottom compartment and a top compartment, the bottom compartment separated from the top compartment and comprising a plurality of voids;
a divider positioned within the basement and at least partially separating the bottom compartment from the top compartment, wherein the plurality of voids are defined within the divider;
a plurality of acoustic pads configured to reduce noise levels produced by the household appliance, each acoustic pad of the plurality of acoustic pads disposed within one void of the plurality of voids, respectively, wherein a portion of the plurality of acoustic pads extends through the divider; and
a cover member coupled to the basement and configured to confine the acoustic pads inside the bottom compartment and the voids.

2. The basement assembly of claim 1 , wherein the acoustic pads each comprise one of a foam-based material and a fiber-based material, and are each configured as one of a regular geometric shape and an irregular geometric shape.

3. The basement assembly of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the acoustic pads are arranged side-by-side to fill a space of a corresponding void.

4. The basement assembly of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the acoustic pads are stacked on one another to fill a space of a corresponding void.

5. The basement assembly of claim 1 , wherein the top compartment is partitioned into one or more sub-compartments.

6. The basement assembly of claim 5 , wherein each void comprises at least one of a space between neighboring sub-compartments, a space between a sub-compartment and a sidewall of the basement, and a space beneath one or more sub-compartments.

7. The basement assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the cover member is directly engaged to the basement and the cover member abuts at least one of the acoustic pads.

8. A basement assembly of a household appliance, comprising:
a basement having a bottom compartment, a top compartment, and a divider separating the bottom compartment from the top compartment, the bottom compartment comprising a plurality of voids each defined by at least one of the divider and one or more side walls of the basement, wherein a void of the plurality of voids is defined within the divider to define a plurality of sub-compartments within the top compartment of the basement;
at least one acoustic pad configured to reduce noise levels produced by the household appliance, the at least one acoustic pad disposed within an empty space of the bottom compartment and frictionally engaged to at least one of the divider and the one or more side walls of the basement, wherein an acoustic pad of the at least one acoustic pad is positioned within the void to extend between and at least partially separate adjacent sub-compartments of the plurality of sub-compartments; and
a cover member coupled to the basement and configured to confine the at least one acoustic pad inside the bottom compartment.

9. The basement assembly of claim 8 , wherein the at least one acoustic pad comprises one of a foam-based material and a fiber-based material.

10. The basement assembly of claim 8 , wherein the at least one acoustic pad fills a substantial majority of the empty space of the bottom compartment.

11. The basement assembly of claim 8 , wherein the at least one acoustic pad is flush with at least one of a bottom perimeter edge of the basement and a portion of the divider.

12. The basement assembly of claim 8 , wherein the divider is integrated with the basement and spans the basement side-to-side.

13. The basement assembly of claim 8 , wherein at least a portion of the cover member is directly engaged to the basement and the cover member abuts at least one of the acoustic pads.

14. A basement assembly of a household appliance, comprising:
a basement having a bottom compartment and a top compartment, the bottom compartment separated from the top compartment and comprising a plurality of voids;
a plurality of acoustic pads configured to reduce noise levels produced by the household appliance, each of the acoustic pads is received in one of the voids, wherein a portion of the acoustic pads of the plurality of acoustic pads extends through a divider that partially separates the bottom compartment from the top compartment;
at least one bracket coupled to the basement; and
a cover member having an outer edge portion directly engaged to the at least one bracket and another outer edge portion directly engaged to the basement to confine the acoustic pads inside the bottom compartment.

15. The basement assembly of claim 14 , wherein the acoustic pads each comprise one of a foam-based material and a fiber-based material and are received in the voids at varying depths.

16. The basement assembly of claim 14 , wherein the cover member comprises a metal sheet directly engaged to the at least one bracket and the basement via mechanical fasteners.

17. The basement assembly of claim 14 , wherein the at least one bracket comprises a first extent disposed between at least one of the acoustic pads and a sidewall of the basement, and a second extent projecting inward within the bottom compartment and abutting at least one of the acoustic pads.

18. The basement assembly of claim 17 , wherein the at least one bracket is L-shaped.

19. The basement assembly of claim 17 , wherein the first extent is received in a slot formed in the basement.

20. The basement assembly of claim 17 , wherein the voids collectively define an empty space of the bottom compartment and the acoustic pads fill a substantial portion of the empty space.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Christensen Mark

Classifications

• A47L15/4272

  Supporting arrangements for the tub · CPC title

• G10K11/168

  Plural layers of different materials, e.g. sandwiches · CPC title

• A47L15/4209

  Insulation arrangements, e.g. for sound damping or heat insulation · CPC title

• D06F39/001

  Arrangements for transporting, moving, or setting washing machines; Protective arrangements for use during transport (transport in general B65) · CPC title

• G10K11/162

  Selection of materials · CPC title