Support for household appliance, and household appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10704179-B2
Application number	US-201715775934-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2017
Priority date	Mar 23, 2017
Publication date	Jul 7, 2020
Grant date	Jul 7, 2020

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a support for household appliance and a household appliance. The support for household appliance comprises a hydraulic plate; a sheath, which is fixedly connected with the hydraulic plate; a regulating element, which is arranged in the sheath and is axially movable relative to the sheath; an accommodation chamber, which is formed by the hydraulic plate, the sheath and the regulating element; a hydraulic medium, which is arranged in the accommodation chamber and is compressed/expands depending on pressure changes to drive the regulating element to axially move in the sheath for leveling; a communicating device, which enables at least two supports for household appliance to communicate with each other to allow the hydraulic medium to flow between the supports for household appliance; a one-way valve structure is arranged in the communicating device for conducting the hydraulic medium to flow in one direction.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A support arrangement for a household appliance, comprising:
at least two supports, each support including:
a hydraulic plate;
a sheath, fixedly connected with the hydraulic plate;
a regulating element, arranged in the sheath and axially movable relative to the sheath for leveling, the regulating element configured to be driven by a hydraulic medium; and
an accommodation chamber formed by the hydraulic plate, the sheath and the regulating element for containing the hydraulic medium;

a communicating device, which enables the at least two supports to fluidly communicate with each other for allowing the hydraulic medium to flow between the at least two supports, the communicating device includes a hydraulic pipe and a communicating member;
a one-way valve structure, arranged in the communicating device for conducting the hydraulic medium to flow in one direction; and
the at least two supports are connected to the communicating member through the hydraulic pipe, wherein
the communicating member is provided with a liquid flow passage for allowing the hydraulic medium to flow therein,
the liquid flow passage includes a first throttling flow passage and a second throttling flow passage, a diameter of the first throttling flow passage is larger than a diameter of the second throttling flow passage,
a sealing surface is formed at a junction of the first flow passage and the second flow passage,
the one-way valve structure includes a valve ball, the valve ball is disposed in the first throttling flow passage, the valve ball configured to cooperate with the sealing surface to seal in one direction and close the liquid flow passage when the hydraulic medium flows form the first throttling flow passage towards the second throttling flow passage; and
the liquid flow passage is open for allowing the hydraulic medium to flow from the second throttling flow passage to the first throttling flow passage when the valve ball moves away from the sealing surface.

2. The support arrangement for a household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the first throttling flow passage is provided with a stopper mechanism for blocking the valve ball from rolling continuously after moving away from the sealing surface.

3. The support arrangement for a household appliance according to claim 2 , wherein a pouring port used for pouring the hydraulic medium is arranged in the communicating member, the pouring port is communicated with the first throttling flow passage; a sealing device is arranged on the pouring port in a sealing manner, and the sealing device extends into the first throttling flow passage to form the stopper mechanism.

4. A support arrangement for a household appliance, comprising:
at least two supports, each support including:
a hydraulic plate;
a sheath, fixedly connected with the hydraulic plate;
a regulating element, arranged in the sheath and axially movable relative to the sheath for leveling, the regulating element configured to be driven by a hydraulic medium; and
an accommodation chamber formed by the hydraulic plate, the sheath and the regulating element for containing the hydraulic medium;

a communicating device, which enables the at least two supports to fluidly communicate with each other for allowing the hydraulic medium to flow between the at least two supports, the communicating device comprises a hydraulic pipe and a communicating member;
a one-way valve structure, arranged in the communicating device and configured for conducting the hydraulic medium to flow in one direction; and
the at least two supports are connected to the communicating member through the hydraulic pipe respectively;
the communicating member is provided with a liquid flow passage for allowing the hydraulic medium to flow therein;
the one-way valve structure includes a one-way valve plate, and the one-way valve plate is arranged in the communicating member to cooperate with the liquid flow passage for controlling the hydraulic medium to flow in one direction.

5. The support arrangement for a household appliance according to claim 4 , wherein the one-way valve plate is made of a self-recovery elastic deformation material, and the one-way valve plate is configured to reset elastically by itself;
or, the one-way valve structure further includes an elastic device for resetting the one-way valve plate.

6. The support arrangement for a household appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the communicating device includes two communicating passages for allowing the liquid medium to flow, and the two communicating passages are respectively provided with one-way valve structures of which conduction directions are opposite to each other.

7. A household appliance comprising:
the support arrangement for a household appliance according to claim 1 .

8. The support arrangement for a household appliance according to claim 6 , wherein two liquid flow passages are disposed in the communicating member, and the two liquid flow passages are respectively provided with one-way valve structures of which conduction directions are opposite to each other.

9. The support arrangement for a household appliance according to claim 1 , comprising:
the hydraulic medium arranged in the accommodation chamber, wherein the hydraulic medium is compressible and expandable depending on pressure changes to drive the regulating element to axially move in the sheath for leveling.

10. The support arrangement for a household appliance according to claim 6 , comprising:
the hydraulic medium arranged in the accommodation chamber, wherein the hydraulic medium is compressible and expandable depending on pressure changes to drive the regulating element to axially move in the sheath for leveling.

Assignees

• Qingdao Haier Washing Mach Co
• Qingdao Haier Smart Tech R & D Co Ltd
• Qindao Haier Washing Machine

Inventors

• Zhao Zhiqiang
• Xu Sheng

Classifications

• F16K15/1823

  for ball check valves · CPC title

• D06F37/245 Primary

  Damping vibrations by displacing, supplying or ejecting a material, e.g. liquid, into or from counterbalancing pockets · CPC title

• D06F39/125 Primary

  Supporting arrangements for the casing, e.g. rollers or legs · CPC title

• F16K15/14

  with flexible valve members · CPC title

• F16F2222/12

  Fluid damping · CPC title