A fabric treating appliance for treating an article according to a cycle of operation includes a chassis defining an interior with a tub provided within the interior, the tub at least partially defining a liquid chamber. A drum is provided within the liquid chamber to at least partially define a treating chamber. The drum has a peripheral wall terminating in a front edge and a rear edge, with the front edge defining a front opening. An exoskeleton is provided within the liquid chamber coupling the drum to the chassis.

A balancer includes a balancer housing having an annular channel defined therein, at least one mass movably disposed in the channel, at least one magnet coupled to one side of the balancer housing to restrain movement of the mass along the channel when rotational speed of a drum of the washing machine is within a predetermined range, and an inclined sidewall formed at an inner surface of the balancer housing to support the mass in a direction resisting centrifugal force applied to the mass during rotation of the drum.

A laundry treating apparatus includes a drum and a rotator. The rotator includes a bottom portion disposed to cover at least a portion of a bottom surface of the drum, a pillar protruding from the bottom portion toward an open surface of the drum, and a blade disposed on an outer surface of the pillar and configured to generate a water flow. The bottom portion defines a communication hole communicating the inner space with an exterior of the bottom portion. Accordingly, the rotator may utilize the inner space to improve a space efficiency. In addition, the rotator may be rotated stably because the rotator is prevented from receiving a large buoyancy force during washing. In addition, a cleaning water flow may be generated inside the bottom portion of the rotator, so that a hygiene condition may be improved.

A counterweight of washing machine, a washing machine and a counterweighting method for the washing machine relates to the technical field of washing machines. The counterweight of washing machine includes at least one counterweight cavity and at least one pressured water structure; a water entering port for connecting a water entering pipeline and a water draining port for connecting a water draining pipeline are formed on a wall of each of the at least one counterweight cavity; the at least one water pressurizing structure is disposed in each of the at least one counterweight cavity, and is configured to enable water entering each of the at least one counterweight cavity to be in an air-free sealed cavity. The counterweight of washing machine is mainly configured to reduce vibration and nose of the washing machine in work, and reduce the production and transportation cost of the washing machine.

Disclosed herein are a washing machine with a balancer to counterbalance unbalanced load produced during rotation of a drum and a control method thereof. The washing machine having a balancer to counterbalance unbalanced load produced during rotation of the drum seats a mass in a groove in the balancer before rotation of the drum possibly producing unbalance as in the spin-drying cycle begins, thereby efficiently maintaining balance of the drum. Accordingly, vibration in the drum may be reduced and product liability incident due to touch of the frame may be prevented.

A balancer of a washing machine having improved balancing performance. The balancer includes a balancer housing having an annular channel therein, at least one mass movably disposed in the channel at least one groove recessed in an inner surface of the balancer housing so as to accommodate the mass, and at least one magnet coupled to an outer surface of the balancer housing to restrict the mass accommodated in the groove when an RPM of the drum is within a specific RPM range. The magnet is configured as a plurality of N poles and S poles which are arranged alternately, and the outermost pole of the magnet among the plural N poles and S poles has a relatively shorter length than another adjacent pole.

A laundry washing machine having an outer casing, a washing tub, a rotatable drum and at least one balancing ring rigidly secured to the rotatable drum. The at least one balancing ring includes a substantially toroidal, annular housing that is rigidly secured to the drum, and has a tubular structure so as to delimit a closed annular inner cavity. A number of balancing masses are accommodated in movable manner inside the annular inner cavity, preferably together with a damping liquid. The annular housing has a substantially frustoconical outer wall segment that is inclined by an angle (β) lower than 90° with respect to the midplane (P) of the annular housing, and a peripheral supporting structure that juts out outwardly from the substantially frustoconical outer wall segment to stably abut against the body of the drum.

A laundry washing machine having an outer casing, a washing tub, a rotatable drum and at least one balancing ring rigidly secured to the drum for reducing vibrations thereof. The balancing ring comprises an annular housing rigidly secured to the drum, an internal closed annular inner cavity, and balancing masses in free movable manner inside the annular inner cavity. The annular housing has first and second discrete and complementary annular hemishells that are joined to one another to form the annular inner cavity. The annular hemishells are substantially coplanar and concentric to one another, and have approximately C-shaped cross sections that are substantially complementary to one another. The hemishells are joined to one another along corresponding first and second mating annular rims, which are arranged on opposite sides of a given intermediate plane perpendicular to the central axis of the annular housing.

A balancing system for a washing machine and a method for operating a balancing system of a washing machine are described. A first controller is connected to a pump of at least one compartment system for controlling the pump, and the first controller is positioned on a drum. A second controller is configured to determine an imbalance of the drum when the drum is rotating and control activation or deactivation of the pump of the at least one compartment system via the first controller.

Apparatus and methods of reducing a likelihood of contact between a rotating laundry-container, such as a basket or drum, located within a tub of a laundry treating appliance where the method includes rotating the drum during a measurement period, determining a torque, speed, acceleration, and position of the drum, using a parameter estimator to estimate the position of a mass relative to an imbalance of laundry and accelerating the rotation of the drum when the mass is determined to be angularly spaced from the relative position of the imbalance of laundry.