Drum-type washing machine
A drum-type washing machine including a casing having an inlet through which laundry is loaded and unloaded, a tub arrangeable in the casing so that while the tub is arranged in the casing, an inside of the tub is accessible through the inlet, the tub being able to store water, a drum arrangeable in the tub to rotate about an axis extending in forward and rearward directions while the laundry is loaded into the drum, a plurality of pipe connection portions, arrangeable on a side surface of the tub, to be connected to pipes, and an air-flow noise reduction mechanism, arrangeable in at least one pipe connection portion among the plurality of pipe connection portions, to control air-flow caused by rotation of the drum.
1 . A drum-type washing machine comprising:
a casing having an inlet through which laundry is loadable and unloadable;
a tub in the casing and configured such that an inside of the tub is accessible through the inlet, the tub configured to store water;
a drum in the tub, the drum configured to rotate about an axis extending along forward and rearward directions;
a pipe connection portion on a side surface of the tub, and configured to be connected to a pipe; and
an air-flow noise reduction mechanism in the pipe connection portion, and configured to control air-flow caused by rotation of the drum, the air-flow noise reduction mechanism including:
a plurality of partition plates spaced apart from one another with gaps therebetween, each partition plate of the plurality of partition plates extended across an opening of the pipe connection portion from a first edge of the opening to a second edge of the opening that is opposite to the first edge, or
a partial cover plate that covers a first portion of an opening of the pipe connection portion such that a second portion of the opening of the pipe connection portion is uncovered, the first portion being one of:
a central portion of the opening, wherein the partial cover plate is supported by a support piece extended between an edge of the opening and the partial cover plate,
a downstream portion of the opening that extends from a downstream edge of the opening toward a middle of the opening, wherein the second portion that is uncovered includes an upstream portion that extends from an upstream edge of the opening toward the middle of the opening, or
the upstream portion of the opening, wherein the second portion that is uncovered includes the downstream portion.
2 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 1 , wherein the air-flow noise reduction mechanism reduces air-flow noise caused by the rotation of the drum, and the plurality of partition plates extend at least partially into the opening along an axial direction of the pipe connection portion.
3 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 2 , wherein
the plurality of partition plates are in parallel to each other.
4 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 2 , wherein
a first partition plate of the plurality of partition plates intersects a second partition plate of the plurality of partition plates with gaps therebetween.
5 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 2 , wherein
a water supply pipe to supply water to the tub is connected to the pipe connection portion, and
the pipe connection portion includes a main flow path in which the plurality of partition plates are installed, the main flow path being in communication with the tub, and
the air-flow noise reduction mechanism includes an auxiliary flow path that bypasses the main flow path inside the pipe connection portion to be in communication with the tub.
6 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 5 , wherein an inlet of the auxiliary flow path is located upstream of an inlet of the main flow path.
7 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 5 , wherein the auxiliary flow path is parallel to the main flow path.
8 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 5 , wherein the auxiliary flow path partially extends along a direction that is not parallel to the main flow path.
9 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 2 , wherein
a water supply pipe to supply water to the tub is connected to the pipe connection portion, and
at least one partition plate of the plurality of partition plates has a sharp upstream end.
10 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 1 , wherein
the air-flow noise reduction mechanism is the partial cover plate having the first portion that covers the central portion of an opening,
the support piece is among a plurality of support pieces that are extended between opposing edges of the opening and the partial cover plate, and
the second portion is among a plurality of second portions, each second portion of the plurality of second portions extending between the edge of the opening, the partial cover plate, and two adjacent support pieces of the plurality of support pieces.
11 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 1 , wherein
a water supply pipe to supply water to the tub is connected to the pipe connection portion,
the air-flow noise reduction mechanism includes the partial cover plate, and
a through hole is formed in the partial cover plate to allow water to flow therethrough.
12 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 1 , further comprising a water supply device configured to supply water to the tub through a water supply pipe connected to the pipe connection portion.
13 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 1 , further comprising a drainage device configured to drain water from the tub through a drain pipe connected to the pipe connection portion.
14 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 1 , further comprising a mounting member insertable into the pipe connection portion,
wherein the air-flow noise reduction mechanism is arranged in the mounting member.
15 . The drum-type washing machine of claim 14 , wherein
the pipe connection portion includes a connection pipe portion, and
the mounting member includes an elastic material and is inserted into the connection pipe portion.