"The plastic counterweight (right) could save around 45,000 tonnes of CO2 each year in the UK..."
How about we just make machines that last instead of having to be replaced all the time.
Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin
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Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin
#72Was posted on BBC a few weeks back and in the comments sections this was posted. https://patents.google.com/patent/EP0326502A1/en
He has another one where it seems it pumps water through a second reservoir. Looks like that expired recently so possibly why we are seeing this? (Far from a patent expert)
https://patents.google.com/patent/EP0707670B1/en?q=D06F37%2f...
Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin
#73Water has a density of 1000kg/m3 whereas concrete has a density of 2300kg/m3. Your washing machine will end up a bit bigger if you want the same counterweight. Some washers even have cast iron counterweights (7000kg/m3).
Because of better electronic regulation can probably get away with this easier now. Also front loaders seem to have taken over a lot of the market which maybe affects things?
Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
>(Probably not that hard to solve) Yeah, just throw a 2 channel PID controller and a bunch of servos. It most likely be rather cheap (sarcasm)
Most probably the new washing machine will have a microprocessor anyway being IoT ;), so it's just the cost of sensors and servos that adds to the BOM. As a side note, and JFYI, a celebration of connected washers (by IBM): https://www.ibm.com/blogs/internet-of-things/washing-iot-sol... Particularly: >New business transformation opportunities can be explored whereby the washing machine itself can be turned into a serv…
Aah, this the devious "product as a service" model, at least here they properly call it leasing, unlike the companies that adopted Keurigification
Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin
#75This is one of those things where I'd have to think the washing machine companies have certainly thought of this and there's a reason they don't do it that's being left out of the article. It does seem like a good idea, but curious why it's not done already.
Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin
#76"The plastic counterweight (right) could save around 45,000 tonnes of CO2 each year in the UK..." How about we just make machines that last instead of having to be replaced all the time.
Because no-one wants to pay for that. Washing machines which last exist, but they're expensive. They use sturdier, more easily replaceable parts, higher quality motors and control systems, etc. And sometimes _iron_ counterweights (even more CO2 there).
You can get a washing machine that might last perhaps 5-10 years for about 200-300 euro... or a Miele one that'll probably last over 20 years for 1000 euro. It's a hard sell for most people.
Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin
#77I never knew washing machines had concrete in them :(
Some very high-end ones use iron counterweights.
Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin
#78I wonder when active damping systems will come to washing machines. You'll need sensors to measure vibrations, a control unit and some small but fast actuator coupled to a small counter weight. The technology shouldn't be much different to the noise cancelling earphones I'm wearing right now. But with a larger actuator.
My 1400rpm Samsung front loader definitely does. Probably the higher spin speeds make it more necessary?
Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin
#79Somewhat tickled to say I thought of this about 10 years ago, told everyone who would listen, and many who wouldn't. As I was not remotely interested in developing it myself I was happy to tell anyone. Got an audience with a designer at Dyson, gave it to him straight in the clearest most open terms imaginable, to be met by nonplussed disinterest. Just kept it for cocktail parties since then.
I've been telling this for years every time I helped people move. The thought of patenting it crossed my mind, but I always assumed this would be "too simple" an invention, that companies probably already had figured out, but couldn't use because of some patent troll or something like that. Also, as a student, I didn't have the money for a patent application.
> Also, as a student, I didn't have the money for a patent application.
That's the big probem for individuals.
Patenting as an individual is expensive and as a friend learned the big companies can just sit-tight until the renewal fees become too much to bear.
He had designed a self-assembly glassfibre astronomical observatory on the Buckmeister principle, with a wide-opening orifice using petal segments, and toured the major manufacturers in the field. None wanted to license the patent.
Shortly after he let the patent lapse due to cost, several of the manufacturers brought out their variants. That's just the way the game is played.
Re: Concrete-free washing machines are lighter to transport, just as good in a spin
#80>"We found it worked as good as a concrete counterweight, stopping the spinning drum from heavily vibrating the machine," Sorry to be off topic, but shouldn't it be "worked as well "? Not a native speaker, but it sounds strange. Very interesting idea, though as many have pointed out, I'd be worried of leakage in the long run. A plastic container should be cheap to replace, however.
You are right, proper usage is "well" there. It's an adverb, describing the way that the machine worked. "Good" is for adjectives, describing people, places or things.
Sometimes you will hear this mistake in speech (as opposed to written), and this was a quote. Even in speech, unless used for effect, that usage would (for better or worse) mark the speaker as less educated.
But if delivered with a bit of a foreign accent, all is forgiven ;-).