A METHOD OF BALANCING A CONTAINER WHICH ROTATES ABOUT AN ESSENTIALLY HORIZONTAL AXIS

摘要

According to a method of balancing a container (10) which is rotating about an essentially horizontal axis, preferably a washing machine drum, the container is provided with cavities (15) evenly distributed along the periphery thereof and having openings (20) via which selectively liquid can be introduced in the respective cavity. A sensor (24) is provided for sensing vibrations caused by the rotation of the container and for emitting an electrical signal the magnitude of which is a measure of the magnitude of the vibrations. The container (10) is brought to rotate at a first rotational speed and the sensor signal is read. A predetermined amount of liquid is introduced in a randomly selected cavity (15) along the periphery of the drum. The sensor signal is again read and the value is compared with the preceding sensed value, wherein if the value is lower than the preceding one a new dose of the predetermined amount is introduced in the selected cavity while if the value is equal to or greater than the preceding one the predetermined amount is introduced in the immediate following cavity along the periphery. The described sequence is repeated until the sensor signal is lower than a predetermined, permissible value at which the container is brought to rotate at a second rotational speed, higher than the first one. The sequence described is repeated for different rotational speeds until the desired rotational speed has been reached and the sensor signal is lower than the predetermined value.