Patent ID: 8590347

Claim:
A bearing assembly for a washing machine, the washing machine including a tub and a drum rotatable about a central axis, the bearing assembly comprising: two bearings spaced axially apart along the central axis; a spacer disposed at least partially between the two bearings, the spacer comprising a first body forming a first radial wall and a second body forming a second radial wall, wherein the first body is concentric with and surrounds the second body; wherein the spacer includes an intermediate radial partition wall integrally joining the first body and the second body as a single piece, the partition wall defining two annular spaces between the first and second bodies; wherein the spacer first body has two containment seats each configured to receive a separate one of the two bearings and the spacer second body is spaced axially from the two bearings; a polymeric housing including a frame molded to the bearings and to the spacer and configured to provide stiffness to the bearing assembly.