Dryer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11058201-B2
Application number	US-201916576417-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2019
Priority date	Sep 19, 2018
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

A dryer includes a hollow casing accommodating a fan and a heater and having an open front and an open rear, and a display device disposed at the rear of the casing and covering at least a part of the open rear. The display device and a rear edge of the casing are spaced apart from each other to thereby form an air introduction area that is opened between the display device and a rear edge of the casing. The display device can display a graphic object on at least one of a plurality of display areas. A controller can select a drying object and change the graphic object to a suggested drying temperature based on pre-stored information of the drying object. The controller can also rotate the graphic object on the screen of the display panel based on a rotation posture of the dryer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A dryer, comprising:
a hollow casing having a front opening and a rear opening:
a fan located within the casing to produce a flow of air;
a heater located within the casing to heat the flow of air;
a rear cover connected to a rear edge of the casing to cover a rear of the casing; and
a display located at the rear of the casing and within a portion of the rear opening,
wherein the display is spaced apart from a rear edge of the casing to thereby provide an air introduction area between the display and the rear edge of the casing, and
wherein the rear cover comprises:
a cylindrical rear cover side wall, of which a front and a rear are open; and
a rear cover plate covering the front of the rear cover side wall and being convex toward a front of the casing.

2. The dryer of claim 1 ,
wherein the display is located at an outer side of the rear cover.

3. The dryer of claim 2 ,
wherein a rear side of the rear cover side wall is connected to the rear edge of the casing.

4. The dryer of claim 3 , wherein the rear cover plate has a convex front surface and a concave rear surface.

5. The dryer of claim 3 , wherein the rear cover further comprises a plurality of through holes to permit air to be introduced into the casing, and
wherein the through holes are disposed in at least one of the rear cover side wall or the rear cover plate.

6. The dryer of claim 3 , wherein the display is disposed on the rear cover plate and surrounded by the rear cover side wall.

7. The dryer of claim 3 , wherein the rear cover plate includes an insertion hole located at a center of the rear cover plate, and
wherein a portion of the display is located within the insertion hole and coupled to the rear cover plate at the insertion hole.

8. The dryer of claim 5 , wherein the display comprises:
a display fixing base, the display fixing base having a cross-sectional area that increases from a front of the display fixing base toward a rear of the display fixing base; and
a display panel located at the rear of the display fixing base.

9. The dryer of claim 1 , wherein a rearmost portion of the display is located forwardly of a rearmost portion of the rear edge of the casing, to thereby protect the display from external impacts.

10. A dryer, comprising:
a hollow casing having a front opening and a rear opening;
a rear cover connected to a rear edge of the casing to cover a rear of the casing, the rear cover including:
a cylindrical rear cover side wall, of which a front and a rear are open; and
a rear cover plate covering the front of the rear cover side wall and being convex toward a front of the casing;

a display located at the rear of the casing and within a portion of the rear opening spaced apart from the rear edge of the casing to thereby provide an air introduction area between the display and the rear edge of the casing and having a plurality of display areas, the display being configured to display a graphic image on at least one of the display areas; and
a controller configured to:
control the display to display the graphic image on the display as a drying object;
select the drying object;
derive a suggested drying temperature for the selected drying object from pre-stored information including at least one of an age of the selected drying object and a species of the selected drying object; and
control the display to change the graphic image on the display to display the suggested drying temperature of the selected drying object.

11. The dryer of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to select the drying object by:
controlling the display to display graphic images of pre-stored drying objects; and
selecting, by a user, one of the graphic images.

12. The dryer of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to select the drying object by:
recognizing an identification tag attached to the drying object; and
selecting, by the controller, the drying object associated with the recognized identification tag.

13. The dryer of claim 10 , further comprising an air temperature sensor to sense air temperature information of air flowing in the dryer,
wherein the controller is further configured to control the display to change the graphic image on at least one of the display areas to display an air temperature based on the air temperature information.

14. The dryer of claim 10 , further comprising an external temperature sensor to sense body temperature information of the drying object,
wherein the controller is further configured to control the display to change the graphic image on at least one of the display areas to display a body temperature based on the body temperature information.

15. The dryer of claim 10 , further comprising a battery,
wherein the controller is further configured to:
sense charge information of the battery; and
control the display to change the graphic image on at least one of the display areas to display at least one of a charge rate and a remaining operating time based on the charge information.

16. The dryer of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
sense air speed information of air flowing in the dryer; and
control the display to change the graphic image on at least one of the display areas to display a drying intensity based on the air speed information.

17. The dryer of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
sense motion information of the dryer;
control the display to restrict displaying of the graphic image when the motion information exceeds a reference level; and
control the display to display the graphic image when the motion information is equal to or lower than the reference level.

18. The dryer of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the display to enlarge a size of a display area selected by a user from among the plurality of display areas showing the graphic image, while reducing sizes of remaining display areas not selected.

19. A dryer, comprising:
a hollow casing having a front opening and a rear opening;
a fan located within the casing to produce a flow of air;
a heater located within the casing to heat the flow of air;
a display located at a rear of the casing and within a portion of the rear opening; and
a controller configured to:
control the display to display a graphic image on the display;
sense motion information of the dryer; and
control the display to rotate the graphic image on the display according to the motion information of the dryer.

20. The dryer of claim 19 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the display based on the rotation information of the dryer to rotate the graphic image on the display to match a rotation of the dryer so that a lowest portion of the graphic image maintains an orientation closest to a ground surface below the dryer.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Yoo Hyunsun
• Chun Jaehung
• Eun Yousook
• Kim Joogyeom
• Kim Sungkyung
• KIM Myongsun

Classifications

• G06K7/10

  by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation · CPC title

• G06F3/0481

  based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance · CPC title

• G05D23/193

  sensing the temperaure in different places in thermal relationship with one or more spaces · CPC title

• G05D13/08

  without auxiliary power · CPC title

• A45D20/12 Primary

  Details thereof or accessories therefor, e.g. nozzles, stands · CPC title