Laundry treating apparatus and control method for the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11299835-B2
Application number	US-202016818674-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2020
Priority date	Dec 16, 2016
Publication date	Apr 12, 2022
Grant date	Apr 12, 2022

Abstract

A laundry treating apparatus includes a cabinet with first and second cabinet doors. A first washing apparatus processes laundry that is placed through the first cabinet door at the front. A second washing apparatus processes laundry that is placed through the second cabinet door at the top. The second washing apparatus includes: a tub that holds water and has an opening at a top that is accessible through the second opening of the cabinet; a tub cover that covers the top of the tub and defines an inlet through which the tub is accessible; a tub door on the tub cover that opens or closes the inlet of the tub cover separately from the second cabinet door opening or closing the second opening; a drum inside the tub configured to rotate about a vertical shaft; and a first sensor that generates a signal based on the tub door being open.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry treatment apparatus comprising:
a cabinet provided with an opening at a top of the cabinet;
a cabinet door provided in the cabinet and configured to open or close the opening;
a tub provided in the cabinet to hold water;
a tub cover coupled to the top of the tub, wherein a height of the tub is provided smaller than a width of the tub;
an inlet provided to penetrate the tub cover to communicate with the opening;
a tub door provided at the tub cover to open or close the inlet, and provided separately from the cabinet door;
a drum provided inside the tub and configured to rotate about a vertical rotational shaft;
a driving unit coupled to the vertical rotational shaft and configured to rotate the vertical rotational shaft;
a first sensor provided on at least one of the cabinet door, the tub cover, or the tub door and configured to sense whether the tub door is in an open state or in a closed state; and
a second sensor provided on at least one of the cabinet door or the cabinet and configured to sense whether the cabinet door is in an open state or in a closed state.

2. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the driving unit is controlled such that an operating of the driving unit is stopped or the operating is impossible based on that the second sensor senses the opening of the cabinet door.

3. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a display unit configured to notify the open state of the cabinet door based on that the second sensor senses the opening of the cabinet door.

4. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the driving unit is controlled such that an operating of the driving unit is stopped or the operating is impossible based on that the first sensor senses the opening of the tub door.

5. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a display unit configured to notify the open state of the tub door based on that the first sensor senses the opening of the tub door.

6. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the driving unit is controlled such that an operating of the driving unit is impossible based on that the first sensor senses the opening of the tub door and the second sensor senses the opening of the cabinet door.

7. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a display unit configured to notify the open state of the tub door and the cabinet door based on that the first sensor senses the opening of the tub door and the second sensor senses the opening of the cabinet door.

8. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the drive unit is controlled to stop operation based on that the second sensor senses the opening of the cabinet door during operation of the drive unit.

9. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the drive unit is controlled to stop operation based on that the first sensor senses the opening of the tub door during operation of the drive unit.

10. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the tub door is provided under the cabinet door.

11. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the cabinet door is provided spaced apart from the top of the tub door.

12. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first hinge rotatably coupling the cabinet door to the cabinet; and
a second hinge rotatably coupling the tub door to the tub cover,
wherein the first hinge and the second hinge are provided in parallel with each other.

13. The laundry treatment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the tub door includes a sealing unit provided to be in contact with an inner circumferential surface or an outer circumferential surface of the inlet.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Chae Kyosoon
• Lee Dongsoo
• Lee Sangwook

Classifications

• D06F31/00 Primary

  Washing installations comprising an assembly of several washing machines or washing units, e.g. continuous flow assemblies · CPC title

• D06F33/00

  Control of operations performed in washing machines or washer-dryers  (D06F31/00 takes precedence; details of control systems therefor D06F34/00; control of operations performed in domestic laundry dryers D06F58/32) · CPC title

• A47L15/00

  Washing or rinsing machines for crockery or tableware · CPC title

• D06F39/14

  Doors or covers; Securing means therefor · CPC title

• D06F37/28

  Doors; Security means therefor · CPC title