Laundry treating apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11525207-B2
Application number	US-201916562379-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 5, 2019
Priority date	Sep 6, 2018
Publication date	Dec 13, 2022
Grant date	Dec 13, 2022

Abstract

A laundry treating apparatus includes a cabinet with an insertion opening defined in a front face, a laundry receiving space in the cabinet, a support assembly in the laundry receiving space for supporting laundry, and a first chamber including an air supply part for supplying dehumidified and heated air into the laundry receiving space. A communication opening in the front face of the cabinet opens to the first chamber. A chamber door is configured to open and close the communication opening. A water discharge tank is detachably connected to the chamber door and stores condensate water discharged from the air supply part. A chamber door conveying part reciprocates the chamber door, and moves the support assembly toward the insertion opening when the door opens the insertion opening.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry treating apparatus comprising:
a cabinet;
a laundry receiving space defined in the cabinet and configured for receiving laundry therein;
a support assembly included in the laundry receiving space and configured for supporting the laundry;
a first chamber positioned below the laundry receiving space and in fluid communication with the laundry receiving space through a discharging opening and a supplying opening of the first chamber;
an insertion opening defined in a front face of the cabinet and in fluid communication with the laundry receiving space;
a communication opening defined in the front face of the cabinet and in fluid communication with the first chamber;
a duct disposed in the first chamber and configured to connect the discharging opening and the supplying opening with each other;
a first heat exchanger disposed inside the duct and configured to dehumidify air entering the duct;
a second heat exchanger disposed inside the duct and configured to heat air passing through the first heat exchanger;
a chamber door for opening and closing the communication opening;
a water discharge tank detachably connected to the chamber door, wherein the water discharge tank includes a water discharge tank body providing a space to store condensate water discharged from the first heat exchanger and a water discharging pipe insertion opening formed through the water discharge tank body for receiving condensate water;
a water discharge portion detachably communicated with the water discharging pipe insertion opening for supplying condensate water to the water discharge tank; and
a chamber door conveying part configured for reciprocating the chamber door between a first point where the water discharge portion is communicated with the water discharging pipe insertion opening and the chamber door closes the communication opening and a second point where the water discharge portion is separated from the water discharging pipe insertion opening and the chamber door opens the communication opening for removal of the water discharge tank from the first chamber, and
wherein, when the chamber door reciprocates between the first point and the second point, a vertical height between the water discharging pipe insertion opening and an ending tip of the water discharge portion remains unchanged.

2. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a moisture supply part included in the first chamber and configured to supply unheated water vapor or heated water vapor into the laundry receiving space; and
a water supply tank detachably connected to the chamber door and configured to supply water to the moisture supply part.

3. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the chamber door is a drawer configured to be extendable and retractable from and into the first chamber.

4. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the chamber door includes:
a support body positioned inside the first chamber and configured to support the water discharge tank; and
a chamber door body fixed to the support body and configured to close the communication opening when the support body is positioned inside the first chamber and to open the communication opening when the support body is extended from the first chamber,
wherein the chamber door conveying part includes:
a body rack disposed on the support body;
a body pinion coupled to the body rack; and
a body pinion motor disposed in the first chamber and configured to rotate the body pinion.

5. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising:
a control command input unit configured for generating a control command for moving the chamber door from the first point to the second point and a control command for moving the chamber door from the second point to the first point.

6. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising:
a guide included on one of the chamber door body and the support body along a longitudinal direction of the chamber door body;
a housing configured to be movable along the guide and including a housing mounting portion configured to receive the water discharge tank; and
a housing conveying part configured for reciprocating the housing along the longitudinal direction of the chamber door body.

7. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the housing conveying part includes:
a housing rack disposed on the housing along the longitudinal direction of the chamber door body;
a housing pinion coupled to the housing rack; and
a housing pinion motor fixed to one of the chamber door body and the support body and configured to rotate the housing pinion.

8. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the water discharge portion includes:
a first water discharging pipe configured for discharging condensate water generated in the first heat exchanger out of the duct;
a second water discharging pipe configured to be communicated with the water discharging pipe insertion opening when the chamber door moves from the second point to the first point and separated the water discharging pipe insertion opening when the chamber door moves from the first point to the second point; and
a pump configured for transferring water from the first water discharging pipe to the second water discharging pipe.

9. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising:
a moisture supply part included in the first chamber and configured to supply unheated water vapor or heated water vapor into the laundry receiving space;
a water supply tank configured for storing water, wherein the water supply tank is detachable from the housing mounting portion; and
a water supplying portion included on the moisture supply part and configured to be connected to the water supply tank when the chamber door moves from the second point to the first point and to be separated from the water supply tank when the chamber door moves from the first point to the second point.

10. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising:
a control command input unit configured for sequentially generating a control command for sequentially executing a forward movement command for moving the chamber door from the first point to the second point and an ascending command for moving the housing away from the support body and a control command for sequentially executing a descending command for moving the housing toward the support body and a rearward movement command for moving the chamber door from the second point to the first point.

11. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:
a door pivotably connected to the cabinet and configured to open and close the insertion opening;
a door detection unit configured for detecting whether the door opened the insertion opening; and
a conveying part configured for moving the support assembly toward the insertion opening when the door opens the insertion opening and for moving the support assembly away from the insertion opening when the door closes the insertion opening.

12. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the conveying part moves the support assembly away from the insertion opening when the door closes the insertion opening.

13. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 12 , wherein a distance from the insertion opening to a center of the support assembly is equal to or less than ⅓ of a length of the laundry receiving space in a direction parallel to a direction of movement of the support assembly when the door opens the insertion opening.

14. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the distance from the

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Lee Donghwan
• Kim Myungshik
• Seong Jeaseok
• Han Sungkyong
• Heo Junyi

Classifications

• D06F58/24

  Condensing arrangements · CPC title

• D06F58/10 Primary

  Drying cabinets or drying chambers having heating or ventilating means · CPC title

• D06F58/26

  Heating arrangements, e.g. gas heating equipment (D06F58/18 takes precedence) · CPC title

• D06F58/203

  Laundry conditioning arrangements · CPC title

• D06F58/42

  by unheated air · CPC title