Clothes treatment apparatus and control method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11525208-B2
Application number	US-202017100485-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 20, 2020
Priority date	Nov 21, 2019
Publication date	Dec 13, 2022
Grant date	Dec 13, 2022

Abstract

A clothes treatment apparatus includes a cabinet; an inner door disposed to be rotatable in a front surface of the cabinet and provided with an opening; an outer door disposed to form a space in which clothes are mounted between a front surface of the inner door and the outer door, the outer door disposed to rotate with respect to the cabinet together with the inner door or with respect to the inner door separately from the inner door; a heating plate disposed on a rear surface of the outer door; a holding device disposed in an upper portion of the space between the inner door and the outer door and formed to hold one end of the clothes; and a pair of clips disposed under the holding device in the space between the inner door and the outer door and formed to hold both sides of the clothes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A clothes treatment apparatus comprising:
a cabinet including an accommodation space;
an inner door disposed to be rotatable in a front surface of the cabinet to open and close the accommodation space and provided with an opening;
an outer door disposed to form a space in which clothes are mounted between a front surface of the inner door and the outer door, the outer door disposed to rotate with respect to the cabinet together with the inner door or with respect to the inner door separately from the inner door in a state that the inner door is fixed to the cabinet and closes the accommodation space;
a heating plate disposed on a rear surface of the outer door;
a holding device disposed in an upper portion of the space between the inner door and the outer door and formed to hold one end of the clothes; and
a pair of clips disposed under the holding device in the space between the inner door and the outer door and formed to hold both sides of the clothes.

2. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
the inner door comprises a plurality of holder mounting portions on which the holding device is disposed, and
the plurality of holder mounting portions are provided at a predetermined interval in a vertical direction on the front surface of the inner door.

3. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the holding device comprises:
a base plate disposed on the front surface of the inner door; and
a pressing plate hinged to be pivotable with respect to the base plate and configured to apply a force toward the front surface of the inner door.

4. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the holding device further comprises a heating member disposed on an inner surface of the pressing plate.

5. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein:
the holding device further comprises a pedal disposed in a lower portion of the inner door and formed to rotate the pressing plate,
when a force is applied to the pedal, the pressing plate is configured to rotate in a direction away from the inner door, and
when the force applied to the pedal is removed, the pressing plate is configured to apply a predetermined force toward the inner door.

6. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the holding device further comprises:
a pressing member disposed between the base plate and the pressing plate and configured to press the pressing plate toward the inner door;
a drive part disposed on one side of the pressing plate and configured to rotate the pressing plate;
a wire connecting the pedal and the drive part; and
a restoring elastic member disposed on the pedal and configured to return the pedal to its original position.

7. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the holding device further comprises:
a pressing member disposed between the base plate and the pressing plate and configured to press the pressing plate toward the inner door;
a motor disposed on one side of the pressing plate and configured to rotate the pressing plate in a direction spaced apart from the inner door; and
a foot switch disposed in a lower portion of the inner door and configured to turn the motor on and off.

8. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein:
when a force is applied to the foot switch, the motor is configured to rotate in one direction so that the pressing plate is spaced apart from the inner door, and
when the force applied to the foot switch is removed, the pressing member is configured to press the pressing plate toward the inner door.

9. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
each of the pair of clips comprises a shape memory alloy spring, and
when a temperature inside the cabinet increases, the shape memory alloy spring is configured to contract to pull the clothes.

10. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least one lower clip disposed in the space between the inner door and the outer door and formed to pull down the clothes.

11. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the inner door includes transparent windows provided on both sides of the opening.

12. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the opening is formed in a shape corresponding to a contour of pants.

13. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a fixing lever disposed in the outer door and provided with a locking part at one end thereof and an operating part at another end thereof; and
a fixing part provided in the inner door and formed to catch the locking part of the fixing lever,
wherein when the operating part of the fixing lever is pressed, the locking part of the fixing lever is removed from the fixing part and the outer door is rotated separately from the inner door.

14. The clothes treatment apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an elastic member disposed between the heating plate and the rear surface of the outer door and elastically supporting the heating plate toward the inner door.

15. A control method of a clothes treatment apparatus, the control method comprising:
mounting clothes in a space between an inner door and an outer door of the clothes treatment apparatus by opening the outer door in a state that the inner door is fixed to a cabinet of the clothes treatment apparatus; and
performing ironing on the clothes by the clothes treatment apparatus,
wherein the performing ironing on the clothes comprises:
generating steam by operating an injection device,
supplying the steam to the clothes,
generating heat by a heating plate of the outer door, and
drying the clothes by operating a circulation device.

16. The control method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the mounting the clothes in the space between the inner door and the outer door of the clothes treatment apparatus further comprises:
fixing one end of the clothes with a holding device of the inner door and fixing two sides of the clothes with a pair of clips; and
closing the outer door.

17. The control method as claimed in claim 16 , wherein:
the holding device comprises a pedal disposed in a lower portion of the inner door, and
in response to the pedal being pressed, a pressing plate of the holding device is configured to open so that the one end of the clothes is able to be placed under the pressing plate, and
in response to the pedal being released, the pressing plate of the holding device is configured to press the one end of the clothes.

18. The control method as claimed in claim 16 , wherein:
the holding device comprises a foot switch disposed in a lower portion of the inner door, and
in response to the foot switch being pressed, a pressing plate of the holding device is configured to open so that the one end of the clothes is able to be placed under the pressing plate, and
in response to the foot switch being released, the pressing plate of the holding device is configured to press the one end of the clothes.

19. A control method of a clothes treatment apparatus, the control method comprising:
selecting a special ironing in the clothes treatment apparatus;
opening an outer door of the clothes treatment apparatus;
checking a position of a holding device disposed in an inner door and adjusting the position of the holding device;
pressing a pedal or a foot switch so that a pressing plate of the holding device is opened;
setting a

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Song Inbang
• Na Hyeonuk
• Park Kyoungmin
• Lee Jaebok
• Lee Hojin
• Ju Seokho
• Pyo Sangyeon
• Ham Yeonsoo

Classifications

• D06F58/203

  Laundry conditioning arrangements · CPC title

• D06F58/10 Primary

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

• D06F71/34 Primary

  Heating arrangements; Arrangements for supplying or removing steam or other gases · CPC title

• D06F71/40 Primary

  Holders or stretchers for the article to be pressed · CPC title

• D06F71/04

  power-actuated (D06F71/08 takes precedence) · CPC title