Laundry treating apparatus and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12180635-B2
Application number	US-202117401731-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 13, 2021
Priority date	Aug 14, 2020
Publication date	Dec 31, 2024
Grant date	Dec 31, 2024

Abstract

A laundry treating apparatus includes a cabinet, a tub, a drum, a rotator including a bottom portion positioned on a bottom surface of the drum, a pillar protruding from the bottom portion toward an open surface of the drum, and blades spaced apart from one another along a circumferential direction of the pillar and inclined with respect to a longitudinal direction of the pillar, a water supply, a sprayer, a drainage, and a controller for controlling rotation of the drum and the rotator and operation of the water supply and the drainage. During a rinsing operation, the drum and the rotator rotate in a same direction while water is continuously sprayed through the sprayer and the drainage is closed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a laundry treating apparatus including a cabinet, a tub configured to receive water, a drum that is rotatably disposed inside the tub and has an open surface configured to receive clothes therethrough and a bottom surface located at an opposite side of the open surface, the drum being configured to rotate about a vertical rotation axis, a rotator that is rotatably disposed at the bottom surface of the drum and includes a bottom portion rotatably disposed on the bottom surface of the drum, a pillar protruding from the bottom portion toward the open surface, and a plurality of blades spaced apart from one another along a circumferential direction of the pillar and inclined with respect to a longitudinal direction of the pillar, a water supply configured to supply water into the tub, a sprayer configured to receive water from the water supply and to spray the water into the drum, a drainage configured to discharge the water in the tub to an outside of the cabinet, a motor configured to generate rotational force, a gear set that is configured to simultaneously or selectively transmit the rotational force from the motor to the drum and the rotator, and a controller configured to control (i) rotation directions of the drum and the rotator by controlling the gear set, (ii) operation of the water supply and the drainage, and (iii) and a washing course including at least one of a water supplying operation, a washing operation, a rinsing operation, or a dehydration operation, the method comprising:
performing the rinsing operation,
wherein the rinsing operation comprises:
supplying a fabric softener into the drum with the water supplied from the water supply;
after completion of supplying the fabric softener into the drum, spraying water into the drum through the sprayer in a state in which the drainage is closed; and
rotating the drum and the rotator in a same direction while spraying the water through the sprayer in the state in which the drainage is closed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein rotating the drum and the rotator comprises:
varying a revolutions per minute (RPM) of each of the drum and the rotator.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein rotating the drum and the rotator comprises:
performing a first rotation operation for generating an ascending water flow in the drum;
after the first rotation operation, performing a second rotation operation for generating a descending water flow in the drum; and
alternating the first rotation operation and the second rotation operation.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein performing the first rotation operation comprises rotating the drum and the rotator in a first direction, and
wherein performing the second rotation operation comprises rotating the drum and the rotator in a second direction opposite to the first direction.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein varying the RPM comprises:
increasing the RPM of each of the drum and the rotator; and
decreasing the RPM of each of the drum and the rotator.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein varying the RPM further comprises:
alternating increasing and decreasing the RPM of each of the drum and the rotator.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a drain operation and a dehydration operation after rotating the drum and the rotator in the same direction.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a first drain operation and a first dehydration operation before rotating the drum and the rotator in the same direction; and
performing a second drain operation and a second dehydration operation after rotating the drum and the rotator in the same direction,
wherein a first revolutions per minute (RPM) of the drum in the first dehydration operation is less than a second RPM in the second dehydration operation.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein rotating the drum and the rotator comprises:
rotating the drum and the rotator in the same direction at an RPM that is less than the first RPM and the second RPM.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein rotating the drum and the rotator comprises:
controlling a driver configured to rotate the drum and the rotator.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Lee Sunho
• Kim Youngjong
• Kim Dongcheol
• Park Junghyun
• Yeo Unkeol
• Park Hyeyong

Classifications

• D06F33/37

  of metering of detergents or additives · CPC title

• D06F2105/02

  Water supply · CPC title

• D06F39/022

  in a liquid state (D06F39/024 takes precedence) · CPC title

• D06F17/10

  Impellers · CPC title

• D06F23/04

  and rotating or oscillating about a vertical axis · CPC title