Laundry treating apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12227890-B2
Application number	US-202217584708-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2022
Priority date	Feb 1, 2019
Publication date	Feb 18, 2025
Grant date	Feb 18, 2025

Abstract

A laundry treating apparatus includes a drum and a lifter disposed on an inner circumferential surface of the drum and configured to rotate with the drum. The lifter includes a lifter frame installed on the inner circumferential surface of the drum and a frame cover coupled to the lifter frame. The lifter frame includes a frame base coupled to the inner circumferential surface, a frame upper plate having a first water flow through-hole, and a frame sidewall that connects the frame upper plate to the frame base and that defines a second water flow through-hole. The frame cover includes a cover upper plate having a water flow discharge hole configured to discharge, into the drum, washing water having passed through at least one of the first water flow through-hole or the second water flow through-hole, and a cover sidewall that extends from the cover upper plate to the frame base.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry treating apparatus comprising:
a tub configured to receive washing water;
a drum disposed in the tub and configured to receive laundry, the drum being configured to rotate about a rotation axis that extends in a front-rear direction of the tub; and
a plurality of lifters disposed on an inner circumferential surface of the drum and configured to rotate about the rotation axis based on rotation of the drum, the plurality of lifters comprising:
a plurality of front lifters disposed at a front portion of the drum and arranged along a circumferential direction of the drum, and
a plurality of rear lifters disposed at a rear portion of the drum and arranged along the circumferential direction of the drum,

wherein the plurality of front lifters and the plurality of rear lifters define a plurality of groups of lifters, each group having a pair of lifters including a front lifter among the plurality of front lifters and a rear lifter among the plurality of rear lifters,
wherein respective central longitudinal axes of the front lifter and the rear lifter in each group of the plurality of groups of lifters are spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction to thereby define a phase angle between the front lifter and the rear lifter in each group of the plurality of groups of lifters about the rotation axis, and
wherein the front lifter and the rear lifter in each group of the plurality of groups of lifters overlap with each other along the front-rear direction.

2. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one of the front lifter among the plurality of front lifters or the rear lifter among the plurality of rear lifters is configured to, based on the drum rotating in a rotational direction, reach a point of a circumference of the tub before the other of the front lifter among the plurality of front lifters or the rear lifter among the plurality of rear lifters reaches the point of the circumference of the tub.

3. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the rear lifter among the plurality of rear lifters is configured to, based on the drum rotating in a clockwise direction, reach a point of a circumference in the tub before the front lifter among the plurality of front lifters reaches the point of the circumference of the tub.

4. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a circumferential distance corresponding to the phase angle between the front lifter and the rear lifter in each group of the plurality of groups of lifters is equal to a width of the front lifter in the circumferential direction.

5. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a circumferential distance corresponding to the phase angle between the front lifter and the rear lifter in each group of the plurality of groups of lifters is greater than zero and less than a width of the front lifter in the circumferential direction.

6. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a circumferential distance corresponding to the phase angle between the front lifter and the rear lifter in each group of the plurality of groups of lifters is less than two times of a width of the front lifter in the circumferential direction.

7. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein lengths of the front lifter and the rear lifter in each group of the plurality of groups of lifters in the front-rear direction are equal to each other.

8. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of lifters comprises:
a lifter frame fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the drum and made of plastic, and
a frame cover that covers the lifter frame and is coupled to the lifter frame.

9. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the lifter frame comprises a frame base that has a round shape and is connected to the inner circumferential surface of the drum,
wherein a portion of the frame base is exposed between the frame cover and the drum, and
wherein the frame cover comprises:
a cover sidewall that extends upward from a lower end of the frame cover and is coupled to the frame base, and
a cover upper plate that defines an upper portion of the frame cover.

10. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the lifter frame further comprises a frame sidewall that extends inwardly from the frame base,
wherein the frame base comprises an insertion protrusion that protrudes from a bottom surface of the frame base and is inserted into a mounting slot defined in the drum to thereby couple the frame base to the drum, and
wherein the frame sidewall defines a lateral through-hole at a position corresponding to the insertion protrusion based on the lifter frame being viewed vertically downward.

11. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the lateral through-hole is defined at a region of the frame sidewall that surrounds at least a portion of the insertion protrusion.

12. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the insertion protrusion comprises:
a vertical portion that extends downward from the bottom surface of the frame base; and
a catching portion that is curved from a lower end of the vertical portion in a direction inward relative to a periphery of the frame base, and
wherein at least a portion of the catching portion is located inside the lateral through-hole in a plan view of the lifter frame.

13. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 12 , wherein an outer surface of the catching portion is spaced apart from a rim of the lateral through-hole in the plan view of the lifter frame.

14. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the lifter frame further comprises a frame upper plate spaced apart from the frame base and connected to the frame sidewall,
wherein the frame sidewall is inclined with respect to the frame base and the frame upper plate, and
wherein an outer boundary of the frame upper plate is surrounded by the periphery of the frame base in the plan view of the lifter frame.

15. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the lateral through-hole is disposed between the outer boundary of the frame upper plate and the periphery of the frame base in the plan view of the lifter frame.

16. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the drum has a plurality of mounting slots defined at each of the front and rear portions of the drum,
wherein the lifter frame comprises:
a frame base that extends in the front-rear direction, and
a plurality of insertion protrusions that protrude from a bottom surface of the frame base and are coupled to the drum, and

wherein a number of the plurality of mounting slots defined at one of the front portion or the rear portion of the drum is greater than a number of the plurality of insertion protrusions inserted into the one of the front portion or the rear portion of the drum.

17. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the drum has a plurality of mounting slots defined at each of the front and rear portions of the drum,
wherein the lifter frame comprises:
a frame base that extends in the front-rear direction, and
a plurality of insertion protrusions that protrude from a bottom surface of the frame base and are coupled to the drum,

wherein the plurality of mounting slots define a plurality of groups of mounting slots at one of the front portion or the rear portion of the drum, the plurality of groups of mounting slots being arranged in the front-rear direction, and
wherein the plurality of insertion protrusions of one of the plurality of lifters are inserted into one group

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Lee Hyeonsik
• Kim Junyoung
• Lee Hong Min

Classifications

• D06F37/06 Primary

  Ribs, lifters, or rubbing means forming part of the receptacle · CPC title

• D06F37/04

  adapted for rotation or oscillation about a horizontal or inclined axis · CPC title

• D06F23/02

  and rotating or oscillating about a horizontal axis · CPC title

• D06F21/10

  about an inclined axis · CPC title

• D06F21/02

  about a horizontal axis · CPC title