Shoe management apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12376675-B2
Application number	US-202418405165-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 5, 2024
Priority date	Jun 24, 2020
Publication date	Aug 5, 2025
Grant date	Aug 5, 2025

Abstract

A shoe management apparatus including a cabinet including an inner space for storing shoes, an exhaust port disposed at a rear surface of the inner space and discharging air into the inner space, and a front discharge port disposed at an upper surface of the cabinet and discharging air from the inner space to outside of the shoe management apparatus.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A shoe management apparatus, comprising:
a cabinet including an inner space for storing shoes;
an electric compartment configured to supply air to perform at least one of sterilization, ventilation and humidity control of the inner space;
an exhaust port disposed at a rear edge surface of the inner space and configured to discharge air into the inner space;
a connection pipe configured to connect the electric compartment and the exhaust port to guide air supplied from the electric compartment into the exhaust port; and
a front discharge port disposed at an upper surface of the cabinet and configured to discharge air from the inner space to outside of the shoe management apparatus,
wherein the exhaust port includes a diffuser, the diffuser including an air inlet point in which air is configured to be drawn and an air outlet point facing the cabinet through which air is configured to be discharged into the inner space of the cabinet, and
wherein the diffuser has a shape that expands in cross-sectional area from the air inlet point to the air outlet point, allowing air to diffuse in a side-to-side direction based on the rear edge surface of the inner space.

2. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the exhaust port has a horizontally elongated rectangular shape.

3. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the exhaust port includes a duct and an airflow divider, and
wherein the airflow divider is configured to direct airflow received by the exhaust port in a different direction than air discharged by the exhaust port.

4. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the exhaust port further includes:
a bottom opening disposed at a rear surface of the inner space of the cabinet to guide air into the inner space; and
an exhaust port packing disposed between the diffuser and the bottom opening.

5. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one partition vertically dividing the inner space into multiple compartments,
wherein the at least one partition has a rear end at least partially spaced apart from an inner surface of the cabinet.

6. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the exhaust port is configured to discharge air between the rear end of the at least one partition and the inner surface of the cabinet.

7. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a circulation filter disposed on an inner side surface of the cabinet, the circulation filter including a lower opening and an upper opening, and the circulation filter being configured to:
filter air within the inner space of the cabinet introduced through the lower opening of the circulation filter, and
discharge air through the upper opening of the circulation filter.

8. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the exhaust port further includes:
an exhaust port lower packing disposed below the diffuser; and
an exhaust port upper packing disposed above the diffuser, and
wherein the exhaust port lower packing and the exhaust port upper packing are configured to prevent air leakage through a gap between the cabinet and the diffuser.

9. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a cross-section of the air outlet point of the diffuser has a rectangular shape.

10. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a length of the air inlet point of the diffuser is smaller than a length of the air outlet point of the diffuser, and
wherein the length of the air inlet point of the diffuser is disposed in a different direction than the length of the air outlet point of the diffuser.

11. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the diffuser includes a control damper located in the air inlet point, the control damper being configured to adjust a flow rate of air discharged through the diffuser.

12. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the control damper is configured to block air from entering the air inlet point of the diffuser depending on an operation state of the shoe management apparatus.

13. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the cabinet further includes at least three partitions, and
wherein each of the at least three partitions is configured to be movable.

14. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein each of the at least three partitions are configured to direct a flow of air inside the inner space of the cabinet.

15. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 14 , further comprising a circulation filter located between adjacent partitions of the at least three partitions.

16. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the cabinet further includes:
a plurality of partitions;
inner side surfaces configured to connect to ends of each of the partitions;
an inner upper surface disposed above the plurality of partitions;
an inner lower surface disposed below the plurality of partitions; and
an inner rear surface, and
wherein the exhaust port is disposed between the inner lower surface of the cabinet and the inner rear surface of the cabinet.

17. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the exhaust port is configured to discharge air in a vertical direction.

18. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein each of the partitions includes a first gap located above the exhaust port with respect to the vertical direction, and
wherein the exhaust port is configured to discharge air into the first gap of each of the partitions.

19. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein each of the partitions further includes a second gap disposed on an opposite side of each of the partitions from the first gap, and
wherein air is configured to move upward through the first gap after being discharged by the exhaust port and move downward through the second gap.

20. The shoe management apparatus according to claim 19 , wherein a length of the first gap and the second gap correspond to a length of the plurality of partitions.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Yoo Hyunsun
• Choi Jeong Guen
• Oh Joohyeon
• Lim Jae Myung
• Han Byoungjoon
• Lee Sang Yoon
• Kim Hyunju
• Seong Jeaseok

Classifications

• A61L2/10

  Ultraviolet [UV] radiation · CPC title

• A61L2/07

  Steam · CPC title

• A61L2/088

  using photocatalysts or photosensitisers · CPC title

• F24F7/007

  with forced flow (using ducting systems F24F7/06) · CPC title

• A61L2202/14

  Means for controlling sterilisation processes, data processing, presentation and storage means, e.g. sensors, controllers, programs · CPC title