Apparatus for treating laundry

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025043493-A1
Application number	US-202418799693-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 9, 2024
Priority date	Sep 4, 2020
Publication date	Feb 6, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A laundry treating apparatus includes a drum including a drum body, a front cover, and a rear cover, a fixed panel that is spaced apart from the rear cover and defines a panel inlet and a panel outlet, a rotor, an exhaust duct configured to guide air from the drum to the panel outlet, a heat exchanger configured dehumidify air in the exhaust duct, a flow path forming part fixed to the fixed panel and in contact with the drum, a duct body fixed to the fixed panel and configured to guide air from the panel outlet to the panel inlet, the duct body receiving the rotor, and a flow path guide configured to guide a portion of the air from the panel outlet to the duct body in a clockwise direction and another portion of the air from the panel outlet to the duct body in a counterclockwise direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus for treating laundry, comprising:
a cabinet; a drum located in the cabinet, the drum comprising: a cylindrical drum body having an open front side and an open rear side; a front cover fixed to the front side of the drum body; a rear cover fixed to the rear side of the drum body; and a drum entrance perforating the front cover; a fixed panel provided to a location spaced apart from the rear cover; a drive part comprising: a stator forming a rotating field; a rotor rotated by the rotating field; and a power transmission part fixed to the fixed panel to transmit a rotational motion of the rotor to the drum; an exhaust duct disposed below the drum to guide air discharged from the drum to the panel outlet; a heat exchange part dehumidifying and heating the air moving along the exhaust duct; an air inlet configured to perforate the rear cover; a supply duct comprising: a duct body provided on the fixed panel to guide the air discharged from the exhaust duct to the air inlet; and a rotor receiving part provided on the duct body to expose the rotor from the duct body externally; and a flow path guide disposed between the exhaust duct and the rotor receiving part, wherein the duct body is provided to supply air to the air inlet from an upper part of the rotor receiving part and a lower part of the rotor receiving part, wherein the flow path guide comprises: a first slope surface that guides the air discharged from the exhaust duct to the upper part of the rotor receiving part, a second slope surface extending from one end of the first slope surface and guiding the air to the lower part of the rotor receiving part, wherein the first slope surface and the second slope surface extend in a straight line.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the flow path guide guides a portion of the air flowing into the duct body to perforated holes located on a lest side of a reference line passing through a center of the rotor receiving part and a center of the panel outlet and also guides the rest of the air flowing into the duct body to perforated holes located on a right side of the reference line.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising projected wall projected from the duct body toward the fixed panel.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the projected wall is provided to a location at which the number of the perforated holes located on the left side of the reference line is made equal to the number of the perforated holes located on the right side of the reference line.

5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein a free end of the projected wall is configured not to contact with the fixed panel.

6 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein a multitude of holes perforating the rear cover are disposed in a ring shape in the air inlet and wherein a radius of a ring formed by the air inlet is set greater than a half of a radius of the rear cover.

7 . The apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising:
a duct cover fixed to the duct body to close the rotor receiving part; an inlet flow path provided to the duct body to supply external air to the rotor receiving part; an outlet flow path provided to the duct body to guide air in the rotor receiving part to an outside of the rotor receiving part; and a vane provided to the rotor to move the air in the rotor receiving part to the outlet flow path.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the inlet flow path and the outlet flow path are formed as a recess configured in a manner of concavely bending a top side of the duct body and wherein the inlet flow path, a rotation center of the rotor and the outlet flow path are disposed on the reference line.

9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , the rotor comprising:
a rotor body in a disk shape; a rotor circumferential surface fixed to the rotor body; a permanent magnet fixed to the rotor circumferential surface; and a rotor perforated hole perforating the rotor body.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the rotor perforated hole comprises a slit configured in a manner that a length with respect to a diameter direction of the rotor body is set greater than a length with respect to a circumferential direction of the rotor body and wherein the vane is configured along the diameter direction of the rotor body.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:
a drive part installation recess configured in a manner that the fixed panel is bent toward a direction of getting far away from the rotor so as to provide a space for receiving at least one portion of the stator therein; and a guide flow path guiding air in the drive part installation recess to the outlet flow path.

12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the drive part comprises:
a hollow cylindrical housing fixed to the fixed panel; a ring gear fixed within the housing; a first shaft having one end fixed to the rotor and the other end located within the housing; a driver gear located within the housing by being fixed to the first shaft; a second shaft configured to penetrate the fixed panel and having one end fixed to the rear cover and the other end located within the housing so as to form a concentric axis with the first shaft; a base located within the housing and having the other end of the second shaft fixed thereto; and a driven gear comprising: a first body rotatably fixed to the base; a first gear provided to a circumferential surface of the first body to engage with the driver gear; a second body fixed to the first body and having a diameter smaller than that of the first body; and a second gear provided to a circumferential surface of the second body to engage with the ring gear.

13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein a diameter of the first gear is set greater than that of the driver gear and wherein a diameter of the second gear is set greater than that of the driver gear and smaller than that of the first gear.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Cho Hongjun
• Kim Hyojun
• Kim Hyeonjoong
• Kwon Oshin
• Hwang Yangguk
• Lee Hyuksoo
• Lee Yeonju

Classifications

• D06F37/30

  Driving arrangements  (control circuits or arrangements D06F34/08) · CPC title

• D06F58/08 Primary

  Driving arrangements · CPC title

• H02K9/02

  by ambient air flowing through the machine · CPC title

• H02K7/14

  Structural association with mechanical loads, e.g. with hand-held machine tools or fans (with fan or impeller for cooling the machine H02K9/06) · CPC title

• H02K1/27

  Rotor cores with permanent magnets · CPC title