Laundry treating apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9695543-B2
Application number	US-201514619638-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2015
Priority date	Feb 18, 2014
Publication date	Jul 4, 2017
Grant date	Jul 4, 2017

Abstract

The laundry treating apparatus includes a door to open and close the introduction port about a first rotational or a second rotational axis which is different from first rotational axis. A first switching unit is provided in the door to allow rotation of door about the first rotational axis, and a second switching unit is provided in the door to allow rotation of the door about the second rotational axis. A lock fixes a position of at least one of the first switching unit or second switching unit when the door opens the introduction port. As can be appreciated, the mechanism used for the laundry apparatus may be applicable to other home appliances or non-home appliances where two different rotational axes may be needed to open and close a door.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry treating apparatus comprising:
a cabinet including a front panel with an introduction port;
a chamber positioned in the cabinet to receive laundry introduced through the introduction port;
a door configured to open and close the introduction port;
a first hinge including a first shaft provided at the cabinet to define a first rotational axis of the door and a first shaft receiving unit provided at the door to receive the first shaft,
a second hinge including a second shaft coupled to the door to define the first rotational axis together with the first shaft and a third shaft adapted to rotatably fix the second shaft to the cabinet, the third shaft defining a second rotational axis of the door;
a third hinge including a fourth shaft provided at the door to define the second rotational axis together with the third shaft and a fourth shaft receiving unit provided at the cabinet to receive the fourth shaft;
a first switching unit provided at the door and configured to move so as to open and close the first shaft receiving unit;
a second switching unit provided at the door, and configured to move so as to open and close the fourth shaft receiving unit, wherein the second switching unit closes the fourth shaft receiving unit when the first switching unit opens the first shaft receiving unit,
wherein the first switching unit is configured such that a first end of the first switching unit partly remains in the first shaft receiving unit when the first switching unit opens the first shaft receiving unit and the second switching unit closes the fourth shaft receiving unit;
a handle to move the first switching unit in a direction to open the first shaft receiving unit; and
a lock to fix a position of at least one of the handle, the first switching unit, or the second switching unit when the door is open,
wherein the first end of the first switching unit provides a resistive force to the first shaft when the first shaft passes the first end of the first switching unit and enters the first shaft receiving unit; and
wherein the first switching unit further includes a first fastening unit and a second fastening unit spaced apart from each other by a predetermine distance in a width direction of the door such that the lock can be selectively and detachably coupled thereto, and a distance from the one end of the first switching unit to the first fastening unit is less than a distance from the one end of the first switching unit to the second fastening unit, and the first switching unit is configured to close the first shaft receiving unit when the lock is coupled to the second fastening unit and to have at least part of the one end thereof remain in the first shaft receiving unit when the lock is coupled to the first fastening unit,
wherein the lock further includes a fixing unit adapted to move in a thickness direction of the door so that the fixing unit can be detachably coupled to one of the first fastening unit and the second fastening unit, and a width of the first fastening unit along the movement direction of the first switching unit is greater than a width of the fixing unit, and
wherein the first fastening unit and the second fastening unit are holes formed through the first switching unit, and the fixing unit comprises a first fixing protrusion configured to be inserted into the first fastening unit and the second fastening unit and a second fixing protrusion protruding from the first fixing protrusion, the second fixing protrusion having a smaller width than the first fixing protrusion.

2. The laundry treating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a length of the one end partly remaining in the first shaft receiving unit is less than a width of the first shaft receiving unit.

3. The laundry treating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one end of the first switching unit is provided with a tilted switching unit surface tilted in a direction to which the first shaft is inserted into the first shaft receiving unit.

4. The laundry treating apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an elastic support unit provided at least one of the first switching unit or the second switching unit to bias the first switching unit toward the first shaft receiving unit such that the door is rotatable about the first rotational axis.

5. The laundry treating apparatus according to claim 4 ,
wherein the first switching unit includes said one end thereof as a first free end and the other end as a second free end, wherein the first free end is configured to be moved in a width direction of the door to open and close the first shaft receiving unit and the second free end is arranged to contact the second switching unit,
wherein the second switching unit includes said one end thereof as a third free end and the other end as a fourth free end, wherein the third free end is configured to be moved in a height direction of the door to open and close the fourth shaft receiving unit and the fourth free end is arranged to contact the second free end, and
wherein the elastic support unit is provided at the second switching unit to bias the third free end away from the fourth shaft receiving unit.

6. The laundry treating apparatus according to claim 4 ,
wherein the first switching unit includes said one end thereof as a first free end and the other end as a second free end, wherein the first free end is configured to be moved in a width direction of the door to open and close the first shaft receiving unit and the second free end is arranged to contact the second switching unit,
wherein the second switching unit includes said one end thereof as a third free end and the other end as a fourth free end, wherein the third free end is configured to be moved in a height direction of the door to open and close the fourth shaft receiving unit and the fourth free end is arranged to contact the second free end, and
wherein the elastic support unit includes a first support unit provided at the first switching unit to bias the first free end toward the first shaft receiving unit and a second support unit provided at the second switching unit to bias the third free end away from the fourth shaft receiving unit.

7. The laundry treating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a length obtained by subtracting the width of the fixing unit from the width of the first fastening unit is equal to or greater than a length of the at least part of the one end of the first switching unit remaining in the first shaft receiving unit.

8. The laundry treating apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the lock includes:
a lock body movable in a width direction of the door;
a body support unit configured to bias the lock body toward the handle while elastically supporting the lock body, wherein the lock body includes a tilted body surface tilted toward the movement direction of the lock body; and
a body push unit provided at either the front panel or the door, and being adapted to contact and push the tilted body surface when the door is closed,
wherein the handle further comprises a body coupling unit to which the lock body is detachably coupled.

9. The laundry treating apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the body push unit is arranged to be movable in a thickness direction of the door.

10. The laundry treating apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a door lock provided at the door; and
a door lock fastening unit provided at the door and the front panel such that the door lock can be detachably coupled to the door lock fastening unit.

11. The laundry treating apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein
the first rotational axis is provided perpendicular to a bottom surf

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Sim Hoyeob
• Hwang Inho
• Kim Yongil
• Park Soowon

Classifications

• D06F39/12

  Casings; Tubs · CPC title

• D06F39/14 Primary

  Doors or covers; Securing means therefor · CPC title

• D06F1/10

  Covers; Handles · CPC title

• D06F37/28

  Doors; Security means therefor · CPC title

• D06F37/10 Primary

  Doors; Securing means therefor · CPC title