Clothing treatment device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a clothing treatment device comprising: a cabinet having a front plate, and an opening provided at the front plate so that clothing is put in therethrough; a tub having a tub body, which is provided in the cabinet and stores water, and a tub opening, which is provided in the tub body and communicates with the opening; a drum having a drum body, which is rotatably provided in the tub body and accommodates clothing, and a drum opening, which is provided in the drum body and communicates with the tub opening; a sealing body which connects the opening and the tub opening, and which extends along the circumference of the opening so as to seal the gap between the opening and the tub opening; a drain part having a drain path for discharging the water stored in the tub body to the outside, and a remaining water discharge tube capable of draining the water remaining in the drain path; and a discharge tube having one end connected to the sealing body and the other end connected to the drain path or the remaining water discharge tube so as to drain the water flowing into the sealing body.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a laundry treating apparatus.[Background]

[0002] A laundry treating apparatus is an apparatus that puts clothes, bedclothes, and the like (hereinafter, referred to as laundry) into a drum and performs a treatment process of the laundry such as removing contaminants from the laundry.

[0003] The laundry treating apparatus may include a cabinet including a laundry inlet, a tub accommodated in the cabinet, a drum that is rotatably mounted in the tub and accommodates the laundry inserted via the laundry inlet therein, a door movably disposed on the cabinet and moveable based on opening and closing of the laundry inlet, a sealing body that prevents washing water inside the tub from leaking to the cabinet, a detergent supplier that supplies detergent into the drum, and the like.

[0004] When the laundry treating apparatus is designed to dry the laundry, the laundry treating apparatus may provide dry air to the laundry to remove moisture from the laundry.

[0005] A drying stroke of the laundry may be categorized into a circulation type, an exhaust type, and a stagnant type. The circulation type refers to a circulation flow method in which air is heated and dehumidified inside the cabinet and supplied into the tub, and then is heated and dehumidified outside the tub again.

[0006] The exhaust type refers to a method of heating air outside the cabinet and supplying the heated air into the tub, and discharging air inside the tub back to the outside of the cabinet. The stagnant type refers to a method in which air inside the tub stagnates inside the tub without flowing and is heated and dehumidified.

[0007] The circulation type and the exhaust type are easy to be implemented because air is heated or dehumidified outside the tub, but are disadvantageous in securing a space and disadvantageous in design because a means for heating or dehumidifying air is required outside the tub.

[0008] On the other hand, the stagnant type does not need a circulation flow channel of air or the means for heating or dehumidifying air outside the tub, and thus has advantages in utilization of a space inside the cabinet and design, whereas a technical difficulty is high because the heating and the dehumidification of air should be performed inside the tub.

[0009] The stagnant-type drying process of the laundry may perform the heating and the dehumidification of air stagnating inside the tub using a heater that secures safety and heating efficiency using an induction current, and a cooling water supplier capable of effectively performing the dehumidification even inside the tub using cooling water.

[0010] In one example, cooling water may be supplied to an inner circumferential surface of the sealing body by the cooling water supplier or the like for the dehumidification effect of air during the drying process of the laundry treating apparatus as described above. In this case, cooling water supplied to the sealing body and condensed water remaining in the sealing body may cause a problem such as contamination of the washing machine or a damage resulted from freezing.

[0011] To solve the above problem, the related document KR 10-2006-0013840A discloses an invention of a laundry treating apparatus including the sealing body, wherein the laundry treating apparatus includes a drainage hose having one end connected to a lower portion of the sealing body and the other end connected to one side of a tub body so as to be located lower than said one end.

[0012] However, in this case, while water on the inner circumferential surface of the sealing body is guided into the tub body via the drainage hose, water is scattered from the one side of the tub body to which the drainage hose is connected to a drum body, thereby hindering the drying of the laundry inside the drum.

[0013] Therefore, when cooling water is supplied for the dehumidification during the drying process of the laundry treating apparatus, it is an important task in the present technical field to ensure smooth discharge of cooling water while minimizing the scattering of water into the drum during the discharge, thereby preventing deterioration of drying performance.[Summary][Technical Problem]

[0014] The present disclosure is intended to increase satisfaction with laundry treatment by preventing a deterioration of drying performance during discharge of cooling water in a laundry treating apparatus.

[0015] Further, the present disclosure is intended to provide a laundry treating apparatus that improves drying performance by preventing water from scattering into a drum body when cooling water of the laundry treating apparatus is guided into a tub body.

[0016] Further, the present disclosure is intended to provide a laundry treating apparatus that prevents scattering of water into a drum body by guiding a cooling water drainage hose for removing cooling water of the laundry treating apparatus to a drainage.

[0017] Further, the present disclosure is intended to provide a laundry treating apparatus that prevents scattering of water into a drum body by guiding a cooling water drainage hose for removing cooling water of the laundry treating apparatus to a residual water discharge pipe.

[0018] Further, the present disclosure is intended to provide a cooling water supply method that reduces residual lint of a sealing body by discharging cooling water to the sealing body.[Technical Solutions]

[0019] In a laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, cooling water is guided to a sealing body during a drying process, and a discharge pipe for discharging cooling water is disposed on the sealing body. In this regard, one end of the discharge pipe is connected to the sealing body and a remaining end thereof is connected to a drainage or a residual water discharge pipe. Alternatively, cooling water is guided into a tub body, and a guide is included in the laundry treating apparatus to minimize expansion of scattering of water to a drum body.

[0020] Therefore, a user may not only reduce remaining lint in the sealing body as the discharge of cooling water is guided to the sealing body, but also minimize the scattering of discharged cooling water to laundry inside the drum body, thereby obtaining satisfactory drying performance.

[0021] Such a laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a cabinet, a tub, a drum, a sealing body, and a drainage.

[0022] The cabinet includes a front plate and an inlet defined in the front plate to allow the laundry to be inserted therethrough.

[0023] The tub includes a tub body disposed in the cabinet and constructed to store water therein and a tub inlet defined in the tub body and in communication with the inlet.

[0024] The drum includes a drum body rotatably disposed inside the tub body and constructed to accommodate the laundry therein and a drum inlet defined in the drum body and in communication with the tub inlet.

[0025] The sealing body connects the inlet with the tub inlet and extends along a circumference of the inlet to seal a space between the inlet and the tub inlet.

[0026] The drainage includes a drainage flow channel constructed to discharge water stored in the tub body to the outside and a residual water discharge pipe constructed to drain water remaining in the drainage flow channel.

[0027] A discharge pipe having one end connected to the sealing body and a remaining end connected to the drainage flow channel or the residual water discharge pipe to discharge water introduced into the sealing body may be included.

[0028] The residual water discharge pipe may be located at a lower point than the one end of the discharge pipe such that water inside the sealing body is naturally drained.

[0029] The drainage flow channel may include a drainage pump including a housing and an impeller rotatable inside the housing, a first drainage pipe constructed to guide water inside the tub body to the housing, and a second drainage pipe constructed to guide water discharged from the housing to the outside of the cabinet, and the remaining end of the discharge pipe may be connected to the housing.

[0030] The remaining end of the discharge pipe may be connected to one of the first drainage pipe and the second drainage pipe.

[0031] One end of the residual water discharge pipe may be connected to a bottom surface of a housing.

[0032] The present disclosure may include a discharge pipe having one end connected to the sealing body and a remaining end connected to the tub body to guide water introduced into the sealing body to the tub body, and a guide disposed on the tub body and constructed to prevent water discharged from the discharge pipe from being introduced into the drum body.

[0033] The guide may include a fixed pipe fixed to the tub body and connected to the discharge pipe, a fixed pipe inlet constructed to introduce water supplied from the discharge pipe into the fixed pipe, a fixed pipe outlet constructed to discharge water inside the fixed pipe into the tub body, and a cover constructed to guide water discharged from the fixed pipe outlet to a bottom surface of the tub body or in a width direction of the tub body.

[0034] The laundry treating apparatus may further include a cover fixer connecting the cover with the fixed pipe and maintaining a distance between the cover and the fixed pipe outlet, and the cover may be formed in a shape of opening 40% or less of the fixed pipe outlet.

[0035] The laundry treating apparatus may further include a cover fixer connecting the cover with the fixed pipe and maintaining a distance between the cover and the fixed pipe outlet, and the cover fixer may include a first fixer fixing the cover to an upper inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe; and a second fixer fixing the cover to a lower inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe.

[0036] An area size of the cover may be set to 90% to 110% of an area size of the fixed pipe outlet.

[0037] A distance between the cover and the tub body may be set to be small when an area size of the cover is great.

[0038] A distance between the cover and the tub body may be set to be greater as a diameter of the fixed pipe outlet decreases.

[0039] The cover may be inclined downward toward the drum body.

[0040] The guide may include the cover fixer and a cover outlet, wherein water discharged to the bottom surface of the tub body or in the width direction of the tub body via the cover passes through the cover outlet, and an area size of the cover outlet may be equal to or greater than an area size of the fixed pipe inlet.[Advantageous Effects]

[0041] The present disclosure may increase the satisfaction with the laundry treatment by preventing the deterioration of the drying performance during the discharge of cooling water in the laundry treating apparatus.

[0042] Further, the present disclosure may provide the laundry treating apparatus that improves the drying performance by preventing water from scattering into the drum body when cooling water of the laundry treating apparatus is guided into the tub body.

[0043] Further, the present disclosure may provide the laundry treating apparatus that prevents the scattering of water into the drum body by guiding the cooling water drainage hose for removing cooling water of the laundry treating apparatus to the drainage.

[0044] Further, the present disclosure may provide the laundry treating apparatus that prevents the scattering of water into the drum body by guiding the cooling water drainage hose for removing cooling water of the laundry treating apparatus to the residual water discharge pipe.

[0045] Further, the present disclosure may provide the cooling water supply method that reduces the residual lint of the sealing body by discharging cooling water to the sealing body.[Brief Description of the Drawings]

[0046] FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an example of a laundry treating apparatus. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a portion of a drainage disposed in a laundry treating apparatus. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a heater disposed in a laundry treating apparatus. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a sealing body disposed in a laundry treating apparatus. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a sealing body and a discharge pipe disposed in a laundry treating apparatus. FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate an embodiment of a guide disposed in a laundry treating apparatus. FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of a laundry treating apparatus. FIG. 10 illustrates another embodiment of a discharge pipe and a drainage. FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a discharge pipe and a residual water discharge pipe. [Best Mode]

[0047] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise defined, all terms herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains, and when the meanings of the terms used herein conflict with their ordinary meanings, the definitions used herein shall prevail.

[0048] However, the present disclosure may be implemented in various different forms and may not be limited to the embodiment described herein. In addition, to clearly illustrate the present disclosure in the drawings, parts that are not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are given similar reference numerals throughout the present document.

[0049] In the present document, redundant descriptions of the same components are omitted.

[0050] Further, in the present document, it will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected with" another element, the element may be directly connected with the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, in the present document, it will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "directly connected with" another element, there are no intervening elements present.

[0051] Further, terms used herein are only used to describe a specific embodiment, and are not used as a limitation of the present disclosure.

[0052] Further, in the present document, a singular representation may include a plural representation unless it represents a definitely different meaning from the context.

[0053] Further, the terms such as "include" or "have" used herein are intended to indicate that features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof used in the following description exist and it should be thus understood that the possibility of existence or addition of one or more different features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof is not excluded.

[0054] Further, in the present document, the term 'and / or' includes a combination of a plurality of listed items or any of the plurality of listed items. Herein, 'A or B' may include 'A', 'B', or 'both A and B'.

[0055] A configuration or a control method of an apparatus to be described below is merely for describing the embodiments of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The same reference numerals used throughout the present document represent the same components.

[0056] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a laundry treating apparatus 100 may include a cabinet 1 having an inlet 111, a tub 2 that is disposed in the cabinet 1 to store water therein, and a drum 3 that is rotatably disposed in the tub 2 to store laundry (an object-to-be-treated made of a material from which foreign substances may be removed with water).

[0057] The inlet 111 may be defined in a front plate 11 forming a front surface of the cabinet 1, and may be opened and closed by a door 12 pivotably disposed on the front plate 11. A user may insert or withdraw the laundry into or from the cabinet 1 via the inlet 111. That is, the inlet 111 may correspond to a passage through which the laundry is moved into or out of the cabinet 1.

[0058] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the tub 2 may have a cylindrical shape in which a longitudinal direction (an X-axis direction) thereof is parallel to a bottom surface of the cabinet 1 or is upwardly inclined toward the inlet.

[0059] The tub 2 may be equipped as a tub body 21 that is disposed inside the cabinet 1 and defines a space in which water is stored. The tub body 21 may be formed in a hollow cylindrical shape, and may have a tub inlet 211 defined in one surface of the tub body 21.

[0060] The tub body 21 may be fixed to the cabinet 1 via a tub support 22, and the tub support 22 may include a spring that connects an upper portion of a circumferential surface of the tub body 21 to the cabinet 1 and a damper that connects a lower portion of the circumferential surface of the tub body 21 to the cabinet 1.

[0061] The tub support 22 is a means for damping vibration generated in the tub body 21 and transmitted to the cabinet 1. The damper is a means for absorbing the vibration of the tub body 21, and the spring is a means for providing a restoring force for returning the tub body 21 to a set position.

[0062] The tub inlet 211 may be connected to the inlet 111 via a sealing body 5. To prevent water stored in the tub body 21 from leaking into the cabinet 1, the sealing body 5 may be equipped as a pipe connecting the inlet 111 with the tub inlet 211. The sealing body 5 may be made of an elastic material such as rubber to minimize transmission of the vibration of the tub body 21 to the cabinet 1.

[0063] The drum 3 may include a drum body 31 that is disposed inside the tub body 21 and provides a space in which the laundry is stored. The drum body 31 may have a cylindrical shape in which a longitudinal direction (the X-axis direction) thereof is parallel to the bottom surface of the cabinet 1 or is upwardly inclined toward the inlet 111.

[0064] A drum inlet 311 may be defined in one surface (a surface oriented in a direction in which the tub inlet is located) of the drum body 31. Accordingly, the user may input the laundry to the drum body 31 or may withdraw the laundry from the drum body 31 via the inlet 111, the tub inlet 211, and the drum inlet 311.

[0065] Because an eddy current should be formed in the drum body 31 when a heater 4 to be described later is operated, a material of the drum body 31 is preferably a conductor.

[0066] A drum through-hole 312 allowing the inside of the drum body 31 to be in communication with the inside of the tub body 21 may be defined in the circumferential surface of the drum body 31. The drum through-hole 312 is a means for not only allowing water stored in the tub body 21 to flow into the drum 3, but also discharging water discharged from the laundry to the tub body 21. A lifter that lifts the laundry inside the drum body 31 when the drum body 31 is rotated may be disposed on the circumferential surface of the drum body 31.

[0067] The drum body 31 may be rotatably fixed to the tub body 21 via a drum driver 32. The drum driver 32 may include a stator 321 that is fixed to a rear surface of the tub body 21 and forms a rotating magnetic field when a current is supplied, a rotor 322 that is positioned outside the tub body 21 so as to be rotated by the rotating magnetic field, and a rotation shaft 323 that extends through a rear surface of the tub body 21 and connects the rotor 322 with a rear surface of the drum body 31.

[0068] A bearing housing may be disposed on the rear surface of the tub body 21. The bearing housing may include a bearing that rotatably fixes the rotation shaft 323 to the rear surface of the tub body.

[0069] In this case, the stator 321 may be fixed to the bearing housing, and the rotor 312 may include a rotor housing to which the rotation shaft 323 is fixed and a permanent magnet fixed to the rotor housing so as to be directed in a normal direction of the rotation shaft 323.

[0070] In addition, an arm to which the rotation shaft 323 is fixed may be disposed on the rear surface of the drum body 31 to easily transmit a rotational force of the rotor 322 to the drum body 31.

[0071] The tub body 21 may receive water via a water supplier S, and water stored in the tub body 21 may be discharged to the outside of the tub body 21 via a drainage D. The water supplier S may include a water supply pipe 24 connecting a water supply source 23 to the tub body 21, and a water supply valve 25 that controls opening and closing of the water supply pipe 24 in response to a control signal of a controller.

[0072] The laundry treating apparatus 100 may further include a detergent supplier 243 that supplies detergent to the tub body 21. The detergent supplier 243 may connect the water supply pipe 24 with the tub body 21. In this case, the water supply pipe 24 may be composed of a first water supply pipe 241 that guides water supplied from the water supply source 23 to the detergent supplier 243 and a second water supply pipe 242 that guides the detergent discharged from the detergent supplier 243 and water to the tub body 21.

[0073] The second water supply pipe 242 may be equipped as a corrugated pipe, which is to minimize the vibration of the tub body 21 from being transmitted to the detergent supplier 243 via the second water supply pipe.

[0074] The drainage D may include a drainage flow channel 26, 27, and 28 that guides water inside the tub body 21 to the outside of the cabinet 1.

[0075] The drainage flow channel may include a drainage pump 26 that allows water to move along the drainage flow channel, a first drainage pipe 27 that guides water of the tub body 21 to the drainage pump 26, and a second drainage pipe 28 that guides water discharged from the drainage pump 26 to the outside of the cabinet 1.

[0076] The highest point of the second drainage pipe 28 may pass through a point higher than the highest water level set in the tub body 21.

[0077] The above-described controller (not shown) may be disposed inside or outside the cabinet 1, and may be connected to the water supply valve 25, the detergent supplier 243, the drum driver 32, the drainage pump 26, and the like described above in an electrical / signal manner. That is, the controller controls the components constituting the laundry treating apparatus 100 and executes a washing cycle or a drying cycle.

[0078] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the drainage pump 26 may include a housing 261 that connects the first drainage pipe 27 with the second drainage pipe 28, an impeller 265 rotatably disposed in the housing, and an impeller motor 267 that is fixed to the outside of the housing and rotates the impeller.

[0079] The housing 261 may include an inlet 262 to which the first drainage pipe 27 is connected and an outlet 263 to which the second drainage pipe 28 is connected. The impeller 265 should be designed to move water introduced into the inlet 262 to the outlet 263.

[0080] A filter may be disposed inside the housing 261. The filter is a means for filtering water introduced into the housing 261 from the tub body 21. When the filter is withdrawable from the housing 261, the user may easily remove foreign substances and lint collected in the filter by withdrawing the filter without disassembling the cabinet 1.

[0081] The drainage D may further include a residual water discharge pipe 29 that drains water remaining in the housing 261. To minimize an amount of water remaining in the housing 261, it is preferable that one end of the residual water discharge pipe 29 is connected to a bottom surface of the housing 261. A means 291 for opening and closing the residual water discharge pipe may be disposed at a free end of the residual water discharge pipe 29.

[0082] The housing 261 may include a residual water outlet 268 to which one end of the residual water discharge pipe 29 is fixed. A lowermost end of the residual water outlet 268 may be located at a lower point than the bottom surface of the housing.

[0083] As illustrated in FIG. 4, the laundry treating apparatus 100 may further include the heater 4 that heats the drum body 31. The heater 4 is a means for heating the drum body 31 by forming the eddy current in the drum body 31 via electromagnetic induction. An induction heater may be an example of the heater 4.

[0084] When water is stored in the tub body 21, the heater 4 may heat water or air inside the tub body by heating the drum body 31. On the other hand, when water is not stored in the tub body 21, the heater 4 may dry the laundry by heating the drum body 31. In this case, the heater 4 may be disposed in a space located upward of a horizontal line passing through a center of rotation of the tub body 21 on the circumferential surface of the tub body 21.

[0085] The heater 4 may include a casing body 41 fixed to an upper space of the tub body 21, a coil 42 fixed to the casing body 41, and a casing cover 43 fixed to the casing body 41 to prevent the coil 42 from being exposed.

[0086] The coil 42 may generate an electromagnetic field when a current is provided, and may be shielded from the outside by a casing 41 composed of the casing body 41 and the casing cover 43.

[0087] A material of the tub body 21 is preferably a non-conductor such that the electromagnetic field generated by the coil 42 does not affect the tub body 21, and the material of the drum body 31 is preferably the conductor where an induced current is generated. Accordingly, the eddy current may be formed in the drum body 31 because of the electromagnetic field generated by the coil 42. The drum body 31 corresponding to a resistor may be heated by the formation of the eddy current.

[0088] To prevent overheating of the coil 42, a cooler may be further disposed in the casing 41. The cooler may be equipped as a fan that discharges air inside the casing 41 to the outside.

[0089] The drum body 31 heated by the coil 42 may increase a temperature of air or water inside the tub body 21. Accordingly, the heater 4 may heat the drum body 31 to raise the temperature of water inside the tub body 21 during a washing cycle of the laundry, or may heat the drum body 31 to heat the laundry during a drying cycle of the laundry.

[0090] As illustrated in FIG. 5, the sealing body 5 may include a first body 511 having a pipe shape, one end of which is fixed to the inlet 111, a second body 512 having a pipe shape, the other end of which is fixed to the tub inlet 211, and a connection body 513 connecting a free end of the first body 511 with a free end of the second body 512.

[0091] An area defined inside the sealing body 5 may have a shape corresponding to that of the inlet 111 or the tub inlet 211, and may seal a space between the inlet 111 and the tub inlet 211 to prevent water leakage from the inside to the outside of the sealing body 5.

[0092] Because water introduced into the second body 512 or the connection body 513 will be concentrated in a lower space of the second body 512 or the connection body 513 by gravity, a volume of the lower space may be set to be greater than a volume of the upper space.

[0093] A diameter of the free end of the second body 512 is preferably set to be greater than a diameter of the free end of the first body 511, and the connection body 513 connecting the two free ends to each other preferably includes at least one inflection point.

[0094] A water supply hole 514 may be defined in the first body 511, and a drainage hole 515 may be defined in the second body 512. The water supply hole 514 is a means for introducing water into the sealing body 5, and the drainage hole 515 is a means that is disposed at the connection body 512 or the second body 512 to discharge water inside the sealing body to the outside. The drawing illustrates a case in which the drainage hole 515 is disposed at the second body 512 as an example.

[0095] The drainage hole 515 is preferably positioned at a lowermost end of the second body 512 or the connection body 513. This is to allow water inside the sealing body 5 to be discharged by gravity.

[0096] When the heater 4 is operated while there is no water in the tub body 21, the drum body 31 is heated, and heat of the drum body 31 is transferred to the laundry. Because the heat supplied to the laundry evaporates water contained in the laundry, moisture contained in the laundry will move to the tub body 21.

[0097] Because a process of removing moisture discharged from the laundry is required to dry the laundry, a cooling water supplier 6 should be disposed in the laundry treating apparatus 100.

[0098] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the cooling water supplier 6 may include a supply pipe 61 connecting the water supply source 23 with the water supply hole 514, and a valve (cooling water valve) 62 that controls opening and closing of the water supply pipe 24 in response to a control signal of the controller.

[0099] When the cooling water supplier 6 supplies cooling water to the sealing body 5 during the drying process via the heater 4, a temperature of the sealing body 5 is lowered. Therefore, air inside the tub 2 having increased humidity will be condensed while being in contact with the sealing body 5 and discharged to the outside of the sealing body via the drainage hole 515 of the sealing body 5.

[0100] In addition, foreign substances contained in water during the above-described drying process may remain on an inner circumferential surface of the sealing body 5 because of evaporation of water. However, when cooling water is supplied to the sealing body 51 via the cooling water supplier 6, the foreign substances remaining in the sealing body 5 will be discharged to the outside of the sealing body 51 via the drainage hole 515.

[0101] Cooling water and the foreign substance discharged via the drainage hole 515 may be guided via a cooling water discharge portion 7 into the tub body 21 or to the drainage D. FIG. 2 illustrates the former as an example, and FIG. 9 illustrates the latter as an example.

[0102] The cooling water discharge portion 7 may be preferably located at a lowermost end of the inner circumferential surface of the sealing body 5 closest to the ground, and may be equipped as a discharge pipe that extends through the sealing body 5 and discharges cooling water. Therefore, a drying performance at the same level as that of a case in which condensed water is discharged via a rear side of the tub may be maintained, and a residual lint reduction effect may be obtained.

[0103] The cooling water discharge portion 7 illustrated in FIG. 2 is equipped as a discharge pipe having one end connected to the drainage hole 515 and the other end connected to the tub body 21.

[0104] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, there is a risk that water and the foreign substances discharged from the discharge pipe are supplied to the drum body 31 depending on a position where the discharge pipe is connected to the tub body 21 and a speed of water discharged from the discharge pipe.

[0105] To minimize the above-described risk, a guide 8 may be disposed in the laundry treating apparatus 100.

[0106] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the guide 8 capable of preventing water discharged from the cooling water discharge portion 7 from being introduced into the drum body 31.

[0107] The guide 8 may be fixed to a tub through-hole 212 of the tub body, and one end of the cooling water discharge portion 7 may be connected to the guide 8. It is preferable that the tub through-hole 212 is positioned at a lower point than the drainage hole 515. This is to naturally drain water and the foreign substances inside the sealing body 5.

[0108] The guide 8 may be disposed parallel to the bottom surface of the cabinet 1 or may be inclined downward toward the drum body 31. When the guide 8 is inclined, remaining of residual water or the foreign substances in the cooling water discharge portion 7 may be minimized. The guide 8 may protrude inward of the tub body 212 and may have a structure capable of changing a flow direction of water.

[0109] As illustrated in FIG. 7, the guide 8 may include a fixed pipe 81 fixed to the tub body 21 and connected to the cooling water discharge portion 7, a fixed pipe inlet 811 through which water supplied from the cooling water discharge portion 7 is introduced into the fixed pipe 8, a fixed pipe outlet 812 through which water inside the fixed pipe 81 is discharged into the tub body 21, and a cover 82 that guides water discharged from the fixed pipe outlet 812 to a bottom surface of the tub body 21 or in a width direction of the tub body 21. The cover 82 may be connected to the fixed pipe 81 via a cover fixer 821.

[0110] The cover 82 may be formed in various shape as long as it is able to block water discharged from the fixed pipe outlet 812 from moving into the drum body 31. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the cover 82 may be formed in a plate shape, and although not shown in the drawings, the cover 82 may be formed as a curved surface protruding from the fixed pipe inlet 811 toward the fixed pipe outlet 812.

[0111] Water and the foreign substances discharged from the fixed pipe outlet 812 may be reduced in a flow velocity and changed in a flow direction by a collision with the cover 82, so that introduction thereof into the drum body 31 may be prevented. Preferably, when the drum body 31 is positioned on the cover 82, an area size of an upper area of the cover 82 may be greater than that of a lower area. The cover 82 may be disposed in parallel with the tub through-hole 212, or may be inclined downward toward the drum body 31. This is to minimize the scattering of water.

[0112] Unlike the drawing, the guide 8 may be disposed on a front surface (a surface where the tub inlet is defined) of the tub body 21 so as to be positioned between the bottom surface of the tub body 21 and a bottom surface of the drum body 31. Therefore, the cover 82 may guide water discharged from the fixed pipe outlet 812 to the bottom surface of the tub body 21 or in the width direction of the tub body 21, thereby preventing water from being introduced into the drum body 31.

[0113] The cover fixer 821 may be any means for connecting a portion of an inner circumferential surface of the cover fixed pipe 81 with the cover 82. The portion of the inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe 81 may be located at any one of upper, lower, left, and right sides, or may have a shape of surrounding a plurality of portions spaced apart from each other of the inner circumferential surface. The cover fixer 821 and the fixed pipe 81 may be separate components capable of being in communication with each other via interference fitting as a diameter of the cover fixer 821 is greater than or equal to a diameter of the fixed pipe 81.

[0114] The cover fixer 821 may be at least partially connected to a top surface of the cover 82, thereby preventing the flow of water scattered to the drum body 31 located upward of the guide 8.

[0115] A distance between the cover 82 and the tub body 21 may be set in consideration of a cross-sectional area of the cover 82, a diameter of the cooling water discharge portion 7, and a flow rate, a hydraulic pressure, and the like toward the fixed pipe outlet 812.

[0116] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the distance between the cover 82 and the tub body 21 may be set to be greater as a cross-sectional area of the cover 82 is smaller. Because a speed of water discharged from the fixed pipe outlet 812 becomes higher as a diameter of the fixed pipe outlet 812 becomes smaller, a water scattering angle may be reduced only when the distance between the cover 82 and the tub body 21 is great.

[0117] The cover 82 may include the cover fixer 821 and a cover outlet 824 through which water is discharged to the bottom surface of the tub body 21 or in the width direction of the tub body 21 via the cover 82, and an area size of the cover outlet 824 may be equal to or greater than an area size of the fixed pipe inlet 811. Therefore, a speed of water discharged from the cover outlet 824 may be reduced compared to an initial speed when water is introduced from the sealing body 5 to the fixed pipe inlet 811.

[0118] The fixed pipe 81 may be fully or partially inserted into the tub body 21. As long as it is able to be coupled via interference fitting, a material of the fixed pipe 81 and materials of the cover fixer 821 and the cover 82 may be set differently from each other. The material of the fixed pipe 82 may be set differently between a portion inserted into the tub body 21 and a portion not inserted into the tub body.

[0119] As illustrated in (a) in FIG. 8, a portion of the cover fixer 821 may extend along an upper inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe outlet 812, and the cover 82 may be formed in a circular shape in which a lower portion thereof is partially removed. In this regard, a length L connecting an upper portion and the lower portion of the cover 82 may be set to 0.5 to 1 times the diameter of the cooling water discharge portion 7. According to an experiment, when the length L is set to correspond to 0.6 to 0.95 times the diameter of the cooling water discharge portion 7, the scattering of water may be the most effectively prevented.

[0120] The shapes of the cover 82 and the cover fixer 821 are merely an example. Further, the cover 82 may be formed in a shape that opens a portion of the fixed pipe outlet 812. When the cover 82 is formed in a shape that closes the entire fixed pipe outlet 812, the cover fixer 821 may be formed in a shape that extends along the inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe outlet 812 except a portion of the inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe outlet 812, so that water may be discharged.

[0121] When the cover 82 is formed in a shape that opens a portion of the fixed pipe outlet 812, the cover 82 may be formed in a shape that opens 40% or less of the fixed pipe outlet 812, thereby changing the direction of water flowing in the direction of the drum body 31 or reducing the flow velocity thereof.

[0122] As illustrated in (b) in FIG. 8, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cover fixer 821 may include a first fixer 822 fixing the cover 82 to the upper inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe 81 and a second fixer 823 fixing the cover 82 to a lower inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe 81. A size of the cover outlet 824 may be set to increase in proportion to the diameter of the fixed pipe outlet 812.

[0123] The cover 82 may be formed in any shape capable of shielding water discharged from the fixed pipe outlet from flowing into the drum body 31 without a limitation in shape, such as a plate shape or a convex surface shape protruding from the fixed pipe inlet 811 toward the fixed pipe outlet 812.

[0124] The cover 82 may be formed in a shape of a cover plate with open left and right sides. In this regard, an area size of the cover 82 may be smaller than an area size of the fixed pipe outlet 812. According to an experiment, when the area size of the cover 82 is 0.9 to 1.1 times the area size of the fixed pipe outlet 812, the scattering of water may be effectively prevented.

[0125] Any one of the first fixer 822 and the second fixer 823 may be longer along the inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe outlet 812 and may have a smaller length protruding toward the drum body 31. Preferably, the first fixer 822 may be longer along the inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe outlet 812 and have the smaller length protruding toward the drum body 31, thereby preventing the flow of water into the drum 3.

[0126] The guide 8 may be inclined downward toward the drum body 31. In this case, the cover 82 and the cover fixer 821 may also be inclined downward toward the drum body 31. In this case, a first angle formed by the tub body 21 and the guide 8 may be greater than a second angle formed by the tub body 21 and the cover 82. In this case, the first angle and the second angle may be set differently depending on the flow rate and the hydraulic pressure of water discharged from the sealing body 5 and the diameter of the fixed pipe outlet 812.

[0127] A length of the guide 8 protruding inward of the tub body 212 may be set differently depending on the diameter of the cooling water discharge portion 7. The length of the guide 8 protruding inward of the tub body 212 is preferably set to be greater as the diameter of the cooling water discharge portion 7 is smaller. Because the speed of water discharged from the fixed pipe outlet 812 will increase as the diameter of the fixed pipe outlet 812 decreases, the scattering angle of water may be reduced only when the distance between the cover 82 and the tub body 21 is great.

[0128] As illustrated in FIG. 9, one end of the cooling water discharge portion 7 may be connected to a lowermost portion of the sealing body 5, and the other end thereof may pass through a point lower than the lowermost end of the sealing body 5 and higher than a bottom surface of the drainage D. This is to allow water accumulated in the sealing body 5 to be discharged by gravity.

[0129] As illustrated in FIG. 10, the cooling water discharge portion 7 may connect the sealing body 5 with the housing 261. In this case, a communication pipe 264 may be disposed on the housing 261, and the cooling water discharge portion 7 may be equipped as a discharge pipe connecting the drainage hole 515 with the communication pipe 264.

[0130] Inside the housing 261, an impeller rotatably disposed inside the housing 261 and a filter that filters the foreign substances or the lint remaining in water introduced from the tub 2 may be disposed.

[0131] The other end of the cooling water discharge portion 7 is sufficient to be connected to the drainage D. Therefore, the other end of the cooling water discharge portion 7 may be connected to the first drainage pipe 27 or the second drainage pipe 28. However, when the other end of the cooling water discharge portion 7 is connected to the housing 261, the laundry treating apparatus 100 may reduce the number of assembly processes compared to the case in which the cooling water discharge portion 7 is connected to the first drainage pipe 27 or the second drainage pipe 28, and may prevent a collision with a component around the cooling water discharge portion 7 from occurring.

[0132] As long as it is able to be located at a point lower than the drainage hole 515 of the sealing body 5, the cooling water discharge portion 7 may be connected to any of the space provided by the drainage flow channel 26, 27, and 28 and the space provided by the residual water discharge pipe 29.

[0133] As illustrated in FIG. 11, the other end of the cooling water discharge portion 7 may be connected to the residual water discharge pipe 29. The residual water discharge pipe 29 may be located at a point lower than one end of the cooling water discharge portion 7. That is, the cooling water discharge portion 7 may be inclined downward toward the bottom surface of the cabinet 1. Therefore, residual water introduced into the residual water discharge pipe 29 may naturally flow down. In this regard, as an inclination angle of the cooling water discharge portion 7 in contact with the residual water discharge pipe 29 increases, residual water may be smoothly discharged. The residual water discharge pipe 29 and the cooling water discharge portion 7 may be connected to each other via a connector 9.

[0134] The invention may be modified and implemented in various forms, so that the scope of the rights thereof is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Therefore, when the modified embodiment includes the elements of the claims of the present disclosure, it should be regarded as belonging to the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A laundry treating apparatus comprising: a cabinet including a front plate and an inlet defined in the front plate to allow laundry to be inserted therethrough; a tub including a tub body disposed in the cabinet and constructed to store water therein and a tub inlet defined in the tub body and in communication with the inlet; a drum including a drum body rotatably disposed inside the tub body and constructed to accommodate the laundry therein and a drum inlet defined in the drum body and in communication with the tub inlet; a sealing body connecting the inlet with the tub inlet and extending along a circumference of the inlet to seal a space between the inlet and the tub inlet; a drainage including a drainage flow channel constructed to discharge water stored in the tub body to the outside and a residual water discharge pipe constructed to drain water remaining in the drainage flow channel; and a discharge pipe having one end connected to the sealing body and a remaining end connected to the drainage flow channel or the residual water discharge pipe to discharge water introduced into the sealing body.

2. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the residual water discharge pipe is located at a lower point than the one end of the discharge pipe such that water inside the sealing body is naturally drained.

3. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 2, wherein the drainage flow channel includes: a drainage pump including a housing and an impeller rotatable inside the housing; a first drainage pipe constructed to guide water inside the tub body to the housing; and a second drainage pipe constructed to guide water discharged from the housing to the outside of the cabinet, wherein the remaining end of the discharge pipe is connected to the housing.

4. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 2, wherein the drainage flow channel includes: a drainage pump including a housing and an impeller rotatable inside the housing; a first drainage pipe constructed to guide water inside the tub body to the housing; and a second drainage pipe constructed to guide water discharged from the housing to the outside of the cabinet, wherein the remaining end of the discharge pipe is connected to one of the first drainage pipe and the second drainage pipe.

5. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein one end of the residual water discharge pipe is connected to a bottom surface of a housing.

6. A laundry treating apparatus comprising: a cabinet including a front plate and an inlet defined in the front plate to allow laundry to be inserted therethrough; a tub including a tub body disposed in the cabinet and constructed to store water therein and a tub inlet defined in the tub body and in communication with the inlet; a drum including a drum body rotatably disposed inside the tub body and constructed to accommodate the laundry therein and a drum inlet defined in the drum body and in communication with the tub inlet; a sealing body connecting the inlet with the tub inlet and extending along a circumference of the inlet to seal a space between the inlet and the tub inlet; a drainage configured to discharge water stored in the tub body to the outside; a discharge pipe having one end connected to the sealing body and a remaining end connected to the tub body to guide water introduced into the sealing body to the tub body; and a guide disposed on the tub body and constructed to prevent water discharged from the discharge pipe from being introduced into the drum body.

7. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 6, wherein the guide includes: a fixed pipe fixed to the tub body and connected to the discharge pipe; a fixed pipe inlet constructed to introduce water supplied from the discharge pipe into the fixed pipe; a fixed pipe outlet constructed to discharge water inside the fixed pipe into the tub body; and a cover constructed to guide water discharged from the fixed pipe outlet to a bottom surface of the tub body or in a width direction of the tub body.

8. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a cover fixer connecting the cover with the fixed pipe and maintaining a distance between the cover and the fixed pipe outlet, wherein the cover is formed in a shape of opening 40% or less of the fixed pipe outlet.

9. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a cover fixer connecting the cover with the fixed pipe and maintaining a distance between the cover and the fixed pipe outlet, wherein the cover fixer includes a first fixer fixing the cover to an upper inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe; and a second fixer fixing the cover to a lower inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe.

10. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 9, wherein an area size of the cover is set to 90% to 110% of an area size of the fixed pipe outlet.

11. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a cover fixer connecting the cover with the fixed pipe and maintaining a distance between the cover and the fixed pipe outlet, wherein a distance between the cover and the tub body is set to be small when an area size of the cover is great.

12. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a cover fixer connecting the cover with the fixed pipe and maintaining a distance between the cover and the fixed pipe outlet, wherein a distance between the cover and the tub body is set to be greater as a diameter of the fixed pipe outlet decreases.

13. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 7, wherein the cover is inclined downward toward the drum body.

14. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 7, further comprising a cover fixer connecting the cover with the fixed pipe and maintaining a distance between the cover and the fixed pipe outlet, wherein the guide includes the cover fixer and a cover outlet, wherein water discharged to the bottom surface of the tub body or in the width direction of the tub body via the cover passes through the cover outlet, wherein an area size of the cover outlet is equal to or greater than an area size of the fixed pipe inlet.

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