EP-4741557-A1 - LAUNDRY TREATING APPARATUS

EP4741557A1EP 4741557 A1EP4741557 A1EP 4741557A1EP-4741557-A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a laundry treating apparatus (100) including a cabinet (1) including a front panel (13), an inlet (131) provided in the front panel, and an outlet (133) located above the inlet, a door (132) configured to open and close the inlet, a receiving unit (2) configured to receive a target to be treated that is supplied to the inlet, a moving unit (245) configured to be withdrawable from the cabinet through the outlet, an input/output unit (6) including a rotary input portion (6a) rotatably provided on the front panel, the rotary input portion being configured to allow a control command to be selected or input therethrough, and an output portion (6b) located in the rotary input portion, the output portion being configured to output set information when the rotary input portion is rotated, and a button input unit (8) located between the rotary input portion and the moving unit, the button input unit being configured to receive a control command.

Inventors

KIM, JINJU
LEE, JUNGHWAN
LEE, KYUNGAH
UM, YEJI

Assignees

LG Electronics Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20250508

Claims (20)

A laundry treating apparatus comprising: a cabinet comprising a front panel, an inlet provided in the front panel, and an outlet located above the inlet; a door configured to open and close the inlet; a receiving unit configured to provide a receiving space for a target to be treated that is supplied to the inlet; a moving unit configured to be withdrawable from the cabinet through the outlet, the moving unit forming a liquid storage space or a flow path communicating with the receiving unit; an input/output unit comprising a rotary input portion rotatably provided on the front panel, the rotary input portion being configured to allow a control command to be selected or input therethrough, and an output portion located in the rotary input portion, the output portion being configured to output set information when the rotary input portion is rotated; and a button input unit located between the rotary input portion and the moving unit, the button input unit being configured to receive a control command from a user, wherein a center of the moving unit is located between a center of the rotary input portion and a center of the button input unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein an upper end of the moving unit is located higher than an upper end of the rotary input portion.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, or 2, wherein a width of the rotary input portion is set to be equal to or greater than a shortest horizontal distance between the rotary input portion and the moving unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein a width of the button input unit is set to be equal to or greater than a shortest horizontal distance between the rotary input portion and the button input unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a shortest horizontal distance between the rotary input portion and the button input unit is set to be equal to or less than a shortest horizontal distance between a side edge of the front panel and the moving unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: a display unit fixed to the cabinet so as to be located opposite the moving unit with respect to the rotary input portion, the display unit being configured to output information identical to the information output by the output portion or information different from the information output by the output portion, wherein the center of the moving unit is located between the center of the rotary input portion and a center of the display unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 6, wherein an upper end of the rotary input portion is located between an upper end of the moving unit and an upper end of the display unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 6, or 7, wherein the center of the moving unit is located higher than the center of the display unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 6, 7, or 8, wherein a width of the rotary input portion is set to be equal to or greater than a shortest horizontal distance between the rotary input portion and the display unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising: a handle provided on the moving unit, wherein a lower end of the button input unit is located between an upper end of the handle and a center of the handle.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 10, wherein the upper end of the handle is located higher than the lower end of the button input unit, or wherein the upper end of the handle is located between the center of the moving unit and the lower end of the button input unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 10, or 11, wherein a lower end of the handle is located higher than a lower end of the rotary input portion, or wherein a lower end of the rotary input portion is located between a lower end of the handle and a lower end of the moving unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 10, 11, or 12, further comprising: a display unit fixed to the cabinet so as to be located opposite the moving unit with respect to the rotary input portion, the display unit being configured to output information identical to the information output by the output portion or information different from the information output by the output portion, wherein the center of the handle is located higher than a lower end of the display unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 13, wherein the center of the handle is located between the lower end of the button input unit and the lower end of the display unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 13, or 14, wherein the lower end of the display unit is located between the center of the handle and a lower end of the handle, or wherein the lower end of the button input unit is located between the upper end of the handle and the lower end of the display unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 13, 14, or 15, wherein the center of the button input unit or a center of the display unit is located between the center of the moving unit and the upper end of the handle.
The laundry treating apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the upper end of the handle is located between the center of the button input unit and a lower end of the button input unit or between a center of the display unit and the lower end of the button input unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 13, wherein a lower end of the handle is located between the lower end of the display unit and a lower end of the rotary input portion.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a display unit fixed to the cabinet so as to be located opposite the moving unit with respect to the rotary input portion, the display unit being configured to output information identical to the information output by the output portion or information different from the information output by the output portion, wherein the button input unit comprises a first button located between the rotary input portion and the moving unit and a second button located between the rotary input portion and the display unit, and a longest horizontal distance between the first button and the second button is set to be equal to or less than a width of the display unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 19, wherein a shortest horizontal distance between the moving unit and the first button is set to be equal to or less than a shortest horizontal distance between the second button and the display unit.

Description

The present disclosure relates to a laundry treating apparatus. A laundry treating apparatus is an apparatus that performs washing and drying of a target to be treated (clothing, bedding, etc.). The laundry treating apparatus may include a cabinet forming an exterior thereof and a receiving unit provided in the cabinet to receive laundry. The cabinet may include an inlet configured to allow the outside of the cabinet and the receiving unit to communicate with each other therethrough. The laundry treating apparatus may be classified into a front loader type laundry treating apparatus and a top loader type laundry treating apparatus according to the position of the inlet. The front loader type laundry treating apparatus is defined as an apparatus having an inlet formed in a front panel of the cabinet, and the top loader type laundry treating apparatus can be defined as an apparatus having an inlet formed in a top panel of the cabinet. The cabinet may be provided with a control panel. The control panel may be defined by a part of an outer surface of the cabinet or may be separately provided and installed such that at least a part thereof is exposed to the outside of the cabinet. The control panel may be configured to provide various kinds of information to a user or to receive commands from the user. For example, the control panel may be configured to output a screen for providing visual information to the user, or may include buttons that are operated by the user to generate user operation signals. In this regard, Korean Patent Publication No. KR10-1960309 discloses a control panel that can output a screen and is provided with buttons, etc. The control panel may include an output unit configured to output a screen for providing information to a user. The output unit may be provided on the front panel of the cabinet together with the inlet. In this case, the output unit may be disposed above the inlet in consideration of ease of access and ease of operation for the user. In the front loader type laundry treating apparatus, the output unit, a moving unit such as a detergent storage unit, and an option unit configured to provide option information may be disposed in an upper space of the front panel (the space located above the inlet). Therefore, in order to dispose all of the above components in a limited space while improving the visibility of the output unit and user convenience, the size and disposition of each component is an important design consideration. That is, if the output unit occupies an excessively large area, not only will the appearance of the product be impaired in relation to the moving unit and the option unit, but the region where the moving unit and the option unit are disposed may be limited, which may impair user convenience. In addition, if the area of the output unit is excessively reduced, the visibility and convenience of the output unit may be impaired. The present disclosure is to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus provided with an interface that is highly visible and easy to use. Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus that efficiently uses the space provided by a front panel and is provided with an interface that has high visibility and user convenience through the positions and shapes of components exposed on the front panel. Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments of the disclosure. A laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a cabinet including a front panel, an inlet provided in the front panel, and an outlet located above the inlet, a door configured to open and close the inlet, a receiving unit configured to provide a receiving space for a target to be treated that is supplied to the inlet, a moving unit configured to be withdrawable from the cabinet through the outlet, the moving unit forming a liquid storage space or a flow path communicating with the receiving unit, an input/output unit including a rotary input portion rotatably coupled to the front panel, the rotary input portion being configured to allow a control command to be selected or input therethrough, and an output portion located in the rotary input portion, the output portion being configured to output set information when the rotary input portion is rotated, and a button input unit located between the rotary input portion and the moving unit, the button input unit being configured to receive a control command from a user. The center of the moving unit may be located between the center of the rotary input portion and the center of the button input unit. That is, a horizontal line passing through t