EP-4741558-A1 - LAUNDRY TREATING APPARATUS

EP4741558A1EP 4741558 A1EP4741558 A1EP 4741558A1EP-4741558-A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a laundry treating apparatus (100) including a cabinet (1) including a front panel (13), an inlet (131) formed through 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 provide a receiving space for a target to be treated that is supplied to the inlet, a moving unit (245) configured to be withdrawable from the outlet, the moving unit forming a liquid storage space or a flow path communicating with the receiving unit, and an input/output (6) unit 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.

Inventors

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

Assignees

LG Electronics Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20250508

Claims (16)

A laundry treating apparatus comprising: a cabinet comprising a front panel, an inlet formed through 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 outlet, the moving unit forming a liquid storage space or a flow path communicating with the receiving unit; and 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, wherein an upper end of the rotary input portion is located at the same height as an upper end of the moving unit or higher than the upper end of the moving unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, 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, or 2, wherein a shortest vertical distance between an upper end of the front panel and the upper end of the rotary input portion is set to be greater than a shortest vertical distance between a lower end of the rotary input portion and an upper end of the door.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, 2, or 3, further comprising: a display unit fixed to the front panel 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 an upper end of the display unit is located lower than the upper end of the rotary input portion, and a lower end of the display unit is located higher than a lower end of the rotary input portion.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 4, 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 claim 4, or 5wherein a width of the moving unit is set to be equal to or greater than a shortest horizontal distance between the moving unit and the display unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 4, 5, or 6, wherein a shortest horizontal distance between the moving unit and the display unit is set to be equal to or less than a width of the moving unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of any one of claims 4 to 7, further comprising: a button input unit located between the rotary input portion and the moving unit or between the rotary input portion and the display unit, the button input unit being configured to receive a control command from a user, 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 claim 8, wherein the 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 an edge of the front panel and the moving unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 8, or 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 between a center of the moving unit and the lower end of the button input unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 10, or 11, 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 10, 11, or 12, wherein the upper end of the handle is located between a center of the button input unit and the 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 any one of claims 8 to 13, 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 shortest horizontal distance between the rotary input portion and the first button is equal to a shortest horizontal distance between the rotary input portion and the second button.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 14, wherein a shortest horizontal distance between the moving unit and the first button is set to be less than a shortest horizontal distance between the second button and the display unit.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 14, or 15, wherein a width of the display unit is set to be equal to or greater than a longest horizontal distance between the first button and the second button or is set to be equal to or less than a shortest horizontal distance between the moving unit 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 formed through 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 outlet, the moving unit forming a liquid storage space or a flow path communicating with the receiving unit, and an input/output unit including 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. An upper end of the rotary input portion may be located at the same height as an upper end of the moving unit or higher than the upper end of the moving unit. That is, a horizontal line passing through the upper end of the rotary input portion may be configured to pass through a point higher than a horizontal line passing through the upper end of the mov