US-12624489-B2 - Laundry treatment apparatus

US12624489B2US 12624489 B2US12624489 B2US 12624489B2US-12624489-B2

Abstract

A laundry treatment apparatus includes a load unit for adding more weight to a tub receiving water. The load unit is more expanded in volume than a cross-sectional shape of the tub so that more weight is added to the tub, resulting in reduction in vibration amplitude of the tub.

Inventors

Younghun Kim
Uikun HWANG

Assignees

LG ELECTRONICS INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220426
Priority Date: 20210427

Claims (20)

1 . A laundry treatment apparatus, comprising: a cabinet that defines an opening at a front side thereof; a tub that defines a tub inlet configured to communicate with the opening; a drum disposed inside the tub and configured to receive laundry; a driver coupled to a rear side of the tub and configured to rotate the drum; and a load unit that is coupled to a front side of the tub and provides a load to the tub, the load unit comprising: a load body disposed at the front side of the tub, the load body being disposed at a side of the tub inlet, and an extension that extends from the load body and surrounds at least a portion of a side surface of the tub, wherein the extension comprises: a first extension that protrudes from the load body and extends toward the side surface of the tub, and a second extension disposed downward relative to the first extension, the second extension protruding from the load body and extending toward the side surface of the tub, and wherein a length of the first extension protruding from the load body toward the side surface of the tub is greater than a length of the second extension protruding from the load body toward the side surface of the tub.
2 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the load body is disposed between the first extension and the second extension.
3 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the first extension protrudes from a first end of the load body, and wherein the second extension protrudes from a second end of the load body spaced apart from the first end of the load body.
4 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the first extension is disposed upward relative to a center of the tub inlet, and wherein the second extension is disposed downward relative to the center of the tub inlet.
5 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the first extension is disposed upward relative to the second extension, and wherein the first extension is disposed closer to the driver than the second extension is disposed.
6 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the extension comprises an extension body that extends outward relative to an outer circumferential surface of the front side of the tub, and wherein the extension body comprises: a protrusion that extends rearward relative to the load body and surrounds at least a portion of the side surface of the tub, and a stack recess that is recessed from a front surface of the extension body and configured to support a part of another load unit.
7 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein a shape of the stack recess corresponds to a cross-section of the protrusion.
8 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising a fixing unit disposed at the stack recess and configured to fix the protrusion, wherein the protrusion comprises a seating portion supported by the fixing unit.
9 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the fixing unit protrudes from the stack recess, and wherein the seating portion is recessed from the protrusion and accommodates at least a portion of the fixing unit.
10 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the load body is disposed between the first extension and the second extension, wherein the first extension comprises: a first extension body that extends outward relative to the outer circumferential surface of the front side of the tub, a first protrusion that extends rearward relative to the load body and surrounds at least a first portion of the side surface of the tub disposed at the first extension body, and a first stack recess recessed from a front surface of the first extension body, and wherein the second extension comprises: a second extension body that extends outward relative to the outer circumferential surface of the front side of the tub, a second protrusion that extends rearward relative to the load body and surrounds at least a second portion of the side surface of the tub disposed at the second extension body, and a second stack recess recessed from a front surface of the second extension body.
11 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the load unit defines an injection inlet configured to receive a curing agent into the load body, and wherein a width of the injection inlet is less than a width of the load body.
12 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the load unit has an extension surface that extends obliquely relative to a surface of the load unit and defines an outer circumferential surface of the injection inlet.
13 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the load unit further comprises: a fastening unit, comprising a fastening member that is coupled to the front side of the tub and passes through the front side of the tub, and wherein the fastening unit defines: a guide surface that extends obliquely inward from the load body, and a fastening hole that passes through an inner circumferential surface of the guide surface and receives the fastening member.
14 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of load units that comprise (i) a first load unit disposed at a first side of the tub inlet with respect to a reference line passing through a center of the tub inlet and (ii) a second load unit disposed at a second side of the tub inlet opposite to the first side with respect to the reference line, wherein the load unit is one of the first load unit or the second load unit.
15 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a volume of the first extension is greater than a volume of the second extension.
16 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, based on the length of the first extension and the length of the second extension, a center of gravity of the load unit is defined at a position closer to the first extension than to the second extension.
17 . A laundry treatment apparatus, comprising: a cabinet that defines an opening at a front side thereof; a tub that defines a tub inlet configured to communicate with the opening; a drum disposed inside the tub and configured to receive laundry; a driver coupled to a rear side of the tub and configured to rotate the drum; and a plurality of load units that are coupled to a front side of the tub and provide a load to the tub, the plurality of load units comprising (i) a first load unit disposed at a first side of the tub inlet with respect to a reference line passing through a center of the tub inlet and (ii) a second load unit disposed at a second side of the tub inlet opposite to the first side with respect to the reference line, wherein each of the first load unit and the second load unit comprises: a load body disposed at the front side of the tub, the load body being disposed at a side of the tub inlet, and an extension that extends from the load body and surrounds at least a portion of a side surface of the tub, wherein the extension comprises: a first extension that protrudes from the load body and extends toward the side surface of the tub, and a second extension disposed downward relative to the first extension, the second extension protruding from the load body and extending toward the side surface of the tub, and wherein a length of the first extension protruding from the load body toward the side surface of the tub is greater than a length of the second extension protruding from the load body toward the side surface of the tub.
18 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the load body is disposed between the first extension and the second extension.
19 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein the first extension protrudes from a first end of the load body, and wherein the second extension protrudes from a second end of the load body spaced apart from the first end of the load body.
20 . The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 19 , wherein the first extension is disposed upward relative to the center of the tub inlet, and wherein the second extension is disposed downward relative to the center of the tub inlet.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a National Stage application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/KR2022/005912, filed on Apr. 26, 2022, which claims the benefit of Korean Application Nos. 10-2021-0118838, filed on Sep. 7, 2021, and 10-2021-0054394, filed on Apr. 27, 2021. The disclosures of the prior applications are incorporated by reference in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a laundry treatment apparatus, and more particularly to a laundry treatment apparatus in which a load unit for applying a load is installed to reduce the amplitude of vibrations generated inside the laundry treatment apparatus. BACKGROUND Generally, a laundry treatment apparatus may refer to an apparatus for washing laundry, an apparatus for drying wet or washed laundry, and/or an apparatus for performing washing and drying of laundry. Conventional laundry treatment apparatuses can be classified into a front-loading type laundry treatment device in which laundry is put into a tub through an inlet provided at a front surface of the front-loading type laundry treatment device, and a top-loading type laundry treatment device in which laundry is put into a tub through an inlet provided at a top surface of the top-loading type laundry treatment device. FIG. 1 is a view showing a front structure of a conventional front-loading type laundry treatment apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional laundry treatment apparatus may include a cabinet C, a tub T disposed in the cabinet C, a drum D disposed in the tub T to rotate, and a support E for supporting the tub T in the cabinet C. The tub T is connected to a water supply unit S to receive water, and a drain unit P is provided at a lower part of the tub T to drain washed or rinsed water to the outside. The drum D rotates inside the tub T to provide mechanical force to laundry received in the drum D to wash laundry. When the laundry is completely washed, the drum D rotates at a high speed to remove moisture from the laundry, thereby dehydrating the wet or washed laundry. The support E is provided with a damper, a spring, or the like. Thus, when vibration occurs while the drum D rotates, vibration of the tub T can be reduced (or damped). However, in the conventional laundry treatment apparatus, laundry received in the drum D may be biased toward one side, thereby causing eccentricity of the laundry inside the drum D. In addition, in the conventional laundry treatment apparatus, when the drum D rotates at a high speed for laundry dehydration, or when a frequency generated in the tub T corresponds to a resonance frequency of the laundry treatment apparatus, vibration may occur greatly in the tub T. It may be difficult to reduce (or damp) such vibration of the tub T only using the support E. As a result, the tub T may vibrate excessively and collide with the cabinet C, and there is a risk that the installation position of the tub T is unexpectedly changed or the support E is also damaged. In order to address the above-described issues, the tub T of the conventional laundry treatment apparatus has been designed to further include a load unit B for adding the weight of the tub T to the tub B, thereby greatly reducing the amplitude of vibrations. The load unit B may be coupled to the tub T to increase the weight of the tub T, thereby greatly reducing the amplitude of vibrations generated in the tub T. Since a driver for rotating the drum D is coupled to the rear of the tub T, the load unit B may be coupled to the front surface of the tub T. Since the tub T receives water from the water supply unit S, the weight may be quite large. In this situation, when the load of the load unit B is not sufficient, there is a possibility that the load unit B does not sufficiently reduce (or damp) the vibration generated in the tub T. As a result, the conventional laundry treatment apparatus can secure the load of the load unit B by further extending the area occupied by the load unit B. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a structure of the load unit B of the conventional laundry treatment apparatus. Referring to FIG. 2, the load unit B may include a first load unit B1 and a second load unit B2 coupled to both sides of the inlet of the tub T. Each of the first load unit B1 and the second load unit B2 includes a coupling body (a) coupled to the tub T, a seating groove (b) recessed in the coupling body (a) so that the water supply unit (s) or the like can be seated, and a coupling hole (d) through which a coupling member capable of being coupled to the tub T passes. As a result, the conventional load unit B can be fixed to the front surface of the tub T so that the load unit B can add a load to the tub T. In addition, the conventional load unit B may include an extension unit C formed to extend further from the front surface of the tub T to the outside. As a result, the weight unit B may further secure a weight corresponding to the volu