Patent ID: 9638465
Date: 2017-05-02
CPC Classifications: D06F,F26B

Claim:
1. A clothes treating apparatus having a drying function comprising: a cabinet adapted to receive a rotatable drum therein, the cabinet defining an appearance of the apparatus; a module part mounted onto an outer surface of the cabinet, the module part comprising a heater assembly configured to heat air to be supplied to the rotatable drum, a blower assembly configured to discharge air inside the rotatable drum, and a housing configured to accommodate the heater assembly and the blower assembly; and a link unit configured to connect the module part onto a rear side of the cabinet, wherein the heater assembly comprises: a heater casing including a front surface, a rear surface, side surfaces, a lower surface, and an upper surface, wherein the upper surface is, in part or fully, inclined and the heater casing includes air inlet ports formed through the lower surface and the rear surface, respectively, a heater module disposed within the heater casing and configured to heat air introduced into the heater casing, through the air inlet ports, a thermostat disposed on an inner side of the upper surface of the heater casing and configured to come in direct contact with the heated air from the heater module and to turn the heater module on or off according to temperature of air in the heater casing, a slit formed through the upper surface of the heater casing and configured to introduce external air into the heater casing to form a blocking flow of the external air, wherein based on the forming of the blocking flow, the heated air from the heater module is blocked from contacting the thermostat, and a passage guide formed beneath the slit on the upper surface of the heater casing and extending from a lower edge of the slit toward a lower side of the thermostat to guide a flow path of the blocking flow of the external air introduced through the slit, wherein the front surface of the heater casing is provided with a through hole through which heated air from the heater module is supplied into the rotatable drum via the upper surface of the heater casing, and wherein the heater assembly further includes a middle plate located between the heater module and the through hole of the front surface such that the air heated by the heater module flows along the upper surface of the heater casing and supplies into the drum through the through hole.