Laundry treatment machine

A laundry treatment apparatus is provided comprising a cabinet having a prescribed shape; a supporter provided in the cabinet; a drum configured to rotate and provided on the supporter, the supporter supporting a circumferential portion of the drum, a cross section of the drum being a simple closed curve where first distance between a rotational axis of the drum and a first location on an inner surface of the drum is different from second distance between the rotational axis of the drum and a second location on the inner surface of the drum; and a motor to rotate the drum.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Application No. 10-2010-0016787 filed on Feb. 24, 2010, whose entire disclosure is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure is directed to a laundry treatment apparatus having a larger drum than conventional devices.

Laundry treatment apparatuses generally refer to apparatuses for performing treatment, such as washing, drying, or wrinkle removing, on clothing or beddings (hereinafter, simply referred to as “laundry”) as used in homes or laundry shops. Laundry treatment apparatuses include washers, dryers and washer/dryer combination. The amount of laundry that may be treated by the laundry treatment apparatuses may be limited based on the size of the drum.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1is a perspective view illustrating a laundry treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The laundry treatment apparatus includes a cabinet1, a drum10, and a heater30. The cabinet1forms the appearance. The drum10is rotatably positioned in the cabinet1. The drum10receives laundry. The heater30heats air flowing into the drum10. As shown therein, the cabinet has a prescribed width, height and depth.

The cabinet1has an opening for entrance or exit of laundry to/from the drum10at a front surface thereof. A door6is rotatably connected to the front surface of the cabinet1to open and close the opening. The front surface of the cabinet1includes a control panel9that allows a user to enter operation commands and show operational states to the user.

A front support11is provided behind the front surface of the cabinet1to support a front end circumferential portion of the drum10. The front supporter11supports the drum10so that the drum10may rotate.

A rear supporter12is provided in front of a rear surface of the cabinet1to support a rear end circumferential portion of the drum10. The rear supporter12supports the drum10so that the drum10may rotate. According to an embodiment, the rear supporter12may be opened or include an opening so that air heated by the heater30may flow into the drum10.

FIG. 2is a perspective view illustrating a drum of a laundry treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The drum10is opened in a front and rear direction so that the drum10receives laundry and so that air may pass in the drum in the front and rear direction. A cross section of the drum10is simple closed curve where first distance between a rotational axis of the drum10and a first location on an inner surface of the drum10is different from second distance between the rotational axis of the drum10and a second location on the inner surface of the drum10. The cross section of the drum10is orthogonal to a rotational axis of the drum10. The drum10includes lifters14on an inner surface thereof so that laundry received in the drum10may be lifted and dropped. According to an embodiment, the lifters14may be slidably connected to the front supporter11and the rear supporter12to be rotated with the drum10.

The front and rear end circumferential portions of the drum10are supported by the front supporter11and the rear supporter12, respectively. According to an embodiment, front and rear ends of the drum10may be slidingly connected to the front supporter11and the rear supporter12, respectively, to allow the drum10to be rotated.

The front supporter11and the rear supporter12, respectively, include a front bending portion11aand a rear bending portion12athat are bent inwardly of the drum10and brought in contact with circumferential portions of the drum10to support the drum10.

FIG. 3is a view illustrating a shape of a drum of a laundry treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. While the drum10is rotated, a cross section of the drum10is a simple closed curve in which a distance between a rotational axis of the drum10and a point on a circumference of the drum changes along the circumference, e.g., the radius of curvature changes along the circumference of the drum. According to an embodiment, the drum10may be formed of a resilient or bendable material, metallic material, or polymer material so that the drum10may rotate with the distance uneven.

According to this embodiment, a maximum distance between antipodal points of the simple closed curve (hereinafter, referred to as “maximum distance b”) may not be in excess of 1.2 times of a minimum distance between antipodal points of the simple closed curve (hereinafter, referred to as “maximum distance a”). When the maximum distance b is more than 1.2 times of the minimum distance a, it may be difficult for the cross section of the drum10to maintain the simple closed curve during rotation.

According to an embodiment, upon rotation of the drum10, the maximum distance b may be determined depending on a shape of the cabinet1. According to the present embodiment, the cabinet1is configured so that a vertical length is longer than a horizontal length. As a consequence, when the drum10is rotated, the maximum distance b is formed in a vertical direction, and the minimum distance a is formed in a horizontal direction. For example, the shape of the simple close curve is a vertical elliptical if the height is larger than the width of the cabinet, whereas the shape of the simple close curve is a horizontal elliptical if the width is larger than the height of the cabinet.

According to another embodiment, at least a portion or some portions of the drum having a simple closed curve shape, e.g., elliptical, may be straight, instead of having a curvature. In other words, the straight portions of the drum have zero curvature, and hence, these portions have an infinite or undefined radius of curvature. According to this embodiment, a straight section or straight portions may not exceed 10% of the whole simple closed curve or the outer circumference of the drum.

According to an embodiment, the drum10may be rotated by a driving unit that includes a belt70and a motor72. The belt70transfers a rotational force of the motor72to the drum10to rotate the drum10based on contact with an outer circumferential surface of the drum10and not to slide on the outer circumferential surface. The belt70may be formed of a metal or polymer material that is resilient and easily bendable. According to an embodiment, protrusion and depressions may be formed on the belt70and the outer circumferential surface of the drum10so that the belt70does not slide on the outer circumferential surface of the drum10.

According to an embodiment, a cross section of a portion of the drum10that is supported by the front supporter11may be identical to a cross section of a portion of the drum10that is supported by the rear supporter12so that the drum10may be rotated with a cross section of a simple closed curve where a distance between the rotational axis and the simple closed curve is uneven.

FIG. 4is a view illustrating a radius of curvature of a drum of a laundry treatment apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. For explaining the shape of drum in this embodiment, Points P1, P2, P3, and P4ofFIG. 3are used as an example to explain this embodiment. The points P1, P2, P3and P4are illustrative points on a circumference of the drum and theFIG. 4embodiment does not have the shape shown inFIG. 3.

As shown in the radius of curvature graph ofFIG. 4, the radius of curvature is infinite at points P1and P2—that is, points P1and P2belong to straight line sections of the simple closed curve. Also, straight line sections occur between points P3and P4and between points P4and P1. As shown inFIG. 4, with respect to point P3, the radius of curvature gradually decreases before point P3and gradually increases after point P3. This is true for point P4. For example, the radius of curvature becomes the largest at points P3and P4. As described above, the straight line sections may not exceed 10% of the whole simple closed curve.

According to an embodiment, upon rotation of the drum10, the radius of curvature becomes infinite at left and right sides of the simple closed curve—for example, straight line sections occur at the left and right sides. The radius of curvature becomes the minimum at upper and lower ends of the simple closed curve.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drum10of the laundry treatment apparatus forms a cross section which is a simple closed curve in which a distance between the simple closed curve and a rotational axis of the drum10is uneven when the drum10is rotated. As a consequence, more laundry may be received in the drum10.

As can be appreciated based on the present disclosure, the drum disclosed herein is larger than the drum of a conventional laundry apparatus given that both have the same cabinet dimensions. In the conventional laundry apparatus, the drum is circular whereas, the shape of the drum disclosed herein may be elliptical and may or may not include straight portions. Further, the drum may be any shape so long as the straight portion or portions may not exceed 10% of the shape of the drum generally having a simple closed curve shape.

Further, additional details of the drum and the driving unit may be found in U.S. application Ser. Nos. 12/892,407, 12/892,426 and 12/892,446, all filed on Sep. 28, 2010 at the US Patent and Trademark Office and whose entire disclosure are incorporated herein by reference.