Patent Publication Number: US-2006010934-A1

Title: Domestic appliance having stackable structure

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-54835, filed on Jul. 14, 2004 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a domestic appliance such as a washing machine or a drying machine having a stackable structure, and more particularly, to a domestic appliance such as a washing machine or a drying machine having a stackable structure for stable vertical stacking.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      In general, for the purpose of effectively using space, a plurality of domestic appliances is installed by being stacked on a stand.  
      Clothes washing machines and clothes drying machines or other domestic appliances having similar size, shape, and functional relationship are stacked for convenient use.  
      Registered Korean Patent No. 1985-001800 discloses a clothes washing and drying machine in which a clothes washing machine is combined with a clothes drying machine. The clothes washing and drying machine combination is installed so that the clothes drying machine is installed at the upper side of the stand and the clothes washing machine is installed at the lower side of the stand.  
      The stand includes a flat shelf where the clothes drying machine is installed, and a horizontal frame for stably supporting the shelf in the vertical direction.  
      However, the conventional vertical installation structure has a drawback in that it requires a long time to install the stand. Also, the stand is expensive.  
      Moreover, since the stand is fixed to the wall, the stand must be disassembled when the domestic appliances are moved to another place or installed, independently, so that a great deal of effort and time are required.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a domestic appliance such as a washing machine and drying machine having a stackable structure to be vertically stacked using a connecting device, so that installation time and cost can be reduced.  
      It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a domestic appliance having a stackable structure in which the connecting device is constructed to easily connect and disconnect the domestic appliances to and from each other, so that the locations of the domestic appliances can be rapidly changed or the installation of the domestic appliances can be easily achieved by disconnecting the stacking structure.  
      Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention 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 invention.  
      The foregoing and/or other aspects are achieved by providing a domestic appliance combination including a first domestic appliance, a second domestic appliance placed on the first domestic appliance, and a connecting member for connecting the first domestic appliance with the second domestic appliance.  
      The connecting member includes a first connecting member, installed on an outer surface of the first domestic appliance, to connect the first domestic appliance to the second domestic appliance, and a second connecting member to set a connection position of the first domestic appliance.  
      The first connecting member is installed at a lower side of the first domestic appliance, and the second connecting member is installed at an upper side of the second domestic appliance.  
      The second connecting member and the first connecting member are constructed to be assembled and disassembled to and from each other.  
      Moreover, the second connecting member is formed with a locking jaw, and the first connecting member is formed with a locking part locked by the locking jaw.  
      The locking jaw is formed with a recess having a gradually narrowed width, so that the locking part is easily locked by the locking jaw.  
      The first domestic appliance may include a clothes washing machine, and the second domestic appliance may include a clothes drying machine.  
      The first connecting member is installed at a rear side of the first domestic appliance, and the second connecting member is installed at a rear side of the second domestic appliance.  
      The combination may further include a guide member for guiding the first domestic appliance to the corresponding connecting position when the first domestic appliance is connected with the second domestic appliance.  
      Moreover, the guide member is detachably installed at a lower side of the second domestic appliance. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a connected structure of domestic appliances according to the embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating upper and lower connecting members of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional perspective view illustrating a guide member of  FIG. 1 ;  
      FIGS.  4  to  6  are side views illustrating the process of connecting the domestic appliances according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiment of the present invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout. A clothes washing machine and a clothes drying machine are described as examples of the domestic appliances, however, other domestic appliances may also be used and still be within the scope of the invention. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.  
      As shown in  FIG. 1 , the stackable domestic appliances according to the embodiment of the present invention include a clothes drying machine  1  installed on a clothes washing machine  3 . This provides effective use of space and convenience when washing clothes. Since the clothes washing machine is heavy due to the water supplied thereto, the clothes drying machine  1  is installed on top, while the clothes washing machine  3  is installed underneath.  
      To facilitate installation, the clothes drying machine  1  is installed with an upper connecting member  20  at rear lower sides thereof, and a lower connecting member  30  is installed on rear upper sides of the clothes washing machine  3 . The upper and lower connecting members  20  and  30  are fixed to the clothes drying machine  1  and the clothes washing machine  3 , respectively, and are constructed to be easily assembled and disassembled. A detailed structure of the upper and lower connecting members  20  and  30  will be described later by reference to  FIG. 2 .  
      The clothes drying machine  1  is installed with a guide member  10  at the lower sides thereof. The guide member  10  guides the clothes drying machine  1  to move to a predetermined position relative to the clothes drying machine  1  for connection therebetween during installation. The guide member  10  fixes the clothes drying machine  1  to the clothes washing machine  3  when the clothes drying machine  1  has been installed on the clothes washing machine  3 . A detailed structure of the guide member  10  will be described later by reference to  FIG. 3 .  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating the assembly of the upper connecting member  20  and the lower connecting member  30 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the upper connecting member  20  is formed with a locking jaw  25 , and the lower connecting member  30  is formed with a locking part  35 . The locking part  35  is locked by the locking jaw  25 , so that the upper connecting member  20  is connected to the lower connecting member  30 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , the upper connecting member  20 , installed at the rear lower sides of the clothes drying machine  1 , has a clothes drying machine fixing part  21  to be fixed to the clothes drying machine  1 . The clothes drying machine fixing part  21  is fixed to the clothes drying machine  1  by fixing members such as screws, so that the clothes drying machine fixing part  21  is closely fixed to the rear side and the lower side of the clothes drying machine  1 . The clothes drying machine fixing part  21  is formed with a supporting plane  23  horizontally extending from the rear side thereof, and is formed with the locking jaw  25  vertically extending from the upper side of the supporting plane  23 . The locking jaw  25  is formed with a guide recess  25   a  at the upper side thereof.  
      Meanwhile, the lower connecting member  30 , connected to the rear upper side of the clothes washing machine  3 , has a clothes washing machine fixing part  31  to be fixed to the clothes washing machine  3 . The clothes washing machine fixing part  31  is fixed to the clothes washing machine  3  by fixing members such as screws, so that the clothes washing machine fixing part  31  is closely fixed to the rear side of the clothes washing machine  3 . Thus, the lower corner of the clothes drying machine  1  is reinforced, to add rigidity to the lower corner. The lower connecting member  30  further has a horizontal part  32  horizontally extending from the upper end of the clothes washing machine fixing part  31  to the rear side of the clothes washing machine  3 , and a vertical part  33  vertically extending from the horizontal part  32  upward. The vertical part  33  has the hook-shaped locking part  35  formed at the upper end thereof and locked by the locking jaw  25  of the upper connecting member  20 . The end of the locking part  35  is horizontally extended to be placed on the supporting plane  23 .  
      Since the locking jaw  25  is formed with the inclined guide recess  25   a  having a gradually narrowed width, the clothes drying machine  1  and the clothes washing machine  3  are automatically arranged by locking the locking part  35  to the locking jaw  25  even when the clothes drying machine  1  and the clothes washing machine  3  are not properly oriented.  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective cross sectional view illustrating the guide member  10 . The rod-shaped guide member  10  is formed with hooks  11  at sides thereof, so that the guide member  10  can be attachably and detachably installed to the lower side of the clothes drying machine  1 . The guide member  10  is formed with a recess  10   a  at the lower side thereof in the longitudinal direction, so that a rim  3   a  protruded from the upper surface of the clothes washing machine  3  is inserted into the recess  10   a.    
      The vertical stacking of the domestic appliances according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described by reference to FIGS.  4  to  6 .  
      First, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the upper connecting member  20  is installed on the clothes drying machine  1  and the lower connecting member  30  is installed on the clothes washing machine  3 , then the clothes drying machine  1  is placed on the clothes washing machine  3 . When the rear lower side of the clothes drying machine  1  is placed on the clothes washing machine  3 , the guide member  10  is installed to the lower side of the clothes drying machine  1 .  
      Next, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the front side of the clothes drying machine  1  is lowered, so as to install the electric wire “c” and an air blowing conduit “v” to the clothes drying machine  1  in the state that the rim  3   a  of the clothes washing machine  3  comes in contact with the recess  10   a  of the guide member  10 , and then the clothes drying machine  1  is moved rearward.  
      When the clothes drying machine  1  is sufficiently moved rearward so that the upper connecting member  20  approaches the lower connecting member  30 , as shown in  FIG. 6 , the front side of the clothes drying machine  1  is raised so that the locking part  35  is placed on the locking jaw  25  of the upper connecting member  20 . Next, when the front side of the clothes drying machine  1  is lowered, the locking part  35  of the lower connecting member  30  is locked by the locking jaw  25  of the upper connecting member  20  and the guide member  10  comes in contact with the upper surface of the clothes washing machine  3 , so that the clothes drying machine  1  is firmly fixed on the clothes washing machine  3 .  
      As described above, according to a domestic appliance according to the embodiment of the present invention, time and expense required for installation can be reduced due to the connection of the domestic appliances by the connecting members.  
      Moreover, since the connecting members are constructed to allow easy assembly and disassembly, the locations of the domestic appliances can be rapidly changed or the independent installation of the domestic appliances can be easily achieved by disconnecting the stacking structure.  
      Although an embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.