Patent Publication Number: US-2006005582-A1

Title: Drum type washing machine

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-52377, filed on Jul. 6, 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  
      An aspect of the present invention relates to a drum type washing machine, and more particularly, to a drum type washing machine which is provided with a drying apparatus for drying laundry.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Generally, a drum type washing machine is an apparatus in which laundry is raised to an upper portion of the washing machine along with water, and then released, to allow the laundry to be washed by a head thereof. The drum type washing machine generally includes a housing adapted to define an outer appearance of the washing machine, a water tub installed in the housing to contain water, and a rotating tub rotatably installed in the water tub and rotated by a rotational force transmitted from a drive motor to generate a rotational force.  
      Accordingly, as the rotating tub is rotated in the water tub, the laundry is raised to the upper portion of the washing machine along an inner peripheral surface of the rotating tub together with wash water, and is then dropped, to allow the laundry to be washed.  
      The drum type washing machine is equipped with a drying apparatus for drying completely washed laundry. The drying apparatus is communicated with the rotating tub at both ends thereof, so that, after the intake of air from the rotating tub and heating the air, it supplies the heated air to the rotating tub to allow the laundry to be dried by use of the heated air.  
      Accordingly, the drying apparatus includes a blowing fan to generate an intake force and a blowing force while being rotated, allowing air to flow into the drying apparatus; a heater to heat the air passing through the drying apparatus; and upper and lower cases coupled to each other such that the blowing fan and the heater can be installed therebetween and such that an inner fluid pathway, through which air flows, can be defined therebetween.  
      However, in such a conventional drum type washing machine, if either the blowing fan or the heater must be repaired due to wear, it is necessary to completely disassemble the upper and lower cases from the drying apparatus. The blowing fan and the heater cannot be repaired separately, consequently it is difficult to repair the drying apparatus.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a drum type washing machine defined within a housing, wherein the drum type washing machine is designed to enhance performance of a drying apparatus therein.  
      It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a drum type washing machine designed to allow easy repair of the drying apparatus.  
      Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.  
      The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing a drum type washing machine including a water tub to hold water, a rotating tub rotatably installed in the water tub, and a drying apparatus to heat air while allowing air in the rotating tub to flow through the drying apparatus such that laundry contained in the rotating tub can be dried by heated air, and the drying apparatus includes a blowing fan to generate an intake force and a blowing force thus allowing air to flow into the drying apparatus, a heater to heat air that flows via the blowing fan in order to generate heated air, and upper and lower cases coupled to each other in a perpendicular direction such that the blowing fan and the heater are installed therebetween and such that an inner fluid pathway, through which air flows, is defined therebetween, the upper cases including a first cover to allow the blowing fan to be exposed to the outside of the housing, and a second cover to allow the heater to be exposed to the outside of the housing.  
      The upper and lower cases may be made of a high heat-insulating member.  
      The drying apparatus may be provided with heat dissipation plates to increase a heating area of air passing through the inner fluid pathway.  
      The heat dissipation plates may be provided on upper and lower sides of the heater, respectively, and may include an upper heat dissipation plate and a lower heat dissipation plate having shapes corresponding to inner sides of the upper and lower cases, respectively.  
      The inner sides of the upper and lower cases may be coated with a ceramic material to reduce damage caused by heat.  
      It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a drum type washing machine including a water tub to hold water, a rotating tub rotatably installed in the water tub, and a drying apparatus to heat air while allowing air in the rotating tub to flow through the drying apparatus such that laundry contained in the rotating tub can be dried by heated air, and the drying apparatus includes upper and lower cases coupled to each other in a perpendicular direction such that an inner fluid pathway, through which air flows, is defined therebetween, and the upper and lower cases are made of a high heat-insulating member.  
      The drying apparatus may include a blowing fan to generate an intake force and a blowing force between the upper and lower cases, allowing air to flow into the drying apparatus, and a heater to heat air that flows via the blowing fan, generating heated air, the upper case including a first cover to allow the blowing fan to be exposed to the outside of the housing, and a second cover to allow the heater to be exposed to the outside of the housing. 
    
    
     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, of which:  
       FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view illustrating construction of a drum type washing machine according to the present invention; and  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a drying apparatus of the drum type washing machine of  FIG. 1  according to the present invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.  
      In  FIG. 1 , a drum type washing machine includes a housing  10  adapted to define an outer appearance of the washing machine, a water tub  11  installed in the housing  10  to hold water, and a drum-shaped rotating tub  12  rotatably installed in the water tub  11  and formed at the surface thereof with communication holes  12   a  to allow water and air to pass therethrough, and a drive motor  13  to rotate the rotating tub  12  to allow the laundry to be washed and dehydrated.  
      The water tub  11  and the rotating tub  12  are formed at front sides thereof with openings, respectively, in order to allow the laundry to be put into the rotating tub  12  or to be taken out therefrom. A door  14  is hinged to the front side of the housing  10  to open or close the communication holes  12   a  of the water tub  11  and the rotating tub  12 . A plurality of lifters  12   b  are arranged, and spaced at a predetermined distance from each other on an inner peripheral surface of the rotating tub  12 , such that, as the rotating tub  12  is rotated, the lifters  12   b  raise the laundry to an upper portion of the rotating tub  12  and release the laundry to be dropped and washed.  
      The drum type washing machine of this invention is equipped, at an upper portion of the water tub  11 , with a drying apparatus  20  to generate heated air and to dry the washed laundry. The drying apparatus  20  is communicated at both ends thereof with the front end of the water tub  11  and the rear end of the water tub  11 , respectively, and has an inner fluid pathway  15  defined therein, so that air in the water tub  11  and the rotating tub  12  can be heated while passing through the inner fluid pathway  15  of the drying apparatus  20  to form heated air having an elevated temperature which can then be supplied to the water tub  11  and the rotating tub  12  again, thereby allowing the laundry in the rotating tub  12  to be dried.  
      Accordingly, after the laundry is completely washed, as the drying apparatus  20  of the invention is operated while the rotating tub  12  is rotated at a lower velocity, air in the water tub  11  and the rotating tub  12  passes through the drying apparatus  20  and is then converted to heated air, thus drying the laundry.  
      In  FIG. 2 , the drying apparatus  20 , also shown in  FIG. 1 , includes a blowing fan  21  to generate an intake force and a blowing force, allowing air in the water tub  11  and the rotating tub  12  to flow through the inner fluid pathway  15  of the drying apparatus  20 , a fan motor  22  to rotate the blowing fan  21 , a heater  23  to heat air that flows via the blowing fan  21 , thus generating heated air. Upper cases  24 A and  24 B, and a lower case  25  are coupled to each other in the perpendicular direction such that the blowing fan  21  and the heater  23  are installed therebetween, and such that the inner fluid pathway  15  can be defined therebetween.  
      The lower case  25  is provided with a blowing fan receiving portion  25   a  to receive the blowing fan  21 , and a heater receiving portion  25   b  to receive the heater  23 . The fan receiving portion  25   a  has a circular shape to receive the blowing fan  21  constituted by a centrifugal fan, and is formed at the center thereof with an intake hole  25   c  to intake air from the water tub  11  and the rotating tub  12 . The heater receiving portion  25   b  is formed at one end thereof with a discharging aperture  25   d  such that air discharged from the heater  23  can pass therethrough and be supplied to the water tub  11  and the rotating tub  12  after being heated by the heater  23 .  
      The upper cases  24 A and  24 B are defined by a first cover  24 A equipped on the fan receiving portion  25   a  to open or close the fan receiving portion  25   a,  and a second cover  24 B equipped on the heater receiving portion  25   b  to open or close the heater receiving portion  25   b  such that if one of the blowing fan  21  and the heater  23  must be repaired, one of the blowing fan  21  and the heater  23  can be exposed to the outside of the housing to allow repairs without entirely disassembling the drying apparatus. At this time, the first and second covers  24 A and  24 B are coupled to the lower case  25  via fastening members, such as screws, and can be separated from the lower case  25  by releasing the screws, when required.  
      The first cover  24 A is equipped at the center thereof with a rotational shaft of the blowing fan  21  passing through the first cover  24 A to protrude upward from the first cover  24 A, and, at one side of thereof, with a motor mounting portion  21   a  having the fan motor  22  mounted therein and integrally extending from the first cover  24 A. Furthermore, a driving pulley  22   a  and a driven pulley  22   b  are provided to a rotational shaft of the fan motor  22  and the rotational shaft of the blowing fan  21 , respectively, such that the rotational force generated by the fan motor  22  can be transmitted to the blowing fan  21  through a belt  22   c.    
      Additionally, the drying apparatus  20  of the drum type washing machine according to the invention may include a high heat-insulating member, in order to reduce leakage of heat generated by the heater  23  to the outside of the housing so that most of the heat generated by the heater  23  can be used to heat air passing through the inner fluid pathway  15  of the drying apparatus  20 . In the embodiment of this invention, the upper cases  24 A and  24 B, and the lower case  25  are made of a resin material, having a lower thermal conductivity than that of metallic materials, by injection molding.  
      Furthermore, the drying apparatus  20  may be provided with heat dissipation plates  26  and  27 , which receive and dissipate heat transmitted from the heater  23 , to increase the heating area of the air passing through the inner fluid pathway  15  of the drying apparatus  20 , and to allow the air to be more efficiently heated.  
      The heat dissipation plates  26  and  27  are made of a metallic material having a high thermal conductivity in order to allow more easy dissipation of heat transmitted from the heater  23 . The heat dissipation plates  26  and  27  are formed in the shape of a disc having a predetermined area, and are disposed to enclose the heater  23  at an upper side, a lower side, and lateral sides of the heater. Such heat dissipation plates  26  and  27  have an upper heat dissipation plate  26  shaped to correspond to the lower surface and inner lateral sides of the upper cases  24 A and  24 B, and a lower heat dissipation plate  27  shaped to correspond to the upper surface and inner lateral sides of the lower case  25 .  
      Accordingly, when heat generated by the heater  23  is transmitted to the heat dissipation plates  26  and  27 , the heat dissipation plates  26  and  27  made of the high thermal conductivity metallic material allow heat transfer in a short period of time increasing the overall temperature of the heat dissipation plates  26  and  27 . As a result, since air passing through the inner fluid pathway  15  of the drying apparatus  20  contacts the heat dissipation plates  26  and  27  having a raised temperature as described above and is then heated, heat generated by the heater  23  can heat air more efficiently.  
      Furthermore, the inner sides of the upper and lower cases  24 A,  24 B, and  25  are coated with a ceramic material in order to reduce damage that can result from heated air passing through when the inner sides of the upper and lower cases are exposed to the heated air.  
      One of the advantages of the present invention is that the drum type washing machine is equipped with the first and second covers on the lower case, where the blowing fan and the heater are installed to allow the blowing fan and the heater to be separately exposed to the outside of the housing facilitating repair of the drying apparatus.  
      Another advantage of the present invention is that the drum type washing machine has the upper and lower cases made of the heat-insulating member having a high heat-insulating capability, reducing leakage of heat to the outside of the housing of the drying apparatus and allowing most of the heat generated by the heater to be used for heating air. Therefore, the laundry can be dried more efficiently.  
      Although a few embodiments of the present invention have 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.