Patent Abstract:
The present invention provides a dryer, by which a simpler assembly between a rear supporter and a back cover is provided. The dryer includes a back cover covering a rear side of the dryer, a drum containing a laundry and rotating to dry the laundry, a rear supporter supporting a rear side of the drum, and at least one latching part provided to an upper side of the back cover to latch an upper edge of the rear supporter.

Full Description:
[0001]     This application claims the benefit of Korean Applications No. P2003-084558, filed on Nov. 26, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a dryer, in which a more stable assembly between a rear supporter and a back cover is achieved.  
         [0004]     2. Discussion of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Generally, a dryer is an apparatus for drying a wet object such as clothes, laundry, linen, and so on after completion of washing. A general structure of the dryer is explained as follows.  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a perspective diagram of a dryer according to a related art. Referring to  FIG. 1 , an outer case  10  of a dryer consists of a front cabinet  20 , a side cabinet  30 , a back cover  100 , a top plate  40 , and a control panel  50 . And, a front cabinet  20  is provided to a front side of the dryer. An opening is provided to the front cabinet  20  so that a laundry is put inside the dryer via the opening, and a door  22  is installed over the opening.  
         [0007]     The side cabinet  30  and the back cover  100  are provided to lateral sides and a rear side of the dryer, respectively. The top plate  40  is provided over the dryer, and the control panel  50  is provided in front of the control panel  50 .  
         [0008]     A drum is rotatably provided within the outer case  10  to contain a laundry therein to be rotated by receiving a drive force of a motor. And, both ends of the drum are supported by front and supporters, respectively.  
         [0009]     However, the related art rear supporter is coupled to a rear end of the drum via screw or the like, thereby causing inconvenience of work.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a dryer that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.  
         [0011]     An object of the present invention, which has been devised to solve the foregoing problem, is to provide a dryer, by which a simpler assembly between a rear supporter and a back cover is provided to a laundry dryer.  
         [0012]     Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from a practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the subject matter particularly pointed out in the specification and claims hereof as well as in the appended drawings.  
         [0013]     To achieve these objects and other advantages in accordance with the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a dryer includes a back cover covering a rear side of the dryer, a drum containing a laundry and rotating to dry the laundry, a rear supporter supporting a rear side of the drum, and at least one latching part provided to an upper side of the back cover to latch an upper edge of the rear supporter.  
         [0014]     Preferably, the latching part includes a first cut-off part being cut off from one side of the back cover to have a channel shape and being bent forward, and a second cut-off part being cut off from a portion of the first cut-off part to have a reverse channel shape, the second cut-off part being bent downward to latch the upper edge of the rear supporter.  
         [0015]     In this case, guide grooves are formed on portions where the first and second cut-off parts are bent, respectively, to guide bending thereon. And, the first and second cut-off parts are formed by lancing a portion of the back cover.  
         [0016]     Meanwhile, the latching part may include a first cut-off part being cut-off from one side of the back cover to have a reverse channel shape and being bent forward, and a second cut-off part being cut off from a portion of the first cut-off part to have a channel shape, the second cut-off part being bent upward to latch the upper edge of the rear supporter.  
         [0017]     In this case, guide grooves are formed on portions where the first and second cut-off parts are bent, respectively, to guide bending thereon. The first and second cut-off parts are formed by lancing a portion of the back cover. And, a stepping part is provided to the back cover to support a lower end portion of the rear supporter.  
         [0018]     Preferably, a recess recessed backward is provided to the back cover to have the rear supporter inserted therein. And, the at least two latching parts are included two or more equally-shaped latching parts.  
         [0019]     In another aspect of the present invention, a dryer includes a drum containing a laundry and rotating to dry the laundry, a rear supporter supporting a rear side of the drum, and a back cover including at least one latching part provided to an upper side of the back cover to latch an upper edge of the rear supporter, and a stepping part provided to a lower side of the back cover to support a lower end portion of the rear supporter.  
         [0020]     The latching part includes a first cut-off part being cut off from one side of the back cover to have a channel shape and being bent forward, and a second cut-off part being cut off from a portion of the first cut-off part to have a reverse channel shape and being bent downward to latch the upper edge of the rear supporter.  
         [0021]     In this case, guide grooves are formed on portions where the first and second cut-off parts are bent, respectively, to guide bending thereon. And, the first and second cut-off parts are formed by lancing a portion of the back cover.  
         [0022]     Meanwhile, the latching part may include a first cut-off part being cut off from one side of the back cover to have a reverse channel shape and being bent forward, and a second cut-off part being cut off from a portion of the first cut-off part to have a channel shape, the second cut-off part being bent upward to latch the upper edge of the rear supporter.  
         [0023]     In this case, guide grooves are formed on portions where the first and second cut-off parts are bent, respectively, to guide bending thereon. And, the first and second cut-off parts are formed by lancing a portion of the back cover.  
         [0024]     Preferably, a recess recessed backward is provided to the back cover to have the rear supporter inserted therein. And, the at least two latching parts includes two or more equally-shaped latching parts.  
         [0025]     In a further aspect of the present invention, a dryer includes a drum containing a laundry and rotating to dry the laundry, a rear supporter including a support plate and a projected part projected from the support plate to be inserted in a rear end of the drum, and a back cover including a latching part, the latching part including a first cut-off part being cut off from one side of the back cover to have a channel shape and being bent forward and a second cut-off part being cut off from a portion of the first cut-off part to have a reverse channel shape and being bent downward to latch an upper edge of the rear supporter.  
         [0026]     It is to be understood that both the foregoing explanation and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and illustrative and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0027]     The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:  
         [0028]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a dryer according to a related art;  
         [0029]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an assembly of a back cover and rear supporter of a dryer;  
         [0030]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an assembly of a back cover and rear supporter of a dryer according to the present invention; and  
         [0031]      FIG. 4  is a magnified view of a latching part provided to one side of a back cover according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0032]     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, like elements are indicated using the same or similar reference designations where possible.  
         [0033]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an assembly of a back cover and rear supporter of a dryer. Referring to  FIG. 2 , a drum  60  is rotatably provided within a dryer. And, a heater  80  heating air to make hot and dry is provided under the drum  60 . A rear end of the drum  60  is supported by a rear supporter  70  that is assembled to a back cover  100 .  
         [0034]     The rear supporter  70  includes a support plate  71  and a projected part  72 . The projected part  72  having a circular shape is provided to a front side of the support plate  71  to fit a rim of the drum  60 . The projected part  72  is inserted in a rear side of the drum  60  to be fixed thereto. Locking holes  75  and  75   a  are formed at the support plate  71  and the back cover  100  to correspond to each other, whereby a screw is fitted into the locking holes  75  and  75   a . Hence, the rear supporter  70  is fixed to the back cover  100  as well as supports the rear side of the drum  60 .  
         [0035]     A portion  76  of a rear side of the rear supporter  70  is open so that the hot and dry air generated from the heater  80  can be supplied inside the drum  60 . The open portion  76  communicates with the heater  80  via an air duct  82 . And, a multitude of holes  84  are provided to an entrance of the air duct  82 .  
         [0036]     Meanwhile, a front supporter (not shown) includes a circular projected part, which is similar to that of the rear supporter  70 , corresponding to a front rim of the drum  60  to be coupled to a front side of the drum  60 . The front supporter is fixed to a front cabinet (‘ 20 ’ in  FIG. 1 ) as well as supports the front side of the drum  60 . And, openings are formed on central parts of the front support and cabinet, respectively, so that an object to be dried can put in the dryer.  
         [0037]     A stepping part  100   a , as shown in  FIG. 2 , is provided to the back cover  100  to be recessed backward. In assembling the rear supporter  70  to the back cover  100 , a lower end portion of the rear supporter  70  is preferentially fitted in the stepping part  100   a  and screws are then fastened via the locking holes  75  and  75   a  provided to the rear supporter  70  and back cover  100 . In doing so, if a worker releases his hand(s) from the rear supporter  70  of which lower end is being supported only, the rear supporter  70  naturally falls forward to interrupt the alignment between the rear supporter  70  and the back cover  100 .  
         [0038]     In order to solve the problem, a dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention is explained as follows.  
         [0039]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an assembly of a back cover and rear supporter of a dryer according to the present invention, and  FIG. 4  is a magnified view of a latching part provided to one side of a back cover according to the present invention.  
         [0040]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a projected part  272  is provided to a front side of a rear supporter  270  to be inserted in a rear end of a drum. And, the rear supporter is fixed to a back cover  200  and supports the drum. An assembly between the rear supporter  270  and the back cover  200  includes a stepping part  200   a  and a latching part  220 . In this case, a lower end portion of the rear supporter  270  becomes supported by the stepping part  200   a . The stepping part  200   a  may be projected toward from the back cover  200   a  or may be formed on a lower side of a recess provided to the back cover  200 .  
         [0041]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a recess, in which the rear supporter  270  will be inserted, is provided to a front side of the back cover  200 . And, the stepping part  200   a  is provided to a lower side of the recess. And, an upper edge of the rear supporter  270  is fixed via the latching part  220  provided to an upper side of the back cover  200 .  
         [0042]     The latching part  220  is provided to the upper side of the back cover so that a height of the latching part  220  corresponds to that of the upper edge of the rear supporter  270 . Namely, the latching part  220  is provided to a position corresponding to the height of the upper edge of the rear supporter  270 , which is being supported by the stepping part  200   a.    
         [0043]     Specifically, the rear supporter  270  includes a support plate  271  and a projected part  272 . The projected part  272  is projected toward from the support plate  271  to be inserted in a rear end of the drum. In this case, a lower end of the support plate  271  is supported by the stepping part  200   a  and an upper end of the support plate  271  is fixed via the latching part  220 .  
         [0044]     A method of forming the latching part  220  is explained as follows.  
         [0045]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , one side of an upper end of the back cover  200  is cut to have a channel shape, thereby forming a first cut-off part  222 . An inner side of the first cut-off part  22  is cut again to have a reverse channel shape, thereby forming a second cut-off part  224 . In doing so, the second cut-off part  224  is cut to leave a predetermined distance from a cutting face of the first cut-off part  222 .  
         [0046]     In doing so, the cut-off parts  222  and  224  are formed by ‘lancing’. ‘Lancing’ is performed in a manner of cutting a portion of a basic plate so that one side of the cut portion is left to be connected to the basic plate.  
         [0047]     After the first cut-off part  222  has been bent forward, the second cut-off part  224  is bent downward by a predetermined angle. In order to guide a correct bending of each of the cut-off parts, guide grooves  222   a  and  224   a  are formed on the bent portions of the first and second cut-off parts  222  and  224 , respectively.  
         [0048]     Meanwhile, the present invention further enables to change a direction of the channel shape instead of putting limitation of the above-explanation. Namely, the first cut-off part is cut from an upper side of the back cover  200  to have a reverse channel shape and the second cut-off part is cut to have a channel shape. In doing so, the first cut-off part is bent upward, while the second cut-off part is bent upward to latch the upper edge of the rear supporter  270 .  
         [0049]     A process of assembling a rear supporter and back cover of a dryer according to the present invention is explained as follows.  
         [0050]     In assembling the rear supporter  270  to the back cover  200 , a lower end portion of the rear supporter  270  is supported by the stepping part  200   a  of the back cover  200 . Locking holes  275  and  275   a  formed at the rear supporter  270  and back cover  200 , respectively, are aligned to each other. The upper edge of the rear supporter  270  is then coupled to the latching part (piece)  220  provided to the upper side of the back cover  200 .  
         [0051]     In doing so, the upper edge of the rear supporter  270  is locked (or latched) by a tip of the second cut-off part  224  provided inside the latching part  220 . As the latching part  220  has elasticity, a restoring force of elastic distortion makes the second cut-off part  224  latch the upper edge of the rear supporter  270 .  
         [0052]     Hence, the rear supporter  270  is temporarily fixed to the back cover  200 , thereby being prevented from falling on locking screws and facilitating a worker to fasten the screws in the locking holes  275  and  275   a  at the rear supporter and back cover  270  and  200 , respectively.  
         [0053]     Accordingly, the dryer according to the present invention has the following advantages of effects.  
         [0054]     First of all, in assembling the dryer, the latching part provided to the upper side of the back cover fixes the upper edge of the rear supporter thereto, whereby it is able to prevent the rear supporter from falling forward due to its weight. Hence, the worker need not hold the rear supporter to be facilitated to fasten the screws since the alignment between the locking holes of the rear supporter and back cover is correctly maintained.  
         [0055]     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover such modifications and variations, provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Technology Classification (CPC): 3