Patent Abstract:
A washing machine is provided. The washing machine includes a front panel defining a front portion of the washing machine, a decoration panel covering a front-outer circumference of the front panel, a coupling projection formed on at least one of the front and decoration panels, and a slot-shaped hole formed on at least one of the front and decoration panels so that the coupling projection can be sliding-coupled thereto.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a washing machine.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Generally, a drum-type washing machine includes a tub mounted in a vertical direction with respect to a main body and a drum installed in the tub to be capable of reversibly rotating. The laundry is loaded in the drum and washed by chemical reaction by the washing machine and detergent and physical reaction generated by lifting and falling of the laundry. Therefore, the drum-type washing machine has been widely used as it less entangles the laundry as compared with the pulsator-type washing machine.  
         [0005]      FIG. 1  shows a conventional washing machine.  
         [0006]     A drum-type washing machine includes a top plate  1 , a cabinet  2  defining an outer wall of the washing machine, a control panel  3  provided with a variety of manipulation buttons, a front panel  4  having a laundry input opening, and upper and lower decoration panels  5  and  6  installed on both sides of the control and front panels  3  and  4 .  
         [0007]     The top plate  1  and the cabinet  2  define an outer appearance of the drum-type washing machine while protecting a variety of components of the drum-type washing machine. The control panel  3  includes a variety of buttons for inputting a washing mode and other functions and a display unit for displaying a current washing cycle of the drum-type washing machine.  
         [0008]     The front panel  4  is formed under the control panel  3  to define the front portion of the drum-type washing machine and a laundry input opening is formed on a central portion of the front panel  4 .  
         [0009]     The side decoration panel  6  is installed on both sides of the front panel  4  to improve the outer appearance of the washing machine.  
         [0010]     A process for coupling the side decoration panels to the front panel will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 .  
         [0011]     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , first fixing holes  41  are formed on opposite end portions of the front panel  4  and second fixing holes  42  are formed on a side-rear portion of the front panel  4 . At this point, the first and second fixing holes  41  and  42  are arranged along a vertical length.  
         [0012]     First and second hooks  61  and  62  corresponding to the first and second fixing holes  41  and  42  are formed on an inner side of the side decoration panel  6 .  
         [0013]     Describing the coupling process of the side decoration panel  6  to the front panel  4 , the first hooks  61  formed on the side decoration panel  6  are first inserted in the first fixing holes  41  to guide the position of the side decoration panel  6 . Next, the second hooks  62  are inserted in the second fixing holes  42  of the front panel  4  to fix the side decoration panel  6  to the front panel  4 . In this process, the second hook  62  is elastically deformed to be forcedly fitted in the second fixing hole  62 .  
         [0014]     The above-described coupling process has the following problems.  
         [0015]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , during the process that the second hooks  62  are forcedly fitted in the second fixing holes  42  while being elastically deformed, the second hooks  62  interfere with the outer circumferential end portion A of the second fixing hole  42 . Therefore, the portion A may be worn and damaged.  
         [0016]     As a result, even when the second hooks  62  are coupled to the second holes  62 , the secure assembling cannot be realized between the side decoration panel  6  and the front panel  4  since the coupling force between the second hooks  62  and the second fixing holes  42  are weakened.  
         [0017]     In addition, since the second hooks  62  are forcedly fitted in the second fixing holes  42 , the assembling work is complicated and inconvenient.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a washing machine that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.  
         [0019]     An object of the present invention is to provide a washing machine in which a side decoration panel can be securely assembled with a front panel without wearing the assembled portion and generating a gap on the assembled portion by improving the coupling structure between the side decoration panel and the front panel.  
         [0020]     Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.  
         [0021]     To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a washing machine including: a front panel defining a front portion of the washing machine; a decoration panel covering a front-outer circumference of the front panel; a coupling projection formed on at least one of the front and decoration panels; and a slot-shaped hole formed on at least one of the front and decoration panels so that the coupling projection can be sliding-coupled thereto.  
         [0022]     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a washing machine including: a front panel defining a front portion of the washing machine; a decoration panel covering a front-outer circumference of the front panel; a coupling projection formed on at least one of the front and decoration panels; and a projection coupling hole on at least one of the front and decoration panels so that the coupling projection can be forcedly fitted thereto.  
         [0023]     According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a washing machine including: a front panel defining a front portion of the washing machine; a decoration panel covering a front-outer circumference of the front panel; a coupling projection formed on at least one of the front and decoration panels, the coupling projection having a connecting portion having a predetermined length and a bent portion bent from the connecting portion; and a projection coupling hole formed on at least one of the front and decoration panels, the projection coupling hole having a projection insertion hole in which the coupling projection can be inserted and a projection fixing hole along which the inserted coupling projection can slide.  
         [0024]     According to the present invention, since the          -shaped sliding holes are alternately formed on the front panels and the side decoration panel is provided with the fixing portions having bent ribs, the side decoration panel is slidably fixed on the front panel, thereby preventing the coupling portions from being damaged and improving the assembling convenience.  
         [0025]     Therefore, the assembling is uniformly realized, the outer appearance of the product can be improved.  
         [0026]     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory 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 embodiment(s) 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 conventional drum type washing machine;  
         [0029]      FIGS. 2 and 3  are cross-sectional views illustrating a coupling process of a side decoration panel to a front panel and showing problems of the conventional drum type washing machine;  
         [0030]      FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of a front panel and a side decoration panel according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0031]      FIG. 5  is a schematic side view of the side decoration panel and the front panel shown in  FIG. 4  before they are coupled to each other; and  
         [0032]      FIG. 6  is a schematic side view of the side decoration panel and the front panel shown in  FIG. 4  after they are coupled to each other.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0033]     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.  
         [0034]      FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of a front panel and a side decoration panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0035]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a front panel includes an outer cover  11  and an inner cover  12 .  
         [0036]     The outer cover  11  is provided at a front-central potion with a laundry input opening  11   a  through which the laundry is loaded and unloaded. In addition, a door (not shown) may be hingedly coupled to a side of the laundry input opening  11   a  to selectively open and close the laundry input opening  11   a.    
         [0037]     A plurality of flanges  112  are formed on both sides of the outer cover  11  and spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction. Each of the flanges  112  is provided with first sliding hole  111  having upper and lower holes  11   a  and  111   b.  The first sliding hole  111  may be formed in a          -shape. A size of the upper hole  11   a  is greater than that of the lower hole  111   b.    
         [0038]     Meanwhile, the inner cover  12  may be installed in rear of the outer cover  11  and have an edge bent inward to provide a bent surface  120 .  
         [0039]     A plurality of second sliding holes  121  are formed on both bent surfaces  120  of the inner cover  12 . Like the first sliding holes  111 , the second sliding hole  121  is formed in a          -shape having upper and lower holes  121   a  and  121   b.  The second sliding holes  121  and the first sliding holes  111  are alternately formed along a vertical length. The first sliding holes  111  are formed on the flanges  112  of the outer cover  11  and oriented frontward and the second sliding holes  121  are formed on the bent surface  120  and oriented sideward. That is, the sidling directions of the sliding holes  111  and  121  are perpendicular to each other.  
         [0040]     Meanwhile, the side decoration panel  2  has a height same as that of the front panel  1 . First and second fixing portions  21  and  22  corresponding to the first and second sliding holes  111  and  121  are formed on an inner surface of the side decoration panel  2  in the vertical direction.  
         [0041]     Here, the first and second fixing portions  21  and  22  have coupling parts  21   a  and  22   a  and ribs  21   b  and  22   b.  The ribs  21   b  and  22   b  are bent from the coupling parts  21   a  and  22   a  at right angles so that the first and second fixing portions  21  and  22  are not removed from the sliding holes  111  and  121  as the ribs  21   b  and  22   b  are hooked on the lower holes  111   b  and  121   b.  The bending directions of the ribs  21   b  and  22   b  of the first and second fixing portions  21  and  22  are different from each other so that the ribs  21   b  and  22   b  can be coupled to the sliding holes  111  and  121  extending from the front panel  1  at right angles.  
         [0042]     Meanwhile, the side decoration panel  2  may be formed of ABS that is endurable.  
         [0043]     The coupling process of the side decoration panel  2  to the front panel  1  will be now be described with reference to  FIGS. 5 and 6 .  
         [0044]     The front panel  1  includes the outer and inner covers  11  and  12 . At this point, the inner cover  12  is mounted on the rear portion of the outer cover  11 . Here, the first sliding holes  111  of the outer cover  11  is oriented frontward with reference to the front panel  1  and the second sliding holes  121  of the inner cover  12  are oriented sideward with reference to the front panel  1 .  
         [0045]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the first fixing portions  22  are inserted in the first sliding holes  11  and the second fixing portions  21  are inserted in the second sliding holes  121 . That is, as the first fixing portions  22  are inserted in the upper hole  111   a  of the first sliding holes  111 , the second fixing portions  21  are simultaneously inserted in the upper holes  121   a  of the second sliding holes  121 .  
         [0046]     Next, as shown in  FIG. 6 , the side decoration panel  2  slides downward so that the ribs  21   b  and  22   b  of the first and second fixing portions  22  and  21  can be interlocked with the lower holes  121   b  of the first and second sliding holes  111  and  121 , thereby completing the assembling process of the side decoration panel  2  with the front panel  1 .  
         [0047]     During the above process, since the sliding holes  111  and the sliding holes  121  are alternately formed on the outer and inner covers  11  and  12 , respectively, a distance between the adjacent sliding holes  111  and  121  is reduced so that the fixing portions  21  and  22  of the side decoration panel  2  are tightly fixed on the front panel  1 .  
         [0048]     According to the present invention, since the          -shaped sliding holes are alternately formed on the front panels and the side decoration panel is provided with the fixing portions having bent ribs, the side decoration panel is slidably fixed on the front panel, thereby preventing the coupling portions from being damaged and improving the assembling convenience.  
         [0049]     Therefore, the outer appearance and reliability of the products can be improved.  
         [0050]     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Technology Classification (CPC): 3