Patent Abstract:
Laundry dryer including a body case forming an exterior of the laundry dryer, a drum in the body case for holding a drying object, a heater assembly in the body case for heating air to supply hot air to the drum, a panel frame on a front of the body case, having an opening in communication with a space having the heater assembly mounted therein, and a control panel mounted to the panel frame selectively, having buttons for making various operation, thereby permitting easy handling of the operation buttons on the control panel even if two or more than two dryers are arranged in any type, and improving workability of replacement or repair of the heater assembly.

Full Description:
This application claims the benefit of the Patent Korean Application No. 10-2006-0007834, filed on Jan. 25, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to laundry dryers, more particularly, to a laundry dryer which enables selective mounting/dismounting of a control panel on an upper or lower side of a front of the laundry dryer, as well as easy dismounting of a heater assembly out of the laundry dryer. 
     2. Discussion of the Related Art 
     In general, laundry finished with washing is moved to and dried at a drying stand, naturally. However, in a case the weather is irregular, or in a rainy season, the natural drying of the laundry is delayed, such that the busy modern people experience much inconvenience. 
     Consequently, an appliance for drying the laundry regardless of the weather is required, to develop the laundry dryer. 
     Recently, it is a trend that demands on the laundry increases rapidly for the busy modern people. 
     The laundry dryer generates hot air with heating means and blows the hot air toward a drum, to vaporize moisture from a drying object. 
     In the laundry dryer, there are a condensing type laundry dryer, and an exhaust type laundry dryer depending on a system for processing humid air. 
     A related art exhaust type laundry dryer will be described with reference to  FIG. 1  attached hereto. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the laundry dryer is provided with a body case  10 , a drum  20 , a fan  30 , and a heater assembly  40 . 
     The body case  10  forms an exterior of the laundry dryer. The body case  10  has a laundry opening  11  in a front for introducing laundry into the drum  20 . 
     Mounted on an upper side of the body case  10 , there is a control unit  12  for controlling operation of the laundry dryer, having an inside with a circuit board  12   a  connected to various electric outfits mounted thereon, and an outside mounted with operation buttons  12   b  and a display window (not shown) connected to the circuit board  12   a  mounted thereon. 
     The drum  20  is mounted in the body case  10 , with an opening aligned with the laundry opening  11 . There is a door D at one side of the laundry opening  11  for selective opening/closing of the laundry opening  11 . 
     Mounted under the drum  20 , there is the heater assembly  40 , and there is the fan  30  on a position different from the heater assembly  40  for blowing the hot air to an outside of the laundry dryer through an inside of the drum  20 . 
     However, the related art laundry dryer has the following problems. 
     First, in a case the circuit board  12   a  that controls the laundry dryer is out of order, or the various operation buttons  12   b  on the control unit  12  are broken, it has been very inconvenient in repairing or replacing the circuit board  12   a  or the operation buttons  12   b.    
     That is, since the control unit  12  is fixedly secured to the body case  10 , the servicemen experience substantial inconvenience in repairing. 
     Second, at the time the heater assembly  40  under the drum  20  is out of order, in order to repair or replace the heater assembly  40 , there is difficulty of removing various components mounted above the heater assembly  40 . 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a laundry dryer. 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a laundry dryer which enables selective mounting/dismounting of a control panel on an upper or lower side of a front of the laundry dryer, as well as easy dismounting of a heater assembly out of the laundry dryer without disassembly of an entire body case. 
     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. 
     To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a laundry dryer includes a body case forming an exterior of the laundry dryer, a drum in the body case for holding a drying object, a heater assembly in the body case for heating air to supply hot air to the drum, a panel frame on a front of the body case, having an opening in communication with a space having the heater assembly mounted therein, and a control panel mounted to the panel frame selectively, having buttons for making various operation. 
     Preferably, the panel frame includes an upper panel frame on an upper side of the front of the body case, and a lower panel frame on a lower side of the front of the body case. 
     Preferably, the heater assembly is mounted in the body case at a lower portion thereof. 
     Preferably, the lower panel frame has an opening. 
     In this instance, preferably, the opening and the heater assembly are arranged on a straight line. 
     Preferably, the opening has a size enough to take out the heater assembly. 
     Preferably, the control panel can be mounted to the upper panel frame or the lower panel frame, selectively. 
     Preferably, the laundry dryer further includes a cover panel for covering the other panel frame if the control panel is mounted to one of the upper panel frame and the lower panel frame. 
     Thus, the laundry dryer of the present invention has the following advantages. 
     As described, since the control panel can be detachable from the body case, replacement or repair of the operation buttons and the display window on the control panel can be very convenient. 
     Since the control panel can be mounted to the upper side or lower side of the front of the laundry dryer selectively, the user&#39;s handling of the operation buttons on the control panel is convenient even if two or more than two laundry dryers are arranged in any type. 
     The opening in the panel frame permits easy taking out, and repair of the heater assembly. 
     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 
       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: 
         FIG. 1  is a longitudinal section illustrating a related art laundry dryer. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a laundry dryer in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a longitudinal section illustrating the laundry dryer in  FIG. 2  in an assembled state. 
         FIG. 4  is a front view illustrating the laundry dryers of the present invention arranged in an up/down direction. 
         FIG. 5  is a front view illustrating the laundry dryers of the present invention arranged side by side. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. 
     A laundry dryer in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the laundry dryer includes a body case  100 , a heater assembly  200 , a panel frame, and a control panel  400 . 
     The body case  100 , an exterior of the laundry dryer, includes a top plate  110  which is a top portion of the laundry dryer, a cabinet  120  which is opposite sides thereof, a back cover  130  which is a rear thereof, and a cover cabinet  140  which forms a portion of a front thereof. 
     The cover cabinet  140  has a laundry opening  150  for putting in/taking out laundry, and there is a door D at one side of the cover cabinet  140  having the laundry opening  150  formed therein for selective opening/closing of the laundry opening  150 . 
     It is preferable that the back cover  130  has a plurality of air inlets  131  for smooth drawing of external air. 
     The heater assembly  200  heats the air introduced into the body case  100 , and preferably is mounted under the drum Dr. 
     This is because a lower space of the body case  100  is the most suitable place for mounting the heater assembly  200  therein in view of arrangement of various components in the body case  100 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the heater assembly  200  and the drum Dr are connected with an inlet duct Id to each other. 
     The inlet duct Id is a hot air passage from the heater assembly  200  to the drum Dr. 
     There is an outlet duct Od connected to the other side of the drum Dr. The outlet duct Od is a passage for discharging air and steam that dried the laundry from the drum. 
     Mounted on an inside of the outlet duct Od, there is the fan F for generating suction force for drawing external air into the drum Dr, and discharging steam from the drum Dr to an outside of the laundry dryer. 
     The panel frame is mounted to an upper side and a lower side of the cover cabinet  140  for mounting the control panel  400  or the cover panel  600  to be explained later, respectively. 
     The panel frame includes an upper panel frame  500  mounted to the upper side of the cover cabinet  140 , and a lower panel frame  300  mounted to the lower side of the cover cabinet  140 . 
     In the lower panel frame  300 , there is an opening  310  for taking the heater assembly  200  out of the body case  100 . 
     The opening  310  is in communication, and arranged on a straight with a space of the body case  100  wherein the heater assembly  200  is mounted. 
     The opening  310  has a size enough to take out the heater assembly  200 . 
     It is preferable that the opening  310  has a shape similar to an outline of the heater assembly  200  for taking out the heater assembly, easily. 
     In the meantime, it is preferable that the opening  310  is formed only in the lower panel frame  300  in a case the heater assembly  200  is mounted in a lower portion of the body case  100  like the first embodiment. 
     The control panel  400  enables the user to control operation of the laundry dryer, and has various operation buttons required for the control mounted thereon. 
     For this, there is a circuit board  410  on an inside of the control panel  400  having various circuitry components mounted thereon. 
     The control panel  400  is designed to be mounted on the upper panel frame  500  or the lower panel frame  300 , selectively. 
     Referring to the first embodiment of the present invention, the control panel  400  is mounted on the lower panel frame  300  of the body case  100 . 
     In the meantime, the circuit board  410  has a cable (not shown) exposed to the lower panel frame  300  for transmission of operation of the laundry dryer to the various components. 
     That is, the cable has one end connected to a connector, and the other end connected to the circuit board  410 , electrically. 
     Mounted on an outside surface of the control panel  400 , there are the various operation buttons  420  and the display window  430  connected to the circuit board  410  electrically. 
     The various operation buttons  420  controls operation of the laundry dryer and the display window  430  displays operation progress of the laundry dryer. 
     The control panel  400  is designed to be mounted on the lower panel frame  300  of the laundry dryer selectively. 
     In the meantime, the upper panel frame  500  has the cover panel  600  mounted thereon for covering the upper panel frame  500  from an outside of the laundry dryer. 
     The cover panel  600  is mounted to the other panel frame if the control panel  400  is mounted to one of the upper panel frame  500  and the lower panel frame  300 . 
     Owing to this, the laundry dryer causes no problem in view of exterior thereof even if the control panel  400  is mounted to either position. 
     It is preferable that the cover panel  600  has a shape identical to an outer shape of the control panel  400  so that the cover panel  600  can form a portion of a whole exterior of the laundry dryer. 
     A mounting structure of the cover panel  600  to the panel frame  300  or  500  is identical to a mounting structure of the control panel  400  to the panel frame  300  or  500 . 
     A mounting/dismounting state of the control panel to the lower panel frame of the laundry dryer, and a taking out state of the heater assembly will be described. 
     The upper panel frame  500  and the lower panel frame  300  are mounted to the upper side and the lower side of the cover cabinet  140  of the laundry dryer, respectively. 
     The opening  310  in the lower panel frame  300  is on a straight line with a position of the heater assembly  200  in the body case  100 . 
     Then, since the cable (not shown) connected to the various components in the body case  100  is exposed from an outside of the lower panel frame  300 , the cable connected to the circuit board  410  of the control panel  400  is electrically connected to the cable connected to the components in the body case  100 . 
     Then, as the control panel  400  is mounted to the lower panel frame  300 , a process for mounting the control panel  300  to the laundry dryer is finished. 
     Along with this, the cover panel  600  is mounted to the upper panel frame  500  by a method the same with a method of mounting the control panel  400  to the lower panel frame  300 . 
     In the meantime, a process for taking out the heater assembly out of the body case will be described. 
     At first, a process of mounting the control panel  400  to the lower panel frame  300  is progressed reversely, to dismount the control panel  400  from the lower panel frame  300 . 
     Then, a series of work for detaching the heater assembly  200  mounted on an inside of the body case  100  is progressed through the opening  310  of the lower panel frame  300 . 
     Upon finish of the work, the worker can take the heater assembly  200  out of the body case  100  through the opening  310 , easily. 
     A work for mounting the heater assembly  200  in the body case  100  is progressed in a process reverse to above process, of which detailed description will be omitted. 
     In the meantime, it is described that the control panel  400  can be mounted/dismounted to the upper side or the lower side of the cover cabinet  140 , selectively. 
     This is for easy operation of the operation buttons on each of the control panels even if two or more than two laundry dryers are arranged in any type. 
     States of the control panels arranged different from one another depending on states of two or more than two dryers arranged different from one another will be described with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a state in which another dryer  2  (hereafter called as ‘a second dryer’) is stacked on a dryer  1  (hereafter called as ‘a first dryer’) supported on a floor. 
     In this case, it is preferable that the control panel  400  of the second dryer  2  is mounted to the lower panel frame  300  of the second dryer  2 . 
     This is for enabling the user to use the operation buttons  420  and the display window  430  of the control panel  400  conveniently, taking a general height of the user into account. 
     In this instance, the cover panel  600  is mounted to the upper panel frame  500  of the second dryer  2 . 
     On the other hand,  FIG. 5  illustrates a state the second dryer  2  is arranged on a side (a right side) of the first dryer  1 . 
     In this case, it is preferable that the control panel  400  of the second dryer  2  is mounted to the upper panel frame  500  of the second dryer  2 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , it is for preventing the user from bending the body or squatting down for operation of the operation buttons  420  on the control panel  400  in a case the control panel  400  of the second dryer  2  is mounted to the lower panel frame  300  of the second dryer  2 . 
     By enabling to vary a position of the control panel  400  according to an arrangement of the laundry dryer, the user can handle the operation buttons on the control panel, conveniently. 
     eventually, at the time the operation buttons  420  or the circuit board  410  of the control panel  400  is replaced or repaired, not only the control panel  400  can be dismounted from the laundry dryer and perform an appropriate work, but also the heater assembly  200  can be taken out of through the opening  310  easily and perform an appropriate work when the heater assembly  200  is out of order. 
     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 inventions. 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