Patent Abstract:
A control panel window assembly of a washing/drying machine includes a control panel with a window hole on which a display part is mounted, wherein a control panel window is mounted at the window hole, and the control panel window includes: a display window formed to cover a portion of the display part; a button portions including a plurality of button portions formed at both sides of the display window. The washing/drying machine having the control panel window assembly can meet the needs of users who prefer a washing/drying machine in harmony with the cabinet made of stainless steel and provide a high-end quality image.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a control panel window assembly suitably applied for a washing/drying machine having a stainless steel cabinet to provide the sense of high-end metal quality and improve user convenience, and a washing/drying machine having the same. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    In general, a washing/drying machine includes a washing machine, a drier, a refresher, or the like. 
         [0005]    A drum type washing machine performs washing by using a frictional force between a drum that rotates upon receiving driving force of a motor and the laundry put in the drum together with a detergent and washing water. With the advantages that the laundry is little damaged and not entangled and it can obtain a striking and rubbing washing effect, demands for the drum type washing machine are increasing. 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a general drum type washing machine. 
         [0007]    The drum type washing machine  1  includes a cabinet  10  constituting an external appearance, a tub (not shown) installed within the cabinet  10 , and a drum  30  rotatably accommodated within the tub and receiving the laundry. 
         [0008]    A front cover  16  is mounted on a front side of the cabinet  10 , and a door  14  for opening and closing the entrance of the drum  30  is mounted at a substantially central portion of the front cover  16 . A control panel  60  is attached to an upper portion of the front cover  16 , including a manipulation unit for inputting washing conditions a display part  58  or the like to display a washing state. 
         [0009]    In order to input the washing conditions, the manipulation unit may include button portions  70  or a dial knob  54  allowing the user to rotate it with his hands to input washing conditions. 
         [0010]    Recently, demands for the drum type washing machine including the cabinet with at least a portion made of a material providing the sense of metallic quality or stainless steel to provide a high-end touch are increasing. 
         [0011]    However, the related art control panel window assembly including the display part  58 , the lower button portions  70  or the like on the control panel  60  cannot provide such sense of quality similar to that of the cabinet made of stainless steel. 
         [0012]    In addition, with respect to operations performed by pressing the button portions  70  positioned below the display part  58 , corresponding information is not provided to the user, so in order to providing such information, a plurality of holes  59  should be formed, resulting in degradation of the productivity of the control panel  60  and making the structure complicated. 
         [0013]    Also, a contact switch positioned at the rear side of the button portions  70  is used, making it difficult to configure a touch type button which is thin and smooth and to modularize the control panel window assembly. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    Therefore, in order to address the above matters, the various features described herein have been conceived. One aspect of the exemplary embodiments is to provide a control panel window assembly including a control panel with a window hole on which a display part is mounted, wherein a control panel window is mounted at the window hole and the control panel window includes: a display window formed to cover a portion of the display part; button portions formed at both sides of the display window. 
         [0015]    The button portions are configured in a cantilever form on the control panel window. 
         [0016]    With such configuration, because there is no need to fabricate the display window mounted on the display part and the button portions as separate components, the productivity can be improved and a fabrication cost can be reduced, and a restoring unit such as a spring to return a pressed button to its original state is not required. 
         [0017]    The display window is formed to be bent toward the rear side of the control panel window. Namely, edges of the display window are bent inwardly to prevent an injection-molded product or the like stacked on a rear surface of the control panel window from being separated from the control panel window. 
         [0018]    A TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) elastic resin may be stacked on the rear surface of the control panel window. The TPU elastic resin has nearly similar physical properties to that of rubber. The resin may be attached to the rear surface of the control panel window to increase elastic return force of the button portions with a cantilever shape, and a gap between the button portions and the control window may be filled with the resin. 
         [0019]    Here, silicon may be attached to the TPU elastic resin. 
         [0020]    A light emitting element may be mounted on a portion of a rear surface of the TPU elastic resin corresponding to the button portions. Namely, the light emitting element may be positioned between the button portions and the TPU elastic resin to provide illumination effect to a button portion selected by the user. In addition, when the button portions are etched to be formed, a selected function can be illuminated by light so as to be informed to the user. 
         [0021]    The light emitting element may be an LED (Light Emitting Diode), and the LED may include a light guide plate (LGP). With the LGP, light can be evenly transmitted to the entire LED. 
         [0022]    A switch may be mounted on a rear surface of the light emitting element, and a circuit board is installed at a rear side of the switch. Here, the switch may be a dome switch. By employing dome switches, the button portions may be implemented as soft touch type button portions and the thickness from the button portions to the circuit board can be reduced. 
         [0023]    A contact protrusion may be formed at the TPU elastic resin in contact with the switch. The contact protrusion comes in contact with the dome type switch to press the switch although the user lightly touches the button portions. 
         [0024]    The control panel window may be made of stainless steel so as to be in harmony with the cabinet of the washing/drying machine which is made of metal such as stainless steel in the high-end trend of the washing/drying machine. 
         [0025]    Here, the control panel window may be made of stainless steel of a SUS 304 group which has good corrosion resistance and suitable for mechanical working such as drawing. 
         [0026]    This specification provides a washing/drying apparatus including a plurality of button portions for function selection, a display part for displaying various information, and a control panel including a plurality of button holes in which the plurality of button portions are installed and a window hole on which the display part is installed, wherein the above-mentioned control panel window assembly is mounted. 
         [0027]    Here, the control panel window may be made of stainless steel of a SUS 304 group, and a coupling flange is formed to be bent at edges of the control panel window so as to be combined with the control panel. 
         [0028]    Because the coupling flange is formed at the edges of the control panel window, the control panel window can be fixed to the control panel without using a fastening unit such as a screw or the like. 
         [0029]    As mentioned above, the present invention provides the washing/drying machine having the control panel window assembly that can meet the needs of users who prefer a washing/drying machine that can be in harmony with the cabinet made of stainless steel and have a high-end image. 
         [0030]    In addition, because characters indicating functions of button portions are etched to be formed on the button portions and light is provided to the function indication characters by using the light emitting element, operation information of a button portion selected by the user can be clearly and accurately provided, and the button portions can be aesthetically improved. 
         [0031]    Also, because button functions are indicated on the button portions by themselves, it is not necessary to additionally form a function indication means at an outer side of button portions, so the productivity can be improved. 
         [0032]    Moreover, because the soft touch button portions are implemented by using the dome type switches, user convenience can be improved, and because the control panel window assembly is modularized by including the circuit board and the dome type switches, the assembling characteristics of the control panel window assembly can be improved. 
         [0033]    The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0034]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view schematically showing a general drum type washing machine; 
           [0035]      FIG. 2  shows a control panel according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0036]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged view of a control panel window assembly in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0037]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0038]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken along line V-V in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0039]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0040]      FIG. 7  is an exploded sectional view of the control panel window assembly in  FIG. 6 ; and 
           [0041]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a switch in  FIG. 7 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0042]    A drum type washing machine as an example of a washing/drying machine according to embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0043]      FIG. 2  shows a control panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0044]    With Reference to  FIG. 2 , a detergent box hole  102  for drawing in or out a detergent box is formed at one portion of a control panel  100  according to an embodiment of the present invention. A knob hole  103  is formed at a substantially central portion, allowing a rotary knob  54  is insertedly positioned. A window hole  101  is formed at another portion of the control panel to mount a control panel window  111 . The control panel window  111  includes a display window  112  for mounting a display part  120  displaying operation information of the washing/drying machine and a plurality of button portions  130 . 
         [0045]    A control panel window assembly is configured including the control panel window  111  and the display part  120 , which will be described in detail hereafter. 
         [0046]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged view of a control panel window assembly in  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken along line V-V in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0047]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the control panel window  111  includes the display window  112  taking the most area, on which the display part  120  is mounted, and the button portions  130  formed at both sides of the display window  112 . 
         [0048]    In order to display more information to the user, effectively, the display window  112  is maximized and the button portions  130  are disposed at left and right sides of the display window  112 . Namely, the button portions  130  of the control panel window  111  are formed to cover a portion of the display part  120 . 
         [0049]    The button portions  130  may be formed in a cantilever form on the control panel window  111 . Namely, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the button portions  130  are formed in a cantilever manner and face each other based on a central line in a lengthwise direction of the control panel window  111 . 
         [0050]    The button portions  130  have a substantially rectangular or square shape, and one side of the button portions are integrally formed with the control panel window  111  so as to be connected with the control panel window  111  while the other three sides of the button portions are separated from the control panel window  111 . Namely, the three remaining sides, excluding one side connected with the control panel window  111  are separated from the control panel window  111  with a gap  131  interposed therebetween. 
         [0051]    Accordingly, when the user presses the button portions  130  formed as the cantilever with only one side connected with the control panel window  111 , the button portions  130  perform a cantilever motion based on the portion connected with the control panel window  111  as a support point so as to return to the original position. 
         [0052]    Here, the elastic return force of the button portions  130  may be determined by the length between the portion of the fixed end connected with the control panel window  111  and the portion of a free end facing the portion of the fixed end. 
         [0053]    The free end portion and the fixed end portion of the button  130  may not only face (to be symmetrical) based on a central line in a lengthwise direction of the control panel window  111  but also face (to be symmetrical) based on a central line in a widthwise direction (substantially perpendicular to the central line in the lengthwise direction) of the control panel window  111 . Also, the fixed end or the free end of the button portions  130  may be formed to be asymmetrical based on the central line in the lengthwise direction or in the widthwise direction of the control panel window. 
         [0054]    With such configuration, the display window  112  on which the display part  120  is mounted and the button portions  130  do not need to be fabricated with separate components, so the productivity of the control panel window  111  can be improved, the fabrication costs may be reduced, and a restoring unit such as a spring for returning pressed button portions  130  to their original state is not required. 
         [0055]    A coupling flange  113  is formed to be bent at edges of the control panel window  111 . With the presence of the coupling flange  113  formed at the edges of the control panel window  111 , the control panel window  111  can be fixed to the control panel without having to use a fastening unit such as a screw. 
         [0056]    With reference to  FIG. 4 , the coupling flange  113  makes a step with the control panel window  111  and may be bent toward the rear side of the control panel window  111 . 
         [0057]    The edges of the display window  112  are bent toward the rear side of the control panel window  111 . Accordingly, with the edges of the display window  112  bent to the inner side of the control panel window  111 , an injection-molded product or the like stacked on the rear surface of the control panel window can be prevented from being separated from the control panel window  111 . 
         [0058]    With reference to  FIG. 4 , notably, an edge portion, forming the shortest side of the edges of the display window  112 , is bent with a certain length toward the rear side of the control panel window  111 , and the bent portion  112   a  is buried in the display part  120  or an injection-molded product. If a plastic resin product is injection-molded on the rear surface of the control panel window  111 , the bent portion  112   a  would be buried in the injection-molded product to firmly combine the injection-molded product and the control panel window  111 . 
         [0059]    With reference to  FIG. 5 , notably, an edge portion, forming the longest side of the edges of the display window  112 , is bent with a certain length toward the rear side of the control panel window  111  and the bent portion  112   b  is buried in the display part  120  or the injection-molded product. Here, the function of the bent portion  112   b  is the same as that of the bent portion  112   a  mentioned above, so its detailed description will be omitted. 
         [0060]    Here, the control panel window assembly as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5  is illustrated to explain the coupling structure of the control panel window  111  and the display part  120 , namely, the bent portions  112   a  and  112   b  of the control panel window  111 . That is,  FIGS. 4 and 5  does not illustrate the overall structure of the control panel window assembly. 
         [0061]    The display part  120  is injection-molded on the rear surface of the control panel window  111  and other some materials or components are also stacked on the rear surface of the control panel window  111  to form the control panel window assembly  110 . The configuration of the control panel window assembly  110  will now be described in detail. 
         [0062]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 7  is an exploded sectional view of the control panel window assembly in  FIG. 6 , and  FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a switch in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0063]    As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the control panel window assembly  110  is formed by sequentially stacking the control panel window  111  made of stainless steel, a TPU elastic resin  140 , a light emitting element  150 , a switch  160 , a circuit board  170 , a display part  120 , and an injection-molded product. 
         [0064]    Here, the control panel window  111  is made of stainless steel in order to allow a cabinet of the washing/drying machine fabricated by using metal such as stainless steel following the high-end trend and the control panel window  111  to have the same texture. 
         [0065]    The control panel window  111  may be made of stainless steel of a SUS 304 group. The stainless steel of SUS 304 group contains 13% or more chromium and nickel and good corrosion resistance, without magnetism. 
         [0066]    The control panel window may have a thickness of 0.15 mm. 
         [0067]    As for the section of the control panel window  111 , the display window  112 , the button portions  130 , and a gap  131  are explicitly shown. 
         [0068]    The TPU elastic resin  140  may be stacked on the rear surface of the control panel window  111 . The TPU elastic resin  140  is also called thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer, which has physical properties substantially similar to rubber and melt with heat so as to be processed and fabricated. 
         [0069]    With the TPU elastic resin  140  stacked on the rear surface of the control panel window  111 , the elastic return force of the button portions  130  having the cantilever shape can be increased. 
         [0070]    The gap  131  between the button portions  130  and the control panel window  111  is filled with the TPU elastic resin  140 , and the resin  140  connects the free end of the button portions  130  and the control panel window  111 , to allow the free end of the button portions  130  to have, specifically, a median degree of freedom of the free end and the fixed end. 
         [0071]    Here, the TPU elastic resin  140  corresponding to the button portions  130  includes gap blocking protrusions  141  to fill the gap  131  between the button portions  140  and the control panel window  111 . In addition, a contact protrusion  142  is formed on the rear surface of the TPU elastic resin  140 . 
         [0072]    In this case, silicon may be additionally stacked on the front or rear surface of the TPU elastic resin  140 . 
         [0073]    The light emitting element  150  is mounted on a portion, corresponding to the button portions  130 , of the rear surface of the TPU elastic resin  140 . Because the light emitting element  150  is stacked between the button portions  130  and the TPU elastic resin  140 , an illumination effect can be provided to the button portions  130  selected by the user, and when the button portions  130  is formed to be etched, the selected function can be illuminated to accurately inform the user about whether or not the button portions  130  is operated. Namely, a button function indication character may be printed on the surface of the button portions  130 , or the button function indication may be formed to penetrate the button portions  130  to accurately inform the user about the function of the button portions  130  by using light emitted from the light emitting element  150  and enhance aesthetic sense of the external appearance. 
         [0074]    When the button function indication is penetratingly formed on the button portions  130  through etching, light emitted from the light emitting element  150  can penetrate the button function indication after passing through the TPU elastic resin  140  and then transferred to the front side of the button portions  130  to illuminate function of the button portions  130  selected by the user. 
         [0075]    Here, the TPU elastic resin  140 , which is formed as a type of print film and attached to silicon, is enough thin to allow light emitted from the light emitting element  150  to pass through the TPU elastic resin  140  to reach the button portions  130 . 
         [0076]    The light emitting element  150  includes an LED or an OLED. In this case, the light emitting element  150  may include a light guide plate (LGP). In general, the LGP refers to an acryl injection-molded product assembled in a backlight unit guiding light to liquid crystal within the LCD, and it is one of plastic molded lenses uniformly transferring light emitted from a CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) to the entire surface of the LCD. 
         [0077]    By including such LGP in the light emitting element  150 , light can be evenly transferred from the entire light emitting element  150 . 
         [0078]    The switch  160  is mounted on the rear surface of the light emitting element  150 , and installed on the circuit board  170  positioned at a rear side of the switch  160 . Various signal movement paths are formed on the circuit board  170  and the circuit board  170  receives a signal according to a contact of the switch  160 . 
         [0079]    Here, the switch  160  may be a dome switch as shown in  FIG. 8 . In order to reduce the thickness of the control panel window assembly  110 , the dome switch may have a diameter of about 5 mm and a weight of about 160 grams. The thickness of the circuit board  170  is about 0.8 mm. 
         [0080]    By employing the dome switch  160  and the circuit board  170 , the button portions  130  may be implemented as a soft touch type of button portions, and the overall thickness of the button portions  130 , the switch  160  and the circuit board  170  can be reduced. 
         [0081]    The switch  160  is pressed by the contact protrusion  142  formed on the TPU elastic resin  140 . That is, although the user slightly touches the button portions  130 , the contact protrusion  142  of the TPU elastic resin  140  presses the dome switch  160  to allow the switch  160  and the circuit board  170  to be in contact with each other. 
         [0082]    A plastic (PCB) injection-molded product or the display part  120  is stacked on the rear surface of the circuit board  170 . 
         [0083]    As so far described, because the control panel window assembly  110  is applied to the washing/drying machine having the main body made of stainless steel, the control panel window assembly can be in harmony with the cabinet made of stainless steel and users&#39; demands on the washing/drying machine providing a high-end sense can be satisfied. 
         [0084]    In the above description, the drum type washing machine has been explained as an example of the washing/drying machine, but the present invention can be also applicable to various types of washing/drying machines such as a dryer, a drum type washing machine with a dryer, a composite washing system, a refresher, or the like. 
         [0085]    As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 3