Patent ID: 8109119

Claim:
A washing machine comprising: a cabinet which forms an exterior of the washing machine; a drum rotatably provided in the cabinet; and a steam generating device provided outside of the drum and at an upper portion of the machine to supply steam to the drum, wherein the steam generator comprises: a water supply line to receive water; a steam discharge line to discharge steam; a water level sensor to sense a water level in the steam generating device; a water chamber to hold the water, the water chamber including a main portion having a vertical length greater than a horizontal length in which a heater is placed and the horizontal length of the main portion is smaller than a horizontal length of any other portion of the water chamber; and a steam chamber to hold the generated steam, wherein the water chamber has a vertical direction length relatively greater than a horizontal direction length and the steam chamber has a horizontal direction length relatively greater than the horizontal length of the main portion of the water chamber and wherein the steam chamber is provided above the water chamber to hold steam generated as the water is heated.