Clothes Care Apparatus

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/220,007, filed Jul. 10, 2023, which is a continuation application, under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a), of international application No. PCT/KR2023/008360, filed on Jun. 16, 2023, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0115240, filed on Sep. 13, 2022, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

The disclosure relates to a clothes care apparatus.

In general, a clothes care apparatus refers to a device that performs washing or drying laundry. Among the clothes care apparatuses, a clothes care apparatus having a drying function is provided with a hot air supply device that supplies hot air to an accommodation space where clothes are accommodated for drying, and a steam generator configured to perform a refresh function such as wrinkle reduction, deodorization, and static removal on an object such as clothes.

The clothes care apparatus is provided with a cabinet in which a care compartment for storing clothes is formed. An electronics compartment, in which the steam generator or the hot air supply device is placed, is formed under the care compartment. The care compartment and the electronics compartment may be separated by a partition wall.

The clothes care apparatus may include a clothes support member provided in the care compartment for hanging clothes. The clothes care apparatus may perform clothes care by translational and/or rotational movement of the clothes support member, or perform the clothes care by providing airflow to the clothes support member.

Aspects of embodiments of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a clothes care apparatus may include a main body; a care compartment in the main body, and including an exhaust port, and a supply port; a heat exchanger disposed in the main body; a blowing fan disposed in the main body and configured to generate airflow that is supplied to the care compartment through the supply port; an exhaust flow path to guide airflow discharged from the care component through the exhaust port to pass through the heat exchanger; a circulation flow path to communicate with the exhaust flow path to guide airflow from the exhaust flow path to pass through the blowing fan to the supply port; a bypass opening to connect the care compartment and the circulation flow path; and a bypass door configured to open and close the bypass opening so that, when the bypass opening is open, at least a portion of the airflow supplied to the care compartment flows directly from the care compartment into the circulation flow path without passing through the exhaust flow path, and when the bypass opening is closed, none of the airflow supplied to the care compartment flows directly from the care compartment into the circulation flow path.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the bypass door may be configured to open the bypass opening in response to a rotational speed of the blowing fan being greater than or equal to a predetermined rotational speed.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the bypass door may be configured to close the bypass opening in response to the rotational speed of the blowing fan being less than the predetermined rotational speed.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the bypass door may include a door member configured to open and close the bypass opening, and a hinge shaft at a lower portion of the door member, and the door member may be configured to rotate about the hinge shaft.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the bypass door may include an elastic member configured to elastically bias the door member in a direction to close the bypass opening.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the elastic member may include a torsion spring.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the exhaust flow path may be under the care compartment, and the circulation flow path may be at a rear side of the care compartment.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the heat exchanger may be disposed under the care compartment, and the blowing fan may be disposed above the care compartment.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the bypass door may be installed to be slidable on a rear surface of the care compartment to open and close the bypass opening.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the exhaust port may be a first exhaust port, the exhaust flow path may be a first exhaust flow path, the clothes care apparatus may further include a second exhaust flow path arranged between the first exhaust flow path and the circulation flow path so that the first exhaust flow path and the circulation flow path to communicate with each other through the second exhaust flow path, and a second exhaust port arranged so that a portion of the airflow supplied to the care compartment is discharged through the second exhaust port to the second exhaust flow path, and the bypass opening may be disposed above the second exhaust port.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the clothes care apparatus may further include a steam module including a steam generator to generate steam, a steam spray port disposed at a rear side of the care compartment, and a steam spray nozzle to receive the steam from the steam generator and configured to spray the steam into the care compartment through the steam spray port, wherein the bypass opening may be disposed above the steam spray port.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the bypass door may include a solenoid valve.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the bypass door may include a step motor.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the bypass door may include a hydraulic cylinder.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the clothes care apparatus may further include a controller configured to control the bypass door to open and close the bypass opening.

Embodiments described in the disclosure and configurations shown in the drawings are merely examples of the embodiments of the disclosure, and may be modified in various different ways at the time of filing of the present application to replace the embodiments and drawings of the disclosure.

In addition, the same reference numerals or signs shown in the drawings of the disclosure indicate elements or components performing substantially the same function.

Also, the terms used herein are used to describe the embodiments and are not intended to limit and/or restrict the disclosure. The singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this disclosure, the terms “including”, “having”, and the like are used to specify features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more of the features, elements, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, but elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, without departing from the scope of the disclosure, a first element may be termed as a second element, and a second element may be termed as a first element. The term of “and/or” includes a plurality of combinations of relevant items or any one item among a plurality of relevant items.

Embodiments of the disclosure may provide a clothes care apparatus including a flow path provided to bypass a heat exchanger in a fine dust course. Embodiments of the disclosure may provide a clothes care apparatus including a bypass door capable of opening and closing a bypass opening.

Hereinafter embodiments of the disclosure will be described with reference to drawings. In the following detailed description, the terms of “upper side”, “lower side” and the like may be defined by the drawings, but the shape and the location of the component is not limited by the term

In addition, in each drawing of the disclosure, ‘F’ is an abbreviation of ‘Front’ and may indicate a forward direction, ‘R’ is an abbreviation of ‘Right’ and may indicate a right direction, and ‘U’ is an abbreviation of ‘Up’, and may indicate an upward direction.

is a perspective view illustrating a clothes care apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.is a view illustrating a state in which a door of the clothes care apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure is opened.is a side cross-sectional view of the clothes care apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure shown in.is another cross-sectional view of part A of the clothes care apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure shown in.

Referring to, a clothes care apparatusmay include a main body, and a doorrotatably coupled to the main body.

The main bodymay be provided with a care compartmentin which clothes are placed and a clothes care is performed on the clothes. The care compartmentmay be formed inside the main body, and the care compartmentmay have a hexahedral shape with one surface open. A front opening may be formed on a front surface of the main body, and the doorconfigured to be rotated so as to open and close the front opening of the main bodymay be installed on the main body.

The main bodyincludes a bottom surfacea left surfacea right surfacea rear surfaceand an upper surfacewhich form the care compartment.

A first exhaust porta second exhaust portand a supply portmay be provided in the care compartmentof the clothes care apparatus. The first exhaust portmay be formed on the bottom surfaceof the care compartment. The second exhaust portmay be disposed on the rear surfaceof the care compartment. The supply portmay be disposed on the upper surfaceof the care compartment.

The first exhaust portmay be formed in a front portion of the bottom surfaceThe second exhaust portmay be disposed in a lower portion of the care compartment. The supply portmay be disposed in a central portion of the upper surface

The clothes care apparatusmay include a steam spray portdisposed adjacent to the second exhaust portThe steam spray portmay be disposed above the second exhaust portThe steam spray portmay be disposed in a lower portion of the rear surfaceof the care compartment.

In the lower portion of the main body, a water drain tankand a water supply tankwhich are separable from the main bodymay be installed. The water drain tankand the water supply tankmay be arranged under the care compartment. The water drain tankmay be configured to easily manage condensed water. The water drain tankmay be withdrawn forward from the main body. The water drain tankand the water supply tankmay be components of a water supply container.

The water supply tankmay store water. Water stored in the water supply tankmay be supplied to a steam moduleand used for generating steam. The water supply tankmay be removably installed to the main bodyto easily supplement water. The water supply tankmay be withdrawn forward from the main body.

The water drain tankand the water supply tankmay be provided in front of a machine room. The machine roomis provided in the lower portion of the main body. The machine roommay be provided under the care compartment.

The clothes care apparatusmay include a heat exchangerconfigured to dehumidify and heat air inside the care compartment. The heat exchangermay be installed to supply hot air into the care compartment. The heat exchangerincludes an evaporatorand a condenserthrough which a refrigerant circulates. The heat exchangeris configured to dehumidify and heat air. The heat exchangermay be disposed within the main body. The heat exchangermay be disposed below the care compartment.

In the evaporatorof the heat exchanger, the refrigerant evaporates while absorbing latent heat from the surrounding air, and moisture in the air is condensed and removed. In addition, when the refrigerant is condensed in the condenservia a compressorprovided in the machine room, latent heat is released toward the surrounding air to heat the surrounding air. That is, the evaporatorand the condensermay function as heat exchangers.

The clothes care apparatusmay include a first ductprovided to accommodate the evaporatorand the condenserof the heat exchangers. The first ductmay be connected to the care compartment. A first exhaust flow pathmay be formed in the first duct, and the first exhaust flow pathmay circulate inside the care compartmentand the first duct. The first exhaust flow pathmay guide airflow, which is discharged through the first exhaust portto allow the airflow to pass through the heat exchanger. The first exhaust flow pathmay be disposed under the care compartment.

The first ductmay be connected to the first exhaust portand a first communication portof the care compartment. One end of the first ductmay be connected to the first exhaust portof the care compartmentand the other end of the first ductmay be connected to the communication port

The clothes care apparatusmay include a second exhaust flow pathprovided to communicate with the first exhaust flow path. The second exhaust flow pathmay be a flow path formed by a second duct. The second ductmay be connected to a second communication portand a rear openingOne end of the second ductmay be connected to the second communication portand the other end of the second ductmay be connected to the rear openingThe second exhaust flow pathmay be provided on a rear side of the care compartment.

The second exhaust flow pathmay be connected to a second exhaust portprovided to communicate with the care compartment. The second exhaust portmay be provided in front of the second duct. A filtermay be provided in the second exhaust portHowever, the structure in which the filteris provided in the second exhaust portis not limited as shown in the drawing.

A circulation flow pathmay be provided on the rear side of the care compartment. The circulation flow pathmay be formed by a rear duct. That is, the circulation flow pathmay be a flow path between the rear ductand the main body. The circulation flow pathmay communicate with the second exhaust flow pathand may guide the airflow, which passes through a blowing fan, to be supplied to the care compartmentthrough the supply portThe circulation flow pathmay be disposed on the rear and upper sides of the care compartment.

The circulation flow pathmay be formed to pass through the blowing fan. The blowing fanmay be disposed above the care compartment. The blowing fanmay be provided between the care compartmentand the main body. The blowing fanmay be provided in the main bodyto generate airflow supplied to the care compartment.

An upper covermay be provided on the upper side of the blowing fan. The upper covermay be provided to guide the airflow flowing by the blowing fanto the supply port

A clothes support memberadjacent to the supply portto support clothes may be disposed in the care compartment. The clothes support membermay support clothes in the care compartmentand include a through hole (not shown). Accordingly, the clothes support membermay be configured to allow airflow to pass through an inside and outside of the clothes.

The machine roommay further include the steam moduleconfigured to generate steam by receiving water from the water supply tankThe steam modulemay be disposed in the machine room. The steam modulemay include a steam generator (not shown) connected to the water supply tankto receive water and generate steam, and a steam supply pipe (not shown) provided to guide the generated steam to the steam spray port. A steam spray nozzlemay be disposed in the lower portion of the rear surfaceof the care compartment. A heater (not shown) may be installed inside the steam spray nozzle to heat water.

is a cross-sectional side view illustrating airflow when the clothes care apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure is in a standard course.is a cross-sectional side view illustrating airflow when the clothes care apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure is in a fine dust course.