Apparatus for Treating Laundry

The present disclosure relates to a laundry treating apparatus.

A laundry treating apparatus is an apparatus that performs necessary processing on laundry, such as placing laundry, for example, clothing or bedding, inside a drum, removing contamination from laundry or drying laundry.

When the laundry treating apparatus is provided to remove contamination from laundry, the laundry treating apparatus performs processes such as washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying. The laundry treating apparatus includes a cabinet defining an outer apparatus, a tub accommodated inside the cabinet, a drum rotatably mounted inside the tub and into which laundry is fed, and a detergent supply device that supplies detergent into the drum. When the drum rotates by a motor while washing water is supplied to the laundry contained in the drum, dirt on the laundry may be removed through friction with the drum and the washing water.

When the laundry treating apparatus is configured to dry laundry, the laundry treating apparatus may provide dry air to the laundry and remove moisture from the laundry. The laundry treating apparatus includes a cabinet, a drum rotatably provided inside the cabinet, and a heater for heating or drying air provided to laundry. Moisture present in the laundry may be evaporated and removed by dry air, and moisture in the laundry may be removed by supplying the dry air to the laundry contained in the drum.

A laundry treating apparatus is provided to reduce a floor space by stacking a first treating device (e.g., a washing machine) for washing laundry and a second treating device (e.g., a dryer) for drying laundry and improve user convenience in treating laundry.

Published Reference No. KR 10-2021-0106768 A1 (Cited Reference 1) discloses a laundry treating apparatus including a plurality of treating devices. The laundry treating apparatus has a washing machine installed at a lower side and a dryer installed at an upper side. Cited Reference 1 discloses a structure in which a washing machine and a dryer are connected to each other at rear sides thereof and have a fastening portion (rear bracket) that provides a handle. In Cited Reference 1, a front-back depth of the dryer is less than a front-back depth of the washing machine, and thus a step difference is formed at a rear side of the laundry treating apparatus. The fastening portion (rear bracket) is the step difference between the washing machine and the dryer and is located above the washing machine to be connected to the laundry treating apparatus. In the case of a stack-type laundry treating apparatus including Cited Reference 1, it is important to present an efficient arrangement relationship between components and a stable and effective combination relationship between the components for a plurality of treating devices.

The present disclosure is to provide a structure of a stack-type laundry treating apparatus for ensuring ease of transport.

The present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus including a rear bracket provided to support one of two treating devices stacked above each other to be prevented from coming off from the other treating device provided at a lower side.

The present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus for improving assembly efficiency by stacking and coupling two treating devices.

The present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus for improving coupling performance by stacking and coupling two treating devices.

The present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus for effectively coupling two treating devices by stacking the treating devices even when there is no difference between a first treating device and a second treating device.

The present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus for providing a structure for effectively and economically fixing a drain hose of a first treating device to a required location according to an installation environment.

The present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus configured to prevent a loss of a cap provided in a test port formed in a second treating device.

The objects according to the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those of skill in the art from the description below.

The present disclosure provides a laundry treating apparatus. According to an embodiment, a laundry treating apparatus includes a first treating device including a first cabinet including a first rear panel defining a rear surface and a first drum configured to accommodate laundry therein, a second treating device including a second cabinet disposed above the first treating device and including a second rear panel defining a rear surface and a second drum configured to accommodate laundry therein, and a rear bracket fixed to the first rear panel and the second rear panel and having a handle formed therein to define a space for accommodating a hand of a carrier, wherein the second treating device includes a first guide formed thereon for coupling with the rear bracket and includes a second guide formed at a location of the rear bracket, which corresponds to the first guide, and connected to the first guide.

According to an embodiment, the first guide may be formed as a coupling hole, the second guide may be formed as a coupling protrusion protruding toward the second rear panel, and the coupling protrusion may be inserted into the coupling hole.

According to an embodiment, the coupling protrusion may include an insertion portion extending at least downward, and the insertion portion may be inserted into the coupling hole.

According to an embodiment, the second treating device may further include a base defining an outer appearance of a lower portion of the second treating device, and the second guide may be located on the base.

According to an embodiment, the first guide may be formed on an upper surface of the base.

According to an embodiment, the first guide and the second guide may be coupled and connected to each other.

According to an embodiment, the rear bracket may include a first fixing portion coupled to the first treating device through a fastening member and a second fixing portion coupled to the second treating device through a fastening member.

According to an embodiment, when viewed from a front side in the rear bracket, a first opening may be formed in an area overlapping the coupling protrusion, and the rear bracket may further include a plurality of reinforcing ribs that protrude inwardly from the first opening and extend to the coupling protrusion.

According to an embodiment, the plurality of reinforcing ribs may protrude downward from an upper surface of the first opening and extend to the coupling protrusion.

According to an embodiment, a protruding rib protruding upward may be formed at a rear end of the base, and the protruding rib may be located behind the second rear panel and restrains a location of a lower portion of the second rear panel.

According to an embodiment, the rear bracket may include a first rib protruding upwardly, and a second rib protruding upwardly and spaced apart from the first rib by a predetermined distance.

According to an embodiment, the second treating device may further include a drain hose port configured to discharge condensate, and a second drain hose coupled to the drain hose port, and the rear bracket may correspond to the drain hose port such that the drain hose port is exposed to the outside.

According to an embodiment, the rear bracket may include at least one of a first hose fixing portion located lower than the drain hose port and offset to one side with respect to the drain hose port, and directly or indirectly fixing the second drain hose, and a second hose fixing portion located lower than the drain hose port and offset to the other side with respect to the drain hose port, and directly or indirectly fixing the second drain hose.

According to an embodiment, the second drain hose may be directly or indirectly located by either the first hose fixing portion or the second hose fixing portion, and the first treating device may further include a first drain hose for draining washing water, and the first drain hose and the second drain hose may be bound to each other downstream of a portion in which the second drain hose is positioned.

According to an embodiment, the first drain hose may be provided to extend from below the first drum of the first treating device to above the first drum.

The present disclosure provides a laundry treating apparatus. According to an embodiment, a laundry treating apparatus includes a first treating device including a first cabinet including a first rear panel defining a rear surface and a first drum configured to accommodate laundry therein, a second treating device including a second cabinet that is disposed above the first treating device and defines a rear surface, a second drum configured to accommodate laundry therein, a drain hose port provided in the second rear panel to discharge water, and a second drain hose coupled to the drain hose port, and a rear bracket coupled to the first rear panel and the second rear panel and having a handle formed therein to provide a space for accommodating a hand of a carrier, wherein the rear bracket includes a first hose fixing portion that is spaced to one side from the drain hose port and fixes the second drain hose.

According to an embodiment, the first hose fixing portion may be located lower than the drain hose port.

According to an embodiment, the second drain hose may be directly or indirectly located and fixed by the first hose fixing portion, and the first treating device may further include a first drain hose for draining washing water, and the first drain hose and the second drain hose may be bound to each other downstream of a portion at which the second drain hose is located.

According to an embodiment, the laundry treating apparatus may further include a second hose fixing portion located to the other side with respect to the drain hose port and directly or indirectly fixing the second drain hose.

According to an embodiment, the second hose fixing portion may be formed lower than the drain hose port.

According to an embodiment, the second drain hose may be directly or indirectly located by either the first hose fixing portion or the second hose fixing portion, and the first treating device may further include a first drain hose for draining washing water, and the first drain hose and the second drain hose may be bound to each other downstream of a portion in which the second drain hose is located.

According to an embodiment, the rear bracket may have a port opening formed at a location corresponding to the drain hose port such that the drain hose port is exposed to the outside.

According to an embodiment, the first drain hose may be provided to extend from below the first drum of the first treating device to above the first drum.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it may be possible to ensure the ease of transport of a stack-type laundry treating apparatus.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a structure may be obtained in which one of two treating devices stacked at an upper side does not detach from the other treating device stacked at a lower side.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when two treating apparatuses are stacked and coupled, the assembly efficiency may be improved.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when two treating devices are stacked and coupled, the coupling performance may be improved.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when two treating devices are coupled to each other by stacking the two treating devices, the treating devices may be effectively coupled to each other even when there is no step between the first treating device and the second treating device.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a drain hose of the first treating device may be effectively and economically fixed to a required location according to an installation environment.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it may be possible to prevent the loss of a cap provided in a test port formed in a second treating device.

It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the effects that could be achieved with the present disclosure are not limited to what has been particularly described hereinabove and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the above

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail so as for those of ordinary skill in the art to easily implement with reference to the accompanying drawings.

However, the present disclosure may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to these embodiments. To clearly describe the present disclosure, a part without concerning to the description is omitted in the drawings, and like reference numerals in the specification denote like elements.

In the present specification, a repeated explanation of the same elements will not be given.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected to” or “coupled to” another element, it may be directly on, connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present.

The terms used in the present specification are used for explaining a specific embodiment, not limiting the present disclosure.