Laundry Treating Apparatus

The present disclosure relates to a laundry treating apparatus, and more particularly, to a laundry treating apparatus including a top panel forming an upper surface of a cabinet.

A laundry treating apparatus is an apparatus that receives laundry, such as clothes and bedding, in a drum to perform treatment necessary for the laundry, such as removal of contaminants from the laundry or drying of the laundry.

When a laundry treating apparatus is designed to remove contaminants from laundry, the laundry treating apparatus may perform processes such as washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying. The laundry treating apparatus may be classified into a top loading type and a front loading type according to a method of loading laundry in a drum.

The laundry treating apparatus may include a cabinet defining the external appearance thereof, a tub accommodated in the cabinet, a drum rotatably mounted in the tub and configured to receive laundry, and a detergent supply device configured to supply detergent to the interior of the drum.

If the drum is rotated by a motor in a state in which wash water is supplied to the laundry received in the drum, dirt on the laundry may be removed by friction with the drum and the wash water.

The detergent supply device has a detergent supply function in order to improve a washing effect. Here, the detergent refers to a substance for improving a washing effect, such as fabric detergent, fabric softener, and fabric bleach. Detergent in a powder form or detergent in a liquid form may be used as the detergent.

On the other hand, when a laundry treating apparatus is designed to dry laundry, the laundry treating apparatus may supply dry air to the laundry to remove moisture from the laundry.

The laundry treating apparatus may include a cabinet, a drum rotatably disposed in the cabinet, and a heating device configured to heat or dry air supplied to the laundry.

As the dry air is supplied to the laundry received in the drum, moisture in the laundry may be evaporated and removed by the dry air, and thus water may be removed from the laundry.

Meanwhile, a laundry treating apparatus constituted by multiple treating apparatuses is disclosed in related art document KR 10-2007-0067466 A1. That is, the laundry treating apparatus includes a primary treating apparatus including a cabinet and further includes a supplementary treating apparatus located outside the primary treating apparatus.

In order to improve the convenience of use of the laundry treating apparatus, the multiple separate treating apparatuses may be disposed together in a stacked structure or the like to be provided to a user. The user may use each of the multiple treating apparatuses according to use conditions.

Meanwhile, a laundry treating apparatus including a top panel is disclosed in KR 10-2006-0032326 A1. The top panel may form an upper surface of a cabinet and may be coupled and fixed to a part of the cabinet except the top panel.

However, the top panel in the related art document may be provided as a two-dimensional plate having no substantial thickness, which may degrade the exterior completeness of the laundry treating apparatus. Further, it is difficult to achieve the perfect exterior finish of the laundry treating apparatus.

In addition, a fastening member of the top panel may be exposed to the outside. Accordingly, degradation in durability or damage may occur in the fastening member, and the exterior completeness of the product recognized by a user may be lowered.

In addition, also in the above-described structure in which a cabinet is stacked on a supplementary treating apparatus, it is important to improve the exterior finish of the product through the top panel, and it is important for the top panel to have a stable coupling structure together with a front panel and a side panel.

Meanwhile, the related art document discloses a coupling structure in which the top panel is bolted and fixed to the side panel. However, when a user wants to access the interior of the cabinet in order to inspect or repair the laundry treating apparatus, separating the top panel having the bolting structure from the cabinet may be inconvenient.

Further, in order to stably fix the top panel to the cabinet, it is necessary to secure fixing force in the longitudinal direction, the width direction, and the height direction of the cabinet. However, it may be inefficient to have individual structures for coupling and fixing the top panel in respective directions.

Therefore, it is an important task in the present technical field to develop a cabinet structure capable of improving the exterior completeness of a cabinet through a top panel, facilitating coupling and separation of the top panel to and from the cabinet, securing stable coupling and fixing of the top panel, and efficiently providing fixing force in various directions.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a laundry treating apparatus capable of effectively improving the completion level of the product through a top panel.

In addition, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a laundry treating apparatus capable of improving the exterior completeness of the product and improving structural stability through a three-dimensional structure of a top panel.

In addition, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a laundry treating apparatus capable of increasing coupling force and fixing force of a top panel with respect to a cabinet.

In addition, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a laundry treating apparatus capable of facilitating processes of coupling and separating a top panel.

In addition, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a laundry treating apparatus constituted by multiple treating apparatuses to provide improved use convenience.

In a laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a cabinet comprises a support surface supporting a top panel upward, and a groove forming part is provided on the support surface. The groove forming part forms an insertion groove that is open in a direction parallel to the support surface.

The top panel slides on the support surface so that a portion thereof is inserted into the insertion groove, and in this case, separation of the top panel in an upward direction is restricted. Further, when the top panel is inserted into the insertion groove, forward movement and lateral movement of the top panel as well as upward movement thereof may also be restricted.

The top panel may include a lateral bent portion, an open portion in which the groove forming part is movable may be provided in the lateral bent portion, and one end portion of the open portion may form an insertion portion so as to be inserted into the insertion groove.

The top panel may slide forward on the support surface to be coupled to the cabinet, and a handle unit for transportation of the cabinet may be coupled to a rear side of the top panel and to the rear panel, whereby separation of the top panel may be completely prevented, and sufficient fixing force may be secured in various directions.

Further, the top panel may slide forward to move to a coupling position, and the top panel moving to the coupling position may press a cover panel, located in front thereof, forward, thereby implementing coupling relationships with multiple components.

Meanwhile, a laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a cabinet and a drum provided in the cabinet to receive laundry. The cabinet includes a front panel forming a front surface of the cabinet and a top panel forming an upper surface of the cabinet.

The top panel includes an upper surface portion defining the upper surface, and the upper surface portion is disposed at a higher position than an upper end of the front panel.

The cabinet may further include a side panel forming a side surface of the cabinet, and the upper surface portion may be disposed at a higher position than the side panel.

The upper end of the front panel may be disposed at a higher position than an upper end of the side panel and may be located in front of the top panel.

The top panel may include a lateral bent portion extending downward from each of both lateral sides of the upper surface portion, and the lateral bent portion may be supported on the side panel.

The front panel may include a front surface portion forming a front surface of the cabinet and an upper bent portion extending backward from an upper end of the front surface portion, and the upper surface portion of the top panel may be located above the upper bent portion.

The cabinet may further include a cover panel disposed on the upper bent portion to cover at least part of the upper bent portion from the outside, and the upper surface portion may be located parallel to the cover panel.

The top panel may include a front bent portion extending downward from a front end of the upper surface portion, and the upper bent portion and the cover panel may be located in front of the front bent portion.

The top panel may include a top panel space defined under the upper surface portion, and the upper end of the front panel may be located in front of the top panel space.

The top panel may include a plurality of bent portions extending downward from the upper surface portion, and the top panel space may be surrounded by the plurality of bent portions and may be open downward.

The cabinet may further include a cover panel disposed on the front panel, and at least a portion of the cover panel may protrude backward to be inserted into the top panel space.

The cabinet may further include a support surface located below the top panel to support the top panel, the top panel may include a lateral bent portion extending downward from each of both lateral sides of the upper surface portion, and the lateral bent portion may be disposed on the support surface.

The lateral bent portion may include a first bent portion extending downward from the upper surface portion and a second bent portion extending toward the interior of the cabinet from the first bent portion, and the second bent portion may be supported by the support surface.

The cabinet may further include a groove forming part provided on the support surface and configured to form an insertion groove that is open in a direction parallel to the support surface, and the top panel may slide on the support surface in a direction parallel to the support surface so that a portion thereof is inserted into the insertion groove and may be restricted from moving upward.

The cabinet may further include a side panel disposed on each of both sides thereof in a lateral direction, the side panel may include a side surface portion forming a side surface of the cabinet, and the support surface may extend toward the interior of the cabinet from an upper end of the side surface portion.

The groove forming part may include a groove protruding portion protruding upward from the support surface and an enlarged diameter portion located on the groove protruding portion and having a larger diameter than the groove protruding portion. The insertion groove may be formed between the enlarged diameter portion and the support surface.

The top panel may include an insertion portion formed to be inserted into the insertion groove and may slide on the support surface from a preliminary position to a coupling position. At the preliminary position of the top panel, the insertion portion may be spaced apart from the insertion groove, and at the coupling position of the top panel, the insertion portion may be inserted into the insertion groove.

The top panel may include an upper surface portion forming the upper surface of the cabinet, a first bent portion extending downward from the upper surface portion, and a second bent portion extending parallel to the support surface toward the interior of the cabinet from the first bent portion, and the second bent portion may include the insertion portion and may be supported by the support surface.

The second bent portion may include an open portion, which extends in the sliding direction of the top panel and in which the groove forming part is accommodated. At the preliminary position, the width of a part of the open portion at which the groove forming part is located may be equal to or greater than the maximum diameter of the groove forming part, and at the coupling position, the width of a part of the open portion at which the groove forming part is located may be less than the maximum diameter of the groove forming part.

The cabinet may further include a rear panel, the laundry treating apparatus may further include a top panel fixing member coupled to the rear panel so as to be located behind the top panel in an inserted state of the insertion portion into the insertion groove, and the top panel may be restricted from moving backward by the top panel fixing member.

The insertion portion may include a receiving recess in which at least part of the groove protruding portion is received, and the top panel may slide in a first direction parallel to the support surface so that at least part of the groove protruding portion is received in the receiving recess and may be restricted from moving in a second direction crossing the first direction.

Meanwhile, an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a cabinet, a drum provided in the cabinet to receive laundry, and a supplementary treating apparatus including a supplementary cabinet disposed under the cabinet to support the cabinet and a supplementary drum provided in the supplementary cabinet to receive laundry.