Disclosed herein is a washing machine, which includes a cabinet having a first opening and a washing space therein and a door assembly configured to open or close the first opening. The door assembly includes a door unit including a guide duct having one side forming a second opening and the other side connected to the washing space, and configured to be rotatable with respect to the cabinet, a sub-door configured to open or close the second opening and a sealing assembly configured to seal the other side of the guide duct. With this configuration, it is possible to effectively seal the inside of the washing machine.

A battery and an electronic device are provided. The battery includes a battery cell, including at least one anode of the battery cell and at least one cathode of the battery cell. The battery also includes a voltage detection circuit, wherein the voltage detection circuit detects a voltage of the battery cell. Further, the battery includes a protection circuit, wherein the protection circuit protects the battery cell based on the voltage of the battery cell detected by the voltage detection circuit.

An embodiment of a microwave heating apparatus includes a solid state microwave energy source, a chamber, a dielectric resonator antenna with an exciter dielectric resonator and a feed structure, and one or more additional dielectric resonators each positioned within a distance of the exciter resonator to form a dielectric resonator antenna array. The distance is selected so that each additional resonator is closely capacitively coupled with the exciter resonator. The feed structure receives an excitation signal from the microwave energy source. The exciter resonator is configured to produce a first electric field in response to the excitation signal, and the first electric field may directly impinge on the additional resonator(s). Impingement of the first electric field may cause each of the additional resonators to produce a second electric field. The electric fields are directed into the chamber to increase the thermal energy of a load within the chamber.

An embodiment of a microwave heating apparatus includes a solid state microwave energy source, a first dielectric resonator antenna that includes a first exciter dielectric resonator and a first feed structure in proximity to the first exciter dielectric resonator, one or more additional dielectric resonators stacked above the top surface of the first exciter dielectric resonator to form a vertically-stacked dielectric resonator antenna array. The first feed structure is electrically coupled to the microwave energy source to receive a first excitation signal, and the first exciter dielectric resonator is configured to produce a first electric field in response to the excitation signal provided to the first feed structure.

A switching power converter is provided with an overvoltage protection circuit that monitors the differential data signal voltages in a data interface such as a USB data interface powering a load device to detect soft short conditions.

A method for charging a lithium ion secondary battery of the present invention includes a first step and a second step. In the first step, A, B, and C satisfy the relationship A>B and B<C, where A represents an average charging current value in the range where a charge rate of the lithium ion secondary battery is 0% or more and less than 40%, B represents an average charging current value in the range where the charge rate is 40% or more and 60% or less, and C represents an average charging current value in the range where the charge rate is more than 60%. In the first step, the ratio of C.sub.MAX to C.sub.MIN (C.sub.MAX/C.sub.MIN) is 1.01 to 3.00, where C.sub.MAX represents the maximum value of the charging current value and C.sub.MIN represents the minimum value of the charging current value.

An insulating structure for an appliance includes a trim breaker, a first panel, a second panel, and an adhesive. The trim breaker defines a first groove and a second groove. The first panel is disposed within the first groove and is coupled to the trim breaker. The second panel is disposed within the second groove and is coupled to the trim breaker. The adhesive is disposed within the first and second grooves and is coupled to the first and second panels.

A method for manufacturing an insulation member for a vacuum insulated structure includes the steps of forming a bag that has an opening using a single layer porous fabric, filling the bag with insulation materials via the opening, sealing the opening of the bag, and vibrating the bag to evenly distribute, de-aerate, and densify the insulation material to form a pillow. The method further includes the steps of compressing the pillow within a mold to define a compressed insulation member, and evacuating the compressed insulation member within an insulated structure to define a vacuum insulated structure.

An electromagnetic heater for heating an irregularly shaped object, including: a cavity within which an object is to be placed; at least one feed which feeds UHF or microwave energy into the cavity; and a controller that controls one or more characteristics of the cavity or energy to assure that the UHF or microwave energy is deposited uniformly in the object within ±30% over at least 80% of the volume of the object.

Disclosed herein is a drain pump driving apparatus and a laundry treatment machine including the same. The drain pump driving apparatus and the laundry treatment machine including the same according to an embodiment of the present invention include a motor to operate the drain pump, an inverter to convert a direct current (DC) power to an alternating current (AC) power by a switching operation and output the converted AC power to the motor, an output current detector to detect an output current flowing to the motor, and a controller to control the inverter, wherein the controller may calculate a speed ripple of the motor based on the output current and performs a control operation based on the calculated speed ripple of the motor to change a speed of the motor.