CLOTHES TREATMENT APPARATUS

Abstract

Disclosed is a clothes treatment apparatus, which manages clothes. The clothes treatment apparatus includes: a chamber including a clothes management compartment to manage clothes; and a steam generator configured to change water into steam and supply the steam to the clothes management compartment. The steam generator includes: a steam generation tank partitioned into a first space to store water and a second space to heat water by a partition wall including a channel through which water moves from the first space to the second space; and a heater accommodated in the second space and configured to heat the water. The second space has a smaller dimension than the first space.

Claims

1. A clothes treatment apparatus comprising: a chamber comprising a clothes management compartment to manage clothes; and a steam generator comprising: a steam generation tank comprising a partition that has a channel and that partitions the steam generation tank into a first space to hold water and a second space, having a smaller dimension than the first space, to hold water received from the first space through the channel, and a heater accommodated in the second space to heat the water held in the second space into steam to be supplied to the clothes management compartment.

2. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the dimension of the second space is smaller than or equal to half the dimension of the first space.

3. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the channel is provided in a lower portion of the partition wall.

4. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heater is installed at a minimum distance from an inner wall of the second space so that the inner wall is not thermally deformed during operation of the heater.

5. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 4, wherein the heater is spaced apart from the inner wall of the second space by 10˜20 mm.

6. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein an amount of water holdable in the second space without receiving additional water from the first space through the channel is less than an amount of water required to be heated into steam in a single clothes management course.

7. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a water supplying box, wherein the first space comprises a water supplying inlet into which water is introduceable from the water supplying box to be held in the first space, the second space comprises a steam outlet from which the steam is discharged so as to be supplied to the clothes management compartment.

8. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the steam generation tank comprises a cover to cover the first space, and the cover and the partition wall are formed as a single body.

9. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 8, wherein the cover is provided at a position lower than a top end of the partition wall.

10. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the steam generator further comprises a convection generator to generate convection in the water held in the second space.

11. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 10, wherein the convection generator comprises a fan and a motor to rotate the fan.

12. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 10, wherein the convection generator is configured to operate based on an operation time of the heater.

13. The clothes treatment apparatus of claim 10, wherein the convection generator is configured to operate based on a temperature of water held in the second space.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The above and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates a clothes treatment apparatus according to a first embodiment of the disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates the clothes treatment apparatus of FIG. 1 with an opened door;

[0023] FIG. 3 illustrates an internal structure of the clothes treatment apparatus of FIG. 1;

[0024] FIG. 4 illustrates a steam generator;

[0025] FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-section taken along line A-A of FIG. 4;

[0026] FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-section taken along line B-B of FIG. 4;

[0027] FIG. 7 illustrates a partition wall of FIG. 6;

[0028] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a heater;

[0029] FIG. 9 illustrates a convection generator;

[0030] FIG. 10 is a graph showing noise based on presence and absence of the convection generator when water in a second space is heated;

[0031] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a clothes treatment apparatus;

[0032] FIG. 12 illustrates a cross-section of a steam generator according to a second embodiment of the disclosure; and

[0033] FIG. 13 illustrates a partition wall of FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0034] Below, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings, to be easily carried out by a person having an ordinary skill in the art. The disclosure may be embodied in various different forms, and not limited to the embodiment set forth herein. For clarity of description, like numerals refer to like elements throughout.

[0035] In the disclosure, terms “have,” “may have,” “include,” “may include,” etc. indicate the presence of corresponding features (e.g. a numeral value, a function, an operation, or an element such as a part, etc.), and do not exclude the presence of additional features.

[0036] In the disclosure, terms “A or B”, “at least one of A or/and B”, “one or more of A or/and B” or the like may include all possible combinations of elements enumerated together. For example, “A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, or “at least one of A or B” may refer to all of the cases of (1) including at least one A, (2) including at least one B, or (3) including all of at least one A and at least one B.

[0037] In the disclosure, terms “first”, “second”, etc. are used only to distinguish one element from another, and singular forms are intended to include plural forms unless otherwise mentioned contextually.

[0038] In addition, in the disclosure, terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “inside”, “outside”, “inner”, “outer”, “front”, “rear”, etc. are defined with respect to the accompanying drawings, and do not restrict the shape or location of the elements.

[0039] Further, in the disclosure, the expression of “configured to (or set to)” may for example be replaced with “suitable for,” “having the capacity to,” “designed to,” “adapted to,” “made to,” or “capable of” according to circumstances. Also, the expression of “configured to (or set to)” may not necessarily refer to only “specifically designed to” in terms of hardware. Instead, the “device configured to” may refer to “capable of” along with other devices or parts in a certain circumstance.

[0040] An aspect of the disclosure is to provide a clothes treatment apparatus, in which water is quickly changed into steam and energy is saved in a process of managing clothes.

[0041] Another aspect of the disclosure is to provide a clothes treatment apparatus in which noise is reduced.

[0042] A clothes treatment apparatus 1 according to various embodiments of the disclosure may be applied to a clothes-wrinkle smoother, an ironing apparatus, a washing machine, etc.

[0043] FIG. 1 illustrates a clothes treatment apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 2 illustrates the clothes treatment apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 with an opened door 20. FIG. 3 illustrates an internal structure of the clothes treatment apparatus 1 of FIG. 1.

[0044] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the clothes treatment apparatus 1 may include a main body 10 forming an outer appearance, and a door 20 rotatably coupled to the main body 10. The main body 10 may include a clothes management compartment 11 in which clothes are accommodated and managed, and a machinery compartment 13 in which machines for generating heat or steam to manage clothes are installed.

[0045] The main body 10 is internally formed with the clothes management compartment 11, and is shaped like a hexahedron opened at one side. The door 20 is rotatably coupled to the opened side of the main body 10 and opens and closes the clothes management compartment 11. Although it is not illustrated, the door 20 may be installed by a hinge, a link or the like connection member.

[0046] The clothes management compartment 11 forms a space in which clothes are accommodated. The clothes management compartment 11 may include a clothes-hanging member 12 at an upper middle thereof, on which clothes are hung.

[0047] The clothes management compartment 11 may include a first air-current outlet 11a, a first air-current inlet 11b, a second air-current outlet 11c, a second air-current inlet 11d, and a steam inlet 11e. The first air-current outlet 11a and the first air-current inlet 11b may be formed on the bottom of the clothes management compartment 11. The first air-current outlet 11a may be disposed in a front bottom of the clothes management compartment 11. The first air-current inlet 11b may be disposed in a back bottom of the clothes management compartment 11. The first air-current outlet 11a and the first air-current inlet 11b may be adjacent to each other.

[0048] The second air-current outlet 11c may be formed on an upper back of the clothes management compartment 11. The second air-current inlet 11d may be formed at an approximate center on the top of the clothes management compartment 11. The second air-current outlet 11c and the second air-current inlet 11d may be adjacent to each other.

[0049] The steam inlet 11e be disposed in a lower back of the clothes management compartment 11. The steam inlet 11e may be disposed above the first air-current inlet 11b.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 2, a water draining box 15a and a water supplying box 15b separable from the main body 10 may be provided in a lower portion of the main body 10. The water draining box 15a and the water supplying box 15b may be disposed under the clothes management compartment 11. The water draining box 15a is provided to easily treat condensate water. The water supplying box 15b stores water needed for generating steam in a steam generator 40 to be described later. Water in the water supplying box 15b is supplied to the steam generator 40 and used in generating steam. The water supplying box 15b may be provided separably from the main body 10 so as to easily replenish water.

[0051] The water draining box 15a and the water supplying box 15b may be provided in front of the machinery compartment 13. The machinery compartment 13 is provided in a lower side of the main body 10.

[0052] The machinery compartment 13 may be internally provided with a heat exchanger 30 and the steam generator 40.

[0053] The heat exchanger 30 is provided to supply hot air into the clothes management compartment 11. The heat exchanger 30 may include a first air blower 32; and an evaporator 33, a compressor 35 and a condenser 34 in which a refrigerant circulates. The heat exchanger 30 may dehumidify and heat air inside the clothes management compartment 11.

[0054] The heat exchanger 30 absorbs latent heat from surrounding air as the refrigerant is evaporated in the evaporator 33, and at the same time condenses and removes water in air. Further, the heat exchanger 30 radiates the latent heat toward surrounding air when the refrigerant is condensed in the condenser 34 via the compressor 35, thereby heating surrounding air. Air introduced into the machinery compartment 13 by the first air blower 32 is dehumidified and heated while passing through the evaporator 33 and the condenser 34 in sequence.

[0055] The heat exchanger 30 installed in the machinery compartment 13 may include a duct 31 by which the evaporator 33, the condenser 34, and the first air blower 32 are connected. The duct 31 may be connected to the clothes management compartment 11 and form a first circulation channel 39 circulating between the clothes management compartment 11 and the duct 31.

[0056] The duct 31 may be connected between the first air-current outlet 11a and the first air-current inlet 11b of the clothes management compartment 11. The duct 31 may include a first end connected to the first air-current outlet 11a of the clothes management compartment 11, and a second end connected to the first air-current inlet 11b of the clothes management compartment 11.

[0057] Air in the clothes management compartment 11 is discharged into the duct 31 through the first air-current outlet 11a, and the discharged air is dehumidified and then introduced again into the clothes management compartment 11 through the first air-current inlet 11b.

[0058] The duct 31 allows air introduced through the first air-current outlet 11a to be dehumidified and then flow into the first air-current inlet 11b. The first air blower 32 is placed inside the duct 31 so that air in the clothes management compartment 11 can be sucked into the duct 31.

[0059] The machinery compartment 13 may further include the steam generator 40 that receives water from the water supplying box 15b and generates steam.

[0060] The steam generator 40 may be placed in the machinery compartment 13.

[0061] The steam generator 40 may be connected to and receive water from the water supplying box 15b (see FIG. 2).

[0062] The steam generator 40 may include a steam supplying pipe 41 to guide the generated steam to a steam sprayer 42. The steam sprayer 42 may be disposed in a lower back of the clothes management compartment 11.

[0063] FIG. 4 illustrates the steam generator 40, FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-section taken along line A-A of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-section taken along line B-B of FIG. 4, FIG. 7 illustrates a partition wall of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a heater 44.

[0064] Referring to FIGS. 4 to 7, the steam generator 40 may include a steam generation tank 43 in which steam is generated, and a heater 44 by which water is heated.

[0065] The steam generation tank 43 is divided into a first space 432 and a second space 433 by a partition wall 431.

[0066] The first space 432 refers to a space filled with water to be supplied to the second space. The first space 432 is provided with a water supplying inlet 4321 into which water is introduced from the water supplying box 15b.

[0067] The second space 433 refers to a space in which the heater 44 is installed and the filled water is changed into steam. The second space 433 is formed with a steam outlet 4332 through which the changed steam is discharged to the clothes management compartment 11.

[0068] The dimension of the second space 433 may be smaller than that of the first space 432, for example, may be smaller than or equal to half the dimension of the first space 432.

[0069] For example, when the total amount of water filled in the steam generation tank 43 is 900 cc, the first space 432 may be designed for 600 cc and the second space 433 may be designed for 300 cc, in which the dimension of the second space 433 is half the dimension of the first space 432. When 350 cc of water is used in a single clothes-management course, 300 cc of water supplied from the second space 433 and 50 cc of water supplied from the first space 432 may be changed into steam. During the single clothes-management course, water levels in the first space 432 and the second space 433 may be gradually lowered as much as consumed. Then, 550 cc of water is finally left over from the single clothes-management course, in which about 367 cc of water remains in the first space 432 and about 183 cc of water is introduced from the first space 432 and remains in the second space 433. Therefore, the dimension of the second space 433 is designed not to expose the heater 44 as sunken under 183 cc of water finally left over in the second space 433.

[0070] The partition wall 431 is formed with a channel 4311 in a lower portion thereof, through which water flows from the first space 432 to the second space 433. The channel 4311 may include a plurality of holes. Of course, the channel 4311 may include a single hole, or may include holes different in size.

[0071] As water filled in the second space 433 is changed by the heater 44 into steam and sprayed into the clothes-management compartment 11, water is decreased in the second space 433. However, the second space 433 is replenished with water introduced from the first space 432 through the channel 4311.

[0072] Referring to FIG. 8, the heater 44 may for example be embodied by a line heater having a ‘W’ shape. The heater 44 may be embodied by a glass or quartz rod internally including a hot wire 441. As shown in FIG. 6, the heater 44 may be vertically installed on the bottom of the second space 433. Of course, the heater 44 may be horizontally installed on the bottom of the second space 433 when the steam generation tank 43 is designed to be low and wide taking the space of the machinery compartment 13 into account.

[0073] The heater 44 may be installed in a lower portion of the second space 433 so as to be sunken under water filled in the second space 433.

[0074] The heater 44 may be disposed as close to an inner wall 4331 of the second space 433 as possible as long as it does not thermally deform the inner wall 4331 of the second space 433.

[0075] The minimum distance Lmin between the heater 44 and the inner wall 4331 of the second space 433 may be varied depending on materials for the wall of the second space 433. The minimum distance (Lmin) may be designed by 10 mm when the wall of the second space 433 is for example made of metal or the like material resistant to heat, and may be designed by 20 mm when the wall is made of plastic or the like material not resistant to heat. Therefore, the heater 44 may be spaced apart from the inner wall 4331 of the second space 433 by 10˜20 mm.

[0076] Like this, the second space 433 is replenished with water from the first space 432 as the relatively small amount of water holdable in the second space 433 is quickly changed into steam. In other words, it is possible to generate as much steam as needed for the clothes-management course because the second space 433 is replenished with water from the first space 432, even though the amount of water holdable in the second space 433 is less than that required in the single clothes-management course.

[0077] Further, a small amount of water is heated in the second space 433, and therefore the amount of leftover hot water is minimized, thereby reducing a waste of energy.

[0078] FIG. 9 illustrates a convection generator 45, and FIG. 10 is a graph showing noise based on presence and absence of the convection generator 45 when water in a second space is heated.

[0079] Referring to FIG. 9, the steam generator 1 may include the steam generation tank 43 in which steam is generated, the heater 44 by which water is heated, and the convection generator 45.

[0080] The steam generation tank 43 may include the partition wall 431 and be thus divided into the first space 432 for storing water and the second space 433 for heating water.

[0081] The convection generator 45 is provided in the second space 433 and forcibly generates convection in water of the second space 433. The convection generator 45 may be installed in any of the bottom, side or top of the second space 433 as long as it does not interfere with the heater 44.

[0082] The convection generator 45 may include a fan 451, and a motor 452 for rotating the fan 451.

[0083] The convection generator 45 may operate and forcibly agitate water before noise is made as water in the second space 433 is boiled by the heater 44.

[0084] Referring to FIG. 10, it is understood that noise is generally reduced when the convection generator 45 according to the disclosure is applied to the second space 433 while water is heated up to 100° C. as compared with that of the related art to which the convection generator 45 is not applied.

[0085] Because the temperature of the heater 44 instantly reaches 100° C., water around the heater 44 vaporizes first of all while creating bubbles and spreads out. In this case, the fan 451 forcibly stirs water and prevents water around the heater 44 from suddenly vaporizing. In result, bubbles suddenly created around the heater 44 are decreased, thereby reducing noise made due to rapid heating of water.

[0086] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the clothes treatment apparatus 1.

[0087] Referring to FIG. 11, the clothes treatment apparatus 1 may include the steam generator 40, the convection generator 45, a sensor 50 and a processor 60. The structures of the steam generator 40 and the convection generator 45 have been described above, and thus repetitive descriptions thereof will be avoided.

[0088] The sensor 50 may include a water level sensor 51, a temperature sensor 52, and a timer 53.

[0089] The water level sensor 51 may include a first water-level sensor (not shown) provided in the water supplying box 15b and a second water-level sensor (not shown) provided in the first space 432. The first water-level sensor may detect the level of water filled in the water supplying box 15b. The second water-level sensor may detect the level of water filled in the first space 432.

[0090] The temperature sensor 52 may be provided in the second space 433. The temperature sensor 52 may detect the temperature of water heated by the heater 44 in the second space 433.

[0091] The timer 53 may count an operation time of the heater 44 during the clothes-management course.

[0092] The processor 60 may generally control various parts of the clothes treatment apparatus 1, for example, the heat exchanger 30, the steam generator 40, the convection generator 45, etc.

[0093] The processor 60 may warn a user of water shortage when the level of water detected by the first water-level sensor provided in the water supplying box 15b is lower than or equal to a first threshold. The processor 60 may operate a pump (not shown) to supply water from the water supplying box 15b to the first space 432 when the level of water detected by the second water-level sensor provided in the second space 432 is lower than or equal to a second threshold.

[0094] The processor 60 may operate the convection generator 45 based on the operation time of the heater 44 or the temperature of water in the second space 433.

[0095] The processor 60 may turn on or off the motor 452 of the convection generator 45 with reference to the timer 53 that counts the operation time of the heater 44. Referring to FIG. 10, the processor 60 may turn on the motor 452 of the convection generator 45 during an operation time from ‘50’ seconds to ‘250’ seconds of the heater 44.

[0096] Alternatively, the processor 60 may turn on or off the motor 452 of the convection generator 45 with reference to the detected temperature of the temperature sensor 52 provided in the second space 433. Referring to FIG. 10, the processor 60 may turn on the motor 452 of the convection generator 45 within a temperature range from 17° C. to 100° C. of water in the second space 433

[0097] The processor 60 may include at least one general-purpose processor, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), an application processor (AP) or a microprocessor, which loads at least a part of a control program including instructions from a nonvolatile memory installed with the control program to a volatile memory, and executes the loaded control program.

[0098] The processor 60 may include a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and the like multiple-core processor. The first processor 60 may include a plurality of processors. The first processor 60 may for example include a main processor and a sub processor that operates in a sleep mode (e.g. when only standby power is supplied). Further, the processor, a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM) are connected to one another via an internal bus.

[0099] The processor 60 may be achieved as included in a main system on chip (SoC) mounted to a built-in PCB of the clothes treatment apparatus 1. Alternatively, the main SoC may further include an image processor.

[0100] FIG. 12 illustrates a cross-section of the steam generator 40 according to a second embodiment of the disclosure, and FIG. 13 illustrates the partition wall 431 of FIG. 12.

[0101] Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, the steam generator 40 may include the steam generation tank 43 in which steam is generated, and the heater by 44 which water is heated.

[0102] The steam generation tank 43 may include the partition wall 431 so as to be dived into the first space 432 and the second space 433, and a cover 434 in order to cover the second space 433.

[0103] The cover 434 and the partition wall 431 may be formed as a single body. The cover 434 may be provided at a position lower than the top end of the partition wall 431. The cover 434 may be provided at a position lower than the level of water filled in the second space 433.

[0104] As described above, the clothes treatment apparatus according to the disclosure not only saves energy but also quickly changes water into steam because a heating space for heating water is minimized and water is replenished by an adjacent water reservoir.

[0105] Although a few embodiments of the disclosure have been illustrated and described, the disclosure is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made by a person having an ordinary knowledge in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure and should be construed within the technical concept or prospect of the disclosure.