Packing material for laundry treatment apparatus

Abstract

The present invention relates to a packing material for a laundry treatment apparatus having a casing with an entrance/exit hole through which laundry is entered and exited and an outer tub hung in the casing and having an opening through which the laundry is entered and exited, the packing material including a base part at a side of a predetermined fold line corresponding to the shape of the opening and a gap compensating part at another side of the fold line, wherein the base part is inserted into a space between the outer tub and an entrance/exit hole forming part forming the entrance/exit hole in the casing, and wherein the gap compensating part is inserted into an inside of the outer tub when the packing material is folded along the fold line.

Claims

1. A laundry treatment apparatus shipping package comprising: a laundry treatment apparatus comprising: a casing with a hole, and an outer tub included in the casing, the outer tub having an opening that is larger than the hole in the casing, the opening through which laundry inserted through the hole in the casing is placed into the outer tub and through which laundry is retrieved from the outer tub through the hole in the casing; a first packing material on which multiple perforations are formed along a predetermined virtual fold line configured to have a shape corresponding to a shape of the opening in the outer tub and spaced apart from each other, the first packing material folded at the fold line, the first packing material comprising: a base part that is defined at a first side of the fold line, and a gap compensating part defined at a second side of the fold line that is opposite of the first side of the fold line; wherein, based on the first packing material being folded along the fold line: the base part is inserted into a space between the outer tub and a part of the casing that defines the hole in the casing, and the gap compensating part is inserted into an inside of the outer tub, and a second packing material comprising: an upper end part that is inserted into the hole in the casing and placed on the base part of the first packing material; and a lower end part that is configured to extrude from a bottom of the upper end part, that is configured to be inserted into the opening of the outer tub, and that is configured to contact the gap compensating part.

2. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein the gap compensating part includes a linear cut that extends from the fold line to an internal edge oriented toward a center of the outer tub.

3. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein the gap compensating part is configured to fill an inside of the opening to a distance corresponding to a thickness of the gap compensating part.

4. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein an edge of the base part that is configured to face the casing includes a section configured to contact an inner surface of the casing.

5. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein the fold line is configured to be shaped as a circular arc.

6. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein the first packing material further comprises an installation direction mark that indicates an orientation of the first packing material appropriate for installing the first packing material in the laundry treatment apparatus.

7. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein the first packing material is made of a material that is configured to bend in any direction when an external force is applied.

8. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein the first packing material is made of foam polyethylene.

9. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein the first packing material is made of a single material.

10. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein the first packing material is formed as a thin planer shape.

11. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein the first packing material is configured to be placed at one side of the laundry treating apparatus and used with another first packing material placed at another side of the laundry treating apparatus.

12. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein an edge of the base part, which is configured to be placed opposite of the casing, is divided into a side section configured to face a side part of an inner surface of the casing, a front section configured to face a front part of the casing, and a rear section configured to face a rear part of the casing.

13. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 12, wherein the side section, the front section, and the rear section are configured to contact their respective opposite side part, front part, and rear part inside the casing.

14. The laundry treatment apparatus shipping package of claim 1, wherein the first packing material is configured to be inserted into the laundry treatment apparatus by pushing the base part into a space between a top cover of the laundry treatment apparatus and a water storage tank cover of the laundry treatment apparatus, and folding the gap compensating part along folding guide marks defined along the fold line.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a packing material for a laundry treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a laundry treatment apparatus to which the packing material illustrated in FIG. 1 applies, and FIG. 2B is an expanded view illustrating a portion of FIG. 2A, as denoted in dashed lines;

(4) FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view illustrating the laundry treatment apparatus of FIG. 2, to which an upper part fixing packing material further applies, and FIG. 3B is an expanded view illustrating a portion of FIG. 3A, as denoted in dashed lines;

(5) FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional washing machine; and

(6) FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view illustrating the laundry treatment apparatus of FIG. 4, which has been packed according to the conventional art, and FIG. 5B is an expanded view illustrating a portion of FIG. 5A, as denoted in dashed lines;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(7) Advantages and features of the present invention and a method of achieving the same will be more clearly understood from embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments but may be implemented in various different forms. The embodiments are provided merely to complete disclosure of the present invention and to fully provide a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains with the category of the invention. The invention is defined only by the category of the claims. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the specification to refer to the same or like parts.

(8) Hereinafter, a washing machine, a sort of laundry treatment apparatus, is exemplified in describing the present invention. However, it should be noted that this is merely for ease of description and the present invention should not be limited thereto.

(9) FIG. 1 illustrates a packing material for a laundry treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a laundry treatment apparatus to which the packing material illustrated in FIG. 1 applies, and FIG. 2B is an expanded view illustrating a portion of FIG. 2A, as denoted in dashed lines.

(10) Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a packing material 100 for a laundry treatment apparatus is a plate-type material that is formed of a material that may be folded by an external force. The packing material 100 includes a base part 110 at a side of a predetermined fold line S corresponding to the shape of the opening 22h of the outer tub 22 and a gap compensating part 130 at the other side of the fold line S. The base part 110 is inserted into a space between the outer tub 22 and an entrance/exit hole forming part 12 forming an entrance/exit hole 12h through which laundry is entered and exited. The gap compensating part 130 is inserted into the inside of the outer tub 22 when the packing material 100 is folded along the fold line S.

(11) Two or more packing materials 100 may apply to a single washing machine. FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example in which a left-side packing material 100L and a right-side packing material 100R apply. The denotations L and R are simply used to distinguish two packing materials 100 from each other, and thus, either the left-side packing material or the right-side packing material is collectively referred to as the packing material 100 unless required otherwise.

(12) Further, the above-described conventional upper part fixing packing material 200 and the lower part fixing packing material 300 are present as packing materials for washing machine. Accordingly, to distinguish the above-conventional types of packing materials from the ones according to the present invention, the packing material 100 according to the present invention is referred to as a gap compensating packing material 100. However, this is done so merely to avoid any confusion in description, and it should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited thereby or thereto and that the scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the appended claims.

(13) The entrance/exit hole forming part 12 may be a portion of the casing 10 and may be defined as a portion to form the entrance/exit hole 12h. In the instant embodiment, a top cover 12 is exemplified that is separately formed from the cabinet 11. However, the present invention should not be limited thereto. For example, in case the casing 10 is configured so that the cabinet 11 and the top cover 12 are integrally formed with each other, a portion of the casing 10, which has an opening for entrance/exist of the laundry, may be defined as the entrance/exit hole forming part 12.

(14) An edge 140 of the base part 110, which is opposite the cabinet 11, may have any shape without limited to a particular shape. Also in such case, the edge 140 may be divided depending on facing directions into a side section 141 facing a side part 11a of an inner surface of the cabinet 11, a front section 142 facing a front part 11b of the cabinet 11, and a rear section 143 facing a rear part 11c of the cabinet 11. Preferably, the side section 141, the front section 142, and/or the rear section 143 contact their respective opposite side part 11a, front part 11b, and/or rear part 11c inside the cabinet 11.

(15) The fold line S has a shape corresponding to the shape of the opening 22h. In a typical washing machine, the opening 22h is shaped as a circle C, and thus, the fold line S is hereinafter shaped as a circular arc, for example. The fold line S may be a real-life line that has been printed on the surface of the gap compensating packing material 100 or processed as a groove, but should not be limited thereto. In other words, any element may serve as the fold line S as long as it may functionally or structurally distinguish the base part 110 from the gap compensating part 130. Accordingly, a conceptual or virtual line, not a real-life mark formed on the surface of the gap compensating packing material 100, may be defined as the fold line S.

(16) The gap compensating part 130 has a linear cut 160 formed from the fold line S up to an internal edge 133 oriented toward the center of the outer tub 22. Multiple linear cuts 160 may be formed. Free ends are provided at both parts 131 and 132 of the linear cut 160, thus allowing the parts to be smoothly folded without interfering with each other.

(17) Multiple folding guide marks 120 may be formed along the fold line S. The folding guide marks 120 may include dots or lines printed along the fold line S. Preferably, the folding guide marks 120 may be perforations formed to be spaced apart from each other along the fold line S. In case the folding guide marks 120 are formed by printing, the printed surface may be brought in contact with other components of the washing machine, thus causing an ink transfer to the other components. However, in case the folding guide marks 120 are formed as holes, such ink transfer and resultant contamination may be prevented. Further, the folding guide marks 120 may be flipped to allow for use of either the left-side packing material 100L and the right-side packing material 100R.

(18) The gap compensating packing material 100 should be easily folded by an external force and is preferably formed to have a predetermined degree of compression or elasticity to absorb shock. Such material includes, but is not limited to, e.g., a foam resin, in particular, foam polyethylene (PE).

(19) The gap compensating packing material 100 may further include an installation direction mark 150. The installation direction mark 150 indicates a direction in which the gap compensating packing material 100 is installed, through a symbol, a letter, or a diagram. In this embodiment, the installation direction mark 150 is a mark shown like an arrow that points to the front side of the washing machine. A worker may apply the gap compensating packing material 100 by positioning the gap compensating packing material 100 so that the arrow points to the front side of the washing machine, pushing the base part 110 into a space between the top cover 12 and the water storage tank cover 22b, and folding the gap compensating part 130 along the folding guide marks 120.

(20) FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view illustrating the laundry treatment apparatus of FIG. 2, to which an upper part fixing packing material further applies, and FIG. 3B is an expanded view illustrating a portion of FIG. 3A, as denoted in dashed lines. Referring to FIG. 3, after the gap compensating packing material 100 has been completely applied, the upper part fixing packing material 200 may further apply.

(21) Even when the diameter D2 of the opening 22h of the outer tub 22 is equal or larger than the diameter D1 of the entrance/exit hole 12h of the top cover 12, the gap compensating packing material 100 fills the inside of the opening 22h, in particular, as much as the thickness D of the gap compensating part 130, and the base part 110 supports the step 221, at least, as much as the thickness. Accordingly, even when the outer diameter of the lower end part 210 of the upper part fixing packing material 200 is equal to D2 or even smaller than D2, the upper part fixing packing material 200 may apply. The outer tub 22 may be prevented from shaking in the horizontal direction, and the step 221 may be supported by the gap compensating packing material 100 to prevent the outer tub 22 from shaking in the vertical direction.

(22) Further, the gap compensating packing material 100 that has a proper thickness depending on the capacity of the outer tub 22 may be used to compensate for a gap that is caused by a difference in diameter between the opening 22h of the outer tub 22 and the entrance/exit hole 12h of the top cover 12. Accordingly, the common upper part fixing packing material 200 may apply to various types of washing machines having different capacities of outer tubs 22.

(23) The lower part fixing packing material 300 may also apply, and the same description given above in connection with FIGS. 5 and 6 may apply, and detailed description of such example is skipped.

(24) It should be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. Hence, it should be appreciated that the above-described embodiments are given for example and should not be understood as limited thereto. The scope of the present invention is defined by the following claims rather than the detailed description and that all the modifications or variations induced from the meaning and concept and equivalents of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention.

(25) Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.