# US 12,180,635 B2 · Laundry treating apparatus and method for controlling the same > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,180,635 B2 - Document ID: US12180635B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/401,731 - Filed: 2021-08-13 - Published: 2022-02-17 - Granted: 2024-12-31 - Earliest claimed: 2020-08-14 - Assignees: LG Electronics Inc. - Applicants: LG Electronics Inc. - Inventors: Sunho Lee; Youngjong Kim; Dongcheol Kim; Junghyun Park; Unkeol Yeo; Hyeyong Park - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12180635B2 ## CPC - D06F 33/38: of rinsing - D06F 17/10: Impellers - D06F 23/04: and rotating or oscillating about a vertical axis - D06F 33/32: Control of operational steps, e.g. optimisation or improvement of operational steps depending on the condition of the laundry - D06F 37/40: for driving the receptacle and an agitator or impeller, e.g. alternatively {(D06F37/304, D06F37/308 take precedence)} - D06F 39/02: Devices for adding soap or other washing agents - D06F 39/088: {Liquid supply arrangements} - D06F 33/37: of metering of detergents or additives - D06F 39/022: {in a liquid state (D06F39/024 takes precedence)} - D06F 2105/02: Water supply - D06F 2105/42: Detergent or additive supply - D06F 2105/48: Drum speed - D06F: LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES ## Abstract A laundry treating apparatus includes a cabinet, a tub, a drum, a rotator including a bottom portion positioned on a bottom surface of the drum, a pillar protruding from the bottom portion toward an open surface of the drum, and blades spaced apart from one another along a circumferential direction of the pillar and inclined with respect to a longitudinal direction of the pillar, a water supply, a sprayer, a drainage, and a controller for controlling rotation of the drum and the rotator and operation of the water supply and the drainage. During a rinsing operation, the drum and the rotator rotate in a same direction while water is continuously sprayed through the sprayer and the drainage is closed. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for controlling a laundry treating apparatus including a cabinet, a tub configured to receive water, a drum that is rotatably disposed inside the tub and has an open surface configured to receive clothes therethrough and a bottom surface located at an opposite side of the open surface, the drum being configured to rotate about a vertical rotation axis, a rotator that is rotatably disposed at the bottom surface of the drum and includes a bottom portion rotatably disposed on the bottom surface of the drum, a pillar protruding from the bottom portion toward the open surface, and a plurality of blades spaced apart from one another along a circumferential direction of the pillar and inclined with respect to a longitudinal direction of the pillar, a water supply configured to supply water into the tub, a sprayer configured to receive water from the water supply and to spray the water into the drum, a drainage configured to discharge the water in the tub to an outside of the cabinet, a motor configured to generate rotational force, a gear set that is configured to simultaneously or selectively transmit the rotational force from the motor to the drum and the rotator, and a controller configured to control (i) rotation directions of the drum and the rotator by controlling the gear set, (ii) operation of the water supply and the drainage, and (iii) and a washing course including at least one of a water supplying operation, a washing operation, a rinsing operation, or a dehydration operation, the method comprising: performing the rinsing operation, wherein the rinsing operation comprises: supplying a fabric softener into the drum with the water supplied from the water supply; after completion of supplying the fabric softener into the drum, spraying water into the drum through the sprayer in a state in which the drainage is closed; and rotating the drum and the rotator in a same direction while spraying the water through the sprayer in the state in which the drainage is closed. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein rotating the drum and the rotator comprises: varying a revolutions per minute (RPM) of each of the drum and the rotator. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein rotating the drum and the rotator comprises: performing a first rotation operation for generating an ascending water flow in the drum; after the first rotation operation, performing a second rotation operation for generating a descending water flow in the drum; and alternating the first rotation operation and the second rotation operation. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein performing the first rotation operation comprises rotating the drum and the rotator in a first direction, and wherein performing the second rotation operation comprises rotating the drum and the rotator in a second direction opposite to the first direction. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein varying the RPM comprises: increasing the RPM of each of the drum and the rotator; and decreasing the RPM of each of the drum and the rotator. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein varying the RPM further comprises: alternating increasing and decreasing the RPM of each of the drum and the rotator. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing a drain operation and a dehydration operation after rotating the drum and the rotator in the same direction. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing a first drain operation and a first dehydration operation before rotating the drum and the rotator in the same direction; and performing a second drain operation and a second dehydration operation after rotating the drum and the rotator in the same direction, wherein a first revolutions per minute (RPM) of the drum in the first dehydration operation is less than a second RPM in the second dehydration operation. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein rotating the drum and the rotator comprises: rotating the drum and the rotator in the same direction at an RPM that is less than the first RPM and the second RPM. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein rotating the drum and the rotator comprises: controlling a driver configured to rotate the drum and the rotator.