Drum rotating device and laundry care apparatus including same
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsYoung Chan AHN, Songhee YANG, Jeongyong SONG
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A drum rotating device of a laundry care apparatus includes a drum shaft coupled to a drum and a motor including a stator and a rotor that rotates relative to the stator. A gear assembly transmits rotational force of the rotor to the drum shaft. A clutch is connected to the gear assembly and is selectively coupled to the rotor to be rotated together therewith. An actuator is connected to the clutch. The actuator includes drive gears that move the clutch rectilinearly in an axial direction of the drum shaft. The clutch and the rotor include a clutch gear and a coupling gear, respectively, which protrude to face each other in the axial direction and are coupled to each other.
Claims23
A drum rotating device comprising:
- a drum shaft coupled to a drum;
- a motor comprising a stator and a rotor that rotates relative to the stator;
- a gear assembly that transmits rotational force of the rotor to the drum shaft;
- a clutch that is connected to the gear assembly and is selectively coupled to the rotor to be rotated together with the rotor;
- and
- an actuator that is connected to the clutch and comprises drive gears that move the clutch rectilinearly in an axial direction of the drum shaft,
- wherein the clutch and the rotor are provided with a clutch gear and a coupling gear, respectively, which protrude to face each other in the axial direction and are coupled to each other,
- wherein the clutch gear has a clutch inclined surface having an axial height increasing gradually along a rotational direction of the rotor, and
- wherein the coupling gear has a coupling inclined surface corresponding to the clutch inclined surface and having an axial height decreasing gradually along the rotational direction of the rotor.
A drum rotating device comprising:
- a drum shaft coupled to a drum;
- a motor comprising a stator and a rotor that rotates relative to the stator;
- a gear assembly that transmits rotational force of the rotor to the drum shaft;
- a clutch that is connected to the gear assembly and is selectively coupled to the rotor to be rotated together with the rotor;
- and
- an actuator connected to the clutch and coupling the clutch to the rotor,
- wherein the clutch and the rotor are provided with a clutch gear and a coupling gear, respectively, which protrude to face each other in an axial direction of the drum shaft and are coupled to each other,
- wherein each of the clutch gear and the coupling gear is asymmetrical left and right relative to a top land thereof, and
- wherein the actuator is provided with drive gears that convert rotational movement of a drive motor into rectilinear movement and move the clutch rectilinearly in the axial direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.