Laundry treating apparatus
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsIkuma Fukui, Masahito Shimono, Yongsu Kim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a laundry treating apparatus (100) including a cabinet (1) having an introduction opening (11) for placing in, and taking out laundry there through, a tub (2) in the cabinet (1) having a tub opening (21) in communication with the introduction opening (11), a dram (3) rotatably provided in the tub (2) to have a drum opening (31) in communication with the tub opening (21) for holding the laundry, and a drum supporter (H, L) for levitating the dram (3) within the tub (2) with repulsive force between a permanent magnet provided to the tub (2) and a permanent magnet provided to the drum (3).
Claims7
A laundry treating apparatus comprising:
- a cabinet having an introduction opening for placing in, and taking out laundry from the cabinet;
- a tub in the cabinet having a tub opening in communication with the introduction opening;
- a drum rotatably provided in the tub and configured to have a drum opening in communication with the tub opening for holding the laundry;
- and
- a drum supporter for levitating the drum within the tub with repulsive force between a permanent magnet provided to the tub and a permanent magnet provided to the drum,
- wherein the drum supporter includes a circumferential supporter that is configured to levitate the drum within the tub to allow the drum to move in a radial direction in reference to a rotation axis of the drum within the tub, and a longitudinal supporter that is configured to maintain a gap between the drum and the tub formed in a direction along a length of the tub,
- wherein the circumferential supporter comprises:
- a tub magnetic substance constructed of permanent magnets provided along a circumferential surface of the tub,
- a drum magnetic substance constructed of permanent magnets provided to a circumferential surface of the drum to have repulsive force provided to the drum from the tub magnetic substance, and
- a magnetic force amplifier for increasing the repulsive force between the tub magnetic substance and the drum magnetic substance,
- wherein the magnetic force amplifier comprises:
- a metal secured to a circumferential surface of the tub that is configured to support the tub magnetic substance;
- and
- a metal secured to a circumferential surface of the drum that is configured to support the drum magnetic substance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.