WO2020091399A1

WO2020091399A1 - Laundry treating apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2020091399A1
Application number: PCT/KR2019/014411
Authority: WO
Inventors: Cheongwoon KIM; Jeonghyun JI
Original assignee: Lg Electronics Inc.
Priority date: 2018-10-30
Filing date: 2019-10-30
Publication date: 2020-05-07
Also published as: KR20200048769A

Abstract

A laundry treating apparatus comprises a cabinet forming an external appearance, and a laundry accommodation portion provided inside the cabinet, accommodating laundry, wherein the cabinet may include a seating portion to which at least one of a buffering member for buffering external load or impact and a packing member for blocking a defect caused by friction from being generated is attached, and may further include a dispersion portion provided to disperse light reflected in the seating portion, preventing deformation or erosion of the seating portion from being externally identified.

Description

LAUNDRY TREATING APPARATUS

The present disclosure relates to a laundry treating apparatus.

Generally, a laundry treating apparatus includes an apparatus for washing laundry, an apparatus for drying laundry, and an apparatus for performing both washing and drying laundry. In this case, the laundry treating apparatus may perform only a washing or drying function, or may perform both washing and drying. Also, a washing machine provided with a steam supply apparatus has been recently popularized to provide a refresh function for eliminating wrinkles, bad smell and static electricity from clothes.

Meanwhile, a laundry treating apparatus of the related art is categorized into a front load type and a top load type in accordance with a loading direction of laundry. A typical example of such a horizontal loading type is a drum type washing machine or drum type drying machine.

The front load type laundry treating apparatus is provided with a front opening and a rotary shaft of a drum, which is parallel with the ground or tilted at a preset angle with respect to the ground. The top load type laundry treating apparatus is provided with a top opening and a rotary shaft of a drum, which is perpendicular to the ground.

Recently, a small sized auxiliary laundry treating apparatus suitable for frequent washing of a small amount of laundry such as baby clothes or underwear has appeared. The auxiliary laundry treating apparatus has an advantage in that it is used together with the existing laundry treating apparatus and thus a small amount of laundry is washed by the small sized laundry treating apparatus and a great amount of laundry or laundry with a great volume is washed with the larger laundry treating apparatus, whereby water and energy may be saved.

Also, the auxiliary laundry treating apparatus has an advantage in that it may be manufactured to be used separately from the existing laundry treating apparatus and thus space utility may be improved.

It is general that the auxiliary laundry treating apparatus includes a tub having a width longer than a height and thus a plurality of laundry treating apparatuses are stacked to carry during transportation.

A surface of each auxiliary laundry treating apparatus is covered with a PET film or vinyl or provided with a buffering member such as Styrofoam to avoid damage or breakage during transportation.

Meanwhile, a cabinet of the auxiliary laundry treating apparatus includes a mother member made of a metal material, and a coating film coated on a surface of the mother member to generate a gloss. The coating film serves to protect the mother member from external impact and prevent the mother member from being denatured by a chemical reaction with water, etc.

However, when overload is applied to the coating film in the same manner as that a plurality of laundry treating apparatuses are stacked, a problem may occur in that the coating film is deformed by the plastic vinyl or the buffering member or eroded by the chemical reaction.

Therefore, a problem may occur in that reliability of the product is deteriorated as surface deformation or erosion of the cabinet is externally exposed when the plastic film or the buffering member is removed in accordance with the completion of transportation.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus that can prevent a surface of a cabinet from being externally identified even though the surface of the cabinet is deformed by external impact or permanently contaminated or eroded through a chemical reaction.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus that can prevent a surface of a cabinet from being eroded by minimizing an area which is in contact with a buffering member or at least one of a PET film, HDPE and vinyl.

Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus that can prevent a cabinet from being deformed by enhancing strength of a portion which is in contact with a buffering member or at least one of a PET film, HDPE and vinyl.

Further still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus that can minimize identification of erosion or deformation on a surface of a cabinet by generating scattered reflection on the surface of the cabinet.

Further still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus that can minimize erosion or deformation on a surface of a cabinet.

To achieve the above objects of the present disclosure, a laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure comprises a cabinet forming an external appearance, and a laundry accommodation portion provided inside the cabinet, accommodating laundry, wherein the cabinet may include a seating portion to which at least one of a buffering member for buffering external load or impact and a packing member for blocking a defect caused by friction from being generated is attached, and may further include a dispersion portion provided to disperse light reflected in the seating portion, preventing deformation or erosion of the seating portion from being externally identified.

The dispersion portion may include a plurality of recess portion recessed or concaved from the seating portion to be spaced apart from the buffering member or the packing member even though the buffering member is arranged in the seating portion.

The recess portion may include inflection points provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated to the dispersion portion.

The recess portion may include sections fully provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated to the dispersion portion.

The dispersion portion may further include a contact portion provided to be extended between the respective recesses, supporting the buffering member or the packing member.

The contact portion may include inflection points provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated thereto.

The contact portion may include a section fully provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated thereto.

The contact portion may include inflection points provided with the same height as that of the seating portion.

The contact portion may include inflection points provided to be more protruded than an upper surface of the cabinet.

To achieve the above objects of the present disclosure, the dispersion portion may include a plurality of contact bumps provided to be protruded in the seating portion and provided to be in contact with the buffering member or the packing member.

The contact bumps may include a support surface on its upper end and a reflective surface at its side, the support surface supporting the buffering member or the packing member, and the reflective surface being spaced apart from the buffering member or the packing member.

The support surface may be provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated thereto.

The reflective surface may include an outer circumferential surface provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated thereto.

At this time, an interval between the respective contact bumps may be smaller than a diameter of the contact bump.

The cabinet may further include a mother member forming an external appearance, and a coating film externally exposed by coating the mother member. The seating portion may be provided to be in contact with the buffering member in a state that it is in contact with the packing member, and the dispersion portion may prevent deformation or erosion of the coating film from being externally identified even though the packing member erodes or deforms the coating film.

According to the present disclosure, a laundry treating apparatus is provided, which can prevent a surface of a cabinet from being externally identified even though the surface of the cabinet is deformed by external impact or permanently contaminated or eroded through a chemical reaction.

According to the present disclosure, a laundry treating apparatus is provided, which can prevent a surface of a cabinet from being eroded by minimizing an area which is in contact with a buffering member or at least one of a PET film, HDPE and vinyl.

According to the present disclosure, a laundry treating apparatus is provided, which can prevent a cabinet from being deformed by enhancing strength of a portion which is in contact with a buffering member or at least one of a PET film, HDPE and vinyl.

According to the present disclosure, a laundry treating apparatus is provided, which can minimize identification of erosion or deformation on a surface of a cabinet by generating scattered reflection on the surface of the cabinet.

According to the present disclosure, a laundry treating apparatus is provided, which can minimize erosion or deformation on a surface of a cabinet.

can allow a drawer to be drawn out from a cabinet only if an external force of a predetermined size or more is input to the drawer by supplying a force for maintaining a pressurized state of the drawer toward the inside of the cabinet to the drawer.

FIG. 1 illustrates an external appearance of a laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an inner structure of a laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a structure of a laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure, which is packaged for transportation.

FIG. 4 illustrates an erosion process of a laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a dispersion portion that can prevent or minimize erosion or deformation of a surface of a laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates functions and effects of the dispersion portion.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the dispersion portion.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that a configuration or a control method of an apparatus, which will be disclosed hereinafter, is intended to describe the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and is not intended to restrict the scope of the present disclosure. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

As shown in FIG. 1, a laundry treating apparatus 100 according to the present disclosure includes a cabinet 2, and a drawer 3 provided to be drawn out from the cabinet 2.

The cabinet 2 may be provided as a means for forming an external appearance of the laundry treating apparatus, or may simply be provided as a space for accommodating the drawer 3. In any case, an opening surface 21 through which the drawer 3 is inserted is preferably provided on a front surface of the cabinet 2.

The laundry treating apparatus 100 may further include a support 221 for supporting a separate laundry treating apparatus or guiding a buffering member to be coupled with the cabinet 2, on an upper surface 22 of the cabinet 2.

The support 221 may be provided at every corner of the upper surface 22 of the cabinet 2, wherein the respective supports may be spaced apart from each other at a certain interval.

The upper surface 22 of the cabinet 2 may be provided with a seating portion 222 to which the buffering member, which will be described later and is arranged between the supports 221, is fixed or to which a PET film or HDPE vinyl may be attached.

The drawer 3 includes a drawer body 31 inserted into the cabinet 2 through the opening surface 21, a drawer panel 33 fixed to the front surface of the drawer body 31, opening or closing the opening surface 21, and a drawer cover 35 for forming an upper surface of the drawer body 31. Since the drawer panel 33 is fixed to the front surface of the drawer body 31, the drawer panel 33 may serve as a handle for drawing out the drawer body 31 from the cabinet 2. The drawer panel 33 may be provided with a control panel 331 for inputting a control command related to an operation of the laundry treating apparatus 100 and displaying a message related to the operation of the laundry treating apparatus to a user.

The drawer body 31 may be inserted into the cabinet 2 through the opening surface 21, and FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a hollow drawer body 31 of a hexahedral shape.

The drawer cover 35 is provided with a first through hole 351 for communicating the insider of the drawer body 31 with the outside of the drawer body 31. An accommodating portion, which will be described later, may be provided inside the drawer body 31, and the first through hole 351 is provided for insertion and drawing-out of laundry.

The first through hole 351 is a portion through which the laundry is inserted or drawn out. Also, since the first through hole 351 has a structure through which a door 45, which will be described later, is opened or closed, the first through hole 351 is preferably formed with a structure that includes a straight line portion of a rear surface and a curved portion provided at both ends of the straight line portion. For example, the first through hole 351 may be provided in a semi-circle shape or a half track shape.

The first through hole 351 may be opened or closed by the door 45. The door 45 may include a frame 451 rotatably coupled through a hinge 453, a window 455 provided in the frame, and a door handle 457 for detachably coupling the frame 451 to the drawer cover 35 or an element accommodated in the drawer body 31.

The door 45 is upwardly or downwardly rotated through the hinge 453, and may open or close the first through hole 351. Preferably, the door 45 is rotated at only an upper portion based on the drawer cover. This is to allow a user to easily open or close the door 45 and not to be in contact with elements accommodated in the drawer 3. Therefore, the door 45 may be provided to be fixed onto the drawer cover 35.

The door 45 may be provided as a straight line at a place where the hinge 453 is provided, so as to be easily rotated based on the hinge 453, and may be provided as a curved line at a place where the hinge 453 is not provided, to easily insert or draw laundry into or out from the cabinet. That is, if both ends of the curved line are coupled with both ends of the straight line, it does not matter what curvature of the curved line is provided. For example, the door 45 may be provided in a semi-circle shape like the first through hole 351, or may be provided in a half track shape.

In this case, it is preferable that the through portion 351 is provided with the same shape as that of the door 45 but a magnification greater than that of the door 45. At this time, the handle 457 may be provided on the front surface of the frame 451 to allow the door 45 to be opened or closed with balance. That is, it is preferable that the handle 457 is provided symmetrically based on a center portion of the front of the frame 451. This is to allow self-load of the door 45 not to be concentrated on any one of left and right sides based on the center of the handle 457 when the door 45 is opened or closed. The window 455 may be made of a transparent material such that the user may check the inside of a tub body 41 when the drawer 3 is drawn out from the cabinet 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, laundry accommodating portions 4 and 5 for providing a space where water and laundry are accommodated may be provided inside the drawer 3.

The laundry accommodating portions 4 and 5 may include a tub 4 where water is stored and a drum 5 provided inside the tub to accommodate laundry therein.

The tub 4 includes a tub body 41 located inside the drawer body 31, storing water therein, and a tub cover 43 forming an upper surface of the tub body 41. The tub body 41 may be provided in an opened upper surface of a cylindrical shape, and a heater 411 for heating water may be provided inside the tub body 41.

The tub cover 43 may include an inlet 431 for communicating the inside of the tub body 41 with the outside of the tub body 41, and a supply hole 433 for allowing water to enter the inside of the tub body 41.

The inlet 431 should be provided below the first through hole 351 provided in the drawer cover, and the supply hole 433 is preferably provided to be connected with a second water supply pipe 75 which will be described later.

The inlet 431 is a means for supplying laundry to the inside of the tub body 41 or drawing laundry inside the tub body 41 out to the outside of the tub body, and is opened or closed by the door 45. At this time, the door 45 may detachably be provided in the tub cover 43.

Also, the door 45 may be provided to be fixed on an outer circumferential surface at an upper portion of the inlet 431. Since the door 45 is rotatably provided at the upper portion of the inlet 431, the door 45 may not be in contact with laundry or washing water stored in the tub body 41.

The tub 4 having the aforementioned structure is coupled to the drawer body 31 through a tub support 47, wherein the tub support 47 may include a first support 471 provided in the drawer body 31, a second support 473 provided in the tub body 41, and a connector for connecting the first support with the second support.

The connector 475 may include a first connector 475a fixed to the first support 471, a second connector 475b for supporting the second support 473, and a bar 475c for connecting the first connector with the second connector.

Preferably, the first connector 475a is provided in a shape fixed into the first support 471, moving inside the first support 471, and the second connector 475b is provided in a shape for supporting the second support 473 and moving in the second support 473.

In the present disclosure, since at least three tub supports 47 are provided to couple the tub body 41 to the drawer body 31 and the bar 475c is provided to be perpendicular to a bottom surface of the cabinet, an interval between the tub cover 43 and the drawer cover 35 may be more widened than the case that the bar 475c is provided to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a height direction of the drawer 3.

Therefore, the tub support 47 provided in the present disclosure may minimize the possibility that the tub cover 43 will collide with the drawer cover 35 even though the tub body 41 is vibrated inside the drawer body 31.

The drum 5 provided in the tub 4 may be provided as a cylindrical drum body 51 provided with an upper opening surface 53. Since the opening surface 53 is located below the inlet 431, laundry supplied through the inlet 431 will be supplied to the drum body 51 through the opening surface 53.

Meanwhile, a plurality of drum through holes 55 for communicating the inside of the drum body 51 with the tub body 41 may be provided on a bottom surface and a circumferential surface of the drum body 51.

The drum body 51 is rotated inside the tub body 41 by a driver, wherein the driver may include a stator M1 located outside the tub body 41 and fixed to the bottom surface of the tub body, a rotor M2 rotated by a rotating field provided by the stator, and a rotary shaft M3 provided to pass through the bottom surface of the tub body 41, connecting a bottom surface 57 of the drum with the rotor M2. The rotary shaft M3 may be provided to be perpendicular to the bottom surface of the tub body 41.

The laundry treating apparatus 100 having the aforementioned structure supplies water to the tub 4 through a water supply 7 and discharges the water stored in the tub 4 to the outside of the cabinet 2 through a drainage 8.

FIG. 3 illustrates a structure for packaging a laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure.

The laundry treating apparatus 100 of the present disclosure may be packed by a buffering member 11 to avoid any damage during transportation.

The buffering member 11 may be provided at every corner of the cabinet 2 such that each corner of the cabinet may not be exposed to the outside.

The buffering member 11 may include a lower buffering member 113 supporting load of the cabinet 2, provided on a lower surface of the cabinet 2, and an upper buffering member 111 provided at both sides of the upper surface of the cabinet 2.

The lower buffering member 113 may be provided with an area greater than the lower surface of the cabinet 2, and may be provided with a groove therein to accommodate the lower surface of the cabinet 2. Therefore, the lower buffering member 113 may protect the entire lower surface of the cabinet 2 as well as the corners of the outer circumferential surface of the cabinet 2. Also, even though the laundry treating apparatus 100 is vibrated during transportation, a position of the lower buffering member 113 coupled with the cabinet 2 may be prevented from being changed.

The upper buffering member 111 may be provided in a shape corresponding to the lower buffering member 113, but may be provided on only some corners of the cabinet 2 such that the upper buffering member may easily be removed after transportation.

However, the upper buffering member 111 may be provided to be in contact with four surfaces of the cabinet 2 such that the position where the upper buffering member 111 is provided in the cabinet 2 may be maintained and a portion may be protected as much as possible.

The upper buffering member 111 may be provided to be in surface contact with a seating portion 222 of the cabinet 2.

In detail, the upper buffering member 111 may include a seating portion body 111a provided in one side of the upper surface 22 of the cabinet 2, and a contact body 111b extended from both ends and one side end of the seating portion body 111a and provided to be in contact with some of the front surface, a rear surface and a side of the cabinet.

The contact body 111b may be provided to be extended from three corners of the seating portion body 111a perpendicularly, and a space formed by the contact body 111b and the seating portion body 111a may correspond to an upper side of the cabinet 2. Therefore, the upper buffering member 111 may be coupled to the cabinet 2 by a tight fit.

Meanwhile, the upper buffering member 111 may be provided at both sides of the upper surface of the cabinet. The buffering member 111 may further include an auxiliary buffering member 112 provided to protect the upper surface and one side of the cabinet 2, whereby a space between the upper buffering members 111 may be buffered.

The auxiliary buffering member 112 may have a section provided in an 'L' shape and provided on the upper surface of the cabinet 2.

Meanwhile, the upper surface 22 of the cabinet 2 is a portion exposed to the outside, and even though a small defect occurs on the upper surface of the cabinet 2, the small defect is remarkably noticed, whereby reliability of the product may be deteriorated. Therefore, the laundry treating apparatus 100 of the present disclosure may further be protected by a separate packing material 10 attached to the upper surface of the cabinet 2, preventing a defect from being generated.

The packing material 10 may be made of a plastic vinyl or PE film. Although FIG. 3 illustrates that the packing material 10 is made of a plastic vinyl, the packing material 10 may be made of a film such as HDPE or PE-BAG, which may be attached to the upper surface 22 of the cabinet 2.

Therefore, the packing material 10 may fundamentally prevent the upper surface of the cabinet 2 from being rubbed with the buffering member 11 or a separate component, thereby preventing a defect from being generated.

Also, the packing material 10 may be made of a transparent material to allow a user to easily check a state of the cabinet 2 even though the packing material 10 is not removed.

Although the packing material 10 may be provided to fully cover the upper surface of the cabinet 2, the packing material 10 may be provided in only an area corresponding to the portion where the buffering member 11 is provided.

FIG. 4 illustrates the possibility that the cabinet 2 may be eroded due to the packing material 10 and the buffering member 11.

Referring to FIG. 4(a), the cabinet 2 may include a seating portion 222 to which the buffering member 11 for buffering external load or impact is detachably attached.

The upper buffering member 111 or the auxiliary buffering member 112 may be in surface contact with the seating portion 222, or may first be in surface contact with the packing material 10.

Referring to FIG. 4(b), the cabinet 2 may include a mother member 22a forming an external appearance, and a coating film 22b exposed to the outside by coating a surface of the mother member. The mother member 22a may be made of a metal material to obtain high rigidity and strength, and the coating film 22b may prevent the mother member 22a from being eroded by preventing a surface of the mother member 22a made of a metal material from being in contact with an external environment. Also, the coating film 22b may be made of a material that can generate a gloss to improve an esthetic sense of the cabinet 2.

Meanwhile, the packing material 10 may be attached to an upper portion of the coating film 22b.

Also, when the packing material 10 is attached to the coating film 22b, a small amount of the air or water may remain between the coating films 22b. Also, when the cabinet 2 is arranged in an environment of high temperature and humidity, a chemical reaction may occur between the coating film 22b and the packing material 10, whereby the coating film 22b may permanently be eroded or contaminated.

Hereinafter, when the packing material 10 is made of PE material, the packing material 10 may be provided as (-CH2-CH2)n polymer. When OH- remains on the surface of the coating film 22b, an erosion process of the coating film 22b will be described. However, this process describes only an embodiment that the coating film 22b is eroded. The coating film 22b and the coating material 10 may be eroded in another way, or may be eroded due to the buffering member 11.

Referring to FIG. 4(c), the packing material 10 and the coating film 22b are arranged in an environment of high temperature and humidity, and a separate auxiliary laundry treating apparatus is stacked on the cabinet 2, whereby significant load may be added to the upper surface of the cabinet 2.

Under the circumstances, water may repeatedly be evaporated or added between the packing member 10 and the coating film 22b, and thermal expansion and contraction of the coating film 22b may be repeated, whereby the coating film 22b may be softened. Simultaneously, the OH- or CH2 of the packing material 10 may generate a chemical reaction.

Referring to FIG. 4(d), a chemical material generated as above may be permeated into the softened coating film 22b, whereby the coating film 22b may be dyed or its surface may be damaged. Simultaneously, the softened or contaminated coating film 22b may partially be removed while the packing member 10 is being removed from the coating film 22b.

As a result, polish of the coating film 22b may be deteriorated, a property of the coating film may permanently be deformed, or the surface of the coating film 22b may physically be damaged, that is, erosion 'p' may be generated.

Since the portion P where the coating film 22b is eroded is more noticed than the other portions of the coating film 22b, an esthetic sense may be reduced and reliability of the product may be deteriorated.

Therefore, it is required to prevent the coating film 22b of the seating portion 222 from being eroded or prevent erosion of the coating film 22b from being externally identified even though the coating film 22b is eroded. Since erosion of the coating film 22b does not mean erosion of the mother member 22a, it does not affect reliability of the product. Therefore, it does not matter whatever the coating film 22b is eroded if the erosion of the coating film 22b is not identified externally.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment that the seating portion 222 is prevented from being deformed or eroded, or erosion of the seating portion 222 is prevented from being externally identified.

The cabinet 2 of the laundry treating apparatus 100 according to the present disclosure may further include a dispersion portion 24 provided to disperse light reflected in the seating portion 22, preventing erosion or deformation of the seating portion from being externally identified.

The dispersion portion 24 may include a plurality of recess portion 242 recessed or concaved from the seating portion to be spaced apart from the buffering member 11 such that the buffering member 11 may be arranged in the seating portion 222, and a contact portion 241 provided to be extended between the respective recess portion 242, supporting the buffering member.

The recess portion 242 and the contact portion 241 may be provided in a single body with the seating portion 222 to perform press molding of the seating portion 222.

The recess portion 242 and the contact portion 241 may be provided such that their inflection points (upper end or lower end) may be curved surfaces, or may fully be provided as curved surfaces.

Also, the recess portion 242 and the contact portion 241 may be provided along a length direction of the upper buffering member 111 from the seating portion 222 to easily support the upper buffering member 111.

The recess portion 242 may be provided to be recessed or concaved as the lower portion of the seating portion 222, and the contact portion 241 may be provided at the same height as the seating portion 222. Therefore, the contact portion 241 may disperse external load together with the seating portion 222, whereby durability of the dispersion portion 24 may be improved.

Unlike the shown case, the contact portion 241 may be provided to be protruded as the upper portion of the seating portion 222, and lower ends of the recess portion 242 may be provided to be parallel with the seating portion 222. At this time, the contact portion 241 may be in contact with the packing member 10 or the buffering member 11, whereby contamination or deformation of the seating portion 222 may be avoided in advance.

FIG. 6 illustrates effects of the dispersion portion 24.

FIGS. 6(a) and 6(c) illustrate that the dispersion portion is not provided in the seating portion 222, and FIGS. 6(b) and 6(d) illustrate that the dispersion portion 24 is provided in the seating portion 222.

Referring to FIG. 6(a), the packing material 10 or the buffering member 11 may be arranged on the seating portion 222. At this time, since a section of the seating portion 222 is provided in a straight line, the packing material 10 or the buffering member 11 may be arranged on an entire area S1 of the seating portion 222.

Referring to FIG. 6(b), since the packing material 10 or the buffering member 11 is fully arranged on the seating portion 222, the eroded portion P may exist on the entire surface of the seating portion 222.

Also, since the seating portion 222 is provided in a flat surface, light irradiated to the seating portion 222 may uniformly be reflected. Therefore, if light is irradiated to the seating portion 222, light is reflected in the eroded portion P as it is, whereby the eroded portion P of the seating portion 222 may externally be identified as it is.

As a result, if the dispersion portion 24 is not provided, the eroded portion P may excessively be generated in the seating portion 222, and may externally be identified as it is.

Referring to FIG. 6(b), only an area s2 on an upper end of the contact portion 241 may be in contact with the packing member 10 or the buffering member 11. That is, since the area corresponding to the recess portion 242 is not in contact with the packing member 10 and the buffering member 11, the area where the seating portion 222 is in contact with the packing member 10 and the buffering member 111 is remarkably reduced, whereby the eroded portion P may remarkably be reduced (see FIG. 6(d)).

Also, the light irradiated to the contact portion 241 is reflected symmetrically to a vertical line of a tangent line of the contact portion 241. Meanwhile, if an inflection point (upper end) of the contact portion 241 is provided in a curved line, a tangent angle may be different per each point for forming the inflection point of the contact portion 241. At this time, since the inflection point of the contact portion 241 is an area where erosion P may be generated, a direction 'I' of light may be reflected differently per the inflection point.

As a result, since scattered reflection is generated in the eroded portion P of the contact portion 241 and thus light is not delivered to one place, identification of the eroded portion P may be reduced.

At this time, if the entire section of the contact portion 241 as well as the inflection points of the contact portion 241 is provided, scattered reflection of light is generated in the contaminated portion P and a portion where contamination is not generated, whereby the contaminated portion P may be prevented from being externally identified.

Meanwhile, sections of the recess portion 242 and the inflection point (lower end) may be provided in curved surfaces. Therefore, a reflected direction II of light irradiated to the inflection points of the recess portion 242 may be varied per inflection point. Since the coating film 22b of the recess portion 242 may be maintained without being contaminated, the light II reflected from the inflection points of the recess portion 242 delivers visual information of the coating film 22b of a normal state. At this time, the light II reflected from the inflection points of the recess portion 242 and the light I reflected from the eroded portion P may be overlapped with each other. Therefore, the light I reflected from the eroded portion P may fade or its resolution may be reduced, whereby identification of the eroded portion P may be reduced.

Moreover, since the entire section of the recess portion 242 is provided in a curved surface, the light irradiated from the recess portion 242 is reflected by being dispersed in various directions, visual information of the coating film 22b of a normal state may be delivered to almost all portions. As a result, the eroded portion P may be almost prevented from being externally identified even though the eroded portion P exists.

As a result, since the inflection points of the recess portion 242 or the entire recess portion 242 are provided in curved surfaces to disperse at least a portion of the light irradiated to the dispersion portion 24 and reflect the light in various directions II, the eroded portion P of the contact portion 241 may be prevented from being externally identified.

Meanwhile, a width of the recess portion 242 may be provided more longitudinally than a width S2 of the contact portion 241. As a result, the recess portion 242 may deliver the light reflected from the coating film 22b of a normal state to more portions.

Moreover, since the inflection points of the contact portion 241 or the entire contact portion 241 are also provided in curved surfaces to reflect at least a portion of the light irradiated to the dispersion portion 24 in various directions I, identification of the eroded portion P of the contact portion 241 may remarkably be reduced.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the dispersion portion 24.

The dispersion portion 24 may include a plurality of contact bumps 244 provided to be protruded from the seating portion 222.

The contact bumps 244 may include a support surface 244a on its upper end and a reflective surface 244b on its side, wherein the support surface 244a supports the buffering member or the packing member, and the reflective surface 244b is spaced apart from the buffering member or the packing member.

The support surface 244a may have the eroded portion P due to the buffering member or the packing member. Therefore, the support surface 244a may be provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of the light which is irradiated. Therefore, the eroded portion P may be prevented from being externally identified.

Meanwhile, an outer circumferential surface of the reflective surface 224b may be provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light which is irradiated. For example, a section of the contact bump 244 may be provided in a circle or an oval shape.

Therefore, since the light irradiated to the reflective surface 224b is dispersed in all directions, the light reflected from the coating film 22b of a normal state may be delivered to more portions.

Meanwhile, an interval L between the contact pumps 244 may be smaller than a dimeter D1 of each contact bump 244.

Therefore, even though the contact bumps 244 may be provided to be protruded from the seating portion 222, the contact bumps 244 may uniformly support the buffering member 11 or the packing member 10. Also, since the light irradiated to the reflective surface 224b or the light irradiated toward the seating portion 222 may be diffuse-reflected at least once, the eroded portion may certainly be prevented from being externally identified.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention. Thus, the above embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention should be determined by reasonable interpretation of the appended claims and all change which comes within the equivalent scope of the invention are included in the scope of the invention.

Claims

A laundry treating apparatus comprising:

a cabinet forming an external appearance; and

a laundry accommodation portion provided inside the cabinet, accommodating laundry,

wherein the cabinet includes a seating portion to which at least one of a buffering member for alleviating external load or impact and a packing member for blocking a defect caused by friction from being generated is detachably attached,

and further includes a dispersion portion provided to disperse light reflected in the seating portion, preventing deformation or erosion of the seating portion from being externally identified.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the dispersion portion includes a plurality of recess portion concaved from the seating portion to be spaced apart from the buffering member or the packing member even though the buffering member is arranged in the seating portion.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 2, wherein the recess portion includes inflection points provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated to the dispersion portion.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 3, wherein the recess portion includes sections fully provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated to the dispersion portion.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 2, wherein the dispersion portion further includes a contact portion provided to be extended between the respective recess portion, supporting the buffering member or the packing member.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 5, wherein the contact portion includes inflection points provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated thereto.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 6, wherein the contact portion includes a section fully provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated thereto.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 5, wherein the contact portion includes inflection points provided with the same height as that of the seating portion.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 5, wherein the contact portion includes inflection points provided to be more protruded than an upper surface of the cabinet.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the dispersion portion includes a plurality of contact bumps provided to be protruded in the seating portion and provided to be in contact with the buffering member or the packing member.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 10, wherein the contact bumps include a support surface on its upper end and a reflective surface at its side, the support surface supporting the buffering member or the packing member, and the reflective surface being spaced apart from the buffering member or the packing member.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the support surface is provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated thereto.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 11, wherein the reflective surface includes an outer circumferential surface provided in a curved surface to disperse and reflect at least a portion of light irradiated thereto.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 13, wherein an interval between the respective contact bumps is smaller than a diameter of the contact bump and thus the irradiated light is reflected from the reflective surface.
The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cabinet further includes a mother member forming an external appearance, and a coating film externally exposed by coating the mother member, the seating portion is provided to be in contact with the buffering member in a state that it is in contact with the packing member, and the dispersion portion prevents deformation or erosion of the coating film from being externally identified even though the packing member erodes or deforms the coating film.