WO2021145561A1

WO2021145561A1 - Compressor, and laundry treating apparatus having the compressor

Info

Publication number: WO2021145561A1
Application number: PCT/KR2020/017816
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sangbaek Park; Cheolhwan Kim; Yoonsung Choi
Original assignee: Lg Electronics Inc.
Priority date: 2020-01-16
Filing date: 2020-12-08
Publication date: 2021-07-22
Also published as: KR20210092516A; KR102431981B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a compressor that heats steam and a laundry treating apparatus to which the compressor is applied. The compressor may have a structure to prevent condensation of steam therein or to discharge condensed steam therein.

Description

COMPRESSOR, AND LAUNDRY TREATING APPARATUS HAVING THE COMPRESSOR

The present disclosure relates to a compressor that compresses air or moisture and a laundry treating apparatus to which the compressor is applied.

In general, a laundry treating apparatus includes a washing machine that may perform a washing process that removes foreign substances from laundry, a dryer that performs a drying process that removes moisture from the laundry, and a refresher that performs a refreshing process to remove dust or bacteria from the laundry (the refresher's brand name is Trom Styler from LGE).

In recent years, not only the dryer, but also the washing machine and the refresher are configured to supply at least one of hot air or steam, so that the drying process may be performed.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional laundry treating apparatus capable of performing the drying process (refer to Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2017-0095299).

Referring to FIG. 1A, the conventional laundry treating apparatus includes a cabinet 100 forming an exterior appearance, a drum 200 rotatably disposed inside the cabinet 100 to accommodate laundry, a driver 300 that rotates the drum 200, a hot air supply 420 that is connected to the drum to supply hot air into the drum, and a circulator 500 that supports or mount thereon the hot air supply 420.

The driver 300 may include a belt 340 that is wound around an outer circumferential face of the drum 200 to transmit power of the driver. The driver 300 may rotate the drum 200 by rotating the belt 340. As a result, laundry contained in the drum 200 may be evenly exposed to the hot air.

The circulator 500 and the drum 200 may be communicated with each other through a drying duct 410. The drying duct 410 may include a discharge duct 411 communicating with one side of the drum 200 to allow moisture of the laundry and air that has passed through the laundry to be discharged from the drum 200; and an intake duct 412 that is connected to either one side or the other side of the drum and sucks air that has passed through the hot air supply 420 back to the drum 200.

The hot air supply 420 may include heat exchangers such as an evaporator 422 and a condenser 423 and may be configured to dry and heat air passing through the circulator 500. In another example, although not shown, the hot air supply 420 may further include a blow fan that delivers the air inside the drum 200 to the circulator 500.

The hot air supply 420 includes the evaporator 422 cooling the air that has passed through the discharge duct 411, a compressor that compresses and heats the refrigerant that has passed through the evaporator, the condenser 423 that heats air with the refrigerant passing through the compressor to generate high-temperature dry hot air, and an expansion valve that expands the refrigerant passing through the condenser 423 to lower the temperature. That is, the hot air supply 420 may be configured as a heat pump.

When the hot air supply 420 is activated, the refrigerant compressed to high temperature and high pressure in the compressor passes through the condenser 423 to dissipate heat. Then, the refrigerant flows into the expansion valve and expands to low temperature and low pressure therein. The refrigerant flows into the evaporator 422, absorbs heat, and flows back into the compressor and then is compressed therein. That is, the condenser 423 may emit heat to surroundings, and the evaporator 422 may absorb the surrounding heat.

In the conventional laundry treating apparatus, when the blow fan operates, the air inside the drum 200 may be discharged to the circulator 500, and then flow back into the drum 200 and thus may be circulated.

The air introduced into the circulator 500 may be first exposed to the evaporator 422 and cooled, and moisture contained in the air may condense. Thereafter, the air from which moisture has been removed while passing through the evaporator 422 may be exposed to the condenser 423 and may be heated to a high temperature. Via this process, the air may be converted into dry hot air. The air heated in the condenser 423 flows back into the drum 200 and comes into contact with the laundry to dry the laundry. The air that passed through the laundry passes through the evaporator 422 again and is cooled. The moisture contained in the air may be condensed and removed.

In this way, the conventional laundry treating apparatus has performed the drying process by circulating the refrigerant in the hot air supply 420. The heat pump scheme has an advantage of being more energy efficient than a scheme of heating air directly with a heater using electric energy.

However, the conventional laundry treating apparatus having the hot air supply including the compressor that compresses the refrigerant provided separately from air has a fundamental problem that a separate device is required to store, receive and circulate the refrigerant that does not directly contact laundry.

In other words, even though the refrigerant does not come into contact with laundry at all, in order to cool or heat the air discharged from the drum, a separate circuit component to accommodate or circulate the refrigerant must be installed inside the laundry treating apparatus.

Further, there is a possibility that the refrigerant could be exposed to the air and contaminate the laundry. In particular, when the refrigerant is flammable, there is a risk that a fire could occur in the laundry treating apparatus.

Further, the hot air supply including the compressor and a plurality of heat exchanger expansion valves is bulky and complex in configuration. Therefore, the conventional laundry treating apparatus had the disadvantage in which an additional installation space in addition to the drum accommodating the laundry is secured in order to install the hot air supply.

Further, the hot air supply requires two heat exchangers to be installed in the circulator through which air flows. Thus, there is a problem that an overload occurs on the blow fan.

Moreover, the conventional laundry treating apparatus equipped with the hot air supply using the refrigerant has the disadvantage of having to cool the hot air discharged from the drum directly through the evaporator. In other words, since the energy of the high-temperature and humid air as discharged from the drum cannot be utilized at all, there is a fundamental problem that energy loss is caused and thus energy is wasted.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus capable of compressing and heating air or moisture discharged from the drum.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus capable of heating air or moisture flowing into the drum by compressing a portion of air or moisture discharged from the drum.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus that may utilize the energy contained in air discharged from the drum.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus capable of omitting a device for circulating refrigerant supplied separately from air or moisture, storing the refrigerant.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus that may reduce the number of times air input to the drum collides with a heat exchanger.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a compressor that prevents moisture from condensing therein while compressing air containing moisture, or a laundry treating apparatus to which the compressor is applied.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a compressor that may prevent the moisture from condensing into water even when air containing moisture is compressed, or a laundry treating apparatus to which the compressor is applied.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a compressor capable of continuously inhaling and compressing air or moisture even when moisture is accumulated therein, or a laundry treating apparatus to which the compressor is applied.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a compressor capable of removing condensed moisture or a laundry treating apparatus to which the compressor is applied.

In order to achieve the above purposes, the present disclosure provides a steam compressor, a positive displacement compressor, or a laundry treating apparatus in which the compressor is installed. However, the compressor may generate condensed water due to a temperature difference between 15 to 30 ℃outside air and 100℃ or higher of inhaled air. The condensed water may reduce the compressing volume of the compressor. Therefore, the compressor may need thermal insulation.

The compressor may be implemented as a scroll compressor, and may include, on an inlet side of the compressor, a channel through which condensed water may flow out of a compression space.

Further, the compressor may include a thermal insulator as a separate structure covering an outer face thereto. The thermal insulator may be configured to remove condensed water beforehand.

The compressor may be implemented as a scroll compressor. Therefore, the thermal insulator may thermally insulate a fixed scroll with outside air using the inhaled fluid.

In order to achieve the above purposes, the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may include a thermal insulator that defines a space between the outside air and the compressing space and allows the working fluid to pass therethrough. The thermal insulator may block heat loss due to metal conduction, and may minimize the occurrence of condensed water in the compression space, and may facilitate condensed water management.

In order to achieve the above purposes, the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may include a space in which an outer face of a portion or an entirety of the compressor is surrounded with the inhaled fluid for thermal insulation in the compressor using steam as the working fluid, and a series channel structure to allow the inhaled fluid to pass through the corresponding space.

In order to achieve the above purposes, the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may include a space in which an outer face of a portion or an entirety of the compressor is surrounded with the inhaled fluid for thermal insulation in the compressor using steam as the working fluid, and a parallel channel structure to allow a portion of the inhaled fluid to flow into the corresponding space.

In order to achieve the above purposes, the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may include a space in which an outer face of a portion or an entirety of the compressor is surrounded with discharged fluid for thermal insulation in the compressor using steam as the working fluid, and a series channel structure to allow the discharged fluid to pass through the corresponding space.

In order to achieve the above purposes, the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may include a space in which an outer face of a portion or an entirety of the compressor is surrounded with discharged fluid for thermal insulation in the compressor using steam as the working fluid, and a parallel channel structure to allow a portion of the discharged fluid to flow into the corresponding space.

An effect of the present disclosure may realize the laundry treating apparatus capable of compressing and heating air or moisture discharged from the drum.

An effect of the present disclosure may realize the laundry treating apparatus capable of heating air or moisture flowing into the drum by compressing a portion of air or moisture discharged from the drum.

An effect of the present disclosure may realize the laundry treating apparatus that may utilize the energy contained in air discharged from the drum.

An effect of the present disclosure may realize the laundry treating apparatus capable of omitting a device for circulating refrigerant supplied separately from air or moisture, storing the refrigerant.

An effect of the present disclosure may realize the laundry treating apparatus that may reduce the number of times air input to the drum collides with a heat exchanger.

An effect of the present disclosure may realize a compressor that prevents moisture from condensing therein while compressing air containing moisture, or a laundry treating apparatus to which the compressor is applied.

An effect of the present disclosure may realize a compressor that may prevent the moisture from condensing into water even when air containing moisture is compressed, or a laundry treating apparatus to which the compressor is applied.

An effect of the present disclosure may realize a compressor capable of continuously inhaling and compressing air or moisture even when moisture is accumulated therein, or a laundry treating apparatus to which the compressor is applied.

An effect of the present disclosure may realize a compressor capable of removing condensed moisture or a laundry treating apparatus to which the compressor is applied.

Effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above effects. Those skilled in the art may readily derive various effects of the present disclosure from various configurations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional laundry treating apparatus.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of an operation of a laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a structure of a laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a compressor according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows an internal structure of the compressor according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a structure of storing moisture separately in the compressor according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows a structure for discharging moisture from the compressor according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of a compressor according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 shows still another embodiment of a compressor according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 shows still yet another embodiment of a compressor according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 shows still yet another embodiment of a compressor according to the present disclosure.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numbers in different figures represent the same or similar elements, and as such perform similar functionality. Further, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be understood that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present disclosure.

Examples of various embodiments are illustrated and described further below. It will be understood that the description herein is not intended to limit the claims to the specific embodiments described. On the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a" and "an" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", and "including" when used in this specification, specify the presence of the stated features, integers, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, operations, elements, components, and/or portions thereof. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Expression such as "at least one of" when preceding a list of elements may modify the entire list of elements and may not modify the individual elements of the list.

It will be understood that, although the terms "first", "second", "third", and so on may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section described below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

In addition, it will also be understood that when a first element or layer is referred to as being present "on" or "beneath" a second element or layer, the first element may be disposed directly on or beneath the second element or may be disposed indirectly on or beneath the second element with a third element or layer being disposed between the first and second elements or layers.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being "connected to", or "coupled to" another element or layer, it may be directly on, connected to, or coupled to the other element or layer, or one or more intervening elements or layers may be present. In addition, it will also be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being "between" two elements or layers, it may be the only element or layer between the two elements or layers, or one or more intervening elements or layers may also be present.

Further, as used herein, when a layer, film, region, plate, or the like is disposed "on" or "on a top" of another layer, film, region, plate, or the like, the former may directly contact the latter or still another layer, film, region, plate, or the like may be disposed between the former and the latter. As used herein, when a layer, film, region, plate, or the like is directly disposed "on" or "on a top" of another layer, film, region, plate, or the like, the former directly contacts the latter and still another layer, film, region, plate, or the like is not disposed between the former and the latter. Further, as used herein, when a layer, film, region, plate, or the like is disposed "below" or "under" another layer, film, region, plate, or the like, the former may directly contact the latter or still another layer, film, region, plate, or the like may be disposed between the former and the latter. As used herein, when a layer, film, region, plate, or the like is directly disposed "below" or "under" another layer, film, region, plate, or the like, the former directly contacts the latter and still another layer, film, region, plate, or the like is not disposed between the former and the latter.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this inventive concept belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

FIG. 2 shows a structure of a laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, a laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a cabinet 100 forming an exterior appearance, a laundry receiver 200 disposed inside the cabinet to accommodate laundry, and a circulator 500 connected to the laundry receiver to circulate air containing moisture as discharged from the laundry contained inside the laundry receiver.

The laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a branched heating assembly 600 that extracts and compresses air of the circulator 500, and heats air flowing through the circulator 500 using the compressed air. Accordingly, the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be free of the hot air supply that heats air of the drum 200 while circulating refrigerant which is required in the conventional laundry treating apparatus. That is, the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may replace the conventional heat pump system with the branched heating assembly 600.

Thus, the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may replace the conventional heat pump system with the branched heating assembly 600, and may save a space in which the heat pump is installed. Further, the refrigerant itself is not used such that there is no need to store or accommodate the refrigerant. There is an effect of increasing the convenience of installation since there is no need to consider leakage of the refrigerant. Further, the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure does not need to consider a channel through which the refrigerant moves, and thus has an advantage of simplifying a structure of the circulator 500.

In one example, the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may be implemented as a dryer. However, the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may be implemented as a washing machine or a refresher as long as the branched heating assembly 600 may be applied thereto. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, an example in which the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is implemented as a dryer will be described.

The laundry receiver 200 of the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented as a drum 200 rotatably disposed in the cabinet 100. Further, the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a driver 300 rotating the drum 200. The driver 300 may include a pulley and a belt 340 as in the conventional laundry treating apparatus. However, as long as the drum 200 may be rotated, the driver 300 may be implemented as a DD type driver and configured to directly rotate a rotatable shaft coupled to the drum 200.

In the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the circulator 500 may be disposed under the drum 200 as in the conventional laundry treating apparatus. However, the circulator 500 may be disposed on a side or a top of the drum, as long as the circulator communicates with the drum 200 to supply high-temperature hot air to the drum 200. Further, the circulator 500 of the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented as a circulation type circulator in which the circulator 500 communicates with both ends of the drum 200 through a drying duct 410. However, as long as hot air may be supplied to the drum 200, the circulator 500 may be implemented as an exhaust type circulator rather than the circulation type circulator. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, an example in which the circulator of the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is implemented as the circular type circulator will be described.

The circulator 500 and the drum 200 may be communicated with each other through the drying duct 410 as in the conventional laundry treating apparatus. The drying duct 410 may include a discharge duct 411 that communicates with one side of the drum 200 to allow the moisture of the laundry and air that has passed through the laundry to be discharged from the drum 200, and an intake duct 412 communicating with either one side or the other side of the drum to suck air back into the drum 200. The circulator 500 may further include a blow fan that moves the air of the drum 200 to the circulator 500, or injects the air of the circulator 500 to the drum 200.

The circulator 500 according to the present disclosure may include a first duct 510 communicating with the discharge duct 411 and receiving the air from the drum 200, an air flowing channel 520 in which the air introduced through the first duct 510 flows and is heated by the branched heating assembly 600, and a second duct 540 communicating with the intake duct 412 to guide the air that has passed through the air flowing channel 520 to the drum 200. Further, a blow fan 570 is installed in the circulator 500 so that the air inside the drum 200 may be circulated through the circulator 500. Accordingly, air of the drum 200 may flow into the first duct 510, pass through the air flowing channel 520, and then flow back into the drum 200 through the second duct 540.

The branched heating assembly 600 may be configured to heat the air flowing through the circulator 500 without separate refrigerant. Specifically, the branched heating assembly 600 may include a branched pipe 630 that extracts a portion of the air flowing through the circulator 500, a steam compressor 610 that compresses air introduced into the branched pipe, and a heat supply 620 that is disposed inside the circulator and heats air circulating through the circulator using the air compressed by the steam compressor.

The air flowing through the circulator 500 may evaporate moisture contained in the laundry contained in the drum 200. That is, air flowing through the circulator 500 may include moisture delivered from the laundry. Thus, the steam compressor 610 may simultaneously compress not only air but also moisture discharged from the laundry. Therefore, even when air itself is incompressible, the moisture contained in the air is compressed, so that the air injected from the steam compressor 610 may be compressed to high temperature and high pressure. In this connection, the air compressed to high temperature and high pressure in the steam compressor 610 may contain high temperature steam.

Further, high-temperature and high-pressure air or steam compressed by the steam compressor 610 may be transferred to the heat supply 620 through a heat supply pipe 650. The heat supply pipe 650 may be configured to pass through the heat supply 620. The heat supply 620 may be implemented as a heat exchanger and may be configured to dissipate heat of air passing through the heat supply pipe 650 to the outside.

The heat supply 620 may be installed inside the circulator 500. The heat supply 620 may be placed on the air flowing channel 520 to heat air or moisture flowing through the circulator 500. Accordingly, the heat supply 620 may exchange heat between air discharged from the drum 200 and passing through the circulator 500 and the air passing through the heat supply pipe 650.

Further, hot air or steam flowing through the heat supply pipe 650 may be heat exchanged with air or moisture passing through the circulator 500. As a result, air discharged from the drum 200 and not flowing into the branched pipe 630 but introduced into the air flowing channel 520 may be heated while passing through the circulator 500. The air heated while passing through the heat supply 620 flows back into the drum 200 and may dry the laundry. The air containing moisture while drying the laundry may be discharged from the drum 200 again, and a portion thereof may flow into the branched pipe 630. The rest thereof may flow into the air flowing channel 520 and then may be heat exchanged with the portion thereof in the heat supply 620. As a result, the portion of the air of the drum 200 may be continuously circulated and heated, thereby to dry the laundry of the drum 200.

Further, the air introduced into the steam compressor 610 may be heated to a higher temperature as the moisture contained therein increases. Therefore, since the drum 200 is in a low temperature state at beginning of a drying process, moisture contained in the laundry may not evaporate easily. Therefore, driving the steam compressor 610 at the beginning of the drying cycle may decrease efficiency. In some cases, the drying process itself may not be possible because the air that has passed through the steam compressor 610 is not heated.

In order to solve this situation, the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a heater H inside the circulator 500 that directly heats air flowing through the circulator 500. The heater H may be implemented using any configuration as long as the heater H may receive energy and dissipate heat. An example thereof may be a sheath heater.

To evaporate moisture from the laundry contained in the drum 200, the heater H may be placed inside the drum 200 or placed in the circulator 500. In an example, the heater H may be placed in the circulator 500, and will become high temperature due to the air input to the drum 200. Thus the heater H may dry the laundry faster, such that the humidity of the air discharged to the drum 200 may be increased more quickly. The heater H may be placed on the second duct 540 so that air passing through the circulator 500 may be injected into the drum 200 without heat loss.

The branched heating assembly 600 may further include an opening/closing switch 640 that controls opening and closing of the branched pipe 630. The opening/closing switch 640 may be implemented as a valve that controls the opening and closing of the branched pipe 630. The branched heating assembly 600 may include an opening/closing controller 651 that controls the opening/closing switch 640 to control the opening and closing of the branched pipe 630.

When the opening/closing controller 651 detects that the humidity of the air flowing through the branched pipe 630 or the circulator 500 is higher than a reference value, or receives a signal indicating that the humidity is higher than the reference value, the opening/closing controller 651 may control the opening/closing switch 640 to open the branched pipe 630. To this end, a humidity sensor may be placed in the circulator 500, or the opening/closing controller 651 itself may be configured to detect the humidity. The reference value may correspond to a minimum humidity at which the steam compressor 610 may compress air to generate a heating effect.

Thus, the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may circulate the air of the drum 200 to the circulator 500 while activating the blow fan 570 and the heater H initially. In this process, as the circulating air is heated by the heater H, the air may be dried at a high temperature, and then humidity thereof may increase as the air comes into contact with the laundry of the drum 200. When the humidity is above or equal to the reference value, the opening/closing controller 651 may control the opening/closing switch 640 to open the branched pipe. A portion of air flowing through the circulator 500 flows into the branched pipe 630 and may be completely heated by the steam compressor 610. This allows the heated air to pass through the heat supply 620 and then heat a remaining portion of air flowing through the circulator 500. Air flowing passing through the heat supply 620 and flowing through the circulator 500 flows into the drum 200, thereby allowing the laundry in the drum 200 to be dried faster.

In this process, the heater H may be activated simultaneously with the steam compressor 610 to further heat the air passing through the second duct 540. Further, when the steam compressor 610 starts to operate, the heater H may be controlled to stop an operation thereof. Further, the steam compressor 610 and the heater H may be controlled to be activated simultaneously only for a certain period of time.

Further, the air introduced through the branched pipe 630 may flow along the steam compressor 610 and the heat supply pipe 650 and then flow into the drum 200.

However, the air that has passed through the heat supply 620 may be cooled while exchanging heat with the air that has passed through the circulator 500, and thus may not make great contribution to drying the laundry of the drum 200. Further, the air passing through the heat supply 620 may be cooled while heat exchanging with the air passing through the circulator 500, so that moisture may be partially condensed. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to inject the cooled air back into the drum 200.

Therefore, air that has passed through the heat supply 620 may not flow into the drum 200, but may be in communication with and stored in a condensed water collector 534 or a collecting container 560 disposed separately from the drum 200. As a result, air introduced into the branched pipe 630 may be finally discharged to the collecting container 560, and condensed water may be collected into the collecting container 560.

The circulator 500 may further include a filter 513 configured to remove foreign substances such as lint from the air discharged from the drum 200. As a result, it is possible to reduce the amount of foreign substances such as lint flowing into the steam compressor 610, thereby maintaining the performance of the steam compressor 610. Further, it is possible to prevent accumulation of foreign substances such as lint in the heat supply 620 to maintain the heat exchange efficiency of the heat supply 620. Furthermore, foreign substances such as lint discharged from the drum 200 may be prevented from entering the drum 200 again and re-contaminating the laundry.

Further, since a portion of air flowing through the drum 200 and the circulator 500 repeatedly flows out into the collecting container 560, there is a problem that the pressure inside the drum 200 may be continuously reduced. Furthermore, since the air flowing through the drum 200 and circulator 500 is continuously heated but is not cooled, there is a problem that the temperature inside the cabinet 100 rises rapidly.

To prevent this situation, one embodiment of the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may further include an outside air supply assembly 700 to supply outside air outside the cabinet 100 to the drum 200 or the circulator 560, or to allow the outside air to flow into the cabinet 100.

The outside air supply assembly 700 may include an outside air supply pipe 710 passing through the cabinet 100 to guide the outside air outside the cabinet to the inside of the cabinet, an outside air discharge pipe 760 to discharge the air introduced into the outside air supply pipe 710 back to the outside out of the cabinet 100, and a communicator 750 capable of introducing the air supplied to the outside air supply pipe 710 to the drum or circulator.

The outside air supply pipe 710 may be connected to the circulator 500 via the communicator 750. Further, the outside air supply pipe 710 may be connected to the outside air discharge pipe 760 via the communicator 750. The communicator 750 may be implemented as a combination of a branched pipe and a three-way valve that controls the opening and closing of the branched pipe.

When at least one of the pressure, temperature, or humidity of the air flowing through the circulator 500 exceeds a specific value, a controller of the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may control the communicator 750 such that the air outside the cabinet 100 may be introduced into the circulator 500. As a result, the air flowing through the circulator 500 may be diluted with the outside air to recover the pressure or lower the temperature or humidity.

The outside air supply assembly 700 may further include a supply fan 730 that generates a negative pressure inside the outside air supply pipe 710 so that the outside air may be more effectively introduced into the outside air supply pipe 710.

In one example, the outside air supply assembly 700 may further include a heat collector 720 that cools the air flowing through the heat supply pipe 650 using air flowing from the outside air supply pipe 700 to condense moisture in the air.

The heat collector 720 may be implemented as a heat exchanger and may be configured to pass through both the outside air supply pipe 700 and the heat supply pipe 750. As a result, the air passing through the heat supply pipe 650 may be first cooled with the air passing through the circulator 500 in the heat supply 620. As the air passes through the heat collector 720, the air may be second cooled with air passing through the outside air supply pipe 700. Therefore, even when the air passing through the heat supply pipe 650 is not sufficiently cooled while passing through the circulator 500 or the moisture contained in the air is not sufficiently condensed, the air may be sufficiently cooled as the air passes through the heat collector 720, and the contained moisture therein may be condensed in a considerable amount.

Therefore, low-temperature and low-pressure air is discharged to the condensed water collector 534 or the collecting container 560, so that unnecessary heating of the interior of the cabinet 100 including the condensed water collector 534 or the collecting container 560 may be prevented. At the same time, a large amount of water evaporated from the laundry may be collected in the condensed water collector 534 or the collecting container 560.

Further, the outside air heated while passing through the heat collector 720 may be introduced into the circulator 500 through the communicator 750 as necessary. Accordingly, it is possible to lower the humidity of the air inside the circulator 500 or further heat the air flowing through the circulator 500 to improve the drying performance of the air flowing through the circulator 500.

In one example, the branched heating assembly 600 may further include pressure reducing means 660 capable of reducing the pressure of air or steam that has passed through the heat collector 720. The pressure reducing means 660 may be implemented using any configuration as long as it is coupled to the heat supply pipe 650 to reduce the pressure of the flowing fluid. For example, the pressure reducing means 660 may be implemented as an expansion valve.

The pressure reducing means 660 may reduce the pressure of the air which has been raised by the steam compressor 610 back to the pressure inside the cabinet 100. Thus, the pressure inside the collecting container 560 may be maintained in an equilibrium state with the pressure inside the cabinet 100. Thereby, the collecting container 560 may be formed of a general plastic barrel. The supply pipe 650 and the collecting container 560 may be connected to each other in an unsealed state. That is, the water in the supply pipe 650 may be collected in the collecting container 560, but the air inside the supply pipe 650 may be discharged out of the collecting container 560.

Further, even when the collecting container 560 is withdrawn out of the cabinet 100 and the collected water is thrown out, safety accidents that may occur due to sudden expansion of moisture or air may be prevented.

In one example, due to the outside air supply assembly 700, a large amount of outside air may flow into the drum 200. The drum 200 is not completely sealed and as a result the outside air may enter the cabinet 100. Therefore, the inside of the cabinet 100 may maintain a low temperature and low humidity state due to the outside air supply assembly 700 even when the air inside the supply pipe 650 flows in the cabinet 100 or air of high temperature and high humidity from the drum 200 flows in the cabinet 100.

In one example, the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may further include a pressure maintaining pipe 800 that allows air states inside and outside the cabinet 100 to be equal to each other. The pressure maintaining pipe 800 may be configured to maintain the pressure inside the cabinet 100 even when a portion of the air flowing through the circulator 500 is compressed by the steam compressor 610, and then is discharged into the cabinet 100 or even when the pressure inside the cabinet 100 increases due to the outside air supply assembly 700.

In other words, due to the branched heating assembly 600, the interior of the cabinet 100 may be temporarily under high pressure or high temperature and high humidity. Even in this case, the pressure maintaining pipe 800 allows the air inside the cabinet 100 to be discharged to the outside, thereby preventing the inside condition of the cabinet 100 from being different from the outside condition.

Further, due to the outside air supply assembly 700, the air inside the cabinet 100 may maintain low temperature, low pressure, and low humidity condition. Therefore, even when the pressure maintaining pipe 800 that discharges air inside the cabinet 100 to the outside is installed, changes in humidity or temperature of an indoor environment in which the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure is disposed may be minimized.

In one example, when the communicator 750 prevents air from the outside air supply pipe 710 from flowing into the circulator 500, the controller of the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may control the supply fan 730 to discharge air from the outside air supply pipe 710 to the outside air discharge pipe 760.

For example, when the steam compressor 610 is activated, the controller may communicate the outside air supply pipe 710 and the outside air discharge pipe 760 with each other to continuously supply cabinet the outside air to the heat collector 720. This allows the air flowing through the heat supply 650 to be cooled faster.

FIG. 3 shows an example of an actual structure of the laundry treating apparatus shown in FIG. 2. The circulator 500 may be implemented in a form of a base disposed under the drum 200. The branched heating assembly 600 and the outside air supply assembly 700 may be installed on the base.

The circulator 500 may be configured so that one end thereof communicates with the discharge duct 411 and the other end thereof communicates with the intake duct 412.

The circulator 500 includes the first duct 510 configured to communicate with the discharge duct 411, the air flowing channel 520 through which air introduced from the first duct 510 passes and is heated, the second duct 540 into which air passing through the air flowing channel 520 flows and which communicates with the intake duct 412, and a mount 530 separated from the air flowing channel 520 via a partitioning wall 550. Various units such as the driver 300 and a water discharge pump 535 are installed and supported on the mount 530. Due to the partitioning wall 550, the air inside the drum 200 does not flow out to the mount 530, and collision thereof with other units may be prevented. As a result, the air resistance of the circulator 500 may be reduced.

In the air flowing channel 520, a component to be in direct contact with the air discharged from the drum 200 may be installed. On the mount 530, a component that does not need to be in direct contact with the drying air may be installed.

The air flowing channel 520 may be implemented as a housing in which a channel through which the air discharged from the drum 200 flows is defined and the evaporator 422 and the condenser 423 are installed. The housing may be separated from the mount 530 via the partitioning wall 550. The first duct 510 disposed at one end of the air flowing channel 520 is configured to be combined with the outer circumferential face or the inner circumferential face of the discharge duct 411. The first duct 510 has a through-hole 511 defined therein to allow air discharged from the discharge duct 411 to flow into the air flowing channel 520.

The first duct 510 may be configured such that an area thereof becomes larger as it extends from the through-hole 511 to the air flowing channel 520. This configuration is to slow down a speed of air introduced from the discharge duct 411 so that the heat exchange amount of air in the air flowing channel 520 increases.

In one example, a plurality of collecting ribs 521 may be disposed at the other end of the air flowing channel 520 to collect air passing through the air flowing channel 520 and move the air to the second duct 540. The collecting ribs 521 may completely guide hot dry air or hot air from the condenser 423 to the intake duct 412 while lowering the flow resistance thereof.

The mount 530 includes a blow fan mount 531 on which the blow fan 570 is installed or supported or is configured to accommodate a portion of the blow fan, a driver mount 532 on which the driver 300 is supported, a compressor mount 533 on which the steam compressor is mounter, and the condensed water collector 534 into which condensed water from the heat supply 620 and the heat collector 720 may be collected. A water discharge pump 430 may be coupled to a top face of the condensed water collector 534, and the aforementioned collecting container may be installed thereon. Since the blow fan 570 must provide power to flow the air to the air flowing channel 520, the blow fan mount 531 may be configured to communicate with each of the intake duct 412 and the air flowing channel 520.

The blow fan mount 531 may be configured such that an opening is defined in one face and faces distal ends of the plurality of collecting ribs 521, and an opening is defined in the other face facing the intake duct 412 such that the hot air may be supplied therethrough to the intake duct 412. In one example, at a position where the blow fan mount 531 and the driver mount 532 meet each other, a shaft support 531A for supporting a driving rotation shaft may be disposed.

A pulley support 532A supporting the other end of the driving rotation shaft may be disposed at a position where the driver mount 532 and the compressor mount 533 meet each other.

In one example, the heat supply 620 and the heat collector 700 may be embodied as a combination of a plurality of heat exchange plates made of metal and a refrigerant pipe through which refrigerant flows. The heat exchange plate may extend in a parallel manner with a direction in which air flows. In one example, the air flowing channel 520 may have a separation wall parallel to a ground to separate the heat supply 620 and the heat collector 700 from each other. Thus, the air discharged to the drum 200 may contact the heat supply 620 but may be prevented from contacting the heat collector 700.

A portion of the hot and humid air discharged from the drum 200 may be cooled while passing through the heat supply 620 and the heat collector 720. In this process, the moisture contained in the air may be condensed and then travel along the heat supply pipe 650 and then collected in the condensed water collector 534. A water discharge pump 535 for discharging the water collected in the condensed water collector 534 may be installed in the circulator 500. The collecting container 560 for collecting the water separately may be installed (see FIG. 2).

In one example, the branched pipe 630 may be configured to communicate with the air flowing channel 520 at a location upstream of the heat supply 620. Thus, the humid air discharged from the drum 200 may be guided to the steam compressor 610 before heating.

The air guided to the steam compressor 610 may be heated to high temperature while being compressed, and then may be discharged to the heat supply pipe 650. The air may pass through the heat supply 620, and then may be fed into the heat collector 700 and may move toward the condensed water collector 534. Air that has not flowed into the branched pipe 620 may be heated by the heat supply 620 and then may flow into the drum 200 through the second duct 540 (II direction).

The outside air introduced from the outside air supply pipe 710 may cool the heat supply pipe 650 passing through the heat collector 720 and then move to the communicator 750.

The outside air supply assembly 700 may further include an outside air intake pipe 770 connecting the communicator 750 and the circulator 500 to each other. Depending on whether the communicator 750 is opened or closed, the outside air may be discharged to the outside of the cabinet 100, and may flow through the air flowing channel 520 along the outside air intake pipe 770 and flow into the drum 200. In this way, it is possible to compensate for lost air which has flowed into the steam compressor 610.

The blow fan 570 may be installed on a portion of the circulator 500 in communication with the air flowing channel 520 and may be configured to circulate the air of the drum 200.

The blow fan 570 may be coupled to the driver 300 and may receive power therefrom. Thus, when the driving motor 310 operates, the drum 200 rotates, and at the same time, the blow fan 570 may be configured to circulate the air of the drum 200.

The blow fan 570 may allow the air inside the drum 200 to pass through the discharge duct 411 in an I direction, and then to pass through the circulator 500 and the hot air supply 400 and then flow into the intake duct 412 in the II direction. The heater H is installed upstream or downstream of the blow fan 570 to heat the air passing through the second duct 540.

In one example, the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may have a temperature sensor or a humidity sensor that senses or detects the temperature or humidity of air that has passed through the drum 200. For example, the intake duct 412 may be equipped with a temperature sensor or a humidity sensor. Based on the humidity sensor or the temperature sensor, the controller of the laundry treating apparatus according to the present disclosure may control the opening/closing switch 640 and the steam compressor 610, the outside air supply assembly 700 or the heater H at an appropriate time point.

Since the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure compresses and heats air or moisture discharged from the drum, separate refrigerant is not required. In other words, the apparatus may compress a portion of air or moisture discharged from the drum and heat air or moisture flowing into the drum, and thus heat the air to be introduced into the drum 200 using the compressed and heated air or moisture.

As a result, the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may not use the separate refrigerant other than air circulating the drum 200 or air inside and air outside the cabinet 100 when drying the laundry of the drum 200.

Further, the apparatus according to the present disclosure may be free of a component for circulating the refrigerant or storing the refrigerant supplied separately from air or moisture. Since there is no need of a separate refrigerant circuit component to circulate the refrigerant, a manufacturing cost of the apparatus is reduced and a structure thereof is simplified to maximize convenience of installation and repair. Further, there is no need to worry about loss of refrigerant, so that safety may be secured.

Furthermore, since the air discharged from the drum 200 is heated directly without cooling, energy loss may be minimized. In other words, there is an effect of utilizing the energy contained in the air discharged from the drum 200. Thus, the apparatus may make the most of the energy applied to the heater H or the heat supply 620.

In one example, the apparatus according to the present disclosure does not include an evaporator, thereby to reduce the number of times the air injected into the drum collides with the heat exchanger and a colliding strength thereto. Therefore, a load of the blow fan 570 may be reduced.

FIG. 4 shows a steam compressor of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

The steam compressor 610 may be applied to a laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The steam compressor 610 may be configured to compress and heat air, water or moisture other than refrigerant. The steam compressor 610 according to the present disclosure includes a casing 6100 forming an exterior appearance, a driver 6200 coupled to the casing 6100 to rotate a rotatable shaft 6300, and a compressing assembly 5400 coupled to the rotatable shaft 6300 and configured to compress moisture or air.

The casing 6100 may include a receiving body 6120 providing a space for accommodating at least one of the driver 6200 or the compressing assembly 6400, and a receiving cover 6110 coupled to one end of the receiving body 6120 to shield the space.

The casing 6100 may be configured to accommodate both of the driver 6200 and the compressing assembly 6400, or may be configured to accommodate only the driver 6200.

The driver 6200 may include a stator 6210 coupled to the receiving body 6120 to generate a rotating magnetic field, and a rotor 6220 configured to rotate under the rotating magnetic field to rotate the rotatable shaft 6300.

The compressing assembly 6400 may include a main frame 6410 coupled to the receiving body 6120 to allow the rotatable shaft 6300 to pass therethrough, a fixed scroll 6420 coupled to the main frame 6410 to provide a compression space in which air or moisture is compressed, and an orbiting scroll 6430 that is accommodated in the main frame 6410 and the fixed scroll 6420 and coupled to the rotatable shaft 6300 to compress at least one of the air or moisture.

The main frame 6410 may be accommodated in and coupled to the casing 6100, or may be coupled to a free end of the receiving body 6120 and exposed to the outside.

Further, since the compressing assembly 6400 pressurizes air or steam (moisture) other than the refrigerant, it may not be necessary to pressurize the air or steam to the same high pressure as that when compressing the refrigerant. Therefore, the compressing assembly 6400 may be exposed to the outside without being accommodated in the casing 6100.

Further, when the compressing assembly 6400 is accommodated in the casing 6100, the compressed moisture must pass through the casing 6100 and be discharged to the outside. In this connection, the moisture may be partially condensed while contacting the casing 6100 and remain in the casing 6100, or may cause the driver 6200 to be short-circuited. Therefore, the compressing assembly 6400 may be preferably exposed to the outside without being accommodated in the casing 6100. A channel passing through the compressing assembly 6400 and a space accommodated in the casing 6100 may be completely separated from each other.

As a result, the compressing assembly 6400 may be disposed outside the casing 6100 and thus may be separated from a space where the driver is accommodated. Accordingly, an overall volume of the casing 6100 may be reduced, and a space occupied by the steam compressor 610 may be minimized.

Further, the compressing assembly 6400 may be configured to further expand a volume thereof regardless of a diameter of the casing 6100 and thus to compress a larger amount of moisture or air.

The casing 100 may further include a fastener 6130 that couples the main frame 6410 and the receiving body 6120 to each other. The fastener 6130 may be implemented as a bolt.

The main frame 6410 may include a main end plate 6411 coupled to the receiving body 6120, a main side plate 6412 extending from the main end plate 6411 to accommodate the orbiting scroll 6430, and a main shaft-receiving portion 6413 that passes through the main end plate 6411 and rotatably accommodates the rotatable shaft 6300.

A main bearing 6470 that rotatably supports the rotatable shaft 6300 may be installed on an inner circumferential face of the main shaft-receiving portion 6413.

The main end plate 6411 may have a diameter larger than a diameter of the receiving body 6120, and may have a threaded groove 6411a defined therein that engages with the fastener 6130.

The fixed scroll 6420 may include a fixed end plate 6421 to form a compression space in which the air or moisture is compressed, and a fixed side plate 6422 that extends from the fixed end plate 6421 to accommodate the orbiting scroll 6420 and which is coupled to the main side plate 6412.

The fixed side plate 6422 may further include a fixed coupled portion 6422a that may further expand an area thereof contacting the main side plate 6412. A diameter of the fixed coupled portion 6422a may be larger than a diameter of the fixed side plate 6422. The fixed coupled portion 6422a and the main side plate 6412 may be coupled to each other via welding or the like.

The fixed end plate 6421 may further include a fixed wrap 6423 that protrudes toward the main frame to receive the air or moisture and compress the air or moisture. The fixed wrap 6423 may extend in a spiral shape along the circumferential direction of the fixed end plate 6421.

The fixed end plate 6421 may have a discharge hole 6424 defined therein to extend through an inner end or a central portion of the fixed wrap 6423 to discharge the compressed moisture or air.

An inlet hole 6425 may be defined in an outer circumferential face of the fixed side plate 6422 so that the moisture or air may be introduced along the fixed wrap 6423.

In one example, the orbiting scroll 6430 may include an orbiting end plate 6431 coupled to the rotatable shaft 6300 to perform an orbiting motion, an orbiting shaft-receiving portion 6432 disposed on the orbiting end plate 6431 and coupled to the rotatable shaft 6300, and an orbiting wrap 6433 extending from the orbiting end plate 6431 and configured to engage with the fixed wrap 6423 and to compress the moisture or air.

The rotatable shaft 6300 may include a shaft body 6310 that is coupled to the rotor 6220 and rotates together therewith, and an eccentric portion 6320 that extends from the shaft body and is accommodated in the orbiting shaft-receiving portion 6432. The eccentric portion 6320 may extend laterally and may be thicker than the shaft body 6310, or may be constructed to be eccentric. Thus, the eccentric portion 6320 may be configured to rotate based on a larger radius of rotation than that of the shaft body 6310.

In one example, the orbiting scroll 6430 may further include an eccentricity compensating portion 6460 configured to compensate for an eccentricity of the eccentric portion 6320. The eccentricity compensating portion 6460 may support the eccentric portion 6320 to rotate separately from the orbiting shaft-receiving portion 6432 while coupling the eccentric portion 6320 and the orbiting shaft-receiving portion 6432 to each other.

Thus, when the shaft body 6310 rotates, the eccentric portion 6320 may press the orbiting scroll 6430 in a radial direction of the orbiting scroll 6430. The force applied by the eccentric portion 6320 may allow the orbiting wrap 6433 to engage with the fixed wrap 6423 to compress the moisture or air.

Since the eccentric portion 6320 does not share a center of gravity with the shaft body 6310, vibration may occur when the rotatable shaft 6300 rotates. Accordingly, the steam compressor 610 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a balancer 6500 capable of compensating for the eccentricity of the eccentric portion 6320 and preventing the vibration.

The balancer 6500 may include a main balancer 6520 coupled to the shaft body 6310 or the rotor 6220 in a direction opposite to a direction in which the eccentric portion 6320 is eccentric relative to the shaft body 6310 of the rotatable shaft 6300.

In one example, the balancer 6500 may further include an auxiliary balancer that may prevent vibration or eccentricity that may occur due to the main balancer 6520. The auxiliary balancer may include at least one of a first auxiliary balancer 6510 coupled to the rotor 6220 and spaced apart from the main balancer 6520 and a second auxiliary balancer 6530 coupled to the eccentric portion 6320 and opposite to the first auxiliary balancer 6510.

The first auxiliary balancer 6510 may be eccentric in a direction opposite to a direction in which the main balancer 6520 is eccentric. The second auxiliary balancer 6530 may be eccentric in a direction opposite to a direction in which the eccentric portion 6320 is eccentric.

A volume or weight of the first auxiliary balancer 6510 may be smaller than that of the main balancer 6520. The main balancer 6520 may be disposed between the main frame 6430 and the driver 6200. The first auxiliary balancer 6510 may be disposed between the driver 200 and the casing 100.

The second auxiliary balancer 6530 may be disposed on the outer circumferential face of the orbiting shaft-receiving portion 6432.

In one example, the compressing assembly 6400 may further include an Oldham's ring 6440 which prevents the orbiting scroll 6430 from spinning even when the rotatable shaft 6300 rotates. The Oldham's ring 6440 may be configured to prevent the orbiting scroll 6430 from spinning together with the rotatable shaft 6300 even when the orbiting scroll 6430 is pressed by the rotatable shaft 6300. The Oldham's ring 6440 may be coupled to each of the orbiting scroll 6430 and the main frame 6410 and may linearly reciprocate between the orbiting scroll 6430 and the main frame 6410.

When the driver 6200 is activated such that the rotatable shaft 6300 rotates, the orbiting scroll 6430 spins due to the eccentric portion 6530, such that the orbiting wrap 6433 and the fixed wrap 6423 are sequentially engaged with each other. Two or more compression spaces may be defined inside and outside the orbiting wrap 6433 and the fixed wrap 6423. Air or moisture from the inlet hole 6425 may flow into the spaces via the pressure change (A direction). In this connection, when the orbiting wrap 6433 and the fixed wrap 6423 are repeatedly engaged with each other, air or moisture introduced into the inlet hole may be compressed along the inner and outer surfaces of the fixed wrap 6423 and discharged to the discharge hole 6424 (B direction).

In another example, the compressing assembly 6400 may be implemented using any configuration other than a scroll type compressor as long as the compressing assembly may compress the steam or air.

FIG. 5 shows a state of the compressing assembly 6400.

Referring to (a) in FIG. 5, when moisture or air flows into the inlet hole 6425, the air or moisture may move inside the fixed side plate 6421 along the fixed wrap 6423.

The orbiting wrap 6433 (a black line) of the orbiting scroll 6430 may alternately contact the inner face and the outer face of the fixed wrap 6423 according to the rotation of the rotatable shaft 6300. In this process, the moisture or air is divided and then flows onto the inner and outer faces of the orbiting wrap 6433 and moves toward the discharge hole 6424. As the volume of the air or moisture decreases while the air or moisture moves from the inlet hole 6425 to the discharge hole 6424, the moisture or air may be compressed and heated to high temperature and high pressure.

Thus, the air or moisture that has moved to a innermost part of the fixed wrap 6423 may be discharged to the discharge hole 6424. As a result, moisture or air introduced at low temperature and low pressure state may be compressed and discharged at high temperature and high pressure state.

Referring to (b) in FIG. 5, the fixed scroll 6420 and the orbiting scroll 6430 are made of metal such as steel. Tus, the heat transfer rate thereof is high. Therefore, when moisture or air comes into contact with the fixed scroll 6420 or the orbiting scroll 6430, the moisture or air may be cooled.

Air or moisture introduced into the inlet hole 6425 may be more greatly cooled before the steam compressor 610 is activated or has just started an operation. In particular, before the air or moisture is compressed, the inlet hole 6425 may be colder than the discharge hole 6424, so that the introduced air or moisture may be more greatly cooled.

Accordingly, in the inlet hole 6425, the air or moisture may be condensed and converted into liquid water (w), and the water (w) may not be compressed by the fixed wrap 6423 and the orbiting wrap 6433. In severe cases, the water (w) may block channels of the fixed wrap 6423 and the orbiting wrap 6433, causing the steam compressor 610 to be inoperable.

In particular, the water (w) will most greatly condense in the inlet hole 6425, so that the air or moisture may be prevented from entering the compressor 610. Therefore, there is a concern that the steam compressor 610 may not work in an intended manner.

To solve this situation, the steam compressor 610 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a collector 6426 disposed in the compressing assembly 6400 to collect condensed water from the air or moisture.

The collector 6426 may be formed by recessing a portion of an inner face of the compressing assembly 6400 and may be formed to collect condensed water therein. That is, the collector 6426 may be configured not to prevent condensation of air or moisture introduced into the inlet hole 6425, but may be configured to collect the condensed water separately to prevent the condensed water from blocking the channel.

The collector 6426 may be formed by recessing a portion of the fixed scroll 6420. The collector 6426 may be formed by recessing a portion of the fixed end plate between the fixed wrap 6423 and the fixed end plate or by recessing a portion of the fixed end plate facing the inlet hole 6425.

Further, the collector 6426 may be formed by recessing a portion of the fixed side plate 6422.

The collector 6426 may be formed by recessing a portion of the compressing assembly 6400 extending in the direction of gravity. As a result, when the air or moisture introduced from the inlet hole 6425 is condensed into water, the water may be naturally collected in the collector 6426. Accordingly, the inlet hole 6425 and the channel may be prevented from being shielded by the condensed water.

Since the amount of water condensed in the inlet hole 6425 will be the largest, the collector 6426 may be disposed adjacent to the inlet hole 6425.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the collector 6426.

Referring to FIG. 6, the collector 6426 may be formed by recessing a portion of the fixed scroll 6420. The collector 6426 may be formed by recessing a portion of the fixed side plate 6422. Thus, the collector 6426 may not interfere with the movement of the air or moisture along the fixed wrap 6423 at all.

Specifically, the collector 6426 may include an extended collecting groove 6426a formed by recessing a portion of the fixed side plate 6422 around the inlet hole 6425 in a direction opposite to an extending direction of the fixed wrap 6423. Therefore, the water w condensed in the inlet hole 6425 may move along the fixed side plate 6422 or the fixed wrap 6423 and then may be collected into the extended collecting groove 6426a.

The fixed wrap 6423 forms a channel together with the orbiting wrap 6433 through which the air or moisture moves and which extends from a portion facing the inlet hole 6425 to the discharge hole. Therefore, it may be seen that the extended collecting groove 6426a extends from the inlet hole 6425 in a direction opposite to a direction which the channel extends.

Accordingly, even when the air or moisture is condensed inside the compressing assembly 6400, it is possible to prevent the inlet hole 6425 or the fixed wrap 6423 and the orbiting wrap 6433 from being shielded with the water. Further, the air or moisture that is not condensed is in a gaseous state, and thus overcomes gravity and thus moves along the fixed wrap 6423 to the discharge hole 6424.

The rotatable shaft 6300 may extend in a parallel manner with or in a inclined manner with the ground. The extended collecting groove 6426a may extend from the fixed end plate 6421 toward the ground.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the collector 6426 has a water discharger 6427.

When excessive water is collected in the collector 6426, there is a risk that the water (w) will rise to the inlet hole 6425 and block the inlet hole 6425. Further, there is a concern that the water w will decay inside the compressing assembly 6400.

To prevent this situation, the steam compressor 610 according to the present disclosure may further include a water discharger 6427 that discharges the water collected in the collector 6426 to the outside.

The water discharger 6427 may further include a fixed removal hole 6427a extending from the extended collecting groove 6426a through the fixed end plate 6421. The fixed removal hole 6427a may pass through the fixed end plate 6421 to communicate the extended collecting groove 6426a with an outside of the fixed end plate 6321.

A diameter of the fixed removal hole 6427a at a portion thereof facing the extended collecting groove 6426a may be smaller than a diameter thereof as a portion thereof facing an outer circumferential face of the fixed end plate 6321. This may minimize an amount of air or moisture as introduced into the inlet hole 6425 to be discharged to the fixed removal hole 6427a.

The diameter of the fixed removal hole 6427a may be configured to gradually increase as it extends from the extended collecting groove 6426a to the outer circumferential face of the fixed end plate 6421.

The steam compressor 610 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may fundamentally prevent the water (w) from shielding the inlet hole 6425 even when the amount of water collected in the collector 6426 is large.

Further, the steam compressor 610 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may fundamentally prevent the water (w) collected in the collector 6426 from remaining inside the compressing assembly 6400. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the water (w) from decaying therein or being mixed with foreign substances.

Furthermore, when the user injects water into the compressing assembly 6400 to clean the compressing assembly 6400, the washing water may be easily discharged to the water discharger 6427. Therefore, foreign substances such as lint in the compressing assembly 6400 may be easily discharged to the outside using gravity.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the steam compressor 610 according to the present disclosure.

Except for the redundant description, following descriptions will focus on a configuration different from that of the steam compressor 610 shown in FIG. 4.

The steam compressor 610 according to the present disclosure may further include an inflow-blocking wall 6428 between the inlet hole 6425 and the fixed wrap 6423.

The inflow-blocking wall 6428 may be configured to be spaced apart from the inlet hole 6425, but face the inlet hole 6425. As a result, air or moisture introduced into the inlet hole 6425 may contact the inflow-blocking wall 6428 and then move to the fixed wrap 6423.

Therefore, air containing moisture may be blocked first by the inflow-blocking wall 6428 and then may be condensed and may be collected preferentially in the collector 6426. In this connection, when the inflow-blocking wall 6428 is heated by the air or moisture, the air or moisture may no longer condense near the inlet hole 6425 and move to the fixed wrap 6423.

In one example, in the steam compressor 610 according to the present disclosure of another embodiment, the rotatable shaft 6300 may be perpendicular to the ground, or may define 45 degrees or greater relative to the ground.

Therefore, moisture or air flows into the inlet hole 6425 in a direction parallel to the ground or in an inclined direction of less than 45 degrees relative to the ground (A direction), and then may be discharged from the discharge hole 6424 in a direction perpendicular to the ground or in an inclined direction of 45 degrees or greater relative to the ground (B direction).

In this case, even when the steam compressor 610 has the extended collecting groove 6426a, the condensed water may not be collected in the extended collecting groove 6426a and may flow out into the inlet hole 6425 or shield at least a portion of the inlet hole 6425.

Therefore, in order to prevent this situation, the collector 6426 may include a vertical collecting groove 6426b formed by recessing a portion of the fixed end plate 6321 between the inlet hole 6425 and the fixed wrap 6423.

Further, the water discharger 6427 may further include a water removal hole 6247b extending from the vertical collecting groove 6426b through the fixed end plate.

FIG. 9 shows a detailed structure having the vertical collecting groove 6426b and the water removal hole 6247b.

The vertical collecting groove 6426b may be formed by recessing a portion of the fixed end plate 6421. That is, the vertical collecting groove 6426b may be formed by recessing a portion of the fixed end plate 6421 facing the inlet hole 6425 toward the rotatable shaft 6300.

The water (w) condensed near the inlet hole 6425 may be collected in the vertical collecting groove 6426b and may be located below the inlet hole 6425. Therefore, the condensed water w may not block the inlet hole 6425 or the channel defined by the fixed wrap and the orbiting wrap.

In one example, the water discharge hole 6427b may extend through the fixed end plate 6421. Specifically, the water discharge hole 6427b may communicate a surface of the fixed end plate 6421 with the vertical collecting groove 6426b. Therefore, the water collected in the vertical collecting groove 6426b may be naturally removed through the water discharge hole 6427b along the direction of gravity.

Further, it is necessary to prevent condensation of moisture or air flowing into the compressing assembly 6400. That is, when the compressing assembly 6400 itself is at a high temperature sufficient to prevent condensation of moisture or air, the moisture or air may be prevented from condensing inside the compressing assembly 6400.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of the present disclosure capable of preventing the air or moisture introduced into the steam compressor 610 from being cooled.

Since the basic structure of the steam compressor 610 in FIG. 10 is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, following descriptions will focus on differences therebetween.

The steam compressor 610 according to the present disclosure may further include a thermal insulator 6450 coupled to the compressing assembly 6400 to prevent air flowing into the compressing assembly from being cooled.

The thermal insulator 6450 may be configured to accommodate the entire compressing assembly 6400. Further, the thermal insulator 6450 may be spaced apart from the compressing assembly 6400 to form a channel in which the air or moisture moves between the inner circumferential face of the thermal insulator 6450 and the outer circumferential face of the compressing assembly 6400.

As a result, before the air or moisture flows into the compressing assembly 6400, the air or moisture may be preheated by the heat resulting from the operation of the compressing assembly 6400, such that the condensation of the moisture may be prevented. Furthermore, the heat of the compressing assembly 6400 itself may be preserved such that the air or moisture is in contact with the compressing assembly 6400 when the air or moisture flows into the compressing assembly 6400. Thus, the condensation of the moisture or air may be prevented.

The thermal insulator 6450 may be made of a material having excellent thermal insulating effect. For example, the insulator 6450 may be made of styrofoam or porous material.

For example, the thermal insulator 6450 may be configured to accommodate the outer circumferential face of the fixed scroll 6420, and may have a larger diameter than that of the fixed scroll 6420.

The thermal insulator 6450 may be spaced apart from the fixed scroll 6420 except for a portion thereof coupled to the fixed scroll 6420, thereby to form a channel in which the air or moisture flows.

The thermal insulator 6450 may include a thermal insulating casing 6451 coupled to at least a portion of the fixed side plate 6422 and at least partially spaced apart from the fixed side plate 6422, and a thermal insulating inlet 6452 passing through the thermal insulating casing 6451. Air or moisture may be introduced into the compressing assembly 6400 through the thermal insulating inlet 6452.

The thermal insulating casing 6451 may be spaced apart from the inlet hole 6425, and may be configured to accommodate at least a portion of the outer circumferential face of the fixed side plate 6422. Accordingly, an inner circumferential face of the thermal insulating casing 6451 and the outer circumferential face of the fixed side plate 6422 may define a channel therebetween in which the air or moisture flows.

The thermal insulating casing 6451 may have a general bowl shape to accommodate the fixed scroll 6420 therein. Alternatively, in order to accommodate only the fixed side plate 6422, the thermal insulating casing 6451 may be implemented to have a ring shape that is fitted to the outer circumferential face of the fixed end plate 6421 and the outer circumferential face of the fixed side plate 6422. In this way, interference of the thermal insulating casing 6451 with the discharge hole 6424 defined in the fixed end plate 6421 may be prevented.

FIG. 11 shows an example in which the thermal insulator 6450 is applied to the compressing assembly 6400. FIG. 11 shows that the thermal insulator 6450 is applied to the compressing assembly 6400 having the extended collecting groove 6426a. This is for description only. The thermal insulator 6450 may be applied to the compressing assembly 6400 having the vertical collecting groove 6426b.

Referring to FIG. 11, the thermal insulating inlet 6452 may be angularly spaced from the inlet hole 6425 by a certain angle with respect to the rotatable shaft 6300.

The thermal insulating inlet 6452 may be configured not to face the inlet hole 6425, and may be farthest from the inlet hole 6425 in terms of the channel path. For example, the thermal insulating inlet 6425 and the inlet hole 6425 may be angularly spaced from each other by an obtuse angle with respect to the rotatable shaft 6300. For example, the obtuse angle may be 180 degrees.

As a result, air introduced into the thermal insulating inlet 6452 may contact the compressing assembly 6400 as much as possible and then may be introduced into the inlet hole 6425

The air or moisture may enter the thermal insulating inlet 6425, and may be sufficiently preheated using the heat generated from the compressing assembly 6400 until the air or moisture enters the inlet hole 6425.

Further, the air or moisture may sufficiently preheat the compressing assembly 6400.

Furthermore, as the compressing assembly 6400 operates, a time taken for sufficient preheating of the air or moisture may be secured until the air or moisture flows into the inlet hole 6425.

As a result, the air or moisture introduced into the inlet hole 6425 may not be condensed even when the air or moisture is partially cooled in the inlet hole 6425. Further, the compressing assembly 6400 is preheated to prevent the air or moisture from being cooled in the inlet hole 6425.

Further, the air or moisture passing through the thermal insulator 6450 may be condensed while being in contact with the thermal insulator 6450, or may be condensed in advance while being in contact with the compressing assembly 6400 to preheat the compressing assembly 6400.

Thus, water (W) condensed between the thermal insulator 6450 and the fixed scroll 6420 may be collected into a lowest portion of the thermal insulator 6450 (D direction). When there is a lot of water collected in the thermal insulator 6450, the water may block the inflow of the air or moisture.

To prevent this situation, the thermal insulator 6450 may further include a thermal insulating remover 6453 for discharging the water condensed in the thermal insulating casing to the outside. The thermal insulating remover 6453 may extend through the thermal insulator 6450, and particularly may extend through the lowest portion of the thermal insulator 6450.

As a result, water condensed inside the thermal insulator 6450 may be quickly removed, such that the air or moisture may be smoothly supplied to the inlet hole 6425.

In one example, the thermal insulating remover 6453 may be positioned to face the water discharger 6427. Therefore, water discharged in the C direction from the water discharger 6427 may be discharged to the outside of the compressor 610 through the thermal insulating remover 6453.

As a result, the steam compressor 610 according to the present disclosure may prevent moisture from accumulating therein. Further, even when air containing moisture is compressed therein, the moisture may be prevented from condensing into water therein.

Furthermore, the steam compressor 610 according to the present disclosure may continuously receive and compress the air or moisture even when moisture is condensed inside the compressor.

The steam compressor 610 may be applied to the laundry treating apparatus described above. Furthermore, the steam compressor 610 may be applied to an apparatus that separately compresses moisture other than the laundry treating apparatus.

As described above, the present disclosure is described with reference to the drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and drawings disclosed in the present specification. It will be apparent that various modifications may be made thereto by those skilled in the art within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, although the effect resulting from the features of the present disclosure has not been explicitly described in the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is obvious that a predictable effect resulting from the features of the present disclosure should be recognized.

Claims

A compressor comprising:

a casing;

a driver coupled to the casing to rotate a rotatable shaft; and

a compressing assembly coupled to the rotatable shaft and configured to compress air containing moisture,

wherein the compressing assembly has a collector defined therein for collecting water condensed from the air.
The compressor of claim 1, wherein the collector includes a recess defined in one face of the compressing assembly.
The compressor of claim 1, wherein the collector includes a recess defined in a portion of the compressing assembly extending in a direction of gravity.
The compressor of claim 1, wherein the compressing assembly further has an inlet hole defined therein through which the air flows into the compressing assembly,

wherein the collector is adjacent to the inlet hole.
The compressor of claim 4, wherein the compressing assembly further has an air channel defined therein, wherein the air flows through the inlet hole into the air channel,

wherein the collector extends from the inlet hole in a direction opposite to an extension direction of the air channel.
The compressor of claim 1, wherein the compressing assembly includes:

an orbiting scroll including an orbiting end plate part coupled to the rotatable shaft and an orbiting wrap extending along a circumference of the orbiting end plate; and

a fixed scroll including a fixed end plate facing the orbiting scroll, a fixed wrap extending from the fixed end plate and engaging with the orbiting wrap to compress the air, and an inlet hole passing through an outer circumferential face of the fixed end plate and receiving the air,

wherein the collector includes an extended collecting groove defined in the fixed end plate and extending from the inlet hole.
The compressor of claim 6, wherein the extended collecting groove extends from the inlet hole in an opposite direction to an extension direction of the fixed wrap.
The compressor of claim 7, wherein the compressing assembly further has a fixed water removal hole extending from the extended collecting groove through the fixed end plate.
The compressor of claim 6, wherein the rotatable shaft extends in an inclined or parallel manner to a ground,

wherein the extended collecting groove extends through the fixed end plate toward the ground.
The compressor of claim 6, wherein the collector includes a vertical collecting groove defined in a portion of the fixed end plate between the inlet hole and the fixed wrap.
The compressor of claim 10, wherein the vertical collecting groove extends through the fixed end plate toward the rotatable shaft.
The compressor of claim 11, wherein the compressing assembly further has a water removal hole extending from the vertical collecting groove through the fixed end plate.
The compressor of claim 6, wherein the fixed scroll further comprises an inflow-blocking wall extending from the fixed end plate to block a portion of the inlet hole to allow the air to contact the inflow-blocking wall.
The compressor of claim 1, wherein the compressor further comprises a thermal insulator coupled to the compressing assembly to prevent the air introduced into the compressing assembly from being cooled.
The compressor of claim 14, wherein the thermal insulator includes:

a thermal insulating casing coupled to the compressing assembly to receive the air and guide the air into the compressing assembly; and

a thermal insulating inlet hole extending through the thermal insulating casing, wherein the air flows through the thermal insulating inlet hole and into the thermal insulating casing.
The compressor of claim 15, wherein the compressing assembly further has an inlet hole defined therein through which the air flows into the compressing assembly,

wherein the thermal insulating inlet hole is angularly spaced from the inlet hole of the compressing assembly by a predefined angular spacing around the rotatable shaft.
The compressor of claim 15, wherein the thermal insulator further includes a thermal insulating remover for discharging water condensed in the thermal insulating casing to an outside.
A compressor comprising:

a casing;

a driver coupled to the casing to rotate a rotatable shaft; and

a compressing assembly coupled to the rotatable shaft and configured to compress air containing moisture,

wherein the compressing assembly has an inlet hole to receive air containing moisture, and a discharge hole to discharge the compressed air,

wherein the compressor further comprises a thermal insulator coupled to the compressing assembly and spaced apart from an outer circumferential face of the compressing assembly to define a channel therebetween, wherein the channel guides the air to the inlet hole.
A compressor comprising:

a casing;

a driver coupled to the casing to rotate a rotatable shaft; and

a compressing assembly coupled to the rotatable shaft and configured to compress air containing moisture,

wherein the compressing assembly is disposed outside the casing such that the air containing moisture is prevented from contacting the driver.