Patent Grant
7434334
This application claims the benefit of Korean Applications No. P2003-084558, filed on Nov. 26, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dryer, in which a more stable assembly between a rear supporter and a back cover is achieved.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a dryer is an apparatus for drying a wet object such as clothes, laundry, linen, and so on after completion of washing. A general structure of the dryer is explained as follows.
The side cabinet 30 and the back cover 100 are provided to lateral sides and a rear side of the dryer, respectively. The top plate 40 is provided over the dryer, and the control panel 50 is provided in front of the control panel 50.
A drum is rotatably provided within the outer case 10 to contain a laundry therein to be rotated by receiving a drive force of a motor. And, both ends of the drum are supported by front and supporters, respectively.
However, the related art rear supporter is coupled to a rear end of the drum via screw or the like, thereby causing inconvenience of work.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a dryer that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention, which has been devised to solve the foregoing problem, is to provide a dryer, by which a simpler assembly between a rear supporter and a back cover is provided to a laundry dryer.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from a practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the subject matter particularly pointed out in the specification and claims hereof as well as in the appended drawings.
To achieve these objects and other advantages in accordance with the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a dryer includes a back cover covering a rear side of the dryer, a drum containing a laundry and rotating to dry the laundry, a rear supporter supporting a rear side of the drum, and at least one latching part provided to an upper side of the back cover to latch an upper edge of the rear supporter.
Preferably, the latching part includes a first tab cut out from one side of the back cover to have a channel shape and being bent forward, and a second tab cut out from a portion of the first tab to have a reverse channel shape, the second tab bent downward to latch the upper edge of the rear supporter.
In this case, guide grooves are formed on portions where the first and second tabs are bent, respectively, to guide bending thereon. And, the first and second tabs are formed by lancing a portion of the back cover.
Meanwhile, the latching part may include a first tab cut out from one side of the back cover to have a reverse channel shape and being bent forward, and a second tab cut out from a portion of the first tab to have a channel shape, the second tab bent upward to latch the upper edge of the rear supporter.
In this case, guide grooves are formed on portions where the first and second tabs are bent, respectively, to guide bending thereon. The first and second tabs are formed by lancing a portion of the back cover. And, a stepping part is provided to the back cover to support a lower end portion of the rear supporter.
Preferably, a recess recessed backward is provided to the back cover to have the rear supporter inserted therein. And, the at least two latching parts are included two or more equally-shaped latching parts.
In another aspect of the present invention, a dryer includes a drum containing a laundry and rotating to dry the laundry, a rear supporter supporting a rear side of the drum, and a back cover including at least one latching part provided to an upper side of the back cover to latch an upper edge of the rear supporter, and a stepping part provided to a lower side of the back cover to support a lower end portion of the rear supporter.
The latching part includes a first tab cut out from one side of the back cover to have a channel shape and being bent forward, and a second tab cut out from a portion of the first cut-off part to have a reverse channel shape and being bent downward to latch the upper edge of the rear supporter.
In this case, guide grooves are formed on portions where the first and second tabs are bent, respectively, to guide bending thereon. And, the first and second tabs are formed by lancing a portion of the back cover.
Meanwhile, the latching part may include a first tab cut out from one side of the back cover to have a reverse channel shape and being bent forward, and a second tab being cut off from a portion of the first tab to have a channel shape, the second tab being bent upward to latch the upper edge of the rear supporter.
In this case, guide grooves are formed on portions where the first and second tabs are bent, respectively, to guide bending thereon. And, the first and second tabs are formed by lancing a portion of the back cover.
Preferably, a recess recessed backward is provided to the back cover to have the rear supporter inserted therein. And, the at least two latching parts includes two or more equally-shaped latching parts.
In a further aspect of the present invention, a dryer includes a drum containing a laundry and rotating to dry the laundry, a rear supporter including a support plate and a projected from the support plate to be inserted in a rear end of the drum, and a back cover including a latching part, the latching part including a first tab cut out from one side of the back cover to have a channel shape and being bent forward and a second tab cut out from a portion of the first tab to have a reverse channel shape and being bent downward to latch an upper edge of the rear supporter.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing explanation and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and illustrative and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, like elements are indicated using the same or similar reference designations where possible.
The rear supporter 70 includes a support plate 71 and a projected part 72. The projected part 72 having a circular shape is provided to a front side of the support plate 71 to fit a rim of the drum 60. The projected part 72 is inserted in a rear side of the drum 60 to be fixed thereto. Locking holes 75 and 75a are formed at the support plate 71 and the back cover 100 to correspond to each other, whereby a screw is fitted into the locking holes 75 and 75a. Hence, the rear supporter 70 is fixed to the back cover 100 as well as supports the rear side of the drum 60.
A portion 76 of a rear side of the rear supporter 70 is open so that the hot and dry air generated from the heater 80 can be supplied inside the drum 60. The open portion 76 communicates with the heater 80 via an air duct 82. And, a multitude of holes 84 are provided to an entrance of the air duct 82.
Meanwhile, a front supporter (not shown) includes a circular projected part, which is similar to that of the rear supporter 70, corresponding to a front rim of the drum 60 to be coupled to a front side of the drum 60. The front supporter is fixed to a front cabinet (‘20’ in
A stepping part 100a, as shown in
In order to solve the problem, a dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention is explained as follows.
Referring to
Referring to
The latching part 220 is provided to the upper side of the back cover so that a height of the latching part 220 corresponds to that of the upper edge of the rear supporter 270. Namely, the latching part 220 is provided to a position corresponding to the height of the upper edge of the rear supporter 270, which is being supported by the stepping part 200a.
Specifically, the rear supporter 270 includes a support plate 271 and a projected part 272. The projected part 272 is projected toward from the support plate 271 to be inserted in a rear end of the drum. In this case, a lower end of the support plate 271 is supported by the stepping part 200a and an upper end of the support plate 271 is fixed via the latching part 220.
A method of forming the latching part 220 is explained as follows.
Referring to
In doing so, the tabs 222 and 224 are formed by ‘lancing’. ‘Lancing’ is performed in a manner of cutting a portion of a basic plate so that one side of the cut portion is left to be connected to the basic plate.
After the first tab 222 has been bent forward, the second tab 224 is bent downward by a predetermined angle. In order to guide a correct bending of each of the tabs, guide grooves 222a and 224a are formed on the bent portions of the first and second tabs 222 and 224, respectively.
Meanwhile, the present invention further enables to change a direction of the channel shape instead of putting limitation of the above-explanation. Namely, the first tab is cut from an upper side of the back cover 200 to have a reverse channel shape and the second tab is cut to have a channel shape. In doing so, the first tab is bent upward, while the second tab is bent upward to latch the upper edge of the rear supporter 270.
A process of assembling a rear supporter and back cover of a dryer according to the present invention is explained as follows.
In assembling the rear supporter 270 to the back cover 200, a lower end portion of the rear supporter 270 is supported by the stepping part 200a of the back cover 200. Locking holes 275 and 275a formed at the rear supporter 270 and back cover 200, respectively, are aligned to each other. The upper edge of the rear supporter 270 is then coupled to the latching part (piece) 220 provided to the upper side of the back cover 200.
In doing so, the upper edge of the rear supporter 270 is locked (or latched) by a tip of the second tab 224 provided inside the latching part 220. As the latching part 220 has elasticity, a restoring force of elastic distortion makes the second tab 224 latch the upper edge of the rear supporter 270.
Hence, the rear supporter 270 is temporarily fixed to the back cover 200, thereby being prevented from falling on locking screws and facilitating a worker to fasten the screws in the locking holes 275 and 275a at the rear supporter and back cover 270 and 200, respectively.
Accordingly, the dryer according to the present invention has the following advantages of effects.
First of all, in assembling the dryer, the latching part provided to the upper side of the back cover fixes the upper edge of the rear supporter thereto, whereby it is able to prevent the rear supporter from falling forward due to its weight. Hence, the worker need not hold the rear supporter to be facilitated to fasten the screws since the alignment between the locking holes of the rear supporter and back cover is correctly maintained.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover such modifications and variations, provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| P 10-2003-0084558 | Nov 2003 | KR | national |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050108893 A1 | May 2005 | US |
