Laundry device

Abstract

A laundry device is disclosed. A laundry device includes a body case that defines an exterior thereof; a drum mounted within the body case to hold the laundry; a plurality of circuit substrates installed on the body case separately, on which circuit parts are mounted; and a coating guide that holds each circuit substrate. Here, the coating guide comprises a plurality of housing parts on which the circuit substrates are mounted, respectively, and a connection part flexibly formed to connect the housing parts each other. The present invention provides a laundry device which includes a coating guide fabricated as one body to reduce production cost such that various circuit parts of a circuit substrate may be accurately corresponding to a through hole and a transparent window formed on a control panel regardless of an external curvature of the control panel when the coating guide is fastened to the control panel.

Description

This application claims the benefit of the Patent Korean Application No. 10-2006-0014087, filed on Feb. 14, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a laundry device, more particularly, to a laundry device which has a coating guide of an improved structure to prevent misassembly between a control panel and a coating guide provided in a control assembly controlling an operation of a laundry machine.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

In general, a laundry device stands for a washer which performs washing and spinning, a dryer which performs drying and a washer combined with a drying function which performs washing and drying simultaneously.

Among them, the washer is classified into a drum type washer and a pulsator type washer.

The dryer is an electric home appliance which generates and supplies hot air to the washed laundry to dry the laundry. The dryer may be usable when the laundry is not naturally dried well such as in a rainy season. Recently, the dryer has been increasingly popular to busy modern people.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional dryer will be described.

The conventional dryer includes a top plate 1, a cabinet 2, a front panel 4 and a control assembly 3.

The top plate 1 defines an upper portion of the dryer.

The cabinet 2 defines a side and rear surface of the dryer to protect a drum and various parts installed within the cabinet 2.

The front panel 4 defines a front surface of the dryer and an opening (not shown) is formed in a center of the front panel 4 to introduce the laundry there through.

Also, a door 5 is hingedly coupled to the opening formed a side of the front panel 4 to selectively open/close the opening.

The control assembly 3 has various operation buttons for a user to control the operation of the dryer and is provided on an upper portion of the front panel 4.

Here, referring to FIG. 2, the control assembly 3 will be described in detail.

The control assembly 3 includes a control panel 31, a circuit substrate 32 and a coating guide 33.

The control panel 31 defines an exterior of the control assembly 3 so that the coating guide 33 having the circuit substrate 32 mounted thereon may be connected in rear of the control panel 31.

At that time, an opening 31a is formed on the control panel 31 to expose outside a button provided on the circuit substrate 32 and a transparent window 31b is provided on the control panel 31 to make a user recognize a display of a LCD and emitting light of a LED lamp provided on the circuit substrate 32.

Circuit parts are mounted on the circuit substrate 32 to control the operation of the dryer and electrically connected to each other based on each function, as shown in FIG. 2.

The coating guide 33 is provided in plural to hold the plural circuit substrates 32 separately and closes a rear portion of the control panel 31.

Here, the number of housing parts 33a provided on the coating guide 33 is the same as that of the circuit substrates 32.

However, the conventional dryer has following problems.

Since the housing parts 33a of the coating guide 33 are separable, work effort may increase only to increase the production cost of housing parts 33a.

To solve the problem as shown in FIG. 3, one coating guide formed as one body and another problem may arise.

The coating guide 43 formed as one body is coupled to a control panel 41 having a gently curved shape, circuit parts of a circuit substrate 42 mounted within the coating guide 43 might not be corresponding to an opening 41a and a transparent window 41b formed on a control panel 41.

That is, as there might be aperture between the coating guide 43 formed in a straight lined shape and the control panel 41 formed in a gently curved shape, a button, an LCD and an LED mounted on the circuit substrate 42 may not be corresponding to the opening 41a and the transparent window 41b provided on the control panel 41. Thereby, there might be misassembly or light leakage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a laundry device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a laundry device which includes a coating guide fabricated as one body to reduce production cost, such that various circuit parts of a circuit substrate may be accurately corresponding to a through hole and a transparent window formed on a control panel regardless of an external curvature of the control panel when the coating guide is fastened to the control panel.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a laundry device includes a body case that defines an exterior thereof; a drum mounted within the body case to hold the laundry; a plurality of circuit substrates installed on the body case separately, on which circuit parts are mounted; and a coating guide that holds each circuit substrate. Here, the coating guide comprises a plurality of housing parts on which the circuit substrates are mounted, respectively, and a connection part flexibly formed to connect the housing parts each other.

The connection part is formed as one body with the housing parts. Both opposite ends of the connection part are connected to a surface of the housing part and a surface of another housing part, which face each other.

The thickness of connection part is smaller than the width of housing part.

Also, the connection part is configured to connect an entire portion between two surfaces of housing parts which face each other. At this time, the connection part is configured to connect some portion between two surfaces of the housing parts, which face each other. Preferably, the connection part is provided in plural.

The control panel is roundly projected forwardly from both opposite ends thereof toward a center thereof.

Therefore, the laundry device according to the present invention has following advantageous effects.

First of all, since the coating guide having the plurality of housing parts is formed as one body, work effort may be saved.

That is, the coating guide can be molded as one unit when being fabricated, the cost will be reduced and productivity is improved.

Furthermore, the thickness of connection part connecting the housing parts is smaller than the width of coating guide and the connection part is flexible. When the coating guide is fastened to the control panel, the connection part of the coating guide is curved along the external curvature of control panel such that the circuit substrates held within the coating guide can be approaching to the control panel. Accordingly, various circuit parts of the circuit substrates are corresponding to a through hole and a transparent window of the control panel smoothly and accurately. Thereby, there is another advantageous effect that misassembly may be prevented.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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 embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional dryer;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are exploded perspective views illustrating a control assembly of the conventional dryer;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a control assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the control assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views illustrating a coating guide of a control assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a control assembly of a laundry device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, a control assembly 300 includes a control panel 310, a circuit substrate 320 and a coating guide 330.

The control panel 310 defines an exterior of the control assembly 300 and protects various parts installed within the control panel 310.

The exterior of control panel 310 may be straight. Recently, since the exterior of the laundry device may be entirely round shaped to enhance external beauty, the control panel 310 also may be round forwardly to a center thereof.

The control panel 310 is installed on a front panel 4 (see FIG. 1) of the laundry device.

A transparent window 311 is formed on the control panel 310 and a plurality of buttons 312 are formed on the transparent window 311 for a user to operate the laundry device by using the same.

A fastening boss 313 is formed on an edge within the control panel 310 and a screw hole is formed on the fastening boss 313 for the coating guide 330 to be fastened thereto.

Various circuit parts are mounted on the circuit substrate 320 to control the operation of the laundry device.

Here, at least two circuit substrates 320 may be configured to categorize the circuit parts in accordance with their functions.

As shown in FIG. 4, two circuit substrates are presented in this specification for convenience sake.

Also, the coating guide 330 holds each circuit substrate 320 to guide antirust liquid applied only on a predetermined area of the circuit substrate 320.

Here, the coating guide 330 includes housing parts 331 that hold the circuit substrates 320 respectively and a connection part 332 that connects the housing parts 331 as one body.

The housing part 331 has a groove to hold the circuit substrate 320 and may be formed in a square shape substantially similar to the shape of the circuit substrate 320.

The connection part 332 is flexible and connects the housing parts 331 each other as one body and gently curves the exterior of the coating guide 330 along an exterior curvature of the control panel 310.

Here, the thickness (t) of the connection part 332 is relatively smaller than the width (T) of a circumferential surface of the housing part 331.

Here, the circumferential surface means a circumference that defines an external circumference of the housing part 331.

The connection part 332 connects a surface of a housing part 331 and a surface of the other housing part 331 each other, which face each other.

The connection part 332 connects the two surfaces of the housing parts 331 and is formed as one body with an entire portion of the two surfaces from an upper end to a lower end.

By the way, a fastening part 333 is formed on the coating guide 330 and has a fastening hole corresponding to the fastening boss 313, such that the coating guide 330 is fastened to the control panel 310.

The fastening structure of the control assembly provided in the dryer according to the above configuration will be described.

First, a cable is electrically connected between the two circuit substrates 320.

Next, the circuit substrates 320 are insertedly mounted in the housing parts 331, respectively.

Hence, antirust liquid is applied on the circuit substrate 320 exposed outside of the coating guide 330 to prevent the various circuit parts mounted on the circuit substrate 320 from being wet, considering a characteristic that the laundry device is exposed to water.

Here, antirust liquid is prevented from leaking out of circuit substrate 320 by the coating guide 330.

Thus, the fastening part 333 of the coating guide 330 having the circuit substrate 320 mounted on is corresponding to the fastening boss 313 of the control panel 310.

At this time, the connection part 332 of the coating guide 330 is gently curved along the external curvature of control panel 310 so that the fastening hole of the fastening part 333 is corresponding to the screw hold of the fastening boss 313.

Hence, a screw is fastened to the screw hole though the fastening hole to complete the assembly of the control assembly 300.

The control assembly 300 is installed on an upper portion of a front panel provided in the dryer.

As mentioned before, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the flexible connection part 333 of the coating guide 330 connects the two surfaces of the housing parts 331 from upper ends to lower ends, which face each other, and the thickness of the connection part 331 is smaller than the width of the circumferential surface configured in the housing part 331.

Alternatively, according to another embodiment of the present invent, a connection part connects some portion of two surfaces of housing parts provided in a coating guide.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention has the same configurations as the control assembly according to the above embodiment but the connection part of another embodiment is different from that of the embodiment.

A coating guide 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a housing part 410 that holds each circuit substrate and a connection part 420 that connects the housing parts 410 each other.

At this time, the connection part 420 connects only some portion between two surfaces of the housing parts 410 which face each other, as shown in FIG. 6, not the entire portion between the two surfaces of the housing parts.

Here, a plurality of connection parts 420 may be provided.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7, one connection part 420 not plural connection parts may be provided.

This connection part 420 may have better flexibility. But, since the connection part 420 may be breakable due to its weak strength, it is preferred that the connection part 420 has a predetermined height enough not to be breakable easily.

Therefore, the connection part 420 of the coating guide 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention connects only some portion between the two surfaces of the housing parts 410 which face each other and thereby it has an advantageous effect of reduced production cost.

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 inventions. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A laundry device comprising:

a body case that defines an exterior thereof;

a drum mounted within the body case to hold the laundry;

a plurality of circuit substrates installed on the body case separately, on which circuit parts are mounted; and

a coating guide that holds each circuit substrate, wherein the coating guide comprises a plurality of housing parts on which the circuit substrates are mounted, respectively, and a connection part flexibly formed to connect the housing parts each other.

2. The laundry device of claim 1, wherein the connection part is formed as one body with the housing parts.

3. The laundry device of claim 2, wherein both opposite ends of the connection part are connected to a surface of the housing part and a surface of another housing part, which face each other.

4. The laundry device of claim 1, wherein the thickness of connection part is smaller than the width of housing part.

5. The laundry device of claim 4, wherein the connection part is configured to connect an entire portion between two surfaces of housing parts which face each other.

6. The laundry device of claim 4, wherein the connection part is configured to connect some portion between two surfaces of the housing parts, which face each other.

7. The laundry device of claim 6, wherein the connection part is provided in plural.

8. The laundry device of claim 1, wherein the control panel is roundly projected forwardly from both opposite ends thereof toward a center thereof.

9. A control assembly comprising:

a control panel installed on a front surface of a body case, wherein a user selects various operations for a laundry device;

a plurality of circuit substrates installed on the control panel separately on which circuit parts are mounted; and

a coating guide that holds each circuit substrate,

wherein the coating guide comprises a plurality of housing parts in which circuit substrates are held, and a connection part flexibly formed to connect the housing parts each other.

10. The control assembly of claim 9, wherein the connection part is formed as one body with the housing parts.

11. The control assembly of claim 9, wherein both opposite ends of the connection part are connected to a surface of the housing part and a surface of another housing part, which faces each other.

12. The control assembly of claim 9, wherein the width of connection part is smaller than the width of housing part.

13. The control assembly of claim 11, wherein the connection part is formed to connect an entire portion between the two surfaces of the housing parts which face each other.

14. The control assembly of claim of 11, wherein the connection part is formed to connect some portion of the two surfaces of the housing parts, which face each other.

15. The control assembly of claim 14, wherein the connection parts is provided in plural.

16. The control assembly of claim 9, wherein the control panel is projected roundly and forwardly from both opposite ends thereof to a center thereof.