LAUNDRY MACHINE

Abstract

Disclosed is a laundry machine. The laundry machine has the entire side surface not implemented as a cover of stainless steel but implemented as a double structure of a side panel and a side cover of stainless steel that is attached onto the side panel. Thus, the laundry machine can have the excellent appearance by the side cover of stainless steel. And, it is capable of reducing the material cost by using the side panel for the interior. Further, since the side surface thereof is implemented as the double structure of the side panel and the side cover having different frequencies from each other, it is capable of absorbing and attenuating noise and vibration generated while the laundry machine is operated.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a laundry machine (e.g., washing machine, clothing dryer, dryer and washing machine, etc.), and more particularly, to a cover forming an appearance of a laundry machine

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a cover forming an appearance of a laundry machine is formed of steel. And, the cover undergoes a drawing process into a proper shape and then a coating process for preventing corrosion.

Recently, required is the washing machine to have a metallic-colored appearance. However, when the cover of the steel is directly used without the coating process, the cover may be easily corroded. For this reason, it is required to use a cover formed of another material instead of steel.

The present applicant applies a cover formed of stainless steel that is metallic-colored and hardly corroded even in a state that it does not undergo the coating process to a laundry machine, considering that the laundry machine frequently comes in contact with water. And, a plurality of inventions regarding this are currently applied.

Meanwhile, the stainless steel has drawbacks not enough to be used as the cover forming the appearance of the laundry machine due to its work hardening characteristic (particularly, when the cover is formed in a complex shape or when a front surface of the laundry machine is integrated with a side surface thereof, the cover may be curled by a spring back). In order to solve these problems, one of STS 300 group having a low spring back is used to form the cover.

However, when the cover of the laundry machine is formed of the stainless steel, since the stainless steel is relatively expensive, a material cost still remains as a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention is directed to providing a laundry machine having a cover formed of stainless steel in a lowered material cost.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a laundry machine comprising: a side panel, and a side cover formed of stainless steel and coupled to an exterior of the side panel.

The side panel is provided with noise attenuation member mounting grooves. And, preferably, noise attenuation members are respectively inserted into the noise attenuation member mounting grooves thus to attenuate vibration and noise generated while the laundry machine is operated.

Preferably, the side cover is coupled to the side panel by a hook and/or adhered thereto. To this end, a hook groove is provided at an upper end of the side panel, and the side cover is provided with a hook inserted into the hook groove. Here, preferably, a double-sided tape or an adhesive agent is used to perform the adhesion.

Alternately, preferably, the side cover is coupled to the side panel by screws. To this end, the screws are coupled to the side cover at an inner side of the side panel, the side cover is provided with a plurality of protrusions, and the side panel is provided with a plurality of insertion grooves for inserting the protrusions thereinto, preferably. Here, through holes through which the screws pass are respectively formed at the insertion grooves, and the protrusions are provided with screw grooves to which the screws are coupled, preferably.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laundry machine comprising: a cabinet, a front cover covering a front surface of the cabinet, a top cover covering an upper surface of the cabinet, a side cover covering a side surface of the cabinet, and a side panel installed at an inner side of the side cover, wherein the front cover and the side cover are formed of stainless steel, and the side panel is formed of steel. Here, the front cover is integrally formed by molding a stainless plate, and the side cover is formed of stainless steel of STS 300 group having a low spring back characteristic, preferably.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laundry machine comprising: a cabinet, a front cover formed of stainless steel and covering a front surface of the cabinet, and a double cover covering a side surface of the cabinet. Here, the double cover is formed by two kinds of material having different natural frequencies from each other, preferably.

The double cover comprises a side cover formed of stainless steel for an exterior and a side panel formed of steel and installed at an inner side of the side cover, preferably.

The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

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 specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a laundry machine in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing that a side cover of FIG. 1 is coupled to a side panel by a hook;

FIG. 3 is a partially cut view of A portion in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing that a side cover of FIG. 1 is adhered to a side panel;

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along line V-V in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing that a side cover of FIG. 1 is coupled to a side panel by screws; and

FIG. 7 is a section view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Description will now be given in detail of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Hereafter, a laundry machine in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a laundry machine in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing that a side cover of FIG. 1 is coupled to a side panel by a hook.

Referring to FIG. 1, the laundry machine in accordance with the present invention includes a front cover 20 forming a front surface of a cabinet, a top cover 30 forming an upper surface thereof and a side cover 90.

The front cover 20 and the side cover 90 have an excellent appearance considering a design. They are respectively formed of stainless steel so as not to be corroded in spite of frequent contact with water. In order to enhance a processability of the covers, a kind of the stainless steel in STS 300 group having a low spring back characteristic is used to form the covers resulting from checking physical properties of several kinds of the stainless steel.

The front cover 20 is integrally formed resulting from molding a stainless steel plate. The front cover 20 is provided with a central portion provided with an inlet 21 at which a door 40 is mounted, an upper portion provided with an opening 22 at which a control panel 50 and a detergent box 60 are installed, and a lower portion provided with a pump service hole 23 at which a pump cover 70 is installed. Through this pump service hole 23, a user can put his/her own hand into the laundry machine so as to maintain a pump (not shown) installed in the laundry machine.

Referring to FIG. 2, the side cover 90 is coupled to an exterior of a side panel 80 formed of steel. That is, the entire side surface of the laundry machine is not implemented as the side cover 90 of the stainless steel, but implemented as a double structure of the side panel 80 mounted therein and the side cover 90 of the stainless steel that is attached to the exterior of the side panel 80.

Accordingly, the appearance of the laundry machine becomes excellent by using the side cover 90 of the stainless steel for its exterior. And, using the side panel 80 of steel for its interior, not the stainless steel, it is capable of reducing a material cost for the stainless steel.

Further, the side surface of the laundry machine is formed with the double structure of the side panel 80 and the side cover 90 having proper vibrations different from each other, accordingly it is capable of absorbing and attenuating noise and vibration generated while the laundry machine is operated.

Hereafter, various methods for coupling the side cover to the side panel will be described. FIG. 3 is a partially cut view of A portion in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing that a side cover of FIG. 1 is adhered to a side panel, and FIG. 5 is a section view taken along line V-V in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, in order to couple the side cover 90 to the side panel 80 by a hook, a hook groove 81 is formed at an upper end of the side panel 80, and the side cover 90 is provided with a hook 91 inserted into the hook groove 81. And, the top cover 30 is provided with a through groove 31 through which the hook 91 of the side cover 90 passes. As the hook 91 of the side cover 90 passes through the through groove 31 and then inserted into the hook groove 81 of the side panel 80, the upper end of the side cover 90 is firstly coupled to the side panel 80. Here, in order to smoothly insert the hook 91 into the hook groove 81, as shown in FIG. 2, the hook 91 is inserted into the hook groove 81 in a state that the side cover 90 is outwardly inclined from the side panel 80 by an angle of θ (approximately 17°) thus to allow a lower end of the side cover 90 to be spaced from the side panel 80 by L (approximately 268 mm).

Next, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the side cover 90 is secondly adhered to the side panel 80. To this end, a double-sided tape 95 is attached between the side cover 90 and the side panel 80. An adhesive agent may be used to adhere between the side cover 90 and the side panel 80, instead of the double-sided tape 95.

Finally, the side cover 90 and the side panel 80 are completely coupled to each other by screws positioned at 8 portions referred to as solid line arrows.

In the meantime, in order to attenuate vibration and noise generated while the laundry machine is operated, noise attenuation member mounting grooves 82 are formed at the side panel 80, and noise attenuation members 96 are respectively inserted into the noise attenuation member mounting grooves 82. Each noise attenuation member 82 is implemented as a sponge in this embodiment. However, if it can attenuate vibration and noise, each noise attenuation member may be implemented as a rubber, etc.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing that a side cover of FIG. 1 is coupled to a side panel by screws, and FIG. 7 is a section view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 6.

As another coupling method, referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the side cover 90 is coupled to the side panel 80 by screws 97, not the double-sided tape 95 (refer to FIG. 5). To this end, the side cover 90 is provided with a plurality of protrusions 92. The protrusions 92 are formed as a separate member and attached to the side cover 90 using the double-sided tape or the adhesive agent. The protrusions 92 are respectively provided with screw grooves 92a to which the screws 97 are respectively coupled.

The side panel 80 is provided with a plurality of insertion grooves 83 for inserting the protrusions 92 thereinto in correspondence to the protrusions 92. The insertion grooves 83 are respectively provided with through holes 83a through which the screws 97 pass.

With such configuration, the screws 97 are respectively coupled to the screw grooves 92a of the protrusions 92 at an inner side of the side panel 80 through the through holes 83a. Accordingly, the screws 97 are not outwardly exposed.

Else, when the side cover 90 is coupled to the side panel 80, it may be possible to use the hook, the double-sided tape, the adhesive agent, the screw, etc., alternately and simultaneously.

As aforementioned, in the laundry machine in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the entire side surface of the laundry machine is not implemented as the cover formed of the stainless steel, but implemented as the double structure in which the side panel and the side cover of the stainless steel that is attached onto the side panel are coupled to each other. Accordingly, by the side cover of the stainless steel for the exterior, the laundry machine can have the excellent appearance. And, by using the side panel that is not formed of the stainless steel for the interior, it is capable of reducing the material cost. Further, the side surface of the laundry machine is implemented as the double structure of the side panel and the side cover having proper vibrations different from each other, accordingly it is capable of absorbing and attenuating noise and vibration generated while the laundry machine is operated.

The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure. The present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments.

As the present inventive features may be embodied in several forms without departing from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A laundry machine comprising:

a side panel; and

a side cover formed of stainless steel and coupled to an exterior of the side panel.

2. The laundry machine of claim 1, wherein the side cover is coupled to the side panel by a hook and/or adhered thereto.

3. The laundry machine of claim 2, wherein a hook groove is provided at an upper end of the side panel, and the side cover is provided with a hook inserted into the hook groove.

4. The laundry machine of claim 2, wherein a double-sided tape or an adhesive agent is used to perform the adhesion.

5. The laundry machine of claim 1, wherein the side panel is provided with noise attenuation member mounting grooves, and noise attenuation members are respectively inserted into the noise attenuation member mounting grooves.

6. The laundry machine of claim 1, wherein the side cover is coupled to the side panel by screws.

7. The laundry machine of claim 6, wherein the screws are coupled to the side cover at an inner side of the side panel.

8. The laundry machine of claim 6, wherein the side cover is provided with a plurality of protrusions, and the side panel is provided with a plurality of insertion grooves for inserting the protrusions thereinto.

9. The laundry machine of claim 8, wherein through holes through which the screws pass are respectively formed at the insertion grooves, and the protrusions are provided with screw grooves to which the screws are coupled.

10. A laundry machine comprising:

a cabinet;

a front cover covering a front surface of the cabinet;

a top cover covering an upper surface of the cabinet;

a side cover covering a side surface of the cabinet; and

a side panel installed at an inner side of the side cover, wherein the front cover and the side cover are formed of stainless steel, and the side panel is formed of steel.

11. The laundry machine of claim 10, wherein the front cover is integrally formed of a stainless plate.

12. The laundry machine of claim 10, wherein the side cover is formed of stainless steel of STS 300 group having a low spring back characteristic.

13. A laundry machine comprising:

a cabinet;

a front cover formed of stainless steel and covering a front surface of the cabinet; and

a double cover covering a side surface of the cabinet.

14. The laundry machine of claim 13, wherein the double cover is formed by two kinds of material having different natural frequencies from each other.

15. The laundry machine of claim 13, wherein the double cover comprises:

a side cover formed of stainless steel for an exterior; and

a side panel formed of steel and installed at an inner side of the side cover.