CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Phase of PCT International Application No. PCT/KR2018/007571, filed on Jul. 4, 2018, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0084663, filed in the Republic of Korea on Jul. 4, 2017, the contents of all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a laundry treating apparatus and a control method of the same, more particularly, to a laundry treating apparatus which includes a sub-drum additionally mounted in a drum so as to perform laundry-treating in both of the drum and sub-drum.

BACKGROUND

Generally, a laundry treating apparatus includes a washer configured to perform washing, a dryer configured to perform drying and a laundry machine with washing and drying functions configured to perform both washing and drying.

Such a laundry treating apparatus is used as the washer may include a cabinet defining an external appearance; a tub mounted in the cabinet and configured to hold wash water; a drum rotatably provided in the tub and configured to wash clothes or laundry; and a door coupled to the door and provided to facilitate the loading and unloading of the clothes or laundry.

The laundry treating apparatus may be classified into a top loading type having a drum shaft which vertically stands with respect to the ground and a front loading type having the drum shaft which is horizontally arranged in parallel with the ground.

In the front type laundry treating apparatus, the drum shaft is substantially parallel with the ground and the washing is performed by using a frictional force between the laundry and the drum rotated by the drive force of a motor and the drop impact of the laundry, in a state where detergent, wash water and laundry are loaded in the drum. The drum washing method in the front loading type produces little damage to the laundry and little laundry entangling, while having a washing effect like hand-rubbing-and-striking.

In the top loading type laundry apparatus, the drum shaft is substantially vertical with respect to the ground and the drum is mounted in the tub where wash water is held. The washing is performed in a state where the laundry is submerged in the wash water supplied to the drum and the top loading drum laundry apparatus is categorized into a pulsator type and an agitator type. The pulsator type includes a pulsator which is rotatably oriented in a bottom of the drum configured to accommodate wash water and laundry and rotates the wash water and the laundry by rotating the pulsator so as to perform the washing. The agitator type includes an agitator which is projected from the bottom of the drum upwardly and rotates the wash water and the laundry by rotating the agitator so as to perform the washing.

The top loading type laundry treating apparatus is configured to perform the washing by using both the friction between the wash water and the laundry and the chemical action of the detergent which are facilitated by the rotation of the drum or the agitator or pulsator which is provided in the bottom of the drum to create water currents. Accordingly, wash water has to be supplied enough to submerge the laundry to perform the washing in the top loading type laundry treating apparatus and the top loading type laundry treating apparatus requires much wash water.

In the conventional laundry treating apparatus, a washing course, more specifically, the washing course configured of a wash cycle, a rinse cycle and a dry-spin cycle may be performed in one drum. If the laundry has to be sorted based on fabric materials, the washing course has to be performed at least two times and more operations of the laundry treating apparatus have to be performed. Accordingly, the conventional laundry treating apparatus has some disadvantages of detergent waste and energy consumption.

To solve such disadvantages, a laundry treating apparatus according to various embodiments of this disclosure may include a sub-drum detachably mounted in the drum. Such a sub-drum may accommodate water, independent from the tub, and water currents may be formed in the sub-drum by the rotation of the sub-drum so as to perform an additional washing course independently from a washing course performed in the drum.

Washing for the main-drum and washing for the sub-drum may be independently performed. More specifically, the wash water held in the main-drum may not be mixed with the water held in the sub-drum. If the wash water held in the main-drum and the sub-drum is mixed, there may be an issue with dyeing the laundry. Also, the detergent used for the laundry in the main-drum could be different from the detergent used for the laundry in the sub-drum.

More specifically, it may be desirable that the water supplied to either of the sub-drum or the drum is not mixed with water drained from the other of the sub-drum or the drum. Accordingly, a laundry treating apparatus is disclosed that may effectively facilitate such independent washing processes.

Meanwhile, the control of the laundry treating apparatus could be different according to whether the sub-drum is mounted in the main-drum. A structure is disclosed, wherein the structure is configured to easily mount the components for determining the presence of the sub-drum mounted in the main-drum. In addition, inner and outer surfaces of the main-drum and the sub-drum quite often contact with moisture or water. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide a structure configured to protect such components from the moisture or water.

SUMMARY

Technical Problem

To overcome the disadvantages of conventional apparatus, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus with a drum and a sub-drum, wherein the laundry treating apparatus may achieve a sufficient washing effect by using only the sub-drum.

Furthermore, another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a laundry treating apparatus which may allow a user to additionally load laundry into the main-drum as well as the sub-drum.

Another aspect is to provide a laundry treating apparatus which may effectively discharge wash water from the sub-drum, without the discharged wash water being drawn into the main-drum.

Yet another aspect is to provide a laundry treating apparatus which may discharge the wash water held in the sub-drum only in a dry-spinning cycle, without discharging the wash water in a washing cycle. The laundry treating apparatus may include a water discharging structure without an auxiliary drive unit such as a drainage pump connected with the sub-drum.

Another aspect is to provide a laundry treating apparatus which may prevent water leakage to a sensor provided in a tub cover to sense the rotation of the sub-drum during the washing and which discharges the water collected in the tub cover fast, while preventing the water from flowing back up to an outlet hole provided to discharge.

Still another aspect is to provide a laundry treating apparatus which may easily mount the sensor to the tub cover without an additional component provided in the tub cover, which is provided in the conventional laundry treating apparatus.

A laundry treating apparatus according to aspects of this disclosure may include an integral structure configured to mount the sensor to the tub cover.

Technical Solution

A laundry treating apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of this disclosure comprises a tub configured to hold wash water; a drum rotatably supported in the tub and comprising a shaft which is perpendicular with the ground; a sub-drum detachably mounted to an inner circumferential surface of the drum and configured to wash laundry, independent from the drum; an information tag provided in the sub-drum and containing information about the laundry; a reading unit configured to acquire the information about the laundry from the information tag; and a control unit configured to determine a washing course that is performed in the sub-drum based on the information acquired by the reading unit.

The control unit may determine corresponding information about the laundry acquired by the reading unit as a washing course, which will be performed, out of a plurality of washing courses according to preset information about laundry.

Accordingly, a plurality of washing courses for the main-drum may be provided and a plurality of washing courses for the sub-drum may be provided. Thus, the washing of the laundry loaded in the main-drum and the washing of the laundry loaded in the sub-drum may be separately performed and the optimized washing course may be performed even in the sub-drum.

The control unit may determine that the sub-drum is mounted when the reading unit acquires information about the laundry from the information tag. That is because the information tag is provided in the sub-drum. When the information tag is read normally, it may be determined that the sub-drum is mounted normally.

The control unit may determine whether the sub-drum is mounted by using the information tag and the reading unit. In other words, two tips of information about the washing course for the sub-drum and the washing course for the main-drum may be figured out by using one configuration (e.g., the information tag). In this instance, the configuration for determining whether the sub-drum is mounted and the configuration for determining the washing course for the sub-drum may be separately provided.

A plurality of information tags may be provided according to a plurality of washing courses.

The plurality of the information tags may be detachably provided in the sub-drum, and a washing course corresponding to the attached information tag may be specified, once one of the information tags is attached to the sub-drum. In this instance, one of the information tags is attached to one sub-drum if necessary such that the user can select the washing course for the sub-drum.

The plurality of the information tags may be provided in the plurality of the sub-drums, respectively. In this instance, the user is able to select one of the sub-drums corresponding to a desired washing course for the sub-drum and mount the selected sub-drum to the main-drum.

The information tag may comprise a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag, and the reading unit may receive information from the RFID tag.

The information tag may comprise a magnet tag having one or more magnets, and the reading unit may comprise a hall sensor configured to sense the magnets of the magnet tag.

The magnet tag may comprise a plurality of magnets arranged along a circumferential surface of the sub-drum, and the hall sensor may be provided in an upper end of the tub.

The combination of the plural magnets may provide plural tips of information about the washing courses. As one example, the plural tips of the washing courses may be provided based on the combination of the number of the mounted magnets or the combination of the angles between the mounted magnets. Such combinations may be read by the reading unit differently.

As another example, the sensed number of the magnets may be varied according to the number of the mounted magnets when the main-drum is rotated once.

As a further example, even when the same number of the magnets is mounted during the one rotation of the main-drum, the angles between the magnets may be varied.

Accordingly, the user is able to select the information about the washing courses by using the information tag having the magnets.

The reading unit may further comprise a rotation angle sensing unit provided in a lower end of the tub and configured to sense a rotation angle of the drum.

More specifically, the control unit may determine a washing course by acquiring the frequency sensed by the hall sensor while the drum is rotated to a preset angle.

More specifically, the magnet tag may include combinations of the number and positions of the mounted magnets and the control unit may determine the washing course by acquiring the sensing frequency of the hall sensor and the rotation angle of the drum measured between the sensing points of the hall sensor.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, a laundry treating apparatus comprises a tub configured to hold wash water; a drum rotatably supported in the tub and comprising a shaft which is perpendicular with the ground; a sub-drum detachably mounted to an inner circumferential surface of the drum and configured to wash laundry, independent from the drum; a control panel provided to allow a user to select a washing course performed by the drum; an information tag provided in the sub-drum to allow a user to select a washing course performed in the sub-drum; a reading unit configured to acquire information about the washing course for the sub-drum from the information tag; and a control unit configured to perform washing according to the washing course selected via the control panel and the washing course selected via the information tag.

Accordingly, the user is able to select a washing course for the drum and a washing course for the sub-drum.

In addition, a method for selecting the washing course for the drum may be different from a method for selecting the washing course for the sub-drum. Therefore, expanding or changing the control panel to select the washing course for the sub-drum may be minimized.

A plurality of information tags may be provided corresponding to a plurality of washing courses, and one of the information tags may be attachable to and detachable from the drum.

A plurality of information tags may be provided corresponding to a plurality of washing courses, and the information tags may be attached to the sub-drums, respectively.

The information tag may be provided corresponding to a plurality of washing courses according to a combination of the number of the mounted magnets, a combination of the positions of the mounted magnets and a combination including the number and positions of the mounted magnets.

The information tag may comprise a RFID tag, and the reading unit may receive information from the RFID tag.

The control unit may acquire information about the washing course for the drum via the control panel, and unless the reading unit acquires information about a washing course for the sub-drum, it may be determined that the sub-drum is not mounted and only the washing course for the drum is controlled to be performed.

The control unit may control the reading unit to acquire information about the washing course for the sub-drum, and unless the reading unit acquires information about the washing course for the drum via the control panel, the control unit may control only the washing course to be performed by the sub-drum.

Accordingly, the user is able to select one of the washing processes. The washing processes include one washing process performed only in the drum (a first mode); another washing process performed in both the drum and the sub-drum (a second mode); and the other washing process performed only in the sub-drum (a third mode). In other words, the user is able to select one of the three washing modes.

The first mode may be used in normal washing. The second mode may be used when separated washings are needed at the same time. The third mode may be used in washing a small amount of laundry. Meanwhile, in the second or third mode, the user is able to select the washing course for the sub-drum. Accordingly, the washing may be performed by using the optimized washing course, regardless of the washing modes.

Detailed characteristics of various disclosed embodiments may be combined in other embodiments.

Advantageous Effects

The disclosed embodiments have the following advantageous effects. According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the laundry treating apparatus and the control method of the same may provide the optimal washing effect by using the sub-drum.

Furthermore, the laundry treating apparatus and the control method of the same may determine the optimal washing course even without further providing an auxiliary user interface related to the washing of the sub-drum.

Still further, the laundry treating apparatus and the control method of the same may automatically determine the washing course for the laundry loaded in the sub-drum only when the user mounts the sub-drum to the main-drum.

Still further, the laundry treating apparatus and the control method of the same may allow the user to select washing information about the sub-drum mounted to the main-drum and recognize and reflect the selected information.

Still further, the laundry treating apparatus and the control method of the same may determine whether the sub-drum is mounted to the main-drum and recognize information about the washing course of the sub-drum.

Still further, the laundry treating apparatus and the control method of the same may perform in both the main-drum and the sub-drum or only in the sub-drum, in a state where the sub-drum is mounted to the main-drum.

Still further, the laundry treating apparatus may automatically set a washing course of the sub-drum even unless the user selects the washing course of the sub-drum via a control panel.

