Drum for clothes dryer

• US 8,042,282 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2007
• Issued: 10/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Song, Sung-Ho, Oh, Jung-Geun, Joung, Jae-Hak, Lee, Sang-Ik, Bae, Sang-Hun, Eom, Yoon-Seob
• Primary Examiner(s): GRAVINI, STEPHEN MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US11/710,400
• Publication Number:
  US 20070199207A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,702 Days
• Field of Search: 345/95, 345/99, 346/01, 346/02, 346/03, 346/06, 346/10, 814/92, 815/9, 682/12, 68/20, 210/712, 210/97, 126/299.D, 604/367, 604/359, 137/268
• US Class Current: 34/595
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 58/04 Details controlling or regulating devices D06F34/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/4891 With holder for solid, flaky or pulverized material to be dissolved or entrained

Abstract

A drum for a clothes dryer in which an internal structure, especially, a baffle structure, of the drum is improved to prevent target items from being entangled and damaged during a drying operation to thereby improve the drying efficiency of the clothes dryer. Rotatable balls are inserted in the baffles mounted on an internal surface of the drum, the mounting arrangement of the baffles is changed, or the baffles are modified to thus improve the drying operation. In addition, an absorbent is filled in the baffles to thus increase the drying efficiency.

Claims

1. A clothes dryer, comprising:

a main body;

a drum disposed within the main body;

a door provided in the main body through which clothes to be dried are introduced into the drum;

a motor that rotates the drum;

a heater that heats air to be provided to the drum; and

a plurality of baffles provided on an inner circumferential surface of the drum, each of the plurality of baffles including a plurality of balls fixed therein so as to be freely rotatable inside the respective baffle.

2. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein at least one portion of each ball is exposed at a surface of the respective baffle.

3. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein the plurality of balls comprises 3 to 5 balls.

4. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein the plurality of baffles each have a rectangular shaped cross section, are formed in a bar shape with a certain length, and are mounted on an inner circumferential surface of the drum or integrally formed with the drum.

5. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein the plurality of baffles have a length less than one-half of an internal depth of the drum, and are mounted within the drum such that they are staggered and interdigitated in a lengthwise direction of the drum.

6. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein the plurality of baffles each have a plurality of recesses formed in an upper portion thereof.

7. The clothes dryer of claim 1, wherein the plurality of baffles each include an absorbent that collects moisture therein.

8. A clothes dryer, comprising:

a main body;

a drum disposed within the main body;

a door provided in the main body through which clothes to be dried are introduced into the drum;

a motor that rotates the drum;

a heater that heats air to be provided to the drum.; and

a plurality of baffles, each having a length less than one-half of an internal depth of the drum, provided on an inner circumferential surface of the drum such that they are staggered relative to each other in a depthwise direction of the drum and do not extend the entire length of the drum.

9. The clothes dryer of claim 8, wherein the plurality of baffles each have a plurality of recesses formed at in upper portion thereof.

10. The clothes dryer of claim 8, wherein the plurality of baffles each include an absorbent that collects moisture therein.

11. A clothes dryer, comprising:

a main body;

a drum disposed within the main body;

a door provided in the main body through which clothes to be dried are introduced into the drum;

a motor that rotates the drum;

a heater that heats air to be provided to the drum; and

a plurality of baffles provided on an inner circumferential surface of the drum, each of the plurality of baffles including a plurality of recesses formed in an upper surface thereof.

12. The clothes dryer of claim 11, wherein the plurality of baffles each include an absorbent that collects moisture therein.

14. The clothes dryer of claim 11, wherein the plurality of recesses are each rectangular in shape, hexagonal in shape, or circular in shape.

15. The clothes dryer of claim 11, wherein the plurality of recesses are rectangular in shape, each having a height in a range of one-third to equal to a width of the respective recess.

16. The clothes dryer of claim 11, wherein the plurality of recesses are rectangular in shape, each having a height less than a width of the respective recesses.

17. The clothes dryer of claim 11, wherein the plurality of recesses each extends down from an upper surface of the respective baffle less than half a height of the respective baffle.

13. A clothes dryer, comprising:

a main body;

a drum disposed within the main body;

a door provided in the main body through which clothes to be dried are introduced into the drum;

a motor that rotates the drum;

a heater that heats air to be provided to the drum; and

a plurality of baffles provided on an inner circumferential surface of the drum, each of the plurality of baffles including an air pore structure formed in a front surface thereof and including an absorbent that collects moisture disposed therein.