US 12,448,716 B2
Laundry treating apparatus
Jihong Lee, Seoul (KR); and Kwan Woong Jeong, Seoul (KR)
Assigned to LG ELECTRONICS INC., Seoul (KR)
Filed by LG ELECTRONICS INC., Seoul (KR)
Filed on Feb. 5, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/433,062.
Application 18/433,062 is a continuation of application No. 17/309,051, granted, now 11,920,273, previously published as PCT/KR2019/013351, filed on Oct. 11, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2018-0127531 (KR), filed on Oct. 24, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2024/0175188 A1, May 30, 2024
Int. Cl. D06F 34/20 (2020.01); D06F 33/32 (2020.01); D06F 37/18 (2006.01); D06F 37/28 (2006.01); D06F 37/42 (2006.01); D06F 39/14 (2006.01); D06F 103/68 (2020.01)
CPC D06F 34/20 (2020.02) [D06F 33/32 (2020.02); D06F 37/18 (2013.01); D06F 37/28 (2013.01); D06F 37/42 (2013.01); D06F 39/14 (2013.01); D06F 2103/68 (2020.02)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A laundry treating apparatus comprising:
a cabinet having a top surface for supporting a second treating apparatus thereon and a front surface having a front opening defined therein communicating an interior of the cabinet with an outside thereof;
a drawer withdrawing from and retracting into the cabinet through the front opening having a first through hole to feed laundry;
a tub disposed inside the drawer to receive water and having a laundry inlet defined in a top surface of the tub;
a drum rotatably disposed in the tub to receive laundry therein through a top opening;
a door pivotally disposed at a top surface of the drawer or the top surface of the tub to open and close the first through hole or the laundry inlet; and
a signal generator configured to detect whether the drawer is inserted into the cabinet to a reference position and whether the laundry inlet has opened, the signal generator including:
a base;
a lever disposed between the top surface of the cabinet and a top surface of a drawer body and including a fixing end having a lever rotation shaft pivotably fixed to the base and a free end having a receiving portion accommodating a magnetic field generator;
a magnetic field sensor disposed on a portion of the drawer body corresponding to the magnetic field generator; and
a lever spring configured to press the free end of the lever toward the top surface of the drawer body so that the free end of the lever is moved to a reference position towards the top surface of the drawer body based on the door being closed,
wherein the lever is located over the door such that the lever rotates about the lever rotation shaft and the free end of the lever moves up toward the top surface of the cabinet to be away from the top surface of the drawer body based on the door rotating to open the laundry inlet inside the cabinet.