Lg Electronics Inc.

Aram Lee

Soowon Park

Incheol Kang

Soojin Kim

Jaeseok Kim

Yongjun An

Hyuntae Lee

A laundry treating apparatus comprising a cabinet including a laundry introduction port, a door to open and close the introduction port, a hinge unit configuring a first rotating axis and a second rotating axis, the hinge unit including a first shaft and a second shaft configuring the first rotating axis and a third shaft and a fourth shaft configuring the second rotating axis, and a rotating shaft shifting unit that rotatably fastens the door to any one of the first rotating axis and the second rotating axis, the rotating shaft shifting unit including a first shifting unit and a second shifting unit selectively and rotatably fastening the fourth shaft to the cabinet. The fourth shaft includes a protrusion protruding toward the second shifting unit, and a fourth side flat surface is formed on the protrusion and supports the second shifting unit by establishing surface contact with the second shifting unit.

Laundry treating apparatus

A laundry treating apparatus includes a door, where a first rotational axis forms a rotation center of the door, and a second rotational axis forms another rotation center of the door. The second rotational axis is provided to rotate the door in a direction different from a direction in which the door is rotated about the first rotational axis. A first switching unit is configured to connect the door to the first rotational axis, and a second switching unit is configured to connect the door to the second rotational axis when the first switching unit is moved in a direction in which the door is separated from the first rotational axis.

A laundry treating apparatus includes a cabinet, a door, a first hinge including a first shaft and a first shaft receiving unit, a second hinge including a second shaft and a third shaft configured to rotatably fix the second shaft to the cabinet and to define a second rotational axis of the door, a third hinge including a fourth shaft and a fourth shaft receiving unit such that the fourth shaft is detachably received in the fourth shaft receiving unit, a first switching unit provided in the door, a second switching unit provided in the door, the second switching unit being configured to close the fourth shaft receiving unit, and a withdrawal prevention unit configured to detachably couple second switching unit to the third hinge when the second switching unit closes the fourth shaft receiving unit.

The laundry treating apparatus includes a door to open and close the introduction port about a first rotational or a second rotational axis which is different from first rotational axis. A first switching unit is provided in the door to allow rotation of door about the first rotational axis, and a second switching unit is provided in the door to allow rotation of the door about the second rotational axis. A lock fixes a position of at least one of the first switching unit or second switching unit when the door opens the introduction port. A damper is also provided. As can be appreciated, the mechanism used for the laundry apparatus may be applicable to other home appliances or non-home appliances where two different rotational axes may be needed to open and close a door.

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Seoul, South Korea

Aram Lee