Samsung patents washer-dryer design with built-in air ducts in the back
Samsung has been granted a patent for a laundry machine that combines washing and drying functions. The design features a specific structure on the back of the water tub, including reinforcing ribs and a recessed channel that guides air from the drum to the drying unit located above.
In the filing’s own words
A clothes care apparatus includes: a housing in which a laundry inlet is formed on a front; a tub provided in the housing and configured to store water and including a tub back forming a rear side of the tub; a drum configured to be rotatable in the tub and accommodate laundry; and a drying device disposed above the tub, and configured to remove moisture from air exhausted from the tub and supply heated air to the tub, wherein the tub back includes: a plurality of reinforcing ribs protruding rearward to reinforce a rigidity of the tub back; and a tub duct formed in a portion of the tub back, configured to guide the air exhausted from the tub to the drying device.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A clothes care apparatus, comprising: a housing including a laundry inlet on a front; a tub provided in the housing and configured to store water and including a tub back forming a rear side of the tub; a drum configured to be rotatable in the tub and accommodate laundry; and a drying device disposed above the tub, and configured to remove moisture from air exhausted from the tub and supply heated air to the tub, wherein the tub back includes: a plurality of reinforcing ribs protruding rearward to reinforce a rigidity of the tub back, and a tub duct formed in a portion of the tub back and configured to guide air exhausted from the tub to the drying device, and including a tub exhaust port configured to exhaust air in the tub and a recess portion recessed further forward than rear ends of the plurality of reinforcing ribs, the recess portion being formed in a rib-free region of the tub back and integrally recessed into the tub back so as to define part of an exhaust flow path.
Facts
- Company
- Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
- Official title
- Clothes care apparatus
- Patent number
- US12735827B2
- Application number
- 18746826
- Filed
- Jun 18, 2024
- Granted
- Sep 15, 2026
- Inventors
- 5
- Claims
- 14
Classified under
D06F 37/264 Textiles & paperD06F 25/00 Textiles & paperD06F 37/04 Textiles & paperD06F 39/04 Textiles & paperD06F 37/267 Textiles & paperD06F 37/304 Textiles & paperMore from Samsung in Other
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- Samsung patents wastewater system that uses UV light to break down PFAS Oct 15, 2026
- Samsung patents dryer that adds water when clothes get too hot Oct 15, 2026
- Samsung patents clothes cleaner that uses plasma and targeted ultrasonic waves Oct 22, 2026
Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.