Clothes treatment apparatus

Abstract

Disclosed is a clothes treatment apparatus, which manages clothes. The clothes treatment apparatus includes: a chamber including a clothes management compartment to manage clothes; and a steam generator configured to change water into steam and supply the steam to the clothes management compartment. The steam generator includes: a steam generation tank partitioned into a first space to store water and a second space to heat water by a partition wall including a channel through which water moves from the first space to the second space; and a heater accommodated in the second space and configured to heat the water. The second space has a smaller dimension than the first space.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A clothes treatment apparatus comprising:
 a chamber comprising a clothes management compartment to manage clothes; and   a steam generator comprising:
 a steam generation tank comprising a partition that has a channel and that partitions the steam generation tank into a first space to hold water and a second space, having a smaller dimension than the first space, to hold water received from the first space through the channel, and 
 a heater accommodated in the second space to heat the water held in the second space into steam to be supplied to the clothes management compartment. 
   
     
     
         2 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the dimension of the second space is smaller than or equal to half the dimension of the first space. 
     
     
         3 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the channel is provided in a lower portion of the partition wall. 
     
     
         4 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the heater is installed at a minimum distance from an inner wall of the second space so that the inner wall is not thermally deformed during operation of the heater. 
     
     
         5 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the heater is spaced apart from the inner wall of the second space by 10˜20 mm. 
     
     
         6 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein an amount of water holdable in the second space without receiving additional water from the first space through the channel is less than an amount of water required to be heated into steam in a single clothes management course. 
     
     
         7 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a water supplying box, wherein
 the first space comprises a water supplying inlet into which water is introduceable from the water supplying box to be held in the first space, 
 the second space comprises a steam outlet from which the steam is discharged so as to be supplied to the clothes management compartment. 
   
     
     
         8 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the steam generation tank comprises a cover to cover the first space, and   the cover and the partition wall are formed as a single body.   
     
     
         9 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the cover is provided at a position lower than a top end of the partition wall. 
     
     
         10 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the steam generator further comprises a convection generator to generate convection in the water held in the second space. 
     
     
         11 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the convection generator comprises a fan and a motor to rotate the fan. 
     
     
         12 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the convection generator is configured to operate based on an operation time of the heater. 
     
     
         13 . The clothes treatment apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the convection generator is configured to operate based on a temperature of water held in the second space.