Clothes treating apparatus

Abstract

A clothes treating apparatus comprises: a housing comprising a laundry inlet formed on a front surface of the housing; a tub disposed in the housing and configured to store water; a drum configured to rotate in the tub and provided to accommodate laundry; and a drying device comprising a heat pump disposed above the tub and configured to remove moisture from air discharged from the tub, and configured to supply heated air to the tub. The tub includes a tub opening disposed on a front surface of the tub to correspond to the laundry inlet, and a tub back disposed on a rear surface of the tub and comprising a tub outlet for discharging air inside the tub. The clothes treating apparatus includes a bearing housing configured to rotatably support a rotating shaft connected to the drum is coupled to the tub back. A housing outlet is formed in a position, which corresponds to a position of the tub outlet, in the bearing housing.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A clothes treating apparatus comprising:
 a housing comprising a laundry inlet formed on a front surface of the housing;   a tub disposed in the housing and configured to store water;   a drum configured to rotate in the tub and to accommodate laundry; and   a drying device comprising a drying case disposed above the tub and configured to remove moisture from air discharged from the tub, and configured to supply heated air to the tub,   wherein the tub comprises:   a tub opening disposed on a front surface of the tub to correspond to the laundry inlet, and   a tub back disposed on a rear surface of the tub and comprising a tub outlet configured to discharge air inside the tub,   wherein a bearing housing configured to rotatably support a rotating shaft connected to the drum is coupled to the tub back,   wherein a housing outlet is formed in a position, which corresponds to a position of the tub outlet, in the bearing housing.   
     
     
         2 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the tub further comprises:   a reinforcing rib protruding rearward of the tub back and configured to reinforce a strength of the tub back;   a tub duct formed in the tub back to guide air discharged through the tub outlet, to the drying device; and   a duct cover provided to cover the tub duct and configured to form an exhaust flow path provided to guide air discharged through the tub outlet to the drying device, by covering the tub duct.   
     
     
         3 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein
 the tub duct comprises:   a recess portion formed around the tub outlet and positioned in front of a rear end of the reinforcing rib; and   a partition rib protruding rearward of the tub back from an edge of the recess portion.   
     
     
         4 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein
 the bearing housing comprises:   a recess reinforcing portion inserted into the recess portion and configured to reinforce a strength of the recess portion; and   a rib reinforcing portion inserted into the partition rib and configured to reinforce a strength of the partition rib.   
     
     
         5 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the bearing housing is formed in a disc shape having a same size as a size of the tub back.   
     
     
         6 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein
 the tub further comprises a stepped portion extending obliquely forward from an upper end of the recess portion configured to increase a front-to-back width of the exhaust flow path.   
     
     
         7 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein
 the bearing housing further comprises an avoidance portion having a groove shape corresponding to the stepped portion configured to block the bearing housing from being inserted into the stepped portion.   
     
     
         8 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein
 the tub back further comprises a tub component installation portion protruding rearward of the tub back to be lower than a height at which the reinforcing rib protrudes rearward of the tub back,   wherein the bearing housing further comprises a bearing component installation portion inserted into the tub component installation portion.   
     
     
         9 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein
 the avoidance portion and the bearing component installation portion are disposed oppositely with respect to a center of the bearing housing.   
     
     
         10 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the tub further comprises an air inlet formed in a front end portion of the tub, the air inlet through which heated air is configured to flow into the tub from the drying device,   wherein the air inlet is formed on one side adjacent to an upper end of the tub and the tub outlet is formed on another side adjacent to a lower end of the tub back or the air inlet is formed on another side adjacent to the upper end of the tub, and the tub outlet is formed on one side adjacent to the lower end of the tub back.   
     
     
         11 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the tub outlet comprises:   a first tub outlet disposed below a center of the tub back,   a second tub outlet disposed above the first tub outlet and having a larger area disposed below the center of the tub back; and   a third tub outlet disposed above the second tub outlet,   wherein a sum of an area of the first tub outlet and an area of the second tub outlet is greater than an area of the third tub outlet.   
     
     
         12 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein
 the housing outlet comprises:   a first housing outlet having a position and shape corresponding to the first tub outlet;   a second housing outlet having a position and shape corresponding to the second tub outlet; and   a third housing outlet having a position and shape corresponding to the third tub outlet.   
     
     
         13 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein
 the partition rib comprises:   an outer partition rib disposed on one side of the tub outlet with respect to a radial direction of the tub back;   an inner partition rib disposed on another side of the tub outlet with respect to the radial direction of the tub back; and   a connecting partition rib provided to connect the outer partition rib and the inner partition rib.   
     
     
         14 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein
 the rib reinforcing portion comprises:   an outer rib reinforcing portion provided to correspond to the outer partition rib and configured to reinforce a strength of the outer partition rib;   an inner rib reinforcing portion provided to correspond to the inner partition rib and configured to reinforce a strength of the inner partition rib; and   a connecting rib reinforcing portion provided to correspond to the connecting partition rib and configured to reinforce a strength of the connecting partition rib.   
     
     
         15 . The clothes treating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein
 the drying device comprises a heat pump and is disposed above the tub.