1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a laundry treating device capable of washing or drying laundry, and a method of controlling the same.
2. Background
A washing machine, which is a representative laundry treating device, performs washing, rinsing, and spin-drying operations, in order to remove contaminants attached to laundry using the interaction of detergent and water. A drying machine, which is another representative laundry treating device, is a home appliance for drying wet clothes, etc. Recently, a home appliance having a combined function of a washing machine and a drying machine has widely been used.
Generally, such laundry treating devices are classified into a top loading type and a front loading type based on the laundry loading position. Typically, a laundry treating device is directly installed on a wood, cement, or tile floor. In this connection, in the case of a front loading type laundry treating device, it is inconvenient for the user to load and unload laundry because the position of the loading/unloading opening of the device is low.
Generally, only one large-capacity washing machine is installed in a home. When one desires to wash different kinds of laundry in different loads, it is necessary to operate the washing machine several times. For example, when one desires to wash adult clothes and underclothes or baby clothes in two separate loads, the washing machine operates two times to individually wash the two different kinds of laundry. For this reason, the washing time increases, and the consumption of energy also increases.
Furthermore, it is undesirable to use a large-capacity washing machine to wash a small amount of laundry, in terms of saving of energy and water. This is because the washing course set in the large-capacity washing machine is typical for larger loads, and as a result, the amount of water consumed in the washing course is large. Also, a large amount of electricity is consumed because it is necessary to rotate a large-size drum or pulsator.
Also, in most laundry machines, the washing course set in a large-capacity washing machine is typical for general clothes. For this reason, the large-capacity washing machine may be unsuitable for the washing of delicate clothes such as underclothes or baby clothes. For similar reasons, a large-capacity washing machine is unsuitable where small amounts of laundry are frequently washed. Generally, users collect laundry for several days, in order to wash the collected laundry at one time. However, leaving laundry, in particular, underclothes or baby clothes, without immediately washing them, is undesirable in terms of cleanliness. Furthermore, when such clothes are left for a long period of time, there is a problem in that they cannot be washed as well because dirt may become fixed to the clothes.
For all the above reasons it is often desirable to use a small-size washing machine having a capacity much smaller than the conventional large-capacity washing machine. However, where two small-size washing machines are provided in a home, there are problems associated with space utility and beauty, even though the size of the washing machines is small.