Laundry treating apparatus and method for controlling same

Abstract

Disclosed are a laundry treating apparatus and a method for controlling same, the laundry treating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure comprising: a cabinet; a drum which is provided within the cabinet, is rotatably provided, and accommodates laundry therein; a manipulation part which is provided in the cabinet and is manipulated by a user to generate a manipulation signal; and a screen outputter which is provided in the cabinet and outputs a screen for providing information to the user, wherein the screen outputter is provided to output a course progress screen displaying performance information on a course for treating laundry, and the manipulation part comprises a multi-function button which is activated in at least a part of a plurality of processes performed in the course and, when manipulated by the user in an activation state, a laundry additional process for additionally inputting laundry in the progress of the course is carried out.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A laundry treating apparatus comprising:
 a cabinet;   a drum rotatably disposed in the cabinet and configured to accommodate laundry therein;   a manipulator disposed on the cabinet and manipulated by a user to generate a manipulation signal; and   a screen outputter disposed on the cabinet and configured to output a screen for providing information to the user,   wherein, during execution of a course for treating the laundry, the screen outputter is configured to output a course progress screen configured to display execution information of the course,   wherein the manipulator includes a multi-function button activated in at least some of a plurality of processes performed in the course, wherein when the multi-function button is manipulated by the user in the activated state, a laundry addition process for additionally inputting the laundry is performed while the course is in progress.   
     
     
         2 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the course progress screen includes a function display area configured to indicate that the multi-function button is activated and the laundry addition process is able to be performed. 
     
     
         3 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the course progress screen further includes an executed course display area configured to display a currently performed course, an execution time display area configured to display time information of the currently performed course, an executed process display area configured to display information on a process currently performed in the course, and an execution completion level display area configured to display a completion level of the currently performed course. 
     
     
         4 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the course progress screen is configured to remove the function display area while a process where the laundry addition process is not able to be applied among the plurality of processes is in progress. 
     
     
         5 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the screen outputter is switched to a pause screen configured to display a paused state of the course when the multi-function button activated in the course progress screen is manipulated. 
     
     
         6 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the screen outputter is configured to output the pause screen after outputting a laundry addition guidance screen illustrating the laundry addition process on the course progress screen. 
     
     
         7 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the laundry addition guidance screen is output in a pop-up form for a preset time on the pause screen. 
     
     
         8 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the screen outputter is configured to return to the course progress screen from the pause screen when the laundry addition process is ended. 
     
     
         9 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a controller configured to control rotation of the drum, to perform the course, to set whether the laundry addition process is able to be applied for each of a plurality of courses, and to activate the multi-function button while a process where the laundry addition process is able to be applied is performed. 
     
     
         10 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising a tub disposed in the cabinet and having the drum rotatably installed therein, wherein the tub is configured to receive water therein,
 wherein the controller is configured to perform a draining process of discharging water in the tub to the outside of the cabinet when the laundry addition process is performed.   
     
     
         11 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to discharge water in the tub in the draining process such that an amount of water in the tub is equal to or smaller than a predetermined reference water amount. 
     
     
         12 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the cabinet has a laundry inlet defined therein in communication with the inside of the drum and a laundry door configured to open and close the laundry inlet,
 wherein the controller is configured to perform a door release process of releasing a locked state of the laundry door when the draining process is ended in the laundry addition process.   
     
     
         13 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the manipulator further includes an execution button for instructing the controller to perform the course,
 wherein the controller is configured to resume the course when the execution button is manipulated after the door release process in the laundry addition process.   
     
     
         14 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of different courses are stored in the controller,
 wherein the screen outputter is configured to output a course selection screen where the plurality of courses are displayed and one of the plurality of courses is selected based on the manipulation signal,   wherein the controller is configured to perform the course displayed on the course selection screen when the execution button is manipulated on the course selection screen, and control the screen outputter to output the course progress screen.   
     
     
         15 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the multi-function button is configured to vary a function depending on the screen output on the screen outputter. 
     
     
         16 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein a plurality of different courses are stored in the controller,
 wherein the screen outputter is configured to output a course selection screen where the plurality of courses are displayed and one of the plurality of courses is selected based on the manipulation signal, wherein when the multi-function button is manipulated while the course selection screen is output, an option recommendation screen configured to display a recommended option combination for the course displayed on the course selection screen is output.   
     
     
         17 . The laundry treating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein while the course progress screen is output on the screen outputter, the multi-function button is activated in a washing process of the course and is deactivated in a dehydration process of the course. 
     
     
         18 . A method for controlling a laundry treating apparatus, the method comprising:
 laundry addition determination of performing, by a controller, a course for treating laundry, and determining whether a laundry addition process for additionally inputting the laundry is able to be performed in a process currently performed based on the course;   button function locking of deactivating, by the controller, a multi-function button disposed on a cabinet and manipulated by a user when it is determined in the laundry addition determination that the laundry addition process is not able to be performed in the currently performed process; and   laundry addition function activation of activating, by the controller, the multi-function button when it is determined in the laundry addition determination that the laundry addition process is able to be performed in the currently performed process.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising, after the laundry addition function activation, laundry addition function display of controlling, by the controller, a screen outputter for providing information to the user to display a function of the multi-function button and notify the user that the laundry is able to be added.