JPH11179100A - Clothing dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To call user's attention, to prevent an operation from being forcedly stopped in the middle of the operation in a high temp. state inside a drum and to solve a problem such as a burn, etc. caused by putting the hand into a rotary drum carelessly, by executing a notification by a notification means when a power source switch is disconnected during a drying operation. SOLUTION: A door 19 is opened, an object to be dried is put into the rotary drum 2 and the door 19 is closed again. When a start/temporary stop switch is operated after that, a clothing dryer starts the drying operation. At the time of the operation, power is supplied to a heat source 3 and a motor-driven machine 5, the rotary drum 2 and a double vane fan 8 are rotated and the object to be dried is dried by circulation air which is heated by the heat source 3. When the operation is forcedly stopped by turning-off a power source switch or pulling-off a power source plug from an outlet, etc., during the drying operation, an alarming is executed by a buzzer notification part 38 and an alarm notification lamp 36 and a user is notified of an abnormal state.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a warning notification of a clothes dryer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a clothes dryer, if the operation is finished while the clothes are at a high temperature, if oil is attached to the clothes, the oil is oxidized due to the high temperature and heat of oxidation is generated. This may cause the clothing to become hotter, causing the clothing to become discolored or scorched, and inadvertently touching the inside of the drum can cause burns because the inside of the drum is hot. Therefore, in general, at the end of the drying operation, the heat source is turned off, only the air is blown, and the operation is stopped after cooling the clothes.

[0003] However, if the power switch is turned off or the power plug is unplugged from the outlet during the drying operation to forcibly stop the operation, the blowing operation for cooling the clothes is not performed. When stopped as it is, the above-mentioned problem may occur.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to call attention to a user and prevent the operation from being forcibly stopped during drying operation in a drum or clothes in a high temperature state. The purpose of the present invention is to prevent the occurrence of inconveniences of the prior art and improve safety.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a notifying means such as a buzzer lamp or the like, and forcibly turns off a power switch or pulls out a power plug from an outlet during a drying operation. When the operation is stopped, the informing means is activated to issue a warning.

Further, when the power switch is turned off or the power plug is pulled out from the outlet,
A battery for supplying power to the notifying means is provided.

That is, the clothes dryer according to the present invention is provided with a notification means such as a buzzer lamp as described above, and forcibly operates by turning off a power switch or pulling out a power plug from an outlet during the drying operation. When is stopped, the above-mentioned notifying means is operated to issue a warning, so that the user can be made aware of the abnormality, and it is possible to strongly urge the user to return to the normal operation.

[0008] By returning the operation to normal by the user, it is possible to prevent the above-mentioned problem occurring when the operation of the clothing is stopped in a high temperature state.

[0009] In addition, if the user is informed that the operation is stopped and another user tries to use the clothes dryer, he / she does not notice that the inside of the drum is hot and carelessly places it in the hot drum. To increase the possibility of burns, but by continuously performing the above-mentioned notification, it informs a later user that the inside of the drum is hot and eliminates the risk of burns. You can do it.

In the present invention, the power switch is turned off.
Even if the power supply is cut off or the power plug is pulled out from the outlet, the battery is provided for supplying power to the notification means, so that the notification can be continuously performed. .

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is an outer frame, 2 is rotatably supported in the outer frame 1, and a rotating drum for forming a clothes drying cabinet, 3
Is a heat source for obtaining hot air for drying, and 4 is a drum drive belt for transmitting the rotational force of the electric motor 5 to the rotary drum 2.

A drum air outlet 6 for discharging circulating air for drying, which is indicated by a solid arrow in FIG. In addition, the inlet 7 is provided, and has a role of a blower for generating the circulating air and cooling air (shown by a broken line in FIG. 1) for cooling the circulating air flow, and through a blade wall surface thereof. A fan casing 9 containing a two-wing fan 8 for exchanging heat between circulating air and cooling air is provided.

The fan casing 9 is divided into a circulating air side and a cooling air side by a partition plate 10 provided around the entire inner periphery and a felt 11 provided on the outer periphery of the two-blade fan 8.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an airtight felt for keeping the fan casing 9 and the rotary drum 2 airtight.
The circulation-side outlet of the fan casing 9 is communicated with the heat source device 3 via a duct 13 and a duct 14, which are provided with a drain port 21 on the way. The cooling air flow is sucked through an air inlet provided at the center of the back plate 15 and discharged from the upper portion of the back plate 15 as indicated by a broken arrow in FIG.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a belt for the two-wing fan 8;
Is a pulley for the two-wing fan 8, 18 is a drum support member, 1
Reference numeral 9 denotes a door for opening / closing an opening for taking in / out of a material to be dried (clothes) provided in front of the outer frame 1; 22, a filter; This is the fixed wall at the front of the drum.

FIG. 2 shows a control circuit of the clothes dryer according to the present invention. Reference numeral 23 denotes a power plug connected to a 100 V commercial power source, 24 denotes a power switch, 25 denotes a microcomputer having a built-in operation control program for the clothes dryer, and a power supply circuit for supplying a DC voltage to a control electronic circuit. Is a transformer for lowering the 100V voltage of the commercial power supply to a voltage for an electronic circuit, 28 is a reset circuit for resetting the microcomputer 26 when the power is turned on, and 29 is a system clock required for the microcomputer 26. A clock circuit 30 for generating a start / pause switch for starting the drying operation or temporarily stopping the operation during the drying operation.
1 is a start / stop switch 3 for a drying course changeover switch 32 for switching a drying course provided so as to perform a drying operation suitable for the type of clothes to be dried.
0, a switch input circuit for transmitting a signal to the microcomputer 26 when the drying course changeover switch 31 is operated.

Reference numerals 33, 34 and 35 denote operation lamps for a driving course, 33 denotes a standard course, 34 denotes a thick course, and 3 denotes a thick course.
Reference numeral 5 indicates a standard course.

The power switch 24 is turned on during the drying operation.
This is a warning notification lamp that blinks or lights to warn when the operation is forcibly stopped due to FF or the power plug 23 being pulled out from the outlet.

Reference numeral 37 denotes a lamp display circuit for lighting or blinking these lamps based on a signal from the microcomputer 26. Reference numeral 38 denotes when the microcomputer 26 receives an operation of the input switch and when the operation is completed. Power switch 24 is turned off during drying operation.
B, a buzzer notification unit for notifying the user by sounding a buzzer when the operation is forcibly stopped, for example, when the power is turned off or the power plug 23 is pulled out from the outlet.
9 is a drying detecting means for detecting changes in humidity and temperature of the circulating air to detect the degree of drying of the clothes, 40 is a drying detecting means, and a drying detecting circuit for transmitting information of the means 39 to the microcomputer 26, 41 Is a door switch that turns on and off as the door 19 opens and closes, 42 is a door switch input capture circuit for transmitting the ON and OFF states of the door switch to the microcomputer 26, and 43 is an ON / OFF state of the power switch 24. A power switch input capture circuit 44 for transmitting to the microcomputer 26 automatically turns off the power switch 24 when the operation is completed or when the power switch is kept ON for a certain period of time without operation. A power switch disconnection circuit for supplying power to a power switch disconnection solenoid 45; Frequency signal capture circuit for capturing the frequency of power to be used during time measurement in the microcomputer 26, a motor driving circuit for driving the motor 5 by a signal from the microcomputer 26 is 47,
48 is a heat source drive circuit for driving the heat source 3 by a signal from the microcomputer 26, and 49 is a buzzer notification unit 38, when the power switch 24 is turned off or the power plug 23 is pulled out from the outlet.
It is a battery for supplying power to the warning notification lamp 36 and the microcomputer 26. This battery may be a rechargeable battery.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a lamp for drying the clothes, indicating that the course is set to the hot air driving course, and 52 denotes a blowing operation course for performing only the blowing operation for cooling the clothes. The lamp that indicates that
A heat source changeover switch for switching between a hot air operation course and a blowing operation course.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the operation panel 53.

Next, the operation of the clothes dryer will be described. When the power plug 23 is inserted into the outlet and the power switch 24 is turned on, a DC voltage is generated by the power circuit 25 and a system clock is transmitted to the microcomputer 26 by the clock generation circuit 29. At the same time, the reset circuit 28 resets the microcomputer 26 to be in an operation state, and the clothes dryer is in a state of waiting for a user operation. A preset initial lamp display is performed, and the switch input of the start / pause switch 30, the drying course changeover switch 31, and the heat source changeover switch 50 is accepted.

Next, the door 19 is opened by the user, and clothes to be dried are put in the rotating drum 2.
9 is closed, the door switch 41 is turned on,
Information indicating that the door 19 has been closed is input to the microcomputer 26 through the door switch input fetch circuit 42, and the microcomputer 26 is in a state of waiting for operation.

Next, the user sets the drying course changeover switch 3
When one of the drying courses provided in step 1 is selected and the start / stop switch 30 is operated, the clothes dryer starts the drying operation. At this time, the initial setting is programmed so that the operation is performed in the hot air operation course indicated by the lamp 51.

When the drying operation is started, electric power is supplied to the heat source 3 and the electric motor 5 according to an instruction from the microcomputer 26, and the rotating drum 2 and the two-wing fan 8 rotate. As a result, the circulating air heated by the heat source 3 flows into the rotary drum 2, removes moisture from the material to be dried, is discharged from the rotary drum 2, and is sucked by the two-blade fan 8.

When passing through the two-wing fan, the heat is exchanged by the two-wing fan 8 and cooled by the cooling air. . The circulating air that has passed through the two-wing fan 8 reaches the heat source 3 again through the ducts 13 and 14, where it is heated and flows into the rotary drum 2, and this is continuously repeated, and drying proceeds.

When the clothes are dried, the clothes are detected by the drying detecting means 33, which is transmitted to the microcomputer 26 through the drying detecting circuit 34. When the drying of the clothes is transmitted, the microcomputer 26 issues a command to the electric motor driving circuit 47 and the heat source driving circuit 48 in accordance with a predetermined program to terminate the operation. When the operation is completed, an instruction is issued to the power switch disconnection circuit 44 and the power switch 24
Automatically disconnect. As shown in FIG. 4, the drying operation (warm air operation course indicated by the lamp 51) is a hot air operation (T _H in FIG. 4) in which power is supplied to the heat source 3 to operate while heating the circulating air. Section), and a blowing operation (T _C ) for cooling the clothes after the clothes have dried up in the warm air operation.

In the case of normal operation, as described above, the blast operation for cooling the clothes is performed before the operation is completed. Therefore, at the time when the operation is completed, the clothes are cooled to a temperature having no problem with the clothes. Before the operation is completed (for example, point A in FIG. 4)
The power switch 24 is turned off and the power plug 23
If the operation is forcibly stopped due to being pulled out of the outlet or the like, the operation ends in a state where the temperature of the clothes is high, but at this time, the buzzer notification unit 38 and the warning notification lamp 36 warn the user. It is supposed to do.

Next, a warning notification method will be described.

FIG. 5 shows one embodiment.

During operation (after elapse of time T ₀ after operation start)
When the operation is compulsorily stopped, the buzzer notification in the buzzer notification unit 38 and the notification by blinking the warning notification lamp 36 are simultaneously started. The buzzer notification ends when a relatively short time t ₁ has elapsed after the start. The warning lamp 36 is then also continue the broadcast, Exit when a predetermined period of time T ₁ has elapsed. T _1, after the operation has been terminated,
The time is set so that the clothing can be cooled down to a temperature at which there is no problem even if the clothing is left as it is.

When the buzzer informs continuously, it feels noisy,
The notification is finished in a relatively short time because it gives a discomfort to the surrounding people.

[0033] Figure 6 shows another embodiment of a warning notification, in which to perform repeatedly broadcast time t ₁ buzzer notification at intervals of a predetermined time t _2.

Since the buzzer can notify the user even when the user is away, he / she can be alerted more strongly than the notification method of FIG. 5, and the notification is performed at intervals of t ₂ . It doesn't cause much discomfort to people around you.

Since the clothes dryer according to the present invention is as described above, the power switch 24 is turned off during the drying operation.
When the operation is forcibly stopped by being turned off or the power plug 23 is pulled out from the outlet, the buzzer notification unit 38 and the warning notification lamp 36 provide a warning notification, so that the user notices abnormality and operates. , Or switch the driving course to the air-driving driving course to take measures such as driving after cooling the clothing, as well as being notified as it is and displaying the warning lamp 36 even when another user uses it. Is performed, there is no danger of noticing an abnormality and inadvertently putting a hand on the high-temperature rotating drum 2 to cause burns.

[0036]

Since the present invention is as described above,
Safety when the operation is forcibly stopped during drying can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a clothes dryer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control circuit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the operation panel used in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a time chart of the drying operation in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of warning notification.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the warning notification.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Outer frame, 2 ... Rotary drum, 3 ... Heat source, 5 ... Electric motor, 8
... Both-wing fans, 23. Power plug, 24. Power switch, 36. Warning notification lamp, 38. Buzzer notification unit.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A drying chamber for drying an object to be dried, a blower fan for sending air to the drying chamber, a heat source for heating air sent to the drying chamber, a notifying means, and a power switch. Wherein when the power switch is turned off during the drying operation, a notification is made by the notification means. 2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, further comprising a power supply plug, wherein when the power supply plug is pulled out, the notification means notifies the user. 3. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, further comprising a battery for supplying power to the notification means when the power is turned off. 4. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the battery is rechargeable. 5. A notifying means using a lamp and a buzzer.
5. The lamp according to claim 1, wherein the lamp continuously informs, and the buzzer informs only during the first predetermined time.
The clothes dryer as described. 6. The clothes dryer according to claim 5, wherein the lamp informs continuously, the buzzer informs only for the first predetermined time, and thereafter notifies at a predetermined interval for a predetermined time.