RU2446239C2 - Household dryer for linen - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: textiles, paper.

SUBSTANCE: household dryer (1) for linen comprises an outer box-shaped body (2), within which the rotating drum (3) is set for laundry subject to drying, a generator (7) of hot air for circulation of hot air flow inside the rotating drum (3). The generator (7) of hot air contains a line tube (8) of air recirculation, connected with both ends to the rotating drum (3), and a heat exchanger (10) located along the line tube (8) of recirculation for cooling the air flow (f) coming from the rotating drum (3) and the condensation of excess moisture from the air flow (f). At that the heat exchanger (10) contains a box-shaped casing (12) located along the line tube (8) of recirculation, and a heat-conductive air-guiding matrix (13), set in the box- shaped casing (12) with the possibility of a simple extraction. The air-guiding matrix comprises a means (19) of filtration, made with the possibility of holding floss and/or fiber particles.

EFFECT: increased service reliability.

1 cl, 2 dwg

Description

The invention relates to a household clothes dryer, in particular to a household drum dryer with a steam generator, to which the following description is given solely as an example.

Known drum tumble dryers essentially comprise an external box-shaped body in the form of a parallelepiped, mounted inside it with the possibility of rotation around the axis of the cylindrical drum for drying clothes, directly facing the hole for loading and unloading laundry made in the front wall of the housing, a door hinged on the front wall of the housing with the possibility of closing the hole for sealing the drum, and an electric motor for rotating the drum around its longitudinal axis inside the housing.

The drum dryer of the type described above also contains a closed loop with a hot air generator to circulate a stream of low moisture hot air inside the dryer drum, allowing this air to flow through the dryer drum and the laundry contained therein for quick drying.

In most dryers widely used on the market, a closed circuit with a hot air generator contains an air / air heat exchanger and an electric heater located one after the other along a recirculation pipe, the two ends of which are connected to opposite sides of the drying drum, and an electric centrifugal fan or similar device located in recirculation pipe to create an air flow inside it. An air / air heat exchanger provides quick cooling of the air stream leaving the dryer drum to condense excess moisture. The heater provides quick heating of the air stream leaving the heat exchanger and fed back to the dryer drum, so that the air entering the drum is quickly heated to a temperature exceeding or equal to the temperature of the air flowing out of the dryer drum.

Some known drum dryers also include a steam generator that, at the end of the drying cycle, supplies a steam stream to the dryer drum to remove or at least substantially reduce wrinkles formed during the drying cycle.

The steam generators currently in use are essentially of the same construction as conventional irons with a separate boiler and comprise a demineralized water tank mounted in the uppermost part of the device so that it can be easily replenished manually with distilled or demineralized water, and an electric boiler for generating steam, usually located below the tank with demineralized water and connected to it by means of a connecting pipe. Water, under the action of gravity, enters the electric boiler through an electrovalve or similar device, which is installed in the connecting pipe.

To eliminate or significantly reduce the need to manually fill the tank with water in the steam generators currently used, demineralized water is supplied through a water drain circuit, through which distilled water accumulated in the lower part of the heat exchanger is drained as a result of condensation, and it is supplied to a large tank removed by hand Waste water tanks located inside the housing or into the waste water outlet.

More specifically, the reservoir with demineralized water from the steam generator is connected to the same electric pump, which draws in distilled water from the bottom of the heat exchanger to supply part of the distilled water taken from the heat exchanger.

To prevent the ingress of fluff and / or fiber particles into the water tank in known steam generators, a removable filter is installed. between the connecting pipe from the electric pump of the drain circuit and the entrance to the reservoir for demineralized water of the steam generator. This filter should be removed and cleaned periodically to ensure efficient operation of the steam generator.

In currently available laundry dryers, the user must remove and clean the heat exchanger after a predetermined period of time to prevent uncontrolled formation of mold and bacteria and to remove and clean the fluff filter.

Unfortunately, in the well-known drum tumble dryers, the planned removal and cleaning of the fluff filter often becomes useless, since considerable time is required to clog the fluff filter.

The objective of the invention is the creation of a household clothes dryer, which does not require scheduled removal and cleaning of the filter of the steam generator.

This problem is solved in a household clothes dryer with the characteristics set forth in paragraph 1 and preferably in any of the dependent claims.

A non-limiting embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the attached drawings.

Figure 1 shows a household clothes dryer according to the invention with parts shown in section and parts removed for clarity, side view;

figure 2 shows a heat exchanger installed in a household dryer for clothes, shown in figure 1 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale.

The clothes dryer 1 comprises an external box-shaped housing 2, preferably in the form of a parallelepiped, mounted inside it with the possibility of rotation around an axis, preferably a cylindrical bell-shaped drying drum 3 for the clothes to be dried, directly facing the hole 2a for loading and unloading the clothes made in the front wall of the housing 2, and a door 4 pivotally mounted on the front wall of the housing 2 with the possibility of closing the hole 2A for sealing the drum 3.

In the shown example, the dryer drum 3 is mounted horizontally inside the housing 2 on a plurality of horizontal support rollers 5, which are mounted on the housing 2 with the possibility of free rotation of the dryer drum 3 around its longitudinal axis A.

The housing 2, the drying drum 3, the door 4 and the support rollers 5 are known and therefore not described in detail.

As shown in the drawing, the clothes dryer 1 comprises an electric motor 6 for rotating the dryer drum 3 about its longitudinal axis A inside the housing 2 and a closed circuit with a hot air generator 7 installed inside the housing 2, configured to circulate the flow of hot air with a low moisture content inside the dryer drum 3 and allowing the flow of air through the laundry inside the dryer drum 3 for quick drying.

A closed circuit with a hot air generator 7 provides a gradual air outlet from the dryer drum 3, removing excess moisture from the hot air, heats the dehydrated air to a predetermined temperature, usually higher than the temperature of the air leaving the dryer drum 3, and feeds the heated dehydrated air back to the dryer drum 3, where it flows through the laundry for quick drying.

In other words, the hot air generator 7 provides continuous dewatering and heating of the air circulating inside the drum 3 for quick drying of the laundry inside it and essentially comprises an air recirculation pipe 8, the two ends of which are connected to opposite sides of the drying drum 3; an electric centrifugal fan 9 or another type of air circulation pump located along the recirculation pipe 8 to create inside it a stream f of air flowing through the dryer 3 and the laundry, an air / air heat exchanger 10 or similar device (condenser) installed in the recirculation pipe 8 so that the air stream f from the drying drum 3 and the stream w of cold external air flow through it at the same time, the heat exchanger 10 being configured so that the stream of cold air w f hlazhdaet flow of air exiting from the drying drum 3 to condense inside the flow of air f excess moisture; and an electric heater 11 (in this example, a resistor) located in the recirculation pipe 8 after the heat exchanger 10 and providing rapid heating of the air flow f from the heat exchanger 10 back to the dryer drum 3, so that the air entering the dryer drum 3 quickly heats up to a temperature preferably greater than or equal to the temperature of the air leaving the dryer drum 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inlet end of the recirculation pipe 8 is located in the door 4 and faces the front opening of the dryer drum 3. The end wall 3a of the dryer drum 3 is perforated or at least permeable to air, which makes it possible to supply air to the drum 3. The outlet end of the recirculation pipe 8 is hermetically connected directly to the end wall 3a of the drying drum 3.

The electric centrifugal fan 9 is configured to generate a stream f of air flowing along the recirculation pipe 8 from the inlet end of the recirculation pipe 8, that is, from the door 4, to the outlet end of the recirculation pipe 8, i.e., to the perforated end wall 3a of the drying drum 3.

As shown in figures 1 and 2, the heat exchanger 10 installed in the recirculation pipe 8 in the lower part of the housing 2, contains a box-shaped casing 12, preferably in the form of a parallelepiped and a heat-conducting air guide matrix 13, mounted in the Central part of the box-shaped casing 12 with the possibility of easy extraction and forming inside it are two separate sealed chambers 12a and 12b, each of which is directly connected to the corresponding section of the recirculation pipe 8.

The sealed chamber 12a is directly connected to the portion of the recirculation pipe 8 that ends at the door 4. The sealed chamber 12b is directly communicated to the portion of the recirculation pipe 8 that ends before the perforated end wall 3a of the drying drum 3. The box-shaped casing 12 is configured to allow circulation of the external casing. 2 flows w of cold air through its central portion for cooling the air guide matrix 13, while cold air does not enter any two sealed chambers 12a and 12b. The air guide matrix 13 is configured to direct the air flow f from the airtight chamber 12a directly to the airtight chamber 12b and provides rapid cooling of the air flow f by transferring heat to the cold air stream w flowing through the air guide matrix 13.

More specifically, the box casing 12 is installed in the lower part of the housing 2 and is in communication with the external environment through a first opening 2b provided in the front wall of the housing 2. The clothes dryer 1 comprises a second door 14 pivotally mounted on the front wall of the housing 2 to close the opening 2b for sealing the box casing 12. The heat-conducting air guide matrix 13 is made with the possibility of extraction from the casing 12 by sliding through the hole 2b.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a second through hole 12 s is made in the side wall of the central part of the box casing 12, which allows the flow w of external cold air to flow and circulate through the central part of the box casing 12 and the air guide matrix 13 without falling into any or from two sealed chambers 12a and 12b of the casing 12.

In turn, the heat-conducting air guide matrix 13, which is essentially parallelepiped-shaped, which makes it possible to extract it from the central part of the box casing 12 by pulling out, contains two plate elements 15 located along its longitudinal axis and forming two bases of the parallelepiped, and many rectilinear channels 16, located one after another between two plate elements 15 parallel to the longitudinal axis of the air guide matrix 13. Each plate element 15 is designed so that substantially complements the cross section of the box casing 12 and can abut against the corresponding ring 17, projecting inwardly of the box casing 12, to hermetically seal the latter and formation of sealed chambers 12a, 12b.

As in the well-known household clothes dryers, a condensed water container 18 is also located in the heat-conducting matrix 13, in which distilled water is collected, which is formed inside the heat exchanger 10 during operation of the dryer, as a result of condensation of excess moisture from the air stream f coming from the drying tank 3 .

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the condensed water container 18 is substantially rectangular and protrudes horizontally from the plate element 15 into the sealed chamber 12b of the casing 12.

Unlike conventional household laundry dryers, the heat-conducting air guide matrix 13 also includes filtering means 19 configured to hold fluff and / or fiber particles in the air guide matrix 13 for manual removal during the scheduled cleaning and processing of the matrix 13.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the filtering means 19 comprises at least one Velcro strip 19 laid in the lower part of the container 18 between the plate element 15 bounding the airtight chamber 12b and the through hole 18a made in the lower part of the container 18, for draining the liquid distilled water generated during operation of the dryer. On each Velcro strip 19 there are many needles, preferably in the form of hooks, protruding perpendicular to the bottom surface of the container 18 and preventing fluff and / or fiber particles from entering the through hole 18a and their release from the container 18.

In another embodiment not shown, the Velcro strips 19 may be replaced by an insertable strainer or similar filter covering a through hole 18a provided in the lower part of the container 18 to prevent fluff and / or fiber particles from escaping from the container 18.

In other words, in both embodiments, the fluff filter means 19 holds the fluff or fiber particles at the bottom of the container 18.

As shown in FIG. 1, similarly to known household laundry dryers, a drain circuit 20 for discharging condensed water from the container 18 is also located in the hot air generator 7.

Preferably, the water drainage circuit 20 comprises a manually removable large wastewater tank 21 installed with ease of removal, preferably in the upper part of the housing 2, and an electric pump 22 adapted to draw distilled water from the pan 24 and supply it to the tank 21 waste water through an appropriate connecting tube 25. Moreover, the pan 24 is located in the lower part of the box casing 12 inside the sealed chamber 12b below the through hole 18a of the container 18.

More specifically, the electric pump 22 is a submersible electric pump 22 mounted at the bottom of the water pan 24, and is turned on in a known manner when the water level in the water pan 24 exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 1, the clothes dryer 1 comprises a steam generator 26 configured to generate and supply a pressure jet of steam to the dryer drum 3 to eliminate or at least significantly reduce wrinkles formed on the fabric during the drying cycle.

Preferably, the steam generator 26 comprises a continuously pressurized electric tubular evaporator 27 configured to immediately convert a predetermined quantity of water entering it into a low-pressure steam stream, the pressure of which is slightly higher than the external pressure, a steam-jet nozzle 28 located inside the housing 2 in a pipe connecting the front opening of the drying drum 3 with the hole 2A, and configured to direct steam jets under low pressure directly into the dryer drum 3, and a steam exhaust manifold 29 connecting the outlet of the tubular evaporator 27 with the steam nozzle 28 for directly supplying low-pressure steam generated by the tubular evaporator 27 to it.

Finally, the steam generator 26 comprises a demineralized water tank 30, which is installed inside the housing 2 above the tubular evaporator 27 and connected to it by a connecting pipe 31, and an electrovalve 32 or similar device, which is located along the connecting pipe 31 to control the outflow of water from the tank 30 into tube evaporator 27.

Obviously, water, under the action of gravity, enters from the water tank 30 into a tube evaporator 27.

An electric tube evaporator 27, a steam nozzle 28, an exhaust manifold 29 for steam, a tank 30 for demineralized water and an electrovalve 32 are known and are not described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, in order to eliminate or significantly reduce the need for manual replenishment of demineralized water, the reservoir 30 of the steam generator 26 is preferably connected to the drain circuit 20 of the hot air generator 7 to obtain a portion of the distilled water coming from the container 18. However, in contrast to the known household clothes dryers in the clothes dryer 1 along the drain circuit 20 into the tank 30 of demineralized water serves condensed water without fluff and / or fiber particles, since the air guide matrix 13 comprises a filter means 19 of fluff capable of retaining lint and / or fiber particles in the container 18.

More specifically, the water tank 30 is directly connected to the connecting pipe 25 of the drain circuit 20 through a T-shaped connection.

Like any other recently launched electric household appliance, the clothes dryer 1 also includes an electronic central control module 33 that controls the electric motor 6, the heat exchanger 10 (or, rather, an electric cooling fan (not shown) that generates a flow through the central part of the box casing 12 is a stream of cold air w) and a heater 11 in a predetermined manner, in accordance with the program installed in his memory for performing a drying cycle selected by the user.

The control unit 33 also controls the steam generator 26 (i.e., the electric tube evaporator 27 and the solenoid valve 32) in a predetermined manner, as set in its memory, for supplying low pressure steam jets to the dryer 3, when required in accordance with a user-selected drying cycle .

The overall operation of the dryer 1 obviously follows from the above description so that no further explanation is required.

An advantage of having the fluff filtering means 19 in the air guide matrix 13 is the ability to clean and sanitize the heat exchanger 10 and the fluff filtering means 19 in one operation, which eliminates the need for planned removal and cleaning of the steam generator filter from the fluff.

Obviously, changes can be made to the above-described household clothes dryer 1, but without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, the steam nozzle 28 can be installed in front of the perforated end wall 3a outside the dryer drum 3 at the outlet end of the recirculation pipe 8 and can be configured to direct a low pressure steam jet through the end wall 3a of the dryer drum 3.

More specifically, the steam nozzle 28 can be installed at the outlet end of the recirculation pipe 8 in front of the perforated end wall 3a of the drying drum 3.

Claims (22)

1. A household (1) clothes dryer, comprising an outer box-shaped housing (2), inside which there is a tank (3) for the clothes to be dried, and a hot air generator (7) to circulate the flow of hot air inside the tank (3) for drying linen, and the hot air generator (7) comprises a recirculation pipe (8) connected to both ends of the laundry tub (3) and a heat exchanger (10) installed in the recirculation pipe (8) to cool the air stream (f) from the tank (3) ) for drying clothes and condensation of excess moisture from it, while t the heat exchanger (10) contains a box casing (12) installed along the recirculation pipe (12) and a heat-conducting air guide matrix (13) installed in the box casing (12) with the possibility of simple extraction and made with the possibility of cooling the stream (f) of air leaving the tank (3) for drying clothes, for condensing excess moisture inside this air stream (f), characterized in that the heat-conducting air guide matrix (13) contains filtering means (19) configured to hold down and / or fiber h ticles in the air conduct thermally conductive matrix (13). 2. A dryer according to claim 1, characterized in that the heat-conducting air guide matrix (13) contains a container (18) for collecting distilled water generated inside the heat exchanger (10) as a result of condensation of excess moisture in the stream (f) of air leaving the tank ( 3) for drying clothes, and the filtering means (19) is configured to hold down fluff and / or fiber particles in a container (18) for condensed water. 3. The dryer according to claim 1, characterized in that the heat-conducting air guide matrix (13) is removable by sliding it out of the box casing (12). 4. The dryer according to claim 2, characterized in that the heat-conducting air guide matrix (13) is removable by sliding it out of the box casing (12). 5. A dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the heat-conducting air guide matrix (13) is installed in the central part of the box casing (12) with easy extraction and forms two separate sealed chambers inside the box casing (12a, 12b), each of which is in communication with a corresponding section of the recirculation pipe (8), and the box casing (12) is configured to circulate a cold air stream (w) taken from the outside of the outer box body (2) through the central part of the box a fan (12) for cooling the heat-conducting air guide matrix (13), configured to direct the flow (f) of air leaving the tank (3) for drying clothes from one airtight chamber (12a) to another (12b) and cooling leaving the tank (3) for drying laundry of the air stream (f) by transferring heat to the air stream (w) flowing through the heat-conducting air guide matrix (13). 6. A dryer according to claim 5, characterized in that the condensed water container (18) protrudes horizontally from the heat-conducting air guide matrix (13) into one (12b) of the two sealed chambers (12a, 12b). 7. A dryer according to claim 6, characterized in that a through hole (18a) is made in the bottom wall of the container (18) for taking distilled water, and the filtering means (19) contains at least one strip (19) in the form of Velcro located in the lower part of the container (18), and on the strip (19) there are many needles protruding from the lower surface of the container (18) to prevent particles of fluff and / or fiber particles from entering the hole (18a) made in the lower part of the container (eighteen). 8. A dryer according to claim 6, characterized in that a through hole (18a) is made in the lower part of the container (18) for draining distilled water, and the filtering means (19) contains a mesh or similar filter (19) covering the through hole (18a) ) to prevent fluff and / or fiber particles from escaping from the condensed water container (18). 9. A dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, 6-8, characterized in that it further comprises a drain circuit (20) for draining distilled water from a container (18) of a heat-conducting air guide matrix (13). 10. The dryer according to claim 5, characterized in that it further comprises a drain circuit (20) for draining distilled water from a container (18) of a heat-conducting air guide matrix (13). 11. The dryer according to claim 9, characterized in that the drain circuit (20) for water comprises a manually removable wastewater tank (21) installed inside the outer box-shaped housing (2) with the possibility of simple extraction and a pump (22) made with the possibility of absorbing condensed water from the water pan (24) and supplying condensed water to the wastewater tank (21), the pan (24) located in the lower part of the box casing (12) below the through hole (18a) of the container (18) for condensed water. 12. A dryer according to claim 10, characterized in that the drain circuit (20) for water contains a manually removable wastewater tank (21) installed inside the outer box-shaped housing (2) with the possibility of simple extraction, and a pump (22) made with the possibility of absorbing condensed water from the water pan (24) and supplying condensed water to the wastewater tank (21), the pan (24) located in the lower part of the box casing (12) below the through hole (18a) of the container (18) for condensed water. 13. A dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, 6-8, 10, characterized in that it further comprises a steam generator (26) configured to supply steam to the laundry drying tank (3) and comprising a tubular evaporator (27) made with the possibility of receiving a given amount of water and immediately converting it into a low-pressure steam stream, and a water tank (30) in communication with and located above the tube evaporator (27). 14. The dryer according to claim 5, characterized in that it further comprises a steam generator (26), configured to supply steam to the laundry tub (3) and containing a tubular evaporator (27), configured to receive a predetermined amount of water and immediate converting it into a low-pressure steam stream, and a water tank (30) in communication with and located above the tubular evaporator (27). 15. A dryer according to claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises a steam generator (26) configured to supply steam to the laundry tub (3) and containing a tubular evaporator (27) configured to receive a predetermined amount of water and immediately converting it into a low-pressure steam stream, and a water tank (30) in communication with and located above the tubular evaporator (27). 16. The dryer according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that it further comprises a steam generator (26) configured to supply steam to the laundry tub (3) and containing a tubular evaporator (27) configured to receive a predetermined amount of water and immediately converting it into a low-pressure steam stream, and a water tank (30) in communication with and located above the tubular evaporator (27). 17. A dryer according to claim 16, characterized in that the water tank (30) is connected to the drain circuit (20) of the hot air generator (7) to produce a portion of the condensed water drained from the container (18) of the heat-conducting air guide matrix (13). 18. A dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, 6-8, 10-12, 14, 15 and 17, characterized in that the laundry tub (3) is an essentially cylindrical bell-shaped drum (3), mounted rotatably around an axis inside the outer box body (2) of the dryer. 19. A dryer according to claim 5, characterized in that the laundry tub (3) is an essentially cylindrical bell-shaped drum (3) mounted rotatably about an axis inside the outer box-shaped housing (2) of the dryer. 20. The dryer according to claim 9, characterized in that the laundry tub (3) is an essentially cylindrical bell-shaped drum (3) mounted rotatably around an axis inside the outer box-shaped housing (2) of the dryer. 21. A dryer according to claim 13, characterized in that the laundry tub (3) is an essentially cylindrical bell-shaped drum (3) mounted for rotation around an axis inside the outer box-shaped housing (2) of the dryer. 22. The dryer according to claim 16, characterized in that the laundry tub (3) is an essentially cylindrical bell-shaped drum (3) mounted rotatably around an axis inside the outer box-shaped housing (2) of the dryer.

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