JP3234673B2 - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improved clothes dryer having a heat exchanger for cooling and dehumidifying hot and humid drying air discharged from a drying chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art 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 drying air sent to the drying chamber, and high-temperature and high-humidity drying discharged from the drying chamber. In a so-called dehumidification-type clothes dryer having a heat exchange unit for cooling and dehumidifying air for use, generally, an air-cooled heat exchanger that cools with air is used (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No.
No. 11280) or a water-cooled heat exchanger cooled by water (for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-4909).
No. 7).

However, when the drying air discharged from the drying chamber is cooled and dehumidified by using an air-cooled heat exchanger or a water-cooled heat exchanger as in the above-described prior art,
The former is economical because it uses air,
Since the heat exchanged heat is directly released to the room where the clothes dryer is installed, if the amount of heat from the heat source is increased to shorten the drying time, the amount of heat released increases, and the room temperature becomes abnormally high. In the latter case, the heat exchanged heat will not be released into the room, so even if the heat source is increased, the room temperature will not rise abnormally. Disadvantageous.

On the other hand, a technology for detecting the temperature or humidity of a circulating airflow and appropriately supplying water to a path connected to a dehumidifying section according to the temperature or humidity is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-17 / 1986.
No. 4586.

A technique for detecting the humidity of the circulating airflow and controlling the amount of cooling water is described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-138686.

[0006]

[Problems to be solved by the invention]
According to the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 174586, since the cooling water flowing down from above in the ventilation duct and the circulating airflow rising from below are simply brought into contact with each other,
Its heat exchange efficiency is naturally limited.

In the technique disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-138686, a dehumidifier is installed in a part of an air circulation path, and a cooling medium in the dehumidifier and the circulating air flow are indirectly connected to each other. In addition, the heat exchange efficiency is naturally limited.

According to the present invention, a heat exchanger which is economical, compact, and has a high heat exchange capacity without an abnormal rise in room temperature even if the drying time is shortened by increasing the heat quantity of the heat source, It is an object of the present invention to provide a clothes dryer that is small in size, has excellent installation properties, and can reduce the noise of the blower fan at the same time.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a drying chamber for drying an object to be dried, a blower fan for sending air to the drying chamber, and a drying air sent to the drying chamber. It has a heat source for heating, and a heat exchange unit for cooling and dehumidifying the high-temperature and high-humidity drying air discharged from the drying chamber, and a fan casing is disposed at the rear of the drying chamber. A heat exchange fan having a blowing function for sending air to the air and a heat exchange function for cooling and dehumidifying the high-temperature and high-humidity drying air discharged from the drying chamber is housed, and the fan casing is connected to the drying chamber for drying. Targeting a clothes dryer having a structure of partitioning into an air side and a cooling air side, the heat exchange fan is composed of an air-cooled heat exchange unit and a water-cooled heat exchange unit, and the air-cooled heat exchange unit is Located on the inner circumference side, which is the windward side of On the other hand, the water-cooled heat exchange section is located on the outer peripheral side which is the leeward side of the drying air, and the cross-sectional shape protruding only to the drying air side is a comb-shaped blade. A cooling water spray nozzle is disposed opposite the water-cooled heat exchange section, a temperature detection device is disposed at the cooling air discharge section, and a cooling air outlet temperature is predetermined. A means for increasing the amount of cooling water when the value is exceeded is provided.

[0010]

In the above arrangement, when the drying operation is started, the drying air heated by the heat source is sucked into the heat exchange fan through the drying chamber.

Then, when the air after being dried for drying the object to be dried passes through the heat exchange fan, the air is cooled by the heat exchange action of the heat exchange fan comprising the air-cooled heat exchange section and the water-cooled heat exchange section. Moisture dehydrated from the dried matter
The water is discharged out of the machine from the drain port as water droplets.

[0012] The drying air that has passed through the heat exchange fan reaches the heat source again via the duct, where it is heated and flows into the drying chamber. This is continuously repeated, and drying proceeds.

In the above-mentioned drying operation, if the outlet temperature of the cooling air detected by the temperature detecting device becomes a predetermined value or more, the amount of cooling water from the water supply valve increases, and the amount of heat exchange by water cooling from the nozzle is reduced. To increase.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to one embodiment shown in the drawings.

In FIG. 1, which shows the overall structure of a clothes dryer, 1 is an outer frame, 2 is rotatably supported in an outer frame 1 and a rotating drum constituting a drying chamber, and 3 is hot air for drying. The heat source 4 to be obtained is a drum drive belt for transmitting the rotating force of the electric motor 5 to the rotating drum 2.

At the rear of the rotary drum 2, there is provided a drum air outlet 6 for discharging the drying air indicated by a solid arrow in FIG. And serves as a blower for generating the drying air and cooling air (shown by broken lines in FIG. 1) for cooling the drying air, and also serves as a heat exchange unit for cooling the drying air. A fan casing 9 that accommodates the heat exchange fan 8 is provided.

The fan casing 9 is divided into a drying air side and a cooling air side by a partition plate 10 provided around the entire inner circumference thereof and a felt 11 provided on the outer circumference of the heat exchange fan 8. ing.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a fan casing 9 and a rotary drum 2.
This is an airtight felt to keep the airtight.

The drying air outlet of the fan casing 9 is
The duct 13 and the duct 14 provided with a drainage port 21 on the way communicate with the heat source 3.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a belt for the heat exchange fan 8, 17 denotes a pulley for the heat exchange fan 8, 18 denotes a drum supporting member,
Reference numeral 9 denotes a door provided in front of the outer frame 1 for opening / closing an object to be dried and taken in / out, reference numeral 22 denotes a filter, and reference numeral 20 denotes a drum front fixed wall which rotatably supports the rotary drum 2 around its outer periphery.

The heat exchange fan 8 comprises an air-cooled heat exchanger section 23 and a water-cooled heat exchange section 25 which will be described below. The air-cooled heat exchanger section 23 is located on the inner peripheral side (upward of the drying air). 2), as shown in FIG. 2, the cross-sectional shape is constituted by a corrugated blade, and heat exchange between drying air and cooling air is performed through the blade wall surface. Further, the water-cooled heat exchange unit 25 is located on the outer peripheral side (downwind side of the drying air),
As shown in FIG. 3, the cross-sectional shape is constituted by a comb-shaped blade, and cooling water is sprayed by a nozzle 24 and the cooling water is diffused on the surface thereof, thereby exchanging heat between the drying air and the cooling water. Do it.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a water supply valve for adjusting the supply of the cooling water, stopping the supply of water, and increasing or decreasing the amount of water supply, 27 a water supply pipe connecting the water supply valve 26 and the nozzle 24, and 28 a passage between the water supply valve 26 and the tap of the tap. It is a connecting hose.

Reference numeral 55 denotes cooling water jetted from the nozzle 24.

Here, the operation control of the clothes dryer having the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 4 shows the control circuit.

In FIG. 4, 29 is 100 V or 20 V.
A power supply plug connected to a commercial power supply of 0 V, 30 is a power switch, 31 is a power supply circuit for supplying a DC voltage to a microcomputer 32 and a control electronic circuit having a built-in operation control program for a clothes dryer, and 33 is a power supply circuit for a commercial power supply. 10
A transformer that reduces the voltage of 0 V or 200 V to a voltage for an electronic circuit, 34 is a reset circuit that resets the microcomputer 32 when the power is turned on, 35 is a clock circuit that generates a system clock required for the microcomputer 32, and 36 is a dry circuit. A switch input section for transmitting a switch input selected by a user to the microcomputer 32, such as setting a course, setting a heat source intensity, and starting operation, etc., 37 is an operation state of the clothes dryer, a drying course, and a strength of the heat source 3. A lamp display 38 informs the user by lighting or blinking a lamp. The microcomputer 38 informs the user by sounding a buzzer when the operation of the input switch is received by the microcomputer 32 or when the operation is completed. The buzzer notification unit 39 detects changes in humidity and temperature of the drying air and A dryness detecting unit for detecting the dryness degree of the object.

Reference numeral 40 denotes a drying detection circuit for transmitting information of the drying detection device 39 to the microcomputer 32; 41, a door switch which is turned on and off when the door 19 is opened and closed; A door switch input capture circuit for transmitting to the computer 32, 43 is a power switch input capture circuit for transmitting the ON / OFF state of the power switch 30 to the microcomputer 32, and 44 is when the operation of the clothes dryer is completed.
Further, a power switch disconnecting circuit for supplying power to a power switch disconnecting solenoid 45 for automatically turning off the power switch 30 when the power switch is kept ON for a certain period of time without operating the clothes dryer. The frequency of the power supply used for time measurement
A frequency signal capture circuit 47; a motor drive circuit 47 for driving the motor 5 with a signal from the microcomputer 32; a heat source drive circuit 48 for driving the heat source 3 with a signal from the microcomputer 32; This is a water supply valve drive circuit that controls the opening and closing of and the increase and decrease of the amount of cooling water.

Reference numeral 50 denotes a drying air temperature detecting device, which is disposed near the cooling air outlet.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a temperature detecting circuit for transmitting information of the temperature detecting device 50 to the microcomputer 32.

The water amount of the cooling water 55 is increased or decreased by opening and closing the water supply valve 26 at short time intervals, and adjusting the opening and closing times.

FIG. 5 shows a switch input section 36 and a lamp display section 37 of the clothes dryer. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 52 denotes a start / pause switch for starting operation or temporarily stopping during operation, and 53. Is a heater changeover switch for changing the intensity (heat generation amount) of the heat source 3, and 54 is a drying course changeover switch for changing the drying course.

The switching of the intensity of the heat source 3 is performed by the heat source 3
Is composed of two sets A and B, and when the heat source 3 is strengthened,
When driving both A and B and weakening the heat source 3, A
Or by driving either one of B.

Here, the overall operation of the clothes dryer will be described.

When the power plug 29 is inserted into the outlet, a DC voltage is generated by the power circuit 31, and the system clock is transmitted to the microcomputer 32 by the clock generation circuit 35.

At the same time, the microcomputer 32 is reset by the reset circuit 34 to be in an operating state, and the clothes dryer is in a state of waiting for a user operation.

When the user turns on the power switch 30, this information is transmitted to the microcomputer via the power switch input taking-in circuit 43, and a preset initial display is performed on the lamp display section 37, and the switch input section is displayed. 36 switch inputs are accepted.

Next, when the user opens the door 19, puts the object to be dried in the rotary drum 2 and closes the door 19, the door switch 41 is turned on, and the door closing information is input to the door switch. It is input to the microcomputer 32 via the plug-in circuit 42, and is in a state of waiting for operation start.

Subsequently, the user operates the drying course changeover switch 54 of the switch input section 36 to select one of a plurality of drying courses provided in advance, and sets the intensity of the heat source 3 with the heater changeover switch 53. When the user selects and operates the start / pause switch 52, the clothes dryer starts the drying operation.

When the drying operation is started, electric power is supplied to the heat source 3 and the electric motor 5 according to the instruction of the microcomputer 32, and the rotating drum 2 and the two-blade fan 8 rotate, whereby the drying air heated by the heat source 3 is heated. Is sucked into the heat exchange fan 8 via the rotary drum 2.

When the air, which has been subjected to drying of the material to be dried, passes through the heat exchange fan 8, the air is cooled by the heat exchange fan 8 including the air-cooled heat exchange section 23 and the water-cooled heat exchange section 25.
The water that has been cooled by the heat exchange action of the water is dewed from the material to be dried, and is condensed and discharged as water droplets from the drain port 21 to the outside of the machine.

The drying air that has passed through the heat exchange fan 8 is
The heat 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.

Dryness of the object to be dried is detected by a dryness detection device 39, which is transmitted to a microcomputer 32 through a dryness detection circuit 40.

When the drying of the object to be dried is transmitted to the microcomputer 32, the microcomputer 32 issues a command to the heat source drive circuit 48 according to a predetermined program, stops supplying power to the heat source 3, and cools the clothes. For the air blow operation.

When the blowing operation has been performed for a predetermined time, a command is issued to the motor drive circuit 47 to terminate the operation.

When a predetermined time has elapsed after the operation is completed,
An instruction is issued to the power switch disconnection circuit 44 to automatically disconnect the power switch 30.

In the above-described drying operation, if the outlet temperature of the cooling air detected by the temperature detecting device 50 becomes a predetermined value or more, the amount of cooling water from the water supply valve 26 increases, and the heat generated by water cooling from the nozzle 24 increases. The exchange amount increases.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, the heat exchanging section of the clothes dryer is composed of the air-cooled heat exchanging section 23 and the water-cooled heat exchanging section 25. In particular, the nozzle 24 is provided with a rotating heat exchanging fan. 8
Since the cooling water 55 is sprayed directly on the air, the air after being dried for drying the object to be dried and the diffusion cooling water 55 repeat heat exchange extremely efficiently by the diffusion action of the cooling water 55 at this time. Therefore, even if the amount of heat of the heat source 3 is increased in order to shorten the drying time, the heat is exchanged in the water-cooled heat exchange unit 25, thereby preventing an abnormal rise in room temperature and increasing the amount of heat of the heat source 3. The drying time can be shortened, and when the outlet temperature of the cooling air exceeds a predetermined value, the amount of the cooling water 55 is increased, that is, the amount of water supplied to the water-cooled heat exchange unit 25 is adjusted by changing the room temperature. In addition, the amount of water used can be minimized, and in addition to the economical drying operation, the following effects can be simultaneously obtained.

That is, in general, the air-cooled heat exchanger has a lower heat exchange capacity than the water-cooled heat exchanger, and in order to increase the heat exchange capacity, it is necessary to increase the heat transfer area of the air-cooled heat exchanger.
It is necessary to increase the temperature difference between the high temperature side and the low temperature side of the air-cooled heat exchanger. In addition, the temperature of the drying air discharged from the drying chamber is reduced by heat exchange in the heat exchange unit, and the temperature difference between the drying air and the cooling side of the heat exchange unit is reduced.

To cope with this problem, the present invention has an excellent function of having both a blowing function for sending air to the drying chamber and a heat exchange function for cooling and dehumidifying the high-temperature and high-humidity drying air discharged from the drying chamber. In order to further enhance the function of the heat exchange fan 8, the air-cooling type heat exchange unit 25 which needs to increase the temperature difference between the high temperature side and the low temperature side can obtain a large temperature difference between the cooling air and the high drying air temperature. If you place it on the windward side,
Since the heat exchange capacity can be increased without increasing the heat transfer area of the air-cooled heat exchange unit 23, the heat exchange unit can be small and have a high heat exchange capacity.

In addition, the size of the dryer main body can be reduced, and the installation of the dryer main body can be improved.

When the heat exchange fan 8 is composed of an air-cooled heat exchange section 23 and a water-cooled heat exchange section 25, the water-cooled heat exchange section 25 is located on the windward side of the drying air. When positioned on the circumferential side, and the air-cooled heat exchange unit 23 is positioned on the outer peripheral side, which is the leeward side of the drying air, naturally, of the corrugated blades constituting the air-cooled heat exchange unit 23,
The diameter of the heat exchange fan 8 from the center of rotation increases, and the proportion of the corrugated blade in the entire heat exchange fan 8 increases, and thus, the corrugated blade directly contacting the outside air on the cooling air side (ie, intake of outside air) The noise emission level due to the corrugated blade which is disposed in a portion that does not constitute a closed space for discharge and is in direct contact with the outside air on the cooling air side also increases.

On the other hand, when the heat exchange fan 8 is constituted by the air-cooled heat exchange section 23 and the water-cooled heat exchange section 25 as in the present invention, the comb teeth are provided only on the drying air side which is a closed space. The water-cooled heat exchanging section 25 from which the blades protrude is positioned on the outer circumferential side which is the leeward side of the drying air, and the air-cooled heat exchanging section 23 is positioned on the inner circumferential side which is the leeward side of the drying air. At least, naturally, the air-cooled heat exchange unit 23
The diameter of the corrugated blade from the center of rotation of the heat exchange fan 8 is reduced, the proportion of the corrugated blade in the entire heat exchange fan 8 is also reduced, and the corrugated blade directly contacts the outside air on the cooling air side. Room-level emission of noise levels by blades (ie, corrugated blades that are in direct contact with the outside air on the cooling air side, which are arranged at locations that do not constitute a closed space for intake and discharge of outside air, as described above) The value can be kept low.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line YY of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a control block circuit diagram of the clothes dryer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a switch input unit and a lamp display unit of the clothes dryer shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Outer frame, 2 ... Rotary drum (drying room), 3 ... Heat source, 5 ...
Electric motor, 8: heat exchange fan, 23: air-cooled heat exchange unit, 2
4. Nozzle, 25: water-cooled heat exchange unit, 26: water supply valve.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kenichi Ogoshi 1-1-1 Higashitagacho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Living Equipment Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuo Ishikawa 3-chome Ichibancho, Aoba-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi Prefecture No. 1 Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. (72) Inventor Akio Sato 3-7-1 Ichibancho, Aoba-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. (72) Inventor Itaka Harada One, Aoba-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture 3-7-1, Bancho Inside Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. (56) References JP-A-4-58997 (JP, A) JP-A-4-126196 (JP, A) JP-A-2-265592 (JP, A ) Hikaru Hira 3-49097 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) D06F 58/28 D06F 58/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A drying chamber for drying an object to be dried, a blowing fan for sending air to the drying chamber, a heat source for heating drying air sent to the drying chamber, and a high-temperature and high-humidity drying discharged from the drying chamber. A clothes dryer having a heat exchanger for cooling and dehumidifying the air for use.In a fan casing disposed at the rear of the drying chamber, a blowing function for sending air to the drying chamber, and a hot and humid exhausted from the drying chamber. A heat exchange fan having a heat exchange function of cooling and dehumidifying the drying air is housed therein. In addition to the structure in which the fan casing is partitioned into a drying air side communicating with a drying chamber and a cooling air side, the heat exchange is performed. The fan is composed of an air-cooled heat exchange section and a water-cooled heat exchange section, wherein the air-cooled heat exchange section is located on the inner circumferential side that is the windward side of the drying air, and the cross-sectional shape is a corrugated blade. And a water-cooled heat exchange section It is located on the outer peripheral side that is the leeward side of the drying air, and the cross-sectional shape protruding only to the drying air side is constituted by a comb-shaped blade. A nozzle is disposed, and a temperature detecting device is disposed at a discharge portion of the cooling air, and a means for increasing a cooling water amount when an outlet temperature of the cooling air exceeds a predetermined value is provided. Clothes dryer.