CA1039055A - Condenser apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

CONDENSER APPARATUS
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

Condenser apparatus for removing moisture from the air including a housing for the condenser apparatus, which housing has both a cooling liquid inlet and an air inlet at one end. Within the housing is a single rotatable disc that has a central relatively flat radial area sur-rounded and integrally formed with a continuous wall. The disc is spaced inwardly from the liquid inlet so that when the disc is rotated and liquid is impinged upon the disc a cooling liquid droplet cloud is produced. At the opposite end of the condenser housing from the inlet is an air out-let and a concentrically positioned rotatable blower.
Located between the blower and the rotatable disc is a rotatable water wheel for collecting entrained liquid drop-lets before they pass into the blower. Circumferentially around the rotatable water wheel is a tangential turbine liquid pump that removes liquid from the condenser apparatus.
An electric motor is utilized for rotatably driving all of the rotating elements. The condenser apparatus is utilized particularly in an automatic clothes dryer wherein hot moisture-laden air that has been passed over the fabrics to be dried is introduced into the condenser apparatus which reduces the temperature of the air to condense mois-ture therefrom and then recirculates the air again through the clothes dryer.

Description

9D-IIL-.11170 - Condit 055 ~ ~
BACKGROUND OF T~E INVF`NTION
1. Fi eld of the Inv~ntIon: ¦
This irlv~ntiorl rela tes t;o ~ondenser appclratus ~ and more particularly to condenser apparatus for utilization in ''an automatic clothes dryer so that warm moisture-laden air ¦
ilfrom the clothes dryer is cooled and moisture removed there-from.
Il 2. Description of the Prior Art: ¦
,1 In automatic clothes dryers it is common to vent llthe warm moisture-laden exhaust air or vapor outside the lmachine and preferably even outside the house or ~uilding llwhile air is constantly beiny introduced into the clothes ,Idryer, heated and passed over the fabrics to be dri~d. It ~lis not, however, alwa~s possible and, 1n fact, it may not l be desirable to provide such a venting system for automatic ¦
i clothes dryers in apartments or other high rise hou;sing establishments. In drying fabrics in a clothes dryer it is ¦highly desirable to be able to heat the air, pass the heated !l air over the ~abrics to be dried and withdraw moisture there-¦ from, remove the hot moisture-laden air from the fabrics and introduce it into an apparatus that lowers the tempera- -¦~ture of the moisture-laden air thereby condensing out mois-ture from the air, then recirculate the air through the - 1!clothes dryer, 25 !¦ Condensing apparatus has been utilized in laundry . . ,:
I1machines~ both combination clothes washers and dryers and ¦~automatic clothes dryers, for many years. One such condens- !

,ing apparatus is shown in United States Patent 2,451,692 ~ llwherein mois~ air is passed through a water spray from a -~ ~ 30: il nozzle that is also used to effect movement of the air; the ¦ ~ -,~
ii ,. . ., 1, ,' 1 ~ 9D-HI.-11170 -- Condit i'i 1~3~()55 1 l free water from the spray is to be removed by a stationary '~sreen. Another type of condensing apparatus is disclosed in United States l~atent 2,785,s57 wherein only a controlled llportion of the moist air is passed through a dehu~idifier.
il United States Patent 2,921,384 shows apparatus that uses llan impeller to circulate air that also has the cooling water ¦¦discharged directly against the impeller, however, there is ¦Ino free water collection means provided. United States ¦¦Patent 3,121,000 utilizes a condensing arrangement that ¦Iproduces a coherent film of water on a channel ~all to avoid ¦¦entrainment of water droplets.
Condenser apparatus for automatic clothes dryers must be efficient in operation, low in manufacturing cos~, ¦ and economical to operate in order to make it desirahle.
1 Moreover, it should be compact and of a size such that it ~¦can be easily installed in present standard'siæe clothes Idryers.
To accomplish the above-mentioned desirable characteristics in a condenser apparatus, one of the main areas that has needed improvement is a means for producing ! a highly effective liquid droplet cloud through which the ~hot moi~true-laden air from the dryer is passed. Such a droplet producing means must be capable of forming a high lconcentr~tion of discreet relatively large liquid droplets Ito lower the temperature of the moisture-laden air as quickly as possible while it is passing through the droplet cloud.
If the droplets are too small in size they are readily entrained by the air. Entrainment of free liquid is par- i ¦ticularl~'troublesome when the blower that induces the air flow through the condenser apparatus is downstream from Il -2-" 11 ,, ' I ;

9~ L7~ - ~ondit 5~
', the liquid droplet cloud. T~o much air entr~inment oE fr~e liquid can detrimentally affect the e~ficicncy of the entire ¦
condenser apparatus. Also, since the condenser apparatus llmay be utilized in an automatic clothes dryer it i5 desirable 5 11 to minimize expelling free liquid from the condenser appara-lltus into the clothes dryer system. Moreo~er, since the !~ condenser dryer may be adapted for installation into present I! standard size clothes dryers, the condensing chamber con-¦,taining the liquid droplet cloud must necessarily be limited l¦in axial length. Therefore, to accomplis~l the necessary air cooling over the limited axial length, the liquid drop-lilet dispersion means directly affects the efficiency of the ¦¦entire condenser apparatus and the clothes dryer wherein it l¦is utiliæed.
~ Rotating discs for producing liquid droplets have ~¦b~en used in apparatus for humidifyin~ air. See, for exam-¦ple, United States Patent 1,730,866 where atomized water impinges upon the disc downstream of the fan to be further broken up into a fine mist or vapor. United States Patent 1,914,812 also uses a disc downstream of the fan to spread lfinely divided water particles throughout the atmosphere 11 of a room. The arrangements shown in those patents, however, I¦ are specifically to provide for increasing the ~mount of ~1 moisture by ~roducing finely divided water particles and '~ expelling them from a humidifier into a room for humidifi- ;;
cation. ¦ -I! SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
I~
,I There is provided condenser apparatus for removing li moisture from the air and particularly a condenser apparatus ' that is ~tilized in connection with an automatic; clothes Il . .
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dryer and includes a housing for the condenser apparatus, which housing has both a cooling liquid inlet and an air inlet at one end, an air outlet at the opposite end of the housing, and a condensing chamber therebetween. This in-vention relates to utilizing in such a condenser apparatus a single improved rotatable disc axially spaced inwardly from the liquid inlet and positioned within the condenser housing. The disc has a central relatively flat radial area surrounded and integrally formed with a continuous wall slanting upwardly and outwardly relative to the central area and in the direction of the liquid inlet means and terminating at a circular periphery. The liquid introduced through the liquid inlet impinges upon the central relatively flat radial area of the disc which is rotated and the centri-fugal force acting on the liquid causes the liquid to form a sheet or film and move up the continuous wall and be radially thrown from the periphery of the disc in the form of droplets in a plane normal to the axis of rotation of the disc. The droplets are intercepted by the inside of the condenser housing and deflected and form a cooling liquid droplet cloud in the condensing chamber.
Near the air outlet of the condenser apparatus in which this disc improvement invention is utilized there is positioned a rotatable blower for inducing an air flow through the condenser apparatus from the air inlet to the air outlet passing through the liquid droplet cloud. Lo-cated between the blower and the disc, also positioned within the condenser housing, is a means, such as a rotatable water wheel, for collecting entrained liquid droplets before they can pass into the blower. Circumferentially around ~ . :

1(13~aV55 the liquid droplet collecting means is a tangential turbine liquid pump that removes both the introduced cooling liquid and the moisture condensed from the air from the condenser apparatus to a drain external of the condenser apparatus.
Means for rotatably driving all of the rotating elements is also provided.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved rotatable disc for producing liquid droplets for use in condenser apparatus.
It is another object of this invention to provide ;
an improved single rotatable disc for producing liquid droplets for use in condenser apparatus which in turn is used in an automatic clothes dryer.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a condenser apparatus which is simple in construction, efficient in operation, and compact in size to enable its incorporation into standard size automatic clothes dryers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of an auto-matic clothes dryer suitable for incorporation of the con- ~;
denser apparatus utilizing the present invention, the view `
being partly broken away and partly in section to illustrate details.
FIGURE 2 is a view taken along the lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1 showing the condenser apparatus installed in the automatic clothes dryer.
FIGURE 3 is a side elevational, cross-sectional view of the condenser apparatus utilizing the invention.
FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the con-denser apparatus shown in FIGURE 3 taken along lines 4-4 ,: . . .
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- 9D-~IL-11170 103~3~55 and partially broken away to illustrate details.
FIGURE 5 is a partially cut away perspective view of the disc.
FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view of the disc taken in a vertical plane through the central longitudinal axis of the disc.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMsODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings and initially to FIGURE 1 thereof, there is illustrated a domestic automatic clothes dryer 10 including an appearance and protective outer cabinet 11 having a door or closure 12 to provide access into the interior of the cabinet for loading and unloading fabrics. Provided on the top 13 of cabinet 11 is a control housing 14 which may, in a conventional way, include a suitable manual control 15 connected to a control ;
assembly 16 mounted in the control housing 14. By manual setting of control 15, the machine may be caused to start and automatically proceed through a cycle operation.
Within cabinet 11, there is provided a clothes tumbling container or drum 17 mounted for rotation on a substantially horizontal a~is. ~rum 17 is substantially cylindrical in shape, having a central cylindrical wall portion 18, and outer cylindrical wall portions 19 and 20, located respectively adjacent an annular front wall 21 and a circular rear wall 22 of the drum. Wall portions 18, 19 and 20 are imperforate while rear wall 22 has a plurality of perforations 33. On the interior surface of wall portion ~-18 there is a plurality of clothes tumbling ribs 23 so that clothes are lifted up when the drum rotates, and then per-mitted to tumble back down to the bottom of the drum. The ,: : . ~: . . :
' ' ' . :,: :, 1039055 ~ j ' front of the drum 17 may be rotatablv supported within 'outer cabinet 11 by suitable slide members or idler wheels, one of the latter of which is indicated by the numeral 24.
l.l The rear en~ of drum 17 receives its.support by 5 ll means of a stub shaft 27 extending rom the center of wall 'll 22. Shaft 27 is secured within-a bearing 28 mounted in a ¦Ibaffle-like structure 29 which, in turn, is rigidly ~Isecured to the back wall 30 of the cabinet 11.
¦~ In order to provide for the flow of-drying air 10 ¦Ithrouqh the clothes dru~, it is provided with a central ~ :
aperture 32 in the front wall 21 and a plurality of per-forations 33 in the rear wall 22. The air provided to the drum is heated as by an electrical resistance heating llelement 37, the element being the form shown in the 15 ¦I drawings, which issues from the outlet 34 of the heating ~- I! unit 35. Heatin~ unit 35 includes a heater housing 36 : I :
¦¦ and the electrical resistance heating element 37. In ¦the conventional way, air is drawn into the heating unit :
35 through an inlet opening 38 (FIGUR~ 2) and is warmed .
as it passes over and through the electrical resistance heati~g elemen~ 37 an2 then out the heater outlet 34.
The outlet end 34 of the heating unit commun- ~ ;
I ~ ~icates with an u.pwardly extending duct 45, which enters . -~ ¦ a generally circular heat diffuser chamber ~7 formed .
between the structure 29 and the rear wall 22 of ~um 17.
A flexible circu~ferential seal 39 is interposed between .
: membex 29 and rear wall 22 of the drum to provide a rear ¦, drum air.seaI and is secured to member 29 and contacts the -.
rear~wall of the rotating drum. The heated air flows .
fro~ the chamber 47 through the perforations 33 ~nto the 1~ ~ I .

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¦1 9D-IIL-11170 - Condit ll 10~ SS
¦ interior o~ the drum 17.
The front opening 32 of the drum is substantially closed by ~ea~s of a bulkhead qenerally indicated by the .
. numeral 50. Bulkhead 50 is made up of a number of adjacent members including the inner surface 51 of the access door 12, a sta~ionar~ frame 52 formed as a flange on front ~all :
46 of the cabine~ and a front door liner 42.
A transition duct 62 is formed by joining together cavit~ member 54 and cavity member 53 at an annular flange S5. It will be noted that a suitable clear-ance is provided between the inner edge of aperture 32 and the edge of frame 52 so that there is no rubbing ~etween the drum and the frame during rotation of the ¦:
drum. In order to prevent substantial air leakage through .
lS the aperture 32, a suitable front drum ring seal 56 is .
: . .~ecured to the flange 65 in sealing relationship with the .
exterior surface of the drum wall 21.
Door 12 is mounted on cabinet 11 so that when ,. -:
the door Is opened abrics may be inserted Into and removed from the drum through the door frame 52. '.
The air outlet from the drum is provided by a ' j.
perforated openiny 59 formecl in the inner wall 51 of the .
hollow door. The bottom wall section.of door 12 and the Ii j :: a~jacent wall of door frame 52 are provided with aligned !:.
; 25 openings 60 and 61, opening 61 providing an entrance to .. the duct 62. A lint trap 63 may be positLoned in the duct .1 ¦ 62 within opening 61 and supported by the door frame 52.
Duct ~2 leads downwardly and communicates with condenser .j ¦housing 64. It is within the condenser housing that the ~ hot moisture-la~.en air is cooled which causes moisture to . ; '.' . . ., .. ~,i ~ .
~i ~8- !j ~ 9r)-HL 1117~ - Condlt ¦
jl 1()39055 1 - Ilbe removed from the air prior to reintroducincJ the air ¦,into the heatina unit 35 and then recirculated through jthe clotlles dryer.
~ 7ith reference to FIGURES I, 3 and 4 in pAXtiC- .
I!ular, the operation and construction of the condenser appa-ratus will now be explained. The condenser apparatus in-cludes a housing 64 which is c~lindrical or drum shaped -and has an air inlet 66 located at the front of the con- ;
enser unit which i~ also near the front of the clothes 1~ ryer. Hot moisture-laden air from the drum is~introduced into the condenser unit-through the air inlet 66 by a 1~
transition duct 62 (FIGURE 1) between the drum and the air ~ ¦ -inlet. Also located at the same end of the condenser housing 64 is a liquid inlet means 70 which may conveniently ~ 15 be a hose or tubular conduit 72 supported by structure 74 1~ secured in a suitable fashion to the condenser housing.
The structure 74 sècures and positions the tubular conduit ¦
~ 72 substantially on the longitudinal axis of the condenser I ~ housing 64 with the end 73 of the conduit 72 directed into s the condenser apparatus. The liquid introduced into the ;~ ~ condenser apparatus by means of the tubular conduit 72 passes through a solenoid operated control valve (not shown) `
¦and i.s in the form of a stream. The liquid is furnished ;~
I ~ from~a source externaI of the clothes dryer such as a household faucet. Spoced axially from the liquid inlet ~ means~70 is a sin~le rotatable disc 76. The details of ;; ; disc~76 can be~clearly seen in FIGURES 5 and 6. The disc , -76 has a central~relatively flat radial area 40, a hub 43, ~ land a continuous wall 41 slanting upwardly and outwardly ; ¦ 30 Irelative to the central area 40. The continuous wall 41 '~ ;
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la3~s terminate~ at a circular lip or periphery 44~ This disc can be manufactured hy molding from a v~ri~ty o~ ~ynthetic plastic compositions, ~uch as polypropylene, or so~e other suitable ~oldable material The material or composition from which it is made should, of course, be compatible -.
with the environmental conditions involved.
With reference to FIGURE 6, the profile of ~he disc, as viewe~ in a vertical plane through the longi-tudinal central axis of the disc can be readily seen.
The longitudinal central axis is designated in FIGURE 6 as line a-b. The continuous wall 41 diverges from the central axis line a-b in a direction away from the flat area 40 and hub 43. Line c-d reprèsents one side of , continuous wall 41'and line e-f re~resents the opposite . 15 side thereof. The continuous wall 41 is straight and, if '-extendefl,,toward the hub 43, would intersect at point P, . as shown by the intersection o~ lines c d and e-f. The included angle formed by intersecting lines c-~ and e-f ~ I
is designated X in FIGURE 6 and is t~e angle re$erred to . ~ ' h~rein as the include(l angle formed by the diverging opposite continuous wall sections as viewed when a plane . is passed vertically through the central longitudinal axis .
: of the disc. The intersection of lines c-d and e-f at : point-P is on the central axis line a-b; therefore, thé - .
central axis line a-b bisects the included angle X. The included anglè X formed by the opposite continuous wall 4I is substantially bisected bv the central longitudinal .
- axis and the included angle X is from about lln degrees : ~ . to'about 130 degrees. ' I ~ I At the opposite end of the corden~er housing .

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j 9~-HL-1117~i - Condit 1~13~C~55 -¦64 from the liquid inlet means 10 is a blower 7~ for ¦linducing air t~ ~lo~ from the air inlet 6h to an air ¦outlet ~0. Th~ blower 78 not only induces air flow llthrough the condenser ap,oaratus but causes the air to ¦,flow through the entire clothes dryer so that only a ,~single blower is needed. The blower in this embodiment ¦consists of a rotatable blower wheel having a plurality f blades 82 secured as by molding to circular plate 83 1~
and a confining air space 84 surrounding the blower I ~ -Iwheel for developing sufficient air pressure`within the blower to induce the above-mentioned air flow through ¦ the entire clothe3 dryer including the candenser unit.
¦ Pofiitioned within the con~ienser housiny 64 and located I betw~en the rotatable disc 76 and the blower 78 is a 1 liquid droplet collecting means %6 which in the present ¦preferred embodi~ent described is in the form o~ a ¦rotatable water wheel having a plurality of spaced blades ¦88 which extend radially outward from the axis of rotat-¦ion of the wheel. The axial depth of blades ~8 is such ¦that they extend from the blower wheel 78 into the con- - ~ ¦
¦densing chamber 90. The blades 88 are integrall~ formed ~ , ! with~a hub 92 an~ are ~paced ~o that air flowing through ¦ ;
the condenser apparatu3 may flow through the ~paces between the radial ~lades g8 and into the blower. Surrounding the water droplet collecting means 86 is a tangential turbine pump 94 which consis~s of a rotatable U-shaped inner wall i¦g~ and a stationary outer pump wall 98 which cooperate with each other to provide a pump cavity 100 therebetween.
The outer pump wall 98 may be integrally formed with the ~0 Icondenser housing. Also formlng one part of the pump 94 ~ ' ' , ;
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~O-HL-11170 - Condit , is a circu~ferential wall member 99 that is stationary Iland secured to the inside of the condenser housin~ and ¦ inwardly depending thereErom. Rotation of the inner ¦¦p~mp wall 96 forces the liquid to be a~celerated cir-I cumferentially by rotational force and discharged throughthe pump dischar~e outlet 102. The discharge outlet 102 is connected by suitable means to a drain outside of the clothes dryer.
Located at the bottom of the condenser housing ¦ 64 is a sump 104 which performs as an auxiliary liquid discharge outlet from the condenser apparatus should ¦the pump 94 fail to operate. The sump 104 consists of ~a reservoir 106 formed by surrounding a wall area 108 jand a liquid discharge outlet 109 which may be formed integrally with the condenser housing 6~. The sump liquid discharge outlet 109 is arranged to be spaced from and located below the liquid inlet means 70 to provide an air gap therebetween. Plumbing codes gen-erally require a su~ficient air gap in association with the water inlet, so that if a ne~ative pressure is pxo-duced in the water line, only air will be taken in. It can be seen in ~IGURE 4 that if the condenser pump 94 fails to operate liquid accv~ulates in the condenser apparatus sump until it ov~erflows, thus providing an air gap in the system between the discharge outlet 109 and liquid inlet end 73. If desired, means for discontinuing joperation of the condenser apparatus responsive to the auxiliary liquid discharge may be provided. One such Il~means could be an externally located float mechanism activatod b? overf}ow liquid discherged from the conderser.

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, g~-HL-11170 - Condit i~ 9055 i At the rear of the condenser housing 6~ is a rear wall 110 which forms part of the condenser housing.
The rear wall 110 together with cylindrical wall section 1¦111 of housin~ 64 and inwardly directed circular flange ¦1 113 form the blower cha~ber 84. Secured to the reax wall 110 on the opposite side from the blower chamber 84 is an electric motor 112 which may be suitably attached ~-to the rear wall as by bolts 114. The electric motor has a rotatable shaft extending through an aperture 116 ¦in the rear ~all 110 close to the central longitudinal ¦axis of the condensex apparatus. Secured to this motor ¦shaft 115, which extends into the condenser housing, are the four rstatable elements of the condenser apparatus, ¦namel~, the blower 78, the water droplet collecting means lor water wheel 86, inner wall 96 of the ~ump 94 and the disc 76. The single motor 112 rotatably drives all four of these condensèr apparatus elements.
The motor shaft 115 also extends rearward of the motor in the opposite direction from the condenser apparatus and is utilized to rotate drum 17. In order ~o efiect this rotation, motor 112 is provided with a ¦ shaft portion 118 having a small pulley 120 secured~to the end thereof. Around the pulley 120 and seated in l groove 121 and entirely around the cylindrical wall section 18 of drum 17 is a movable belt 122. The rela-tive circumference of the pulley 120 and the wall sec-¦ tion 18 of the drum 17 causes the drum to be driven by ! the motor at a speed suitable to effect tumbling of Il fabrics to be dried in the drum. In order to effect ~¦ prope~ teosioning of the belt 122, a suitable idler 1 ~ . ., 1l -13-,. . . ~ ., - - .
;......... . , : - : : ., , J~ -.~~lLl /U - ~ondit i' ~039~55 ~,assembly 124 is secured to the same sup~ort 126 which supports one end of the motor.
The air exitin~ the condenser a~paratus through llair outlet R0 passes via duct 128 into the heating unit ¦
5 l35 for heating the air and recirculating it into the ¦
~ lothes dryer drum 17.
¦¦ Tlle operation of the condenser and dryer appa-¦~ratus is as follows: Hot moisture-laaen air that has llbeen passed through the clothes dryer drum and picked up 10 ¦moisture from the fabrics tumbled therein is introduced ~jinto the condenser unit through the air inlet opening 66 :
¦while a stream of cooling li~uid is being introduced into the condenser unit through tubular conduit 72. When the condenser apparatus is operating the electric motor pro- I -15 1 vides for simultaneous rotation of the blower 78, droplet , .
collecting water wheel 86, inner wall 96 of pump 94 and disc 76. As disc 76 is being rotated the stream of liquid being introduced impinges onto the flat center area 40 of the rapi~ly rotating disc. The liquid striking the ro-¦tating surface 40 is acted upon by centrifugal force , ,~
causing the liquid to spread into a film or sheet and ¦swirl and travel up the inclined inner wall surface 129 ¦of the continuous wall 41 of the disc 76 to the periphery ;~
l44 thereof and from there thrown outwardly in the form of liquid droplets 130. The generally radial flight of the liquid droplets 130 is interrupted by the inner surface ~:
132 of the condenser housin~ 64 whereupon the liquid ,ldroplets are deflected hac~. toward the center of the ¦~condenser chamber 90, this in effect produces a curtain 11 or cloud of liquid droplets within the condensing chamber Il . , ; I . ~:
1 !

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,i 9 I~- ~L- 11170 - Condit li ,1 103g(~55 ,i90 while the incoming hot moisture-laden air from the dryer drum flows through this resultant liquid droplet I , ,' ¦cloud. By usinq a rotatable disc 76 as above-described '' lla single disc mav be used in the condenser which affords l~several advantages. The single disc may be positioned 'lin close proximity to the air inlet 66 so that the ¦¦liquid droplets 130 leaving the disc periphery 44 are ¦more remote from the rear of the condenser chamber 90 l than otherwise for a given condenser cham~er 90 axial ¦ len~th. It will be appreciated that the condenser chamber 90 length is restricted ox limited in order to be able to incorporate the condenser apparatus in space available in standard size clothes dryers. It is Ilimportant to have the liquid,droplets within the conden-¦~ser chamber 90 remote from the liquid droplet collectingmeans 86 and blower 78 in order to minimize air entrain-men~ of the liquid droplets into these components. More-over, my disc arrangement produces a pattern of discreet liqui~ droplets to help minimize their entrainment. If ¦the electric ~otor 112 shaft rotates at approximately 1725 revolutions per minute and the disc 76 having a dia~eter of 4 1/2 inches also rotates at the same speed the disc periphery would have a rotating velocity of approximately 34 feet per second. Then if the stream 25 I¦ of liquid impinging onto the disc has a flow rate of 0.30 to 0.48 gallons per minute good air coolin~ is achieve~ with little entrainment o~ the resultant liquid dro~lets. , ¦ With my disc configuration good liquid droplet 30 il ~ispersion is achieved with minimum droplet entrainmPnt jlwithin a,restricted condenser chamber length. The hot jlmoisture-laden air in contact with the cooler liquid !;

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droplets causes the air te~perature to be lowered and ¦
the moisture condensed therefrom. Because the air flo~ing ¦
~through the condenser chamber 90 may entrain some liquid Il droplets the water droplet collectin~ means 86 is posi-il tioned upstream of the blower 7B bet~Jeen the disc 76and blower 78 so that entrained liquid droplets ~re essentially collected by the rota'ing klades 88 and deposited in an underlying liquid bath 133 which is in communication with the pump 94 through an opening 134.
It will be understood that simultaneously with the intro-duc'ion of cooling liquid into the condenser apparatus through the tubular conduit 72 that liquid will also be removed ~rom the condenser apparatus ~y the pum~ 94 at a r~.te such that only a small amount of liquid is in the lS liquid bath 133 at a given time during operation of the condenser apparatus. The now cooled a.ir reaches the blower 78 which applies air pressure to induce the air flow and force the air out of the condenser apparatus through air outlet ~0 for introduction into the heating unit 35 and again recirculate through the clothes dryer.
The foregoing is a description of the pre-ferred embodiment of the invention and variations ~ay ¦~be made thereto without departing from the true spirit ¦¦ of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.
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Claims (7)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A condenser apparatus for removing moisture from air by passing moisture-laden air through a cloud of cooling liquid droplets having:
a) a housing, b) liquid inlet means at one end of said housing for introducing a stream of liquid into the housing essentially along the central axis of the housing, c) air inlet means at said one end of the housing, d) air outlet means at the end of the housing opposite the air inlet means, e) a rotatable blower for inducing air to flow from the air inlet means to the air outlet means, f) means for collecting liquid droplets which is positioned within the housing and located between the disc and blower, g) means for removing liquid from the condenser apparatus, and h) means for driving the rotatable components, the improvement comprising a single rotatable disc positioned within the housing and axially spaced from said liquid inlet means, said disc having a hub, a continuous wall slanting outwardly relative to the hub and in the direction of the liquid inlet means and terminating at a circular periphery.

2. The condenser apparatus of claim 1 wherein between the hub and continuous wall of the disc is a central, relatively flat, radial area from which the continuous wall departs.

3. The condenser apparatus of claim 2 wherein the liquid inlet is arranged to impinge the liquid stream onto the central, relatively flat, radial area of the disc.

4. The condenser apparatus of claim 1 wherein the opposite sides of the continuous slanting wall of the disc, as viewed in cross-sectional plane through the longitudinal central axis, converge toward each other in the direction of the hub with the included angle formed by said converging side walls is from about 110 degrees to about 130 degrees.

5. The condenser dryer apparatus of Claim 1 wherein the rate of liquid flow introduced by the inlet means is in the range of 0.30 to 0.48 gallons per minute and the peripheral velocity of the disc is approximately 34 feet per second.

6. In an automatic clothes dryer machine having a cabinet, a drum mounted for rotation within the cabinet to tumble clothes to be dried, means for passing air through the drum and heating means to heat the air, and a condenser apparatus through which the air passes to be cooled and remove moisture, the condenser apparatus having:
a) a housing, b) liquid inlet means at one end of said housing for introducing a stream of liquid into the housing essentially along the central axis of the housing, c) air inlet means at said one end of the housing, d) air outlet means at the end of the housing opposite the air inlet means, e) a rotatable blower for inducing air to flow from the air inlet means to the air outlet means, f) a rotatable water wheel for collecting liquid droplets which is positioned within the housing and located between the disc and blower, g) a pump for removing liquid from the condenser apparatus, and h) a motor for driving the rotatable components including the pump, the improvement comprising a single rotatable disc positioned within the housing and axially spaced from said liquid inlet means, said disc having a hub, a continuous wall slanting outwardly relative to the hub and in the direction of the liquid inlet means and terminating at a circular periphery, a central relatively flat, radial area between the hub and continuous wall, said continuous slanting wall of the disc, as viewed in cross-sectional plane through the longitudinal central axis, converge toward each other in the direction of the hub with the included angle formed by said converging side walls is from about 110 degrees to about 130 degrees, said disc being rotated at a peripheral velocity of approximately 34 feet per second while the liquid flow rate introduced by the inlet means is in the range of 0.30 to 0.48 gallons per minute.

7. An automatic clothes dryer comprising in combination a cabinet, a drum mounted for rotation within said cabinet to tumble clothes to be dried, means for passing air through said drum, means for heating said air, and condenser means for condensing moisture from air exiting from said drum, said condenser means being as defined in claim 1, 2 or 3.