EP2147999A1 - Home laundry drier - Google Patents
Home laundry drier Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP2147999A1 EP2147999A1 EP08161082A EP08161082A EP2147999A1 EP 2147999 A1 EP2147999 A1 EP 2147999A1 EP 08161082 A EP08161082 A EP 08161082A EP 08161082 A EP08161082 A EP 08161082A EP 2147999 A1 EP2147999 A1 EP 2147999A1
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- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- refrigerant
- air
- heat
- heat exchanger
- airflow
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- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
- D06F58/00—Domestic laundry dryers
- D06F58/20—General details of domestic laundry dryers
- D06F58/206—Heat pump arrangements
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
- D06F58/00—Domestic laundry dryers
- D06F58/20—General details of domestic laundry dryers
- D06F58/24—Condensing arrangements
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a home laundry drier.
- the present invention relates to a rotary-drum home laundry drier, to which the following description refers purely by way of example.
- rotary-drum laundry driers usually comprise a substantially parallelepiped-shaped outer box casing; a cylindrical bell-shaped drum for housing the laundry to be dried, and which is housed in axially rotating manner inside the casing to rotate about its horizontally oriented longitudinal axis, directly facing a laundry loading and unloading opening formed in the front face of the casing; a door hinged to the front face of the casing to rotate to and from a rest position closing the opening in the front face of the casing to seal the casing and the bell-shaped drum; and an electric motor assembly for rotating the drum about its longitudinal axis inside the casing.
- Rotary-drum laundry driers of the above type also comprise a closed-circuit, hot-air generator designed to circulate inside the revolving drum a stream of hot air with a low moisture content, and which flows through the revolving drum and over the laundry inside the drum to rapidly dry the laundry.
- the closed-circuit, hot-air generator comprises an air recirculating conduit having its two ends connected to the revolving drum, on opposite sides of the latter; an electric centrifugal fan located along the recirculating conduit to produce, inside the latter, an airflow which flows through the revolving drum; and finally a heat-pump assembly having its two heat exchangers located one after the other, along the air recirculating conduit.
- the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger of the heat-pump assembly provides for rapidly cooling the airflow arriving from the revolving drum to condense the surplus moisture in the airflow; whereas the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger of the heat-pump assembly provides for rapidly heating the airflow arriving from the first heat exchanger and directed back to the revolving drum, so that the airflow re-entering into the revolving drum is heated rapidly to a temperature higher than or equal to that of the air flowing out of the revolving drum.
- the heat-pump assembly of the hot-air generator generally comprises:
- evaporator and condenser of the heat-pump assembly are located along the air recirculating conduit, so as that the evaporator provides for rapidly cooling the airflow arriving from the revolving drum to condense the surplus moisture in the airflow, and the condenser provides for rapidly heating the airflow arriving from the evaporator and directed back to the revolving drum, so that the airflow entering into the drum is heated rapidly to a temperature higher than or equal to that of the same air flowing out of the drum.
- a home laundry drier as claimed in Claim 1 and preferably, though not necessarily, in any one of the Claims depending directly or indirectly on Claim 1.
- number 1 indicates as a whole a home laundry drier comprising a preferably, though not necessarily, parallelepiped-shaped outer box casing 2; a preferably, though not necessarily, cylindrical bell-shaped revolving drum 3 for housing the laundry to be dried, and which is fixed in axially rotating manner inside casing 2, directly facing a laundry loading and unloading opening 2a formed in the front face of casing 2; and a door 4 hinged to the front face of casing 2 to rotate to and from a rest position closing opening 2a in the front face to seal revolving drum 3.
- revolving drum 3 rests horizontally inside casing 2 on a number of horizontal supporting rollers 5 which are fitted to casing 2 to let revolving drum 3 freely rotate about its longitudinal axis L.
- Casing 2 revolving drum 3, door 4 and supporting rollers 5 are commonly known parts in the industry, and therefore not described in detail.
- laundry drier 1 also comprises an electric motor assembly 6 for rotating, on command, revolving drum 3 about its longitudinal axis L inside casing 2; and a closed-circuit, hot-air generator 7 housed inside casing 2 and designed to circulate through revolving drum 3 a stream of hot air having a low moisture level, and which flows over and rapidly dries the laundry inside drum 3.
- closed-circuit, hot-air generator 7 provides for gradually drawing air from revolving drum 3; extracting surplus moisture from the air drawn from revolving drum 3; heating the dehumidified air to a predetermined temperature, normally higher than the temperature of the air from revolving drum 3; and feeding the heated, dehumidified air back into revolving drum 3, where it flows over, to rapidly dry, the laundry inside the drum.
- hot-air generator 7 provides for continually dehumidifying and heating the air circulating inside revolving drum 3 to rapidly dry the laundry inside the drum, and substantially comprises:
- the intake end of recirculating conduit 8 is integrated in door 4, and is faced to the front opening of revolving drum 3; the end wall 3a of revolving drum 3 is perforated, or at any rate permeable to air, to permit air entry into drum 3; and the exhaust end of recirculating conduit 8 is coupled in airtight manner directly to the end wall 3a of revolving drum 3.
- electric centrifugal fan 9 it is structured to produce an airflow f flowing, along recirculating conduit 8, from the intake end of recirculating conduit 8, i.e. door 4, to the exhaust end of recirculating conduit 8, i.e. the perforated end wall 3a of revolving drum 3.
- heat-pump assembly 10 operates in the same way as a traditional heat-pump - which is capable of transferring heat from one fluid to another using an intermediate gaseous refrigerant subjected to a closed thermodynamic cycle, the thermodynamic principles of which are widely known and therefore not described in detail - and comprises:
- Heat-pump assembly 10 finally comprises a number of suitable connecting pipes which connect refrigerant compressing device 11, heat exchanger 12, heat exchanger 13 and refrigerant expansion device 14 one to the other, so as to form a closed circuit allowing the refrigerant coming out from the outlet of compressing device 11 to flow, in sequence, through heat exchanger 13, refrigerant expansion device 14 and heat exchanger 12, before returning to the inlet of compressing device 11.
- hot-air generator 7 also comprises at least a second heat-pump assembly 15 which, in cooperation with or in place of heat-pump assembly 10, is able to rapidly cool the airflow f coming out from revolving drum 3 for condensing the surplus moisture in the airflow f, and then to rapidly heat the airflow f returning back into revolving drum 3, so that the airflow entering into revolving drum 3 is heated rapidly to a temperature higher than or equal to that of the same air flowing out of the revolving drum.
- heat-pump assembly 15 comprises:
- heat-pump assembly 15 comprises a number of suitable connecting pipes which connect refrigerant compressing device 16, heat exchanger 17, heat exchanger 18 and refrigerant expansion device 19 one to the other, so as to form a closed circuit allowing the refrigerant coming out from the outlet of compressing device 16 to flow, in sequence, through heat exchanger 18, refrigerant expansion device 19 and heat exchanger 17, before returning to the inlet of compressing device 16.
- capacity of refrigerant compressing device 11 may be equal to, or greater than, or lower than that of refrigerant compressing device 16, so that heating and cooling capabilities of heat-pump assembly 10 may be equal to, greater than, or lower than that of heat-pump assembly 15.
- capacity of refrigerant compressing device 11 is equal to twice the capacity of refrigerant compressing device 16, so that the heating and cooling capabilities of heat-pump assembly 10 are approximately twice the heating and cooling capabilities of heat-pump assembly 15.
- refrigerant compressing device 11 is preferably, though not necessarily, a rotary compressor such as, for example, a rotary screw compressor, a rotary vane compressor or a scroll compressor.
- refrigerant compressing device 16 is preferably, though not necessarily, a rotary compressor too.
- laundry drier 1 finally comprises an electronic central control unit 20 which can switch on and off compressing device 11 and compressing device 16 independently of each other, according to the particular drying cycle selected by the user, so as to activate heat-pump assemblies 10 and 15 either alternatively one to the other, or simultaneously.
- hot-air generator 7 offers three different power levels which significantly improves versatility of the laundry drier.
- laundry drier 1 can adapt the drying performances of hot-air generator 7 to the clothing inside revolving drum 3.
- heat-pump assembly 15 may be dimensioned for producing an airflow f of dehumidified warm air having, on entry into drum 3, temperature slightly lower than that admitted by the supersensitive clothing (namely 50°C); whereas heat-pump assembly 10 may be dimensioned for producing, in cooperation with heat-pump assembly 15, an airflow f of dehumidified warm air having, on entry into drum 3, temperature suitable for normal clothing (namely 70°C)
- control unit 20 can switch from heat-pump assembly 10 to heat-pump assembly 15 and vice versa, according to the real moisture level of the clothing inside revolving drum 3, thus optimizing electric power consumption.
- heat exchanger 18 of heat-pump assembly 15 may be located along recirculating conduit 8, downstream of heat exchanger 13; whereas heat exchanger 17 may be located along recirculating conduit 8, upstream of heat exchanger 12.
- heat exchanger 18 of heat-pump assembly 15 may be located along recirculating conduit 8, downstream of heat exchanger 13; and heat exchanger 17 may be located along recirculating conduit 8, between heat exchangers 12 and 13.
- heat exchanger 17 of heat-pump assembly 15 may, optionally, be at least partially incorporated into heat exchanger 13 of heat-pump assembly 10, and the resulting air/refrigerant/refrigerant heat exchanger may be designed for allowing the refrigerant of heat-pump assembly 10 to release heat also to the refrigerant of heat-pump assembly 15 (i.e. not only to the airflow f directed to revolving drum 3), thus significantly improving the exergetic efficiency of the heat transfer process.
- heat-pump assembly 10 may operate with a higher value of the refrigerant pressure along the high pressure side of the closed thermodynamic cycle
- heat-pump assembly 15 may operate with a higher value of the refrigerant pressure along the low pressure side of the closed thermodynamic cycle; thus drastically reducing energy consumption of refrigerant compressing devices 11 and 16.
- the closed thermodynamic cycle performed by a heat-pump assembly is intrinsically unbalanced towards heat production: i.e. the heat released to the outside in the high-temperature heat exchanger in always greater than the heat absorbed from the outside in the low-temperature heat exchanger.
- this unbalance makes extremely difficult to control the temperature of the airflow returning back into the revolving drum of the laundry drier.
- this problem is solved providing the hot-air generator with an additional electrically operated external ventilating fan which cools the head of the refrigerant reciprocating compressor to dissipate the heat in excess produced by the heat-pump assembly.
- heat-pump assembly 15 may be used for absorbing also the heat in excess produced by heat-pump assembly 10.
- a sole additional electrically operated external ventilating fan (non shown) may be used to dissipate the heat in excess produced by both heat-pump assemblies 10 and 15, thus reducing overall energy consumption of home laundry drier 1.
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Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates to a home laundry drier.
- More specifically, the present invention relates to a rotary-drum home laundry drier, to which the following description refers purely by way of example.
- As is known, rotary-drum laundry driers usually comprise a substantially parallelepiped-shaped outer box casing; a cylindrical bell-shaped drum for housing the laundry to be dried, and which is housed in axially rotating manner inside the casing to rotate about its horizontally oriented longitudinal axis, directly facing a laundry loading and unloading opening formed in the front face of the casing; a door hinged to the front face of the casing to rotate to and from a rest position closing the opening in the front face of the casing to seal the casing and the bell-shaped drum; and an electric motor assembly for rotating the drum about its longitudinal axis inside the casing.
- Rotary-drum laundry driers of the above type also comprise a closed-circuit, hot-air generator designed to circulate inside the revolving drum a stream of hot air with a low moisture content, and which flows through the revolving drum and over the laundry inside the drum to rapidly dry the laundry.
- In some recently marketed rotary-drum laundry driers, the closed-circuit, hot-air generator comprises an air recirculating conduit having its two ends connected to the revolving drum, on opposite sides of the latter; an electric centrifugal fan located along the recirculating conduit to produce, inside the latter, an airflow which flows through the revolving drum; and finally a heat-pump assembly having its two heat exchangers located one after the other, along the air recirculating conduit. The first air/refrigerant heat exchanger of the heat-pump assembly provides for rapidly cooling the airflow arriving from the revolving drum to condense the surplus moisture in the airflow; whereas the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger of the heat-pump assembly provides for rapidly heating the airflow arriving from the first heat exchanger and directed back to the revolving drum, so that the airflow re-entering into the revolving drum is heated rapidly to a temperature higher than or equal to that of the air flowing out of the revolving drum.
- More specifically, the heat-pump assembly of the hot-air generator generally comprises:
- a refrigerant reciprocating compressor which subjects a refrigerant in the gaseous state to compression, so that refrigerant pressure and temperature are much higher at the outlet than at the inlet of the reciprocating compressor;
- a first air/refrigerant heat exchanger, commonly referred to as the condenser, through which the refrigerant coming out from the compressor and the airflow entering into the revolving tub flow simultaneously, and which is designed so that the refrigerant releases heat to the airflow entering into the revolving drum, while at the same time condensing in the liquid state;
- a second air/refrigerant heat exchanger, commonly referred to as the evaporator, through which the refrigerant flowing to the compressor and the airflow coming out from the revolving drum flow simultaneously, and which is designed so that the refrigerant absorbs heat from the airflow arriving from revolving drum to cause condensation of the surplus moisture in the airflow, while at the same time completely turning back into the gaseous state; and
- a refrigerant expansion device which subjects the refrigerant flowing from the condenser to the evaporator to a rapid expansion, so that pressure and temperature of the refrigerant entering in the evaporator are much lower than pressure and temperature of the refrigerant coming out from the condenser, thus turning the refrigerant back into the gaseous state and completing the closed thermodynamic cycle in opposition to the reciprocating compressor, which provides for rapidly compressing the refrigerant.
- Obviously, evaporator and condenser of the heat-pump assembly are located along the air recirculating conduit, so as that the evaporator provides for rapidly cooling the airflow arriving from the revolving drum to condense the surplus moisture in the airflow, and the condenser provides for rapidly heating the airflow arriving from the evaporator and directed back to the revolving drum, so that the airflow entering into the drum is heated rapidly to a temperature higher than or equal to that of the same air flowing out of the drum.
- Unluckily, despite the fact that this type of rotary-drum laundry drier is highly efficient, the limited flexibility of the heat-pump assembly has been the object of frequent criticism by the final users. In fact, due to the use of a single-speed fixed-capacity reciprocating compressor, this type of rotary-drum laundry drier is quite noisy and can perform a unique type of drying cycle which is suitable for traditional clothing, but which can fatally damaged supersensitive clothing. These kind of clothing, in fact, gets fatally damaged when dried using hot air having temperature higher than 50°C.
- It is the aim of the present invention to provide a rotary-drum home laundry drier designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks.
- According to the present invention, there is provided a home laundry drier as claimed in
Claim 1 and preferably, though not necessarily, in any one of the Claims depending directly or indirectly onClaim 1. - A non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :
-
Figure 1 shows a section view, with parts removed for clarity, of a rotary-drum home laundry drier in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; and -
Figure 2 shows a schematic view of a variation of theFigure 1 laundry drier. - With reference to
Figure 1 ,number 1 indicates as a whole a home laundry drier comprising a preferably, though not necessarily, parallelepiped-shapedouter box casing 2; a preferably, though not necessarily, cylindrical bell-shaped revolvingdrum 3 for housing the laundry to be dried, and which is fixed in axially rotating manner insidecasing 2, directly facing a laundry loading and unloadingopening 2a formed in the front face ofcasing 2; and adoor 4 hinged to the front face ofcasing 2 to rotate to and from a restposition closing opening 2a in the front face to seal revolvingdrum 3. - More specifically, in the example shown revolving
drum 3 rests horizontally insidecasing 2 on a number of horizontal supportingrollers 5 which are fitted tocasing 2 to let revolvingdrum 3 freely rotate about its longitudinal axis L. -
Casing 2, revolvingdrum 3,door 4 and supportingrollers 5 are commonly known parts in the industry, and therefore not described in detail. - With reference to
Figure 1 ,laundry drier 1 also comprises anelectric motor assembly 6 for rotating, on command, revolvingdrum 3 about its longitudinal axis L insidecasing 2; and a closed-circuit, hot-air generator 7 housed insidecasing 2 and designed to circulate through revolvingdrum 3 a stream of hot air having a low moisture level, and which flows over and rapidly dries the laundry insidedrum 3. - More specifically, closed-circuit, hot-
air generator 7 provides for gradually drawing air from revolvingdrum 3; extracting surplus moisture from the air drawn from revolvingdrum 3; heating the dehumidified air to a predetermined temperature, normally higher than the temperature of the air from revolvingdrum 3; and feeding the heated, dehumidified air back into revolvingdrum 3, where it flows over, to rapidly dry, the laundry inside the drum. - In other words, hot-
air generator 7 provides for continually dehumidifying and heating the air circulating inside revolvingdrum 3 to rapidly dry the laundry inside the drum, and substantially comprises: - an air recirculating
conduit 8, the two ends of which are connected to revolvingdrum 3 on opposite sides of the latter; - an electric
centrifugal fan 9, or other type of air circulating pump, located along recirculatingconduit 8 to produce, inside recirculatingconduit 8, an airflow f which flows into revolvingdrum 3 and over the laundry insidedrum 5; and - a heat-
pump assembly 10 which is able to rapidly cool the airflow f coming out from revolvingdrum 3 for condensing the surplus moisture in the airflow f, and then to rapidly heat the airflow f returning back into revolvingdrum 3, so that the airflow entering into revolvingdrum 3 is heated rapidly to a temperature higher than or equal to that of the same air flowing out of the revolving drum. - More specifically, in the example shown the intake end of recirculating
conduit 8 is integrated indoor 4, and is faced to the front opening of revolvingdrum 3; theend wall 3a of revolvingdrum 3 is perforated, or at any rate permeable to air, to permit air entry intodrum 3; and the exhaust end of recirculatingconduit 8 is coupled in airtight manner directly to theend wall 3a of revolvingdrum 3. - As regards electric
centrifugal fan 9, it is structured to produce an airflow f flowing, along recirculatingconduit 8, from the intake end of recirculatingconduit 8,i.e. door 4, to the exhaust end of recirculatingconduit 8, i.e. the perforatedend wall 3a of revolvingdrum 3. - With reference to
Figure 1 , heat-pump assembly 10 operates in the same way as a traditional heat-pump - which is capable of transferring heat from one fluid to another using an intermediate gaseous refrigerant subjected to a closed thermodynamic cycle, the thermodynamic principles of which are widely known and therefore not described in detail - and comprises: - an electrically powered refrigerant compressing
device 11 which subjects a gaseous refrigerant to compression (e.g. adiabatic compression) so that refrigerant pressure and temperature are much higher at the outlet than at the inlet ofcompressing device 11; - a first air/
refrigerant heat exchanger 12 which is located along recirculating conduit 8 - preferably, thought not necessarily, downstream of centrifugal fan 9 - and is designed so that the airflow f from revolvingdrum 3 and the refrigerant flowing to the inlet of compressingdevice 11 flow through it simultaneously, allowing the refrigerant having a temperature lower than that of the airflow f, to absorb heat from the airflow f thus causing condensation of the surplus moisture in the airflow f; - a second air/
refrigerant heat exchanger 13 which is located along recirculatingconduit 8, downstream of air/refrigerant heat exchanger 12, and is designed so that the airflow f directed to revolvingdrum 3 and the refrigerant from the outlet of compressingdevice 11 flow through it simultaneously, allowing the refrigerant having a temperature greater than that of the airflow f to release heat to the airflow f, thus rapidly heating the airflow f to a temperature higher than of the airflow f coming out of the air/refrigerant heat exchanger 12, and preferably, thought not necessarily, also higher or equal to the temperature of the airflow f coming out of revolvingdrum 3; and - a throttling valve or similar
refrigerant expansion device 14 which subjects the refrigerant flowing from the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger 13 to the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger 12 to a rapid expansion, so that pressure and temperature of the refrigerant entering in air/refrigerant heat exchanger 12 are much lower than pressure and temperature of the refrigerant coming out from air/refrigerant heat exchanger 13, thus completing the closed thermodynamic cycle in opposition to the compressingdevice 11, which provides for rapidly compressing the refrigerant. - Heat-
pump assembly 10 finally comprises a number of suitable connecting pipes which connectrefrigerant compressing device 11,heat exchanger 12,heat exchanger 13 andrefrigerant expansion device 14 one to the other, so as to form a closed circuit allowing the refrigerant coming out from the outlet ofcompressing device 11 to flow, in sequence, throughheat exchanger 13,refrigerant expansion device 14 andheat exchanger 12, before returning to the inlet of compressingdevice 11. - Differently from known home laundry dries, hot-
air generator 7 also comprises at least a second heat-pump assembly 15 which, in cooperation with or in place of heat-pump assembly 10, is able to rapidly cool the airflow f coming out from revolvingdrum 3 for condensing the surplus moisture in the airflow f, and then to rapidly heat the airflow f returning back into revolvingdrum 3, so that the airflow entering into revolvingdrum 3 is heated rapidly to a temperature higher than or equal to that of the same air flowing out of the revolving drum. - With reference to
Figure 1 , likewise heat-pump assembly 10, heat-pump assembly 15 comprises: - an electrically powered
refrigerant compressing device 16 which subjects a gaseous refrigerant to compression (e.g. adiabatic compression) so that refrigerant pressure and temperature are much higher at the outlet than at the inlet ofcompressing device 11; - a first air/
refrigerant heat exchanger 17 which is located along recirculatingconduit 8, upstream of heat exchanger 12 - and preferably, thought not necessarily, downstream of centrifugal fan 9 -, and is designed so that the airflow f from revolvingdrum 3 and the refrigerant flowing to the inlet of compressingdevice 16 flow through it simultaneously, allowing the refrigerant having a temperature lower than that of the airflow f, to absorb heat from the airflow f thus causing condensation of the surplus moisture in the airflow f; - a second air/
refrigerant heat exchanger 18 which is located along recirculatingconduit 8, downstream of air/refrigerant heat exchanger 17 and immediately upstream ofheat exchanger 13, and is designed so that the airflow f directed to revolvingdrum 3 and the refrigerant from the outlet of compressingdevice 16 flow through it simultaneously, allowing the refrigerant having a temperature greater than that of the airflow f to release heat to the airflow f, thus rapidly heating the airflow f to a temperature higher than of the airflow f coming out of the air/refrigerant heat exchanger drum 3; and - a throttling valve or similar
refrigerant expansion device 19 which subjects the refrigerant flowing from the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger 18 to the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger 17 to a rapid expansion, so that pressure and temperature of the refrigerant entering in air/refrigerant heat exchanger 17 are much lower than pressure and temperature of the refrigerant coming out from air/refrigerant heat exchanger 18, thus completing the closed thermodynamic cycle in opposition to the compressingdevice 16, which provides for rapidly compressing the refrigerant. - Likewise heat-
pump assembly 10, also heat-pump assembly 15 comprises a number of suitable connecting pipes which connectrefrigerant compressing device 16,heat exchanger 17,heat exchanger 18 andrefrigerant expansion device 19 one to the other, so as to form a closed circuit allowing the refrigerant coming out from the outlet ofcompressing device 16 to flow, in sequence, throughheat exchanger 18,refrigerant expansion device 19 andheat exchanger 17, before returning to the inlet ofcompressing device 16. - In addition to the above, capacity of refrigerant compressing
device 11 may be equal to, or greater than, or lower than that ofrefrigerant compressing device 16, so that heating and cooling capabilities of heat-pump assembly 10 may be equal to, greater than, or lower than that of heat-pump assembly 15. - In particular, in the example shown, capacity of
refrigerant compressing device 11 is equal to twice the capacity ofrefrigerant compressing device 16, so that the heating and cooling capabilities of heat-pump assembly 10 are approximately twice the heating and cooling capabilities of heat-pump assembly 15. - In addition to the above, refrigerant
compressing device 11 is preferably, though not necessarily, a rotary compressor such as, for example, a rotary screw compressor, a rotary vane compressor or a scroll compressor. Similarly, in the example shown refrigerantcompressing device 16 is preferably, though not necessarily, a rotary compressor too. - With reference to
Figure 1 ,laundry drier 1 finally comprises an electroniccentral control unit 20 which can switch on and off compressingdevice 11 andcompressing device 16 independently of each other, according to the particular drying cycle selected by the user, so as to activate heat-pump assemblies - General operation of
home laundry drier 1 is clearly inferable from the above description, with no further explanation required. - The presence of two independent heat-pump assemblies has lots of advantages. By switching on only the small rotary compressor (compressing device 16), or only the big rotary compressor (compressing device 11), or both the small and the big rotary compressors, hot-
air generator 7 offers three different power levels which significantly improves versatility of the laundry drier. - In fact, by switching on compressing
devices laundry drier 1 can adapt the drying performances of hot-air generator 7 to the clothing inside revolvingdrum 3. - For example, heat-
pump assembly 15 may be dimensioned for producing an airflow f of dehumidified warm air having, on entry intodrum 3, temperature slightly lower than that admitted by the supersensitive clothing (namely 50°C); whereas heat-pump assembly 10 may be dimensioned for producing, in cooperation with heat-pump assembly 15, an airflow f of dehumidified warm air having, on entry intodrum 3, temperature suitable for normal clothing (namely 70°C) - Moreover, during execution of a traditional drying cycle,
control unit 20 can switch from heat-pump assembly 10 to heat-pump assembly 15 and vice versa, according to the real moisture level of the clothing inside revolvingdrum 3, thus optimizing electric power consumption. - In addition to the above, since production costs of refrigerant compressors increase in a more than proportional ration with respect to the capacity of compressor, the overall cost of refrigerant compressing
devices compressing devices - Finally, for the same performance, rotary compressors are smaller than reciprocating compressors, thus improving clearance into
casing 2. - Clearly, changes may be made to
home laundry drier 1 as described herein without, however, departing from the scope of the present invention. - For example,
heat exchanger 18 of heat-pump assembly 15 may be located along recirculatingconduit 8, downstream ofheat exchanger 13; whereasheat exchanger 17 may be located along recirculatingconduit 8, upstream ofheat exchanger 12. - With reference to
Figure 2 , in a further variation of hot-air generator 7,heat exchanger 18 of heat-pump assembly 15 may be located along recirculatingconduit 8, downstream ofheat exchanger 13; andheat exchanger 17 may be located along recirculatingconduit 8, betweenheat exchangers - In which case,
heat exchanger 17 of heat-pump assembly 15 may, optionally, be at least partially incorporated intoheat exchanger 13 of heat-pump assembly 10, and the resulting air/refrigerant/refrigerant heat exchanger may be designed for allowing the refrigerant of heat-pump assembly 10 to release heat also to the refrigerant of heat-pump assembly 15 (i.e. not only to the airflow f directed to revolving drum 3), thus significantly improving the exergetic efficiency of the heat transfer process. - In fact, in this embodiment heat-
pump assembly 10 may operate with a higher value of the refrigerant pressure along the high pressure side of the closed thermodynamic cycle, and heat-pump assembly 15 may operate with a higher value of the refrigerant pressure along the low pressure side of the closed thermodynamic cycle; thus drastically reducing energy consumption of refrigerant compressingdevices - This improvement of the exergetic efficiency leads to an unexpected outstanding improvement of the overall energy efficiency of the laundry drier, drastically reducing energy consumption.
- Moreover, as is known the closed thermodynamic cycle performed by a heat-pump assembly is intrinsically unbalanced towards heat production: i.e. the heat released to the outside in the high-temperature heat exchanger in always greater than the heat absorbed from the outside in the low-temperature heat exchanger. In hot-air generators of laundry driers this unbalance makes extremely difficult to control the temperature of the airflow returning back into the revolving drum of the laundry drier. In today's laundry driers, this problem is solved providing the hot-air generator with an additional electrically operated external ventilating fan which cools the head of the refrigerant reciprocating compressor to dissipate the heat in excess produced by the heat-pump assembly.
- In
Figure 2 variation, heat-pump assembly 15 may be used for absorbing also the heat in excess produced by heat-pump assembly 10. In which case, a sole additional electrically operated external ventilating fan (non shown) may be used to dissipate the heat in excess produced by both heat-pump assemblies
Claims (13)
- A home laundry drier (1) comprising an outer box casing (2) and, inside the casing, a laundry drying container (3) for housing the laundry to be dried, and a hot-air generator (7) for circulating a stream of hot air inside said laundry drying container (3); said hot-air generator (7) comprising- an air recirculating conduit (8) connected at both ends to said laundry drying container (3);- ventilating means (9) able to produce, along the recirculating conduit (8), an airflow (f) which flows through the laundry drying container (3); and- a first heat-pump assembly (10) which is able to rapidly cool the airflow (f) coming out from the laundry drying container (3) for condensing the surplus moisture in said airflow (f), and then to rapidly heat the airflow (f) returning back into said laundry drying container (3);said home laundry drier (1) being characterized in that said hot-air generator (7) also comprises at least a second heat-pump assembly (15) which is also able to rapidly cool the airflow (f) coming out from the laundry drying container (3) for condensing the surplus moisture in said airflow (f), and then to rapidly heat the airflow (f) returning back into said laundry drying container (3).
- A home laundry drier as claimed in Claim 1, characterized by also comprising a central control unit (20) which can activate said first (10) and said second heat-pump assembly (15) either alternatively one to the other, or simultaneously.
- A home laundry drier as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said first heat-pump assembly (10) comprises a refrigerant compressing means (11) for compressing a refrigerant so that the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant at the outlet of the compressing means (11) are higher than the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant at the inlet of said compressing means (11); a first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (12) which is located along the recirculating conduit (8) and is designed so that the refrigerant flowing to the inlet of the refrigerant compressing means (11) and the airflow (f) from the laundry drying container (3) flow through it simultaneously, allowing the refrigerant to absorb heat from the airflow (f); a second air/refrigerant heat exchanger (13) which is located along the recirculating conduit (8), downstream of said first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (12), and is designed so that the refrigerant from the outlet of the refrigerant compressing means (11) and the airflow (f) directed to the laundry drying container (3) flow through it simultaneously, allowing the refrigerant to release heat to the airflow (f); and a refrigerant expansion device (14) which subjects the refrigerant flowing from the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger (13) to the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (12) to a rapid expansion, so that pressure and temperature of the refrigerant entering in the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (12) are much lower than pressure and temperature of the refrigerant coming out from the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger (13).
- A home laundry drier as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterized in that said second heat-pump assembly (15) comprises a refrigerant compressing means (16) for compressing a refrigerant so that the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant at the outlet of the compressing means (16) are higher than the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant at the inlet of said compressing means (11); a first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (17) which is located along the recirculating conduit (8) and is designed so that the refrigerant flowing to the inlet of the refrigerant compressing means (17) and the airflow (f) from the laundry drying container (3) flow through it simultaneously, allowing the refrigerant to absorb heat from the airflow (f); a second air/refrigerant heat exchanger (18) which is located along the recirculating conduit (8), downstream of said first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (17), and is designed so that the refrigerant from the outlet of the refrigerant compressing means (16) and the airflow (f) directed to the laundry drying container (3) flow through it simultaneously, allowing the refrigerant to release heat to the airflow (f); and a refrigerant expansion device (19) which subjects the refrigerant flowing from the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger (18) to the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (17) to a rapid expansion, so that pressure and temperature of the refrigerant entering in the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (17) are much lower than pressure and temperature of the refrigerant coming out from the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger (18).
- A home laundry drier as claimed in Claim 3 and 4, characterized in that the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger (18) of the second heat-pump assembly (15) is located, along the recirculating conduit (8), downstream of the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (12) of the first heat-pump assembly (10).
- A home laundry drier as claimed in Claim 5, characterized in that the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (17) of the second heat-pump assembly (15) is located, along the recirculating conduit (8), between the first (12) and the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger (13) of the first heat-pump assembly (10).
- A home laundry drier as claimed in Claim 6, characterized in that the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (17) of the second heat-pump assembly (15) is at least partially incorporated into the second air/refrigerant heat exchanger (13) of the first heat-pump assembly (10), and the resulting air/refrigerant/refrigerant heat exchanger (13, 17) is designed for allowing the refrigerant of the first heat-pump assembly (10) to release heat also to the refrigerant of the second heat-pump assembly (15).
- A home laundry drier as claimed in any one of Claims from 4 to 7, characterized in that the capacity of the refrigerant compressing means (11) of said first heat-pump assembly (10) is greater than that of the refrigerant compressing means (16) of said second heat-pump assembly (15) .
- A home laundry drier as claimed in any one of Claims from 3 to 8, characterized in that the refrigerant compressing means (11) of the first heat-pump assembly (10) comprises a rotary compressor.
- A home laundry drier as claimed in any one of Claims from 4 to 9, characterized in that the refrigerant compressing means (16) of the second heat-pump assembly (16) comprises a rotary compressor.
- A home laundry drier as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterized in that the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (12) of said first heat-pump assembly (10) and/or the first air/refrigerant heat exchanger (17) of said second heat-pump assembly (17) is/are located, along the recirculating conduit (8), downstream of said ventilating means (9).
- A home laundry drier as claimed in any one of the foregoing Claims, characterized in that said laundry drying container (3) is a substantially cylindrical bell-shaped drum (3) fixed in axially rotating manner inside the casing (2).
- A home laundry drier as claimed in Claim 12, characterized in that it also comprises driving means (6) for rotating, on command, said bell-shaped drum (3) about its longitudinal axis (L).
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP08161082A EP2147999A1 (en) | 2008-07-24 | 2008-07-24 | Home laundry drier |
RU2009128556/12A RU2496935C2 (en) | 2008-07-24 | 2009-07-23 | Household drying machine for linen |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP08161082A EP2147999A1 (en) | 2008-07-24 | 2008-07-24 | Home laundry drier |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP2147999A1 true EP2147999A1 (en) | 2010-01-27 |
Family
ID=40227866
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP08161082A Withdrawn EP2147999A1 (en) | 2008-07-24 | 2008-07-24 | Home laundry drier |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP2147999A1 (en) |
RU (1) | RU2496935C2 (en) |
Cited By (4)
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EP2775026A2 (en) * | 2013-03-06 | 2014-09-10 | Miele & Cie. KG | Method and device for drying material to be dried |
DE102014219457A1 (en) * | 2014-09-25 | 2016-03-31 | BSH Hausgeräte GmbH | Dryer with a heat pump and a supplementary heater and process for its operation |
CN105734936A (en) * | 2014-12-29 | 2016-07-06 | Lg电子株式会社 | Clothes treating apparatus |
DE102019123941A1 (en) * | 2019-09-06 | 2021-03-11 | Miele & Cie. Kg | Heat pump clothes dryer and method of operating it |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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RU2009128556A (en) | 2011-01-27 |
RU2496935C2 (en) | 2013-10-27 |
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