EP2452008B1

EP2452008B1 - Clothes drying apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP2452008B1
Application number: EP10727742.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Wenfeng Pang; Huilong Feng; Zhihua Yan; Michael Kozica; Andreas Dr. Stolze
Original assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Current assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
Priority date: 2009-07-06
Filing date: 2010-07-01
Publication date: 2016-02-17
Anticipated expiration: 2030-07-01
Also published as: EP2452008A1; WO2011003792A1; PL2452008T3; CN201433318Y

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a clothes drying apparatus, comprising: a machine drum, having a rotary drum for accommodating clothes therein; and a condensing device, a fan, and a heating passage, connected to the machine drum to form an air circulation passage, wherein the condensing device comprises at least one drying air passage in communication with the air circulation passage, and further comprises a first cooling air passage and a second cooling air passage in communication with outside air and respectively adjacent to the drying air passages; and heat exchange layers are respectively disposed in the first cooling air passage and the second cooling air passage.

Related Art

A clothes drying apparatus of the generic type specified above is disclosed in German Patent Application No. DE 10 2007 018 784 A1 .
An existing clothes drying apparatus such as a clothes drying machine and a clothes washing and drying machine integrating clothes washing and drying functions usually has the following drying process. Under the action of a heating device, dry air is heated into dry hot air in a heating pipe, enters a clothes treating drum to perform heat exchange with wet clothes and carry away moisture in the clothes to form relatively wet hot air, and then enters a condensing device through an outlet disposed on the clothes treating drum. Through condensation of the condensing device, the moisture in the relatively wet hot air is condensed into water, and then discharged through a drain pipe, and the condensed air becomes relatively dry cold air, is reintroduced into the heating pipe under the action of a fan, and heated to form dry hot air and enters the next cycle. The process is repeated until the drying procedure ends.
Multiple condensing devices exist according to different condensing media. German Patent No. DE 37 38 031 C2 has disclosed a condensing device using air as the condensing medium. The common practice of using air as the condensing medium is to introduce outside air into the condensing device to perform heat exchange with relatively wet hot air discharged from a clothes treating drum and condense moisture in the hot air, and the hot air after the heat exchange is discharged out of the apparatus from the condensing device.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the above condensing device in the prior art. The condensing device 1 includes drying air passages 2a, 2b and cooling air passages 4a, 4b, 4c isolated from each other by partition walls 8. Wet hot air 3 from a machine drum flows through the drying air passages 2a, 2b, while cold air 5 from the outside flows through the cold air passages 4a, 4b, 4c. The drying air passages 2a, 2b and the cooling air passages 4a, 4b, 4c are distributed alternately. Heat exchange layers 6 formed by a plurality of heat exchange fins are disposed in the cooling air passages 4a, 4b, 4c. Heat is transferred by the wet hot air 3 to the partition walls 8 when the wet hot air 3 flows through the drying air passages 2a, 2b, and then transferred to the heat exchange layers 6 through the partition walls 8. The cold air 5 passes through the heat exchange layers 6, and carries away most of the heat on the heat exchange layers 6, so as to cool the wet hot air 3.
As can be seen from FIG. 1, the cooling air passages 4a, 4b, 4c of the current condensing device 1 generally include the heat exchange layers 6 of the same heat dissipation area, but heat is accumulated to different degrees on the heat exchange layers 6 in the cooling air passages 4a, 4b, 4c. For example, the second cooling air passage 4b needs to bear heat transferred from the first drying air passage 2a and the second drying air passage 2b at the same time, while the first cooling air passage 4a and the third cooling air passage 4c only need to respectively bear heat transferred thereto from the first drying air passage 2a and the second drying air passage 2b. In this case, the temperature of the heat exchange layer 6 in the second cooling air passage 4b rises much higher than that of the other two cooling air passages 4a, 4c, with the result that heat dissipation in the second cooling air passage 4b is poorer than that in the other two cooling air passages 4a, 4c, and the condensation effect of the condensing device 1 is also affected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above problem, the present invention is directed to an improved clothes drying apparatus, which includes a condensing device having uniform heat dissipation and excellent condensation effect.
In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention is implemented through the following technical means. A clothes drying apparatus is specified, comprising a machine drum, having a rotary drum for accommodating clothes therein; and a condensing device, a fan, and a heating passage, connected to the machine drum to form an air circulation passage, wherein the condensing device comprises at least one drying air passage in communication with the air circulation passage, and further comprises a first cooling air passage and a second cooling air passage in communication with outside air and respectively adjacent to the drying air passages; and heat exchange layers are respectively disposed in the first cooling air passage and the second cooling air passage. In addition, a cross-sectional area of the second cooling air passage adjacent to the drying air passages is larger than that of the first cooling air passage adjacent to the drying air passages. Further, a heat exchange area of the heat exchange layer in the second cooling air passage is larger than that of the heat exchange layer in the first cooling air passage.
Since the area of the second cooling air passage adjacent to the drying air passages is larger than that of the first cooling air passage adjacent to the drying air passages, the second cooling air passage receives more heat from the drying air passages than that received by the first cooling air passage. Thus, the structure in which the heat exchange area of the heat exchange layer in the second cooling air passage is larger than that of the heat exchange layer in the first cooling air passage can greatly alleviate the non-uniform heat dissipation situation, so that heat in the second cooling air passage may also be dissipated well, and thus the heat exchange effect between wet hot air and outside cooling air is improved.
In a preferred implementation of the present invention, the condensing device includes at least two drying air passages, the second cooling air passage is located between the two drying air passages, the first cooling air passage is adjacent to only one drying air passage, and the heat exchange area of the heat exchange layer in the second cooling air passage is twice that of the heat exchange layer in the first cooling air passage.
As a supplement of the present invention, the heat exchange layers are formed by arranging a plurality of heat exchange members, and the heat exchange area is a contact area between the heat exchange members forming the heat exchange layers and air.
In another preferred implementation of the present invention, a plurality of heat exchange members is arranged on a plane to form a heat exchange assembly, the heat exchange layer of the first cooling air passage is formed by one heat exchange assembly, and the heat exchange layer of the second cooling air passage is formed by stacking two heat exchange assemblies. This structure is simple and easy to implement, and increases the flow of air passing through the second cooling air passage while increasing the heat exchange area of the heat exchange layer in the second cooling air passage, so that heat can be carried away more effectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a condensing device in the prior art;
FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a clothes drying apparatus;
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a condensing device in a first embodiment in the A-A direction of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a part of a heat exchange assembly;
FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a condensing device in a second embodiment in the A-A direction of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a condensing device in a third embodiment in the A-A direction of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 2, a clothes drying apparatus 10 includes a machine drum 12, and a motor-driven rotary drum 14 that is capable of rotating is disposed in the machine drum 12. Clothes to be treated are dried in the rotary drum 14. The rotary drum 14 has many through holes (not shown) on a wall thereof, through which the rotary drum 14 and the machine drum 12 are in spatial communication with each other. The machine drum 12 is connected to a condensing device 16, a fan 18, and a heating passage 20 in sequence, so as to form an air circulation passage 22. An air flow for drying the clothes flows circularly in the air circulation passage 22 and carries away moisture in the clothes.
Specifically, the work flow of the clothes drying apparatus 10 is as follows. Circulating air enters the rotary drum 14 after being heated by the heating passage 20, performs heat exchange with wet clothes therein to carry away moisture in the clothes, and forms relatively wet and hot drying air. The wet and hot drying air enters the condensing device 16 from the machine drum 12. Through condensation of the condensing device 16, the moisture in the relatively wet and hot drying air is condensed into water, flows into the machine drum 12, and finally is discharged through a drainage system 24. The condensed drying air is reintroduced into the heating passage 20 under the action of the fan 18, and enters the next cycle.
The condensing device 16 includes a cooling air inlet 34 and a cooling air outlet 36 in communication with the outside. Outside air is drawn by a blower 38 into the condensing device 16 through the cooling air inlet 34, performs heat exchange with the drying air passing through the condensing device 16 to carry away a part of heat of the drying air, and then is discharged through the cooling air outlet 36.
As shown in FIG. 3, the condensing device 16 includes a first drying air passage 26a and a second drying air passage 26b in communication with the air circulation passage 22, and further includes a first cooling air passage 28a, a second cooling air passage 28b, and a third cooling air passage 28c in communication with the outside air. The first drying air passage 26a is located between the first cooling air passage 28a and the second cooling air passage 28b, and the second drying air passage 26b is located between the second cooling air passage 28b and the third cooling air passage 28c. The drying air passages 26a, 26b and the cooling air passages 28a, 28b, 28c are connected to each other through heat conducting walls 30.
Heat exchange layers 32a, 32b, 32c are respectively disposed in the first cooling air passage 28a, the second cooling air passage 28b, and the third second cooling air passage 28c. The heat exchange layers 32a, 32b, 32c are respectively formed by arranging a plurality of heat exchange members 34. The heat exchange members 34 are made of a heat conducting material, and preferably have a regular spatial shape for air circulation in one direction. In addition, the heat exchange members 34 are in contact with the heat conducting walls 30, so as to receive heat of hot air passing through the drying air passages 26a, 26b, and the outside air carries away the received heat when flowing around the heat exchange members 34, so as to realize the purpose of cooling the hot air in the drying air passages 26a, 26b and condensing the moisture therein.
A plurality of heat exchange members 34 is arranged on a plane to form a heat exchange assembly 36, as shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the heat exchange layers 32a, 32c of the first cooling air passage 28a and the third cooling air passage 28c are respectively formed by one heat exchange assembly 36, while the heat exchange layer 32b of the second cooling air passage 28b is formed by stacking two heat exchange assemblies 36. In order to accommodate the above structure, and cause more outside air to participate in the heat exchange with the second cooling air passage 28b absorbing more heat, a cross-sectional area of the second cooling air passage 28b is approximately twice that of the first cooling air passage 28a and the third cooling air passage 28c.
It can be seen from the above description and the accompanying drawings that, the second cooling air passage 28b absorbs heat from the first drying air passage 26a and the second drying air passage 26b at the same time, and thus absorbs more heat than the first cooling air passage 28a and the third cooling air passage 28c. However, since the heat exchange area of the heat exchange layer 32b in the second cooling air passage 28b is larger than that of the heat exchange layers 32a, 32c in the first cooling air passage 28a and the third cooling air passage 28c, the heat can be dissipated uniformly. Herein, the heat exchange area refers to a contact area between the heat exchange members 34 of the heat exchange layers 32a, 32b, 32c and air.
In addition to the embodiments described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, the present invention may also have many other specific embodiments. For example, a heat exchange layer 132b in a second cooling air passage 128b has a larger contact area with air, for example, has more dense folds, than a heat exchange layer 132a in a first cooling air passage 128a and a heat exchange layer 132c in a third cooling air passage 128c per unit volume, as shown in FIG. 5. In this manner, a heat exchange area of the heat exchange layer 132b in the second cooling air passage 128b is also larger than that of the heat exchange layers 132a, 132c in the first cooling air passage 128a and the third cooling air passage 128c. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, a heat exchange layer 232b forming the second cooling air passage 228b may have a similar contact area with air to that of a heat exchange layer 232a in a first cooling air passage 228a and a heat exchange layer 232c in a third cooling air passage 228c per unit volume, but have a larger volume than that of the heat exchange layer 232a in the first cooling air passage 228a and the heat exchange layer 232c in the third cooling air passage 228c, and meanwhile, a cross-sectional area of the second cooling air passage 228b may be larger than that of the first cooling air passage 228a and the third cooling air passage 228c.
The above descriptions are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention may have other embodiments.

Claims

A clothes drying apparatus (10), comprising:
a machine drum (12), having a rotary drum (14) for accommodating clothes therein; and

a condensing device (16), a fan (18), and a heating passage (20), connected to the machine drum (12) to form an air circulation passage (22),

wherein the condensing device (16) comprises at least one drying air passage (26a, 26b) in communication with the air circulation passage (22), and further comprises a first cooling air passage (28a, 128a, 228a) and a second cooling air passage (28b, 128b, 228b) in communication with outside air and respectively adjacent to the drying air passages (26a, 26b); and heat exchange layers (32a, 132a, 232a, 32b, 132b, 232b) are respectively disposed in the first cooling air passage (28a, 128a, 228a) and the second cooling air passage (28b, 128b, 228b); characterized in that a cross-sectional area of the second cooling air passage (28b, 128b, 228b) adjacent to the drying air passages (26a, 26b) is larger than that of the first cooling air passage (28a, 128a, 228a) adjacent to the drying air passages (26a, 26b), and in that a heat exchange area of the heat exchange layer (32b, 132b, 232b) in the second cooling air passage (28b, 128b, 228b) is larger than that of the heat exchange layer (32a, 132a, 232a) in the first cooling air passage (28a, 128a, 228a).
The clothes drying apparatus (10) according to claim 1, wherein the condensing device (16) comprises at least two drying air passages (26a, 26b), the second cooling air passage (28b, 128b, 228b) is located between the two drying air passages (26a, 26b), the first cooling air passage (28a, 128a, 228a) is adjacent to only one drying air passage (26a), and the heat exchange area of the heat exchange layer (32b, 132b, 232b) in the second cooling air passage (28b, 128b, 228b) is twice that of the heat exchange layer (32a, 132a, 232a) in the first cooling air passage (28a, 128a, 228a).
The clothes drying apparatus according (10) to claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional area of the second cooling air passage (28b, 128b, 228b) is twice that of the first cooling air passage (28a, 128a, 228a).
The clothes drying apparatus (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the heat exchange layers (32a, 132a, 232a, 32b, 132b, 232b) are formed by arranging a plurality of heat exchange members (34), and the heat exchange area is a contact area between the heat exchange members (34) forming the heat exchange layers (32a, 132a, 232a, 32b, 132b, 232b) and air.
The clothes drying apparatus (10) according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of heat exchange members (34) is arranged on a plane to form a heat exchange assembly (36), the heat exchange layer (32a, 132a, 232a) of the first cooling air passage (28a, 128a, 228a) is formed by one heat exchange assembly (36), and the heat exchange layer (32b, 132b, 232b) of the second cooling air passage (28b, 128b, 228b) is formed by stacking two heat exchange assemblies (36):