EP2855757B1 - Laundry dryer - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a clothes dryer with a housing, a drum rotatably driven in the housing for moving the laundry, a preferably comprising a burner device for generating heat and an electronic control unit, wherein the housing has a loading / unloading door.

The tumble dryer in question is one of the laundry machines, as they are used regularly by commercial laundries. Reliability, low maintenance and energy saving are in the foreground.

With dryers of the type in question textiles of different textile types should be preserved, dried efficiently and with reproducible results. Drying programs can be tailored to very specific requirements.

Dryers of the type in question, in particular for commercial use, are known in practice in a wide variety of embodiments. They regularly have the disadvantage that they are executed in the structural design extremely rugged. Surfaces are regularly technically conditioned and due to the technical structures difficult to clean. This becomes an unsightly appearance in practice even after a short usage. In addition, the known dryers emit enormous heat, especially in the area of the loading / unloading door. This not only means a very considerable waste of energy but also an unpleasant working environment in the area of such dryers. Added to this is a very considerable sound radiation of such dryers, which pollutes the working environment.

The US 4 015 930 A discloses a clothes dryer with the features of the preamble of claim 1.

The present invention has for its object to design a dryer of the generic type, in particular for commercial application, such and further that he, especially on his Surface, easy to clean. He should also emit as little heat and sound.

The above object is achieved by a clothes dryer according to claim 1.

According to the invention it has been recognized that equipping the dryer with a special housing, namely with an all-round panel, such that the housing or the lining forms a substantially flat, preferably smooth outer skin, on all sides of the dryer. In other words, the - commercial - dryer is surrounded with an outer skin, so that it is extremely easy to clean the clothes dryer from the outside or to keep considerable clean in daily operations.

In a particularly advantageous manner, the casing of the housing extends from the bottom area up to the upper edge of the machine. This means that the tumble dryer is disguised as a whole, namely from the lowest point on the ground to the upper edge of the mechanical parts or at least slightly beyond. By this measure, not only a quasi-homogeneous outer skin of the tumble dryer is created, but also the prerequisite for thermal and / or sound insulation of the heat and / or sound emitting areas of the dryer.

In a particularly advantageous manner, the housing and / or the lining of the housing made of sound-absorbing and possibly heat-insulating material. It is also conceivable that the inside of the panel or the housing is lined with sound-absorbing and / or heat-insulating material. By this measure, the heat and sound radiation can be reduced to the side and obliquely down significantly.

Any sound-absorbing materials can be used for the interior lining. For example, aluminum foam panels can be used.

To facilitate easy handling during loading and unloading, it is advantageous if provided on the front of the dryer a loading door and on the back of a discharge door or are formed. For easy handling and to reduce the required space, the doors can be designed as sliding doors - regularly vertically movable.

At least the loading door can be equipped with a glass window, namely to make the laundry case visible, the u.a. responsible for the drying result. For example, it is desirable for the laundry to arrive at "11:00 to 12:00", i. just before the upper position inside the drum, releases from the drum and falls down inside the drum. For drum drive is so far stated that a frequency-controlled drum drive is beneficial.

A glass window is regularly disadvantageous in terms of heat and sound insulation. This is compensated in an advantageous manner in that the glass window of the loading door has a heat and / or sound insulating glazing, preferably a double glazing. Due to the double glazing of the front door (loading door), the heat radiation and noise emission can be significantly reduced.

Since two openings / doors are provided in the tumble dryer, namely a loading door on the front side and a discharge door on the back side, it is of further advantage if suitable measures are provided for unloading. Thus, it is particularly advantageous if, for the rear unloading, the upper part of the machine comprising the drum, in particular along a circumferential housing groove, below the drum, can be tilted backwards about a horizontal tilting axis. In the context of such an embodiment, the upper housing part, together with the drum therein, can be tilted horizontally backwards towards the unloading door, so that the dried laundry can be tipped out of the drum. The tilting of the upper part of the machine can be pneumatically operated. Basically, a hydraulic actuation is also conceivable, the use of hydraulic oil in the laundry sector is generally considered problematic.

The unloading of the machine can be promoted by a further measure, namely, that within the machine or within the drum, an air flow is generated, which is directed towards the discharge door. By this measure, the dried laundry can literally blow out of the drum.

For easy removal of the dried laundry, it is advisable to provide a discharge conveyor immediately below the unloading door, on which the laundry is unloaded and transported there.

As already stated above, for the invention is of very particular importance that the housing or the lining of the housing noise and heat emission significantly reduced. In terms of heat, this means that inside the machine considerable temperatures occur, which is dammed compared to conventional dryers. This is harmful to the control electrics / electronics. Remedy is created by the fact that the essential components of the electronics outside of the housing or outside of the panel is arranged in a separate control box, which is at a distance to the housing at this, backsack-like, attached. In other words, a separate control box is provided outside the housing or the outer skin formed by the lining, on the rear side, which is arranged at a considerable distance from the outer skin of the tumble dryer, for example via lateral perforated plates. According to the invention, the control box is arranged with a suitable distance for discharging to the housing substantially in front of the discharge door, so that the unloading of the laundry can take place with the unloading door open in the region between the casing of the housing and the control box. The control box itself can have at least one, preferably two, doors which can be opened from the rear, as well as operating elements, all of which are not visible from the front of the tumble dryer. Further operating elements of the tumble dryer are preferably arranged laterally, for example in the form of buttons and / or a display, in particular in the form of a touch panel. The provision of a remote control via RF signals, Bluetooth, infrared, etc. is conceivable. Also the remote control via an organizer or a Similar handheld device can be realized. This can be advantageous in particular with regard to a specific program selection or generation of individual program steps.

Fig. 1

in einer schematischen Vorderansicht ein Ausführungsbeispiel eines erfindungsgemäßen Wäschetrockners,

Fig. 2

in einer schematischen Schrägansicht den Gegenstand aus Fig. 1 von rechts,

Fig. 3

in einer schematischen Schrägansicht den Gegenstand aus Fig. 1 von links,

Fig. 4

in einer schematischen Rückansicht den Gegenstand aus Fig. 1,

Fig. 5

in einer schematischen Seitenansicht den Gegenstand aus Fig. von links,

Fig. 6

in einer schematischen Seitenansicht den Gegenstand aus Fig. 1 von rechts und

Fig. 7

in einer schematischen Draufsicht den Gegenstand aus Fig. 1.

There are now various possibilities for designing and developing the teaching of the present invention in an advantageous manner. For this purpose, on the one hand to the claims subordinate to claim 1 and on the other hand to refer to the following explanation of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings. In conjunction with the explanation of the preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawing, generally preferred embodiments and developments of the teaching are explained. In the drawing show

Fig. 1

in a schematic front view of an embodiment of a tumble dryer according to the invention,

Fig. 2

in a schematic oblique view of the subject matter Fig. 1 from the right,

Fig. 3

in a schematic oblique view of the subject matter Fig. 1 from the left,

Fig. 4

in a schematic rear view of the subject matter Fig. 1 .

Fig. 5

in a schematic side view of the object of FIG. From the left,

Fig. 6

in a schematic side view of the subject matter Fig. 1 from the right and

Fig. 7

in a schematic plan view of the subject Fig. 1 ,

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a commercial laundry dryer according to the invention for use in commercial laundries. The tumble dryer comprises a housing 1 and a drum 2 rotatably driven in the housing 1 for moving the laundry not shown in the figures. A burner, also not shown in the figures, serves to generate heat. In addition, a serving for controlling the tumble dryer electronics 3 is provided.

The tumble dryer may have a single loading / unloading door for loading and unloading. In the embodiment of a tumble dryer according to the invention shown in the figures, a loading door 4 is provided on the front side and a discharge door 5 on the rear side, namely for separate loading and unloading.

The housing 1 is equipped with a covering 6 such that it forms a substantially flat, preferably smooth outer skin on all sides, as can be seen in the figures as a whole. As a result of this measure, the tumble dryer can be ideally cleaned from the outside, wherein all the mechanical engineering elements within the housing 1 or within the trim 6 are more or less encapsulated.

The figures also show that the panel 6 of the housing 1 extends from the bottom area 7 up to the upper edge of the machine. The machine or the dryer is thus totally surrounded by the panel 6, wherein the panel 6 of the housing 1 is made of sound-absorbing and heat-insulating material. More specifically, the panel 6 is lined on the inside with sound-absorbing and heat-insulating material, so that the lateral emission from the top edge to obliquely downwards is considerably reduced. This measure makes a positive contribution to the immediate working environment of the tumble dryer.

The figures furthermore show together that the loading door 4 is provided on the front side and the unloading door 5 is provided on the rear side, wherein the doors are designed as vertically sliding sliding doors. An easy and thereby space-saving opening and closing of the tumble dryer is possible.

The loading door has to monitor the laundry on a heat / sound insulating glazing, which is designed in a particularly advantageous manner as double glazing.

Fig. 1 shows particularly clearly that in the front surface integrated viewing window 9, which together with the housing 1 and the cover 6 forms the front-side outer skin.

Fig. 2 clearly shows that the cladding 6 or the outer skin formed by the cladding 6 extends from the floor area 7 to the upper edge 8 of the machine or even beyond, so that the tumble dryer is completely covered or surrounded by an outer skin. On the right side, in the side wall of the panel 6, a control panel 10 is provided with screen.

The Fig. 2 and 3 can already be seen that on the back of the housing 1 and the panel 6, a separate control box 11 is arranged, namely at a distance from the housing 1. The spacing is realized by lateral plates / perforated plates 12.

The FIGS. 5 and 6 show the dryer from both sides, where there is the spaced control box 11 with the control electronics located therein recognizable. In the area between the control box 11 and the actual housing 1 or the panel 6, the output of the laundry takes place via the discharge door 5, which only according to the plan view Fig. 7 1 can be seen on the back of the housing.

The figures further show a circumferential housing groove 13, along which the upper part 14 of the housing 1 with the drum 2 therein can be tilted back along a tilting axis 15 to the unloading after behind, in the area between control box 11 and panel 6, to favor.

With regard to further advantageous embodiments of the device according to the invention, reference is made to avoid repetition to the general part of the specification and to the appended claims.

Finally, it should be expressly understood that the above-described embodiment of the device according to the invention are only for the purpose of discussion of the claimed teaching, but do not limit these to the embodiments.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

casing

2

drum

3

Electronics / control electronics

4

loading door

5

unloading

6

Fairing (of the housing)

7

floor area

8th

top edge

9

window

10

Control panel, controls

11

control box

12

lateral sheet metal / perforated plate

13

circumferential housing groove

14

Top part of the housing

15

tilt axis

Claims (8)

1. Laundry dryer having a housing (1), a drum (2) which is driven rotatably in the housing (1) for moving the laundry, a device which preferably comprises a burner for producing heat and an electronic unit which is used for control, wherein the housing (1) has a loading/unloading door (4, 5), wherein the housing (1) is provided with a lining in such a manner that it forms a substantially planar outer skin at all sides and wherein a loading door (4) is constructed at the front side and an unloading door (5) is constructed at the rear side, characterised in that the significant components of the electronic unit are arranged outside the housing (1) in a separate control box (11) which has operating elements (10) and which is fixed to the housing (1) with spacing therefrom, and in that the control box (11) is arranged substantially in front of the unloading door (5) with spacing from the housing (1) suitable for unloading.
2. Laundry dryer according to claim 1, characterised in that the lining of the housing (1) extends from the floor region (7) up to the upper edge (8) of the machine.
3. Laundry dryer according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that the housing (1) and/or the lining (6) of the housing (1) is produced from noise-absorbent and where applicable thermally insulating material and/or is lined at the inner side with noise-absorbent and/or thermally insulating material.
4. Laundry dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the doors (4, 5) are constructed as sliding doors.
5. Laundry dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that at least the loading door (4) has a glass window which has a heat-damping and/or noise-damping glazing, preferably double-glazing.
6. Laundry dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that, for rear-side unloading, the upper portion of the machine comprising the drum (2) can be tilted backwards about a horizontal tilting axis (15), preferably by means of a pneumatic system, in particular along a peripheral housing joint (13).
7. Laundry dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that the unloading of the machine is promoted by an air flow which can be produced inside the machine.
8. Laundry dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that an unloading belt on which the machine unloads directly is provided.

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