ES2346818T3 - DRYER WITH AN ADDITIVE ASSISTED DRYING PROGRAM. - Google Patents

Abstract

Method of drying textiles in a dryer (2), the drying sequence including the supply of at least one additive to the textiles, wherein at least one additive supply parameter is modified in dependency of a program selection and/or textile characteristic; characterized in that the additive is injected as steam, in particular the steam being water steam or mainly comprising water; and the at least one additive supply parameter is modified in dependency of the weight of the textiles.

Description

Dryer with a drying program assisted by additives

The present invention relates to a dryer having a supply unit for providing an additive, such as steam, in the storage compartment and in the textiles stored therein, during a drying sequence. It also refers to a method of drying textiles, using an additive supplied to the materials
textiles

EP 1 441 060 A1 discloses a dryer that has one or two injection units, which are arranged in the vicinity of the dryer loading door, to inject an additive such as water vapor, a detergent cleaner, a fabric softener fragrance or a disinfectant in the drum. Its objective is to reduce, stop or reverse the air flow through the drum to optimize additive efficiency injected. To modify the air flow, a fan is arranged in an air channel that supplies drying air in the drum, where the fan is driven by a separate motor of the drum drive motor, which is controlled, so independent, by a control unit.

U.S. Patent 4,236,320 describes a method and an apparatus for conditioning and drying clothes at the same time of laundry in an automatic clothes dryer, where a liquid conditioner is sprayed periodically during Stop phases from a container to the dryer drum during The drying process.

From WO 03/089710 A1 it is known a treatment of textile articles with one or more compositions of regenerating soda, deodorant and / or finish. After identify a desired feature and / or advantage of textiles, to be treated, a respective composition is identified and spray, like a mist, on textiles. To ensure proper contact of the composition with textiles, The composition is electrically charged.

The document of the United States Patent 5,442,938 discloses a set of accessories for use with dryers  of conventional household clothes, in order to use said tumble dryer as a dry cleaning machine. Said game of Accessories comprises a dry fluid dispenser. The amount Spray of dispensed fluid is programmed to be in correspondence with the magnitude of the load of clothes that is going to clean.

U.S. Patent 4,214,038 gives know specific softeners, which are used, in an amount effective, to soften and condition textiles in a dryer automatic laundry. The amount that is effective will depend on the type of textile to be treated and the wetting of the surrounding atmosphere. Softeners simply disperse from uniform form, particularly by spraying, on all textiles

It is an objective of the invention to disclose a textile drying method and a dryer that supplies at least one textile additive, which optimize the effect of additives supplied and also the consumption of additives.

The invention is defined in claims 1 and 12, respectively.

Particular embodiments are established in the subordinate claims.

According to the method of claim 1 at least an additive is supplied during the drying sequence, or its cycle, to textile products loaded in the compartment of drying of a dryer machine. In one embodiment preferred, the dryer in which the drying air is circulated, in a closed loop, or it can be of an escape type, where the drying air leaks outside the dryer or it could be a mixed system, such as the one that is disclosed in DE 103 028 64 A1. At least one additive is supplied, for example, to textiles by introducing it into an air channel, directly in the drum or in the storage compartment or well, it is introduced into the vat that surrounds the drum. The introduction in the air channel or in textiles it can be done by a supply unit that generates steam, spray, mist, droplets, by sublimation or by heating the at least one additive. The additive is can also be supplied by a mixture of these types of introduction or using different suitable modes of supply for the type of additive to be applied to textiles.

In the method according to claim 1, modifies at least one additive supply parameter of, at less, one of the additives, depending on a program selection and / or a characteristic of textiles. In this way, it is avoided that said additive be supplied in a fixed manner and quantity, during the drying cycle, regardless of the requirement Real to treat clothes. Due to supply dependence of additive of the program selection and / or the characteristic of the textiles, the effect of additive treatment of a part, and the consumption of at least one additive is also reduced. In a dryer device, under program control, preferably the modification is carried out automatically by a unit of dryer device control based on sequences and memorized sub-sequences of the program.

According to a preferred embodiment, the textile feature, which is used to adjust the supply parameters, is the weight of the textiles that are going to dry, the type of textile materials, the degree of dirtiness or staining and / or moisture of textiles, in particular moisture Initial textile materials. For example, more is needed additive for a high weight of loaded textiles or can be supply an amount of additive, if the weight of the textiles is low - that is, if the dryer drum is only filled in a minimum part In addition, the effect of the additive applied on the textiles depends on the type of textile and / or the time of the introduction (e.g. textile temperature). For example, the cotton clothes react differently to the material synthetic. In case the additive treatment is, main  or completely, based on a steam treatment, it can reduce the supply of water vapor or droplets, if the laundry loaded in the dryer has a humidity high initial or if, for example, a low rotation speed It has been used in the previous washing cycle of a machine washing machine.

In one embodiment, the initial humidity of textiles can be entered manually by the user or can detect by a dryer humidity sensor, if you have it provided. Alternatively or additionally, the weight or weight Initial textile can be entered manually by the user or can be detected by a weight sensor. Both values, the initial humidity and the weight of the textiles, can be used to estimate the dry weight of textiles or clothes. For example, if wet clothes have been loaded and indicated by a selection of user, the dry weight can be calculated or at least estimated at Starting from the wet weight of laundry clothes.

In a preferred embodiment, the type of textiles is taken into consideration when adjusting or establishing at least one of the additive supply parameters to be used in the program sequence. The type is selected manually by means of a user input or is chosen by selecting a program, which is specifically adapted for a predefined type of textiles. If, for example, a "steam pre-ironing of cotton" program is selected, the type of textile applicable will be indicated. Said selection can also be determined, for example, by a program called "steam pre-ironing of synthetic fabrics" from which a type of synthetic fabric is determined. In another embodiment, a user selection and a program selection can be combined: if, for example, the program selection cannot be used to determine the type of textile, a menu selection option is requested that requests a textile type selection or introduction by own
Username.

Note that, depending on the User program selection, the drying cycle can comprise different drying sub-sequences, such as the main drying sequence, the sequence of auxiliary treatment and / or a sequence of post-treatment, that all, in part, can comprise at least one phase where at least one of the additives It is supplied to textiles. So, depending on the selection of program and / or the characteristic of the textile, at least a part or all of these sub-sequences may have a supply of the modified additive. The sub-sequences are, for example, a phase of steam treatment, a main drying phase, a phase of pre-drying, a wrinkle phase or the like.

According to one embodiment, the parameter of additive supply, which is modified for the at least one Additive is the total quantity, flow rate and / or other parameters. A Adjusting the composition of additives can be done, by example, depending on the type of textile selected or derived. When, for example, a selection has been made for a program adapted for the treatment of wool, in that case they are excluded the chemical treatment additives of the composition and in a preferred embodiment, only an additive containing water It is supplied to wool textiles. In addition, if selected a so-called soda program, a degree of dirt and / or stained, can be indicated by the user and the amount is increased of supply of chemically active additives. The types of Additives to be supplied to textile materials are, by example: water, softener fragrance additives, additive disinfectant, additives to remove dirt or a combination from them.

Reference is made, in detail, to ways of preferred embodiments of the invention, of which are illustrated Examples in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of input program selections and program options;

Figure 2 represents the control elements of a dryer and

Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating a cycle of example program, including different sub-sequences of the drying cycle.

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Figure 1 schematically represents the diversity of selections of available programs and options of programs to be selected by the user. Are represented mandatory selections (program selection) and selections of options (weight input, initial humidity input, final humidity). To operate the dryer example 2 of the Figure 2, not all optional user selections or results of optional detections have to be implemented, since, for example, the amount of additive to be supplied to the laundry depends largely on the Weight of laundry clothes. In the following embodiment For example, all types of entries represented in Figure 1, not forgetting that they should not be implemented in any case or in any model of the industrial dryer. Some of the entries are made before starting the cycle of program (for example, program selection) while others entries are made in the phase of initiation of operation. For example, the initial humidity can be determined by a sensor humidity 14 of dryer 2 when the process has already started drying In a preferred embodiment, the selections and User entries are made before starting the cycle of dried

As indicated in Figure 1, the entrance of the type of textiles (cotton, synthetic fabric, wool, silk, etc.) are performed by a program selection or manually by the Username. If, for example, the program selected by the user It is specific to the types of textiles, it should not be done no separate entry for types of textile materials by the user. If the program is not intended for a specific type of textile materials, a corresponding entry can be request as an option by the user.

In the same way, the final moisture input for the final moisture of laundry clothes, at the end of the cycle drying, is predetermined by a corresponding selection of program or can be optionally entered by the user. Yes, for example, a program is selected including a "help to ironing "or" pre-ironing ", in this case, moisture end of the laundry is greater than in a program without such specific determination of ironing. Optionally, the user can add this option to any of the programs of drying by manually selecting this program option. The selection is made by pressing a button "ironing aid", which helps the subsequent ironing by a higher humidity of the laundry clothes

The initial moisture of laundry clothes is can automatically determine by humidity sensor 14 in a initiation phase of the drying sequence or can be introduced manually by the user. For example, user input presents wet, wet or dry selections. The last selection is used, for example, in combination with a program of regeneration soda.

The weight of laundry clothes loaded on a dryer compartment 2 can be determined automatically by a weight sensor 12 or can be entered by the user. By example, user input is a weight selection as "high", "medium" and "low". Or it can be a drum volume input as "full", "half full" and "few pieces." If said load entry is made by volume, the type of textiles can be considered to obtain the actual weight of laundry clothes (see arrow between "weight" and "type" entries in Figure 1). Further, When the initial weight and moisture is entered, the dry weight of textiles can be deducted by subtracting the weight of water provided using the moisture inlet (see arrow between the "initial humidity" and "type" entries in the Figure one). Of course, also the type of textile materials can be consider to calculate the dry weight which, in turn, is one of the factors to be considered when determining a parameter of additive as the amount of additive to be supplied to the laundry clothes

Figure 2 represents the main elements of the industrial dryer 2 in a block diagram. The dryer industrial 2 is a program dryer under electronic control, the program being executed and controlled by a central unit of process 4. The dryer user interface comprises a screen section 10 and an input panel 8. The input panel 8 has a program selector 20 to select the program main, a section of indicators 22 to introduce, by example, the type of textile, the initial weight and humidity and a option selector 24 to select, for example, the "help to ironing "and so on. The sensor signals from weight 12 and humidity sensor 14 are transmitted to the CPU to monitor and control the drying process. Control signals they are sent from CPU 4 to a motor 6 that drives the drum and to a additive injector 16 to inject additives, according to, by example, it is disclosed in document DE 103 02 864 A1 that It has a spray device 31 and a flow generator 33 as described in said document.

A user interaction is now described example with the user interface for selection and options which are depicted in Figure 1: screen section 10 is a touch screen that accepts user inputs via keys soft-touch, shown on the screen, representing the less part of the input panel 8. As soon as the tumble dryer, the main programs to be selected by the user appear on the screen and one of these programs is selected main. If a type of textiles is not determined by the main selection, different types of textiles for selection They appear on the screen. Later, a selection is shown for the volume loaded as described above, which puts in practice an implicit weight selection. Once the weight or load selection, a start button appears in screen, at the same time, with additional options, such as a initial humidity and final humidity option button, as indicated previously. These additional options can be activated by the user or can be omitted by initializing the drying cycle with The start button.

An example of an example is illustrated in Table I selectable drying program in which they are added sub-sequences of the auxiliary program at sub-sequences of the main drying program according to program selection or user option selection (see also Figure 3). Due to the introduction of the type of weight,  of the initial humidity and of the textile, the duration of the sub-sequences, the final humidity of the laundry of the sub-sequences as well as the type and amount of additive to be applied to the clothing of laundry (if necessary in this respective sub-sequence).

TABLE I Basic parameters of the Program sub-sequences of the drying sequence global

one

Figure 3 represents a time diagram which illustrates a main drying program, including the steam treatment. As an option, a pre-drying due to the selection or detection of the laundry has a high initial humidity. In this case, the Initial high humidity is not compatible with steam treatment, which demands a lower degree of moisture from laundry clothes to Initialize the steam treatment. Another option that has been selected by the user is an anti-wrinkle phase that follows the main drying and prevents the formation of wrinkles in the clothes of laundry, when not immediately removed from the drum of the dryer, after finishing the main drying.

In Figure 3, the program cycle starts with a ventilation phase, in which the initial weight and humidity Initial laundry clothes are determined by the weight sensor 12 and humidity sensor 14, respectively. The phase of phase ventilation is followed by the pre-drying phase during which the initial humidity is reduced. The pre-drying phase is followed by the steam treatment phase, where an additive is applied to laundry clothes using the additive injector 16. The phase steam treatment precedes the main drying phase, in the one that does not supply any additive and that dries the clothes of laundry at the final humidity value given by the main program or to the value modified by program option selected by the Username.

After the main drying phase, it the anti-wrinkle phase that preserves laundry in the resulting state after the main drying phase. Also I know supplies an additive during the wrinkle phase depending on a weight determination, which is indicated in Figure 3 as Final weight detection. The additive injected in the phase anti-wrinkle is, in a preferred embodiment, water only, which can also be used during the phase of steam treatment. In a preferred embodiment, during the steam treatment phase, more additives are injected, such as a detergent.

As indicated by the dotted lines, the Individual phases can overlap, in part, with each other. By For example, the steam treatment phase can be part of the phase of pre-drying and / or the main drying phase. In addition, the intermediate phase cooling can be provided (no represented), for example before starting treatment by steam or before starting wrinkle treatment. In this way, predefined temperatures or temperature ranges are achieved, which also optimize the effects of injected additives.

The concept of the invention discloses, also:

a method of drying textile materials in a dryer 2, including the drying sequence the supply of at least one textile additive, where at least one parameter Additive supply is modified depending on a selection of program and / or characteristic of the textile.

In a preferred embodiment, the characteristic of textiles is the weight of the textiles that are leaving to dry, the type of textiles, the degree of dirtiness, the degree of staining and / or moisture of textiles.

In another preferred embodiment, the textile moisture is an initial humidity and / or humidity intermediate.

The initial humidity can be entered manually by the user or detected by a humidity sensor 14 of the dryer 2.

Another preferred method discloses the weight of textiles that are manually entered by the user and / or are detected by a weight sensor 12 of the dryer 2.

Type of textiles can be entered manually by the user selecting, separately, the type or selecting a program adapted to the type of textiles.

The program selection may include at least one of the following selections: a soda program, a cotton steam treatment program, a program for cotton shirts, a program for synthetic fabric clothing, ironing aid program, a softener program, a program Anti-wrinkle, a dry chemical treatment program.

In a preferred embodiment, said to minus a modified additive supply parameter is modified in at least one of the following sub-sequences of The drying sequence: a steam treatment phase, a phase main drying, a pre-drying phase or a phase anti wrinkle

The additive supply parameter can include at least one of the following: a total amount of additive to be supplied, the flow rate of additive to be supplied, repetition of additive supply, duration of supply, the beginning of the supply, the composition of additives, the selection of additive between at least two additives, a phase of the sequence of dried

The additive can be injected as steam or spray, in particular if the steam is water vapor or that It mainly comprises water.

In a preferred embodiment, the Additive comprises or is a soda agent.

The inventive concept also includes:

a dryer, in particular a dryer industrial 2, comprising:

a control unit 4 adapted to control a plurality of program sequences and / or program options of sequence;

a control panel 8 to select at least a program option and / or program sequence by the user Y

a supply unit 16, adapted to supply at least one additive to the textile materials that are they are drying in the dryer 2; where the control unit 4 is adapted to control supply unit 16 depending on the at least one selected program sequence and / or a signal transmitted to the control unit by a weight sensor 12 and / or humidity sensor 14.

The dryer preferably comprises a display unit 10 adapted to display a selection menu at Username.

Another preferred embodiment discloses the control panel 8 comprising at least one of the following: a program selector 20, a weight selector 22, a selector initial humidity 22, a textile type selector, a selector of ironing 24, a final humidity selector 24, a selector of soda agent 20, a wrinkle selector 24, a selector Standby 24 or a dry cleaning selector 20.

The control unit 4 can be adapted to run a program that implements the method according to any of claims 1 to 11.

List of numerical references

2

Industrial dryer

4

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

6

Engine

8

Input panel

10

Display unit section

12

Weight sensor

14

Humidity sensor

16

Additive Injector

twenty

Program selector

22

Indicators section

24

Options selector

Claims (16)

1. Method of drying textiles in a dryer (2), including the drying sequence the supply of at least one textile additive, where at least one parameter is modified additive supply, depending on a program selection and / or a characteristic of textiles characterized in that said additive is injected as steam, being in particular water vapor or mainly comprising water and where the at least one parameter is modified of additive supply depending on the type of textiles. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one additive supply parameter is modified, in addition, depending on an initial humidity and / or intermediate humidity of textiles 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, in where the initial humidity is entered manually by the user or It is detected by a humidity sensor (14) of the dryer (2). 4. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the at least one parameter of additive supply is further modified depending on the weight or load of textiles to be dried, the degree of dirt and / or of the degree of staining. 5. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the weight or load of the Textiles are entered manually by the user and / or detected by a weight sensor (12) of the dryer (2). 6. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the type of textiles is enter manually by the user, separately, selecting the type or by selecting a program adapted to the type of textiles. 7. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the program selection includes at least one of the following selections: a program of soda, a steam cotton treatment program, a cotton shirt program, a program for synthetic fabrics, a steam treatment program for synthetic fabrics, a synthetic fabric shirt program, a program to help ironing, a smoothing program, a wrinkle program, a chemical drying program. 8. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein said at least one parameter of Modified additive supply is modified in at least one of the following sub-sequences of the drying sequence: a steam treatment phase, a main drying phase, a pre-drying phase, a treatment phase anti wrinkle 9. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the supply parameter of additive includes at least one of the following: a total amount of additive to be supplied, the flow rate of additive supply, the repetition of the additive supply, the duration of the supply, the beginning of supply, the composition of the additives, the additive selection between at least two additives, a phase of the drying sequence 10. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the additive comprises or is a soda agent 11. Dryer, in particular a dryer industrial (2), comprising: a control unit (4) adapted to control a plurality of program sequences and / or options sequence programs; a control panel (8) to select the less a program option and / or a program sequence by the user and a supply unit (16) adapted to supply at least one additive to the textiles to be dried in the dryer (2); where the control unit (4) is adapted to control the supply unit (16) depending on the least one selected program sequence, where at least one additive supply parameter is modified depending on the at less a modified program sequence; characterized because the supply unit (16) is adapted to inject the additive in the form of steam, being in particular water vapor or mainly comprising water and the control unit (4) is adapted to modify the at least one additive supply parameter Depending on the type of textiles. 12. The dryer according to claim 11, in where the control unit (4) is adapted to modify, in addition, said at least one additive supply parameter, depending on an initial humidity and / or an intermediate humidity of the textiles, detected by a humidity sensor (14), where the sensor humidity is adapted to transmit a signal to the unit control (4). 13. The dryer according to any of the claims 11 or 12, further comprising a weight sensor (12) adapted to transmit a signal to the control unit (4). 14. The dryer according to any of the claims 11 to 13, comprising a display unit (10) adapted to show a selection menu to the user. 15. The dryer according to any of the claims 11 to 14, wherein the control panel (8) comprises at least one of the following: a program selector (20), a weight or load selector (22), an initial humidity selector (22), a textile type selector, a help selector to the ironing (24), a final humidity selector (24), a selector soda agent (20), a wrinkle selector (24), a selector standby (24) and a dry cleaning selector (20). 16. The dryer according to any of the claims 11 to 15, wherein the control unit (4) is adapted to run a program that implements the method according to any of claims 1 to 10.