FR2689939A1 - Turbine cleaning device for washing-drying machine. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for cleaning the ventilation circuit of a drying household appliance which comprises a turbine chamber (1), a turbine (2) provided with blades (3) and driven by a motor and is characterized in that ' it comprises at least one opening opening out inside the turbine chamber (1) and diffusing at least one jet of liquid (J) on the blades of the turbine (2) while the latter is in rotation. The present invention applies to washer-dryer machines.

Description

TURBINE CLEANING DEVICE

FOR LAVANTE-SECILANTE MACHINE

  The present invention relates to a device for cleaning the ventilation circuit of a household appliance

  drying and in particular a washer-dryer machine.

  Such machines comprise a ventilated air circulation device, this ventilation being carried out by a turbine. The air flow in which the laundry is stirred will inevitably transport fibers extracted from this load of laundry during the spinning phase and / or during the drying phase These fibers transported by the air flow will be deposited or accumulate in different parts of the drying circuit. The obstacles or the changes of sections of this ventilation circuit favor this phenomenon of fiber deposition which can go to the complete obstruction of sections In particular, the rotating turbine and the evacuation duct (called condenser) towards the tank of the air are unavoidable major obstacles since they create the circulation of the air. in machines that perform this function of drying laundry, this phenomenon of deposition of fibers on the turbine can cause significant malfunctions The turbine is responsible for The airflow then decreases and a drop in drying performance is observed. Too much loss of the aerodynamic properties of the turbine can lead to dramatic heating up to the fire, in case lack of thermal safety, because the heating elements can no longer transmit their power

heat to the air flow.

  To solve this problem, different solutions are proposed. The first consists of incorporating a filter into the air circuit, but this requires regular maintenance.

the load of the user.

  A second solution is to use splash water during a spin phase, but this only cleans the areas very close to the tank, especially it is not possible to reach all areas of the tank. drying circuit. The present invention makes it possible to effectively clean the turbine by avoiding the drawbacks of existing solutions thanks to a system of solenoid valves making it possible to direct a stream of water tangentially on

  the blades of the turbine which is simultaneously rotated.

  The dried fibers accumulated on the blades of the turbine and in the circuit absorb the water, and their mass rises significantly The rotation of the turbine driven by the engine allows, thanks to the centrifugal force due to the rotation of the turbine, the separation of the fibers and their evacuation with the

mixed flow of water and air.

  The present invention therefore relates to a device for cleaning a ventilation circuit comprising a turbine chamber, a turbine provided with blades and driven by a motor and which is characterized in that it comprises at least one opening opening into the interior of the turbine chamber and diffusing at least one jet of liquid on the turbine while

it is rotating.

  The main advantage of this device is that it does not require any addition of cumbersome parts since

  integrates perfectly with the already existing device.

  The invention will be better understood and advantages

  additional information will appear on reading the description

  will follow, illustrated by Figure 1 which shows a sectional view of a portion of the ventilation circuit provided with the device

  according to one embodiment of the invention.

  A ventilation circuit may comprise, as in Figure 1, a turbine chamber 1, a turbine 2 provided with blades 3, and a condenser 4 In order to create a closed ventilation circuit, a communication, not shown in the figure, leads to the tank preferably in the central part of the turbine chamber Advantageously, a pipe 7 called "purge channel" connects the bottom of the turbine chamber to a lower part of the condenser 4 (for example) to evacuate the present water in the bottom of the turbine chamber due to the spinning or operation of the invention explained later The turbine shown in the drawing is constituted by a disk 2, one side of which is provided with blades 3 perpendicular to it, but all types of turbines and blades can be used without departing from the scope of the invention This type of centrifugal turbine is preferably off-center with respect to the center of the turbine chamber to create along the walls a void lume 8 more and more important (to finally lead to the condenser) to guide the increased volume of air centrifuged by the blades on the walls The turbine 2 is rotated by a motor (not shown in the figure) which can be a synchronous motor, asynchronous, universal or of any other type The blades 3 of the rotating turbine (according to the arrow F in the figure) create a flow of air which is discharged by the condenser 4 to the enclosure containing the load of laundry to dry (not shown in the figure) following the dotted lines This is the operation of the ventilated air circulation device This air flow is directed into the tank on the heating elements which it takes care of the heating capacity in order to dry the

  mass of laundry contained in the tank.

  For the reasons mentioned above, textile fibers 5 are deposited among other things on the blades 3 of the turbine 2 and in the circuit To get rid of these parasites, which can lead as we have seen above, to serious malfunctions, the invention consists in opening in the turbine chamber one or more openings 6 diffusing one or more J jets of liquid (such as water for example), and to rotate simultaneously the turbine 2 so that the centrifugal force entrains the fibers 5 loaded with water

in the condenser 4.

  The fibers that have been deposited in the ventilation circuit will also take charge of the water discharged from the turbine chamber and be swept away by the air flow For better efficiency of the cleaning of the ventilation circuit outside the turbine chamber, openings diffusing jets of water

  can be arranged in various sensitive areas of the circuit.

  An operating mode of the device can advantageously be carried out by means of one or more jets J derived from a washing solenoid valve, at each filling by this valve in two stages: in a first step, the jet J or jets hit only the blades of the turbine which rotates "slow", that is to say freely, in order to achieve a splashing which aims to thoroughly soak the fiber packets, and in a second step, at the end of filling, the engine the turbine is activated, which is intended to turn the turbine "fast" and, under the effect of the centrifugal force and the air + water flow, the cleaning of the turbine.

  the turbine and condenser assembly is optimally realized.

  Preferably, the jets or water jets are directed tangentially to the turbine, that is to say in a plane perpendicular to the blade planes, which allows all surfaces of the blades to be scanned by the or jets of water at the same time that they are driven by them in a first

  time and by the engine in a second time.

  The water circuit supplying the water jets through the openings may be a circuit parallel to the washing water circuit or an independent circuit. In the latter case, a detergent additive may be added to the water for a greater amount of water.

  cleaning efficiency of the turbine.

  This operation of rotation of the turbine simultaneously with its watering can be controlled manually by the user or automatically for a determined duration at the end (or at the beginning) of each drying cycle (or a certain number of drying cycles) or during each filling wash In the case of an automatic control, a system of valves can prevent the air-water mixture from coming into the tank o the laundry is dry On the other hand, the openings

  can be controlled by electro-valves.

  The present invention is applicable to machines for drying clothes or washing and drying machines and, more generally to all devices provided with an air ventilation system and of which automatic cleaning is essential.

Claims (4)

  1 Device for cleaning an air ventilation circuit comprising a turbine chamber (1), a turbine (2) provided with blades (3) and driven by a motor, characterized in that it comprises at least one opening opening inside the turbine chamber (1) and diffusing at least one jet of liquid (J)   on the turbine (2) while it is rotating.   2 device for cleaning an air ventilation circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that the jet or jets (J) of liquid are directed tangentially to the turbine (2).   3 Device for cleaning an air ventilation circuit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is carried out in two stages, at first the liquid jets (J) strike the blades (3). ) of the turbine (2) which are driven freely by them, and in a second step the engine starts to put the turbine (2) in fast rotation.   4 Device for cleaning a ventilation circuit   of air according to any one of the preceding claims,   characterized in that the liquid diffused by the   openings (6) is water or a water-detergent mixture.