GB2097519A

GB2097519A - A tumble drier for drying washing

Info

Publication number: GB2097519A
Application number: GB8209668A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Licentia Patent Verwaltungs GmbH; Licentia Oy
Current assignee: Licentia Patent Verwaltungs GmbH; Licentia Oy
Priority date: 1981-04-18
Filing date: 1982-04-01
Publication date: 1982-11-03
Also published as: NL8201412A; DE3115704A1

Abstract

In a tumble drier for drying washing, drying air is circulated in a closed circuit by a blower (11), and an air-cooled condenser (4) in the door (3) dehydrates the drying air. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tumble drier for drying washing The invention relates to a tumble drier for drying washing (clothes).

In one known tumble drier (as described in Ger man Patent Publication No. 22 19 889), drying air is circulated by a blower in a closed circuit through an electrical heater, a drum for the washing, and a condenser disposed in the housing below the drum for the washing, while a second blower draws in a stream of fresh air, blows it over the condenser to cool it, and then allows it to exhaust into the open.

Condensate accumulating in the condenser is pumped out of an outlet or flows into a collecting container to be emptied by hand.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved drierforwashing of the kind referred to, which utilises available free space in the drier.

In broad concept, the invention provides a clothes drier having a door arranged to close a loading opening to a drying drum, in which a passageway is provided in said door to receive moisture-laden drying air from the drum, and condenser means are also provided in said door to remove moisture from the drying air passing through said passageway.

More specifically, according to the invention, there is provided a tumble drier for drying washing, having a closed drying-air circuit through which air is fed by a blower to pass through an electrical heater, a drum for receiving the washing, and an air-cooled condenser, and out of which circuit condensate can be drained off to a discharge pipe or to a collecting container which can be emptied, the drum being rotatably mounted in a housing one end wall of which provides a loading opening in front of which there is disposed a door carrying a fluff filter which is situated in the drying-air circuit and through which flows moisture-laden drying air passing from the drum to the condenser, characterised in that the condenser is disposed in the door to be acted upon the one hand by cooling air drawn in through an outer wall of the door by a cooling-air impeller and on the other hand by the moisture-laden drying air, and in that branching off from the door are a drying-air connection which is completed when the door is closed and which leads to the drying-air conduit in the housing, a condensate discharge pipe feeding to a discharge pipe of the housing or to a collecting container in the housing, and a cooling-air outlet.

In the tumble drier according to the invention, the location of the condenser in the door renders it possible to employ the space which would otherwise be occupied by the condenser inside the housing of the drier, as useful space.

Advantageous features of the invention are set out in the appendant Claims 2 to 7. If a condenser in the housing is provided, in addition to the condenser in the door, a considerable improvement in the efficiency can be achieved without altering the dimensions of the drier.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a fragmentary section through the front region of the housing of one form of tumble drier according to the invention; Figure 2 is a detail section through the open door and the base of the housing at the front of another form of drier; and, Figure 3 is a detail section showing a further form of the drier according to the invention, with the door closed and having a collecting container which projects into the door and which can be inserted in a receiving port in the base of the housing.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, a drum 2 recieving the washing to be dried is rotatably mounted in housing 1 of a front-loading tumble drier. The loading opening in the front wall of the housing can be closed by a door 3. Disposed in the door 3 is an air-cooled concenser 4 which, as shown, comprises a heat-exchange surface dividing the door into two passageways. In order to utilize the door space efficiently, and to enlarge the heatexchange surface, the condenser can be constructed with a plurality of layers of heat-exchange surface.

A cooling-air blower 7 disposed in the base of the housing 1 draws fresh airthrough an opening 17 in the outer wall ofthe door and into cooling-air passage 5 of the condenser. The cooling air flows through the passage 5, sweeping over the heatexchange surface of the condenser 4, and passes into a housing through a junction 6 to the cooling-air blower 7. From there, the cooling air may either be conveyed into the room in which the drier is installed, or enter a second condenser provided in the housing but not illustrated.

Drying air is circulated in a closed circuit by a hotair blower 11, and serves to dry the washing in the drum 2 after being heated by an electrical heater (not shown). The heated air passing through the drum extracts moisture from the washing, and spent air laden with water vapour leaves the drum through the loading opening where it passes through a fluff filter 8 and enters passageway 9 of the door condenser 4. Moisture is extracted from the spent air at the cooled heat-exchange surface, and the dehydrated drying air is returned to the housing by the hot-air blower 11 through a passageway 10 which is sealed by the ring seal 18 when the door is closed. If there is a second condenser in the housing, the stream of drying air, which may be only partially dehydrated, is conveyed through this second condenser before it again passes over or through the electrical heater.

Condensed water accumulating in the door condenser can be drained off by various devices. Thus, a condensate discharge pipe of the door condenser may connect with a discharge pipe of the housing or with a collecting container (15) disposed in the housing by means of the ends of conduits engaging one another or being coupled to one another when the The drawings originally filed were informal and the print here reproduced is taken from a later filed formal copy. door is closed.

According to Figure 2, a collecting container 15 is disposed in the housing 1, in the vicinity of door hinge 12, 13. An extension tube 14 of the condensate discharge pipe of the door condenser 4 leads into the container, the tube 14 being arranged to extend into the container when the door 3 is closed. The collecting container 15 can be emptied by a pump 16 or by hand.

In Figure 3, the door 3 again has a heat-exchange surface 4, a cooling-air passage 5, a drying-air passage 9, and blowers 7 and 11 for cooling and drying air flows, respectively. In this embodiment, the collecting container 15 is either secured to the door 3 or inserted in a receiver 19 in the housing 1 so that it can be taken out for emptying by hand. When the door is closed, a condensate discharge opening 20 of the door condenser lies above a filling opening in the collecting container 15.

Claims

1. A tumble drier for drying washing, having a closed drying-air circuit through which air is fed by a blower to pass through an electrical heater, a drum for receiving the washing, and an air-cooled condenser, and out of which circuit condensate can be drained off to a discharge pipe orto a collecting con tainerwhich can be emptied, the drum being rotate ably mounted in a housing one end wall of which provides a loading opening in front of which there is disposed a door carrying a fluff filter which is situated in the drying-air circuit and through which flows moisture-laden drying air passing from the drum to the condenser, characterised in that the condenser is disposed in the door to be acted upon the one hand by cooling air drawn in through an outerwall of the door by a cooling-air impeller and on the other hand by the moisture-laden drying air, and in that branch ing off from the door condenser are a drying-air connection which is completed when the door is closed and which leads to the drying-air conduit in the housing, a condensate discharge pipe feeding to a discharge pipe of the housing orto a collecting container in the housing, and a cooling-air outlet.

2. A drier as claimed in Claim 1, in which at least one heat-exchange surface to be acted upon by the cooling air and by the moist air is provided in the door.

3. A drier as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which cooling air drawn in at least one opening in the outer wall of the door, after passing through the door condenser, enters the drier housing through a passageway which is completed when the door is closed, and exhausts to the open from an opening in the housing.

4. A drier as claimed in Claim 3, in which provided in the housing is a second condenser over which is passed the drying air leaving the door condenser and the cooling air supplied to the housing, fresh-air valves being provided in the housing for admixing fresh air with the stream of cooling air.

5. A drier as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which the connection of the condensate discharge pipe of the door condenser to the discharge pipe of the housing orto the collecting container present in the housing is provided by the ends of conduits engaging one another when the drier door is closed, a valve is associated with the end of the condensate discharge pipe in the door, and a push rod or the like is provided at the end of the conduit of the housing to open the valve when the door is closed.

6. A drier as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4, in which the collecting container is disposed in the housing in the vicinity of a door hinge, and an extension tube from the condensate discharge pipe of the door condenser is arranged to extend into the collecting container when the door is closed.

7. A drier as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4, in which the collecting container projects into the base of the door, a condensate discharge opening is provided from the door condenser to the collecting container, and the base of the housing provides receiving means for the collecting container.

8. A clothes drier having a door arranged to close a loading opening to a drying drum, in which a passagewayis provided in said door to receive moisture-laden drying air from the drum, and condenser means are also provided in said door to remove moisture from the drying air passing through said passageway.

9. A tumble drier, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1 or to Figure 1 as modified by Figure 2 or by Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.