JP2005137506A - Clothes drier - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clothes drier precisely detecting a drying finish state of objects to be dried with different sizes in a washing/drying machine and an electric drier. <P>SOLUTION: This clothes drier detects a blowing air temperature and a refrigerant temperature for every unit time, finds a difference between both temperatures, and detects a state where the blowing air temperature is a first predetermined temperature or more and the difference between the blowing air temperature and the refrigerant temperature becomes a second predetermined temperature or more to detect the drying finish state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothes dryer such as a washing dryer having a drying function incorporated in a washing machine or an electric dryer configured exclusively for drying clothes.

  Clothes dryers have been increasing in capacity to not only dry clothes but also bedding such as blankets and skin comforters. As the capacity increases, the power consumption increases, so instead of operating with the conventional constant drying time to save energy, the dry state of the clothes is detected and the operation is performed when the dry state is detected. Control to stop is made. There is also known a clothing dryer that discriminates the type of clothing and controls the operation during the drying time according to the type of clothing (see Patent Document 1).

The clothes dryer detects the temperature inside the rotating drum when the drying course of the blanket and the comforter is selected in the course setting of the drying operation, and when the detected temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature a predetermined number of times, The amount of heating by the heating means in the drying operation is reduced, and it is configured to determine whether the object to be dried is a blanket or a skin comforter according to the time from the start of operation until the temperature in the rotating drum exceeds a predetermined temperature a predetermined number of times. .
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-342299 (pages 2 to 4, FIG. 1)

  Although the blanket and the skin comforter can be discriminated in the determination of the material to be dried in the above prior art, when it is determined that the blanket is a blanket, it can be determined that the blanket is a small one like a baby blanket. However, there is a problem that a blanket of a small size such as a baby blanket is excessively dried.

  The object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer capable of controlling the drying time by determining that the blanket has a small size from the temperature change state in the drying process in which the drying course of the blanket is selected. Is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, a clothes dryer according to the present invention includes a clothes container that again dehumidifies the moisture contained in the air exhausted from the clothes container that contains the object to be dried by the dehumidifier and heats it by the heater. In the heating means, there are formed a blowing means and an air circulation path for blowing air, a refrigerant temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant after being supplied to a heat exchanger constituting the dehumidifying means and exchanging heat. A blower air temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the blown air immediately before reaching, and a control means for controlling the heating means in accordance with detection outputs from the refrigerant temperature detection means and the blown air temperature detection means. Means that the blown air temperature detected by the blown air temperature detection means becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature within a first predetermined time, and the refrigerant temperature and blown air temperature detected by the refrigerant temperature detection means When the temperature difference becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value within the second predetermined time, the heating means is controlled to be turned off after the third predetermined time, and control for shifting from the drying process to the air cooling process is performed. .

  According to the above configuration, the amount of heat exchanged in the rotating drum varies depending on the size and amount of the object to be dried, and the smaller the size and amount of the object to be dried, the faster the blowing air temperature rises. The size and amount of the object to be dried are small by detecting that the temperature rises quickly and the state in which the temperature difference between the blown air temperature and the refrigerant temperature due to the rapid progress of drying becomes a predetermined value or more is accelerated. When this determination is made, by switching the drying process to the air cooling process after the third predetermined time, excessive drying is not performed and wasteful power consumption is suppressed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can determine from the state of a temperature change that the size and quantity of to-be-dried material are small, and it can prevent that the to-be-dried material of small size is dried excessively.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a main part of a drum-type washing / drying machine 1 according to the embodiment, and the drum-type washing / drying machine 1 is configured by incorporating the function of a clothes dryer in the drum-type washing machine.

  In FIG. 1, a water tank 3 is supported in an inclined state by a suspension structure (not shown) in a washing machine housing 6, and a rotating drum 2 formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape is rotatably supported in the water tank 3. ing. The rotary drum 2 is rotationally driven by a drum drive motor 7 attached to the back of the water tank 3 so that the rotational speed can be varied and the rotational direction can be switched. Further, since the rotating drum 2 is inclined so that the direction of the rotation axis is inclined downward from the front side opening as shown in the drawing toward the back side as the bottom surface, the front side of the washing machine casing 6 is arranged. Opening the door body 9 that can be freely opened and closed on the inclined surface 6a formed on the front surface of the drum-type washing and drying machine 1 reduces the amount of bending when the laundry is taken in and out of the rotary drum 2. Since it is not necessary to secure a space with a margin on the side, the drum type washing and drying machine 1 that can be installed in a narrow space such as a washroom can be configured.

  In addition to the above-described components, the washing machine housing 6 includes a water supply unit 12 for supplying water into the aquarium 3, a drainage unit 13 for draining water in the aquarium 3 to the outside, and the like. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the air in the water tank 3 exhausted from the exhaust port 21 is dehumidified so that a drying process of drying the laundry accommodated in the rotary drum 2 can be performed. 16, a drying air circulation path through which air is blown again from the blower opening 22 into the water tank 3 through the yarn waste collecting filter 17, the blower duct 18, and the heating duct 19 is configured.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the dehumidification pipe line 16 is formed adjacent to the side peripheral surface of the water tank 3, and communicates with the inside of the water tank 3 through an exhaust port 21 that opens to the side peripheral surface of the water tank 3. Dehumidifying means 38 having a water injection nozzle 52 and a heat exchanger 51 through which water sprinkled from the water injection nozzle 52 flows is disposed in the dehumidification pipe line 16, and the air in the water tank 3 exhausted from the exhaust port 21. Is dehumidified by being cooled by the dehumidifying means 38. The dehumidifying duct 16 is connected to the air duct 18 on the front side of the washing machine housing 6, and a lint collecting filter 17 that filters dust such as lint contained in the air is provided at the inlet of the air duct 18. It is arranged. The air duct 18 is a duct for guiding air to the heating duct 19 disposed on the back side of the water tank 3, and is disposed adjacent to the side peripheral surface of the water tank 3 together with the dehumidifying duct 16. As shown in FIG. 3, the air duct 18 is connected to a heating duct 19 formed in a substantially arc shape on the back side of the water tank 3, and the air circulation path for drying is provided by the air fan 15 disposed in the connection portion. A one-way air flow is formed.

  A heater 20 is disposed in the heating pipe 19 and heats the air flowing from the blower pipe 18 and feeds it into the water tank 3 as hot air that has been heated and dried from a blower opening 22 that leads to the water tank 3. . The heating pipe 19 is heated by a blowing air temperature sensor (blowing air temperature detecting means) 66 for detecting the temperature of the air blown from the blowing pipe 18 and the heater 20 and is blown from the blowing port 22. A hot air temperature sensor 55 that detects the temperature of the hot air to be detected, a temperature fuse 27 that detects an abnormal overheating state of the heater 20 and interrupts the energization of the heater 20, An overflow water level sensor 29 for detecting the overflow water level at which bubbles flow into the blower fan 15 is provided.

  The drum-type washing and drying machine 1 configured as described above performs a washing process, a rinsing process, and a dehydrating process by a control operation by a control device 40 configured as shown in FIG. 4, and a drying process is performed as necessary. The

  In FIG. 4, the control unit 41 configured by a microcomputer uses a control program stored in the storage unit 45 in response to a setting input such as selection of a driving course input from the setting unit 43 to the power switching unit 42. Output control commands. The power switching unit 42 is configured using a switching element such as an SCR, and in response to a control command output from the control unit 41, the drum drive motor 7, the water supply valve 50, the drainage pump 49, the blower fan 15, the heater 20, and the water injection valve ON / OFF control of 53 and the like.

  The drum-type washing and drying machine having the above-described configuration is configured to perform a drying process for drying the dehydrated laundry after completion of the washing process, the rinsing process, and the dehydrating process, or to dry wet clothes and the like. It is also possible to arbitrarily carry out only the drying step. When the execution of the drying process is selected and input from the setting unit 43, the control unit 41 rotationally drives the rotary drum 2 by the drum drive motor 7 to turn on the blower fan 15 and the heater 20 and to turn on the water injection valve 53. Since the opening control command is output to the power switching unit 42, the blower fan 15 is rotationally driven, and the drying operation for circulating the air in the water tank 3 through the drying air circulation path is performed.

  As shown by the white arrows in FIG. 2, the air in the rotary drum 2 is discharged into the water tank 3 from the through holes 8 formed in the peripheral surface by the rotation of the blower fan 15, and is dehumidified from the exhaust port 21. Exhaust into the passage 16. A heat exchanger 51 is disposed in the dehumidifying conduit 16, and dehumidifying means 38 is configured to sprinkle water injected by opening the water injection valve 53 from the water injection nozzle 52 onto the heat exchanger 51. Therefore, the air containing the moisture exhausted into the dehumidifying pipeline 16 is cooled and dehumidified. The air dehumidified in the dehumidifying pipe 16 passes through the lint collecting filter 17, passes through the blower pipe 18, is led to the rear of the water tank 3, flows into the heating pipe 19 provided on the back surface of the water tank 3, and is heated. It is heated by 20 and blown into the water tank 3 from the blower port 22. Since the air blown into the water tank 3 flows into the rotary drum 2 through the air holes 39 and the through holes 8 formed on the bottom surface of the rotary drum 2, moisture is taken away from the laundry by the dehumidified and heated air. Drying of all the laundry is promoted by stirring by the rotation of the drum 2, and the laundry is dried by repeating this air circulation for a predetermined time.

  A plurality of air vents 39 are formed on the circumference corresponding to the air blowing port 22 formed in the water tank 3 on the bottom surface (rear surface) of the rotating drum 2, and the temperature blown into the water tank 3 from the air blowing port 22. Most of the wind is fed into the rotary drum 2 from the vent 39. Since the air blowing port 22 is formed below the center of the rotating drum 2, the warm air is blown up from the lower side of the rotating drum 2 through the air vent 39, and thus the laundry to be stirred in the rotating drum 2. You can efficiently remove moisture from the laundry by touching a wide area.

  The drying process is performed for a set time. However, excessive drying is not preferable for clothes and the like, and power consumption is wasted. Therefore, the dryness is detected and the predetermined dryness is detected. Then, control is performed to stop the heating by the heater 20 and shift to an air cooling process with only air blowing. Hereinafter, switching control from the drying process to the air cooling process based on the detection of the dryness will be described.

  The dryness is detected by detecting the air temperature detected by the air temperature sensor 66 provided in the heating line 19 and the cooling water injected into the heat exchanger 51 provided in the dehumidifying line 16. After cooling the heat exchanger 51, as shown by a broken line in FIG. 2, the cooling water temperature detected by the cooling water temperature sensor (refrigerant temperature detecting means) 67 provided in the drain groove 10 is the temperature of the drained cooling water. And made using

  FIG. 5 shows that when a blanket drying course is selected as a course selection in the drying process, and a baby blanket is inserted into the rotary drum 2, a baby blanket having a size approximately half of the normal size is not excessively dried. It shows an example of temperature detection for baby blanket detection control to be controlled as described above.

  When the blowing air temperature A and the cooling water temperature W are detected at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 2 minutes) with the start of the drying process, the temperature rise of the blowing air temperature A is faster in a small baby blanket. The temperature reaches a predetermined temperature (for example, 72 ° C.) that is adjusted within a predetermined time (for example, 35 minutes), and the temperature difference (A−W) between the blown air temperature A and the cooling water temperature W is the second predetermined time. When it is detected that a predetermined temperature (for example, 40 ° C.) has been exceeded within (for example, 60 minutes), when the third predetermined time (for example, 40 minutes) elapses after the second predetermined time, the air cooling process Control to shift to is performed. The temperature detection for detecting that the temperature difference (A−W) between the blown air temperature A and the cooling water temperature W exceeds the predetermined temperature within the second predetermined time is detected twice consecutively. By confirming the control operation that shifts to the air cooling process, occurrence of erroneous detection can be prevented.

  Since the drying end state corresponding to the blanket size is detected by the above control, the baby blanket is not excessively dried, and wasteful power consumption can be suppressed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the above control is performed by inputting the detection outputs of the blast air temperature sensor 66 and the cooling water temperature sensor 67 to the temperature detection unit 54 and the temperature detection unit 54 at a predetermined time interval. While obtaining the temperature W, calculating the temperature difference (A−W) between the blown air temperature A and the cooling water temperature W, and detecting the change in the blown air temperature A, the temperature detection unit 54 determines the drying end state. When the drying end state is detected, when the detection output is input to the control unit 41, the control unit 41 performs control to cut off the power supply to the heater 20 to shift from the drying process to the air cooling process. Can be executed.

  The embodiment described above shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a drum-type washing / drying machine. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a clothes drying machine such as an electric drying machine configured only with a drying function. Moreover, although the cooling of the heat exchanger which comprises a dehumidification means is made into the water cooling system using cooling water, it can be comprised similarly in the air cooling system which uses external air as a refrigerant | coolant.

  The present invention can be applied to a drying machine having a drying function or a clothes drying machine such as an electric drying machine having only a drying function. Since the end state can be accurately detected, the clothes dryer can be configured to prevent excessive drying of the clothes and suppress wasteful power consumption.

Sectional drawing which shows the principal part structure of the drum type washing-drying machine which concerns on embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the structure of the drying function of a drum type washing-drying machine same as the above. The top view which shows the structure in the heating pipe line which comprises a drying function same as the above. The block diagram which shows the structure of the control apparatus with which a drum type washing-drying machine same as the above is provided. The temperature change graph explaining the detection of a drying completion state.

Explanation of symbols

1 Drum-type washing dryer (clothing dryer)
2 Rotating drum 3 Water tank 15 Blower fan (Blower unit)
16 Dehumidification pipeline 18 Blower pipeline 19 Heating pipeline 20 Heater (heating means)
21 Exhaust port 22 Blower port 38 Dehumidifying means 40 Control device (control means)
51 Heat exchanger 66 Blower air temperature sensor (Blower air temperature detection means)
67 Cooling water temperature sensor (refrigerant temperature detection means)

Claims (1)

The dehumidifying means is provided with a blowing means and an air circulation path for dehumidifying the moisture contained in the air exhausted from the clothing containing tub containing the material to be dried by the dehumidifying means, heating it by the heating means, and blowing it again into the clothing containing tub. A refrigerant temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature of the refrigerant after being supplied to a heat exchanger constituting the means and exchanging heat; a blown air temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature of the blown air immediately before reaching the heating means; A control means for controlling the heating means according to the detection output by the refrigerant temperature detection means and the blown air temperature detection means,
The control means is configured such that the blown air temperature detected by the blown air temperature detecting means becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature within a first predetermined time, and the temperature between the refrigerant temperature and the blown air temperature detected by the refrigerant temperature detecting means. When the difference becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value within the second predetermined time, the clothing drying is characterized in that after the third predetermined time, the heating means is controlled to be turned off and control is performed to shift from the drying process to the air cooling process. Machine.

Images