JP2007117177A - Drum type washing/drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize the size of a product body in the fore-and-aft direction by improving a hot air unit. <P>SOLUTION: This drum type washing/drying machine is provided with the hot air unit 12 attached to the external wall face of a water tub 4 for supplying drying hot air to the inside of a drum 5 and comprising a heater device 13 and an air blower 14; and is so constituted that a heater 24 provided in the heater device 13 has a heating part 24 generating heat and a non-heating part 24b, is formed into a rectangular shape as a whole, and is installed with its longitudinal direction facing the left/right direction of a casing 1, and the non-heating part 24b of the heater 24 is installed outside a main air blowing area from the air blower 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a drum type laundry dryer provided with a hot air unit for drying laundry stored in a drum.

  Conventionally, in this kind of drum type washing and drying machine, a water tank is elastically supported in a product main body that forms an outer shell, and a drum that can rotate around a horizontal axis is provided therein. In particular, as a drying function, a hot air unit is provided to dry the laundry stored in the drum, the unit is installed on the outer wall surface of the water tank, and a hot air circulation path communicating with the water tank and the drum is formed. And it is set as the structure which does not exhaust outside the apparatus (for example, refer patent document 1).

  The warm air unit is configured by connecting a heater device and a blower device, and the heater device is provided with a heater composed of a sheathed heater in a heater casing that also serves as a part of a circulation path. The air from the device is heated to generate hot air. However, the heater is repeatedly bent in a meandering manner so as to obtain a desired heat generation amount, thereby obtaining a substantially rectangular occupied area as a whole. However, in the heater, a heating electrode that winds a heating wire in the shape of a coil, in the vicinity of a terminal portion that is led out of the casing, a predetermined area up to the heating portion is connected to a sealing electrode with a straight electrode pin. Is provided as a non-heated part.

The non-heating part is particularly a hot air unit and in the hot air circulation path, and it is necessary to prevent leakage of hot air from the part of the non-heating part where the terminal part is led out of the heater casing. Has a sealed configuration with rubber packing interposed. For this reason, a configuration in which the vicinity of the terminal portion is not heated to a high temperature is required over a predetermined area. Therefore, the heater casing accommodates almost the entire heater including the heating part and the non-heating part, and the fan case connected to the heater also blows the entire heater as a blowing area, thereby heating and warming.
JP 2001-218994 A (FIG. 1)

  According to the said structure, it is enough as a function which produces | generates the warm air for drying as a warm air-warming unit, and can use for practical use. However, in this kind of drum type washing and drying machine, as is clear from the configuration described in Patent Document 1, the hot air circulation path is led out from the rear side of the water tank and passes through the hot air unit etc. to the front side of the drum or water tank opening. For this reason, the air blower and the heater device are installed in a continuous form in the front-rear direction of the water tank so as to follow the flow of the circulation path. This means that when the product is made compact, it is difficult to reduce the size in the front-rear direction of the product main body, which is in front of and behind the water tank, while maintaining the performance of the hot air unit.

  However, the blower outlet of the fan casing, which is a connecting portion with the heater casing, has restrictions such as an opening shape so as to obtain a uniform and smooth air flow, and cannot be freely increased. Therefore, in the conventional configuration in which the entire heater is used as the air blowing region as described above, the short side of the heater casing having the same shape along the rectangular shape of the entire heater is set as the connecting portion. Thereby, it is possible to effectively blow air to the entire heater without forcibly increasing the outlet of the fan casing. For this reason, the heater and the heater casing are installed in the longitudinal direction along the flow of the circulation path and become longer in the front-rear direction than the so-called product body, and it is still more difficult to make the compact in the front-rear direction.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention can achieve effective warm air flow by effectively blowing air to the heater, and a drum type washing and drying machine provided with a warm air unit capable of making the product body compact in the front-rear direction. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, a drum type washing and drying machine of the present invention comprises a product main body comprising a casing forming an outer shell, a water tank elastically supported in the main body, and a horizontal axis around the water tank. And a warm air unit attached to the outer wall surface of the water tank so as to supply warm air into the drum. The warm air unit has a heater disposed in a heater casing. A heater device and a blower device connected to the heater device and having a fan disposed in a fan casing and driven to rotate by a fan motor are provided. The heater includes a heating unit that generates heat and a non-heating unit near the terminal unit. And is configured to have a rectangular shape as a whole, and the longitudinal direction thereof is oriented in the left-right direction of the product body, and the non-heated portion of the heater is a main blowing area from the blowing device. On the outside It is characterized in that there was boss.

  According to the above means, the heater can be effectively and smoothly blown to the heater heating part while the longitudinal direction of the heater is oriented in the left-right direction of the product body. It is possible to provide a drum-type washing and drying machine that can be made compact.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the drum type washing and drying machine of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is an external perspective view of the washing / drying machine with a part thereof broken away, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal side view schematically showing the overall configuration. First, the overall configuration will be described with reference to these drawings.
In particular, as clearly shown in FIG. 3, a rectangular box-shaped housing 1 that forms an outer shell has a loading port 2 on the front as a product body, and a door 3 that opens and closes the loading port 2 is rotatably provided. Inside, a water tank 4 and a drum 5 having a front surface facing the charging port 2 are provided.

  The water tank 4 is elastically supported in the housing 1 by an anti-vibration suspension 6, and the drum 5 is rotatably provided around the horizontal axis. Specifically, the drum 5 is pivotally supported in a state where the front is inclined upward, and the peripheral wall includes a plurality of small holes 5 a and a plurality of baffles 5 b, and a drive motor 7 provided on the back surface of the water tank 4. Is directly driven by rotation. A recess 4a is formed at the bottom of the water tank 4, and a warm water heater 8 is provided in the recess 4a to warm the washing water, and a drain pipe 10 provided with a drain valve 9 communicating with the lowest part. Is connected. Further, a bellows 11 is mounted in a watertight manner between the front opening of the water tank 4 and the inlet 2.

  Next, the configuration of the drying function will be described. Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a hot air unit 12 is installed on the upper outer wall surface of the water tank 4. Although the details will be described later, the hot air unit 12 includes a heater device 13 and a blower device 14. An air supply duct 15 is connected to the front end of 12 (the front side of the product indicated by the arrow C) and is connected to communicate with the front opening of the water tank 4. On the other hand, a heat exchange duct 16 that also serves as an exhaust duct is connected to the rear lower portion of the rear surface of the water tank 4 at the rear end (the rear side of the product). Accordingly, the water tank 4 and the drum 5 are communicated with each other via the hot air unit 12 and the ducts 15 and 16 at the front and rear ends thereof, thereby forming a circulation path 17 through which an air flow (hot air) can be circulated. The heat exchange duct 16 is provided with a water injection pipe 19 connected to the water supply valve 18 therein, and functions as a water cooling means for the air flow (exhaust) after contributing to drying. It constitutes a dehumidifying means.

  The specific configuration of the hot air unit 12 will be described with reference to an enlarged plan view of the hot air unit 12 shown in FIG. As is clear from the above description and FIGS. 2 and 3, the hot air unit 12 has a blower 14 and a heater device 13 along the front-rear direction of the water tank 4 that should follow the flow of air in the circulation path 17 of hot air. Are continuously installed and fixed to the outer wall with screws. Among them, the air blower 14 includes a fan 20, a spiral fan casing 21, and a fan motor 22. The fan motor 22 is attached and fixed to the fan casing 21 and directly rotates the fan 20. Therefore, the air flow generated by the rotation of the fan 20 in the direction of the arrow G expands along the substantially tangential direction (corresponding to the blowout air angle A shown in FIG. 1) from the blowout port 21a that opens in a trumpet shape. However, it is blown out and this is used as the main blowing area.

  On the other hand, the heater device 13 is composed of a heater casing 23 connected with the outlet 21a as a connecting portion, and a heater 24 disposed therein. As shown in FIG. 1, the heater 24 is densely arranged in a meandering manner. As will be described in detail later, the heater 24 is formed in a rectangular shape as an overall shape (outer shape) and is provided at a position facing the outlet 21a. It has been. More specifically, the heater 24 includes a heating part 24a, a non-heating part 24b, and a terminal part 24c led out of the heater casing 23. Among them, the heating part 24a is a structure in which an electric heating wire is wound in a coil shape in an insulating material in a metal pipe to exhibit an effective heat generating action, whereas the non-heating part 24b is a straight electrode pin in the sealing material. It is set as the structure which was embed | buried as and avoided the heat_generation | fever effect.

  In particular, the non-heating part 24b is set over a predetermined area in the vicinity of the terminal part 24c at the front end. For example, as shown in FIG. Yes. Since the non-heating portion 24b requires airtightness so that air (warm air) does not leak at a portion where the terminal portion 24c is led out of the heater casing 23, a rubber packing or a rubber bush 25 is provided between the non-heating portion 24b and the heater casing 23. Intervene. Therefore, in order to protect the bush 25 from the high-temperature heat transfer of the heater 24 itself, the bush 25 has a non-heat generation structure over a predetermined area.

  In this embodiment, as shown by the arrow C in the figure, the front of the housing 1 as the product main body is set such that the length (occupied area) of the heater device 13 in the front-rear direction of the water tank 4 is reduced and the left-right direction is increased. It is configured. That is, the longitudinal direction of the rectangular shape of the meandering of the heater 24 is oriented in the horizontal direction of the water tank 4. In the longitudinal direction, the heating unit 24a and the non-heating unit 24b are arranged side by side, and the heating unit 24a is disposed opposite to the outlet 21a. In addition, the entire heating unit 24a is included within the range of the blowing air blowing angle A, and the non-heating unit 24b is disposed outside the main air blowing region.

  Based on the configuration of the heater 24, the heater casing 23 is also formed in a rectangular container shape by aluminum die casting, a metal plate, or the like, and is connected to the fan casing 21 on the side surface in the longitudinal direction. However, the opening width dimension D of the outlet 21a corresponding to the connecting portion may be the width dimension of the heater 24 facing the heater 24a. Therefore, in this embodiment, the effective full width dimension E in the longitudinal direction of the heater casing 23 is sufficient. In contrast, the opening width dimension D corresponding to about 60% is set. It can be said that the opening width dimension D substantially corresponds to the opening width of the air receiving port on the heater casing 23 side. Further, the heater casing 23 shown in FIG. 1 is a plan view in a state in which a flat cover member 23a (see FIG. 2) covering the upper surface is removed.

  On the other hand, the fan casing 21 is not required to be as heat resistant as the heater casing 24, but is formed of a heat resistant resin material that can sufficiently cope with the circulating hot air. However, although details will be described in the section of the action, in order to improve the heat resistance of the connection portion, in this embodiment, a heat shield material 26 made of a heat resistant material, for example, a metal plate, is provided on the inner surface side of the outlet 21a. The main part (of course, the entire circumference may be covered) is covered, and the surface is mirror-finished.

  Next, the operation of the drum-type washing / drying machine having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. Usually, a drying operation is performed following the washing, rinsing, and dehydrating operations, and each operation is performed based on the rotation control of the drum 5. However, in the drying operation, the drum 5 containing the laundry is rotated at a low speed, the hot air unit 12 is energized and driven, and water is injected from the water supply valve 18 through the water injection pipe 19 into the heat exchange duct 16 to function as a dehumidifying means. To be executed. Therefore, the warm air generated by the warm air unit 12 flows and circulates in the direction of arrow F shown in FIG.

  That is, the hot air generated by the hot air unit 12 is blown out from the air supply duct 15 to the front opening side of the water tank 4 that is in front of the product, is taken in from the front opening of the drum 5 and comes into contact with the laundry (not shown) to dry. Perform the action. The warm air deprived of moisture from the laundry is discharged as exhaust from the rear of the drum 5 and taken into the heat exchange duct 16 from the lower back of the water tank 4. Here, the rising exhaust stream is subjected to a water cooling action by water injection from the water injection pipe 19, and the moisture in the exhaust gas is condensed and dropped as water droplets to be dehumidified. The dehumidified exhaust flow is generated again as effective hot air through the hot air unit 12, and the hot air circulation of supplying to the drum 5 is repeatedly executed through the circulation path 17.

Next, a specific operation of the hot air unit 12 will be described mainly based on FIG.
The fan 20 rotates in the direction of arrow G by driving the fan motor 22. The generated wind is blown into the heater casing 23 from the blow-out port 21a, and the air flow mainly in the range of the blow-off air blowing angle A comes into effective contact with the entire heating unit 24a of the heater 24 and is quickly warmed. . Note that the non-heating unit 24b is outside the range of the blowing air angle A from the blowing port 21a and is in contact with the air spreading in the heater casing 23, but does not hit the directly blown air flow, and the heating unit Due to the position 24a, the heated air is moved away from the main flow to the air supply duct 15, and the non-heated portion 24b is hardly affected.

  As a result, with respect to the full width dimension E of the heater casing 23 that is long in the left-right direction, a favorable heating and warming action by the heating unit 24a is achieved by blowing air from the outlet 21a having a reduced opening width dimension D corresponding to about 60%. can get. Incidentally, in the case of a large outlet equivalent to the full width dimension E including the non-heating portion 24b to blow the air to the entire heater 24, it is difficult to obtain a uniform blowing action, and the efficiency of warming air to the heating portion 24a may be reduced. However, in this embodiment, even if the outlet 21a faces the longitudinal direction of the heater casing 23, there is no possibility that the heating performance by the heating unit 24a that can be set to an appropriate size and generates heat will not be lowered.

  By the way, the fan casing 21 is made of a heat-resistant resin and is not affected by the heat generated from the heater 24 as long as the blower 14 operates normally and continues the blowing action. However, if an abnormality occurs when the air blower 14 fails or is de-energized, the fan 20 stops and air blowing stops. For this reason, it is conceivable that high-temperature hot air flows into the fan casing 21 side through the blowout port 21a, particularly when only the heat generation of the heater 24 is continuously executed while the intended air flow is stagnant. However, in the present embodiment, the heat shield plate 26 made of a metal plate is provided at the outlet 21a portion to achieve thermal protection, so that it is possible to prevent thermal deformation and the like extending to the outlet 21a and the vicinity thereof. In addition, since the heat shield 26 is mirror-finished, the influence of radiant heat can be reduced and the heat resistance is further improved. Therefore, for example, an engineering plastic having a high heat-resistant temperature is extremely effective as the resin material for the fan casing 21, but according to the above-described embodiment configuration, an inexpensive resin material based on PP can be sufficiently put into practical use. .

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
The heater device 13 which is attached to the outer wall surface of the water tank 4 and constitutes the warm air unit 12 has a longitudinal direction of the heater 24 and the heater casing 23 that form a rectangular shape as a whole in the left-right direction of the water tank 4, that is, a casing 1 that is a so-called product body. The heating unit 24a of the heater 24 is disposed in the range of the blowing air angle A, which is the main air blowing region, and is arranged to face the air outlet 21a. On the other hand, the non-heating part 24b was set outside the blowing air blowing angle A.

  Therefore, the air blown from the outlet 21a can be effectively brought into contact with the entire heating unit 24a of the heater 24, and a good warming action can be expected. Further, the non-heating portion 24b is led out to the outside with the tip as a terminal portion 24c, but a predetermined area near the terminal portion 24c with respect to the rubber bush 25 provided to ensure airtightness at the lead-out portion. Since the non-heating sections B1 and B2 are used, the rubber bush 25 is not heated to a high temperature, and the durability can be improved with little thermal influence.

  And the blower outlet 21a which is also the connection part of the air path of the heater apparatus 13 and the air blower 14 can set the opening width dimension D to an appropriate magnitude | size corresponding to the said heating part 24a, for example in the said Example. The width of the heater casing 23 can be set to a width dimension equivalent to about 60% of the total width dimension E in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, even in the outlet 21 a at the position facing the longitudinal direction of the heater 24, uniform and orderly ventilation is possible. The air blowing efficiency can be maintained well. Thus, even if the longitudinal direction of the heater 24 is arranged in the left-right direction of the product, the heater device 13 and the hot air unit 12 can be put to practical use without any structural and performance problems. The size of the product body can be reduced in the front-rear direction, i.e., the front-rear direction of the product body. For example, the water tank 4 shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Thus, a washing / drying machine that can be made compact in the front-rear direction of the product can be provided.

  By the way, for example, when the air blowing action by the air blower 14 is stopped and only the heat generation by the heater 24 is continued, there is a possibility that the radiant heat from the heater 24 or a high-temperature air current flows backward. Therefore, even if the fan casing 23 is made of a heat-resistant resin, it is considered that the blowout port 21a that is a connecting portion thereof is affected by thermal deformation or the like when exposed to a high temperature. However, in the above-described embodiment, the heat shield plate 26 made of, for example, a metal plate having excellent heat resistance is provided on the inner surface side of the outlet 21a. As a result, it is possible to suppress the influence of radiant heat on the heat shield plate 26 and to provide a structure with further excellent heat resistance. This also allows the fan casing 23 to employ a relatively inexpensive heat-resistant resin other than engineering plastics with a high heat-resistant temperature, and is expected to have advantages such as a wider choice of materials and greater freedom in design and manufacture. It is.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, although it is suitable for a warm air circulation type as a drying function in a drum-type washing and drying machine, a normal warm air unit continuously includes a blower and a heater device. Since the configuration is provided and the warm air is supplied from the front surface or the rear surface of the water tank or the drum, the present invention can be widely applied to this type of configuration, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications without departing from the gist of the present invention.

The top view which shows the partially broken hot air unit which shows one Example of this invention, and shows it External perspective view showing a partially broken drum type washer / dryer Vertical side view schematically showing the overall configuration

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is a housing (product main body), 4 is a water tank, 5 is a drum, 12 is a hot air unit, 13 is a heater device, 14 is a blower device, 17 is a circulation path, 21 is a fan casing, and 22 is a fan motor. , 23 is a heater casing, 24 is a heater, 24a is a heating part, 24b is a non-heating part, 24c is a terminal part, 25 is a rubber bush, and 26 is a heat shield.

Claims (4)

A product body consisting of a casing that forms an outer shell, a water tank elastically supported inside the main body, a drum provided inside the water tank so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis, and supplying hot air into the drum It has a hot air unit attached to the outer wall surface of the water tank,
The warm air unit includes a heater device in which a heater is disposed in a heater casing, and a blower device connected to the heater device and having a fan disposed in the fan casing and driven to rotate by a fan motor.
The heater has a heating part that generates heat and a non-heating part in the vicinity of the terminal part, and is configured to form a rectangular shape as a whole, and is installed with its longitudinal direction oriented in the left-right direction of the product body, And the drum type washing-drying machine characterized by setting the non-heating part of this heater to the outer side of the main ventilation area | region from the said air blower.   The drum-type washing and drying machine according to claim 1, wherein the fan casing is made of resin, and a heat-resistant heat shield is attached to a connection portion that blows air to the heater casing.   The drum type washing and drying machine according to claim 2, wherein the heat shield plate is made of metal and the surface is mirror-finished. The drum-type washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein the non-heating unit is set at a position deviating from a blowing air blowing angle of the fan casing.

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