JP2007151799A - Washing/drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve drying efficiency by improving the efficiency of heating air and prevent the dew condensation in the outside of a water tub as much as possible. <P>SOLUTION: This washing/drying machine is provided with a communication tube 29 having one end side communicated with the water tub 5 and the other side opened to the outside of the water tub 5, and a felt 34 disposed inside the communication tube 29 and reducing humidity in the air passing inside the communication tube 29. In the drying operation, part of hot air including much humidity in the water tub 5 is exhausted outside the water tub 5 with its humidity reduced by the felt 34 inside the communication tube 29. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a laundry dryer configured to dry laundry by circulating hot air.

As this type of washing / drying machine, for example, what is disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a drum-type washing / drying machine in which a blower fan is connected to a circulation air passage connected to an intake port and an exhaust port of a water tank that houses a drum, A heater device and a heat exchanger are provided. In this case, during the drying operation for drying the laundry stored in the drum, the air in the circulation air passage is heated by the heater device in the process of being circulated by the blower fan, The air is sucked into the aquarium and the laundry in the aquarium is deprived of moisture. The air deprived of moisture in the water tank (warm air) is sent from the exhaust port to the heat exchanger and dehumidified, and then sent to the heater device to be heated again.
JP 2003-245489 A

  However, in the configuration described above, since the air deprived of moisture in the water tank is a method of recirculating warm air, the heating efficiency to warm air is not necessarily high because a large amount of moisture is contained in the air. Not good. In addition, the above heat exchanger dehumidifies the humidity of the air as much as possible, and even if the air after dehumidification (air containing some humidity) is warmed again, it is still possible to Heating efficiency is not good. For this reason, the drying efficiency of the laundry in the water tank is lowered, and further improvement is still required.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and the object thereof is to improve the heating efficiency to warm air to improve the drying efficiency, and to generate condensation outside the water tank. It is an object of the present invention to provide a washing / drying machine that can prevent as much as possible.

  The washing and drying machine according to claim 1 is provided in a main body, and has a water tank having an intake port and an exhaust port, and a plurality of holes that are rotatably disposed in the water tank and allow water and air to pass therethrough. A rotating tub that contains laundry and has one end connected to the air inlet of the water tub and the other end connected to the exhaust outlet, and circulates air in the water tub through the circulating air blast. A blowing means for heating, a heating means for heating the air passing through the circulation ventilation path, a dehumidification means for condensing and dehumidifying moisture in the air passing through the circulation ventilation path, and one end side communicated with the water tank and the other end It is characterized by comprising a communication pipe whose side is open to the outside of the water tank, and a filter member which is disposed inside the communication pipe and reduces moisture in the air passing through the communication pipe.

  According to the washer / dryer of the first aspect, since the one end side is connected to the water tank and the other end side is provided with a communication pipe that opens to the outside of the water tank, the air containing moisture in the water tank can be removed during the drying operation. A part is exhausted to the outside of the water tank through the communication pipe, and accordingly, the moisture component in the water tank is reduced. Thereby, the heating efficiency to warm airing is improved and drying efficiency can be improved.

  Further, since the filter member for reducing the humidity in the air is arranged inside the communication pipe, the humidity in the air exhausted from the inside of the water tank to the outside of the water tank through the communication pipe is reduced. It is possible to prevent condensation from occurring outside the water tank as much as possible.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal side view schematically showing an internal configuration of the washing / drying machine 1. A housing 2 forming an outer shell of the washing / drying machine 1 has a substantially rectangular shape, and a laundry doorway 3 is formed at a substantially central portion of the front plate 2a. Moreover, the door 4 which can open and close this laundry doorway 3 is provided rotatably.

  A water tank 5 having a substantially cylindrical shape is disposed inside the housing 2. The water tank 5 has an axial direction slightly rising and tilting forward, but is disposed in a substantially horizontal horizontal axis, and its lower part is a pair of two on the left and right (only one in FIG. 1). (Illustrated) Elastically supported by the elastic supporting device 6. A large opening 5a is formed in the front part of the water tank 5, and an intake port 7 is provided at the upper part of the opening 5a. Further, an exhaust port 8 is provided at a lower portion of the rear wall 5 b of the water tank 5.

  Inside the water tank 5, a substantially cylindrical drum 9 (corresponding to a rotating tank) is disposed coaxially with the water tank 5. That is, the drum 9 is supported around a slightly inclined horizontal horizontal axis, and can accommodate laundry (not shown) therein, and is shared by the washing operation, the dehydrating operation, and the drying operation. Is. The drum 9 has a large opening 9a on the front surface, and a plurality of small holes 9b (corresponding to holes) that allow water and air to pass through the trunk and rear wall. In addition, a plurality of baffles 9c for picking up laundry are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the drum portion of the drum 9 (only one is shown in FIG. 1). The openings 5 a and 9 a of the water tank 5 and the drum 9 are both open so as to face the laundry entrance 3 described above, and the opening 5 a of the water tank 5 is washed by a cylindrical bellows 10. It is watertightly connected to the material entrance 3.

  A drive motor 11 that rotates the drum 9 is disposed on the rear wall 5 b of the water tank 5. The drive motor 11 is, for example, an outer rotor type. The stator 11a is fixedly attached to the rear wall 5b of the water tank 5, and the rotor 11b is rotatably disposed outside the stator 11a. The rotating shaft 12 directly connected to the rotor 11b penetrates the water tank 5 in a watertight manner, and the rear wall of the drum 9 is connected and fixed to the front end portion of the rotating shaft 12. A concave portion 13 projecting downward is formed at the bottom of the water tank 5, and a hot water heater 14 for heating the washing water is disposed in the concave portion 13. Further, a drain hose 16 is connected to the bottom of the water tank 5 through an electric drain valve 15 so that washing water and the like in the water tank 5 are drained.

  One end side is connected to the above-described intake port 7 and the other end side is connected to the above-described exhaust port 8 on the outer periphery of the water tank 5 (the portion extending from the lower part of the rear wall 5b of the water tank 5 to the upper part of the front part of the water tank 5) A circulating air passage 17 is provided. The circulation air passage 17 is provided with a blower fan 18 (corresponding to the air blowing means) located at a substantially central portion of the circulation air passage 17. In addition, a heater device 19 (corresponding to a heating means) is provided at one end side (intake port 7 side) of the circulation air passage 17, and a heat exchanger 20 (to dehumidification means) is provided at the other end side (exhaust port 8 side). Equivalent).

  The blower fan 18 includes a blower blade 22 that can rotate in the fan case 21. By rotating the blower blade 22, the air in the water tank 5 is circulated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. It is supposed to let you. The heater device 19 includes a heater 24 in the heater case 23, and the heater 24 heats the air passing through the circulation air passage 17.

  The device case 25 of the heat exchanger 20 constitutes a part of the above-described circulation air passage 17, and a water supply valve 27 is connected to the upper portion of the device case 25 via a water injection pipe 26. The water supply valve 27 is an electromagnetic valve that can be switched to a plurality of stages, and is connected to a water supply source (not shown) such as water supply. Then, tap water (cooling water) is sprinkled from the water supply valve 27 through the water injection pipe 26 into the heat exchanger 20 (container case 25), thereby condensing moisture in the air passing through the circulation air passage 17 ( It is designed to dehumidify after cooling. A water supply case (not shown) for supplying tap water (washing water) into the water tank 5 is connected to the water supply valve 27 via a water supply pipe 28. Further, the heat exchanger 20 detects a temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting the temperature of the air exhausted from the water tank 5 and the temperature of tap water (cooling water) injected from the water injection pipe 26. Temperature sensor (not shown) for controlling the rotation speed and rotation time of the drum 9 during the drying operation based on the difference between the temperature of the air in the water tank 5 and the temperature of the cooling water. It has become so.

  With such a configuration, during the drying operation described later, the air in the water tank 5 and the circulation air passage 17 is heated by the heater device 19 and warmed in the process of being circulated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. After that, the air is sucked into the water tank 5 from the air inlet 7 to take away the moisture of the laundry in the water tank 5 (drum 9). The air (hot air) deprived of moisture in the water tank 5 is sent to the heat exchanger 20 from the exhaust port 8 and dehumidified, and then sent to the heater device 19 to be heated again (warm air). It has become.

A communication pipe 29 is provided above the rear wall 5b of the water tank 5 (upper left of the drive motor 11 in FIG. 2). Here, the communication pipe 29 will be described with reference to FIG.
The communication pipe 29 includes a joint part 30 and a tubular part 31. The joint portion 30 constituting the one end 29 a side (water tank 5 side) of the communication pipe 29 is communicated with the water tank 5 at one end 30 a side, and the other end 30 b side is bent in an approximately L shape toward the upper side of the water tank 5. It has a different shape. On the other hand, the tubular portion 31 constituting the other end 29b side (outside of the water tank 5) of the communication pipe 29 has one end 31a side connected to the other end 30b side of the joint portion 30, and the other end 31b side of the water tank 5. Open to the outside.

  Then, on one end 30 a side of the joint portion 30, that is, on the one end 29 a side of the communication pipe 29, an attachment piece 32 formed integrally with the joint portion 30 is fixed to the rear wall 5 b of the water tank 5 with screws 33. . On the other hand, a felt 34 (corresponding to a filter member) is disposed on the other end 31 b side of the tubular portion 31, that is, inside the other end 29 b side of the communication tube 29 so as to be positioned at the distal end portion 29 c of the communication tube 29. Yes. The felt 34 has air permeability and moisture absorption, and reduces moisture in the air by absorbing moisture in the air passing through the communication pipe 29. Further, a vent hole 34a penetrating the felt 34 is provided at a substantially central portion of the felt 34, so that air passing through the communication pipe 29 can be easily exhausted from the vent hole 34a.

  The distal end portion 29c of the communication pipe 29 is held so as to be inserted into a cutout portion 35a of a holding portion 35 provided on the water tank 5 side. The leading end portion 29c of the communication pipe 29 is not only opened to the outside of the water tank 5, but also has a felt 34 disposed therein, and is in an unstable state (easy to shake). Since the distal end portion 29c is held by the holding portion 35, the communicating tube 29 is in a state that hardly shakes even when vibration is applied.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a control unit 36 having various drive circuits is provided at the front upper part in the casing 2 of the washing and drying machine 1 as described above. The overall operation of the washing / drying machine 1 is controlled by 36.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When the user starts the operation of the washing / drying machine 1, normally, the drying operation is executed following the washing, rinsing and dehydrating operations. In this drying operation, the control unit 36 rotates the drum 9 storing the laundry at a low speed and drives the blower fan 18, the heater device 19, and the heat exchanger 20 to circulate the air in the water tank 5. Circulate through. At this time, the warm air sucked into the water tank 5 from the air inlet 7 comes into contact with the laundry in the drum 9 to take away the moisture of the laundry, thereby drying the laundry.

  The hot air used for the drying, that is, most of the hot air containing much moisture in the water tank 5 is exhausted from the exhaust port 8 and sent to the heat exchanger 20. However, in the washing / drying machine 1 of the present embodiment, since the communication pipe 29 is provided on the rear wall 5b of the water tank 5, a part of the hot air containing a lot of moisture in the water tank 5 is in the water tank 5. The air is exhausted from the communication pipe 29 to the outside of the water tank 5 by the air flow and pressure (see arrow B in FIG. 3), and accordingly, the moisture component in the water tank 5 decreases. Further, in this case, the warm air exhausted from the communication pipe 29 is exhausted to the outside of the water tank 5 in a state where moisture is reduced by the felt 34 inside the communication pipe 29, so that the moisture component is outside the water tank 5. It becomes difficult to be discharged.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the one end 29a side is communicated with the water tank 5 and the other end 29b side is provided with the communication pipe 29 opened to the outside of the water tank 5. A part of the air containing moisture is exhausted to the outside of the water tank 5 through the communication pipe 29, so that the moisture component in the water tank 5 can be reduced. Thereby, the heating efficiency for warming the air in the water tank 5 is improved, and the drying efficiency can be improved.

  Further, since the felt 34 for reducing the humidity in the air is arranged inside the communication pipe 29 described above, in the air exhausted from the inside of the water tank 5 to the outside of the water tank 5 through the communication pipe 29. Moisture can be reduced, and condensation can be prevented from occurring outside the water tank 5 as much as possible.

  In addition, since the felt 34 is disposed at the distal end portion 29c of the communication tube 29 and the distal end portion 29c of the communication tube 29 is held by the holding portion 35, the communication tube 29 (particularly, the distal end portion 29c) is hardly shaken. can do. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the communication pipe 29 from being damaged due to vibration during operation of the washing / drying machine 1. Even if the weight of the felt 34 is increased by absorbing moisture, the portion where the felt 34 is disposed (the tip portion 29c of the communication pipe 29) is held. It is also possible to prevent the tube 29 from being easily shaken or damaged.

  Further, since the communication pipe 29 is composed of the joint portion 30 constituting the one end 29a side and the tubular portion 31 constituting the other end 29b side, the joint portion 30 and the tubular portion 31 are made of materials having different properties. Can be configured. For example, the joint portion 30 is made of a material having excellent moldability and strength (polypropylene or the like), while the tubular portion 31 is made of a material having excellent heat dissipation properties (such as vinyl chloride). The strength can be increased on the one end 29 a side of the communication pipe 29 that is likely to be applied, and the moisture in the air in the communication pipe 29 is radiated in the communication pipe 29 on the other end 29 b side of the communication pipe 29 to cause condensation. This makes it easier to exhaust the moisture to the outside of the water tank 5.

  Further, since the joint portion 30 is configured to be bent in an approximately L shape toward the upper side of the water tank 5, a part of the moisture absorbed by the felt 34 and the condensed water condensed in the communication pipe 29 are stored in the water tank 5. The water flows to the side of the water tank 5 without spilling outside, and is drained from the drain valve 15 through the rear wall 5b of the water tank 5.

In addition, since the communication pipe 29 as a whole is bent into a substantially L shape, the communication pipe 29 can be stored compactly on the back surface of the water tank 5.
Further, since the communication pipe 29 is provided not on the peripheral side wall of the water tank 5 but on the rear wall 5b, the spray from the drum 9 during dehydration can be made difficult to enter the communication pipe 29.

(Second Embodiment)
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment described above, the felt 34 is exemplified only in the distal end portion 29c of the communication pipe 29, that is, the tubular portion 31. In the second embodiment, the felt 34 is provided with the felt 34. The thing of the structure arrange | positioned not only at the tubular part 31 but at the coupling part 30 is shown. Hereinafter, description of the same parts as those of the first embodiment will be omitted, and only different parts will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a felt 34 similar to that described in the first embodiment is disposed inside the joint portion 30 on the other end 30 b side. In addition, the felt 34 is arrange | positioned also inside the tubular part 31 at the other end 31b side similarly to what was described in 1st Embodiment. That is, the felt 34 is arranged inside the joint part 30 and inside the tubular part 31.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described.
During the drying operation of the washing / drying machine 1, a part of the hot air containing a lot of moisture in the water tank 5 is exhausted from the communication pipe 29 to the outside of the water tank 5 in the same manner as described in the first embodiment. (See arrow C in FIG. 4). At this time, in the second embodiment, the warm air exhausted from the communication pipe 29 is dampened by the felt 34 in the joint pipe 30 and the tubular part 31 at two locations inside the communication pipe 29. Is exhausted to the outside of the water tank 5 in a reduced state. Therefore, compared with what was described in the first embodiment, the moisture component is more difficult to be discharged to the outside of the water tank 5.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, since the felt 34 is arranged in each of the inside of the joint portion 30 and the inside of the tubular portion 31, the water tank 5 is connected via the communication pipe 29. Moisture in the air exhausted from the inside of the water tank 5 to the outside of the water tank 5 can be reduced at two locations inside the joint part 30 and inside the tubular part 31 inside the communication pipe 29, and dew condensation outside the water tank 5 Can be further prevented from occurring.

(Other embodiments)
In addition, this invention is not limited to each above-mentioned embodiment, It can deform | transform or expand as follows.
The filter member is not limited to the felt 34, and any filter member that reduces moisture in the air can be used. Further, the vent hole 34a in the felt 34 is not necessarily required, and may be formed as necessary.

As a heating means, it is not restricted to the heater apparatus 19, For example, the thermal radiation part of a heat pump, etc. may be sufficient.
The communication pipe 29 may be configured as one member instead of the joint part 30 and the tubular part 31.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The 1st Embodiment of this invention is shown, The vertical side view which shows roughly the internal structure of a washing-drying machine The perspective view which shows the internal structure of a washing-drying machine by fracture | rupturing a part of housing | casing Longitudinal side view near the communication pipe FIG. 3 equivalent view showing the second embodiment of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is a washing / drying machine, 5 is a water tank, 7 is an air inlet, 8 is an air outlet, 9 is a drum (rotary tank), 9b is a hole, 17 is a circulation air passage, 18 is a blower fan (air blowing means), Reference numeral 19 denotes a heater device (heating means), 20 denotes a heat exchanger (dehumidification means), 29 denotes a communication pipe, 30 denotes a joint portion, 31 denotes a tubular portion, 34 denotes a felt (filter member), and 35 denotes a holding portion.

Claims (4)

A water tank disposed in the body and having an intake port and an exhaust port;
A rotating tub that is rotatably disposed in the water tub, has a plurality of holes through which water and air can be passed, and accommodates laundry;
A circulating air passage having one end connected to the air inlet of the water tank and the other end connected to the exhaust;
Air blowing means for circulating air in the water tank through the circulation air passage;
Heating means for heating air passing through the circulation air passage;
Dehumidifying means for condensing and dehumidifying moisture in the air passing through the circulation air passage;
A communication pipe having one end side communicated with the water tank and the other end side opened to the outside of the water tank;
A washing / drying machine comprising a filter member disposed inside the communication pipe and configured to reduce moisture in the air passing through the communication pipe. The communication pipe is
One end of the joint communicated with the water tank and is bent in a substantially L shape toward the upper side of the water tank;
The washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein one end side is connected to the other end side of the joint portion, and the other end side is formed of a tubular portion that opens to the outside of the water tank.   The washing / drying machine according to claim 2, wherein the filter member is disposed in each of the inside of the joint portion and the inside of the tubular portion. The washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein the filter member is disposed at a distal end portion of the communication pipe, and a distal end portion of the communication pipe is held by a holding portion.

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