JP2007229377A - Clothes drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To catch lint in a drying operation and prevent the caught lint from being discharged outside a machine in a cooling operation in the machine passing air outside a ventilation flue from a suction port provided in the ventilation flue through an evaporator of a heat pump by an inverse flow to an air flow in the drying operation and discharging it from an air blowing flue. <P>SOLUTION: A filter 70 for catching the lint is provided in the upstream side of the air flow (an arrow A) in the drying operation of a part where the cooling air blowing flue 61 is branched from the ventilation flue. This constitution can prevent the air from passing through the filter in the flow inverse to the air flow of the drying operation so as to catch the lint in the drying operation and prevent the caught lint from being discharged outside the machine in the cooling operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothes dryer having a heat pump for drying clothes.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, clothes dryers that include a heat pump for drying clothes have been attracting attention as having good drying performance and being effective in saving energy. In a clothes dryer equipped with this heat pump, the air in the drying chamber containing the clothes is circulated through the ventilation path in which the evaporator and condenser of the heat pump are circulated, and the air is cooled and dehumidified with the evaporator. The garment is gradually dried by repeatedly heating the air with a condenser, feeding it sequentially into the drying chamber, and passing air deprived of moisture from the garment through the air passage.

  Therefore, moisture generated when the clothes are dried is collected by the evaporator, the latent heat absorbed in the folding is converted into a high-temperature refrigerant state by the compressor, and reused as energy for heating the air by the condenser. In this way, the energy can be reused without losing almost any energy except for a slight heat loss outside. Therefore, efficient drying can be realized.

Therefore, in this case, the ventilation path is blocked at a portion between the evaporator and the condenser, and instead, the discharge path branched from the ventilation path is opened and the intake air provided in the ventilation path is opened. Opening the mouth and discharging the air outside the ventilation path through the evaporator through the evaporator and out of the ventilation path from the air outlet to cool the space such as the washroom where the clothes dryer is installed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP-A-9-56992

When clothes are dried, lint (lint) scatters from the clothes. In the above conventional clothes dryer, if the lint does not have a filter that captures lint, it is carried to the air that comes out of the drying chamber during the drying operation, and the ventilation path in which the evaporator and the condenser of the heat pump are arranged. Therefore, it adheres to the evaporator and the condenser and obstructs the air flow. Moreover, it also hinders contact (heat exchange) between the evaporator and condenser and air.
Therefore, it is common to provide a filter for capturing lint on the evaporator and condenser arrangement part of the ventilation path, particularly on the upstream side of the upstream evaporator part.

  On the other hand, in the clothes dryer, unlike the above-described conventional one, the air intake passage is branched from the upstream side of the evaporator passage portion of the air passage and the air outside the air passage is provided in the air passage. It is considered that the air flow from the mouth is the reverse of the air flow at the time of the drying operation, passes through the evaporator, and is discharged out of the machine from the air discharge path.

  In FIG. 5, 1 is a drying chamber, 2 is a ventilation path, 3 is an evaporator of a heat pump, 4 is a condenser of a heat pump, and 5 is a circulation that circulates air in the drying chamber 1 through the ventilation path 2 as indicated by a solid line arrow A. Blower, 6 is an air outlet, 7 is an air inlet, 8 is a damper for switching the air flow between the air path 2 and the air outlet 6, and 9 is an air inlet as shown by the broken line arrow B in the air outside the air path 2 7 shows an air blower for discharging air from the air discharge path 6 through the evaporator 3 in a flow opposite to the air flow during the drying operation.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the filter 10 that captures lint is immediately upstream of the air flow (arrow A) during the drying operation of the portion where the evaporator 3 is disposed in the ventilation path 2 (drying operation). When provided in the air flow passing through the evaporator 3 (immediately downstream of the arrow B), the lint L captured by the filter 10 during the drying operation is dried during the cooling operation. Due to the air flow opposite to the air flow during operation, the air is separated from the filter 10 and discharged outside the apparatus together with the air (cold air) discharged outside the apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and therefore, the object of the present invention is to divide the air discharge passage from the upstream side of the evaporator arrangement portion of the air passage and provide air outside the air passage in the air passage. The air flow from the intake port is the reverse of the air flow during the drying operation, and the air is discharged from the air outlet through the evaporator. The lint can be captured during the drying operation, and the captured lint is cooled. An object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer that can be prevented from being discharged outside the machine.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the clothes dryer of the present invention, the operation of drying the clothes by circulating the air in the drying chamber through the ventilation path provided with the evaporator and condenser of the heat pump, and the ventilation Open the air discharge path branched from the upstream side of the evaporator-arranged portion of the passage, and the air flow outside the ventilation passage from the intake port provided in the ventilation passage in the flow opposite to the air flow at the time of the drying operation A filter that captures lint is selected from a portion of the ventilation path where the discharge path is branched in the drying operation. It is provided in the upstream of the airflow of this (Invention of Claim 1).

  According to the above means, the filter for capturing the lint is provided on the upstream side of the air flow during the drying operation from the portion of the ventilation path where the air discharge path branches, so that the lint can be captured during the drying operation. The captured lint can be prevented from being discharged outside during the cooling operation.

Hereinafter, the present invention is applied to a washing and drying machine, and a first example (first embodiment) will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
First, FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of a washing / drying machine, especially a drum type (horizontal axis) washing / drying machine. A water tank 22 is arranged inside the outer box 21 and rotated inside the water tank 22. A tank (drum) 23 is provided.

  The water tank 22 and the rotating tank 23 are both cylindrical, and have respective openings 24 and 25 at the front end face (left side in the figure). Among these, the opening 25 of the rotating tub 23 is for putting in and out the laundry (clothing), and the opening 24 of the water tub 22 surrounds it. Further, the opening 24 of the water tub 22 is connected to an opening 26 for putting in and out the laundry formed on the front surface of the outer box 21 by a bellows 27, and a door 28 can be opened and closed at the opening 26 of the outer box 21. Provided.

  The rotary tank 23 is also provided with, for example, a liquid-filled rotary balancer 29 around the opening 25, and a hole 30 is formed in the entire region of the peripheral side (body). The hole 30 functions as a water passage hole during washing and dehydration, and functions as a ventilation hole during drying. In addition, a plurality of baffles 31 protrude from the inner surface of the circumferential side portion of the rotating tub 23, and a plurality of temperature is arranged on the rear end surface portion of the rotating tub 23 in an annular arrangement concentric with the center thereof. A wind inlet 32 is formed.

  On the other hand, in the water tank 22, a hot air outlet 33 is formed in the upper part of the front end surface part (a part above the opening 24), and the hot air inlet 32 is formed in the upper part of the rear end surface part. The hot air inlet 34 is formed so as to face the rotation trajectory. In addition, a drain port 35 is formed at the bottom of the bottom of the water tank 22, a drain valve 36 is connected to the drain port 35 outside the water tank 22, and a drain hose 37 is connected to the drain valve 36. Thus, the water in the water tank 22 is discharged outside the apparatus.

A motor 38 is attached to the back surface of the water tank 22, and a rotating shaft 39 of the motor 38 is inserted into the water tank 22, and the center of the rear end face of the rotating tank 23 is attached to the tip of the motor 38. . Thereby, the rotating tub 23 is coaxially and rotatably supported by the water tub 22. The water tank 22 is elastically supported on the outer box 21 by a plurality of suspensions 40 (only one is shown), and the support form is a horizontal axis in which the axial direction of the water tank 22 is front and rear, and is also lifted forward. Therefore, the rotary tank 23 supported by the water tank 22 as described above has the same configuration.
In this case, the motor 38 is an outer rotor type, and is a thin brushless DC motor, and functions as a driving device for rotating the rotating tub 23.

  A base plate 41 is disposed below the water tank 22 (on the bottom surface of the outer box 21), and a ventilation duct 42 is disposed on the base plate 41. The ventilation duct 42 has an air intake port 43 at the upper part of the front end portion, and the hot air outlet 33 of the water tank 22 is connected to the air intake port 43 via a return air duct 44 and a connection hose 45. . The return air duct 44 is piped so as to bypass the left side of the opening 24 of the water tank 22.

  On the other hand, a casing 47 of a circulation fan 46 is connected to the rear end of the ventilation duct 42, and an outlet 48 of the casing 47 is connected to the water tank 22 via a connection hose 49 and an air supply duct 50. It is connected to the hot air inlet 34. The air supply duct 50 is piped so as to bypass the left side of the motor 38.

As a result, the return air duct 44, the connection hose 45, the ventilation duct 42, the casing 47 of the circulation fan 46, the connection hose 49, and the air supply duct 50 connect the hot air outlet 33 and the hot air inlet 34 of the water tank 22. A ventilation path 51 is provided in connection.
In this case, the circulation fan 46 is a centrifugal fan, and has a centrifugal impeller 52 inside the casing 47, and has a motor 53 that rotates the centrifugal impeller 52 outside the casing 47. ing.

  Thus, in the ventilation path 51, the evaporator 54 is arranged at the front part and the condenser 55 is arranged at the rear part inside the ventilation duct 42. Although neither of these evaporators 54 and condensers 55 is shown in detail, it is a finned tube type in which a large number of heat transfer fins are arranged at a fine pitch on the refrigerant distribution pipe, and has excellent heat exchange properties. A wind flowing through the ventilation duct 42 as will be described later passes between the heat transfer fins.

  Further, the evaporator 54 and the condenser 55 constitute a heat pump 58 together with the compressor 56 and the throttle valve (especially an electronic throttle valve) 57 shown in FIG. 2. In this heat pump 58, a connection pipe 59 is provided. Thus, the compressor 56, the condenser 55, the throttle valve 57, and the evaporator 54 are cycle-connected in this order (refrigeration cycle), and the refrigerant is circulated when the compressor 56 is operated.

  Further, a communication port 60 is formed in the front surface portion of the ventilation duct 42 on the upstream side of the portion where the evaporator 54 is disposed, and the front surface portion (portion where the evaporator 54 is disposed) of the ventilation duct 42 is formed by the communication port 60. The air discharge path 61 is branched from the upstream side. The air discharge path 61 is provided so that the lower part in the outer box 21 extends forward and upward, and is directed forward, so that the outlet portion 62 faces forward and faces the outside of the machine. It is out. A shutter 63 is provided at the outlet 62. More specifically, the shutter 63 is supported at its lower end portion so as to be pivotable forward and backward by a support shaft 64, and is rotated by the power of a driving device such as a motor or an electromagnet (not shown) to open and close the outlet portion 62. However, the outlet 62 is closed except during the cooling operation described later.

  On the other hand, an intake port 65 is formed in the upper wall of the intermediate portion of the ventilation duct 42, which is a portion between the evaporator 54 and the condenser 55 in the ventilation passage 51, and the inlet portion of the ventilation passage 61 is formed. The communication opening 60 is provided with a switching damper 66. Specifically, the upper end of the switching damper 66 is supported by a support shaft 67 so as to be rotatable forward and backward, and is rotated by the power of a driving device such as a motor or an electromagnet (not shown) to open the communication port 60. It functions as an air path switching device for switching between opening and closing of the air duct 61, and closing and opening the air inlet 43 of the ventilation duct 42, and closing and opening the air passage 51. It is like that.

  Further, a wind blower 68 is provided in the air discharge path 61. In this case, the air blower 68 is a cross-flow fan, and a cross-flow impeller 69 formed by arranging a large number of long blade pieces in a cylindrical shape is disposed inside the air discharge path 61 and rotated. A motor (not shown) is juxtaposed outside the air discharge path 61.

  A filter 70 is provided in a portion of the ventilation duct 42 above the communication port 60. The portion above the communication port 60 of the ventilation duct 42 provided with the filter 70 is upstream of the air flow during the drying operation described later from the portion where the air discharge path 61 of the ventilation path 51 is branched.

  Further, the filter 70 captures lint that scatters from the laundry (clothing). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, a mesh-like filter body 71 is stretched around a frame 72 and a handle is attached to the frame 72. The handle 73 has a hollow shape and has a push lid 74 on the front surface, and the user pushes the push lid 74 with his hand as shown by a two-dot chain line. The hand can be put on the upper handle 75. Note that the push lid 74 returns to the original closed state by the biasing force of a spring or the like (not shown) when the push is released.

  On the other hand, a filter inlet / outlet 76 is formed in a lower portion of the front portion of the outer box 21 and above the outlet portion 62 of the air discharge path 61, and the ventilation duct 42, which is behind the filter inlet / outlet 76. The filter passage 77 and the upper and lower guide portions 78 and 79 are formed in a portion above the communication port 60 of the filter 70, and thereby the portion of the filter main body 71 of the filter 70 is inserted into the air duct 42 so as to block it. I try to let them.

Further, a micro switch 80 is disposed behind the portion of the ventilation duct 42 where the filter 70 is located. The micro switch 80 responds to the insertion / removal of the filter 70 and is turned on by being pressed by the frame 72 when the filter 70 is inserted, and is turned off by being released from the pressure by the frame 72 when the filter 70 is taken out. Therefore, it functions as a detecting means for detecting the attachment and removal of the filter 70.
In the upper part of the outer box 21, a power supply system control unit 81 and a display system control unit 82 necessary for controlling the washing and drying machine, a water supply valve 83 for supplying water into the water tank 22, a water supply case 84, In addition, a water supply hose 85 is provided.

Next, the operation of the washing / drying machine having the above configuration will be described.
In the washing and drying machine having the above configuration, when a standard operation course is started, a washing (washing and rinsing) operation is started first. In this washing operation, an operation of supplying water from the water supply valve 83 to the water tank 22 through the water supply case 84 and the water supply hose 85 is performed, and then the motor 38 is operated, so that the rotating tank 23 is operated at low speed in both forward and reverse directions. Alternately rotated.

  When the washing operation is completed, the dehydration operation is then started. In this dehydration operation, after the water in the water tank 22 is discharged, an operation of rotating the rotating tank 23 in one direction at a high speed is performed. Thereby, the laundry in the rotating tub 23 is centrifugally dehydrated.

  When the dehydration operation is completed, a drying operation is next performed. In this drying operation, the switching damper 66 is set so as to open the air inlet 43 of the air duct 42 and close the communication port 60 as shown by a solid line in FIG. In this state, the motor 53 of the circulation fan 46 is operated while rotating the rotating tub 23 in both forward and reverse directions at a low speed. Then, as shown by a solid arrow A in FIG. 1, the air in the water tank 22 flows from the hot air outlet 33 through the return air duct 44 and the connection hose 45 of the air passage 51 by the air blowing action of the centrifugal impeller 52. Into the inside.

  At this time, the operation of the compressor 56 of the heat pump 58 is started. As a result, the refrigerant sealed in the heat pump 58 is compressed into a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant, and the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant flows into the condenser 55 to exchange heat with the air in the ventilation duct 42. As a result, the air in the ventilation duct 42 is heated, and conversely, the temperature of the refrigerant is lowered and liquefied. The liquefied refrigerant then passes through the throttle valve 57 and is decompressed, and then flows into the evaporator 54 and vaporizes. Thereby, the evaporator 54 cools the air in the ventilation duct 42. The refrigerant that has passed through the evaporator 54 returns to the compressor 56.

As a result, the air flowing into the ventilation duct 42 from the water tank 22 is cooled by the evaporator 54 and dehumidified, and then heated by the condenser 55 to be warmed. The hot air is supplied from the hot air inlet 34 into the water tank 22 through the connection hose 49 and the air supply duct 50, and further supplied from the hot air inlet 32 into the rotary tank 23.
The hot air supplied into the rotary tub 23 deprives the laundry of moisture, and then flows from the hot air outlet 33 into the ventilation duct 42 through the return air duct 44 and the connection hose 45.

  Thus, air circulates between the ventilation duct 42 having the evaporator 54 and the condenser 55 and the rotating tub 23, whereby the laundry in the rotating tub 23 is dried. Therefore, in this case, the inside of the rotary tank 23 functions as a drying chamber.

  Also, during this drying operation, the lint scattered from the laundry is carried by the air coming out of the rotating tub 23, passes through the return air duct 44 and the connecting hose 45, and is captured by the filter 70 as indicated by lint L in FIG. Is done. Therefore, the lint L does not pass through the portion of the ventilation path 51 where the evaporator 54 and the condenser 55 are disposed, and the lint L adheres to the evaporator 54 and the condenser 55 and obstructs the air flow. And contact between the evaporator 54 and the condenser 55 and the air (heat exchange) can be prevented.

  On the other hand, when cooling the space where the washing and drying machine is installed, the switching damper 66 opens the communication port 60 of the ventilation duct 42 and closes the air suction port 43 as shown in FIG. In this state, the operation of the compressor 56 of the heat pump 58 is started, and the blower fan 68 is operated.

  As a result, as shown by a broken line arrow B in FIG. 4, the air outside the ventilation duct 42 is sucked into the ventilation duct 42 from the intake port 65, and the evaporator 54 is opposite to the air flow during the drying operation described above. It is cooled in the flow. Then, the cooled air is discharged from the communication port 60 through the air discharge path 61 to the front outside the apparatus, and the space where the washing and drying machine is installed is cooled. Along with this, air outside the machine is sucked into the outer box 21 (outside the ventilation duct 42) from an air inlet (not shown) of the outer box 21.

  At this time, the filter 70 is positioned upstream of the air flow during the drying operation from the portion of the ventilation path 51 where the air discharge path 61 branches (communication port 60). Air does not pass through the flow opposite to the air flow at the time, and the lint L captured by the filter 70 during the drying operation is peeled off from the filter 10 during the cooling operation and discharged (cool air) to the outside of the machine. Will not be discharged.

  Note that the lint L captured by the filter 70 can be removed from the filter 70 by removing the filter 70 from the machine, and the filter 70 from which the lint L has been removed may be remounted. Further, when the filter 70 is taken out, the micro switch 80 is turned off to detect the removal of the filter 70. Thus, in the case of the present configuration, when the drying operation is being performed or when it is being performed, the circulation switch is used. When the air blower 46 is in an inoperable state and the cooling operation is or is being performed, the air blower air blower 68 is in an inoperable state. In this case, the operation may be completely disabled, but if the heat pump 58 is stopped during the operation, it takes time to equilibrate the refrigerant pressure balance and restarts. Since it takes time, it is better to avoid the inoperable state.

  As described above, in this configuration, the air discharge path 61 is branched from the upstream side of the portion where the evaporator 54 is provided in the air flow path 51, and the air outside the air flow path 51 is dried from the intake port 65 provided in the air flow path 51. The filter 70 that captures lint from the portion of the air passage 51 where the air discharge passage 61 is branched is one that flows through the evaporator 54 and is discharged from the air discharge passage 61 in a flow opposite to the air flow at the time. By providing the filter 70 on the upstream side of the air flow during the drying operation, air does not pass through the filter 70 in a direction opposite to the air flow during the drying operation, and thus lint can be captured during the drying operation. The captured lint can be prevented from being discharged out of the apparatus during cooling operation.

In addition, in the case of this configuration, the filter 70 can be taken out above the outlet part 62 of the air discharge path 61, and the filter 70 can be taken out and mounted at a higher position than the lowest part of the outer box 21. , Handling can be improved.
The filter 70 may be taken out by the user pushing the lid 74 on the front surface of the handle portion 73 open with his hand and pulling the handle portion 75 with his hand. The filter 70 can be mounted by inserting the filter 70 from the filter inlet / outlet 76 of the outer box 21 with the filter main body 71 side first, and the inserted filter 70 passes through the filter passage 77 of the ventilation duct 42. It fits between the guide portions 78 and 79 and is attached.

  As mentioned above, although one Example of this invention was described, this invention is not restricted to it, Especially as a whole washing-drying machine, it is not restricted to the above-mentioned horizontal axis shape, It has a water tank and a rotation tank in the shape of a vertical axis | shaft. It may be in the form of a vertical axis, and is not limited to a washer / dryer having both a washing function and a drying function, but can be applied to a clothes dryer having only a drying function. And can be implemented with appropriate changes.

1 is a longitudinal side view of the entire drying operation showing a first embodiment of the present invention. Cycle diagram of heat pump Enlarged longitudinal side view of the main part Vertical side view of the entire cooling operation 1 equivalent diagram showing a conventional example

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawing, 23 is a rotating tank (drying chamber), 51 is a ventilation path, 54 is an evaporator, 55 is a condenser, 58 is a heat pump, 61 is an air discharge path, 62 is an outlet, 65 is an inlet, and 70 is a filter. Indicates.

Claims (2)

An operation for drying clothes by circulating the air in the drying chamber through a ventilation path provided with an evaporator and a condenser of a heat pump, and an air discharge path branched from the upstream side of the evaporator installation portion of the ventilation path And the operation of discharging the air outside the ventilation path from the intake port provided in the ventilation path through the evaporator in the reverse flow to the air flow at the time of the drying operation and discharging from the air discharge path to the outside of the machine In what made the selection possible,
A clothes dryer, wherein a filter that captures lint is provided on an upstream side of an air flow during the drying operation from a portion of the ventilation path where the air discharge path branches.   2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the filter can be taken out above the outlet of the air discharge path.

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