JP2007259978A - Clothes drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clothes drying machine drying clothes by a heat pump installed in a casing, having an air blowing function outward blowing cool air or warm air from a body front face in an optional time when executing no drying operation, and changing the opening/closing and an opening angle of an air blow-out part to the outside. <P>SOLUTION: This cloth drying machine is rotatably provided with a drum 9 in the casing forming an outer shell; is so constituted as to dry laundry by introducing heated air from a condenser into the drum, and circulating it by the operations of the heat pump 12 having the compressor 14, a condenser 13 and evaporator 16 and the air blower 17 disposed in the housing in the drying operation, and to drive a heat pump in the optional time excluding at least the drying operation, and outward blow out the cool air or the warm air from a blow-out member 21 turnably provided in an air blowing port 23 in the front face of the casing, and opens/closes the blow-out part by the turning of the blow-out member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothes dryer in which clothes in a drum are dried by a heat pump and air-conditioned by blowing air to the outer periphery.

  In recent years, as shown in a schematic configuration in FIG. 7, the washing and drying machine has a rotating tub as a horizontal axis type drum (59) and an opening provided on the front side of the housing (52), and a laundry inlet (54 The so-called drum-type washer / dryer (51) has been commercialized and is becoming popular. The washing tub (56) in this kind of drum-type washing and drying machine has a horizontal cylindrical shape, and a support device (61) in the casing (52) that forms the outer shell so that the front is higher than the horizontal. A drum (59) is rotatably provided in the water tank (56) so as to form a gap with the water tank (6), and the drum (59) is a water tank. (56) Driven directly by a motor (60) attached to the rear surface.

  A door (55) for opening and closing the loading port (54) is disposed at the loading port (54) for loading and unloading the laundry provided on the front side of the housing (52). The door (55) is locked when drying, and the washing water in the water tank (56) is sealed so that it does not overflow outside through a gap or the like. Therefore, when the laundry is dried, the water tank (56) is separately provided. Heated air generated by a drying unit (62) composed of a drying heater (63) and a fan (67) disposed above is introduced into the drum (59) to dry clothes and the like.

On the other hand, recently, a technique in which a clothing drying device using heat condensed by a heat pump has been invented, and further, as shown in FIG. 8, a clothing drying device (71) using a horizontal axis type rotary tank (79). Have been proposed that perform air conditioning with a heat pump (82) in addition to clothes drying (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This is because the heated air discharged from the heating fin (83) that condenses the refrigerant in the heat pump (82) is introduced into the rotating drum-shaped drying chamber (79) to dry the clothing and the air for drying the clothing. The circuit (88) (89) is shut off, the outside air is introduced from the outside by the fan (87), the cooling dehumidification fin (86) is cooled and discharged to the outside of the equipment, or the air is cooled. Air conditioning such as heating.
Japanese Patent No. 3330789

  However, the method using a drying unit comprising a heater and a fan has a difficulty in increasing power consumption because it is necessary to increase the heater capacity in order to shorten the drying time.

  On the other hand, in the one shown in the above-mentioned patent document 1, due to the overall structure of the clothes drying device (71), a heavy compressor (84), cooling / dehumidifying fin (86), heating fin ( 83) is arranged in the lower part of the apparatus main body (71), and the front damper (91), which is inevitably a blowout part to the outside of the apparatus, is arranged in the lower part of the apparatus main body. Will be located. Therefore, even if air conditioning is performed in this state, cold air or warm air can be released only around the lower part of the device. In particular, in the case of cold air discharge, it is necessary to cool the upper part of the body by cooling only the feet. The user's desire will not be met.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and when the clothes are dried by a heat pump installed in the housing and the drying operation is not performed, cold air or warm air is discharged outward from the front of the main body. An object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer that has an air blowing function for blowing air and that can change the opening and closing of the air blowing portion to the outside and the opening angle.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the clothes dryer in the present invention is provided with a drum that is rotatable in a casing that forms an outer shell, and includes a compressor, a condenser, and an evaporator disposed in the casing during a drying operation. Heated air from the condenser is introduced into the drum and circulated by the operation of the heat pump and the air blower to dry the laundry, and at least at any time except during the drying operation, the heat pump is driven to generate cold or warm air. The blower member is configured to be blown outward from a blower member rotatably provided at the blower opening on the front surface of the housing, and the blowout part is opened and closed by turning of the blower member.

  According to the clothes dryer of the present invention, the drying operation can be effectively performed by the warm air and the dehumidifying function by the heat pump, and at least when the drying operation is not performed, the cool air or the warm air using the heat pump is used. Can be effectively blown out in the desired outward direction, and the surrounding space can be made more comfortable.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drum-type washing / drying machine (1) shown in FIG. 1, an operation panel (3) for selecting and setting a washing course and the like is arranged on the upper front side of the casing (2) that forms the outer shell. At the same time, when the door (5) having a transparent window for opening and closing the opening (4) is opened at the center of the front, a circular insertion opening (4) for taking in and out the laundry is opened. It arrange | positions so that the front surface may become substantially the same surface as the front surface of a housing | casing (2).

  A water tank (6) is disposed inside the housing (2). The aquarium (6) has a horizontal cylindrical shape with the back closed, and an annular aquarium cover (6a) is attached to the opening periphery of the front surface, and a pair of support devices (not shown) provided on the left and right of the bottom of the aquarium (6). A drainage hose (8) is connected to the body (2) elastically, and the drainage hose (8) is connected to the lower part of the back side through the drainage valve (7) to lead the washing water in the water tub (6) out of the machine. ing.

  Inside the water tank (6), a bottomed cylindrical drum (9) that is rotatable about a horizontal axis is disposed. The drum (9) is supported in an inclined state slightly upward toward the front along the water tub (6). A large number of dewatering holes (9a) are formed in the peripheral wall of the trunk portion, and the laundry is scraped on the inner peripheral surface thereof. A plurality of raising baffles (9b) are provided. In addition, an annular drum cover (9c) is attached to the front opening side, and is disposed so as to face the charging port (4) together with the water tank cover (6a), and functions as a shared tank in the washing process and the dewatering process. It is.

  The closed back surface of the drum (9) is pivotally supported by the closed back surface portion of the water tank (6), and is rotated by a motor (10) controlled at a rotational speed corresponding to a washing and dewatering process. The motor (10) is, for example, an outer rotor type, and the inner stator (10c) is fixed to the water tank (6) side, and the rotating shaft (10b) directly connected to the outer rotor (10a) is connected to the water tank (6). ) And the rear wall of the drum (9) are connected to the center of the back surface.

  A bellows (11) made of a soft resin material having excellent chemical resistance is attached to the gap between the opening periphery of the inlet (4) and the water tank cover (6a) at the front opening of the water tank (6). In order to prevent leakage from the water tank (6) to the outside of the machine, a part of the water tank (6) is extended and brought into contact with the back side of the door (5) in the closed state, and water from the input port (4) to the outside of the machine Leakage is prevented, and a bellows portion is provided to prevent the rotational vibration of the water tank (6) and the drum (9) from being transmitted to the door (5) side.

  The drum-type washing / drying machine (1) having the above-described structure automatically executes the washing, rinsing, and dehydrating function processes by selecting and setting the process, and the laundry is supplied to the drum (9) through the insertion port (4). In the washing and rinsing process, the drum (9) is rotated at a low speed while washing water is supplied into the water tub (6), and the laundry is baffled (9b). Washing is carried out by agitating motion to scrape and drop, and in the dehydration process, the drain valve (7) is opened and the washing water after the rinsing process is discharged from the drain hose (8) to the outside, and then the drum (9) is Centrifugal dehydration is performed from a number of dewatering holes (9a) provided on the peripheral wall of the body by rotating at high speed in one direction.

  A unit of the heat pump (12) is installed in the front-rear direction at a substantially central part in the width direction of the lower part of the casing (2), and the drum ( This is driven while rotating 9) variously, and heat generated in the condenser (13) by the heat pump is used for drying the laundry.

  That is, the heat pump (12) has a compressor (14) that compresses and discharges refrigerant on one side of the bottom surface of the housing (2), and a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor (14). The condenser (13) that dissipates heat and condenses, the decompression device (15) such as an expansion valve or capillary that decompresses the high-pressure refrigerant, and the evaporator (16) that absorbs heat by evaporating the decompressed refrigerant It is configured to be connected, and when the heat pump (12) is driven during the drying process of the washing and drying operation, the drying blower (17) disposed on the back side of the condenser (13) is simultaneously controlled to rotate. .

  The heat pump (12) and the blower (17) are arranged such that the drum (9) and the water tank (6) are inclined toward the front upper part with respect to the housing (2). It is installed using a space formed between the bottom surface of the main body and can be arranged compactly without requiring a large space dedicated to the heat pump.

  The drying fan (17) is configured to remove the dry air heated to about 70 ° C. by the condenser (13) that is at a high temperature from the downstream side of the drying fan (17) and the rear side portion of the drum (9). The drum (9) is blown into the drum (9) from the peripheral portion of the motor (10) through the communicating drum inlet duct (18), and dried by contacting with the laundry. Further, air that has been humidified by contact with the laundry flows out from the drum (9) to the outside through the inlet (4) and the peripheral dewatering hole (9a), and the drum outlet duct (19) Then, moisture in the air is removed by passing through the low-temperature evaporator (16), and then returned to the high-temperature condenser (13) to be circulated as reheated dry air.

  Thus, at a position facing the evaporator (16) disposed at the lower part on the front side of the washing machine main body (1), a blowout member (21) and a blower fan (which are formed to have a relatively wide width as a blowout portion) 22). The blower fan (22) sends cool air indicated by an arrow from the evaporator (16) positioned at the rear to the blower port (23) obliquely above, and the width dimension of the blowout member (21) The cross flow fan is provided with a large number of blades around a rotating shaft having a predetermined length according to the above.

  The blower port (23) is disposed at a position branched forward from the middle of the drum outlet duct (19) communicating with the evaporator (16), and a blowout member ( 21) is turned up and down to open and close the blower opening (23) and to blow air outward.

  A switching damper (24) is disposed at a branch portion of the drum outlet duct (19), and the blowing member (21) is placed at the position of the solid line during the drying stroke after the washing operation. In addition to closing the side, the air flow path on the evaporator (16) side is opened from the drum outlet duct (19) so as not to hinder the flow of hot air circulating in the drum (9).

  Further, when the blowing member (21) and the blower fan (22) are driven as a cold air or hot air blowing function, the drum outlet duct as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 which is an enlarged view of the blower port (23). The (19) side is closed, and the low-temperature air from the evaporator (16) cooled by the driven heat pump (12) is blown out into the front outside air from the blower port (23).

  The blowing member (21) is formed in a wide rectangular tube shape, and pivots provided at both ends are engaged with the side walls of the air blowing port (23) and supported so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. As shown in the figure, by energizing a stepping motor (25) fixed to one outer side of the air blowing port (23) and engaged with the pivot on one end side, the cylinder is rotated to a predetermined angle via the pivot. This opens and closes the air blowing port (23), and when the air blowing port (23) is opened, the cool air from the evaporator (16) is blown out toward an obliquely upper portion of the desired external angle. Control.

  When the switching damper (24) closes the drum outlet duct (19) and drives the blower fan (22), the air path from the evaporator (16) to the blower port (23) becomes negative pressure, but the evaporation The air inlet wall (30) is made in the air passage wall between the condenser (16) and the condenser (13), and when the air is blown, the suctioned outside air evaporates smoothly due to the presence of the air inlet (30) It passes through the vessel (16), is dehumidified and cooled, and can be blown out from the blowing member (21) as cold air.

  At this time, a part of the blowing member (21) and the blower port (23) side are provided with tension coil springs (not shown) that are engaged with both ends, and the blower member (21) is always blower port. (23) is biased in the closing direction. Then, the turning operation of the blowing member (21) is performed by the stepping motor (25) in the direction of opening the blower opening (23), and is rotated by the contraction force of the coil spring in the closing direction. Yes. With this configuration, when the blowout member (23) closes the air blowing port (23), the coil spring returns with a relatively weak elastic force, and an excessive force is not applied. Injuries can be prevented by pinching fingers.

  In FIG. 2, (26) is a lint filter that removes foreign matter in the air from the waste thread and the lint provided in the air passage from the drum (9) to the evaporator (16), and the clothes in the drum (9) In addition to preventing foreign matter such as lint generated from the water from entering and adhering to the evaporator (16), it can be cleaned by pulling out the knob (26a).

  FIG. 4 is a detailed arrangement configuration of the operation panel (3), in which a control unit (31) having an operation circuit is provided on the back surface, and various types for the user to operate the washing / drying machine (1) on the front surface. The operation keys and display section are provided. Specifically, as the operation key, a washing mode key (32) for selecting and setting a mode such as washing, washing drying, or drying by pressing, and individual steps of easy washing, dehydration, and drying by pressing. A process selection key (33) for selecting and setting each time and number of times, a reservation key (34) for selecting a timer reservation time, and a power key for turning on / off the power of the washer / dryer (1) (35) Furthermore, a large start / pause key (36) provided in a circle for starting or temporarily stopping the washing operation is arranged, and these keys are pressed while being pressed by a push button switch. Only an operation signal is output.

  Further, on the outer periphery of the start / pause key (36), an annular operation dial (37) is rotatably arranged so as to obtain a sense of movement by rotating by a predetermined angle. This operation dial (37) is attached to the rotary shaft of a rotary switch consisting of a rotary variable resistor, rotary encoder, etc., and according to the rotation direction and angle by rotating the operation dial (37). An operation signal is output.

  The display unit turns on the selected key of the washing mode key (32) by a light emitting diode provided on the back surface to clearly indicate the operation mode, and also displays the washing mode selected in the operation mode. A course display section (38) for displaying the course content of drying is provided, and the operation dial (37) is rotated to light up and display the light emitting diodes provided corresponding to the display items of the course display section (38). The liquid crystal display panel (39) will select and display the current time, reserved time, remaining operation time, or set number of washing and dehydration strokes and the number of times of rinsing. It is composed.

  Thus, a blow key (40) is similarly provided below the washing mode key (32) in the operation panel (3). As described above, this air blow key (40) blows out the air dehumidified by the heat pump to perform the air conditioning operation, and the air blow operation is set by pressing the air blow key (40) while the power is on. When the operation of the washing machine is stopped, or even if it is in operation, if it is a process that does not use the heat pump function, such as a process other than the drying process, the fan operation is enabled, and the start / pause key ( 36) By rotating the operation dial (37) on the outer periphery, whether the air to be blown is cold or warm is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel (39) and selected.

  When the air-conditioning operation mode, for example, cold air blowout is selected and the start key (36) is pressed by setting, the heat pump (12) starts operation, and the switching damper (24) is delayed for a predetermined time, and the drum outlet duct (19) The blower (23) is opened and the blower fan (22) is further rotated, so that the cool air from the evaporator (16), which has become low temperature, is blown from the blower port (23) by the blowing member (21). It will be discharged outward. When the drying operation is being performed, the blowing member (21) is closed and waits.

  At this time, a swing key (41) is provided in the vicinity of the air blowing key (40) of the operation panel (3), and the inclination angle of the blowing member (21) is controlled by pressing this key. For example, by continuing to hold down the swing key (41), the stepping motor (25) is driven to rotate the blowing member (21) and stopped at a desired inclination angle to fix the blowing direction. When pressed, it is swung over the rotation range. Thereby, a comfortable blowing effect can be obtained as desired by the user by changing the vertical direction of the cooling air at a cycle of about 5 seconds during the air-conditioning operation or by fixing the cooling air at a predetermined angle of inclination. be able to.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the blowing member (21) is often installed in the lower part of the main body due to the configuration of the drum type washing and drying machine. As for the direction in which the cold air is blown out, as a specific example, a person after bathing stands at a position about 80 cm away from the washing machine body (1), and cool air is blown in the range from the head of the hot body to the knee. In the case of a cool-down case, the control angle that can be rotated upward from the horizontal plane with respect to the air blowing port (23) is 0 ° or more and less than 70 °, ideally 13 ° to 61 °. Setting to a range is most effective.

  With regard to the above, the average height A of Japanese men at present is 170.6 cm, and the height H (25 cm) position of the air outlet (23) of the washing machine body (1) from the floor surface is taken as the horizontal plane. 23) The elevation angle α to the average male head at a position L 80 cm away from the front is 61.2 °. For the low position, the elevation angle β was calculated to be 12.6 ° in the same manner, corresponding to the average knee height position B of 42.9 cm for women with an average height of 158.6 cm.

  From the above values, in this embodiment, the vertical rotation range of the blowing member (21) is set to 13 ° to 61 ° with reference to the height position of the blower port (23). ), The rotation range may be set within the range of 0 ° to 70 ° as described above. In this way, even if there are variations between products, the blowing width from the blowing member (21) for the majority of Japanese heights falls within a relatively small range with a rotation angle of less than 70 °. Thus, it is possible to obtain the upper and lower cool air blowing inclination angles according to the user's needs and to form the blowing member (21) with a relatively simple rotating mechanism and turning force.

  In the above description, only the configuration in which the low temperature air is blown out has been described. However, the discharge air from the blowing member (21) is not limited to the cold air, and the heating operation may be performed by the warm air discharge.

  In that case, a heating function key is added as a display or operation specification on the operation panel (3), and the expansion device (15) in the heat pump (12) is used as a four-way valve to condense the refrigerant from the evaporator (16). By providing a flow path that flows toward the condenser (13) and switching the refrigerant flow path with a valve, the high-temperature refrigerant from the compressor (14) is first introduced into the evaporator (16), and the condensation action is performed. What is necessary is just to use this as a high temperature side heat exchanger, and it is used as foot heating in winter by blowing warm air heated by the evaporator (16) from the blowing member (21) toward the outside, for example, the front horizontal direction. be able to.

  When the air-conditioning function operation is terminated at a predetermined timing such as arbitrary or timer control, the operation of the heat pump (12) and the blower fan (22) is stopped, the angle of the blowing member (21), and the switching damper. (24) is returned to the original position as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 to close the blower opening (23) so that there is no protrusion to the opening or the front surface. Intrusion of dust and dust can be prevented.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, a louver (26) may be provided in the cylindrical body of the blowing member (21), and the direction of the blown air may be changed in the lateral width direction by swinging. The louver (26) is a longitudinal support shaft in which a large number of fins (27) are arranged in rows at predetermined intervals across the width direction of the blowing member (21), and the fins (27) are pivotally supported on the upper and lower surfaces of the louver opening. The rear end edge of each fin (27) is connected to (27a) by a link bar (28), and the direction of the fins (27) group may be changed manually. In addition, the rotational movement of the louver motor (29) arranged at one end of the link bar (28) is changed to a linear movement in the lateral direction by a cam mechanism or rack gear, and the angle of the fin (27) is automatically changed in the direction of the arrow. In this case, it is not necessary to directly touch the louver (26), and the blowing direction in the width direction of the cooling / heating air can be freely changed, and can be changed comfortably and comfortably.

  At this time, as in the case of controlling the vertical inclination angle of the blowing member (21), a key or dial for the louver (26) in the operation panel (3) is provided, so that the louver (26) The blowing member (21) is controlled by swinging the direction of the width direction, and the left and right direction of the blown air is changed in a cycle of about 5 seconds during the air conditioning operation or fixed in a fixed direction. In combination with the inclination angle control, the wind direction in the vertical and horizontal directions can be freely changed, and a more comfortable air blowing effect according to the user's desire can be obtained.

It is a schematic sectional drawing of the drum type washing-drying machine which shows one Example of this invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view illustrating an external air outlet that is a main part of FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the blowing member in FIG. It is an enlarged view of the operation panel in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the blowing state of the cold air from the blowing member of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the louver structure in the blowing member of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the conventional drum type washing-drying machine structure. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the clothes drying apparatus which shows another conventional structure.

Explanation of symbols

1 Washer / Dryer 3 Operation Panel 6 Water Tank 9 Drum
12 Heat pump
13 Condenser
16 Evaporator
17 Blower for drying
18 Drum inlet duct
19 Drum outlet duct
21 Blowout member
22 Blower fan
23 Blower
24 switching damper
25 Stepping motor
26 louvers
27 Fins
32, 33, 34, 35, 36 Operation keys
37 Operation dial
38, 39 Display
40 Blower key
41 Swing key

Claims (5)

  A drum is rotatably provided in a casing forming an outer shell, and during a drying operation, the compressor, a condenser, a heat pump having an evaporator disposed in the casing, and a blower are operated to operate the heated air from the condenser. It is introduced into the drum and circulates to dry the laundry, and at least at any time except during the drying operation, the heat pump is driven to cool or warm air from a blowout member provided rotatably at the blower opening on the front surface of the housing A clothes dryer that is configured to blow outward, and is configured to open and close the blowing portion by rotation of the blowing member.   2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the blowing member can be controlled in its rotation angle by a key of an operation panel provided on the surface of the casing or a dial operation.   The clothes dryer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the blowing member is capable of automatically and continuously changing its rotation angle and swinging the air blowing direction.   The blowout member is installed in the lower part of the housing, and the air blowout is set in the vertical direction, and the blowout angle with respect to the horizontal plane with respect to the blower opening is rotatable within a range of 0 ° to 70 °. The clothes dryer according to claim 1. The clothes blower according to claim 1, wherein the blowout member is rotated by a motor in the opening direction of the blower opening, and is rotated by the elastic force of the elastic body in the closing direction of the blower opening. Machine.

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