JP2007301049A - Washing/drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washing/drying machine for drying the clothes by a heat pump, having a function of blowing cold air to the outside of a casing, capable of controlling the air blow by operating a control panel in a body of the washing/drying machine, clearly displaying the cold air blowing operation, and easily and conveniently controlling the air blow. <P>SOLUTION: The clothes are washed and dried in a drum which is rotatably supported inside a water tub in the casing of the washing/drying machine. The washing/drying machine has a cooling function to dry the landry by introducing heated air into the drum from a heat exchanger 13 by the operation of the heat pump and a blower disposed in the casing, and to blow out the cold air to the outside of the casing by driving the heat pump. The washing/drying machine has the control panel 3 for displaying conditions for the washing and drying operations to be selected and set. The washing/drying machine is characterized by the display of steps in the cooling operation in cool colors on the control panel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a washing and drying machine having a clothes drying function by a heat pump and a function of blowing air to the outside of the housing.

  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 between the water tank (56) and the drum (59). (56) Directly rotationally driven by a DC brushless 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). Since the door (55) is locked at the time of drying and the washing water in the water tub (56) is sealed so as not to overflow to the outside through a gap or the like, the water tub (56 The heated air generated by a drying unit (62) comprising a drying heater (63) and a fan (67) disposed above the drum (59) is introduced into the drum (59) to dry clothes or the like. Then, the technique which provided the clothing drying apparatus using the heat of condensation by a heat pump is commercialized.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a clothes drying apparatus (71) using a horizontal axis type rotary tank (79) has been proposed that performs air conditioning with a heat pump (refrigeration cycle) (82) in addition to clothes drying. (For example, refer to 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, since the configuration shown in Patent Document 1 is a clothes drying apparatus and is different from the configuration as a washing dryer, it is not easy to wash or has a control configuration from dehydration to drying. Needless to say, the operation panel for performing the control operation does not display the washing and drying operation conditions and does not select and set the operation conditions. Therefore, the washing and drying operation and the cold air blowing operation outside the apparatus are not performed. The relationship was not considered.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and a washing / drying machine that dries clothes by a heat pump has a function of blowing a cool air to the outside of the casing, that is, a so-called cooling function. An object of the present invention is to provide a washing / drying machine which controls air flow by operating a panel, makes the display of a cold air air operation clear and easy to understand, and allows air flow control to be performed easily and conveniently.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a washing and drying machine according to the present invention is configured to wash and dry clothes by a drum rotatably supported in a water tank in a housing, and at least during a drying operation, a heat pump disposed in the housing. In addition, air supplied from the heat exchanger is introduced into the drum by the operation of the blower and the laundry is dried, while the heat pump is driven to cool the air and blow the cool air out of the housing. In the washing and drying machine provided with the operation panel for displaying and selecting and setting the conditions, the operation display in the cooling operation on the operation panel is performed using a cool color.

  According to the washing / drying machine of the present invention, the drying operation can be performed by the hot air and the dehumidifying function by the heat pump, and the cool air using the heat pump is blown out to the outside of the housing to make the surrounding space a more comfortable atmosphere. can do. The display during cooling operation is easy to see and the control operation can be performed easily and easily.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is an external perspective view, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view. The drum type laundry dryer (1) is an operation for selecting and setting a washing course or the like on the upper front side of the casing (2) forming the outer shell. A panel (3) is arranged, and a circular insertion port (4) for taking in and out the laundry is opened in the central part of the front surface, and a transparent window is formed to close the insertion port (4) so that it can be opened and closed. A door (5) is arranged.

  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). In the dehydration process, the drainage valve (7) is opened and the rinse water after the rinsing process is discharged from the drainage hose (8) to the outside of the machine, and then the drum (9). Is rotated at a high speed in one direction, and centrifugally dewatered from a number of dewatering holes (9a) provided on the peripheral wall of the body.

  A unit of the heat pump (12) extends in the front-rear direction at a substantially central portion in the width direction of the space formed between the water tank (6) disposed in the inclined state and the bottom surface of the housing (2). In the drying operation after the washing process is completed, the drum (9) is driven to rotate at various speeds, and the heat generated by the condenser (13) is heated by the heat pump. Used for drying.

  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 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.

  The heat pump (12) is used not only for the drying operation as described above, but also for washing water by exchanging heat between the water supply pipe into the water tank (6) and the condenser (13) when washing is easy. It is also possible to improve the washing effect by using hot water, or to promote the dehumidifying action of the laundry by warm air by operating in the process of dehydrating or moving from washing to drying operation.

Thus, a louver (21) and a blower fan (22) having a wide width as a blowing portion are provided at a position facing the evaporator (16) disposed at the lower part on the front side of the washing machine body (1). Provided. The blower fan (22) sends cool air from the evaporator (16) located at the rear to the blower port (23) at an obliquely upper side, and is predetermined according to the width of the louver (21). The cross flow fan is provided with a large number of blades around a long rotation axis.

  The blower opening (23) is disposed at a position branched forward from the middle of the drum outlet duct (19) communicating with the evaporator (16), and is provided with a louver (21 ) Is rotated up and down to open and close the blower opening (23) and to blow out air in the outward direction.

  A switching damper (24) is arranged at a branching portion of the drum outlet duct (19). During the drying process after the washing operation, the switching damper (24) is placed on the louver (21) side with the position of the switching damper (24) And the air passage from the drum outlet duct (19) to the evaporator (16) side is opened so as not to hinder the flow of hot air circulating in the drum (9).

  When the louver (21) and the blower fan (22) are driven as a cooling function, the switching damper (24) together with the louver (21) is shown in FIG. 3 which is an enlarged view of the blower opening (23). ), The drum outlet duct (19) side is closed, and the low temperature air from the evaporator (16) cooled by the driven heat pump (12) is indicated by the arrow ( From 23), the air is blown out of the housing, that is, into the outside air in front.

  The louver (21) is formed in a wide rectangular tube shape, and a large number of fins (27) are arranged in rows at predetermined intervals in the width direction of the tube so as to be rotatable in the width direction. The pivot (21a) provided at both ends of the body is engaged with the side wall of the air outlet (23) to support the louver (21) main body so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. By energizing a stepping motor (not shown) fixed to one outer side and engaged with a pivot on one end side, the blower port (23) is turned up and down by a predetermined angle via the pivot (21a). ) Is opened and closed, and the blowing direction is changed.

  Then, when the air blowing port (23) is opened, the fin (27) is also swung in the width direction by a driving source (not shown), or manually changed in direction, from the evaporator (16). The cool air is blown out toward an obliquely upper portion of a desired angle outside the housing.

  When the blower fan (22) is driven with the switching damper (24) closing the drum outlet duct (19), the air path from the evaporator (16) to the blower port (23) becomes negative pressure. The air passage wall between the evaporator (16) and the condenser (13) is provided with an air inlet (29). During the ventilation, the presence of the air inlet (29) smoothens the sucked outside air. It passes through the evaporator (16), is dehumidified and cooled, and can be blown forward from the blower opening (23) as cold air.

  At this time, a tension coil spring (not shown) is disposed on both the louver (21) and the air blowing port (23) side so that both ends of the louver (21) are engaged with each other. ). The louver (21) is rotated by the stepping motor in the direction of opening the air outlet (23), and is rotated by the contraction force of the coil spring in the closing direction. With this configuration, when the louver (23) closes the air outlet (23), the coil spring returns with a relatively weak elastic force, and an excessive force is not applied. It is possible to prevent injuries from being caught.

  In addition, (26) in FIG. 3 is a lint filter for removing lint and air foreign matter provided in the air passage from the drum (9) to the evaporator (16), and from the clothes in the drum (9). It is possible to prevent foreign matter such as lint generated from entering and attaching to the drying fan (17) from the evaporator (16) and condenser (13) and to be cleaned by pulling out the knob (26a). It is what has become.

  FIG. 4 shows the detailed arrangement of the operation panel (3), on the surface of which various operation keys and display units that are operated by the user for the operation of the washing / drying machine (1) are provided. Specifically, as the operation keys, a washing operation for washing, rinsing, dehydrating, a washing / drying operation for performing a drying operation with a part of these washing operations, or a drying operation for performing only a drying operation, etc. by pressing. Washing mode key (32) for selecting and setting, stroke selection key (33) for selecting the individual strokes of easy washing, dehydration, and drying by pressing and setting each time and number of times, A reservation key (34) for selecting a timer reservation time, a power key (35) for turning on / off the washing / drying machine (1), and a large circle for starting and pausing the washing operation A start / pause key (36) and the like are arranged, and these keys are configured to output an operation signal by the number of times they are pressed by a push button switch.

  Further, on the outer periphery of the start / pause key (36), an annular operation dial (37) is rotatably arranged so as to obtain a feeling 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 an operation signal corresponding to the rotation direction and angle by rotating the operation dial (37). Is output.

  In the washing mode key (32), the display mode (32a) on the front surface of the selected key is lit by a light emitting diode (LED) provided on the back surface thereof to clearly indicate the operation mode. Further, the liquid crystal display panel (38) is provided with a course display section (39) that divides one side thereof and displays the contents of the course of washing and drying selected in the washing operation mode. By rotating 37), the liquid crystal display unit (39a) provided individually corresponding to the display items of the course display unit (39) is lit to select and the adjacent display unit (40) is configured to display the current time, reserved time, remaining operation time, or set time of washing process or dehydration process, and the number of times of overrun with numerical value (40b) along with the display of the target item (40a). Yes.

  A control unit (31) including an operation circuit is disposed on the back surface of the operation panel (3), and is used for pressing operation signals based on various operation keys of the operation panel (3) and operation of the operation dial (37). The rotation operation signal based on this is output to the control means (30) in the drive control unit disposed in the lower front portion of the housing (2).

  FIG. 5 is a control block of the heat pump type washing / drying machine (1), and the control means (30) is constituted by a detection circuit including a microcomputer, and the microcomputer performs detection based on information stored in advance, and responds accordingly. The running control is being executed.

  The power from the AC power supply (43) is rectified and smoothed by the DC power supply circuit (44) and supplied to the control means (30) as power, and the power relay is attached when the power switch (35) is turned on. At the same time, the water supply valve (45), drain valve (7), motor (10), heat pump (12), drying fan (17), louver ( Power is supplied to 21) etc. and driven according to the instructions of the control means (30).

  Further, the rotation speed of the motor (10) is input to the control means (30) by the rotation sensor (46), and the water level detection signal from the water level sensor (47) for detecting the stored water level in the water tank (6), The temperature of the ambient atmosphere of the washer / dryer (1) is controlled by a temperature sensor (48) provided outside the air inlet (29) in the air passage wall between the evaporator (16) and the condenser (13). Detect and input to the control means (30) to perform control in accordance with each driving process. Furthermore, the door switch (49) detects the door state of the washer / dryer (1) and controls the opening and closing of the door lock. To do.

  In addition, the operation keys (32) to (36) and the switch of the operation dial (37) and the display unit (38) on the operation panel (3) are displayed according to the operation and driving state of the user, The buzzer (50) displays in response to instructions from the control means (30) such as when the user operates, at the end of driving operation, or when an abnormality occurs.

  The specifications set with the operation keys (32) to (36) and the operation dial (37) are stored in the nonvolatile memory (51), and the air volume, operation time, and set temperature stored at the next power-on. Starts on the LCD panel (38).

  A blower key (41) is similarly provided below the washing mode key (32) in the operation panel (3). As described above, the blow key (41) blows out the cold air dehumidified by the heat pump to perform the cooling operation, and the air blow key (41) is pressed while the power is on to set the cooling operation. When the washing machine is in a washing operation, a washing / drying operation, or a drying operation, it is possible to set the cooling operation except when one of the washing modes is operated. When the key (36) is pressed, the heat pump (12) starts operation, and after a predetermined time delay, the switching damper (24) closes the drum outlet duct (19) and opens the air outlet (23), and further blows air. By rotating the fan (22), the cool air from the evaporator (16), which has become cold, is blown out from the air outlet (23) outward by the louver (21), and the cooling operation is started. Ah The

  In this cooling operation, the operation time and reservation can be set in the same manner as in the washing mode, and the power key (35) is pressed during the cooling operation to turn off the power, When the washing or drying operation is set by pressing the mode key (32), the setting of the air blowing key (41) is canceled, the louver (21) is closed and the cooling operation is interrupted to switch to the washing operation mode.

  Also, when changing the air blowing intensity during cooling operation, press the pause key (37), then change the air blowing specifications with the air blowing key (41) and the operation dial (37), and energize the stepping motor. Thus, the louver (21) is controlled to rotate and change to a newly set opening degree.

  Note that a swing key (42) may be provided in the vicinity of the blow key (41) of the operation panel (3), and the inclination angle of the louver (21) may be controlled by pressing this key. For example, when the swing key (42) is kept pressed, the stepping motor is driven to rotate the louver (21), and the blowing direction is fixed by stopping at the desired inclination angle. By swinging over the rotation range, the vertical direction of the blown air is changed at a cycle of about 5 seconds during the cooling operation, or fixed at a predetermined inclination direction. A comfortable air blowing effect can be obtained as desired by the user.

  During the cooling operation, the presence / absence of the operation time setting is checked. If the operation time is not set, the above control is repeated. If the operation is set, the operation time is measured, and the cooling operation is terminated when the set time is over. To do.

  During the cooling operation, the character “COOL” is displayed on the display unit (40) of the liquid crystal display panel (38) as shown in FIG. The 7-segment display is an abbreviation for 7-segment display. It is composed of 7 parts in length and breadth, and is used to express numbers on the display of electronic devices with Arabic numerals by lighting or turning off each part independently. In this embodiment, as can be understood from the comparison between FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, the “COOL” of the “COOL” is used by using a 7-segment portion which is a time display portion (40b) such as a laundry start reservation. The characters are displayed in a cool color such as blue.

  The liquid crystal display panel (38) conventionally has various characters and figures densely arranged on the screen in order to display a large amount of information as described above. For example, it is conceivable to insert a character “cooling” into the gap, but in this case, only a section in which the character display area is extremely small with respect to the size of the screen is obtained, which is difficult to see. On the other hand, according to the above configuration, during the cooling operation, the character “COOL” is displayed in large on the 7-segment portion for displaying the time on the panel surface, so that the user can easily know the current operation status. And can be clearly seen.

  At this time, if the "COOL" character is a blue cold color system, it can give a cool and cool feeling not only to the character but also to the other display part. By making it different from the shade of, you can appeal the coolness more sensuously.

  In the above description, the numerical value display portion has been described as 7 segments. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that 14 segments or 16 segments may be used, and the display character “COOL” itself is displayed in blue. However, the backlight for illuminating the liquid crystal display panel (38) from the back may be displayed with a cold-colored lamp.

  Further, in the above embodiment, during cooling operation, the “COOL” display on the 7-segment display portion of the liquid crystal display panel (38) and the cold display on the panel surface by the backlight are used to appeal to the user's vision. In addition, the light emitting diodes on the display part (41a) (42a) on the surface of the blow key (41) and the swing key (42) on the operation panel (3) below the washing mode key (32) are also provided. If the light is emitted by a cold color such as blue, which is different from the light emission color of the operation key display part (32a), not only the light emission is noticeable but also the many light emitting parts on the panel make the discrimination complicated. The driving state can be clearly recognized by the color.

  In the above embodiment, the character indicating that the cooling operation is being performed is “COOL”. However, the character is not limited to this, and may be a character or a figure that invites a cool feeling as an image. Needless to say. Further, during the cooling operation, if the interior of the drum (9) is illuminated with the blue LED, it can be recognized and impressed more intuitively that the cooling operation is being performed.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a drum type washing and drying machine showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view showing a blower port portion to the outside which is a main part of FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view of an operation panel unit in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows the control structure of the washing / drying machine of FIG. It is an enlarged view which shows the state at the time of air_conditionaing | cooling operation of the operation panel 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 louvers
22 Blower fan
23 Blower
24 switching damper
32, 33, 34, 35, 36 Operation keys
32a, 41a, 42a Key surface LED display
37 Operation dial
38 LCD display
39 Course display area
40 Display
40b Numerical display (7-segment)
41 Blower key
42 Swing key

Claims (4)

  The clothes are washed and dried by a drum that is rotatably supported inside a water tank in the housing, and at least during a drying operation, heated air from the heat exchanger is supplied into the drum by operation of a heat pump and a blower disposed in the housing. In the washing and drying machine provided with an operation panel for displaying and selecting and setting washing and drying operation conditions as well as having a cooling function for driving the heat pump and blowing cool air out of the housing The washing and drying machine is characterized in that the operation display in the cooling operation on the operation panel is performed using a cold color.   The washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein a stroke display during cooling operation is displayed as characters by using a numerical display unit of blue liquid crystal on the operation panel.   The washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein a light-emitting display portion is provided in an operation key portion of the operation panel, and the operation key portion in the cooling process emits light in a cool color different from that in the washing or drying operation during the cooling operation. . The washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein the color of the backlight of the liquid crystal display unit for displaying the stroke during the cooling operation is made cold.

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