JP2008006044A - Washing/drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washing/drying machine which can always ensure an optimal drying performance by providing a discharging means automatically cleaning and discharging lint being caught by a link filter, and at the same time, by constituting the washing/drying machine in a manner to minimize the air passage resistances of the discharging constitution and the constitution of the lint filter section as much as possible. <P>SOLUTION: This washing/drying machine has a rotary drum 3 which is freely rotatably provided in a tub 1 and houses clothes, an air flow passage 9 which circulates air for performing the drying of the clothes in the rotary drum 3, and a blowing means 13 and a heating device 14 or a dehumidifying means 12 in the air flow passage 9. In addition, the approximately semi-cylindrical filter section 11, and a discharging means 17 are provided. In this case, the approximately semi-cylindrical filter section 11 catches lint generated by the clothes, and is approximately orthogonal to the blowing direction. The discharging means 17 discharges the lint being caught by the filter section 11 to a lint recovering section 20 which is provided to be adjacent to the discharging means 17. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a washing / drying machine that performs washing / dehydration and drying in the same rotating tub, and more particularly to cleaning of a filter that captures lint generated from clothing during drying.

  A conventional washing and drying machine of this type will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, during the drying operation, the high-temperature and high-humidity air discharged from the rotating drum 41 exits from the exhaust port 44 of the tank 43 by the air blowing means 42 and is guided to the dehumidifying means 45. The air dehumidified by the dehumidifying means 45 is heated by the heating means 46 and supplied again into the rotary drum 41 from the air inlet 47 of the tank 43. The lint generated at this time is captured by a lint filter 49 provided in the air path 48 on the near side of the dehumidifying means 45.

  Further, as the dehumidifying means 45 in the conventional washing and drying machine, there are a method of directly cooling with cooling water, a method of cooling with air using a heat exchanger, a heat exchange with a condenser of a heat pump device, and a dehumidifying method using a hygroscopic material. Moreover, as a heating means, there are methods such as direct heating by a heater and heat exchange in an evaporator of a heat pump device. In particular, when using a hygroscopic material or a heat exchanger, dry air passes through fine gaps, so clogging of lint and other debris must be avoided. Therefore, the lint is captured by the lint filter so that the lint does not circulate through the dry air path.

Further, since lint or the like is captured by the lint filter, the lint filter itself is clogged, so that the lint filter can be detached and cleaned. In addition, there is a configuration in which the lint filter can be automatically cleaned, and the lint filter is not required to be cleaned (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-102346 A

  However, since the lint filter unit is configured in the drying air path, it greatly affects the air volume of the dry air, and depending on this configuration, it greatly affects the drying performance. As in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, the lint captured by the lint filter can be cleaned by the discharge means, and the lint filter portion itself has a large resistance even if the air flow reduction due to clogging during lint capture is reduced. In such a configuration, the air volume is reduced and the drying performance is reduced. For this reason, it has been necessary to make the configuration of the lint filter portion as low as possible and to prevent the lint from leaking as much as possible.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and at the same time providing a discharge means for automatically cleaning and discharging the lint captured by the lint filter, and at the same time, the airflow resistance of the discharge configuration and the configuration of the lint filter unit It is an object of the present invention to provide a washing and drying machine that is configured to be as small as possible and that can always ensure optimum drying performance.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a washing and drying machine according to the present invention includes a filter unit that captures lint generated from clothing, a lint collection unit that collects lint captured by the filter unit, and a filter unit. Discharge means for discharging the captured lint to the lint collection unit, and the filter unit is provided with a substantially semi-cylindrical filter that is substantially orthogonal to the blowing direction of the air circulating through the air passage.

  As a result, the flow of air passing through the substantially semi-cylindrical filter that captures lint and the like can be in the same direction before and after passing through the filter, so that pressure loss other than the passage resistance at the filter portion can be minimized. it can. Also, the area of the filter portion can be made larger than that of the planar filter, and the pressure loss can be reduced. Furthermore, since the captured lint can be cleaned by the discharging means, the amount of dry air is always constant and the initial state can be maintained.

  The washing / drying machine of the present invention can prevent the deterioration of the drying performance due to clogging of the filter and can improve the drying performance by reducing the air path resistance.

  A first aspect of the present invention is a rotary drum that is rotatably provided in a tank, an air passage that circulates air for drying clothes stored in the rotary drum, and an air blowing means that blows air to the air passage. A heating means for heating the drying air or a dehumidifying means for dehumidifying, a filter section for capturing lint generated from clothing, a lint collection section for collecting lint captured by the filter section, and a filter section The filter unit is provided with a substantially semi-cylindrical filter that is substantially perpendicular to the air blowing direction of the air circulating in the air passage, thereby capturing lint and the like. Since the air flow passing through the substantially semi-cylindrical filter can be in the same direction before and after passing through the filter, pressure loss other than the passage resistance at the filter portion can be minimized. Also, the area of the filter portion can be made larger than that of the planar filter, and the pressure loss can be reduced. Furthermore, since the captured lint can be cleaned by the discharging means, the amount of dry air is always constant and the initial state can be maintained.

  In the second invention, in particular, the discharging means of the first invention is constituted by a spiral wire rod that is inscribed in the inner surface of the substantially semicylindrical filter, so that the lint captured on the filter surface is gradually linted. It can be pushed out to the collection section for cleaning. Further, the helical wire rod has a simple structure, and hardly has an air path resistance, so that a discharge means with a small pressure loss can be configured.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, in particular, the discharge means of the second aspect of the invention is that the helical wire is made of a spring material, so that even if the helical discharge means rotating on the lint captured on the filter surface is caught, Since it is made of a spring material, a large spring force is generated in the hooked portion, and lint and the like that are caught and hardly caught by the spring force can be reliably discharged.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in particular, the discharging means of the second aspect of the present invention is such that the helical wire is made of a resin spring material, so that the filter material that normally captures lint is made of resin, and the surface thereof is slid. By constituting the moving discharging means with a resin spring material, the resin slides, so there is little fear of breakage and durability is improved.

  In the fifth invention, in particular, the discharging means of the second invention is such that resin or the like is planted on the surface of the helical wire, so that lint captured by the filter can be reliably removed and cleaned. is there.

  According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in particular, the discharging means of the second to fifth aspects of the invention connects one end of the helical wire to the rotary drive device, and the end face on the lint collection part side abuts on the side face part of the lint collection part entrance. The spiral wire rod expands and contracts because the tip portion of the rotating spiral wire rod is in contact with the concavo-convex surface. As a result, when the helical wire is contracted, the diameter of the helical wire is slightly increased, the force in the direction of pressing against the cylindrical filter surface works, and the force to scavenge the lint captured on the filter surface becomes stronger. Performance is improved. Moreover, when extended, the force pushed out forward with a spring force acts, and discharge | emission performance improves.

  In the seventh aspect of the invention, in particular, by providing several convex portions on the inner surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical filter of the third to fifth aspects, the helical wire having springiness hits the convex portion and further rotates when the spring rotates. It will be in a contracted state. When it further rotates, it overhangs the convex portion with a spring force, and is stretched at a stretch. Since a large force can be generated at this time, it is possible to obtain a discharging force even with a large lint, and the discharging ability is improved.

  In the eighth aspect of the invention, in particular, the discharge means of the first aspect of the invention comprises an arm shape rotating inscribed on the inner surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical filter, and the lint collecting part opens below the substantially semi-cylindrical filter. By providing the part, it is not necessary to carry out the cleaned lint, so that the structure is simple, and the discharge means with little pressure loss can be configured with little air path resistance.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a washing / drying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a rotary drum 3 that houses clothes 2 is provided inside a tub 1 of a washing and drying machine, and is rotated by a drive motor 4 fixed to the tub 1. The tank 1 is supported by a bottom damper 6 on the main body 5 of the washing and drying machine. The garment 2 accommodated in the rotating drum 3 can be taken in and out by opening the door 7. An opening 8 is provided above the tank 1, and an air passage 9 for drying air communicating with the opening 8 is connected to the rear opening 10 of the tank 1.

  Further, in the middle of the air passage 9, the filter unit 11 that captures lint generated from the clothes 2 during drying, the dehumidifying unit 12 for drying air, the blowing unit 13 for circulating the drying air, and the drying air are heated. A heating device 14 is configured. Moreover, an opening 15 is provided on the drive motor 4 side of the rotary drum 3, and a circulation path of dry air into the rotary drum 3 is configured.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the filter portion 11 taken along the line AA. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional perspective view of the filter unit 11. 2 and 3, a substantially semi-cylindrical filter 16 is formed in the air passage 9 substantially at right angles to the blowing direction a, and a discharge means 17 that is movable along the inner surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical filter 16 is provided. ing. The discharging means 17 is configured such that the helical wire 19 rotates along the inner surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical filter 16 by the driving device 18.

  In addition, a lint collecting portion 20 for storing discharged lint is formed at the tip of the spiral wire 19 of the discharging means 17 adjacent to the substantially semi-cylindrical filter 16. A part of the lint collection unit 20 is connected to the opening 21 of the exterior of the main body 5, and the lint collected in the lint collection unit 20 can be taken out by opening and closing the lid 22.

  The operation and action of the above configuration will be described. At the time of drying of the washing / drying machine of the present invention, when drying is started, the rotary drum 3 is rotated by the drive motor 4 and the clothes 2 are agitated. At the same time, the blowing means 13 for circulating the dry air is operated, and the heating device 14 is also energized. The dry air takes moisture from the clothes in the rotating drum 3, gets wet, exits from the opening 8 of the tank 1, passes through the filter unit 11, and captures lint and the like mixed in the air. Further, moisture in the dry air is removed by the dehumidifying means 12, and the dry air heated by the heating device 14 and having a reduced relative humidity passes through the opening 15 of the rotating drum 3 from the opening 10 provided at the rear part of the tank 1. And circulates in the rotating drum 3.

  The dehumidifying means 12 includes a configuration in which a heat exchanger is provided by water cooling or air cooling to dehumidify, a configuration in which dehumidification is performed by the latent heat of vaporization of the refrigerant by a heat pump method, a configuration in which dehumidification is performed directly using a hygroscopic material, and the like. The heating device 14 has a configuration using direct heating by a heater or heat pump type refrigerant condensation heat.

  Further, the air blowing means 13 and the filter unit 11 may be located at any position in the circulation air passage 9. In this way, while drying air is circulated and the clothes 2 in the rotating drum 3 are stirred, moisture is taken away from the clothes 2 and the clothes 2 are dried.

  At this time, in the filter unit 11, lint such as lint generated by the progress of the clothing 2 is captured by the substantially cylindrical filter 16, and is lint to the heat exchanger or the heating device 14 of the dehumidifying means 12 configured on the downstream side. Adheres and causes clogging to reduce the amount of air flow, and it is possible to prevent dangers such as scorching, ignition, and smoking due to adhesion to the heating surface.

  As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, it may be at any time before drying, during drying, or after completion of drying, but appropriately operates the driving device 18 to operate the discharging means 17 composed of the helical wire 19 or the like. By doing so, the lint adhering to the inner surface of the substantially cylindrical filter 16 is pushed out, discharged to the lint collection part 20 side, and stored. Furthermore, the stored lint can be appropriately taken out by opening and closing the lid 22 from the opening 21 of the exterior.

  As described above, since the air volume of the dry air greatly affects the drying performance of the garment 2, it is desirable to reduce the pressure loss in the air passage 9 as much as possible. Since the filter unit 11 of the present invention constitutes the cylindrical filter 16 substantially perpendicular to the wind flow in the air passage 9, there is no pressure loss due to the bending of the air passage. Further, since the lint is discharged from the surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical filter 16 by the operation of the discharge means 17 and the pressure loss of the filter unit 11 can be prevented from being lowered, the initial drying performance can be stably maintained. Further, the trouble of cleaning the filter unit 11 becomes unnecessary, and it is only necessary to periodically take out and discard the lint of the lint collection unit 20, which facilitates maintenance.

(Embodiment 2)
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the discharge means 17 of the filter unit 11 is formed of a helical wire 19 and is configured to be rotationally driven by a driving device 18. As a result, the spiral wire rod 19 rotates while abutting the inner surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical filter 16 to push the lint adhering to the surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical filter 16 toward the lint collecting part 20 side, and the lint gradually Can be peeled off and discharged to the lint collection unit 20.

  Since the discharge means 17 of the filter part 11 is comprised by the helical wire 19, it is the structure which hardly produces ventilation resistance, and can make the pressure loss of the filter part 11 small.

(Embodiment 3)
The helical wire 19 shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 is made of a spring material, so that the spring is compressed even if the rotating helical wire 19 is caught by the lint captured by the substantially semi-cylindrical filter 16. On the contrary, a large repulsive force is generated in the hooked portion, and the lint and the like that are caught and hardly caught by the spring force can be surely discharged.

(Embodiment 4)
The helical wire 19 of the discharging means 17 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is made of a resin spring material. When the surface of the substantially semicylindrical filter 16 is slid, Since the resin surface comes into contact with each other, the resin slides between them, and there is little fear of breakage and durability is improved. In this case, the same effect can be obtained by coating the metal wire with a resin.

(Embodiment 5)
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the spiral wire rod of the discharging means in the fifth embodiment. In FIG. 4, a brush portion 23 in which resin or the like is planted on the surface of the helical wire 19 of the discharging means 17 provided in the filter portion 11 is configured, and lint or the like captured on the surface of the substantially semicylindrical filter 16 is brush portion 23. Is surely removed and can be cleaned.

(Embodiment 6)
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the discharging means of the filter unit in the sixth embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 5 and 6, the spiral wire 19 serving as the discharging means 17 has one end connected to the driving device 18, and the end 19 a on the lint collection unit 20 side is in contact with the entrance side surface 20 a of the lint collection unit 20. The convex portion 20b is provided on the side surface portion 20a that rotates and the tip 19a of the spiral wire 19 abuts, and the tip 19a of the rotating spiral wire 19 abuts the irregularities 20a and 20b. 19 expands and contracts along the unevenness 20a, 20b.

  As a result, when the helical wire 19 is contracted, the diameter of the helical wire 19 is slightly increased, and the helical wire 19 is displaced in a direction in pressure contact with the surface of the substantially semicylindrical filter 16, so that lint captured on the filter surface is scraped off. The cleaning performance is improved. Further, when the spiral wire 19 is extended, a force that pushes forward by the spring force acts, and the discharging performance of the scraped lint is improved.

(Embodiment 7)
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the discharging means of the filter unit in the seventh embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 7 and 8, several convex portions 16a are provided on the inner surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical filter 16, and the spiral wire rod 19 having spring property hits the convex portion 16a by rotating, and when further rotated, the spring is contracted. Become. When the rotation is further continued, the spring 16 gets over the convex portion 16a and is stretched at a stretch. Since a large force can be generated at this time, a discharging force can be obtained even with a large lint that is hard and adhered, and the discharging ability is improved.

(Embodiment 8)
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the discharging means of the filter unit in the eighth embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. 9 and 10, the discharge means 17 is constituted by an arm 24 that rotates in contact with the inner surface of the substantially semicylindrical filter 19, and the lint collection unit 20 is provided with an opening 25 below the substantially semicylindrical filter 19. It has a configuration. Since it is not necessary to carry out the cleaned lint, the discharge means 17 can be configured with a simple configuration and almost no air path resistance and a small pressure loss.

  As described above, the washing and drying machine according to the present invention can automatically clean the filter and suppress the decrease in the air volume, so that in the field of an air cleaner or a vacuum cleaner that collects and separates dust with the filter, Applications can be expanded as a configuration that can be automatically maintained.

Sectional drawing of the principal part of the washing-drying machine in Embodiment 1 of this invention AA sectional view of the washing and drying machine in FIG. Partial cutaway perspective view of the filter section of the washer / dryer Sectional drawing of the helical wire of the washing dryer in Embodiment 5 of this invention Sectional drawing of the filter part of the washing-drying machine in Embodiment 6 of this invention BB sectional view of FIG. 5 of the washing and drying machine Sectional drawing of the filter part of the washing-drying machine in Embodiment 7 of this invention CC sectional view of the washing and drying machine in FIG. Sectional drawing of the filter part of the washing-drying machine in Embodiment 8 of this invention DD sectional view of FIG. 9 of the washing and drying machine Cross section of the main part of a conventional washing and drying machine

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tank 3 Rotating drum 4 Drive motor 5 Main body 9 Air path 11 Filter part 12 Dehumidification means 13 Blower means 14 Heating device 16 Substantially semi-cylindrical filter 17 Discharge means 18 Drive apparatus 19 Spiral wire 20 Lint collection part 23 Brush part 24 Arm

Claims (8)

A rotating drum provided rotatably in the tank, an air passage for circulating air for drying clothes stored in the rotating drum, an air blowing means for blowing air to the air passage, and heating the drying air Heating means for dehumidifying or dehumidifying means for dehumidifying, a filter part for capturing lint generated from clothing, a lint collecting part for collecting lint captured by the filter part, and lint collecting the lint captured by the filter part A washing / drying machine provided with a substantially semi-cylindrical filter substantially orthogonal to a blowing direction of the air circulating in the air passage. The washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein the discharging means is composed of a helical wire that is inscribed in the inner surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical filter and rotates. The washing / drying machine according to claim 2, wherein the discharging means comprises a helical wire made of a spring material. The washing / drying machine according to claim 2, wherein the discharging means comprises a helical wire made of a resin spring material. The washing / drying machine according to claim 2, wherein the discharging means has a resin or the like planted on the surface of the spiral wire. The discharging means connects one end of the helical wire to the rotation drive device, and the end surface on the lint collection unit side rotates in contact with the side surface of the entrance of the lint collection unit, and the side surface on which the tip of the helical wire contacts The washing / drying machine according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein unevenness is provided. The washing and drying machine according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein a plurality of convex portions are provided on the inner surface of the substantially semicylindrical filter. 2. The washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein the discharging means is formed in an arm shape rotating in contact with the inner surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical filter, and the lint collecting part is provided with an opening below the substantially semi-cylindrical filter.