JP2009112841A - Drier, and washer-drier - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve finish of drying. <P>SOLUTION: A washer-drier has a wash/spin-dry tub for containing clothing, a motor to drive the wash/spin-dry tub, and a case to support the wash/spin-dry tub, and rotates a rotation drum by the motor for washing and drying operations. When a high finish course of drying is set, the rotation drum is rotated normally and reversely for a predetermined time, while high-speed warm air is blown from a nozzle toward the clothing in the rotation drum, so that wrinkles on the clothing are smoothed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a washing and drying machine provided with means for drying clothes.

  Drying clothes with a washing and drying machine that can perform washing to drying continuously creates high-temperature and low-humidity air from the blower fan and heat source, blows it into the washing tub, raises the temperature of the clothes, By evaporating and evaporating the evaporated water. There are two methods for removing the evaporated water: an exhaust system that discharges it directly outside the washing and drying machine (always supplying new air) and a dehumidification system that cools the evaporated water and condenses it to remove the water (circulates the same air). However, for home use, a dehumidification system that does not allow moisture to enter the room where the washing and drying machine is installed is often used.

In the washing dryer
(1) short drying time;
(2) Low power consumption,
(3) Good dry finish (less wrinkles on clothing),
(4) There is a demand for little damage to clothing.

  Among these, with regard to (1) and (2), there is a washing and drying machine that efficiently performs drying by appropriately controlling the air volume and temperature according to the progress of drying (Patent Document 1).

  In addition, there is a washing and drying machine that improves the movement of clothes in a washing tub and efficiently evaporates moisture from the clothes (Patent Documents 2 and 3).

  Furthermore, there is a washing and drying machine that uses a water cooling method as a dehumidifying method and improves the efficiency of heat exchange with high-temperature and high-humidity warm air by allowing cooling water to flow uniformly over the wall surface of the air passage (Patent Document 4).

  Regarding (4), there is a washing and drying machine provided with a low temperature drying course in which the temperature of the warm air is limited so that the temperature of the clothes does not rise too much (the heater input is suppressed).

  Regarding (3), wrinkles are generated when clothes are entangled or twisted during drying, and there are washing dryers that are less likely to cause tangling and twisting of clothes (Patent Documents 2 and 3).

JP 62-44299 A JP-A-9-774 JP-A-2005-080946 JP 2002-346272 A

  Even if there is no entanglement or twisting, if the amount of clothing increases with respect to the volume of the dryer, the clothing cannot spread sufficiently, so that the clothing is dried while being folded and wrinkles are generated.

  As an example, FIG. 19 shows a photograph of clothing (cotton pajamas trousers) when 2 kg of clothing is dried by a commercially available clothing dryer (three types of drum volumes 62L, 77L, and 99L). It can be seen that the wrinkle decreases as the drum volume increases. In this way, it has been known that wrinkles can be reduced as the volume increases. However, in home-use washer / dryers, washing / drying is limited due to the size of the installation location and restrictions on the delivery path (corridor and door) to the installation location. There was a limit to the size of the machine, and it was difficult to ensure a sufficient volume.

  For this reason, clothing that cares about the finish of drying is separated from other general clothing, and there is only a method of drying by reducing the amount of clothing. However, it is not realistic to perform time-consuming drying several times, and many people do not use a dryer because such clothes are dried by hanging.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a dryer or a washing dryer having an improved drying finish without increasing the volume of the drum.

  In order to achieve the above object, a feature of the present invention is that a high finishing course for drying can be set by an operation panel of the washing / drying machine. While rotating the rotating drum forward and backward, the fan that blows hot air for drying is operated at high speed, and high-speed hot air is blown to the clothes in the rotating drum through the nozzle so as to stretch the wrinkles of the clothes. It is characterized by that.

  At that time, the heater is switched to the weak mode so that the power consumption does not exceed the allowable current.

  Furthermore, when a high finishing course for drying is set, the area of the nozzle is controlled for a predetermined time, and high-speed warm air is blown from the nozzle to the clothing in the rotating drum while rotating the rotating drum forward and backward. I tried to stretch the wrinkles.

  The washing / drying machine configured as described above rotates the blower fan at a high speed in the high finishing stage of the drying and blows high-speed wind directly on the clothes during the drying operation, so that the clothes are spread and the wrinkles of the clothes Stretched to achieve a dry finish with less wrinkles.

  In addition, the outer diameter and blade height of the blower fan are taken into consideration so that the relationship between the air volume and the wind speed effective for wrinkle stretching can be obtained by the high-speed rotation of the blower fan.

  In addition, as described above, the current consumption increases as the speed of the blower fan increases. Therefore, by setting the heater that heats the air to a weak mode, damage to clothing can be reduced and the allowable current amount is not exceeded. Can be.

  Furthermore, by controlling the area of the nozzle at the high finishing stage of drying, by blowing high-speed wind directly on the clothing during the drying operation, the clothing is spread and wrinkles of the clothing are stretched, and there are few wrinkles A dry finish can be achieved.

It is an external view which shows the drum type washing-drying machine of this invention. It is a perspective view which cut | disconnects a part of housing | casing of the drum type washing machine of this invention, and shows an internal structure. It is a rear view which removes the back cover of the drum type washing machine of the present invention, and shows an internal structure. It is a side view which shows the internal structure of the drum type washing machine of this invention. It is a top view which cut | disconnects the upper part of the housing | casing of the drum type washing machine of this invention, and shows an internal structure. It is a front view of the outer tank cover which provided the warm air blowing outlet. It is AA sectional drawing of the warm air blower outlet in FIG. It is an experimental result of the sensory evaluation value of the finish of the clothing after a wind speed and drying. It is a schematic diagram when the high-speed wind blown from the nozzle hits clothing. It is an experimental result of force (product of air volume and wind speed) and sensory value of the finished clothes after drying. It is an experimental result of the finish sensory evaluation value for every cloth amount of the finish of clothing after strength and drying. It is an experimental result of the product of force and volume ratio and the finished sensory evaluation value. It is an apparatus for measuring the air volume pressure characteristics of the blower unit. It is a photograph which shows a sensory evaluation value and the finishing condition of clothing. It is a photograph which shows the finishing condition of hanging drying. It is an experimental result of the force in the case of a lower nozzle and the sensory value of the finish of the clothes after drying. It is a block diagram of the control system of the washing and drying machine shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows a part of control process which the microcomputer in the controller of the control system shown in FIG. 6 performs. It is a photograph which shows an example of the drum volume of a clothes dryer, and the clothing finishing state after drying.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external view of a drum type washing / drying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the casing cut off to show the internal structure, FIG. 3 is a rear view with the back cover removed to show the internal structure, and FIG. 4 shows the internal structure. FIG. 5 is a side view, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a part of the housing cut away to show the internal structure.

  Reference numeral 1 denotes a housing constituting the outer shell. The housing 1 is mounted on a base 1h, and includes left and right side plates 1a and 1b, a front cover 1c, a back cover 1d, a top cover 1e, and a lower front cover 1f. The left and right side plates 1a and 1b are joined by a U-shaped upper reinforcing material (not shown), a front reinforcing material (not shown), and a rear reinforcing material (not shown). A box-shaped housing 1 is formed and has sufficient strength as a housing.

  9 is a door which closes the insertion port for putting in and taking out the clothes provided in the approximate center of the front cover 1c, and is supported by the hinge provided in the front reinforcement material so that opening and closing is possible. When the door opening button 9d is pressed, the lock mechanism (not shown) is released to open the door, and when the door is pressed against the front cover 1c, the door is locked and closed. The front reinforcing member has a circular opening for putting clothes in and out concentrically with an opening of the outer tub described later.

  Reference numeral 6 denotes an operation panel provided in the upper center of the housing 1 and includes a power switch 39, operation switches 12 and 13, and a display 14. The operation panel 6 is electrically connected to a control device 38 provided at the lower part of the housing 1.

  3 is a cylindrical washing and dewatering tub (rotary drum) supported rotatably, having a large number of through holes for water flow and ventilation on its outer peripheral wall and bottom wall, and clothing on the front end face An opening 3a for taking in and out is provided. A fluid balancer 3c integrated with the washing and dewatering tub 3 is provided outside the opening 3a. A plurality of lifters 3b extending in the axial direction are provided inside the outer peripheral wall. When the washing and dewatering tub 3 is rotated during washing and drying, the clothes are lifted along the outer peripheral wall by the lifter 3b and centrifugal force, and dropped by gravity. Repeat the movements. The rotation center axis of the washing and dewatering tub 3 is inclined so that the horizontal or opening 3a side becomes higher.

  Reference numeral 2 denotes a cylindrical outer tub, which coaxially encloses the washing / dehydrating tub 3, opens on the front surface, and attaches the motor 4 to the outer center of the rear end surface. The rotating shaft of the motor 4 passes through the outer tub 2 and is connected to the washing and dewatering tub 3. An outer tub cover 2d is provided at the opening on the front surface, and water can be stored in the outer tub. In the center of the front side of the outer tub cover 2d, there is an opening 2c for taking in and out clothing. The opening provided in the main opening 2c and the front reinforcing member 37 is connected by a rubber bellows 10, and the outer tub 2 is sealed with water by closing the door 9. A drain port 2b is provided at the bottom bottom of the outer tub 2 and a drain hose 26 is connected thereto. A drain valve (not shown) is provided in the middle of the drain hose 26. Water is stored in the outer tank 2 by closing the drain valve and supplying water, and the drain valve is opened to drain the water in the outer tank 2 outside the machine. To discharge.

  The outer tub 2 is supported in a vibration-proof manner by a suspension 5 (consisting of a coil spring and a damper) whose lower side is fixed to the base 1h. The upper side of the outer tub 2 is supported by an auxiliary spring (not shown) attached to the upper reinforcing member, and prevents the outer tub 2 from falling in the front-rear direction.

  Reference numeral 19 denotes a detergent container provided on the upper left side in the housing 1, and a drawer-type detergent tray 7 is mounted from the front opening. When putting detergents, the detergent tray 7 is pulled out as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. The detergent container 19 is fixed to the upper reinforcing material of the housing 1.

  On the rear side of the detergent container 19, components related to water supply such as a water supply electromagnetic valve 16, a bath water supply pump 17, a water level sensor (not shown) are provided. The top cover 1e is provided with a water supply hose connection port 16a from a water tap and a water absorption hose connection port 17a for remaining hot water in the bath. The detergent container 19 is connected to the outer tub 2 and supplies washing water to the outer tub 2 by opening the water supply electromagnetic valve 16 or operating the bath water supply pump 17.

  Reference numeral 29 denotes a drying duct installed vertically inside the back surface of the housing 1, and a lower portion of the duct is connected to an intake port 2 a provided below the back surface of the outer tub 2 by a rubber bellows tube B 29 a. A water-cooled dehumidifying mechanism (not shown) is built in the drying duct 29, and cooling water is supplied from the water supply electromagnetic valve 16 to the water-cooled dehumidifying mechanism. The cooling water flows down along the wall surface of the drying duct 29, enters the outer tub 2 through the intake port 2a, and is discharged from the drain port 2b.

  The upper part of the drying duct 29 is connected to a filter duct 27 installed in the front-rear direction on the upper right side in the housing 1. The filter duct 27 has an opening on the front surface, and a drawer-type drying filter 8 is inserted into the opening. The air that has entered the filter duct 27 from the drying duct 29 flows into the mesh filter 8a of the drying filter 8, and lint is removed. Cleaning of the dry filter 8 is performed by pulling out the dry filter 8 and taking out the mesh filter 8a. In addition, an opening is provided on the lower surface of the insertion portion of the filter 9 in the filter duct 27, and the opening is connected to the intake duct 33, and the other end of the intake duct 33 is connected to the intake port of the blower unit 28. is doing.

  The blower unit 28 includes a drive motor 28a, a fan impeller (not shown), and a fan case 28b. The fan case 28b incorporates a heater 31 and heats air sent from the fan impeller. The discharge port of the blower unit 28 is connected to the hot air duct 30. The hot air duct 30 is connected to a hot air outlet 32 provided in the outer tank cover 2d through a rubber bellows tube A30a and a bellows tube joint 30b. In the present embodiment, since the blower unit 28 is provided on the upper right side in the housing 1, the hot air outlet 32 is provided at a position diagonally above and to the right of the outer tank cover 2d, and the distance to the hot air outlet 32 is set. I try to keep it as short as possible.

  Temperature sensors (not shown) are provided at the outlet 2b and the inlet and outlet of the blower unit 28.

  A feature of the present invention is to apply a high-speed wind directly to the garment and to stretch wrinkles generated in the garment by the force of the wind. For this purpose, a blower unit 28 that generates high-speed wind and a hot air outlet 32 that directly applies the wind to clothing are required. The performance required for the blower unit will be described later.

  Details of the hot air outlet 32 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 is a front view of the outer tub cover 2d of the hot air outlet 28 installation portion, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the hot air outlet 32 cut along a two-dot chain line AA in FIG.

  The hot air outlet 32 is provided along the opening 2c from the front side of the outer tub cover 2d, and flow paths 32b and 32c are formed therein. A bellows pipe joint 30b is attached to the inlet of the hot air outlet 32, and a nozzle 32d is formed at the outlet of the flow path 32c. The inner diameter of the opening 2c of the outer tub cover 2d and the inner diameter of the opening 3a of the washing / dehydration tub 3 are set to be substantially the same so that clothing does not enter between the gap between the washing / dehydration tub 3 and the outer tub cover 2d. Yes. For this reason, the outlet 32a of the hot air outlet 32 is formed so as to protrude inward from the inner peripheral surface of the opening 2c, and the nozzle 32d is opened toward the washing and dewatering tub 3. By doing in this way, the warm air from the nozzle 32d directly hits the clothes in the washing and dewatering tub 3.

  If the amount of protrusion of the outlet portion 32a is too large, the movement of clothing is hindered during washing or drying. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the amount of protrusion is reduced by using a flat slit shape, and the opening 2c and the outlet The surface shape of the portion 32a is changed smoothly. Further, the flow path 32b and the flow path 32c are configured so that there is no useless protrusion or a sudden change in the flow direction, and the flow path area gradually decreases toward the nozzle 32d. By doing so, it is possible to reduce pressure loss and fluid sound that occur when high-speed wind flows through the channels 32b and 32c.

  The flow of wind during the drying operation is as follows. When the blower unit 28 is operated and the heater 31 is energized, high-speed warm air blows into the washing and dewatering tub 3 from the nozzle 32d (arrow 41), hits the wet clothing, warms the clothing, and moisture evaporates from the clothing. The air that has become hot and humid flows from the through hole provided in the washing and dewatering tub 3 to the outer tub 2 and is sucked into the drying duct 29 from the air inlet 2a and flows from the bottom to the top in the drying duct 29 (arrow 42). Cooling water from the water cooling and dehumidifying mechanism flows down on the wall surface of the drying duct 29, and the hot and humid air is cooled and dehumidified by contacting with the cooling water, and becomes dry low temperature air and enters the filter duct 27 (arrow 43). . The lint is removed through the mesh filter 8a provided in the filter duct 27, enters the intake duct 33, and is sucked into the blower unit 28 (arrow 44). Then, it is heated again by the heater 31 and circulates so as to blow into the washing and dewatering tub 3. During this time, the washing and dewatering tub 3 is rotated forward and backward at a low speed to lift the garment to the vicinity of the nozzle 32d so that high-speed warm air directly hits the garment.

  FIG. 8 is an example of the results of examining the wind speed ejected from the nozzle 32d and the finish of the clothes after drying when the drying operation as described above is performed. The wind speed and the air volume were adjusted by changing the number of rotations of the motor 28a and the area of the nozzle 32d. The wind speed is a value calculated from the result of measuring the air volume pressure characteristics of the blower unit 28. The air pressure characteristics were measured with the apparatus shown in FIG. An orifice is attached to the suction port of the pressure equalizing box and the discharge port of the blower unit 28, and the air volume and the pressure of the intake port and the discharge port of the blower unit 28 are measured while varying the diameter of the orifice and the rotation speed of the motor 28a. The characteristics were determined. Then, the pressure of the air inlet and outlet of the air blowing unit 28 when the air blowing unit 28 is mounted on the washing / drying machine is measured, the air volume is obtained from the above air volume pressure characteristics, and the value obtained by dividing the air volume by the nozzle area is the air speed. It was.

  The experimental conditions are as shown in the figure, and the testing machine is a drum-type washing and drying machine having a washing and dewatering tank having a diameter of 600 mm and a volume of 75 L, and the amount of cloth is 2 kg. The results of the thin cotton pajamas trousers with the most wrinkles were shown, although the evaluation of the finish was carried out with various garments. Although the evaluation is a five-step sensory evaluation by visual observation, an example of the finished condition with respect to the sensory evaluation value is shown in FIG. The blowing direction of the wind from the nozzle 32d was made to face substantially the center of the bottom wall of the washing and dewatering tank 3. The result is an average value of three evaluators. For reference, FIG. 15 shows the finished condition when the clothes are hung and dried without being dried. (A) is the case where it is dried as it is after dehydration, and (b) is the case where it is dried after lightly extending the dehydration lines. (A) is dry with dehydrated wrinkles, and the sensory evaluation value is about 4, and (b) is dehydrated wrinkles are reduced, but many shallow wrinkles still remain, and the sensory evaluation value is about 4.5. It is.

From the figure,
(A) The finish improves as the wind speed increases. However, the finish is saturated with respect to the wind speed, and if the wind speed is too high, the finish tends to deteriorate. Also, the greater the air volume, the lower the wind speed at which the finish is saturated. When the air volume is 0.8 m ³ / min, the sensory evaluation value is about 3 at a wind speed of about 140 m / s. When the air volume is 1.0 m ³ / min, the sensory evaluation value is about 3.3 at a wind speed of about 130 m / s, and the air volume is 1.3 m ^3. At a wind speed of 120 m / s, the sensory evaluation value is about 3.9, and at an air volume of 1.5 m ³ / min, the sensory evaluation value is about 4.0 at a wind speed of about 110 m / s and about 100 m / s at an air volume of 1.7 m ³ / min The sensory evaluation value is about 4.2, and the finish is hardly improved even if the wind speed is increased further. Moreover, when the air volume is 1.5 m ³ / min or more, a finish equivalent to hanging drying can be obtained.
(B) If the wind speed is the same, the finish is better when the air volume is larger. However, the improvement degree of the finish when the air volume is increased from 1.5 m ³ / min to 1.7 m ³ / min is small. For this reason, even if the air volume is increased more than necessary, it is not expected to improve the finish.

  Thus, the larger the wind speed and volume, the better the finish. It is desirable to set the air volume and the wind speed in consideration of the balance between the two instead of increasing one of them. Specifically, not only the finish but also the current value (in the case of a household 100V commercial power source, the total of the blower unit 28, the heater 31, the motor 4, and the control device 38 is 15 A or less), drying performance, and wind circulate. It is necessary to determine the air speed and air volume in consideration of the flow path area of the duct and the mounting on the washer / dryer.

  If the sensory evaluation value is 3 or more, it can be easily finished even when ironing after drying. If the sensory evaluation value is 4 or more, there is little dissatisfaction even if the clothes after drying are worn as they are.

To the sensory evaluation value 3 or more, the air volume 0.8 m ³ / min at a wind speed of about 140 m / s or more, about 110m / s or more air flow 1.0 m ³ / min, air velocity about at air flow 1.3 m ³ / min 92m / s or more, wind speed of 1.5m ³ / min and wind speed of about 75m / s or more, air volume of 1.7m ³ / min and wind speed of about 70m / s or more, at least 0.8m ³ / min is required. . Although the air volume greatly affects the drying performance, if the air volume is too small, the drying time is extended. Therefore, the air volume is required to be 0.8 m ³ / min or more from the viewpoint of the drying performance.

  In the case of clothing that is difficult to wrinkle, a finish with a sensory evaluation value of 3 or higher can be obtained even at a value lower than the above, but it is common to dry various clothing at the same time, and the wind speed should be adjusted according to clothing that tends to wrinkle. It is better to decide.

  The reason why the wrinkle of clothing is reduced by applying high-speed wind to the clothing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram when the high-speed wind 41 from the nozzle 32d hits the clothing. Here, the case where there is other clothing on the back of the clothing is shown. When the wind hits the garment, the garment is forced to spread by the wind (arrow (1)), and after being struck by the garment, the direction of flow is changed and the wind flowing along the garment surface is pulled to the left and right (arrow (2)) ) Acts. The wrinkles of clothes are stretched by the force of (1) and (2). When the amount of clothes in the washing / dehydrating tub 3 is large, wrinkles are stretched mainly by the force of (1) because there are many other clothes that are difficult to move freely around the clothes directly hit by the wind. When the amount of clothing is small, the clothing moves freely, and the clothing hit by the wind looks like a wind stream while being pushed in the direction of the wind, and the force (2) due to the wind flowing along the clothing surface also acts. I will be stretched. When the amount of clothing is small, the clothing tends to spread during drying and wrinkles are unlikely to occur, so the force (1) is considered here.

  As shown in FIG. 9B, the force F of (1) can be expressed by the product of Q and V, where Q is the amount of wind blown from the nozzle 32d and V is the wind speed. In addition, the wind (jet) blown from the nozzle 32d is affected by a large speed difference from the surrounding air and the viscosity of the air, while entraining the surrounding air and expanding the width of the flow, and at that time, the jet itself reduces the velocity V. (However, when the distance X from the nozzle 32d is very small (from the core area of the jet, in the case of a circular nozzle, from the nozzle to a position about 6 times the nozzle diameter), the velocity V is Almost constant).

  That is, as the distance X from the nozzle 32d increases, the force that the clothing per unit area receives (the pressure that the clothing receives from the wind) decreases. Therefore, the closer the clothes are to the nozzle 32d, the greater the effect of stretching the wrinkles.

If the result of FIG. 8 is rearranged by force F, it will become like FIG. In FIG. 8, the air volume Q is displayed as a volumetric flow rate, but it was converted to a mass flow rate by applying the air density (1.24 kg / m ³ at 20 ° C.). As can be seen from the figure, the finished sensory evaluation value increases as the force F increases, but is almost saturated when the force F is 3.5 N or more, and the sensory evaluation value is about 4.7. The sensory evaluation value varies somewhat, but falls within the range of the broken line in the figure. It can be seen that in order to obtain a sensory evaluation value of 3 or more, the force F should be about 2.2 N or more.

  FIG. 11 summarizes the experimental results from 1 kg to 4 kg in the same manner as FIG. It can be seen that the greater the amount of fabric, the greater the force F required to obtain the same sensory evaluation value. This is because the larger the amount of cloth, the larger the amount of clothing with respect to the volume of the washing and dewatering tub 3 and the more difficult the clothing spreads. Therefore, a greater force is required to stretch the wrinkles. In addition, the sensory evaluation value saturates at a certain force or higher. Therefore, the best finish can be obtained without flowing unnecessary wind by controlling the air volume and speed so that the optimum force is applied according to the amount of cloth. Power consumption can be reduced. As a method of controlling the air volume and the air speed, the method of controlling the rotation speed of the blower unit 28 (increasing the rotation speed as the cloth volume increases) is the easiest, but the area of the nozzle 32d is made variable to control the area. The method is fine.

  As the amount of cloth increases, the maximum sensory evaluation value decreases. At 1 kg of cloth, the sensory evaluation value is about 4.8, about 4.7 at 2 kg, about 4.2 at 3 kg. The amount is about 3.5 at 4 kg and about 2.6 at 5 kg. From this figure, the force F required for the sensory evaluation value of 3 or more is about 0.8 N or more when the fabric weight is 1 kg, about 3.0 N or more when 3 kg, and about 3.4 N or more when 4 kg. In this experiment, the sensory evaluation value 3 could not be achieved with a fabric weight of 5 kg. From the above, it is preferable that the force F be 0.8 N or more even when the amount of fabric is small.

  Thus, the force for obtaining the required finish differs depending on the volume of the washing and dewatering tub 3 and the amount of cloth. Therefore, the volume of the washing / dehydrating tub 3 per amount of cloth is defined as a volume ratio (= volume of the washing / dehydrating tub 3 / cloth amount). Then, when the result of FIG. 10 is arranged by the product of the force F and the volume ratio, FIG. 12 is obtained. As can be seen from the figure, the finished sensory evaluation value falls within the range of the broken line in the figure with respect to the product of the force and the volume ratio. This figure includes an index (force F, the volume of the washing / dehydrating tub 3 and the amount of cloth) related to the dry finish. By using this figure, the conditions for obtaining the target finish are shown. Can lead.

  In order to obtain a sensory evaluation value of 3 or more, the product of force and volume ratio may be about 62 N · L / kg or more. As an example, a condition for obtaining a sensory evaluation value of 3 or more is obtained when the volume of the washing and dewatering tub 3 is 75 L and the amount of cloth is 4 kg.

  Volume ratio = 75/4 = 18.75 L / kg, and force F = 62 / 18.75 = 3.31 N.

Next, if the air volume is determined to be 1.65 m ³ / min (= 0.0341 kg / s) in consideration of the drying performance, the wind speed is about 97 m / s (= 3.31 / 0.0341). Therefore, the area of the nozzle 32d may be set to 2.83 × 10 ⁻⁴ m ² (283 mm ² ) in order to obtain this air volume and speed.

  In this embodiment, the blower unit 28 has a fan impeller diameter of 140 mm, a blade thickness of 8.1 mm, and a rotational speed of 15000 revolutions per minute. As a result, the fan discharge pressure is about 7000 Pa (at an air temperature of 30 ° C.), and the above-described air volume and speed are obtained.

  As described above, to improve the finish, the force F is increased (the air volume Q is increased or the wind speed V is increased), and the distance X between the nozzle and the garment is decreased (the garment is brought closer to the nozzle).

  In order to increase the air volume Q, it is necessary to increase the outer diameter and blade height of the fan so that the above-described air volume and wind speed can be obtained when the rotational speed of the fan of the blower unit 28 is increased.

  Also, it is better to reduce the pressure loss by increasing the area of the duct through which the hot air passes. In particular, in the case of the water cooling method using water for dehumidification, if the flow velocity of the air flowing through the drying duct 29 is too high, a phenomenon that the cooling water is blown off by the wind occurs. When the cooling water reaches the filter 8a and the heater 31, the pressure loss due to the filter 8a getting wet or the cooling water evaporates in the heater 31 and the temperature of the hot air decreases, leading to a significant decrease in drying efficiency. For this reason, it is essential to increase the flow path area of the drying duct 29.

  For this reason, when the air volume is significantly increased, the size of the duct and the blower unit increases, leading to an increase in the size of the housing 1, and it becomes difficult to install the washing and drying machine in the home.

  On the other hand, in order to increase the wind speed V, the air blowing unit 28 may be a pressure type to reduce the nozzle area. When a general turbofan is used as the blower unit 28, there are a method of increasing the diameter of the fan impeller at a low rotational speed and a method of increasing the rotational speed while keeping the diameter of the fan impeller small. High-speed rotation has the advantage that it can be mounted in the same housing as the conventional one.

  In the experimental result of the finish shown in FIG. 8, when the wind speed was too high, a phenomenon that the finish was deteriorated was observed. This cannot be explained above. Observing the movement of the clothing during the experiment, it was found that if the wind speed was too high, there was a phenomenon in which the clothing was twisted by the wind. Therefore, this is a cause of deterioration of the finish.

  In order to reduce the distance X between the nozzle 32d and the garment, the number of rotations of the washing and dewatering tub 3 is appropriately controlled so that the garment is lifted up near the nozzle 32d so that the wind as fast as possible directly hits the garment. To do. The clothes are lifted upward by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the washing and dewatering tank 3 and the lifter 3b. For this reason, the number of rotations has an optimum value according to the diameter of the washing and dewatering tub 3, and the number of rotations decreases as the diameter increases. Also, the lifter 3b is preferably high. However, if the height of the lifter 3b is high, a high torque is required to lift the clothes soaked in water, and the motor 4 needs to be a high-output thing. Therefore, the shape of the lifter 3b is considered in consideration of the output of the motor. Need to be determined.

  In order to further reduce the distance X between the nozzle 32d and the garment, the nozzle 32d may be provided near the place through which the garment always passes during drying. That is, the position of the nozzle 32d may be set to the lower side of the washing and dewatering tank 3 (the lower side of the outer tank cover 2d) where the lifter 3b lifts the clothes. FIG. 16 is obtained by adding the result in the case where the nozzle 32d is provided below in FIG. In order to obtain the sensory evaluation value 3, the force F may be about 1.5 N, and it is possible to achieve the same degree of finish with a force about 30% smaller than when the nozzle is on the top. The value of the product of the force F and the volume ratio shown in FIG. 12 can be reduced by 30%, and in order to obtain a sensory evaluation value of 3 or more, it may be 44 N · L / kg or more. Thus, there is an advantage that the pressure and the air volume of the blower unit 28 can be reduced (the rotational speed of the fan impeller can be reduced) as compared with the case where the nozzle 32d is on the upper side. Also, if the nozzle 32d is at the bottom, the wind blowing direction and the direction of gravity are reversed. When the wind hits the clothing, the clothing is difficult to escape due to its own weight, and the force F can be effectively applied to the clothing.

  When the nozzle 32d is provided on the lower side, the installation of the drying duct 29 and the blower unit 28 on the lower side of the outer tub 2 can make the mounting compact and reduce the pressure loss. However, since the washing water at the time of washing enters from the nozzle 32d and flows into the blower unit 28, it is necessary to take measures such as providing a water entry prevention mechanism or a waterproof blower unit. Then, the ventilation unit 28 is provided in the upper part of the housing | casing 1 similarly to this Embodiment, and it can prevent permeation of washing water by making it the structure connected with the nozzle 32d provided in the lower side by the duct.

  FIG. 17 is a block diagram of the control device 38 of the washing / drying machine. A microcomputer 50 is connected to the operation button input circuit 51, the water level sensor 34, and the temperature sensor 52 connected to each of the switches 12, 13, 13a, and various information signals in the user's button operation, washing process, and drying process. Receive. An output from the microcomputer 50 is connected to a drive circuit 54 and connected to a water supply electromagnetic valve 16, a drain valve 25, a motor 4, a blower fan 28, a heater 31, and the like, and controls opening / closing, rotation, and energization thereof. Further, it is connected to a 7-segment light emitting diode display 14, a light emitting diode 56 and a buzzer 57 for notifying the user of the operating state of the washing machine.

  The microcomputer 50 is activated when the power switch 39 is pressed and the power is turned on, and executes a basic control processing program for washing and drying as shown in FIG.

Step S101
Check the status of the washer / dryer and make initial settings.

Step S102
The indicator 14 of the operation panel 6 is turned on, and a washing / drying course is set according to an instruction input from the operation button switch 13. When no instruction is input, the standard washing / drying course or the previous washing / drying course is automatically set. For example, when an instruction is input to the operation button switch 13a, a high finishing course for drying is set.

Step S103
The process branches after monitoring the instruction input from the start switch 12 of the operation panel 6.

Step S104
Perform the laundry. Laundry is performed in the order of washing, intermediate dehydration, rinsing, and final dehydration. Since this is the same as a normal drum-type washing and drying machine, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

Step S105
The process branches after confirming whether the washing / drying course is set. When only the washing course is set, the driving is ended.

Step S106
When a washing / drying course is set, hot air dehydration is performed. In the hot air dehydration, the blower unit 28 is operated at a low speed, and the heater 31 is energized (strong mode) to blow warm air into the washing and dewatering tub 3 to increase the temperature of the clothes. At the same time, the washing and dewatering tub 3 is rotated at a high speed to effectively dehydrate moisture from the warmed clothes (the viscosity of the water decreases as the temperature rises so that it can be efficiently dehydrated). In the present embodiment, the rotation speed of the blower unit 28 is set to 11000 rotations per minute. This is to prevent the allowable current value (15 A) from being exceeded.

Step S107
Dry operation 1 is executed. The blower unit 28 operates at a low speed, the heater 31 operates in a strong mode, repeats forward / reverse rotation of the washing / dehydrating tub 3, and blows hot hot air onto the garment while changing the position of the clothing in the washing / dehydrating tub 3. . The temperature of the entire clothing rises and moisture evaporates from the clothing.

Step S108
Check if the high finishing course is set and branch the process. In the case of the different course of the high finish course, step S107 is performed until the drying is completed.

Step S109
The process branches after confirming whether the elapsed time from the start of drying has reached a predetermined time. The specified time is set before the dryness of the clothes (= the mass of the dry cloth / the mass of the compress) reaches 0.9.

  Drying proceeds as follows. It is important to give the garment as much heat as possible in order to raise the garment temperature quickly in the early stage of drying. During the preheating period, there is little evaporation of moisture from the clothing.

  As the temperature of the clothing rises, the evaporation of moisture from the clothing increases, so the temperature rise of the clothing becomes dull due to the heat of vaporization, and eventually the heat and the heat of vaporization balance, and the temperature of the clothing becomes almost constant (constant rate) Dry). When the moisture content of the garment decreases, the heat of vaporization decreases, and the temperature of the garment begins to rise again. When the moisture of the garment runs out, the temperature becomes almost the same as that of the warm air, and drying ends (decreasing drying). The temperature of the clothing starts to rise when the dryness reaches around 0.9.

  When the clothes contain a lot of moisture, even if the clothes are wrinkled, they can be easily repaired (it can also be seen from the fact that the wrinkled clothes can be wrinkled by spraying or steaming). However, wrinkles are fixed when drying proceeds to a dryness of 0.9 or more with wrinkles remaining. Once fixed, wrinkles can hardly be taken in subsequent processes. Therefore, it is important to stretch the wrinkles before the dryness reaches 0.9.

At the time of actual drying, clothes of different materials and thicknesses are dried at the same time. Therefore, the time required for the dryness to be 0.9 varies depending on the clothes. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the dryness of the thin cotton clothing that is most likely to be wrinkled is set to a time from about 0.8 to about 0.85. Further, since the time for the dryness to be 0.9 differs depending on the amount of cloth, it is needless to say that the time needs to be set according to the amount of cloth.

Step S110
Dry operation 2 is executed. While the forward / reverse rotation of the washing / dehydrating tub 3 is continued, the blower unit 28 is rotated at a high speed, the heater 31 is set in a weak mode, high-speed air is blown to the clothes in the washing / dehydrating tub 3, and drying is performed while stretching wrinkles. Do. The reason why the heater 31 is set to the weak mode when the blower unit 28 is rotated at high speed is to prevent the allowable current value from being exceeded. In the present embodiment, the rotation speed of the blower unit 28 is set to 16000 rotations per minute. The input current of the blower unit 28 at 16000 revolutions per minute is about 7 A, the heater 31 is about 6 A, and the motor 4 and the control device 38 are about 1 A.

  In this step, since the heater 31 is in the weak mode, it is lower than that in step S107. Especially when the dryness exceeds 0.9, the temperature of the clothing rises and approaches the warm air temperature. However, since the warm air temperature is low, the clothing temperature can be kept low and damage to the clothing can be reduced. There are also benefits.

  Drying is performed while monitoring the temperature of the warm air or the cooling water drainage using a temperature sensor, and is finished when the rate of temperature change reaches a predetermined value.

  Note that the drying operation 2 of step S110 may be performed from the beginning without performing the drying operation 1 of step S107. As the amount of cloth increases, the rear and front clothing in the washing and dewatering tub 3 is less likely to be replaced, and the front clothing to which the warm air is blown dries quickly. Therefore, by operating the blower unit 38 at a high speed from the beginning, it is possible to prevent wrinkles from being quickly dried even if the drying speed varies greatly.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 2 Outer tub 2d Outer tub cover 3 Washing / dehydration tub 4, 28a Motor 6 Operation panel 8 Drying filter 9 Door 16 Water supply solenoid valve 27 Filter duct 28 Blower unit 28b Fan case 29 Drying duct 31 Heater 32 Hot air outlet 32d Nozzle 33 Intake duct 38 Control device

Claims (3)

A rotating drum in which clothing is housed;
A motor that drives the rotating drum;
A housing that supports the rotating drum;
The operation panel can be selected from the washing process until washing, intermediate dehydration, rinsing, and final dehydration, and the air blow drying process in which warm air is blown with a heater by a blower fan and the clothes are dried while rotating the rotating drum forward and backward. In the washing and drying machine
In the air blowing and drying step, the hot air from the air blowing fan is directly blown to the clothes in the rotating drum through a hot air outlet provided with a hot air duct and a nozzle,
With the operation panel, a high finishing course for drying can be set,
When the high finishing course for drying is set, the air blowing fan is operated at high speed while rotating the rotating drum forward and backward for a predetermined time, and high-speed hot air is supplied from the nozzle to the clothing in the rotating drum. A washing and drying machine that sprays and stretches wrinkles on clothing.   2. The washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein when the high finishing course for drying is selected, the fan is rotated at a high speed while rotating the rotating drum forward and backward for a predetermined time, and the heater is turned on. Washer / dryer to switch to weak mode. A rotating drum in which clothing is housed;
A motor for driving the rotating drum;
A housing that supports the rotating drum;
Washing process until washing, intermediate dehydration, rinsing, final dehydration,
In the washing / drying machine in which warm air is blown with a heater with a blower fan while rotating the rotating drum forward and backward, and the execution of a blow drying process for drying clothes can be selected with an operation panel.
In the air blowing and drying step, the hot air from the air blowing fan is directly blown to the clothes in the rotating drum through a hot air outlet provided with a hot air duct and a nozzle,
With the operation panel, a high finishing course for drying can be set,
When the high finishing course of drying is set, the area of the nozzle is controlled for a predetermined time, and the blower fan is operated while rotating the rotating drum forward and backward, and the clothing in the rotating drum is discharged from the nozzle. A washing and drying machine that sprays high-speed warm air on the garment to stretch the wrinkles of clothing.

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