JP2009183343A - Washing-drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washing-drying machine capable of shortening a drying time for a wash by blowing a part of heated air exhausted to the outside of a water tank from the inside in a wash drying process to the inside again to promote an increase in temperature inside the tank. <P>SOLUTION: The washing-drying machine X includes the water tank 8 provided inside a box body 1 and a washing/spin-drying tub 10 rotatably supported inside the tank 8 and dries the wash W inside the tub 10 by feeding heated air to the inside of the tank 8 and exhausting it outside the tank 8. The machine X is provided with sucking means 28 and 38 for sucking a part of air exhausted to the outside of the tank 8 from its inside and blowing means 29 and 38 for blowing air sucked by the sucking means 28 and 38 to the inside of the tank 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a washing / drying machine capable of shortening the drying time of a laundry.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, fully automatic laundry dryers that automatically execute a series of processes such as a washing process, a rinsing process, a dehydrating process, and a drying process of a laundry are known.
This type of washing / drying machine is exemplified in the following Patent Document 1, and in the drying step, air is taken out of or inside the casing of the washing / drying machine, and the air is supplied to the water tank through a blower opening. And a heater that is provided between the air source and the air outlet and that heats the air taken in by the air source in the drying step.
In the conventional washing and drying machine, in the drying step, the air taken in by the air source is heated by a heater, and then the heated high-temperature air is supplied into the water tank. Then, in the washing and dewatering tub, the high-temperature air evaporates the moisture contained in the laundry to form moisture-containing air, and then the moisture-containing air is directly discharged out of the water tub and out of the housing. It was.
JP-A-2005-492

By the way, it is normal that it takes a long time to dry the laundry, and the laundry dryer gives a large amount of heat to the laundry early in order to shorten the drying time. The problem is how quickly the water contained in the object is discharged out of the water tank. For that purpose, it is necessary to send a larger amount of drier and hotter air into the aquarium, and keep the temperature of the air in the aquarium, particularly in the washing and dehydrating tub, in a dry state. There is.
However, recently, due to problems such as electricity bills and global warming, products with less energy consumption have been demanded. That is, there is a demand for a product that realizes energy saving while shortening the drying time. For that purpose, it becomes a big point whether it can be effectively used for drying the laundry without throwing away the amount of heat input into the water tank, that is, how much heat can be transferred to the laundry. .
That is, in the conventional washing and drying machine, the air supplied to the water tank after being heated to a high temperature is taken out of the laundry in the washing and dewatering tank and then taken out from the water tank to be taken into the housing. It is discharged outside the body. However, some of the air supplied into the water tank does not reach the laundry, and the amount of heat transferred to the laundry remains insufficient. It was discharged outside the water tank without contributing much to evaporation.
In particular, in order to promote drying, a large amount of heat is sent to the tank early, the air volume supplied to the tank is increased using a high-power air source, or the water tank is heated using a higher temperature heat source. Even if the temperature of the air supplied to is increased, the amount of air discharged outside the aquarium increases while the amount of heat transmitted to the laundry is insufficient, resulting in a significant waste of power consumption.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to increase the amount of heat without wasting the amount of heat input into the water tank in the drying process of the laundry. It is an object of the present invention to provide a washing / drying machine that can efficiently dry the laundry.

In order to achieve the above object, the washing and drying machine of the present invention comprises:
A water tank provided in the housing and having a first opening facing upward, a water tank lid covering the first opening, a second tank that is rotatably supported in the water tank and faces the first opening A washing and drying machine comprising a washing and dewatering tub having an opening, and drying heated items in the washing and dewatering tub by supplying heated air into the water tub and discharging the air out of the water tub An air intake unit that sucks a part of the air discharged from the water tank lid to the outside of the water tank, and an air supply unit that opens to the water tank lid and supplies air into the washing and dewatering tank And air blowing means for blowing air from the intake portion to the air supply portion.
According to the above-described washing / drying machine, the high temperature air discharged from the water tank lid to the outside of the water tank is blown again into the washing / dehydration tank from the air supply port through the second opening. Can be prevented from being discharged out of the casing.
That is, in the conventional case, high-temperature air that has been exhausted from the washing / dehydrating tank to the outside of the housing through the water tank can be recirculated into the washing / dehydrating tank without much contribution to drying. Even if the amount of heated air supplied from inside and outside the casing to the water tank is increased, it is possible to suppress a reduction in the efficiency of transferring the amount of heat to the laundry.

Further, in the washing / drying machine of the present invention, when the state in which air is blown by the air blowing means is continued for a first predetermined time during the drying process of the laundry, the air is not blown by the air blowing means. It is preferable to shift to.
If the state in which the air is being blown by the blowing means is continued, the air in the water tank is repeatedly used to evaporate the moisture in the laundry, and the humidity of the air in the water tank becomes high. Even if air is blown by the blowing means in this state, it is not very efficient from the viewpoint of improving the energy consumed by the blowing means and the drying efficiency. Therefore, by doing as described above, it is possible to improve energy saving while maintaining high drying efficiency.

Moreover, when the state which is not blowing by the said ventilation means is continued for the 2nd predetermined time during the drying process of the said to-be-washed item, it is preferable to make it transfer to the state which is blowing by the said ventilation means.
If the state where the air is not blown by the air blowing means is continued, the low humidity air is discharged from the water tank, and the heat quantity of the air is wasted. Therefore, a high drying efficiency can be maintained by doing as described above.

In the washing and drying machine of the present invention, it is preferable to start blowing by the blowing means after the elapse of a third predetermined time from the start of drying of the laundry.
For some time after the start of drying (for example, during the third predetermined time), a large amount of moisture has adhered to the laundry, and the temperature of the laundry is relatively low. Tends to be humid at relatively low temperatures. Even if air is blown by the blowing means in this state, it is not very efficient from the viewpoint of improving the energy consumed by the blowing means and the drying efficiency. Therefore, by doing as described above, it is possible to improve energy saving while maintaining high drying efficiency.

  In the washing / drying machine of the present invention, it is preferable to provide a detachable filter that removes foreign matter in the air by passing the entire amount of air discharged from the water tank to the outside of the water tank. The part through which the entire amount of air discharged from the water tank to the outside of the water tank passes is the air intake section and the discharge section for discharging the air in the water tank to the outside of the water tank. Here, if a filter required for both is created with one filter, it can contribute to cost reduction. In this way, the user can attach / detach the filter to / from the intake means and the discharge means with a single attachment / detachment operation.

  According to the present invention, even if the supply amount per unit time of the heated air supplied from the inside to the outside of the housing is increased, it is possible to suppress a reduction in the efficiency of transferring the amount of heat to the laundry. Can provide.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be understood. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of the washing / drying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view inside the washing / drying machine X by the drying unit X1 according to the present invention and the drying auxiliary unit X2 according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the flow of air, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of a water tub 8 included in the washing / drying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a main part of the washing / drying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention.

First, a washing / drying machine X according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, the left side shows the front side of the washer / dryer X, and the right side shows the back side of the washer / dryer X.
In the washing / drying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the housing 1 has a predetermined shape such as a rectangular parallelepiped shape. The housing 1 includes a metal or synthetic resin main body 2 having openings 100, 101, and 102 formed at the top, bottom, and back, respectively, an operation panel 32, and a control unit 33. A synthetic resin upper surface plate 3 attached to the inner periphery of the formed opening 100 in a substantially annular shape, a synthetic resin back panel 4 attached to the inner periphery of the opening 100 or on the upper portion of the upper surface plate 3, and an opening A metal back cover 5 attached so as to cover 102 and a base portion 6 provided with legs 7 at the four corners and attached to the inner periphery of the opening 101 are schematically configured.
The opening 100 formed in the upper part of the main body 2 has a shape along the inner edge of the upper surface plate 3 and is closed by an upper lid 14 that can be opened and closed by a hinge portion (not shown).

In the housing 1, there are provided a water tank 8 and a washing and dewatering tank 10 that is rotatably supported in the water tank 8. The water tank 8 is suspended and supported in a swingable manner on a horizontal plane in the water tank 8 by a suspension member 9 supported by a support plate 35 attached to the main body 2 inside the housing 1. The laundry dryer X sequentially executes a washing process, a rinsing process, a dehydrating process, and a drying process in accordance with the control of the control unit 33 in a state where the laundry W is stored in the washing / dehydrating tub 10. Perform the process.
The washing / dehydrating tub 10 is rotatable around a vertical rotation axis inside the water tub 8, and a number of dewatering holes are formed on the peripheral side surface thereof.
In the washing process or the rinsing process of the washing / drying machine X, the water supply unit 20 supplies water into the water tank 8 through a water supply path (not shown). After the water tank 8 is filled with a certain amount of water, the pulsator (stirring blade) 15 attached to the lower part of the washing and dewatering tank 10 is rotated to wash or rinse the laundry W.
In the dehydration process, after the water in the water tub 8 is drained by the drainage section 19, the washing and dewatering tub 10 is rotated at a high speed, and the laundry W is dehydrated by the centrifugal force.
In the drying process, air heated from the upper part of the water tub 8 is blown onto the laundry W, and at the same time, the pulsator 15 is rotated. As a result, the heated air heats the laundry W in the washing and dewatering tub 10, and the moisture attached to the laundry W evaporates, so that the drying process proceeds.

An opening 80 is formed in the upper part of the water tank 8, and the opening 80 is closed by a water tank cover 12 and an inner lid 13 attached to the water tank cover 12 by a hinge portion H so as to be opened and closed. Is configured as a generally enclosed space. The water tank cover 12 is provided with a hot air blowing port 27, an air supply port 28, an intake port 29, and an exhaust passage 39 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). Details of each will be described later. . The opening 80 is an example of the first opening, and the water tank cover 12 and the inner lid 13 are examples of the water tank lid.
A balancer 11 filled with salt water is annularly attached to the upper part of the peripheral side surface of the washing / dehydrating tub 10. The function to suppress
Below the water tank 8, a motor 16, a belt transmission mechanism 17 for transmitting the output rotation of the motor 16, and a clutch / brake mechanism 18 are provided. The motor 16, the belt transmission mechanism 17, and the clutch / brake mechanism 18 are In the washing process, the rinsing process, the dehydrating process, and the drying process, the rotation, rotation stop, and rotation direction of the pulsator 15 are controlled. Further, in the dehydration step, the rotation, rotation stop, and rotation direction of the washing / dehydrating tub 10 are controlled.

A drying unit X 1 is provided inside the back panel 4, and the drying unit X 1 is supported by a support plate 34 attached to the main body 2. The drying unit X1 includes a turbo fan 21 that takes in air outside the housing 1 that flows in through an opening 26 provided in the back panel 4 through an air intake port 25, and a motor 22 that rotates the turbo fan 21. The heater 23 for heating the air taken in by the turbo fan 21, the duct 24 for guiding the air heated by the heater 23 into the water tank 8, and the air intake port 25 are attached to the air through the opening 26. A filter F1 for removing foreign substances contained in the inflowing air is schematically provided. In the drying unit X1, the air source for taking in the air outside the housing 1 is constituted by the turbo fan 21, but it is also conceivable that the air source is constituted by a sirocco fan, an air foil fan or the like. It is done. Further, the air in the housing 1 may be taken in by the turbo fan 21.
In the drying unit X1, in the drying process, the turbo fan 21 is rotationally driven so that air is taken in through the air intake port 25, and the taken-in air is heated by the heater 23. The heated air reaches the hot air blowing port 27 through the duct 24 and is supplied into the water tank 8.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a part of the air discharged from the inside of the water tank 8 to the outside of the water tank 8 is sucked into the upper part of the water tank cover 12 through the intake port 29, and a part of the air is sent. A drying auxiliary unit X2 that is blown again into the water tank 8 through the air vent 28, and a removable filter that removes foreign matter in the air by passing the entire amount of air discharged from the water tank 8 to the outside of the water tank 8 are attached. It has been. The intake port 29, an intake passage 29-1, which will be described later, and the intake filter F22 are examples of the intake portion, and the air supply port 28 and an air supply path 31, which will be described later, are examples of the air supply portion.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an air flow in the washing / drying machine X by the drying unit X1 and the drying auxiliary unit X2.
In the washing / drying machine X, the air flow (arrow (a)) blown to the laundry W after being heated by the drying unit X1 is the air flow (arrow (b)) passing through the water tank 8. ).
A part of the air flow (arrow (b)) passing through the water tank 8 is a part of the air discharged from the water tank 8 through the filter F2 after the moisture of the laundry W is taken away. It becomes a flow (indicated by arrow (b1)).
The remainder of the air flow (arrow (b)) passing through the water tank 8 becomes the air flow (arrow (c)) discharged from the water tank 8 through the filter F2.
The drying auxiliary unit X2 thus creates air flow (shown by the arrow (c)) by sucking and passing a part of the air (arrow (b)) passing through the water tank 8, and again. By blowing into the water tank 8 (indicated by an arrow (d)), air is circulated from the water tank 8 through the outside of the water tank 8.
Therefore, the high temperature air discharged from the water tank 8 is recirculated to use the heat, and the high temperature air from the drying unit X1 is merged to increase the temperature of the air flowing in the water tank 8, particularly in the latter half of the drying process. In this case, the laundry W can be efficiently dried, and the drying time can be shortened.

The washing / drying machine X shown in FIG. 3 embodies the air flow described in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3 as described above. ing.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the water tank cover 12 is provided with an intake port 29 and an exhaust passage 39 such that the intake port 29 is rearward and the exhaust passage 39 is frontward. The air inlet 29 and the exhaust passage 39 are provided along the line AA, which is the diameter axis of the water tank in the front-rear direction of the washing and drying machine.
Further, on the rear side of the inner lid 13 of the water tank cover 12, as shown in FIG. 4, a filter F2 that removes foreign matter in the air by passing the entire amount of air discharged from the water tank 8 to the outside of the water tank 8. The filter mounting cover 36 and the drying auxiliary unit X2 are attached. As shown in FIG. 4, the filter mounting cover 36 is provided with an intake passage 29-1 communicating with the intake port 29 and an exhaust passage 39-1 communicating with the exhaust passage 39.
The drying auxiliary unit X <b> 2 is schematically configured to include a blower unit 30 and an air supply path 31 provided so as to extend rightward from the blower unit 30. In the present embodiment, the air supply path 31 is extended in the right direction, but may be extended in the left direction or other directions.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the air blower 30 is mounted on the filter mounting cover 36 and includes a turbo fan 38 indicated by a broken line in FIG. 4 that generates air suction force. 10 (arrow (b) in FIG. 2), a part of the air flowing into the exhaust passage 39 is sucked through the air inlet 29. The air blowing unit 30 is an example of the air blowing means.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the air supply path 31 is an air passage connecting between the air blowing unit 30 and the air supply port 28, and the air sucked by the air blowing unit 30 is supplied to the air supply port 28. By induction, an air flow into the water tank 8 (arrow (c) in FIG. 2) and into the washing and dewatering tank 10 (arrow (d) in FIG. 2) is created.
The filter F2 is for removing foreign matter such as lint and dust generated in the water tank 8 in the drying step, and is accommodated in the filter mounting cover 36, and the exhaust path 39 and the exhaust gas are contained in the filter F2. An exhaust filter F21 positioned between the intake passage 29-1 and an intake filter F22 positioned between the intake port 29 and the intake passage 29-1 while being accommodated in the filter mounting cover 36. Yes. The filter F21 and the filter F22 may be integrally formed.

The outline of the flow of air in the washing / drying machine X has already been described with reference to FIG. 2, and specifically, will be described as follows with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
In the washing / drying machine X, the air heated by the drying unit X1 is supplied into the water tank 8 through the duct 24 (arrow (a)). The air supplied into the water tub 8 is blown into the washing and dewatering tub 10 to evaporate the moisture of the laundry W, and then a part of the air is discharged through the exhaust passage 39 (arrow ( b1)).
Air other than the part of the air (a part of the air that is about to be discharged outside the water tank 8 through the exhaust passage 39) is sucked in through the air inlet 29 by the blower 30 (arrow (c)), It passes through the passage 31 and is blown again into the water tank 8 through the air supply port 28 (indicated by an arrow (d)).
In the washing / drying machine X according to this embodiment, a part of the air to be discharged from the water tub 8 is blown again into the washing / dehydrating tub 10 by performing the above configuration and operation. Therefore, the amount of air that can be used for drying can be reduced from the inside of the water tank 8 to the outside, and the high-temperature air keeps the amount of heat again as indicated by the arrow (c). Since it is blown into the water tank 8, the temperature rise in the water tank 8 is promoted, whereby the drying time of the laundry W can be shortened.

In the washing / drying machine X of the present embodiment, after the third predetermined time has elapsed since the drying process of the laundry W is started, the air blowing by the drying auxiliary unit X2 is started. It is conceivable that the turbo fan 38 of the drying assist unit X2 is driven to rotate after the third predetermined time period by the program module stored.
For a while from the start of the drying process, a large amount of moisture adheres to the laundry W, so the air in the water tank 8 tends to be in a high humidity state. In this state, even if the ventilation by the drying auxiliary unit X2 is started, the drying efficiency of the laundry W is not improved so much.
Therefore, the energy required for driving the turbofan 38 is maintained while maintaining the drying efficiency by stopping the turbofan 38 of the auxiliary drying unit X2 until the third predetermined time has elapsed after the start of the drying process. Consumption can be suppressed.
Further, in the washing / drying machine X of the present embodiment, when the state in which the air is supplied by the drying auxiliary unit X2 is continued for the first predetermined time, the state may be shifted to the state in which the air is not supplied by the drying auxiliary unit X2. Conceivable.
If the air blowing by the drying auxiliary unit X2 is continued, the air in the water tub 8 is repeatedly used to evaporate the water in the laundry W, so the humidity of the air in the water tub 8 increases. End up. Even if air is blown by the drying auxiliary unit X2 in this state, it is not very efficient from the viewpoint of improving the energy consumed by the drying auxiliary unit X2 and the drying efficiency. Therefore, when the state in which the air is supplied by the drying auxiliary unit X2 is continued for the first predetermined time, the state is shifted to the state in which the air is not supplied by the drying auxiliary unit X2, thereby maintaining high drying efficiency and saving energy. Can increase the sex.
Moreover, in the washing / drying machine X of this embodiment, when the state where the air is not blown by the drying auxiliary unit X2 is continued for the second predetermined time, the state is shifted to the state where the air is blown by the drying auxiliary unit X2. Conceivable.
If the state where the air is not blown by the drying auxiliary unit X2 is continued, the low-humidity air is discharged from the water tank 8, and the heat quantity of the air is wasted. Therefore, when the state where the air is not blown by the drying auxiliary unit X2 is continued for the second predetermined time, a high drying efficiency can be maintained by shifting to the state where the air is blown by the drying auxiliary unit X2. .

In the washing / drying machine X of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a temperature detection unit that detects the temperature in the water tank 8 in at least one of the air supply port 28, the intake port 29, and the exhaust path 39. 37 (for example, a temperature detection sensor), and based on the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 37, the air flow by the drying auxiliary unit X2 is started or stopped, that is, the program module stored in the control unit 33 performs drying. It is conceivable that the turbo fan 38 of the auxiliary unit X2 is rotationally driven or stopped based on the detected temperature.
In such a configuration, in the latter half of the drying process, the temperature in the water tub 8 rises when the water content of the laundry W decreases, so this temperature change is detected and the arrow in FIG. The flow of air shown in (c) and (d) is started to further increase the temperature in the water tank 8. When the temperature in the water tank 8 rises due to the circulation of this high-temperature air and the water is almost lost, the temperature in the water tank 8 further rises. Therefore, a process for detecting the temperature rise and stopping the air flow is performed. This is also an example.

1 is a side sectional view of a washing / drying machine X according to an embodiment of the present invention. The conceptual diagram which shows the flow of the air in the washing dryer by a drying unit and a drying auxiliary unit. The top view of the water tank part contained in the washing dryer X which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3 and is a side cross-sectional view of a main part of the washing / drying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

X ... Washing dryer 1 ... Housing 8 ... Water tank 10 ... Washing / dehydrating tank 28 ... Air supply port 29 ... Air intake port 31 ... Air supply channel 38 ... Turbo fan F2 ... Filter W ... Washing object

Claims (5)

A water tank provided in the housing and having a first opening facing upward, a water tank lid covering the first opening, a second tank that is rotatably supported in the water tank and faces the first opening A washing and drying machine comprising a washing and dewatering tub having an opening, and drying heated items in the washing and dewatering tub by supplying heated air into the water tub and discharging the air out of the water tub Because
An air intake portion for sucking a part of the air discharged from the water tank lid to the outside of the water tank, an air supply portion that opens to the water tank lid and supplies air into the washing and dewatering tank, A washer / dryer comprising: air blowing means for blowing air from the air intake unit to the air supply unit.   2. The state according to claim 1, wherein during the drying process of the laundry, when the state in which the air is blown by the air blowing unit is continued for a first predetermined time, the state is shifted to the state in which the air is not blown by the air blowing unit. Washing and drying machine.   The state of not blowing by the blowing means during the drying process of the laundry is shifted to a state of blowing by the blowing means when continuing for a second predetermined time. The washing dryer according to any one of the above.   The washing / drying machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the blowing by the blowing means is started after a lapse of a third predetermined time from the start of drying of the laundry.   The washing / drying machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a detachable filter that removes foreign matter in the air by passing the entire amount of air discharged from the water tank to the outside of the water tank.

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