JP2010029439A - Washing and drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a washing and drying machine capable of reducing pressure loss even when a lint filter is installed in an air path from a water tub to a heat pump unit, fully supplying drying air from the heat pump unit through a circulation air path into a drum, and improving drying capability. <P>SOLUTION: The washing and drying machine includes: a water tub 4 disposed inside a casing 2; a rotary tub 6 provided rotatably inside the water tub, for washing laundry; a drive unit 7 for rotating the rotary tub; a circulation air path 29 connected to an air supply port 32 and an exhaust port 34 formed on the water tub respectively; and a blowing fan 25 in which a heat pump unit 19 is disposed in the circulation air path below the water tube, for supplying hot air into the water tub through the circulation air path. The bend angle of an elbow tube 35 for converting the direction of the hot air, provided in the circulation air path between an exhaust duct 33 from the exhaust port of the water tub and the heat pump unit is formed to be obtuse angle, and the inner and outer diameters of a tube inner surface side in a bent part are formed into a curved surface. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a washing / drying machine having a function of drying clothes in a washing tub with warm air.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a drum-type washing / drying machine for washing and drying clothes has a rectangular parallelepiped housing that forms an outer shell as shown in FIG. 8 which is a longitudinal sectional view of the washing / drying machine main body (61). A washing water tank (64) having a horizontal cylindrical shape in the body (62) is elastically supported so that the front is higher than the horizontal, and the rear surface of the water tank (64) is placed inside the water tank (64). A horizontal shaft type drum (66) that is directly rotated by a DC brushless motor (67) attached to the motor is provided.

  A door (74) for opening and closing the loading port (73) is disposed at the loading port (73) for loading and unloading the laundry provided on the front side of the housing (62). The door (74) is locked so that the washing water in the aquarium (64) is sealed so that it does not overflow to the outside through gaps. Products equipped with the device are on the market, and patent applications have also been filed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In the washing and drying machine (61) equipped with the heat pump type drying device, a heat pump unit (79) is disposed below the water tank (64) provided with a drum (66) inside, and dehumidification is performed by the heat pump during the drying operation. The heated air is supplied into the water tank (64) through the circulation air passage (89), and the laundry is dried by circulating through the drum (66).
JP 2007-301220 A

  However, as shown in FIG. 9, lint such as lint generated from clothes in the drum (66) during washing is lint provided in the exhaust duct (93) from the water tank (64) to the heat pump unit (79). The lint filter (98) has a large pressure loss in the circulation air passage (89), and the pipe member (95) forming the air passage leading to the heat pump unit (79) is captured by the filter (98). Since it is a right-angled bending structure consisting of a hanging part from the exhaust duct (93) from the drum (66) and a horizontal part to the heat pump unit (79), the bending angle is loosened by connecting multiple obtuse angles. Even if configured, the turbulent flow is generated by the corner portion generated in the bent portion, so that the pressure loss is further increased, the air volume is attenuated, and the drying ability is lowered.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points. Even if a lint filter is installed in the air passage from the water tank to the heat pump unit, the pressure loss is reduced and the dry air from the heat pump unit is circulated. It is an object of the present invention to provide a washing / drying machine that can be sufficiently supplied into a drum through a path and can further improve the drying capacity.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a washing and drying machine according to the present invention includes a water tub disposed inside a casing, a rotating tub for washing laundry provided rotatably in the water tub, and a rotating tub. And a heat pump unit having a condenser and an evaporator disposed in the circulation air path below the water tank and a circulation air path connected to the air supply port and the exhaust port formed in the water tank. A blower fan for supplying warm air into the water tank through a path, and changes the direction of the warm air provided in the circulation air path between the exhaust duct from the exhaust port of the water tank and the heat pump unit. The elbow tube is formed to have an obtuse bending angle, and the inner and outer diameters on the inner surface side of the bent portion are formed into a curved surface.

  According to the washing and drying machine of the present invention, even if a flow path resistor such as a lint filter is present in the circulation air path, the air path leading to the heat pump unit is made into a smooth form with reduced pressure loss with a simple configuration. The drying performance can be improved and the power consumption can be reduced by effective air blowing.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view of the entire product, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the drum-type washer / dryer (1). The casing is an outer shell made up of left and right side plates, front plates, top plates and back plates made of thin steel plates. (2) is formed. The lower surface of the housing (2) is supported by a dish-shaped base plate (3) formed relatively thick with polypropylene resin or the like.

  A water tank (4) is disposed inside the housing (2). The water tank (4) has a horizontal cylindrical shape with the back closed, and the bottom thereof is supported by a pair of elastic support devices (5) provided on the left and right of the base plate (3), and a plurality of upper portions are not shown. It is suspended by a coil spring and elastically supported in the housing (2).

  Inside the water tub (4), as a washing tub, a bottomed cylindrical drum (6) that is rotatable around a horizontal axis is disposed. The drum (6) is supported in an inclined state slightly upward toward the front along the water tub (4). ) And functions as a shared tank for the water tank (4) in the washing process to the drying process.

  A closed back surface of the drum (6) is pivotally supported by the closed back surface portion of the water tank (4), and an outer surface of the back surface portion is controlled by a motor (controlled at a rotational speed corresponding to a washing or dehydrating process). 7) is attached, and the drum (6) is rotated by the motor (7). The motor (7) is, for example, an outer rotor type, the inner stator is fixed to the water tank (4) side, and the rotating shaft directly connected to the outer rotor is water-tightly penetrated through the back surface of the water tank (4). The drum (6) is connected to the center of the back surface.

  A drain hose (9) for leading the washing water in the aquarium (4) out of the machine is connected to the rear lower surface of the aquarium (4) via a drain valve (8). A water supply device (10) for supplying water into the water tank (4) and a detergent case (11) for introducing detergent are installed, and the detergent is put in the water tank (4) together with water supplied from the water supply device (10). A water supply case is provided to supply the water.

  In addition, an operation panel (12) for selecting and setting a washing course and the like is arranged on the upper front side of the housing (2), and a circular slot for taking in and out laundry in the center of the front surface. (13) is opened, and a door (14) having a transparent glass window that closes the opening (13) so as to be freely opened and closed is arranged.

  A bellows (16), which is a sealing function body, is attached to the gap between the peripheral edge of the inlet (13) and the water tank cover (15) at the front opening of the water tank (4) so that water can be removed from the water tank (4). And a part of it is extended and brought into contact with the transparent window (17) on the back side of the door (14) in the closed state, and water is discharged from the inlet (13) to the outside of the machine. Leakage is also prevented, and furthermore, a bellows portion is provided to prevent the rotational vibration of the water tank (4) and the drum (6) from being transmitted to the door (14) side.

  The drum-type washing / drying machine (1) having the above-described configuration automatically executes by selecting and setting each function process of washing to drying, and the laundry is put into the drum (6) from the insertion port (13). In the washing and rinsing steps after the door (14) is closed after being thrown in, a centrifugal force is generated to the extent that the drum (6) is balanced with the gravity of the clothes while washing water is supplied into the aquarium (4). Rotate at a low speed of ~ 60rpm, stir the clothes with a baffle (6b) and drop it, and then stir the clothes. After the washing and rinsing steps, open the drain valve (8) The washing water is discharged from the drainage hose (18) to the outside of the machine, and then the drum (6) is rotated at a high speed of 1000 rpm in one direction, and the clothes are centrifugally dehydrated from a number of dewatering holes (6a) provided in the peripheral wall of the trunk.

  A heat pump unit (19) is provided in the front-rear direction at a substantially central portion in the width direction of the space formed between the water tank (4) disposed in the inclined state and the bottom surface of the housing (2). During the drying operation after the installation and rinsing process is completed, the drum (6) is rotated at various speeds to drive it, and the heat generated by the heat pump is used to dry the laundry. Yes.

  The heat pump unit (19) includes a compressor (20) that compresses and discharges the refrigerant, a condenser (21) that dissipates and condenses the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor (20), The high-pressure refrigerant is decompressed with an expansion valve, and the evaporator (22) that introduces the decompressed refrigerant to evaporate and absorbs heat is connected in an annular pipe to form a heat pump cycle. From the front to the rear, the compressor (20), the evaporator (22), and the condenser (21) are arranged in this order.

  Each of the parts constituting the heat pump unit (19) is housed in a unit case (23) formed of a synthetic resin in a box shape. The unit case (23) is a rigid body formed of a relatively thick synthetic resin, and is disposed on the base plate (3) to form the heat pump via a cushion rubber or the like. The evaporator (22) and condenser (21) are held at the center, and the compressor (20) and other cycle parts and the drying fan unit (24) placed at the rear are held elastically and fixed. In addition, the entire unit including the duct formed by closing the ceiling surface is unitized.

  The fan device (24) comprises a turbo-type blower fan (25), a spiral cylindrical fan casing (26) containing the turbo blower (25), and a fan motor (27) that drives the blower fan (25). The suction port (28) is opened horizontally in the horizontal direction so as to correspond to the back side of the condenser (21), and the laundry fan is dried by the rotation of the blower fan (25). It forms a part of the circulating air passage (29) to be formed, and forms a linear unit duct (30) extending from the front part to the back side of the drum type washing and drying machine (1).

  The blower fan (25) is controlled to rotate at a speed of 3000 to 4000 rpm at the same time when the heat pump unit (19) is driven during the drying process of the washing and drying operation, and is about 70 by the condenser (21) that becomes high temperature. The air supply duct (31) formed in a substantially arc shape so that the dry air heated to 0 ° C. surrounds the periphery of the motor (7) from the discharge port of the fan casing (26) through the flexible duct. ). The dry air rises in the air supply duct (31) and enters the drum (6) from the air supply port (32) opened in the upper part on the back side of the downstream water tank (4) through the through hole (6c). It blows and dries moisture by bringing it into contact with the laundry to dry it.

  The air that has been humidified by contact with the laundry flows out of the drum (6) through the peripheral dewatering hole (6a), and is exhausted from the water tank cover (15) that opens at the top. From (34), the exhaust duct (33) provided annularly so as to communicate with this and surround the opening of the aquarium cover (4) flows down, and is connected from the lower part via a flexible connection duct. It returns to the heat pump unit (19) at the bottom, and is dehumidified by passing through the low temperature evaporator (22), that is, removes moisture contained in the circulating air, and then the high temperature condenser (21 ) Is circulated in the circulation air passage (29) connected by the air supply duct (31), the exhaust duct (33), and the unit duct (30) as dry air heated again by .

  Note that the heat pump unit (19) is not only used during the drying operation as described above, but also raises the temperature of the washing water by introducing warm air into the water tub (4) when it is too easy to wash. It may be improved or operated in the process of dehydration or in the process of shifting from washing to drying, thereby promoting the dehydration and dehumidifying action of the laundry by warm air.

The air path from the exhaust duct (33) to the heat pump unit (19)
3 and 4, which are cross-sectional views of the relevant part, and a disassembled state diagram in FIG. 5, and a vertical tube (36) hanging down from the upper drum (6) side, as shown in FIG. The flow direction of the hot air is changed by being formed by an elbow pipe (35) which is bent from the lower end portion and is formed of a horizontal pipe (37) extending in the horizontal direction at the bottom of the casing (2), and the exhaust duct (33 A lint filter (38) for removing lint and foreign matter in the air is installed in the air passage at the upper edge of the vertical pipe (36) of the elbow pipe (35) connected to the lower end of . The lint filter (38) allows dust and other foreign matter generated from clothing in the drum (6) to flow down in the exhaust duct (33) during the drying operation, and blows air from the evaporator (22) and condenser (21). In addition to preventing the fan (27) from entering and adhering to the fan (27), cleaning is possible by pulling it out by the knob (38a).

  The vertical pipe (36) and the horizontal pipe (37) forming the elbow pipe (35) are each made of synthetic resin by injection molding, and FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 and the corresponding elbow pipe (35 6 is a combined perspective view and FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view thereof. As shown in FIG. 7, the vertical pipe (36) is a thin-walled rectangular tubular body, and the upper part is the exhaust duct (33). A rectangular drooping portion (39) that engages with the lower end portion of the lens and interposes the lint filter (38).

  The surface A extending rearwardly as indicated by arrow a is provided with an inner inclined surface (40) that is bent at a predetermined angle, for example, an obtuse angle θ of about 120 degrees, from the hanging portion (39). The bent portion (41) is formed into a curved surface by the vertical tube (36) alone, so that most of the bent portion (41) can be gently formed without having a connecting portion. A vertical rising joint piece a (42) and an engagement rod (43) that bends outward from the joint piece a (42) are provided at the rear end of the inner inclined surface (40). The other three surfaces are suspended vertically, and on the outer peripheral part of each lower end, a hook part (44) that engages with a hook piece (45) formed on the upper peripheral edge of the horizontal pipe (37) connected to the lower side Is protruding.

  The horizontal pipe (37) is also formed in the same manner as the vertical pipe (36), and the upper opening is formed so as to match the lower end opening of the vertical pipe (36), and the rear side of the upper opening shown by the arrow b. The surface B is a vertical joint piece b (46) so as to overlap the joint piece a (42) of the surface A of the vertical pipe (36), and the lower end portion of the joint piece b (46) is the joint piece a. A horizontal piece (47) which extends to the rear and slightly extends backward so as to be flush with the lower end of (42) and is continuous with the joining piece a (42).

  On the front surface C indicated by the arrow c of the opening facing the vertical joining piece b (46) and the horizontal piece (47) on the rear side of the horizontal pipe (37), the vertical pipe (36 ) And the outer inclined surface (49) parallel to the inner inclined surface (40) connected to the hanging piece (48). The hanging piece (48) and the outer inclined surface (49) ) Are connected at an obtuse angle θ ′ in the same manner as the bent portion (41) of the vertical pipe (36) to form an outer bent portion (50), and the inner side of the outer bent portion (50) is connected to the bent portion (41). ) It has a curved surface with a larger radius.

  Thus, by forming the entire outer bent portion (50) mainly on the side of the horizontal tube (37), a smooth bent portion without a connecting portion can be formed. Are connected to each other on both side surfaces (51) and (52) to integrally form a rectangular tubular tube having an upper surface and a rear surface opened.

  By engaging and connecting the vertical pipe (36) to the upper surface of the horizontal pipe (37), the bent pipe (36) of the vertical pipe (36) having an obtuse angle and a curved surface, as well as the inner surface both inside and outside It is possible to form an elbow tube (35) that is smoothly connected without any connection part on the way. Reference numeral (53) denotes a concave portion for holding the drainage hose (18).

  The elbow pipe (35) formed as described above includes a hanging part (39) of the vertical pipe (36) connected to the exhaust duct (33), as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. The lower part of the hanging piece (48) of the horizontal pipe (37) is bent at an obtuse angle, and the inner side of the bent part (41) and the outer bent part (50) is formed into a curved surface, and the vertical pipe (36), The pipe (37) is flush with the joints so that no step is generated, and in particular, it has a gentle inner surface by eliminating the protrusions on the inner corners of the air passage. The heat pump can smooth the flow of the hot air flowing through the elbow tube (35) where the resistance is increased along with the lint filter (38) to reduce pressure loss and to obtain a drying performance with less load. Contribute to power saving by reducing the operation of the unit (19) and fan unit (24) Can.

  Since the vertical pipe (36) and the horizontal pipe (37) forming the elbow pipe (35) have the above-described structure, it is a pipe body having bent portions (41) (50) on the inner surface side, so in one part In injection molding, which is extremely difficult to manufacture, it is possible to perform die-cutting in two parts in the top and bottom or left and right directions, and the inner and outer diameters on the inner surface of the pipe at the bent portions (41) and (50) are smooth. An air passage having a curved surface from which a wind flow can be obtained can be easily manufactured at low cost. In addition, as for the horizontal pipe (37), a slight range corresponding to the inside of the opening (54) of the horizontal part to the rear is an undercut, but this part may be handled in a nested manner.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment configuration, and instead of the drying operation by the heat pump unit (19), washing and drying using a drying means comprising a heating device provided with a heater and a fan device. The present invention may also be applied to a washing machine, and the washing and drying machine can be applied to a washing machine that rotates around the vertical axis instead of the horizontal drum type.

1 is an overall perspective view of a drum type washing and drying machine showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of the drum type washing-drying machine of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the principal part of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the elbow pipe | tube in FIG. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the decomposition | disassembly state of the elbow pipe | tube of FIG. 4 is shown, (a) is a vertical pipe, (b) is a horizontal pipe. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of FIG. 4. The perspective view of the decomposition | disassembly state of the elbow pipe | tube of FIG. 6 is shown, (a) is a vertical pipe, (b) is a horizontal pipe. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the structure of the conventional washing dryer. It is the conventional longitudinal cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Washer / Dryer 2 Case 4 Water Tank 6 Drum 7 Motor 19 Heat Pump Unit
21 Condenser 22 Evaporator 23 Unit case
24 Fan unit 25 Blower fan 29 Circulation air passage
30 Unit duct 31 Air supply duct 32 Air supply port
33 Exhaust duct 34 Exhaust port 35 Elbow pipe
36 Vertical tube 37 Horizontal tube 38 Lint filter
38a Knob 39 Suspended 40 Inner inclined surface
41 Bending part 42 Joining piece a 43 Engagement rod
44 collar 45 collar 46 joint piece b
47 Horizontal piece 48 Suspended piece 49 Outer inclined surface
50 Outer bend 51, 52 Side 54 Open

Claims (3)

A water tank disposed inside the casing, a rotary tank for washing laundry provided rotatably in the water tank, a driving device for rotating the rotary tank, an air supply port and an exhaust formed in the water tank A blower fan that arranges a heat pump unit having a condenser and an evaporator in a circulation air passage connected to each of the ports and a circulation air passage below the water tank and supplies warm air into the water tank through the circulation air passage And
The elbow pipe that changes the direction of the hot air provided in the circulation air passage between the exhaust duct from the exhaust port of the water tank and the heat pump unit is formed with an obtuse angle and the inner surface side of the pipe at the bent portion. A washer-dryer characterized in that the inner and outer diameters are curved.   The washing / drying machine according to claim 1, wherein the elbow pipe is formed of two parts, a vertical pipe hanging from above and a horizontal pipe extending in the horizontal direction.   A joining portion that can be formed in a split type in two directions is formed at least on the inner diameter side of the inner surface side of the joint portion between the vertical tube and the horizontal tube, and the inner surface portion of the joint portion is flush. The washing / drying machine according to claim 2.

Images