JP2010220873A - Cloth dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cloth dryer of high drying efficiency capable of restraining a heat exchange efficiency from getting low even in flow-in of air other than a front surface of a fin tube type heat exchanger, in a heat pump unit installed in a very narrow space in the cloth dryer. <P>SOLUTION: This cloth dryer is arranged with a heat sink and a heat radiator, to make an air flow direction in an air circulation path get diagonal with respect to an air flow direction in an air flow passage in the heat radiator and the heat sink, in the air circulation path, the heat sink and the heat radiator are the fin tube type heat exchanger constituted of a plurality of flat fins and a tube meanderingly penetrating the flat fins to make a coolant flow, the flat fins serving as the heat sink in a windward side of the tube of the heat exchanger contacting at first with air are bent to be made in parallel to an air flow direction in a windward side of the air circulation path, and the flat fins serving as the heat radiator in a leeward side of the tube of the heat exchanger contacting at last with the air are bent to be made in parallel to an air flow direction in a leeward side of the air circulation path. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothes dryer used for a washing dryer used in general households.

A compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a radiator that heats the refrigerant that has been compressed by the compressor to high temperature and high pressure, and the surrounding air to dissipate the heat of the refrigerant, and that decompresses the high-pressure refrigerant that has been radiated by the radiator For the purpose of the present invention, there is provided a throttle means for connecting the refrigerant that has been decompressed by the throttle means to a low temperature and low pressure with the surrounding air to take heat away from the surroundings by a refrigerant so that the refrigerant circulates in order. Providing the constructed heat pump device in a washing and drying machine has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
According to this configuration, moisture can be efficiently dried by condensing moisture evaporated from the clothing to the heat absorber, and the heat of the warm air containing moisture from the clothing is absorbed by the heat absorber. The heat of the refrigerant that is sent to the compressor via the air and heated by the compressor is dissipated by the radiator and reheats the hot air, so that the heat can be effectively utilized.

JP 7-178289 A

  In the heat pump type drying device, the moisture in the wet clothing is dehumidified with the heat sink to make the heat absorption source of the refrigeration cycle, and the electric input to drive the compressor is added, and the air is further heated by the heat radiator The operation of evaporating the moisture in the clothing is repeated.

  However, in the drum-type clothes dryer, when the heat pump unit is configured between the drying chamber and the back surface, since the drum drive motor is provided, the air passage is installed on the left and right sides of the motor so as to sandwich the drive motor. There is a case where it is installed in the lower part of the drive motor. In that case, the drying air enters and exits from substantially the upper part and from the left and right of the heat pump unit.

  Usually, heat sinks and radiators that are fin-tube heat exchangers are means for keeping air exchange efficiency high by flowing air from the front to the fins and maintaining a uniform wind speed distribution. Since the drying air may flow into the heat exchanger from a direction other than the front, the velocity distribution of the drying air passing through the heat exchanger becomes non-uniform due to the influence of the ventilation resistance of the air path, and the heat There has been a problem that a decrease in drying efficiency occurs due to a decrease in exchange efficiency.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and in a heat pump unit installed in a very narrow space in a drum-type clothes dryer, against the inflow of air from other than the front of the fin-tube heat exchanger. Another object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer with high drying efficiency that suppresses a decrease in heat exchange efficiency.

  The present invention includes a drying chamber for storing an object to be dried, a refrigeration cycle in which a refrigerant circulates in the order of a compressor, a radiator, a decompression unit, and a heat absorber, and air in the drying chamber from the heat absorber by a blowing unit. An air circulation path that leads to the drying chamber after flowing to the radiator, and the air direction of the air circulation path and the wind direction of the heat absorber and the ventilation path in the radiator are inclined in the air circulation path. In the clothes dryer in which the heat absorber and the heat radiator are arranged, the heat absorber and the heat radiator are composed of a plurality of flat plate fins and a tube for flowing a refrigerant that passes through the flat plate fins while meandering. The finned tube heat exchanger is configured so that the flat plate fin on the windward side of the tube that comes into contact with air at the beginning of the heat exchanger serving as the heat absorber is parallel to the wind direction on the windward side of the air circulation path. Before bending The last heat exchanger comprising a radiator to, characterized in that the plate fins on the leeward side of the tube the air contacts bent so as to be parallel with the wind direction on the leeward side of the air circulation path.

  The clothes dryer of this invention can implement | achieve the clothes dryer which prevents the fall of drying efficiency by changing the fin shape of the heat absorber which is a fin tube type heat exchanger, or a heat radiator.

It is the internal block diagram seen from the side surface of the washing-drying machine of one Example to which this invention is applied. It is a schematic block diagram of the heat radiator and heat absorber of the washing-drying machine of FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of the heat radiator and heat absorber of the conventional washing dryer.

  The present invention relates to a heat pump unit installed in a very narrow space in a drum-type clothes dryer, in which a decrease in heat exchange efficiency is suppressed even when air enters from outside the front of the fin-tube heat exchanger. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an internal configuration diagram viewed from the side of a washing / drying machine W according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. The washing / drying machine W is capable of performing a washing operation for washing an object to be washed such as clothes (an object to be dried) and a drying operation for drying the object, and is a side surface of the outer case 1 of the main body B constituting the outer shell. An opening / closing door 3 for opening / closing an outlet 6 for taking in and out the laundry is attached above, and various operation switches and displays are provided on the side of the opening / closing door 3 or on the upper exterior case 1. An operation panel (not shown) provided with a portion is provided.

  In the main body B, an outer tub drum 2 made of a cylindrical resin capable of storing water is provided, and the outer tub drum 2 is disposed with a cylindrical axis as an oblique direction. Inside the outer tub drum 2, an approximately cylindrical stainless steel inner tub drum 5 serving as a washing tub and a dewatering tub is provided. The inside of the inner tub drum 5 is a storage chamber 10 for storing the laundry, and this is also arranged with a cylindrical shaft as an oblique direction, and the shaft of the drive motor M mounted on the outer tub drum 2. It is connected to a shaft 8 and is held rotatably in the outer tub drum 2 around the shaft 8.

  Further, the outlet 6 is formed in one end surface 5A (the upper left surface in FIG. 1) of the inner tank drum 5, and the inner tank drum 5 has a soft rubber member 11 made of ethylene propylene rubber or the like and a support. The member 6 is rotatably supported by the outlet 6. A suction port 52 of an air circulation path 50 to be described later is formed in the support member 9 located below the outlet 6. The suction port 52 is an air outlet of the storage chamber 10 for discharging air from the storage chamber 10. In addition, a plurality of through holes 7... Through which air and water can flow are formed around the cylindrical side surface 5S of the inner tank drum 5 and the other end surface 5B in the axial direction (the lower right surface in FIG. 1). The through holes 7 are holes through which water flows out in the washing operation and air for drying (circulation air) flows in the drying operation.

  The drive motor M described above is for rotating the inner tub drum 5 about the shaft 8 in the same oblique direction as the shafts of the outer tub drum 2 and the inner tub drum 5 in the washing operation and the drying operation after the end of the washing operation. Motor. The drive motor M is attached to one end of the shaft 8, and the controller C, which will be described later, rotates the inner tub drum 5 at a high speed during the dehydration process of the washing operation, and compared with the washing operation during the drying operation. Thus, the inner tank drum 5 is controlled to rotate at a low speed.

  On the other hand, a water supply passage (not shown) for supplying water into the outer tank drum 2 is provided above the outer tank drum 2 of the main body B, and one end of the water supply passage is supplied with tap water or the like via a water supply valve. Connected to water source. Opening and closing of the water supply valve is controlled by the controller C. Further, the other end of the water supply passage is connected to the outer tank drum 2 and opened above the inner tank drum 5 in the outer tank drum 2, and when the controller C opens the water supply valve, Water (tap water) is supplied from the water supply source into the outer tank drum 2, and this water is also supplied to the storage chamber 10 through the through holes 7 around the side surface 5S of the inner tank drum 5. It is configured.

  Further, a drainage passage (not shown) as a drainage means for draining water in the outer tub drum 2 (including the storage chamber 10) is provided at the lower portion of the main body B, and one end of the drainage passage is It is led out to the outside of the washing / drying machine W, and opens to the drainage groove or the like. The other end of the drainage passage is connected to the lowest part of the outer tub drum 2 on the other end 2B side of the outer tub drum 2 from the other end surface 5B of the inner tub drum 5 via a drain valve whose opening and closing is controlled by the controller C. Communicate. An air outlet 54 of the air circulation path 50 is formed above the other end 2 </ b> B of the outer drum 2. The air outlet 54 is an air inlet of the storage chamber 10 for introducing air into the storage chamber 10.

  On the other hand, a machine chamber 60 is configured from the front side to the lower side and the rear side of the outer tub drum 2 in the main body B, and the above-described air circulation path 50 is configured in the machine chamber 60. A heat radiator 22 and a heat absorber 24 of the heat pump unit 20 described later are provided in the air circulation path 50.

  In this air circulation path 50, after the air sequentially exchanges heat with the heat absorber 24 and the radiator 22, the air circulation path 50 reaches the air outlet 54 as the air inlet of the storage chamber 10, passes through the storage chamber 10, and then passes through the air in the storage chamber 10. This is a path for air circulation to return to the heat absorber 24 again from the suction port 52 as an outlet.

  A fan 55 is provided in the air circulation path 50. The fan 55 sends air heated by the radiator 22 in the drying operation from the outlet 54 of the air circulation path 50 to the storage chamber 10 in the inner drum 5, and absorbs the air passing through the storage chamber 10 from the suction port 52. It is a blowing means for circulating the air in the air circulation path 50 by returning it to the radiator 22 and then returning it to the radiator 22. In the present embodiment, the fan 55 is disposed on the air outlet 54 side which is the air downstream side of the radiator 22 in the air circulation path 50.

  That is, during the drying operation, the washer / dryer W operates the fan 55 to blow air that has been sequentially exchanged heat with the heat absorber 24 and the radiator 22 to the storage chamber 10, and again absorbs the air that has passed through the storage chamber 10. It is configured to circulate back to the vessel 24.

Next, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 20 denotes the heat pump unit described above. The heat pump unit 20 is configured by connecting a compressor 21, a radiator 22, an expansion valve 23 as a pressure reducing device, a heat absorber 24, and the like sequentially in an annular manner. Equipped with a refrigerant circuit (refrigeration cycle). In this embodiment, the expansion valve 23 is used as a pressure reducing device (pressure reducing means) of the heat pump unit 20, but a capillary tube may be used. The refrigerant is carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) and is compressed by the compressor 21 so that the high-pressure side of the refrigeration cycle becomes the supercritical pressure.

  In this embodiment, a rotary compressor is used as the compressor, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various other compressors such as a scroll type and a reciprocating type compressor can be applied. Further, the refrigerant sealed in the refrigerant circuit is not limited to carbon dioxide, and other existing refrigerants may be used.

  The refrigerant discharge pipe 25 </ b> B of the compressor 21 is connected to an inlet of an air heating radiator 22 provided on the outlet 54 side of the air circulation path 50. The pipe 25C exiting the radiator 22 reaches the expansion valve 23, and the pipe 25D connected to the outlet of the expansion valve 23 is connected to the inlet of the heat absorber 24 provided on the suction port 52 side of the air circulation path 50. Then, the refrigerant introduction pipe 25A of the compressor 21 is connected to the outlet of the heat absorber 24 to constitute such an annular refrigerant circuit.

  The operation of the washing / drying machine W of this embodiment is controlled by the controller C described above. The controller C is a control means that controls the washing and drying machine W, and controls the operation of the drive motor M, the opening and closing of the valves of the water supply passage and the drainage passage, the operation of the compressor 21, the air volume of the fan 55, and the like. Further, the controller C controls the temperature of the air that has passed through the radiator 22 so that the laundry to be stored in the storage chamber 10 is not discolored and damaged. Specifically, for example, a temperature sensor for detecting the inlet temperature of the storage chamber 10 is attached in the vicinity of the outlet 54 of the air circulation path 50 that is the air inlet of the storage chamber 10, and the controller C uses the temperature sensor. The operation of the compressor 21 is controlled so that the detected temperature of the circulating air becomes a predetermined temperature.

  The operation of the washing and drying machine W that sequentially executes the washing operation using the water and the detergent, the rinsing step, and the dehydrating step and the subsequent drying operation using the heat pump unit 20 with the above configuration will be described.

  First, the washing operation is started by the controller C. Thereby, the water supply valve of the water supply passage is opened and the water supply passage is opened. Thereby, water is supplied from the water supply source through the through holes 7 of the outer tank drum 2 and the inner tank drum 5. The water supplied to the outer tank drum 2 also flows into the storage chamber 10 through the plurality of through holes 7 formed in the inner tank drum 5. At this time, the drain valve of the drain passage is closed.

  When a predetermined amount of water accumulates in the storage chamber 10 in the inner tank drum 5, the controller C closes the water supply valve and closes the water supply passage. Thereby, the supply of water from the water supply source is stopped.

  Next, the drive motor M is energized and activated by the controller C. As a result, the shaft 8 rotates, and the inner tub drum 5 attached to the shaft 8 starts to rotate in the outer tub drum 2, and the washing process of the washing operation is started. When a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the washing process, the controller C stops the drive motor M, the drainage valve of the drainage passage is opened, and the inside of the storage chamber 10 of the inner tub drum 5 (that is, the outer tub drum 2). Water (washing water) will be discharged.

  When the water in the storage chamber 10 (in the outer tub drum 2) is discharged, the drive motor M is actuated again by the controller C, and the laundry is dehydrated. When this dehydration is executed for a predetermined time, the drain valve is closed and the drain passage is closed, and the process proceeds to the rinsing process.

  In this rinsing step, first, the water supply valve of the water supply passage is opened, and the water supply passage is opened. Thereby, water is again supplied from the water supply source into the outer tank drum 2 and the storage chamber 10. When a predetermined amount of water is supplied to the storage chamber 10 in the inner tank drum 5, the controller C closes the water supply valve and closes the water supply passage. Thereby, the supply of water from the water supply source is stopped.

  Then, after the rotation operation of the drive motor M is repeated for a predetermined time and the rinsing is performed, the drive motor M is stopped, the drain valve of the drain passage is opened, and the storage chamber 10 (inside the outer drum 2) is opened. Rinsing water is discharged into the drainage passage. When the rinsing water in the storage chamber 10 (in the outer tub drum 2) is discharged, the drive motor M is operated by the controller C, and the inner tub drum 5 is rotated in the same manner as described above to dehydrate the laundry. Migrate to

  When this dehydration step is executed for a predetermined time, the controller C closes the drain valve of the drain passage and closes the drain passage. Furthermore, the compressor 21 is started by the controller C and the operation of the fan 55 is started, and the inner drum 5 is rotated by the drive motor M to shift to the drying operation.

On the other hand, when the compressor 21 is started, the refrigerant (CO ₂ ) is sucked into the compressor 21 from the refrigerant introduction pipe 25 and compressed into high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas, which is discharged to the outside through the refrigerant discharge pipe 26.

  The refrigerant gas discharged from the refrigerant discharge pipe 26 flows into the radiator 22 provided in the air circulation path 50. At this time, the temperature of the refrigerant flowing into the radiator 22 rises to about + 100 ° C. to + 120 ° C. and is in a supercritical state, and the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas here is air and heat circulating in the air circulation path 50. The heat is exchanged and then cooled down to about + 30 ° C to + 50 ° C.

  The refrigerant cooled by the radiator 22 is then decompressed by the expansion valve 23 and then circulated air (air including moisture from the storage chamber 10) by the heat absorber 24 provided in the air circulation path 50. Evaporates through heat exchange. That is, the refrigerant circuit 20 condenses air containing moisture from the storage chamber 10 by the heat absorber 24 to remove moisture in the air, and pumps heat from the circulating air by the refrigerant in the heat absorber 24. It functions as a heat pump that heats the circulating air that is transported to the radiator 22 and discharged into the storage chamber 10.

  In this way, the refrigerant circuit 20 is provided, and moisture in the air from the storage chamber 10 is condensed and removed by the heat absorber 24. At this time, the heat pumped up from the air is conveyed to the radiator 22 by the refrigerant, and the storage chamber By using it for heating the circulating air discharged to 10, energy efficiency can be improved. In particular, since the circulating air can be heated to a high temperature without using a special heating means such as an electric heater by the radiator 22, energy costs such as electric energy are reduced, and a more efficient drying operation is realized. be able to.

  The refrigerant evaporated in the heat absorber 24 is then circulated through the refrigerant introduction pipe 25 and sucked into the compressor 21 again.

  In addition, by the operation of the fan 55, air containing air (circulation air) by drying the laundry in the storage chamber 10 was provided on the outer periphery of the outlet 6 of the one end surface 5A through the storage chamber 10. The air enters the air circulation path 50 from the suction port 52 formed below the support member 9 and passes through the heat absorber 24.

  At this time, the air containing moisture by drying the laundry in the storage chamber 10 exchanges heat with the refrigerant flowing through the heat absorber 24 and is deprived of heat by the refrigerant. The moisture in the air condenses on the surface of the heat absorber 24. As a result, the laundry can be dried by the heat absorber 24 to condense and remove moisture from the moisture-containing air, and the dried air can be obtained again.

  The water condensed on the surface of the heat absorber 24 is then dropped as a water droplet onto a drain pan (not shown) provided at the lower portion of the heat absorber 24 and discharged to the outside through a drain pipe, a drainage passage, and the like. The

  On the other hand, the air that has been dried by removing moisture from the heat absorber 24 is deprived of heat by the refrigerant flowing through the heat absorber 24 and is cooled to about + 20 ° C. to + 40 ° C. Then, after passing through the periphery of the radiator 22 and exchanging heat with the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas flowing through the radiator 22 and being heated to + 90 ° C. to + 110 ° C., the air is sucked into the fan 55 and other than the outer drum 2 The air is discharged into the housing chamber 10 through the blowout port 54 formed above the end surface 2B and the through hole 7 formed in the other end surface 5B of the inner tank drum 5.

  And the air which dried the to-be-washed object in the storage chamber 10 and contained moisture repeats the cycle sucked in the air circulation path 50 from the said suction inlet 52 formed in 5 A of one end surfaces of the inner tank drum 5. FIG. By performing such a drying operation, the laundry in the storage room 10 is completely dried. Then, when the drying operation is performed and the temperature of the air passing through the storage chamber 10 rises to a predetermined temperature, or when the drying operation is performed for a predetermined time, the controller C ends the drying operation.

  The radiator 22 and the heat absorber 24 of the present embodiment are fin-tube heat exchangers, and are composed of a plurality of flat plate fins 26 and tubes 27 for flowing a coolant that passes through the flat plate fins while meandering. ing. As shown in FIG. 3, the fin-tube heat exchanger normally exchanges heat in parallel with the air direction in the air circulation path 50 and the air passages 28 in the heat absorber 24 and the radiator 22 in the air circulation path 50. However, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the air direction of the air in the air circulation path 50 (white arrow) and the direction of the air in the heat absorber 24 and the air passage 28 in the radiator 22 (dotted arrow) are the air circulation path. A heat absorber and a heat radiator are disposed so as to be inclined inside.

In concrete terms, the heat absorber 24, against plate fins 26, the air flows obliquely, the radiator 22 with respect to plate fins 26 to flow out air obliquely in the direction. Compared with the parallel case, there is a concern about the deterioration of the heat exchange performance, but as shown in FIG. 2, the flat fins 26 on the windward side of the tube 27, which is in contact with the air at the beginning of the heat exchanger of the heat absorber 24, are placed in the air. The flat fins 26 on the leeward side of the tube 27 that is in contact with the air at the end of the heat exchanger of the radiator 22 are bent with the wind direction on the leeward side of the air circulation path 50. Bending so as to be parallel prevents the heat exchange performance from deteriorating.

    Since the refrigerant of the present embodiment is carbon dioxide and the high pressure side of the refrigeration cycle is equal to or higher than the supercritical pressure, the carbon dioxide radiates without phase change when radiating heat with the radiator 22, so the refrigerant temperature during heat radiation Changes greatly.

  Therefore, the refrigerant temperature of the carbon dioxide flowing through the tube 27 in the finned tube heat exchanger decreases as the heat is released. For this reason, a temperature difference occurs between the tube 27 on the inlet side of the radiator 22 and the tube 27 on the outlet side, and due to this temperature difference, the tube 27 on the inlet side becomes a high temperature part, The tube 27 on the outlet side becomes a low temperature part. Then, heat transfer by heat conduction occurs from the tube 27 (high temperature part) on the inlet side to the tube 27 (low temperature part) on the outlet side through the flat fins 26. As a result, the tube 27 on the outlet side is heated, and the temperature of the carbon dioxide refrigerant flowing through the tube 27 on the outlet side is hardly lowered, so that the heat exchange capability of the heat exchanger is reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 21 is configured to enter the heat exchanger serving as the radiator 22 from the leeward tube 27 of the radiator 22, so that the last of the heat exchanger serving as the radiator 22. A notch 29 for preventing heat conduction is provided between the tube 27 adjacent to the air and the adjacent tube 27.

  Also, the form of the washing / drying machine is not limited to the drum type washing / drying machine, but can be applied to a pulsator-type vertical washing / drying machine and does not depart from the technical scope of the present invention. Absent.

10 Containment room (drying room)
21 Compressor
22 radiator 23 expansion valve (pressure reduction means)
24 heat absorber 50 air circulation path 55 fan (air blowing means)
26 Flat fin 27 Tube 28 Air passage 29 Notch

Claims (2)

A drying chamber for storing the objects to be dried;
A refrigeration cycle in which refrigerant circulates in the order of compressor, radiator, decompression means, heat absorber,
An air circulation path that guides the air in the drying chamber to the drying chamber again after flowing the air from the heat absorber to the radiator by air blowing means,
In the clothes dryer in which the heat absorber and the radiator are arranged so that the air direction of the air circulation path and the wind direction of the air passage in the heat absorber and the radiator are inclined in the air circulation path,
The heat absorber and the radiator are fin tube heat exchangers configured with a plurality of flat fins and a tube for flowing a refrigerant that passes through the flat plate fins while meandering.
Bending the flat fins on the windward side of the tube that comes into contact with air at the beginning of the heat exchanger as the heat absorber so as to be parallel to the wind direction on the windward side of the air circulation path,
A clothes dryer characterized by bending the flat fins on the leeward side of the tube that comes into contact with air at the end of the heat exchanger serving as the heat radiator so as to be parallel to the wind direction on the leeward side of the air circulation path. . When the refrigerant is carbon dioxide and the high-pressure side of the refrigeration cycle is supercritical, the flat fins between the tubes adjacent to the tubes that are in contact with air at the end of the heat exchanger serving as the radiator The clothes dryer according to claim 1, further comprising a cut for preventing heat conduction.

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