JP2011083456A - Clothes drying machine and washing and drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clothes drying machine and a washing and drying machine, which effectively solve the entanglement of the clothes in a drying process. <P>SOLUTION: The clothes drying machine includes a first air duct 9 with a first blowoff opening 8 opened at a rear side of a drum 1 for storing clothes; and a second air duct 11 with a second blowoff opening 10 opened at a front side of the drum 1, the second blowoff opening having a smaller cross-sectional blowing area than that of the first blowoff opening 8; wherein an air duct is selectively switched between the first air duct 9 and the second air duct 11 in a drying process based on a result of determination by the entanglement determination section which determines if an entanglement of clothes has occurred in the drum 1, and where the first air duct 9 is selected, drying air of larger airflow quantity than that where the second air duct 11 is selected is spouted from the first blowoff opening 8, and where the second air duct 11 is selected, drying air at higher pressure and higher speed is spouted from the second blowoff opening 10 than that where the first air duct 9 is selected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a drum-type clothes dryer for drying clothes, and a drum-type clothes dryer having a washing function and a clothes drying function.

  Conventionally, drum-type clothes dryers and washing dryers blow drying air into the drum through the air passage, and the drying air is brought into contact with the clothes put in the drum to remove moisture from the clothes and dry the clothes. At the same time, the drying air that has become humid due to moisture is discharged to the air path outside the drum. In particular, since clothing is dried in a limited space of a narrow drum, clothing is entangled during drying, and the drying air does not contact the entangled portion of the clothing, increasing the drying time or entangled There is a problem that the clothes after being dried in a state are in a state of having strong wrinkles, and various methods have been considered for solving the problem (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  The conventional drum-type washing and drying machine described in Patent Document 1 mainly includes a drum that houses clothes to be dried, a motor that rotates the drum in both forward and reverse directions, and a fan and a heater that supply hot air into the drum. And a hot air supply device. The conventional drum type washing and drying machine further includes load fluctuation amount detecting means for detecting the fluctuation amount of the motor load per one rotation of the drum, and the fluctuation amount of the motor load per one rotation of the drum is a predetermined value or more. When there is, it is determined that the clothes to be dried are actually entangled, and the motor is reversed. In other words, by trying to reversely drive the drum only when the clothes to be dried are actually entangled, it is necessary to minimize the motor drive stop time for drum reverse rotation and shorten the drying time. Yes.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-185196

  However, in the above-described conventional configuration, particularly when long clothes (such as long-sleeved cutter shirts and long pants) are tightly entangled with each other, the tangling between the clothes can be loosened simply by reversing the drum. Had the problem of being insufficient.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and by sufficiently eliminating the entanglement between clothes in the drying process, it is possible to shorten the drying time and reduce the generation of wrinkles in the clothes. An object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer and a washing dryer.

  A clothes dryer according to the present invention includes a drum that stores clothes to be dried, a drum driving unit that rotationally drives the drum, an entanglement determination unit that determines whether or not the garment is entangled in the drum, and the drum. A first air passage having an open first air outlet, a second air passage having a second air outlet opening in the drum and having a smaller air passage cross-sectional area than the first air outlet, and the first air passage. And an air path switching unit that selectively switches between the air path and the second air path, and when the first air path is selected, the drying air having a larger air volume than when the second air path is selected. While the first air outlet is blown into the drum, when the second air path is selected, high-pressure and high-speed drying air is emitted from the second air outlet than when the first air path is selected. Blower that blows air for drying so that it is blown into the drum , It controls the air path switching unit based on a determination result of the entanglement determination section, and a selectively switching control unit and the said first air passage second air passage in the course of the drying process.

  According to the above configuration, the two air paths, the first air path and the second air path, are provided as the air paths for introducing the drying air to the drum that stores the clothing, and the two air paths are the wind paths. It can be switched by the path switching unit. Here, the first air outlet of the first air passage has a larger air passage cross-sectional area and less pressure loss than the second air outlet of the second air passage. When the first air path is selected, a larger amount of drying air is blown into the drum from the first air outlet than when the second air path is selected. In this case, since the pressure loss of the first air passage is small, a large amount of wind can be obtained even when the air blowing unit is driven with relatively low power consumption. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the drying time and reduce the power consumption due to the large air volume. On the other hand, the air outlet cross-sectional area of the second air outlet of the second air passage is smaller than that of the first air outlet. When the second air path is selected, high-pressure and high-speed drying air is blown out from the second air outlet into the drum than when the first air path is selected. In this case, since the clothes are spread by the high-pressure and high-speed wind, the entanglement between the clothes can be released. Therefore, the entanglement determination unit determines whether or not the clothes are entangled in the drum, and based on the determination result, during the drying process, the first air path and the second air path configured as described above are determined. Selectively switch. For example, the second air path can be selected when clothes are entangled, and the first air path can be selected when clothes are not entangled. As a result, clothes can be dried with one air blower, and when entanglement is confirmed during drying, the entanglement is unraveled with the high-pressure and high-speed drying air from the second air passage, and then again from the high wind speed. In addition, since drying is performed with a large amount of air with low power consumption, drying with reduced entanglement can be achieved even with low power consumption as a whole. And the structure of the present invention that unwinds the tangling while drying the clothes with high-pressure and high-speed drying air has a higher effect of eliminating the tangled clothes than the conventional structure that reverses the tangling by reversing the drum. Time can be shortened and wrinkle generation of clothes can be reduced.

  Further, it is preferable that the first blowout port is opened to the rear of the drum, and the second blowout port is opened to the front of the drum.

  According to the above configuration, in the drying of clothing in a narrow drum, if the amount of clothing is relatively large, the bath ratio that allows the clothing to move freely is small, so that clothing may be easily entangled, It can be dried with little entanglement. For example, when a lot of long clothes are included, a part such as a long sleeve is easily entangled with other clothes, and if drying is continued in a state of being entangled, wrinkles of the clothes increase after drying. For this reason, when entanglement occurs, the clothes are spread with the high-pressure and high-speed drying air from the front of the drum to spread the tangling and separate the clothes so that the drying air is uniformly contacted with the entire garment and dried. Clothes drying will be completed in a short time without unevenness.

  The control unit preferably controls the air path switching unit to switch to the second air path when the entanglement determination unit determines that there is clothing entanglement.

  According to said structure, a high wind speed drying operation can be made into the minimum necessary period by switching to the high voltage | pressure high speed wind which can unravel the said entanglement only when the entanglement of clothing has generate | occur | produced. As a result, the total drying time can be shortened and the amount of power consumption can be reduced while effectively preventing the tangling of the clothes.

  The control unit preferably controls the air path switching unit to switch to the first air path when the entanglement determining unit determines that there is no clothing entanglement.

  According to said structure, when there is no entanglement of clothing, since it is not necessary to dry with the high-pressure / high-speed wind for unraveling the said entanglement, it switches to a 1st air path. When the first air path is selected, a larger amount of drying air is blown into the drum from the first air outlet opening at the rear of the drum than when the second air path is selected. In this case, since the pressure loss of the first air passage is small, a large amount of wind can be obtained even when the air blowing unit is driven with relatively low power consumption. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the drying time and reduce the power consumption due to the large air volume. Thereby, shortening of the total drying time and drying operation with less power consumption can be realized.

  Further, in the above configuration, the apparatus further includes a vibration detection unit that detects vibration of the drum, and the entanglement determination unit generates entanglement of clothing when an output value of the vibration detection unit increases by a first predetermined value or more. It is preferable to determine that the tangling of the clothing has been resolved when the output value of the vibration detection unit has decreased by a second predetermined value or more.

  In the above configuration, if tangling of clothes occurs during the drying process, the impact on the drum when the garment that has become heavy due to tangling falls increases, and vibration of the drum also increases. By capturing this phenomenon with the vibration detection unit, it is possible to determine the entanglement of clothing. That is, as the drying proceeds, the clothes are dehumidified and the water content is gradually reduced. Therefore, if the clothes are not tangled, the impact of the drum is also gradually reduced. Therefore, the output value of the drum vibration detector tends to gradually converge to a smaller value as the drying progresses. However, contrary to this tendency, when the output value of the vibration detection unit increases by the first predetermined value or more, it can be determined that entanglement has occurred in the drum. Further, when the output value of the vibration detection unit decreases by a second predetermined value or more, which is a larger reduction range than gradually decreasing as the drying progresses, it is possible to determine that the tangling of the clothing in the drum has been released. It becomes. In this way, based on the load fluctuation amount of the conventional drum drive unit, the vibration detection unit directly determines the entanglement of the clothing by directly detecting the impact on the drum that changes with the presence or absence of the tangling of the clothing during drying. The entanglement determination can be performed with higher accuracy than the entanglement determination.

  Moreover, it is preferable that said entanglement determination part reduces said 1st predetermined value and said 2nd predetermined value with the time passage of a drying process.

  In the above configuration, as the weight of the dehumidified clothing as described above gradually decreases with the passage of time in the drying process, the impact on the drum when tangled clothing is similarly reduced. Go. Therefore, the first predetermined value and the second predetermined value, which are determination criteria for the presence or absence of entanglement, are also reduced with the passage of time in the drying process, so that entanglement can be determined with higher accuracy.

  Further, in the above configuration, a cloth amount detection unit that detects the amount of clothes in the drum is further provided, and the entanglement determination unit is configured to detect the first predetermined amount according to the amount of clothes detected by the cloth amount detection unit. It is preferable to change the time interval for gradually decreasing the value and the second predetermined value.

  In the above configuration, in the case where the first predetermined value and the second predetermined value are decreased step by step while setting the time interval, the time interval (in other words, the first predetermined value and the second predetermined value are set stepwise). The correction timing when the amount is decreased is made variable according to the amount of clothes to be dried. That is, depending on the amount of clothing to be dried, the length of time of the entire drying process varies (that is, the larger the amount of clothing, the more time it takes for the water to evaporate, so the entire time of the drying process becomes relatively long), The rate of progress of drying of clothes is also different. Considering this point, the cloth amount detection unit detects the amount of clothing in the drum, and determines the time interval for gradually decreasing the first predetermined value and the second predetermined value according to the amount of clothing. The part changes (for example, the time interval increases as the amount of clothing increases). As a result, it is possible to determine the entanglement with high accuracy regardless of the amount of clothes and to control with low power consumption.

  Further, in the above configuration, a cloth amount detection unit that detects the amount of clothes in the drum is further provided, and the entanglement determination unit is configured to detect the first predetermined value according to the amount of clothes detected by the cloth amount detection unit. It is preferable to set the second predetermined value.

  In the above-described configuration, when tangling of clothing occurs in the drum, the weight of the clothing that is tangled into a lump increases in accordance with the amount of clothing (total weight) in the drum. As the weight of the tangled clothes becomes heavier, the impact on the drum increases accordingly, so the first predetermined value and the second predetermined value, which are the determination criteria for the entanglement, are also set according to the amount of clothes. This makes it possible to determine the entanglement with high accuracy regardless of the amount of clothing.

  Moreover, it is preferable that said vibration detection part is an acceleration sensor. Thereby, the impact on the drum can be regarded as acceleration, and the degree of impact on the drum that increases or decreases depending on the degree of entanglement of clothes can be accurately determined. Thereby, a highly accurate entanglement determination becomes possible.

  Moreover, it is preferable that said vibration detection part is an angular velocity sensor. Thereby, the impact on the drum can be grasped as an angular velocity, and the degree of impact on the drum that increases or decreases depending on the degree of entanglement of clothes can be accurately determined. Thereby, a highly accurate entanglement determination becomes possible. Furthermore, since the angular velocity of the drum is the same at any position of the operating portion in the vicinity of the drum, there is an effect that the degree of freedom of the attachment position of the vibration detecting portion can be increased.

  A laundry dryer according to the present invention includes any of the above-described clothes dryers and a water tank that encloses the housing portion and stores washing water. Thus, by applying any of the above-described clothes dryers, it is possible to realize a washing and drying machine that can dry with low power consumption and little entanglement between clothes.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to effectively eliminate the entanglement between clothes in the drying process while having low power consumption, and it is possible to shorten the drying time and reduce the generation of wrinkles in the clothes. A clothes dryer and a washing dryer can be realized.

It is side surface sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the drum type washing-drying machine which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the said drum type washing-drying machine. It is a schematic perspective view which shows an example of the vibration detection part in the said drum type washing-drying machine. It is a graph which shows the example of an output of the vibration detection part in the said drum type washing machine. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the state of the clothing in the drum in a drying process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the state of the clothing in the drum in a drying process. It is a flowchart which shows the air path switching process in the said drum type washing-drying machine. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the drum type washing-drying machine which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the other example of the vibration detection part in the said drum type washing-drying machine. It is a flowchart which shows the other air path switching process in the said drum-type washing dryer.

  Hereinafter, a drum type washing and drying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the following embodiment is an example which actualized this invention, Comprising: The thing of the character which limits the technical scope of this invention is not.

  FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a drum-type washing / drying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a cylindrical drum 1 having a bottom surface with a front opening for accommodating laundry is supported in a housing 100 and contained in a receiving cylinder 2 as a cylindrical water tank for storing washing water. A drum drive motor 3 (drum drive unit) is attached to the back surface of the receiving cylinder 2 to rotate the drum 1 while tilting the rotating shaft forward. Further, a water supply pipe provided with a water supply valve 25 (see FIG. 2) and a drain pipe 40 provided with a drain valve 27 are connected to the receiving cylinder 2.

  The casing 100 is provided with a door body 35 facing the opening end side of the drum 1, and the user opens and closes the laundry body (clothing) with respect to the drum 1 by opening the door body 35. be able to.

  The inner peripheral wall of the drum 1 is provided with a plurality of protrusions. By rotating the drum 1 at a low speed, the clothes are hooked by the protrusions, lifted upward, and then dropped at an appropriate height. Operation (tumbling operation) can be given.

  The drying air for drying the clothes is blown to the blower 4 to take moisture from the laundry in the drum 1 to become a humid state, and passes through the discharge port 5 located around the side surface of the drum 1 to the drum. 1 is discharged to the outside. The discharged drying air is dehumidified by the dehumidifying unit 6. The drying air dehumidified by the dehumidifying unit 6 is heated by the heating unit 7. The heated drying air is guided to either the first air passage 9 or the second air passage 11 and blows out into the drum 1 again. Here, the first air passage 9 has a first air outlet 8 opened to the rear of the drum 1. On the other hand, the second air passage 11 has a second air outlet 10 opened on the front peripheral side surface of the drum 1. The first air outlet 8 of the first air passage 9 is formed so as to have an air passage cross-sectional area larger than that of the second air outlet 10, and there is less pressure loss than the second air passage 11, and a large air volume is dried. The working air can be blown into the drum 1. Further, the second air outlet 10 of the second air passage 11 has an air passage cross-sectional area smaller than that of the first air outlet 8, and high-pressure and high-speed drying air in the drum 1 as compared with the first air outlet 8. Can be blown out.

  Usually, in the case of a drum-type washing / drying machine, the gap between the front of the rotating drum 1 and the receiving cylinder 2 is formed as small as possible so that clothes are not caught. Therefore, although it is difficult in terms of space to provide a small opening with a small opening and a small pressure loss in the small gap, the second blowing outlet 10 that blows off high-pressure and high-speed wind with a relatively small air passage cross-sectional area is provided. It can be provided. On the other hand, the bottom of the back of the drum 1 has a space for providing the first air outlet 8 having a relatively large opening. And if the 1st blower outlet 8 is covered with the cover 26 with a large opening ratio which consists of many small diameter holes which can ventilate, clothing will not bite into the said 1st blower outlet 8. FIG. Therefore, the 1st blower outlet 8 with comparatively little pressure loss can be provided in the bottom face of drum 1 back.

  In addition, when clothes are stirred by rotating the rotation axis of the drum 1 so as to rise forward, small clothes such as socks, handkerchiefs, and briefs tend to be biased to the back of the drum 1, while long-sleeved underwear, trousers, and long sleeves. The long clothes such as the cutter shirt and the long-sleeved pajamas tend to be biased forward of the drum 1. Accordingly, when drying is performed in a state where small clothes and long clothes are mixed, if a large amount of drying air is blown out from the first air outlet 8 located at the back rear of the drum 1, the small clothes biased toward the back of the drum 1 are used. The drying air comes into contact first. Further, the drying air passes through the small clothes and reaches the long clothes in front of the drum 1. Therefore, both small clothes and long clothes can be efficiently dried. Especially, small clothes can be dried with relatively little wrinkles. On the other hand, long clothes that are likely to be twisted and wrinkle easily due to agitation during drying are liable to be biased to the front of the drum 1, and therefore wind (drying air) is discharged from the second air outlet 10 located in front of the drum 1. ) Is faster to dry. Further, by applying a high-pressure and high-speed wind (drying air) ejected from the second air outlet 10 to the long clothes, the long clothes easily spread and the long clothes move well by the wind, so that the tangling of the clothes is released. Can reduce wrinkles.

  The air path switching unit 12 is provided at a branch portion between the first air path 9 and the second air path 11 formed on the downstream side of the air blowing unit 4. The air path switching unit 12 switches the passage of drying air to either the first air path 9 or the second air path 11. The air path switching unit 12 includes a valve 12a pivotally supported by a branch portion between the first air path 9 and the second air path 11, and a drive unit (not shown) that rotationally drives the valve 12a. To do. Then, when the valve 12a rotates to the a side in FIG. 1 and closes the second air passage 11, the first air passage 9 side is opened, and the drying air blown by the blower unit 4 is supplied to the first air passage 9. To go through. On the other hand, when the valve 12a rotates to the b side in the figure and closes the first air passage 9, the second air passage 11 side is opened, and the drying air blown by the blower 4 is supplied to the second air passage 11. To go through.

  The circulation air passage 13 is provided with the air blowing section 4 and the air passage switching section 12 in the middle thereof. Drying air is sent from the first air outlet 8 or the second air outlet 10 to the drum 1, and the air for drying is circulated in the drum type laundry dryer.

  The air blowing unit 4 is provided between the heating unit 7 and the air path switching unit 12, and sends the drying air heated by the heating unit 7 to the downstream side of the circulation air path 13. The blower unit 4 includes a blower fan 4a and a blower fan motor 4b. In the air blowing unit 4, when the air path switching unit 12 switches to the first air path 9, the air volume passing through the first air path 9 becomes a predetermined air volume larger than the air volume of the second air path 11. The blower fan 4a is rotated. Further, when the air path switching unit 12 switches to the second air path 11, the wind speed passing through the second air outlet 10 of the second air path 11 becomes a predetermined air speed that is faster than the air speed passing through the first air outlet 8. The fan 4a for ventilation is rotated so that it may become. For example, the wind speed passing through the first air outlet 8 can be set to about 10 m / s, and the wind speed passing through the second air outlet 10 can be set to 50 m / s or more. In addition, the wind speed which passes the 1st blower outlet 8 and the 2nd blower outlet 10 is not limited to this, Arbitrary if the wind speed in the 2nd blower outlet 10 satisfy | fills conditions faster than the wind speed in the 1st blower outlet 8 The wind speed can be set.

  In the drum type washing and drying machine of the present embodiment, the amount of air passing through the first air passage 9 is larger than the amount of air passing through the second air passage 11, and passes through the second air outlet 10 of the second air passage 11. The wind speed is higher than the wind speed passing through the first air outlet 8, and during the drying process, the air path switching unit 12 is operated based on the result of the entanglement determination described later, and the first air path 9 and the second air path 11. And switching.

  The discharge port 5 is disposed at a position relatively far from the first air outlet 8 than the distance from the second air outlet 10 (in other words, the discharge port 5 is relatively second. It is close to the air outlet 10 and far from the first air outlet 8). Therefore, the discharge port 5 is provided closer to the front than the rear of the drum 1. The outlet 5 may be provided in the vicinity of the second outlet 10 located in front of the drum 1 so that the distance from the first outlet 8 is the longest.

  As described above, the first outlet 8 and the outlet 5 are disposed by disposing the outlet 5 close to the second outlet 10 in front of the drum 1 and far from the first outlet 8. And the distance becomes longer. Therefore, during the blowing from the first air outlet 8 behind the drum 1, the drying air blown out from the first air outlet 8 spreads widely in the drum 1. As a result, the clothes and the drying air are efficiently brought into contact with each other in the drum 1, and the clothes can be dried with a small amount of power consumption.

  Further, even when the exhaust port 5 is disposed in the vicinity of the second air outlet 10, during the blowing from the second air outlet 10 in front of the drum 1, the second air outlet 10 is used for drying at high pressure and high wind speed. Since the air is blown out, the drying air can reach from the front of the drum 1 to the rear. Thereby, the contact between the drying air and the clothes does not deteriorate, and the effect of stretching the wrinkles with the high-pressure and high-winding drying air can be maintained.

  Further, the discharge port 5 is disposed on the upper side of the drum 1 so that the drying air after contacting the clothes can be effectively discharged upward. In a drum-type clothes dryer having no washing function, the discharge port 5 can be provided at a place other than above the drum 1. However, in a drum-type laundry dryer, since it is affected by washing water, It is desirable to provide it above.

  Further, the second air outlet 10 opens at the upper front part of the drum 1. As a result, high-pressure and high-speed drying air can be effectively sprayed on the clothing that is moved by the rotation of the drum 1 and the wrinkle reduction effect can be enhanced.

  In the present embodiment, only one first air outlet 8 of the first air passage 9 is provided, but a plurality of first air outlets 8 may be provided. Similarly, although the example which provided only the 2nd blower outlet 10 of the 2nd air path 11 is shown, the 2nd blower outlet 10 can also be made into two or more.

  Below the receiving tube 2, the receiving tube 2 is supported, and the vibration of the receiving tube 2 when the drum 1 is rotated in a weight unbalanced state caused by uneven clothing in the drum 1 during dehydration or the like is attenuated. A damper 34 is provided. The damper 34 is provided with a cloth amount detector 15 that detects the amount of clothing by detecting the amount of displacement of the shaft of the damper 34 up and down due to the weight change caused by the clothing in the receiving cylinder 2 to be supported. .

  The drum type washing and drying machine of the present embodiment is configured to perform heat pump type dehumidification and heating, and includes a heat pump device 50. The heat pump device 50 includes a compressor 16 that compresses a refrigerant, a radiator 17 that radiates heat of the refrigerant that has been compressed to high temperature and pressure, a throttle unit 18 that depressurizes the pressure of the high-pressure refrigerant, A heat absorber 19 that takes heat away from the surroundings by the low-pressure refrigerant and a pipe line 20 that connects these four members and circulates the refrigerant are provided. And the heat absorber 19 in this heat pump apparatus is said dehumidification part 6, and the heat radiator 17 is said heating part 7. FIG.

  Note that the drum type washing and drying machine is not limited to a structure that performs heat pump type clothes drying. For example, the dehumidifying unit 6 may be a water-cooling type in which water is sprayed directly on the drying air, and the heating unit 7 may be a heater.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the drum type washing and drying machine has a control unit 70. The control unit 70 controls a series of operation operations including washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying based on setting information input from the user via the input setting unit 32 and operation state monitoring of each unit. For example, in the drying process, the control unit 70 controls the rotation of the drum drive motor 3, controls the operations of the air blowing unit 4, the dehumidifying unit 6 and the heating unit 7, and further controls the air path switching unit 12. The first air path 9 and the second air path 11 are switched. The control unit 70 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown), a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs, a RAM (Random Access Memory) that stores programs and data when various processes are executed, an input / output interface, and these Can be configured by a bus connecting the two.

  In the drum type washer / dryer, the AC power 23 is rectified by a rectifier 28 and then smoothed by a smoothing circuit including a choke coil 29 and a smoothing capacitor 30. Then, the drum drive motor 3 is rotationally driven by the inverter circuit 22 using the smoothed DC power as drive power. The control unit 70 controls the rotation of the drum drive motor 3 based on the driving instruction input from the input setting unit 32 and the monitoring information of the driving state detected by each detecting unit. Further, the control unit 70 controls operations of necessary loads such as the water supply valve 25, the drain valve 27, the air blowing unit 4, the dehumidifying unit 6, and the heating unit 7 through the load driving unit 24.

  The drum drive motor 3 includes, for example, a stator having three-phase windings 3a, 3b, and 3c and a rotor having a two-pole permanent magnet, and is configured as a DC brushless motor provided with three position detection elements 19a to 19c. can do. The drum drive motor 3 can be rotationally controlled by an inverter circuit 22 configured to be capable of PWM control by the switching elements 22a to 22f. Here, the rotor position detection signals detected by the position detection elements 19 a to 19 c are input to the control unit 70. Then, the control unit 70 outputs a control signal to the inverter drive circuit 21 based on the rotor position detection signal, and performs PWM control of the on / off states of the switching elements 22a to 22f via the inverter drive circuit 21. In this way, the control unit 70 controls energization of the stator three-phase windings 3a, 3b, and 3c, and rotates the rotor of the drum drive motor 3 at a desired rotational speed. The control unit 70 detects the cycle each time the signal state of any of the three position detection means 19a to 19c changes, and calculates the rotation speed of the rotor from the cycle by the rotation number detection unit 19 as an internal function. To do.

  A vibration detection unit 14 that detects vibration and impact of the receiving tube 2 is attached to the upper portion of the receiving tube 2 serving as a receiving tube. The output value of the vibration detection unit 14 is used to determine the presence or absence of clothing entanglement in the drying process (details will be described later). In the present embodiment, as an example of the vibration detection unit 14, as shown in FIG. 3, an acceleration sensor that can detect accelerations in three directions (detection directions 14a, 14b, and 14c) orthogonal to each other is used. Here, the detection direction 14 a is a direction that coincides with the rotation axis 1 a of the drum 1. Further, the detection direction 14 b is the horizontal direction when viewed from the front opening of the drum 1. The detection direction 14c is a substantially vertical direction that is orthogonal to the detection directions 14a and 14b. The vibration detection unit 14 is adjusted in the mounting direction to the receiving cylinder 2 so that the vibrations in the detection directions 14a, 14b, and 14c can be monitored. However, the detection direction of the acceleration sensor is not necessarily limited to 14a, 14b, and 14c, and may be acceleration detection in other directions.

  The mounting position of the vibration detection unit 14 provided in the receiving cylinder 2 is not particularly limited. However, when the vibration detection unit 14 is an acceleration sensor, the vibration detection unit 14 is positioned farther from the damper 34 that attenuates the vibration of the receiving cylinder 2. It is desirable to provide it. By providing the acceleration sensor away from the damper 34, highly sensitive vibration detection is possible. In the present embodiment, an acceleration sensor is provided on the front opening side upper portion of the receiving cylinder 2 as a position where the vibration of the receiving cylinder 2 can be detected with the highest sensitivity.

  As the acceleration sensor, any of a semiconductor type, a mechanical type, and an optical type acceleration sensor can be used. In particular, a semiconductor acceleration sensor suitable for downsizing can be used suitably.

  In the present embodiment, an acceleration sensor that can detect acceleration in three directions (three axes) of the detection directions 14a, 14b, and 14c is used, but the number of detection axes of the acceleration sensor is not limited to this. For example, a 1-axis to 3-axis acceleration sensor that can detect acceleration in at least one of the detection directions 14a, 14b, and 14c may be used.

  By the way, the acceleration sensor as the vibration detector 14 can also be used to detect a weight imbalance state that occurs due to clothing unevenness in the drum 1 in the clothes dehydration process in which the drum 1 rotates at high speed. Therefore, the acceleration sensor as the vibration detection unit 14 can be used for both determination of tangling of clothes in the drying process and determination of weight imbalance in the dehydration process.

  Moreover, the vibration detection part 14 is not limited to an acceleration sensor. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, an angular velocity sensor 38 can be used as the vibration detection unit instead of the acceleration sensor. The angular velocity sensor 38 detects an angular velocity when the receiving cylinder 2 is displaced by vibration. For example, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the angular velocity sensor 38 is attached to the receiving cylinder 2 so that the angular velocity in the rotational direction 38 a centered on the horizontal direction when viewed from the front opening of the drum 1 can be detected. It has been adjusted. However, the rotational direction 38a detected by the angular velocity sensor 38 is not limited to this, and may be one that detects angular velocities in other rotational directions. The angular velocity of the receiving cylinder 2 detected by the angular velocity sensor 38 is the same at any position of the receiving cylinder 2. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the angular velocity sensor 38 away from the damper 34, and the degree of freedom of the attachment position is high. As the angular velocity sensor 38, a mechanical, fluid, or optical gyroscope can be used. In particular, a mechanical (vibration type) gyroscope suitable for downsizing can be preferably used.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which only one vibration detection unit 14 (acceleration sensor) shown in FIG. 1 or one angular velocity sensor 38 shown in FIG. 8 is provided in the receiving cylinder 2 is shown. A portion 14 (acceleration sensor) or a plurality of angular velocity sensors 38 may be provided in the receiving cylinder 2. Furthermore, both the acceleration sensor and the angular velocity sensor 38 may be provided in the receiving cylinder 2. By using a plurality of sensors as the vibration detection unit, the accuracy of vibration detection can be increased.

  Hereinafter, the operation and effect of the drum type washing and drying machine configured as described above will be described in detail.

  First, the occurrence of entanglement between clothes during drying of clothes will be considered. In the drying of clothes in a narrow drum, when the amount of clothes is relatively large, the clothes are liable to get entangled because the bath ratio with which the clothes can move freely is small. Moreover, when many long clothes are included, parts, such as a long sleeve, are easy to get entangled with other clothes. If drying is continued in such a state of being entangled, wrinkles of clothes increase after drying. In addition, since the drying air is difficult to contact the entangled part, the drying time increases, and the drying process ends with only the entangled part remaining undried, resulting in uneven drying. Cause dissatisfaction.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, based on the output value of the vibration detection unit 14 fixed to the receiving cylinder 2, the entanglement determination unit 20 of the control unit 70 shown in FIG. It is judged. This principle will be described below.

  When the clothing lifted by the tumbling in the drying process falls in the drum 1, the impact is transmitted to the receiving cylinder 2 containing the drum 1. As the drying proceeds from the start of the drying process, the clothes are dehumidified and the water content is gradually reduced, so that the impact transmitted to the receiving tube 2 is also gradually reduced. Therefore, the output value of the vibration detector 14 fixed to the receiving cylinder 2 also tends to converge gradually to a smaller value as the drying progresses.

  Further, the output value of the vibration detection unit 14 varies depending on the degree of tangling of the clothing in the drum 1. That is, in the state where the tangling of the clothes in the drum 1 is not generated (or small), since the clothes lifted by the tumbling falls in the drum 1 in a small amount, the impact on the drum 1 is small, and the vibration detecting unit An output value of 14 indicates a small vibration value. On the other hand, if tangling of clothing occurs in the drum 1, it will fall in the drum 1 as a lump of heavy clothing, and the impact on the drum 1 will also increase. In this case, as a matter of course, the output value of the vibration detection unit 14 fixed to the receiving cylinder 2 also shows a larger vibration value than the case where no tangling of clothing occurs.

  From the above, if the drying without entanglement (or little) continues, the output value of the vibration detector 14 tends to gradually decrease as the drying progresses. However, contrary to this tendency, when the output value of the vibration detection unit 14 increases, it is possible to determine that entanglement has occurred in the drum 1.

  Furthermore, after the tangling of clothing in the drum 1 occurs, the tangling of the clothing in the drum 1 is unraveled when the output value of the vibration detection unit 14 is significantly smaller than gradually decreasing as the drying progresses. Can also be determined.

  In the present embodiment, when the entanglement determination unit 20 of the control unit 70 determines the entanglement state of the clothing based on the output value of the vibration detection unit 14 (vibration level of the receiving cylinder 2) and determines that the entanglement has occurred. A high-pressure and high-speed wind that has a high effect of untangling the clothing is blown out from the second air outlet 10 of the second air passage 11 and applied to the clothing. On the other hand, when the entanglement determination unit 20 determines that no entanglement has occurred, a large amount of wind is blown from the first air outlet 8 of the first air passage 9. In this way, in the drying process, the presence or absence of entanglement is judged and the first air passage 9 and the second air passage 11 are switched, thereby reducing the occurrence of entanglement and saving power.

  As described above, based on the determination result of the entanglement determination unit 20, the clothes can be effectively applied with the single air blowing unit 4 by switching the first air path 9 and the second air path 11 in a timely manner during the drying process. Can be reduced. Furthermore, during the period when there is no entanglement in the middle of the drying process, the drying is performed with a large air volume that consumes less power than the high wind speed. Power consumption can be reduced. As described above, the drum type washing and drying machine of the present embodiment can realize a drying operation with less tangling of clothes while saving power.

  FIG. 4 is a graph showing the output value of the vibration detection unit 14 that changes with the lapse of time of the drying process. The horizontal axis represents the elapsed time of the drying process, and the vertical axis represents the output value (acceleration) of the vibration detection unit 14. Is shown. FIG. 5 shows the state of clothing in the drum 1 in the case of amplitude A in FIG. FIG. 6 shows the state of clothing in the drum 1 in the case of amplitude B in FIG.

  Here, a semiconductor acceleration sensor that can detect accelerations in three directions (14a, 14b, and 14c) orthogonal to each other is used as the vibration detection unit 14. The result of reading the acceleration of the receiving cylinder 2 in the direction of the rotation axis 1a of the drum 1 (that is, the detection direction 14a) is shown in FIG. This is because the vibration value in the detection direction 14a of the three directions showed the largest value (that is, the highest sensitivity) during the drying at the drum rotation speed.

  However, the present invention is not limited to reading the acceleration in the detection direction 14a. That is, depending on the structure of the fuselage, the support structure of the receiving cylinder 2 and the drum 1 (the inclination angle of the drum 1, the mounting structure of the damper 34 and the support spring that supports the receiving cylinder 2, etc.), the rotational speed of the drum 1, etc. It is desirable to read vibration values in a highly sensitive direction, and the present invention is not limited to reading acceleration in a specific direction. As described above, the vibration detection unit 14 is configured as a multi-axis sensitive sensor capable of detecting vibrations of two or more axes, and a plurality of values are selected so that the most sensitive direction value can be selected and used in the tumbling operation during the drying process. It is desirable to read the vibration component in the direction.

  FIG. 5 shows a state in which the clothes lifted by the rotation of the drum 1 fall in small increments with little entanglement. In this case, the impact on the receiving cylinder 2 is small, and the acceleration peak-to-peak value (amplitude A in FIG. 4) of the receiving cylinder 2 is as small as about 0.03 G.

  A description will be given of a case in which the state shown in FIG. 5 is changed to the state shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows a state where clothes lifted by the rotation of the drum 1 in a state where there are many entanglements fall as a heavy mass. In this case, the impact on the receiving cylinder 2 is large, and the acceleration peak-to-peak value (amplitude B in FIG. 4) of the receiving cylinder 2 is increased to about 0.05G. Originally, if the drying proceeds, the moisture of the clothes is dehumidified, and the weight of the clothes is reduced. Therefore, the impact on the receiving tube 2 is gradually reduced, and the output of the vibration detection unit 14 tends to decrease. However, it is possible to determine that entanglement has occurred from the output value of the vibration detection unit 14 that increases as clothing entangles as described above.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the airway switching timing based on the determination result of the entanglement determination unit 20.

  When the drying operation (drying process) starts, the entanglement determination unit 20 starts monitoring the output value (vibration value V of the receiving cylinder 2) from the vibration detection unit 14 (S1). At the start of the drying process, since it is considered that no tangling of clothing has occurred yet, the control means 70 uses the first air passage 9 having a large air passage cross-sectional area and a small pressure loss, and has a low air speed and a large air volume. It sets so that drying air may blow off from the 1st blower outlet 8 behind the drum 1, and may be applied to clothing (S2). That is, the control unit 70 controls the air path switching unit 12 to open the first air path 9 side, and sets the rotational speed of the blower fan motor 4b to be relatively low. In this case, since the pressure loss of the first air passage 9 is small, even if the rotational speed of the blower fan motor 4b is relatively low and the blower unit 4 is driven with low power consumption, a large amount of wind can be obtained. it can. Therefore, while drying is performed under the conditions shown in S2, the drying time can be shortened and the power consumption can be reduced.

  If the state of little entanglement between the clothes continues, the impact on the receiving tube 2 is small, so that the vibration value V indicated by the vibration detector 14 does not increase, but decreases with the progress of the drying process (that is, vibrations). The value V gradually decreases). As described above, while the state where the tangling between the clothes is small continues, the vibration value V indicated by the vibration detection unit 14 does not increase by a predetermined value ΔV1 (first predetermined value) or more compared to immediately before (NO in S3). ), And drying under the conditions shown in S2 is continued.

  On the other hand, when the clothing is entangled, the impact on the receiving cylinder 2 is increased, and the vibration value V indicated by the vibration detecting unit 14 is increased by a predetermined value ΔV1 or more compared to immediately before (YES in S3), the entanglement determining unit 20 Is determined to be entangled (S5). In this case, the control unit 70 generates high-pressure and high-speed drying air obtained by rotating the blower fan motor 4b at a large number of revolutions from the second outlet 10 having an air passage cross-sectional area smaller than that of the first outlet 8. It sets so that it may ventilate (S6). That is, the control unit 70 controls the air path switching unit 12 to open the second air path 11 side, and controls the air blowing unit 4 to increase the rotational speed of the blower fan motor 4b. In this case, the entangled clothing is effectively unwound by the high-pressure and high-speed wind.

  As described above, when the entanglement between the clothes is unraveled by the high-pressure and high-speed wind, the impact on the receiving tube 2 gradually decreases. If the vibration value V of the vibration detection unit 14 decreases by a predetermined value ΔV2 (second predetermined value) or more compared to immediately before (YES in S7), the entanglement determination unit 20 determines that the entanglement has been eliminated (S9). . In this case, the control unit 70 proceeds to S <b> 2 and switches to the first air path 9 by the air path switching unit 12.

  Thereafter, the steps S2 to S9 are repeated until the drying step is completed (YES in S4 or YES in S8).

  In S3 and S7 described above, the entanglement determination unit 20 of the control unit 70 determines an increase (S3) greater than the predetermined value ΔV1 or a decrease (S7) greater than the predetermined value ΔV2 while monitoring the vibration value V of the vibration detection unit 14. To do. Here, the vibration value V of the vibration detection unit 14 shows a peak when the garment lifted with the rotation of the drum 1 falls (see FIG. 4). Therefore, for example, the entanglement determining unit 20 holds the maximum value of the vibration value V at a predetermined time interval, and stores the peak hold value of the vibration value V in the memory every predetermined time, while the vibration of this time is repeated every predetermined time. By comparing the value V with the previous vibration value V, it is possible to determine an increase (S3) greater than or equal to the predetermined value ΔV1 or a decrease (S7) greater than or equal to the predetermined value ΔV2. The predetermined time interval in this case can be arbitrarily set. While the drum 1 makes one revolution, the vibration value V shows several peaks, but when clothing is tangled and becomes a heavy mass, the clothing mass falls within the drum 1. One time during one rotation of the drum 1. Therefore, in order to detect the vibration of falling due to the lump of clothes within a predetermined time interval, it is desirable to set the predetermined time interval longer than the time for which the drum 1 makes one rotation.

  By the way, as the drying progresses, the weight of the dehumidified clothing is gradually reduced, so that the impact on the drum 1 when the clothing is entangled is similarly reduced. Therefore, it is desirable to correct the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2, which are the determination criteria for the presence or absence of entanglement, so as to gradually decrease as the drying progresses (according to the change in the clothes drying rate during the drying process). For example, the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 set in the drying process for 30 minutes from the start of drying are set to ΔV1 × 0.9 and ΔV2 × 0.9 in the next 30 minutes, respectively, and further for the next 30 minutes. In the drying process, ΔV1 × 0.8 and ΔV2 × 0.8, respectively. Thereby, the accurate entanglement determination according to the progress of drying can be performed.

  The correction of the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 according to the progress of the drying is executed by the entanglement detection unit 20 of the control unit 70. The control unit 70 has a timer (not shown) that measures the elapsed time of the drying process. As this timer, an internal timer incorporated as an internal function in the operation of the control unit 70 can be used. Note that a timer device independent of the control unit 70 can be used as the timer. Then, the control unit 70 (entanglement detection unit 20) starts timing by a timer simultaneously with the start of the drying operation, and corrects the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 as described above, for example, every 30 minutes from the start of drying. However, the control of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is executed.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 are corrected every 30 minutes after the start of drying is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 may be corrected every 20 minutes from the start of drying, and the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 can be corrected every arbitrary elapsed time. Further, the correction timings of the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 do not necessarily need to be corrected at equal time intervals. For example, the first correction is performed after 30 minutes from the start of drying, and the second and subsequent times after every 20 minutes. It is also possible to correct the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 in a stepwise manner at an arbitrary time interval, such as performing the correction.

  Furthermore, depending on the amount of clothing to be dried, the length of time of the entire drying process varies (that is, the larger the amount of clothing, the longer the time of the entire drying process), and the speed of drying of the clothing also varies. In consideration, the correction timing of the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 may be changed according to the amount of clothing. That is, the amount of clothes is detected by the cloth amount detection unit 15, and the control unit 70 determines the correction timing of the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 according to the detection result. For example, when the amount of clothing is large, the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 are corrected every 30 minutes from the start of drying, and when the amount of clothing is smaller than that, the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV1 are corrected every 25 minutes from the start of drying. You may set so that (DELTA) V2 may be correct | amended.

  Further, the impact on the drum 1 due to the drop of clothes increases in proportion to the amount (total weight) of the clothes, but the weight of the tangled portion lump when the entanglement occurs also increases. Therefore, it is desirable that the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 that are the determination criteria for the presence or absence of entanglement are also corrected so as to increase as the amount of clothing stored in the drum 1 increases. For example, in a washing / drying machine (or clothes drying machine) having a rated drying capacity of 6 kg, when the cloth amount determination unit 15 determines that the amount of clothes is 5 kg to 6 kg, the predetermined values are ΔV1 and ΔV2, and 4 kg to 5 kg. ΔV1 × 0.9 and ΔV2 × 0.9 are respectively determined, and ΔV1 × 0.8 and ΔV2 × 0.8 are respectively determined when 3 kg to 4 kg are determined, and ΔV1 is respectively determined when 2 kg to 3 kg are determined. When x0.7 and ΔV2 × 0.7 are determined and 1 kg to 2 kg are determined, ΔV1 × 0.6 and ΔV2 × 0.6 can be set, respectively. In addition, when the cloth amount determination unit 15 determines a small amount of clothing of 1 kg or less, the occurrence of entanglement itself is unlikely to occur, and thus a predetermined value may not be provided.

  The correction of the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 corresponding to the amount of clothing stored in the drum 1 is executed by the entanglement detection unit 20 of the control unit 70 based on the detection result of the cloth amount detection unit 15. Prior to the start of washing, the cloth amount detection unit 15 detects the amount (mass) of clothes put on the drum 1. Specifically, the cloth amount detection unit 15 determines the position of the shaft of the damper 34 in a state where the receiving cylinder 2 is empty (no water is present in the receiving cylinder 2 and no clothes are put in the drum 1). The position of the axis of the damper 34 before washing is started and before water is poured into the receiving cylinder 2 (there is no water in the receiving cylinder 2 but there is clothing in the drum 1). The amount of clothing put on the drum 1 is detected by the difference. Then, the entanglement detection unit 20 of the control unit 70 corrects the predetermined values ΔV1 and ΔV2 as described above based on the detection result of the cloth amount detection unit 15. Then, the control of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is executed. In this way, it is possible to make an accurate entanglement determination by making a determination according to the amount of clothing accommodated in the drum 1.

  It should be noted that the predetermined value ΔV1 and the predetermined value ΔV2 that are the determination criteria for the presence or absence of entanglement may be the same or may be set to different values.

  In addition, as another sequence, a case where clothing entanglement has already occurred at the start of the drying process (FIG. 10) is assumed. First, when the drying operation (drying process) starts, the entanglement determination unit 20 starts monitoring the output value from the vibration detection unit 14 (vibration value V of the receiving cylinder 2) (S11). When the tangling of clothing has already occurred at the start of the drying process, the control means 70 detects a vibration greater than the tangling vibration value V ′ set in the comparison with the cloth amount information (YES in S12). It is determined that there is entanglement (S13), the second air passage 11 having a small air passage cross-sectional area and a large pressure loss is used, and high-pressure and high-air-speed drying air is blown from the second air outlet 12 in front of the drum 1 to the clothes. It sets so that it may apply (S14). That is, the control unit 70 controls the air path switching unit 12 to open the second air path 11 side, and sets the rotational speed of the blower fan motor 4b at a high speed. In this case, the entanglement between the clothes is effectively unraveled by the high-pressure and high-speed drying air blown from the second air outlet 12. In this way, when the entanglement between the clothes is unraveled by the high-pressure and high-speed wind, the impact on the receiving tube 2 also gradually decreases. If the vibration value of the vibration detection unit 14 decreases below the entanglement vibration value V ′ (YES in S15), the entanglement determination unit 20 determines that the entanglement has disappeared. In this case, the control unit 70 proceeds to S <b> 17 and switches to the first air path 9 by the air path switching unit 12.

  On the other hand, if no tangling of clothing has occurred at the start of the drying process, vibration below the tangling vibration value V ′ set in the comparison with the cloth amount information will be detected (NO in S12), Immediately after the start of the drying process, the process proceeds to S17, and S17 to S24 are executed. Steps S17 to S24 are the same as steps S2 to S9 in FIG.

  In addition, regarding the control by the entanglement determination from the transition to S17 to the end of the drying process, the entanglement determination may be performed based on the difference between the vibration values (see S18 to S24), or the vibration is the same as at the start. The entanglement determination may be performed based on the absolute value, and control based on any entanglement determination is possible.

  When clothes with low moisture content such as synthetic fibers are entangled, or when entanglement is severe due to mixing of various clothes (cloth quality, clothing shape, etc.), the drying process starts at S12 and S13 as described above Detecting entanglements from time to time and starting the drying operation under the drying conditions in which high-speed and high-speed drying air is blown onto the garments to first remove the entanglement of the garments that hinders uniform drying, thus shortening the drying time Can do.

  As described above, high-pressure and high-speed wind is applied to clothing only when entanglement occurs, and when there is no entanglement, the rotational speed of the blower fan motor 4b can be reduced to obtain a large amount of wind with low power consumption. Therefore, it is possible to realize a drying operation in which the total power consumption is reduced and the tangling between the clothes is less than the case of constantly blowing high-speed and high-speed drying air. Further, if the drying operation is performed in a state where there is little entanglement, it is possible to suppress the generation of wrinkles in the clothing, and thus it is possible to achieve a good dry finish with less wrinkles.

  In the present embodiment, the cloth amount detection unit 15 is exemplified by a method of detecting the amount of vertical displacement of the shaft of the damper 34, but is not limited to this. For example, the amount of cloth is detected by detecting the amount of change in the rotational speed, drive current, torque, etc. of the drum drive motor 3 that rotates the drum 1 and detecting the amount of clothing in the drum 1 from the load change of the drum drive motor 3. Part may be applied.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 70 automatically changes the predetermined value ΔV1 and the predetermined value ΔV2 according to the detection result of the cloth amount detection unit 15, but the cloth amount detection unit 15 Even if it does not exist, the user can input the amount of clothes from the input setting unit 32, and the control unit 70 can change the predetermined value ΔV1 and the predetermined value ΔV2 in accordance with the input of the user.

  In the present embodiment, the configuration in which the entanglement determination unit 20 determines the presence or absence of entanglement based on the detection result of the vibration detection unit including the acceleration sensor and the angular velocity sensor has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. . For example, when the amount of change in the rotational speed, drive current, torque, etc. of the drum drive motor 3 that rotates the drum 1 is detected and the load change amount of the drum drive motor 3 during the drying process is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, The entanglement determination unit may be configured to determine that the entanglement has occurred. However, it is based on the detection result of the vibration detecting unit that accurately captures the vibration of the receiving cylinder 2 that increases or decreases depending on the entanglement of clothing as acceleration or angular velocity, rather than determining the entanglement of clothing based on the load fluctuation amount of the drum drive motor 3. Therefore, it is preferable to determine the entanglement of clothing because it enables highly accurate entanglement determination.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the drum type washing / drying machine having both the washing function and the clothes drying function has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the clothes drying machine having no washing function is described. Is also applicable. As an example of the configuration of the clothes dryer, the drum type laundry dryer shown in FIG. For example, as a clothes dryer that does not have a washing function, it is not necessary to connect a water supply pipe or a drain pipe 40 to the water tank 2 in FIG. 1, the water tank 2 is configured as a simple outer tank of the drum 1, and other basic configurations May be the same as the drum type washing and drying machine of FIG.

  The clothes dryer and the washing dryer according to the present invention can be widely used not only for household drum-type clothes dryers and washing dryers but also for commercial drum-type clothes dryers. .

1 drum 2 receiving tube (water tank)
3 Drum drive motor (drum drive unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 4 Air blower 5 Outlet 6 Dehumidification part 7 Heating part 8 1st blower outlet 9 1st air path 10 2nd blower outlet 11 2nd air path 12 Air path switching part 13 Circulation air path 14 Vibration detection part 15 Cloth amount detection part 50 Heat Pump Device 20 Entanglement Determination Unit 70 Control Unit

Claims (11)

A drum containing the clothes to be dried;
A drum drive for rotating the drum;
An entanglement determining unit for determining the presence or absence of tangled clothing in the drum; and a first air passage having a first air outlet opening in the drum;
A second air passage having a second air outlet opening in the drum and having an air passage cross-sectional area smaller than that of the first air outlet;
An air path switching unit that selectively switches between the first air path and the second air path;
When the first air path is selected, a larger amount of drying air is blown into the drum from the first air outlet than when the second air path is selected, while the second air path A blower that blows the drying air so that high-pressure and high-speed drying air is blown into the drum from the second air outlet than when the first air path is selected;
A control unit that controls the air path switching unit based on a determination result of the entanglement determination unit and selectively switches between the first air path and the second air path during the drying process. A clothes dryer characterized by.   2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the first blow-out opening is opened to the rear of the drum, and the second blow-out opening is opened to the front of the drum.   The said control part controls the said air path switching part, and switches to the said 2nd air path, when the said entanglement determination part determines with the entanglement of clothing, The clothing of Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Dryer.   4. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the entanglement determining unit determines that there is no clothing entanglement, the control unit controls the air path switching unit to switch to the first air path. 5. The clothes dryer according to item. A vibration detection unit for detecting vibration of the drum;
The entanglement determining unit determines that clothing entanglement has occurred when the output value of the vibration detection unit has increased by a first predetermined value or more, and the output value of the vibration detection unit has decreased by a second predetermined value or more. The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein it is determined that the tangling of the clothes has been resolved.   6. The clothes dryer according to claim 5, wherein the entanglement determination unit decreases the first predetermined value and the second predetermined value as time elapses in a drying process. A cloth amount detector for detecting the amount of clothes in the drum;
The said entanglement determination part changes the time interval which decreases the said 1st predetermined value and the said 2nd predetermined value in steps according to the quantity of the clothing which the said cloth amount detection part detects. 6. The clothes dryer according to 6. A cloth amount detector for detecting the amount of clothes in the drum;
The said entanglement determination part sets the said 1st predetermined value and the said 2nd predetermined value according to the quantity of the clothing which the said cloth amount detection part detects, The any one of Claim 5 thru | or 7 characterized by the above-mentioned. The clothes dryer described.   The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the vibration detection unit is an acceleration sensor.   The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the vibration detection unit is an angular velocity sensor. A clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
A washing / drying machine comprising: a water tub containing the drum and storing washing water.

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