JP2011092329A - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clothes dryer configured such that even a large air flow path resistance of an evaporator of a heat pump unit enables an air flow rate to be compensated according to the resistance and to secure an effective circulation air flow. <P>SOLUTION: The clothes dryer includes: a drying compartment 3 for drying a dried object while applying a hot air; a circulation air flow path 7 and a circulation fan 9 for circulatively supplying the hot air to the drying compartment 3; the heat pump unit 10 sequentially disposed with the evaporator 11 and a condenser 12 at intermediate parts of the circulation air flow path 7, including a compressor 13, a decompressor 14, and the like, and functioning as a heat source of the hot air; a bypass flow path 16 for forming an air flow not passing through the evaporator 11 in the circulation air flow path 7; and an air outlet 17 and an air inlet 18 positioned at the front and back parts of the bypass flow path 16 and communicating with the outside, respectively. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothes dryer having a heat pump unit that circulates and supplies hot air into a drying chamber containing clothes and the like during a drying operation and functions as a heating source of the hot air.

  Conventionally, this type of dryer generally has a configuration in which a rotating drum is provided in a drum-shaped outer tub that forms a closed space as a drying chamber, and warm air is supplied while rotating and stirring clothes and the like housed in the drum. To dry. In this case, in order to improve the efficiency of the thermal energy used for drying and maintain a comfortable environment at the installation location, the warm air heated to a predetermined temperature is not discharged outside (installation location), that is, the outer tub is installed. Thus, a closed-loop wind circuit, that is, a circulation air passage is formed so as to be circulated and supplied into the drum. In addition, in addition to this drying function, a washing / drying machine having washing functions such as washing, rinsing, and dehydration is also widely used in the market.

  Furthermore, a heat pump unit has been adopted as a hot air heating source because it consumes less power than the heater method and allows an efficient drying operation. As is well known, this heat pump unit is composed of a refrigeration cycle in which refrigerant is circulated in the order of a condenser, a decompression device such as an expansion valve, and an evaporator by a compressor. Thus, an evaporator that cools and dehumidifies the air flowing in the air passage by a heat exchange action and a condenser that heats the air are arranged in this order.

  However, as a feature of the refrigeration cycle, the total amount of circulating air is such that the heat dissipation heat of the condenser is superior to the cooling heat amount of the evaporator, and that the temperature of the hot air entering and exiting the outer tub disappears when the drying operation of clothes and so on progresses to the second half. As the temperature rises, the amount of heat of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle increases and the pressure increases, that is, the heat of dehumidification increases, and there is a concern that the compressor is overloaded. Therefore, in the circulating air passage, for example, an exhaust port for discharging a part of the circulating air is provided on the upstream side of the evaporator, and an intake port for sucking air outside the circulating air passage is provided to supplement the exhaust amount. A dryer has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  As another means, there has been proposed a dryer in which a bypass passage that does not pass through the evaporator is formed in the circulation air passage, and a damper that adjusts the amount of air that passes through the evaporator and the bypass passage is provided ( For example, see Patent Document 2).

JP 2008-301941 A (see, for example, paragraph [0038] and FIG. 1) JP 2008-220814 A (see, for example, paragraph [0061] and FIG. 2)

  According to the configuration described in Patent Document 1, low temperature outside air is taken in from the inlet of the circulation air passage, and according to the configuration described in Patent Document 2, the bypass flow path that is largely opened by the damper is not dehumidified. Circulating air is allowed to pass through. As a result, the absolute humidity increases and the dew point temperature of the air rises even in the latter half of the drying operation, so the amount of dehumidification heat for condensing and removing moisture in the evaporator can be reduced, and overload operation of the compressor is avoided. Thus, an efficient drying operation with a stable refrigeration cycle can be expected.

  However, from the first half to the middle half of the drying operation, it has an operation time zone in which moisture can be actively condensed and removed from the clothes to be dried, that is, a time zone in which the drying action is performed actively and actively, In this case, the saturated vapor pressure is high and the amount of dehumidification is large, so that a large amount of moisture is condensed on the surface of the radiator fins of the evaporator. This leads to a state in which a large amount of condensed water before dropping is attached in practical use, and a large resistance of the air flow (hereinafter referred to as “air path resistance”) that tries to pass through a narrow path between the radiator fins of the evaporator. As a result, the amount of circulating air decreases and efficient drying operation becomes impossible, and this tendency becomes more prominent as the heat pump unit (evaporator) becomes smaller.

  With respect to such a problem, according to the configuration described in Patent Document 1, a part of the external air can be replenished from the intake port that is always open during the drying operation. However, the amount of circulating air becomes insufficient and the heating temperature and saturation are increased. The vapor pressure cannot be increased early and an efficient drying action cannot be obtained. Further, in the configuration described in Patent Document 2, the bypass flow path is blocked by a damper in the first half of operation (see paragraph [0048] and FIG. 3 of this document), and the amount of air passing through the evaporator is reduced. However, there is no replenishment from others, and there are similar problems. In addition, neither of these Patent Documents 1 and 2 describes a problem that the flow of circulating air due to condensed water decreases, or a description suggesting it.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention eliminates the above problems, and when the air path resistance of the evaporator of the heat pump unit is increased, the air volume corresponding to the resistance can be replenished to ensure an effective circulation air amount and expected drying performance can be expected. The purpose is to provide a machine.

  In order to achieve the above object, a clothes dryer of the present invention comprises a drying chamber for drying by applying hot air to an object to be dried, a circulation air passage connected to a hot air inlet / outlet provided in the drying chamber, and A circulation fan that circulates air to the drying chamber via a circulation air passage, an evaporator is disposed on the upstream side of the circulation air passage, a condenser is disposed on the downstream side, and a compressor, a decompression device, and the like A heat pump unit that functions as a heating source for warming the circulating air, a bypass channel that forms an air flow that does not pass through the evaporator in the circulating air channel, and a front and rear of the bypass channel. An exhaust port and an intake port provided in communication with each other are provided (invention of claim 1).

  According to the above means, when the air path resistance due to the dew condensation water of the evaporator increases, the amount of air passing through the bypass passage increases according to the magnitude, and in addition, a large amount of condensation also occurs in the bypass passage. Even when the air path resistance is increased due to the occurrence of the air, the air outside the circulation air path is also replenished from the intake port by the intake and exhaust action of the intake and exhaust port. Therefore, the necessary amount of circulating air can always be secured, and an efficient drying action can be maintained. Moreover, a part of the hot and humid air is exhausted from the exhaust port, and dry outside air can be replenished from the intake port, so that the moisture content of the air that contains a lot of moisture that has passed through the bypass channel is reduced. Reduced circulating air. Thereby, while being able to perform a heat exchange effect efficiently, the amount of heat required for dehumidification can be reduced, and the amount of power consumption can be reduced. Thus, a clothes dryer capable of downsizing the heat pump unit can be provided.

Action explanatory drawing which showed typically the composition of the clothes dryer which shows one example of the present invention. Side view showing a schematic configuration viewed from the side of the clothes dryer Rear view showing a schematic configuration as seen from the back side of the clothes dryer External perspective view showing the external configuration of the embodied heat pump unit Air flow characteristic diagram showing the air flow through the evaporator and bypass channel The figure which shows the opening area of the main opening part where air enters and exits FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a modification of the present invention Time chart showing the control content of the operation of the damper device

  Hereinafter, an embodiment showing a clothes dryer of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Among them, FIG. 1 is a functional explanatory view schematically showing the configuration of the dryer, FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration as seen through from the side of the dryer, and FIG. 3 is from the back side. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing the external configuration of the embodied heat pump unit, FIG. 5 is an air flow characteristic diagram showing the air flow through the evaporator and the bypass channel, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the opening area in the main opening site | part which goes in and out.

  First, the overall structure of the clothes dryer will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. The box-shaped main body 1 forming the outer shell has a slightly inclined surface on the front side (front side of the clothes dryer). The door 2 that opens and closes an insertion port (not shown) for putting clothes in and out of the inclined surface, and an operation panel (not shown) are provided on the upper portion thereof. The main body 1 has a substantially non-perforated outer tub 3 that is fixed in a cylindrical shape, for example, and a large number of through-holes 4a in the outer wall of the outer tub 3. A rotating tub 4 that is rotatable is disposed concentrically.

  The outer tub 3 and the rotating tub 4 both have a large opening on the front side (front side) and are disposed opposite to the door 2, and the opening of the outer tub 3 and the inlet of the main body 1 Between them, a flexible bellows 5 is mounted in a watertight manner. Therefore, when the door 2 is closed, the outer tub 3 forms a substantially closed space as a drying chamber (details will be described later). In addition, the outer tub 3 is elastically supported on the bottom of the main body 1 via a suspension (not shown) so that the rotating tub 4 is supported in a slightly upwardly inclined state in detail.

  In the center of the back surface of the outer tub 3, a motor 6 that rotates the rotating tub 4 is provided. The motor 6 is composed of, for example, an outer rotor type DC brushless motor, and is configured to directly rotate the rotating tub 4 through a rotating shaft connected to the rotor, although not particularly shown.

  Further, in the peripheral wall portion of the outer tub 3 that forms a substantially closed space, an air outlet 3a is formed on the front side of the upper portion, and an inlet 3b is formed on the other side of the back surface portion. (See particularly FIG. 2). A duct-shaped circulation air passage 7 is connected to the entrances 3a and 3b spaced apart in the front-rear direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the circulation air passage 7 extends rearward from the outlet 3 a side and once faces the upper surface of the main body 1, and then extends to the rear side of the outer tub 3 and hangs downward. . A filter device 8 that captures lint and the like is provided at a portion facing the upper surface of the main body 1 described above, and the filter device 8 is inspected from outside the upper surface of the main body 1 by opening and closing an opening / closing lid (not shown). Work such as cleaning and cleaning.

On the other hand, the circulation air passage 7 connected to the inlet 3b extends and hangs down so as to avoid the motor 6 on the back side as particularly shown in FIG.
In this case, the circulation air passage 7 connected to the outlet 3a functions as an exhaust duct 7a through which hot air as circulation air is discharged from the outer tub 3 during the drying operation, while a portion connected to the inlet 3b side is hot air. Functions as an air supply duct 7 b supplied to the outer tub 3.

  As described above, the exhaust duct 7a and the air supply duct 7b which are led out rearward from the outer tub 3 and hang down along the back surface side are connected to a heat exchange duct 7c, which will be described in detail later, at a lower end portion thereof, and are connected in an annular shape. The circulation air passage 7 is mainly composed of these ducts. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, a circulation fan 9 is disposed at the lower end of the air supply duct 7b, and is connected to the heat exchange duct 7c through the fan casing. The circulation fan 9 generates a flow of circulating air (warm air) in a direction indicated by a solid line arrow shown in FIGS.

  The heat exchange duct 7c will be described in detail. The heat exchange duct 7c includes an evaporator 11 of the heat pump unit 10 on the upstream side and a condenser 12 on the downstream side. Heat exchange is performed with the air flowing through 7c. The heat pump unit 10 includes a compressor 13 that compresses and discharges the refrigerant, the condenser 12 that dissipates and condenses the discharged high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant, as specifically shown in FIG. Refrigeration comprising an expansion valve 14 as a decompression device for decompressing the refrigerant, the evaporator 11 for evaporating the decompressed refrigerant to absorb heat, and a refrigerant pipe 15 enclosing the refrigerant connected to the compressor 13. It consists of a cycle.

  Accordingly, the circulating air (warm air) that has flowed into the heat exchange duct 7c is cooled by the endothermic action of the evaporator 11, the moisture in the air is condensed and condensed, dripping into water droplets, and dropping outside the machine. Discharged. The air after being dehumidified reaches the condenser 12, where heat is exchanged with the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant, that is, heat is received by heat radiation. The evaporator 11 and the condenser 12 installed in the heat exchange duct 7c are provided with heat radiation fins (not shown) provided at a small pitch interval in the refrigerant pipe 15, and heat exchange is performed while passing through the fins. Is effective and quick.

  However, in the present embodiment, a gap is formed in the heat exchange duct 7c, for example, at the upper part of the evaporator 11, that is, a bypass flow path 16 that does not receive heat exchange action by the evaporator 11 is formed ( In particular, see FIGS. Therefore, the air that has been dehumidified via the evaporator 11 and the air that has not been dehumidified via the bypass channel 16 are mixed and flow into the condenser 12.

  Further, the heat exchange duct 7c is provided with an exhaust port 17 and an intake port 18 which are located upstream and downstream of the bypass flow path 16 and communicate with the outside. Although a detailed description will be given later, basically, a part of the circulating air can be discharged from the exhaust port 17, and an intake / exhaust action that allows a large amount of the discharged outside air to be sucked from the intake port 18 is enabled. . In this case, similar to the bypass flow path 16 described above, it is common in that the air does not pass through the evaporator 11, but is different in that it is low temperature (outside air temperature) and dry fresh air.

  4 shows an external perspective view of the embodied heat pump unit 10. The exhaust port 17 formed in the upper part of the heat exchange duct 7c is opened in a horizontally long rectangular shape, and the intake port 18 is formed. Has an opening area that is at least twice as large as this (see FIG. 6 described later), and has an opening shape that facilitates intake. Further, the compressor 13, the expansion valve 14 and the refrigerant pipe 15 (see FIG. 1) other than the evaporator 11 and the condenser 12 are configured such that the upper surface and side surfaces are covered by the unit case 19 shown in FIG. The heat pump unit 10 is configured by being fixedly attached to the base plate 20.

Thus, the heat pump unit 10 functions as a heating source for heating the air and warming it during the drying operation, and as shown in FIG. 2, the circulation air path 7 (supplied with the exhaust duct 7a) is gathered on the rear rear side. Based on the arrangement of the air duct 7b), the air duct 7b) is compactly arranged along with the heat exchange duct 7c along the back surface behind the main body 1.
5 and 6 will be described with reference to the following description of the operation.

Next, the operation of the clothes dryer configured as described above will be described.
In the drying operation, the motor 6 is driven via a control means (not shown) to control the rotation tank 4 at a low speed. At the same time, the compressor 13 and the circulation fan 9 of the heat pump unit 10 are driven by energization. As a result, an air flow in the direction indicated by the solid line arrow is generated in the circulation air passage 7 connected through the outer tub 3 forming a closed space as a drying chamber, as shown in FIG. Is heated to warm air.

  Hot air is blown from the inlet 3b on the back side of the outer tub 3 through the air supply duct 7b and supplied to the inside of the rotating tub 4. An object to be dried such as clothes accommodated in the rotating tub 4 is agitated by the rotation of the rotating tub 4, and is brought into good contact with warm air to perform a drying action. Warm air as exhaust air that has undergone a drying action such as depriving of moisture is discharged from an outlet 3a located on the front side of the outer tub 3 to the exhaust duct 7a, and passes through the filter device 8 (see FIG. 2) to pass through the outer tub 3 The rear side is drooped, reaches the lower heat exchange duct 7c, and reaches the evaporator 11.

  Here, as described above, the warm air is cooled and dehumidified by the evaporator 11, so that dry air after dehumidification flows into the condenser 12 on the downstream side, where it is heated and warmed again. By repeating this warm air regeneration and circulating supply, the basic drying action of the material to be dried is executed.

  By the way, in this embodiment, the heat exchange duct 7c is provided with a bypass passage 16 through which hot air flows without passing through the evaporator 11 provided therein. This bypass flow path 16 is a passage that is always open for communication, but the amount of passing air changes and is adjusted as the drying operation proceeds. Hereinafter, the air flow characteristics will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 shows the air volume on the vertical axis and the drying time on the horizontal axis, that is, the change in the air flow passing through the evaporator 11 and the bypass channel 16 in the heat exchange duct 7c from the first half to the middle half of the start of the drying operation. ing. However, in section A, which is the time zone at the beginning of the drying operation, the clothes to be dried are low in temperature, the evaporation of moisture is low, and the heat exchange action by the heat pump unit 10 is low. The amount of moisture condensed and removed, that is, the amount of dehumidification is small. Therefore, since the condensed water adhering to the passage in the evaporator 11 is small and the air passage resistance is small, as shown in the figure, the amount of air passing through the evaporator 11 is large and the amount of air passing through the bypass passage 16 is small. It acts to obtain a dehumidifying effect via the evaporator 11 for a large amount of air.

  When the drying operation proceeds and reaches section B, the heat exchange action by the warm air proceeds and the clothing temperature rises, and warm air (exhaust air) containing a large amount of moisture is heated from the outer tub 3 through the exhaust duct 7a. It flows to the exchange duct 7c, and the dehumidification amount in the evaporator 11 gradually increases. That is, it is a time zone in which the saturated vapor pressure is high and the amount of dehumidification due to the heat exchange action is the largest. For this reason, in the evaporator 11, the dew condensation water adhering to the radiation fins or the like increases, and this increases the air path resistance, and the “evaporator passing air volume” shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 gradually decreases. This is due to a decrease in the total circulating air volume, and this lack of air volume leads to a decrease in drying performance as described above.

  However, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the passing air volume (the “bypass air volume” indicated by the broken line in FIG. 5) of the bypass passage 16 formed between the evaporator 11 and the heat exchange duct 7 c increases. It is possible to suppress a decrease in the total circulating air volume. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, since the bypass channel 16 is always open in communication, air flows constantly even in a relatively small amount even in the initial section A, but the air path of the evaporator 11 as described above. As the resistance increases, the inflow to the bypass channel 16 side is promoted, and the air volume adjustment is performed so that the “bypass air volume” indicated by the broken line increases. Therefore, while the “evaporator passing air volume” indicated by the solid line in the figure shows a tendency to decrease, this can be dealt with by increasing the “bypass air volume” indicated by the broken line, suppressing the decrease in the circulating air volume and the expected drying. Performance can be maintained.

  The fact that this “bypass air volume” can be adjusted means that when the clothing reaches dryness and reaches a section C where the dehumidification volume gradually decreases, the wind path resistance of the evaporator 11 decreases and the passing air volume increases. It can also be seen that the amount of air passing through the path 16 functions to gradually decrease. And much of air volume can be enjoyed now by the heat exchange effect | action (dehumidification effect | action) by the evaporator 11. FIG.

The air volume characteristic has the passage area shown in FIG. 6. For example, in the evaporator 11, the passage area on the front side through which warm air flows is 210 cm ² , whereas the passage area of the bypass passage 16 is It is based on being 9 cm ² . Further, in FIG have to view the area of the intake and exhaust ports 18 and 17 to be described later, for example, the opening area of the intake port 18 by 14cm ^2, is set larger than 6 cm ² of the exhaust port 17.

  By the way, the “bypass air volume” described above is warm air (exhaust air) that has passed without being subjected to the heat exchange action (dehumidification action) by the evaporator 11, and thus becomes warm air containing a lot of moisture. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the bypass flow passage area is set smaller than the front surface area of the evaporator, and for example, a flat opening shape is formed along the upper surface of the evaporator 11. Nevertheless, in the section B of FIG. 5 where the drying action is actively performed, the “bypass air volume” is maximized and contains a large amount of moisture, and flowing downstream as it is is the heat exchange action (heating) of the condenser 12. There is also concern about the effect on the action), and there is a concern that the drying performance will be degraded.

  However, in the present embodiment, the exhaust port 17 and the intake port 18 described above are positioned at the front and rear so as to sandwich the bypass flow path 16 and are formed in the heat exchange duct 7c. Due to the action, it is possible to obtain warm air with reduced moisture content. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the front pressure P1 of the evaporator 11 in the heat exchange duct 7c is usually larger than the same rear pressure P2 (P1> P2), and in this case, the front pressure P1 is equal to or higher than atmospheric pressure. The rear pressure P2 is a negative pressure.

  Accordingly, a part of the warm air (exhaust air) containing moisture is discharged from the exhaust port 17 to the space inside the main body 1, and outside air corresponding to the exhaust amount is sucked from the intake port 18. This pressure difference (P1> P2) increases as the wind path resistance due to the condensed water in the evaporator 11 increases, so that the amount of intake and exhaust air increases and the outside air with less moisture is taken in from the intake port 18. As a result, the circulated air in which fresh outside air is mixed and the moisture content is reduced flows into the condenser 12 and is heated and warmed. In the case of circulating air with high humidity, the refrigeration cycle requires a high amount of dehumidification heat and the input of the compressor 13 increases. However, as described above, the moisture content can be reduced by the intake and exhaust action, so that the power consumption required for dehumidification It is effective in reducing the amount.

  Further, as described above, since the bypass channel 16 has a flat shape with a small opening area, a large amount of dew condensation may occur on the inner wall surface of the channel while high-temperature and high-humidity air passes through the bypass channel 16. It is done. In this case, as in the case of the evaporator 11, the air passage resistance due to the dew condensation water increases, the passing air volume decreases, and the purpose of securing the original circulating air volume of the bypass passage 16 may not be achieved. However, since the pressure difference (P1> P2) before and after the evaporator 11 tends to increase as described above, the intake / exhaust action by the exhaust port 17 and the intake port 18 is further promoted, and the replenishment of the air volume by the intake air reduces the circulation air volume. Reduction can be effectively suppressed and good drying performance can be maintained.

  In the latter half of the drying operation (see section C in FIG. 5), this intake / exhaust action causes less moisture evaporation from the clothing and reduces the dehumidification amount. Therefore, the amount of air passing through the evaporator 11 increases, and the bypass dew 16 The amount of passing air and the amount of outside air intake from the intake port 18 are also reduced, that is, the evaporator 11 can be effectively used for dehumidification, so that the heat pump unit 10 including the evaporator 11 can be downsized.

According to the said Example, there exist the following effects.
In the present embodiment, in the heat exchange duct 7 c constituting the circulation air path 7, a bypass flow path 16 through which the warm air as the circulation air does not pass through the evaporator 11 is provided, and is positioned before and after the bypass flow path 16. An exhaust port 17 and an intake port 18 communicating with the outside are provided. Thereby, from the first half to the middle half of the drying operation, when the moisture evaporation from the clothes to be dried becomes active and a large amount of moisture is contained in the warm air (in the exhaust air), heat exchange of the evaporator 11 is performed. The amount of dehumidification due to the action increases, and it adheres to the evaporator 11 as condensed water, resulting in air path resistance that hinders the flow of hot air.

  However, as the airflow resistance increases, the airflow passing through the bypass passage 16 automatically increases, so that subsequent airflow reduction to the condenser 12 can be suppressed, the heating temperature can be increased, and the saturated steam The pressure can be increased at an early stage, and the bypass flow passage 16 has the advantage that the passing air volume can be adjusted with a simple configuration in which the pressure is always open.

  However, the warm air (exhaust air) passing through the bypass passage 16 is not dehumidified and naturally contains a lot of moisture. However, on the basis of the pressure difference (P1> P2) before and after the evaporator 11 in addition to the above air path resistance, it is promoted to discharge a part of the humid hot air from the exhaust port 17 and therefore fresh from the intake port 18. Introduction of fresh air is also promoted. As a result of mixing the outside air, it is possible to obtain circulating air having an effective air volume with reduced moisture content.

  It should be noted that the phenomenon that the air path resistance due to the dew condensation water of the evaporator 11 increases can also occur in the bypass channel 16 as well. As shown in FIG. 6, since the flow path (opening) area is small and a flat opening shape is formed along the upper surface of the evaporator 11, condensed water adhering to the inner wall surface has a large airflow resistance. It becomes. However, in this case as well, the intake / exhaust action by the exhaust port 17 and the intake port 18 is further promoted as described above, and the reduction of the circulating air volume can be suppressed by the replenishment of outside air.

  As a result, it is possible to reduce an increase in the amount of heat for dehumidification and an increase in the load (power consumption) on the refrigeration cycle (compressor 13), and it is possible to suppress a decrease in the circulation air volume and not hinder the drying performance. In addition, when the drying of the clothing progresses in the latter half of the drying operation and the heat of dehumidification becomes small, the suction / exhaust action decreases and the warm air mainly passes through the evaporator 11 to perform the heat exchange action (dehumidification action). It can be used effectively and can exhibit efficient drying performance, which is advantageous for downsizing the heat pump unit 10.

  In the present embodiment, the circulation air passage 7 is gathered on the rear rear side of the outer tub 3, and the heat pump unit 10 is also arranged on the inner bottom of the main body 1 along the rear side. For example, a plurality of suspensions (not shown) that elastically support the outer tub 3 can be installed at optimal positions on the bottom, which is advantageous in terms of facilitating design and manufacturing.

(Modification)
7 and 8 show a modification of the present invention. The same parts as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof is omitted, and different points will be described in detail. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1, and FIG. 8 is a time chart showing the control contents of the operation of the damper device. This is different from the above embodiment in that a damper device 21 for controlling the exhaust port 17 so as to be openable and closable is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the damper device 21 is provided so that the exhaust port 17 can be opened and closed, and is controlled to be opened and closed by driving a stepping motor (not shown), for example. However, in this embodiment, from the first half to the middle half of the drying operation, in the section B where the dehumidification amount is large, the exhaust port 17 is controlled to be closed, and the others are controlled to be opened. In this category B, the clothing temperature also rises and the amount of moisture evaporated increases, the amount of dehumidification by the evaporator 11 increases, and the evaporation temperature and condensation temperature of the refrigerant also increase. Therefore, for example, a temperature sensor (not shown) made of a thermistor is provided in the refrigerant pipe 15 or the heat radiation fin of the condenser 12, for example, when it is detected that the temperature of the condenser 12 exceeds 70 ° C., the damper device 21. Is to be opened. The subsequent closing operation may be time-controlled or controlled based on temperature detection.

  According to such a configuration, the damper device 21 opens the exhaust port 17 in the time zone of the section B where the dehumidification amount by the dehumidifier 11 is large. As a result, when the amount of dehumidification increases and the wind path resistance due to the dew condensation water of the evaporator 11 increases as in the above-described embodiment, a part of the wet warm air is discharged and fresh fresh outside air is introduced from the intake port 18. Therefore, it is possible to expect the same effects as in the above embodiment, such as reducing the input to the compressor 13 and reducing the load on the refrigeration cycle.

  On the other hand, as clearly shown in FIG. 8, the damper device 21 is configured to close the exhaust port 17 in the time zone of the section A and the section C where the dehumidification amount is small in both the initial stage and the latter half of the operation. Among them, in category A, immediately after the start of the drying operation, the clothing temperature is still low, and the evaporation of moisture is still low. Further, in the second half of the operation of section C, the drying of clothes progresses, and the evaporation of moisture is also reduced. Accordingly, it is more effective as a drying action to dehumidify by using the evaporator 11 more effectively than exhausting the warm air with low humidity from the exhaust port 17. This is effective in that it is possible to avoid wasting the heat energy by discharging the warm air during the rising process.

  Further, the intake / exhaust action based on the opening / closing control of the damper device 21 is reliable and excellent in stability, the input control in the refrigeration cycle can be accurately performed, and the reliability of the compressor 13 can be improved. In addition, the opening / closing operation and at least the opening operation of the exhaust port 17 by the damper device 21 are important as the start timing of the intake / exhaust action, and are controlled based on the detected temperature of the condenser 12. That is, as the dehumidification amount in the evaporator 11 increases, the evaporation temperature and condensation temperature of the refrigerant increase, so that the damper device 21 is driven based on the temperature detection of the condenser 12 that rises in temperature to control the intake / exhaust action. I made it possible.

  Thereby, the exhaust port 17 by the damper device 21 is opened, and the intake / exhaust action with respect to the circulating air is performed, so that the input of the compressor 13, which tends to increase, can be suppressed within an allowable range, and the reliability of the compressor 13 can be improved. . Moreover, since the damper apparatus 21 can be arrange | positioned outside the heat exchange duct 7c which is the circulation air path 7, it can equip easily.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings. For example, the present invention may be configured as a washing / drying machine equipped with washing functions such as washing, rinsing, and dehydration based on rotation control of a rotating tub. . Alternatively, a rotating tub disposed in an outer tub serving as a drying chamber is effective as a stirring means for clothes during drying operation. Instead of the rotating tub, for example, clothes are suspended in a drying chamber in a stationary state. The present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  In the drawings, 1 is a main body, 3 is an outer tub (drying chamber), 4 is a rotating tub, 7 is a circulation air passage, 7a is an exhaust duct, 7b is an air supply duct, 7c is a heat exchange duct, 9 is a circulation fan, 10 Is a heat pump unit, 11 is an evaporator, 12 is a condenser, 13 is a compressor, 14 is an expansion valve (decompression device), 15 is a refrigerant pipe, 16 is a bypass flow path, 17 is an exhaust port, 18 is an intake port, and Reference numeral 21 denotes a damper device.

Claims (3)

A drying chamber for drying by applying warm air to the object to be dried;
A circulation air passage connected to a hot air inlet / outlet provided in the drying chamber, and a circulation fan for circulating air to the drying chamber via the circulation air passage;
A heat pump unit that serves as a heating source that warms the circulating air by arranging an evaporator on the upstream side in the middle of the circulating air path, a condenser on the downstream side, and a compressor and a decompressor.
A bypass flow path that forms an air flow that does not pass through the evaporator in the circulation air path;
A clothes dryer comprising an exhaust port and an air intake port that are positioned before and after the bypass flow path and communicate with the outside.   The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust port is configured to be opened and closed by a damper device. The clothes dryer according to claim 2, wherein the damper device is configured to open at least the exhaust port based on detection of a predetermined temperature of the condenser.

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