JP2012070956A - Clothing dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate low power consumption and achieve the energy saving operation through the drying operation according to the cloth quality of clothing to be dried.SOLUTION: The clothing dryer comprises: a drum driving part 3 for rotationally driving a drum 1; a heat pump device 50 having a compressor 16, a radiator 17 and a heat sink 19; a blower 4 for blowing drying air into the drum 1; a cloth quality detection part 73 for detecting the cloth quality of the clothing; and a control part 70 for controlling the drum driving part 3, the compressor 16 and the blower 4 to perform the drying operation. The control part 70 changes the number of the rotation of the compressor 16 based on the detection result from the cloth quality detection part 73.

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothes dryer for drying textiles such as clothes.

  Conventionally, this type of clothes dryer blows air for drying into the drum through the air passage, contacts the clothes put in the drum with the air for drying to remove moisture from the clothes, and contains moisture. The drying air with high humidity is discharged to the air path outside the drum. In particular, since clothes are dried in a limited space of a limited drum, clothes are entangled during drying, and the drying air does not come into contact with the entangled parts of the clothes and is partially undried (dry unevenness) It may become.

  In order to prevent drying unevenness, it is necessary to uniformly bring the drying air into contact with all clothing, and a slightly longer drying time is required while keeping the temperature of the drying air at a predetermined level or higher. In order to prevent unevenness of drying in this way, there is a problem that heating energy and required time more than necessary are required, and the required time increases, and various methods have been considered for solving the problem (for example, patents). Reference 1).

  The conventional clothes dryer described in Patent Document 1 includes a washing tub, an air circulation device, and a heat pump, and dries laundry by operating the air circulation device and the heat pump. The rotation speed of the compressor is varied by controlling the frequency, and by changing the driving frequency of the compressor, the quick drying course for drying laundry in a relatively short time, or the laundry from the quick drying course It is feasible to select one of the saving courses that dry for a long time.

  The quick-drying course is executed by increasing the driving frequency of the heat pump compressor. Thereby, the rotational speed of a compressor becomes high and the circulation of the refrigerant | coolant in a heat pump becomes thriving. Therefore, the laundry is dried in a short time. On the other hand, the saving course is executed by lowering the driving frequency of the compressor of the heat pump. Thereby, the rotational speed of a compressor becomes low and the circulation of the refrigerant | coolant in a heat pump is suppressed. Therefore, the laundry is dried with less power consumption. Therefore, it is possible to achieve both reduction of the time required for drying and reduction of power consumption for each course to be selected. In the saving course, the compressor is driven in a frequency band with a high coefficient of performance, so that an efficient operation is possible and the power consumption can be further saved.

JP 2010-29275 A

  However, in the conventional configuration, in order to drive the compressor in a frequency band with a high coefficient of performance, it is necessary for the user to select a saving course each time. Further, even when the saving course is selected, the frequency band with a high coefficient of performance differs depending on the combination of clothes put in, and thus there is a problem that the degree of saving is limited.

The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and accurately detects the fabric composition ratio of the clothes to be dried in the drying operation, and switches the output of the heating unit according to the detected fabric composition ratio to dry the clothes. It is an object of the present invention to provide a clothes dryer capable of realizing an energy saving operation that suppresses power consumption for drying without causing insufficient or uneven drying.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a clothes dryer of the present invention includes a drum that houses clothes to be dried, a drum driving unit that rotationally drives the drum, a compressor, a radiator, and a heat pump. An apparatus, a blowing unit that blows drying air to the drum, a cloth quality detection unit that detects cloth quality of clothing, a control unit that controls the drum driving unit, the compressor, and the blowing unit to perform a drying operation; The controller is configured to switch the rotational speed of the compressor based on the detection result of the cloth quality detector.

  As a result, while accurately detecting the fabric composition ratio of the clothes to be dried, by switching the rotation speed of the compressor according to the detected fabric composition ratio, drying without inadequate drying or uneven drying occurs. Energy-saving operation that reduces the amount of power consumption can be realized.

  The clothes dryer of the present invention can be operated with reduced heating capacity according to the quality of the clothes to be dried, promote further reduction in power consumption, realize energy saving operation, The thermal load on clothes can be reduced.

Sectional drawing of the principal part of the drum type washing-drying machine in Embodiment 1 of this invention Block diagram of the drum-type washer / dryer Changes in dry state for each combination of clothing in the drum-type washer / dryer Time chart showing the operation of the compressor of the drum type washing and drying machine System block diagram of the operation display section of the drum-type washer / dryer The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part of the drum type washing-drying machine. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the control part of the drum type washing-drying machine in Embodiment 2 of this invention. System block diagram of the operation display unit of another example of the drum type washing and drying machine

  A first invention is a drum that houses clothes to be dried, a drum driving unit that rotationally drives the drum, a heat pump device that includes a compressor, a radiator, and a heat absorber, and blows drying air to the drum. A blower unit; a cloth detection unit that detects cloth quality of clothing; and a control unit that controls the drum driving unit, the compressor, and the blower unit to perform a drying operation, and the control unit detects the cloth quality detection By switching the number of rotations of the compressor based on the detection result of the part, a cloth quality detection unit for detecting the composition ratio of cotton or synthetic fiber of the clothing stored in the drum is provided, and various types of dry clothing Can be switched according to the cloth quality detected by the cloth quality detection unit. Since cotton clothing has high water absorption, the amount of heat required to remove moisture and dry it increases. On the other hand, since the synthetic garment has low water absorption, the amount of heating required for drying is relatively small. Various types of fabrics are used, but when the fabric detection unit determines that the ratio of chemical fibers is high, it can be dried by keeping the number of rotations of the compressor low compared to when the cotton ratio is high. The drying operation can be performed with low power consumption without increasing unevenness. Therefore, in addition to switching the energy-saving performance according to the course as in the past, even in the energy-saving course, by controlling the rotation speed of the compressor while detecting the cloth quality, according to the type of clothes put in Thus, further energy saving operation can be realized. Also, drying with a heat pump device can lower the temperature of the drying air and reduce the thermal load on the clothing. However, if there are many synthetic fiber clothing, it can be dried at a lower temperature. It is possible to reduce the thermal load on the clothing, reduce the shrinkage of the clothing, and improve the finished state.

  In the second invention, in particular, when the control unit of the first invention detects that the fiber ratio detected by the cloth quality detection unit is higher than a predetermined value, it detects that the fiber ratio is lower than the predetermined value. By driving the compressor at a lower rotational speed, the synthetic garment has a low water absorption, so that a relatively small amount of heat is required to dry it. Regardless of the cloth quality of the clothing, the one that has been dried with a certain heating amount has a high fiber ratio detected by the cloth quality detection section, so that the output of the heating section can be kept low. Thereby, when the fiber ratio is higher than a predetermined value, it is possible to promote energy saving during the drying operation with less power consumption than before without increasing drying unevenness.

  In particular, according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, a clothing contact air temperature detection unit that detects an air temperature immediately before passing through clothing and a clothing contact that detects an air temperature immediately after passing through clothing. A time when the temperature difference between the temperature detected by the air temperature detection unit before clothing contact and the temperature detected by the air temperature detection unit after clothing contact is maximized. And by detecting the cloth quality based on the maximum value of the temperature difference, in the drying operation, the temperature of the air that is heated and blown to the drum (pre-clothing air temperature), and the clothing that is blown to the drum and The temperature difference (Ts = air temperature before contact with clothes−air temperature after contact with clothes) with the temperature of the air discharged from the drum after contacting and depriving the clothes (air temperature after contact with clothes) is gradually increased with time. Open to. Thereafter, a section in which the amount of dehumidification from the clothing is stabilized and the drying speed is constant is called a constant rate drying section, and during this period, Ts is in a constant and stable state. Further, a section where drying progresses and moisture that can be dehumidified from the garment decreases is referred to as a rate-decreasing drying section. During this period, the air temperature after contact with the garment rapidly increases and the temperature difference from the drying air temperature also decreases. Since the transition from the constant rate drying section to the decreasing rate drying section depends on the amount of moisture contained in the clothing, the timing varies depending on the type (cloth quality) of the clothing put on the drum. The amount of water absorption varies depending on the type of clothing, and the more garments made of synthetic fibers (polyester, etc.) with less water absorption, the sooner the transition from the constant rate drying section to the reduced rate drying section, but the clothing made of cotton material with more water absorption. The more, the longer the constant rate drying section. Thus, by reading the transition timing from constant rate drying to decreasing rate drying that varies depending on the fabric quality from the changing point of the temperature difference Ts, the fabric quality can be detected with high accuracy.

  The 4th invention is equipped with the energy-saving display part which shows the meaning which performs driving | operation economically especially in any one invention of the 1st-3rd, and the control part has the chemical fiber ratio which the cloth quality detection part detected. When it is higher than the predetermined value, the energy-saving display unit is turned on, so that the user is low compared to the case where the cotton ratio is high due to the high chemical ratio of the input clothes in the executed drying operation. It is easy to know that it was possible to save electricity by driving with power consumption, and what kind of cloth quality the clothing can be used for saving operation that contributes to energy saving. It becomes possible to improve the convenience that it becomes easy to realize.

  In the fifth aspect of the invention, in particular, the control unit of the fourth aspect of the present invention performs drying by causing the energy saving display unit to blink after the start of the drying operation until the fabric quality detection unit detects the fabric quality. When it takes time from the start of operation to the detection of fabric quality, it is possible to inform the user that it is in the process of determining whether or not saving operation is possible (before the determination result is output). Become.

  In the sixth aspect of the invention, in particular, the control unit of the fourth or fifth aspect of the invention displays the degree of energy saving by a numerical value or an index by the energy saving display unit based on the ratio of the synthetic fibers detected by the cloth quality detection unit. As a result, it becomes possible to specifically notify the result when the saving operation is performed, and it is possible to further improve the convenience.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in particular, in the clothes dryer according to any one of the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, a water tank that contains a drum and stores wash water and a water supply valve that supplies the wash water to the water tank are provided. With a water supply pipe and a drain pipe provided with a drain valve for draining the washing water in the water tank, and equipped with a washing function, it can be performed consistently from washing to drying in the same drum Thus, a clothes dryer having a washing function that can be dried with low power consumption with little unevenness in drying can be realized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a drum-type washing / drying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram showing a schematic configuration of the drum-type washing / drying machine.

  1 and 2, a cylindrical drum 1 having a bottom surface with a front opening that accommodates laundry is elastically supported in a housing 100 and is contained in a receiving cylinder 2 as a cylindrical water tank for storing washing water. ing. A drum drive motor 3 (drum drive unit) is attached to the back surface of the receiving cylinder 2 to rotate the rotating shaft 1a of the drum 1 by tilting it forward and upward. Further, a water supply pipe (not shown) provided with a water supply valve 25 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 that can be opened and closed so as to oppose the opening end side of the drum 1. ).

  The inner peripheral wall surface of the drum 1 is provided with a plurality of protrusions 1b protruding inward. By rotating the drum 1 at a low speed, the clothes are hooked by the protrusion 1b and lifted upward. Thereafter, a stirring operation (tumbling operation) such as dropping from an appropriate height can be provided.

  The drying air for drying the clothes is blown by the blower 4, deprives moisture from the laundry in the drum 1, becomes a humid state, passes through the discharge port 5 located around the side surface of the drum 1, and the drum 1. It is discharged 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 the air passage 9 and is blown into the drum 1 again. Here, the air passage 9 has an air outlet 8 that opens behind the drum 1. The air outlet 9 of the air passage 9 is formed so as to have a large air passage cross-sectional area so that a large amount of drying air can be blown into the drum 1 with little pressure loss.

  There is room in the bottom of the back of the drum 1 for providing a blowout port 8 having a relatively large opening. And if the blower outlet 8 is covered with the cover 26 having a large opening ratio made up of a large number of small-diameter holes through which air can flow, clothing or the like will not bite into the blower outlet 8. Therefore, the blower outlet 8 with relatively little pressure loss can be provided on the bottom surface behind the drum 1.

  In addition, when the clothes are stirred by tilting and rotating the rotating shaft 1a of the drum 1 forward, small clothes such as socks, handkerchiefs, briefs, etc. tend to be biased to the rear back of the drum 1, while long-sleeved underwear, trousers, Long clothes such as long sleeve cutter shirts and long sleeve pajamas tend to be biased forward of the drum 1. Therefore, 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 air outlet 8 located at the rear back of the drum 1, the clothes are dried to the small clothes biased to the back of the drum 1. The working air comes in contact first.

Further, the drying air passes through the small clothes and reaches the long clothes in the front of the drum 1. Therefore, both small clothes and long clothes can be efficiently dried. The air for drying is sent from the blower 4 to the drum 1 through the air passage 9 in order, through the air passage of the drum 1, the discharge port 5, the dehumidifying portion 6, and the heating portion 7. Air is circulated in the drum type washer / dryer.

  The blower 4 is provided in the air passage 9 between the air outlet 8 and the air outlet 8 on the downstream side of the heating portion 7, and sends the drying air heated by the heating portion 7 to the downstream side of the air passage 9. The blower unit 4 includes a blower fan 4a and a blower fan motor 4b. The blower 4 rotates the blower fan 4a so that the amount of air passing through the air passage 9 becomes a predetermined amount.

  The discharge port 5 is disposed at a position far from the air outlet 8. Therefore, the discharge port 5 is provided closer to the front than the rear of the drum 1. As a result, the air for drying blown from the air outlet 8 spreads widely in the drum 1 while the air is blown from the air outlet 8 behind 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, 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 the drum type clothes dryer having no washing function, the discharge port 5 can be provided at a place other than above the drum 1, but in the drum type clothes dryer, the influence of the washing water stored in the receiving cylinder 2 is affected. Therefore, it is desirable to provide it above the water level of the washing water.

  In the present embodiment, only one air outlet 8 of the air passage 9 is provided, but a plurality of air outlets 8 may be provided.

  The temperature of the dry air at a high temperature for drying the clothes is detected by the air temperature detecting unit 11 before clothing contact provided between the blower unit 4 and the blower outlet 8, and also comes into contact with the clothing and becomes humid. The air temperature is detected by a post-clothing air temperature detector 12 provided between the discharge port 5 and the dehumidifier 6, and the temperature difference Ts detected by the detectors 11 and 12 is monitored. However, the drying operation is performed.

  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 draws heat from the surroundings by the low-pressure refrigerant, and a pipe line 20 that circulates the refrigerant by connecting these members (the compressor 16, the radiator 17, the throttle unit 18, and the heat absorber 19). It has. The heat absorber 19 in the heat pump device 50 is the dehumidifying unit 6, and the radiator 17 is the heating unit 7.

  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 controller 70 controls the rotation of the drum drive motor 3 and controls the operations of the air blowing unit 4, the dehumidifying unit 6, and the heating unit 7 to dry the clothes.

  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.

  Further, the control unit 70 has a timer 71. As the timer 71, an internal timer incorporated as an internal function in the operation of the control unit 70 can be used. As the timer 71, a timer device independent of the control unit 70 can be used.

  In the drum type washer / dryer, 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 every time the signal state of any of the three position detection units 19a to 19c changes, and calculates the rotation speed of the rotor from the cycle by the rotation number detection unit 72 as an internal function. To do.

  The operation and action of the drum type washing and drying machine configured as described above will be described in detail below. First, a method for detecting the quality of dry clothing is considered.

  As the drying process proceeds, when high-temperature drying air is blown into the drum 1, it comes into contact with wet clothing in the drum 1, and the temperature of the clothing in the drum 1 gradually increases. The high-temperature air that has come into contact with the clothing is deprived of heat and is discharged out of the drum 1 in a state where the temperature is lower than before the clothing comes into contact.

  As the drying progresses, the temperature of the clothing gradually increases, so the air temperature after contacting the clothing also increases. When the moisture contained in the garment decreases, the air temperature after the garment contact approaches that before the garment contact. In this way, while monitoring the temperature difference between the drying air temperature before clothing contact and the air temperature after clothing contact, if the temperature difference is reduced to a predetermined value, the moisture contained in the clothing is almost dehumidified, It can be seen that the clothes have been dried. A method of using such an air temperature difference before and after contact with clothes for detecting the end of drying is common in clothes dryers.

  The temperature difference before and after contact with clothing continues to increase until the moisture contained in the clothing is sufficient, but starts to decrease when the moisture contained in the clothing decreases. As described above, the timing at which the temperature difference starts to decrease is correlated with the amount of moisture contained in the clothing, and in this embodiment, this is intended to be used for detecting the cloth quality of the clothing.

  That is, the more the clothes with a high water content are included, the later the timing becomes, while the more the clothes with a low water content are included, the earlier the timing tends to be.

  Table 1 is a table showing combinations of garments used in the present embodiment.

  FIG. 3 shows the temperature before and after contact with clothing when clothes (capacity is 3 kg) combined with various fabrics shown in Table 1 are dried with a clothes dryer in an environmental test room at room temperature of 20 ° C. and humidity of 65%. It is the graph which recorded difference Ts.

  In this graph, the horizontal axis represents the elapsed time from the start of drying, the vertical axis represents the temperature difference Ts, and Ts for each minute is plotted. The clothes at the start of drying all have the same washing process (washing). ~ Rinse ~ dehydration), and drying is started under the same conditions.

For example, in combination E, which is composed of 100% cotton bath towel, half sleeve knitted shirt, etc. and the cotton ratio of the entire clothing is 90%, the time required to evaporate the moisture of the clothing is long, so The timing when the temperature difference starts to decrease is as long as 63 minutes (the temperature difference when the temperature difference starts decreasing is about 18 deg).

  Conversely, in combination A, which is made up of 100% polyester sweatsuits, children's trousers made of 65% polyester and 35% cotton, and the cotton ratio of the entire clothing is 10%, the time for evaporating moisture from the clothing is short. The timing at which the temperature difference before and after contact with the clothing starts to decrease is as fast as 30 minutes (the temperature difference when the temperature starts to decrease is about 13 degrees).

  As can be seen from the graphs of the combinations A to E, as the cotton ratio increases, the timing at which the temperature difference before and after the clothing contact decreases linearly increases, and the peak value of the temperature difference also increases. .

  Thus, it can be seen that the characteristics of the temperature difference before and after contact with clothing differ depending on the quality of the clothing even if the clothing has the same capacity. As can be seen from the above, it can be seen that not only the timing at which the temperature difference before and after contact with clothing starts to decrease, but also the peak value of the temperature difference (temperature difference when it starts to decrease) depends on the fabric quality.

  As described above, in addition to the timing at which the temperature difference before and after the garment contacts starts to decrease, the cloth quality (cottonized fiber ratio) of the garment can be accurately determined from the temperature difference (peak value) at the time when it starts to decrease.

  Thus, it is possible to determine the cloth quality (cottonized fiber ratio) from these three relationships: the amount of cloth, the timing at which the temperature difference before and after clothing contact begins to decrease, and the temperature difference before and after clothing contact.

  In the present embodiment, the timing at which the temperature difference before and after the clothing contact begins to decrease is taken as the timing at which the temperature difference reaches its peak.

  Note that the timing at which the temperature difference before and after the clothing contact begins to decrease varies depending on the room temperature. This is because the heat pump capacity depends on the outside air temperature, and the efficiency decreases as the temperature decreases. In a low temperature environment, the temperature rise (drying speed) also becomes moderate.

  For this reason, it is possible to further improve the cloth quality determination accuracy by detecting the room temperature and correcting the timing at which the temperature difference before and after the clothing contact starts to decrease according to the detected room temperature.

  Next, a flow for controlling the heating unit 7 according to the cloth quality detected above and performing an energy saving operation without causing uneven drying will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a time chart showing an example of the heat generation amount switching timing of the heating unit 7 in accordance with the cloth quality detection result as described above. Hereinafter, the operation of the clothes dryer when the heating amount switching timing of the heating unit 7 shown in FIG. 4 is applied will be described.

  First, when the drying process is started, the compressor rotation speed is accelerated to a set rotation speed of 50 r / s, and the heating value of the heating unit 7 is increased. When the rotational speed reaches 50 r / s, drying is performed while keeping the rotational speed constant. During this time, cloth quality is determined (cloth quality determination section in FIG. 4).

  When the cloth quality determination section is finished (drying time 20 minutes in FIG. 4) and it is determined that the fiberizing ratio is high, the compressor speed is reduced to 40 r / s and drying is performed. On the other hand, when it is determined that the cotton ratio is high, drying is performed while maintaining the compressor speed.

  Table 2 shows the combination of clothing with a capacity of 3 kg shown in Table 1 and the combination of clothing with a cotton ratio of 10% with and without energy-saving operation by cloth quality detection in the energy-saving course. It shows the comparative experimental results of the drying performance in and.

  When energy-saving operation is not applied, 376 Wh of energy is consumed by the end of drying, whereas by applying energy-saving operation, 344 Wh, an energy reduction of about 10% is realized.

  On the other hand, with regard to the dry finish, in both cases, when the drying rate has just exceeded 100%, the dryness unevenness (the ratio of the number of clothes where moisture remains in the total number of clothes) is 0%. There is no harmful effect.

  Also, there is almost no difference with respect to the drying time. This is because there is no difference in the amount of heat generated by the heating unit 7 depending on whether energy-saving operation is applied or not in the region where the moisture content of the clothing in the early stages of drying is high, and the dehumidification is performed efficiently and even after the fabric quality is detected. This is because the clothing is dehumidified.

  As described above, by applying the energy saving operation based on the cloth quality detection, it is possible to realize further energy saving without causing any trouble in the dry finish and the operation time.

  In this embodiment, the energy-saving course has been described for further energy-saving operation according to the quality of the fabric. For example, the same energy-saving operation as the energy-saving course can be applied to the speedy course and the careful drying course. it can.

  In the early stages of drying, when the moisture content of the clothing is high, it is dried at a higher calorific value than the energy-saving course and dehumidified quickly, but the calorific value is reduced as described above in the latter half of the drying period when the fiber content is high and the moisture content is low. As a result, it is possible to realize a dry operation with less power consumption than when energy-saving operation is not applied.

  As described above, by detecting the cloth quality ratio of the garments thrown into the drum 1 during the drying process and efficiently controlling the heating unit 7 according to the ratio, the synthetic fiber can be produced even in the energy saving course. When the number is large, further low power consumption operation is possible. As described above, the drum type washing / drying machine according to the present embodiment can achieve a good dry finish with less generation of uneven drying of clothes while saving power.

FIG. 5 is a system block diagram of the operation display unit 14. The control unit 70 includes a control unit including a microcomputer and the like. The control unit 70 receives an input signal from the input setting unit 32 and outputs the signal to the display unit 33. The output signal from the pre-clothing air temperature detection unit 11 and the clothing After the contact, the output signal of the air temperature detection unit 12 is input to the control unit 70, and the cloth quality detection unit 73 of the control unit 70 performs the cloth quality detection based on the input signal.

  After starting the operation course, the water supply valve 25 and the drain valve 27 are operated, and a series of controls such as taking in and out of the water in the receiving cylinder 2, driving of the drum drive motor 3, and operation of the heat pump device 50 are performed sequentially. Washing, rinsing, dehydrating, and drying laundry (clothing, etc.). The operation display unit 14 is disposed on the upper front surface of the housing 100 and is provided at an easy operation position.

  The operation display unit 14 is provided with an energy saving lamp 36 as an energy saving display means indicating the meaning of economical driving, and uses green. Thereby, it becomes easy to associate images that contribute to energy saving by performing the saving operation.

  Next, the operation of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. A state called an initial standby state is energized by putting clothes and an appropriate amount of detergent into the drum 1 of the drum type washing and drying machine, and depressing the power switch 32e of the input setting unit 32 in the operation display unit 14 of FIG. It becomes.

  By operating the washing time setting switch 32a, the rinse count setting switch 32b, the dehydration time setting switch 32c, and the drying content setting switch 32d of the input setting unit 32 until the start of operation by pressing the start button 32f, The operation details for each stroke can be set.

  Next, the details of the operation content set by the input setting unit 32, the operation content obtained based on the cloth quality of the clothing detected by the cloth quality detection unit 73, and the actual washing / drying operation sequence will be described.

  As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, in the above-described initial standby state, the washing time, the number of times of rinsing set by the washing time setting switch 32a, the number of rinsing times setting switch 32b, the dehydration time setting switch 32c, and the drying content setting switch 32d, When the start button 32f is pressed and the operation is started to execute the dehydration time and the content of drying, the washing process is started in step 1 of the flowchart, and then the rinsing process in step 2 and the dehydration process in step 3 are sequentially performed. It moves to the drying process of step 4.

  In the drying process, the compressor is driven at 50 r / s to perform dehumidification and heating. At the same time as the drying process is started, the energy saving lamp 36 blinks in step 5 to indicate to the user that cloth quality detection is started.

  In step 6, the timer 71 is activated to start counting the elapsed time from the start of the drying process and simultaneously start measuring Ts.

  When Ts starts to decrease in step 7, in step 8, Ts_p (Ts peak value) at that time and the time (tTs_p) from the start of the drying process counted by the timer 71 at that time are determined.

  If the determined Ts_p and tTs_p are both lower than the predetermined values (15 deg and 30 minutes in the present embodiment, respectively) set in step 9, the cloth quality of the laundry is high in synthetic fibers (cotton) In step 10, the flashing energy-saving lamp 36 is switched on to indicate to the user that the energy-saving operation is to be performed. In step 12, the rotation speed of the compressor is determined. Is reduced to 40 r / s, and the mode is shifted to the energy saving mode in which the drying operation is performed with low power consumption.

  On the other hand, if any of the determined Ts_p and Ts_t exceeds a predetermined value in step 9, it is determined that the quality of the laundry is low in synthetic fiber (a lot of cotton clothes) (step 13), and step 14 In order to indicate to the user that the energy-saving operation is not performed in step 1, the flashing energy-saving lamp 36 is switched off, and the drying operation is performed until the drying end detection is activated in step 15 while maintaining the compressor rotation speed command value. Continue.

  As a result, the user can easily know whether or not the laundry accounted for a large percentage of the synthetic clothing, so that the dry operation was performed with low power consumption and the electricity bill could be saved. It is possible to increase the convenience that it is easy to realize a series of relations, such as what kind of cloth quality can be used for saving operation that contributes to energy saving.

  In the present embodiment, a specific name and number for setting the contents of each process by the input setting unit 32 will be described by the user, and further, a specific timing for turning on the energy saving lamp 36 will be described. Although described, this is not intended to limit the invention.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the output of the heating unit 7 is reduced by one step according to the size of the fabric fiber change ratio is shown, but the compressor rotation speed is finely switched according to the amount of clothes and the fiber change ratio. May be.

  For example, when the chemical fiber ratio is extremely high, such as 90% or more, from 50 r / sec at the start of the drying operation to 30 r / sec, and when the fiber ratio is about 70 to 90%, to 35 r / sec, 50 If the capacity of the compressor 16 is varied in multiple stages in accordance with the ratio of the synthetic fibers, such as 40% / sec if it is about ˜70%, a more detailed energy saving operation can be realized.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the drum type washer / dryer according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, it is determined whether or not the energy saving operation is performed only in the drying process of the drum type washing and drying machine, and the flow of turning on and off the energy saving lamp 36 according to the determination result has been described. Energy saving operation is not limited to the drying process.

  For example, in the washing process of a drum-type washing / drying machine equipped with a dirt detection unit that detects the degree of dirt on the laundry, the degree of dirt on the laundry is detected, and the washing time is shortened according to the degree of dirt, so that the drying process Not only in the washing process, it is determined whether or not the energy saving operation is performed, and the energy saving lamp 36 can be blinked, turned on and off according to the determination result.

  Hereinafter, the flow of the operation of the drum type washer / dryer of the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structure as Embodiment 1, and the thing of Embodiment 1 is used for detailed description.

  A state called an initial standby state is energized by putting clothes and an appropriate amount of detergent into the drum 1 of the drum type washing and drying machine, and depressing the power switch 32e of the input setting unit 32 in the operation display unit 14 of FIG. The washing time setting switch 32a, the rinse count setting switch 32b, the dehydration time setting switch 32c, and the drying content setting switch 32d of the input setting unit 32 are operated until the start of operation by pressing the start button 32f. Thus, the operation details for each stroke can be set.

  In the initial standby state, the energy saving lamp 36 is lit to indicate that it is determined whether or not to perform the energy saving operation in either the washing process or the drying process.

  Next, the details of the operation sequence set by the input setting unit 32, the operation content obtained based on the dirt of the laundry detected by the stain detection unit (not shown), and the actual operation sequence will be described.

  As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, in the initial standby state described above, the washing time, the number of times of rinsing, the dehydration set by the washing time setting switch 32a, the number of times of rinsing setting switch 32b, the dehydration time setting switch 32c, and the drying content setting switch 32d. When the operation is started by pressing the start button 32f in order to execute the time and the drying time, the washing process is started in Step 1 of the flowchart.

  The washing process is started, and the water supply valve 25 is opened in the water supply process to supply tap water into the drum 1. When the water level detection unit 31 detects that a predetermined amount of tap water has been supplied, the water supply is stopped. By rotating the drum 1 alternately in the forward rotation direction and the reverse rotation direction, the dirt component of the laundry starts to dissolve in the washing water, and when a predetermined washing time has elapsed, the dirt detection unit detects the amount of dirt in step 2 To do. While the amount of dirt is being detected, in step 3, the energy saving lamp 36 blinks to indicate to the user that the amount of dirt is being detected.

  If there is little dirt on the laundry in step 4, the operation content set by the input setting unit 32 in the initial standby state by the user within a range in which basic performance such as washing performance can be sufficiently secured in step 5. However, the operation content of the “saving course” in which the washing time is reduced (in the example of FIG. 7, the washing time is reduced by 3 minutes) is changed, and the flashing energy saving lamp 36 is turned on in Step 6.

  On the other hand, if there is much dirt on the laundry in step 4, the setting content of the washing time is not changed, and the flashing energy saving lamp 36 is turned off in step 7.

  As a result, the user can easily know whether or not he / she was able to save electricity and water bills by actually running with less washing time and number of rinses for the originally set operation content, As a result, it is possible to increase the convenience that it is easy to realize a series of relations, that is, how much laundry and how large and small the soiling is, so that saving operation that contributes to energy saving is possible.

  In step 8, when the washing time determined based on the stain has passed, the washing process is terminated, the rinsing process in step 9 and the dehydrating process in step 10 are executed, and the process proceeds to the drying process in step 11. In the drying process, the compressor is driven at 50 r / s to perform dehumidification and heating.

  At the same time as the drying process is started, the energy saving lamp 36 blinks in step 12 to indicate to the user that cloth quality detection is started.

  In step 13, the timer 71 is started to start counting the elapsed time from the start of the drying process, and simultaneously starts measuring Ts.

  If Ts starts to decrease in step 14, in step 15, Ts_p (Ts peak value) at that time and the time (tTs_p) from the start of the drying process counted by the timer 71 at that time are determined.

If the determined Ts_p and tTs_p are both less than the predetermined values set in the respective steps (15 deg and 30 minutes in the present embodiment, respectively) in step 16, the cloth quality of the laundry is rich in synthetic fibers ( In step 17, the flashing energy-saving lamp 36 is switched on to indicate to the user that the energy-saving operation is to be performed. In step 19, the compressor is turned on. The rotational speed is reduced to 40 r / s, the mode is shifted to the energy saving mode in which the drying operation is performed with less power consumption, and the drying operation is continued until the end of drying detection is activated in step 22.

  On the other hand, if any of the determined Ts_p and Ts_t exceeds a predetermined value in step 16, it is determined that the laundry fabric quality is low in fiber (a lot of cotton clothes) (step 20), and step 21. In order to indicate to the user that the energy-saving operation is not performed, the flashing energy-saving lamp 36 is switched off, and the drying end detection is activated in step 22 while maintaining the compressor rotation speed command value. Continue driving.

  As a result, the user can easily know whether or not the laundry accounted for a large percentage of the synthetic clothing, so that the dry operation was performed with low power consumption and the electricity bill could be saved. It is possible to increase the convenience that it is easy to realize a series of relations, such as what kind of cloth quality can be used for saving operation that contributes to energy saving.

  FIG. 8 shows another example of the energy saving lamp 36. In the second embodiment, only one energy saving lamp 36 is provided to indicate whether or not the energy saving operation can be performed only during each of the washing process and the drying process. As shown in the system block diagram, for example, an energy saving lamp 37 for washing process and an energy saving lamp 38 for drying process are provided independently, and the energy saving lamp 37 for washing process is dried while maintaining the display state even after the washing process is finished. In the drying process, the energy saving lamp 38 for the drying process is displayed so that it can be seen at a glance which process has achieved the saving operation.

  In each of the above embodiments, the drum type washing and 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 without the washing function is performed. It can also be applied to machines.

  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.

  As described above, the clothes dryer according to the present invention can be operated while suppressing the heating capacity in accordance with the quality of the clothes to be dried, further reducing power consumption, and realizing energy saving operation. In addition, the thermal load on the synthetic fiber clothing can be reduced, which is useful as a clothes dryer.

1 drum 2 receiving tube (water tank)
3 Drum drive motor (drum drive unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 4 Air blower 6 Dehumidification part 7 Heating part 9 Air path 15 Cloth amount detection part 16 Compressor 50 Heat pump apparatus 70 Control part

Claims (7)

A drum for storing clothes to be dried; a drum driving section for rotating the drum; a heat pump device having a compressor, a radiator and a heat absorber; a blower section for blowing drying air to the drum; A cloth quality detection unit that detects the cloth quality; and a control unit that controls the drum driving unit, the compressor, and the air blowing unit to perform a drying operation, and the control unit is based on a detection result of the cloth quality detection unit. A clothes dryer configured to switch the rotation speed of the compressor. When the control unit detects that the fiber ratio detected by the cloth quality detection unit is higher than a predetermined value, the controller drives the compressor at a lower rotational speed than when the fiber ratio is detected to be lower than the predetermined value. The clothes dryer according to claim 1. An air temperature detection part before clothing contact that detects an air temperature immediately before passing through clothing and an air temperature detection part after clothing contact that detects an air temperature immediately after passing through clothing. The cloth quality is detected based on the time when the temperature difference between the temperature detected by the pre-contact air temperature detection unit and the temperature detected by the post-clothing air temperature detection unit is maximum, and the maximum value of the temperature difference. The clothes dryer according to claim 1 or 2. The energy-saving display part which shows the meaning which carries out operation economically is provided, and the control part lights up the energy-saving display part when the fiber ratio detected by the cloth quality detection part is higher than a predetermined value. 4. The clothes dryer according to any one of 3 above. The clothes dryer according to claim 4, wherein the control unit blinks the energy saving display unit from the start of the drying operation until the cloth quality detection unit detects the cloth quality. The clothes dryer according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the control unit displays the degree of energy saving by a numerical value or an index by the energy saving display unit based on the ratio of the synthetic fibers detected by the cloth quality detection unit. A water tank containing a drum and storing washing water, a water supply pipe provided with a water supply valve for supplying washing water to the water tank, and a drain pipe provided with a drain valve for draining the washing water in the water tank, The clothes dryer of any one of Claims 1-6 provided with the washing function.