JP2012085919A - Clothes drying machine and washing and drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clothes drying machine and a washing and drying machine that can efficiently dry clothes without damaging them.SOLUTION: A drum type washing and dry machine comprises: a drum 1 that is rotatably supported in a housing 100 and contains and stirs clothes to be dried; an air blowing part 4 that blows drying air; a nozzle 30 that is provided outside the drum 1 and blows out drying air fed by the air blowing part 4; and a drying air guiding member 80 that is disposed at a location where it is directly hit by drying air blown out of the nozzle 30 and changes the wind direction of the drying air to guide the drying air into the drum 1.

Description

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

  Drum-type clothes dryers and washing dryers blow drying air through the air passage into the drum, bring the drying air into contact with the clothes put in the drum, dehydrate moisture from the clothes, and dry the clothes. The drying air that has become humid due to moisture is discharged to the air passage outside the drum.

  In conventional drum-type clothes dryers and washing dryers, the hot air from the blower unit is applied to the window glass inside the door that closes the inlet for putting in and out the clothing, and the direction of the hot air into the drum Is used (Patent Document 1). Also, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a configuration is used in which a nozzle 320 that opens toward the inside of the drum 300 is formed, and the warm air blown from the nozzle 320 is directly applied to clothing in the drum 300. (Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-263295 JP 2009-50338 A JP 2010-75216 A

  However, in the configuration in which the direction of the warm air is changed by hitting the conventional window glass, when the warm air from the blower unit hits the window glass, the heat of the warm air is lost to the window glass. For this reason, there existed a problem that the drying efficiency of clothing fell.

  Further, in the configuration in which the hot air is directly applied from the nozzle 320 to the clothing in the drum 300, the tip of the nozzle 320 needs to protrude into the drum 300, so that the clothing easily hits the tip of the nozzle 320 and the clothing is damaged. There was a problem such as.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer and a washing dryer that can be efficiently dried without damaging the clothes.

  A clothes dryer according to an aspect of the present invention is rotatably supported in a housing, and is provided on a drum that houses and agitates clothes to be dried, a blower that blows drying air, and an outer side of the drum. A nozzle that blows out the drying air blown by the blowing section, and a position where the drying air blown out from the nozzle directly hits, and changes the wind direction of the drying air to guide it into the drum. An air guide member for drying.

  According to the above configuration, the drying air blown from the nozzle provided outside the drum is directly applied to the drying air guide member to change the wind direction, and the drying air is guided into the drum. It is supposed to be. In this way, the drying air is not applied to the window glass as in the prior art, but is applied to the drying air guide member, so that the heat of the drying air is transmitted to the outside of the clothes dryer through the window glass. Heat dissipation can be avoided. Thereby, the drying efficiency of clothing can be improved.

  Furthermore, the nozzle can be provided outside the drum by providing a drying air guide member that changes the wind direction of the drying air and guides the drying air into the drum. That is, since it is not necessary to protrude the tip of the nozzle into the drum (in the space for storing the clothes to be dried), it is possible to effectively avoid an inconvenient situation where the clothes hit the tip of the nozzle during the drying operation and are damaged. it can.

  In the above configuration, it is preferable that the drying air guide member guides the drying air into the drum so that the guided drying air is directed toward a lower inner wall of the drum.

  According to the above configuration, the drying air guided by the drying air guide member contacts the clothing toward the lower inner wall of the drum and dries the clothing. Thereby, clothes can be dried, extending the wrinkle of clothes efficiently. Further, the clothes housed in the drum are stirred while being lifted as the drum rotates, and when the lifted clothes fall, they come into contact with the drying air that is struck against the lower inner wall of the drum. Also become. At this time, the relative speed between the falling speed of the clothes and the speed of the drying air rising from the lower inner wall of the drum increases, and physical force necessary and sufficient to stretch the wrinkles of the clothes acts on the clothes. The clothes can be dried while effectively stretching the wrinkles of the clothes.

  In the above configuration, a first air passage having a first air outlet that is opened to the rear of the drum, and a second air outlet that is open to the front of the drum and has an air passage cross-sectional area smaller than that of the first air outlet. The second air path, the air path switching unit that selectively switches between the first air path and the second air path, and the first air path and the second air path selected during the drying process. And a control unit that controls the air path switching unit so that the air path can be switched automatically. When the first air path is selected, the air blowing unit is more than when the second air path is selected. The large amount of drying air is blown into the drum from the first air outlet, and when the second air path is selected, the drying is performed at a higher pressure and higher speed than when the first air path is selected. The drying air is blown out from the second outlet into the drum. Blowing, and the nozzle is preferably provided on the second outlet of the second air passage.

  According to said structure, according to the progress of drying of clothing between the drying processes from the start of drying to the end and the way of wrinkle fixation, the process of drying with less power consumption and the wrinkles are not fixed. The drying process is executed separately from the process of constantly moving the clothes to stretch the fibers.

  That is, two air passages, a first air passage and a second air passage, are provided as air passages for introducing the drying air to the drum that houses the clothes, and the two air passages are switched by the air passage switching unit. be able to. Here, the first air outlet of the first air passage has a larger air passage cross-sectional area and less pressure loss than the second air outlet of the second air passage. When the first air path is selected, drying air having a larger air volume than that when the second air path is selected is blown into the drum from the first air outlet that is opened to the rear of the drum. The When the clothing in the early stage of the drying operation contains a lot of moisture, the drying time is set by applying a large amount of drying air to the clothing in the first air passage with a large air cross-sectional area and low pressure loss, and evaporating much moisture. To shorten. In this case, since the pressure loss in the air passage is small, a large amount of wind can be obtained even if the air blowing unit is driven with relatively low power consumption. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the drying time due to the large air volume and reduce the power consumption.

  On the other hand, the second air outlet of the second air passage has an air passage cross-sectional area smaller than that of the first air outlet, and the nozzle that blows the drying air from the direction opposite to the movement of the clothing in the drum is The second air outlet of the second air passage is provided. When the second air path is selected, high-pressure and high-speed drying air is blown out into the drum from the second air outlet opened in front of the drum, compared to when the first air path is selected. . In this case, clothing (such as long-sleeved clothing that tends to be biased to the front of the drum) is pushed and spread by the high-pressure and high-speed wind, so that the mechanical force for stretching the wrinkles of the clothing can be efficiently applied to the clothing even in a small-volume drum. be able to. Then, the first air path and the second air path thus configured are selectively switched in the middle of the drying process (for example, the first air path and the wrinkle are easily generated during a period when the wrinkle is not easily generated in the clothes. (The second air passage is used for the period), so that clothes can be dried with one air blowing unit, and the air is dried with a large air volume that consumes less power than the high wind speed during drying. However, drying with less wrinkles can be realized.

  Said structure WHEREIN: It is preferable that the said air guide member for drying is formed in circular arc shape along the periphery of the circular opening part formed in the said housing | casing in order to put clothing in / out of a drum.

  According to said structure, since the said air guide member for drying is formed in circular arc shape along the periphery of the opening part formed in the said housing | casing, air for drying is supplied into a drum from a flat elongate nozzle. Compared to the configuration of guiding, the drying air is less likely to spread, and the drying air can be converged and guided to a predetermined position in the drum.

  A laundry dryer according to another aspect of the present invention includes any of the above-described clothes dryers and a water tank that contains the drum and stores the washing water. Thus, by applying any of the clothes dryers described above, it is possible to realize a laundry dryer that can dry with low power consumption and less wrinkles.

  According to the present invention, even in a drum with a small volume, the mechanical force for extending the wrinkle of the garment can be efficiently applied to the garment, so that effective wrinkle extension is possible even in a limited narrow drum space. A simple clothes dryer and washing dryer can be realized.

It is side surface sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the drum type washing-drying machine which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the principal part of the drum type washing-drying machine which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the principal part of the drum type washing-drying machine which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the principal part of the drum type washing-drying machine which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the said drum type washing-drying machine. It is a time chart which shows an example of the 1st air path switching timing in the said drum type washing-drying machine. It is a time chart which shows an example of the 2nd air path switching timing in the said drum type washing-drying machine. It is a time chart which shows an example of the 3rd air path switching timing in the said drum type washing-drying machine. It is a time chart which shows an example of the 4th air path switching timing in the said drum type washing-drying machine. It is a time chart which shows the other example of the 4th air path switching timing in the said drum type washing-drying machine. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the warm air blowing part of the conventional drum type washing-drying machine. It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the warm air blowing part of the conventional drum type washing-drying machine.

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

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

  In FIG. 1, a cylindrical drum 1 having a bottom surface with a front opening for accommodating laundry is supported in a housing 100 and is contained in a cylindrical water tank 2 for storing washing water. A drum drive motor 3 (drum drive unit) is attached to the rear surface of the water tank 2 so as to rotate the drum 1 by tilting the rotating shaft forward.

  The casing 100 is provided with a door body 35 facing the opening end side of the drum 1, and the user opens and closes the laundry body (clothing) with respect to the drum 1 by opening the door body 35. be able to. In addition, a water supply pipe provided with a water supply valve (not shown) and a drain pipe 40 provided with a drain valve 27 are connected to the water tank 2.

  The drying air for drying the clothes is blown to the blower 4 to take moisture from the laundry in the drum 1 to become a humid state, and passes through the discharge port 5 located around the side surface of the drum 1 to the drum. 1 is discharged to the outside. The discharged drying air is dehumidified by the dehumidifying unit 6. The drying air dehumidified by the dehumidifying unit 6 is heated by the heating unit 7. The heated drying air is guided to either the first air passage 9 or the second air passage 11 and blows out into the drum 1 again. Here, the first air passage 9 has a first air outlet 8 opened to the rear of the drum 1. On the other hand, in the second air passage 11, a nozzle 30 that blows out the drying air blown by the blower unit 4, and a drying air that changes the wind direction of the drying air and guides it from the second outlet 10 into the drum 1. A guide member 80 is provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the drying air guide member 80 is formed such that the inner surface 80 a of the drum 1 is inclined from the tip of the inner surface 30 a of the nozzle 30 on the housing 100 side toward the drum 1. . The nozzle 30 is provided in the upper right portion of the housing 100 when viewed from the front of the housing 100 (that is, the upper right portion from the rotation center of the drum 1).

  The drying air blown from the tip of the nozzle 30 is guided by the surface 80 a of the drying air guide member 80 and blown into the drum 1 from the second outlet 10. The second blower outlet 10 has an air passage cross-sectional area smaller than that of the first blower outlet 8 and can blow high-pressure and high-speed drying air into the drum 1 as compared with the first blower outlet 8. ing. On the other hand, the first air outlet 8 of the first air passage 9 is formed so as to have an air passage cross-sectional area larger than that of the second air outlet 10, and has a smaller pressure loss than the second air passage 11 and a large air volume. The drying air can be blown into the drum 1.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the side wall of the water tank 2, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view when the inside of the water tank 2 is viewed from the rear side of the housing 100.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the second air passage 11 communicates with the side wall of the water tank 2, and the nozzle 30 is formed integrally with the water tank 2.

  The drying air guide member 80 is formed in an arc shape as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and extends along the peripheral edge of the circular opening formed in the housing 100 for taking clothes into and out of the drum 1. It is attached so as to be supported by the support member 80b.

  As described above, in the washing and drying machine of the present embodiment, the nozzle 30 that blows the drying air blown by the blower 4 is provided outside the drum 1, and the drying air blown from the nozzle 30 is It has a characteristic configuration in which a drying air guide member 80 that changes the wind direction of the drying air and guides it into the drum 1 is provided at a position where it directly hits.

  In this way, the drying air is not applied to the window glass as in the prior art, but is applied to the drying air guide member 80, so that the heat of the drying air is transmitted to the window glass and the outside of the clothes dryer. Can be avoided. Thereby, the drying efficiency of clothing can be improved.

  In addition, the nozzle 30 can be provided outside the drum 1 by providing the drying air guide member 80 that changes the wind direction of the drying air and guides the drying air into the drum 1. That is, since it is not necessary to project the tip of the nozzle 30 into the drum 1 (in the storage space for the clothing to be dried), it is possible to effectively avoid the disadvantageous situation that the clothing hits the tip of the nozzle 30 and is damaged during the drying operation. can do.

  Further, since the drying air guide member 80 is formed in an arc shape along the peripheral edge of the circular opening formed in the housing 100, the drying air is guided from the flat elongated nozzle into the drum 1. Compared with the configuration, the drying air is less likely to spread, and the drying air can be converged and guided to a predetermined position (here, the lower inner wall B) in the drum 1.

  Further, when the drying air is blown out from the nozzle 30, the inner wall of the water tank 2 whose rotation direction of the drum 1 is substantially vertically downward with respect to the rotation center of the drum 1, and the inner wall of the water tank 2 whose rotation direction is approximately vertical above The so-called drum 1 is continuously rotated to the right when viewed from the front of the housing 100 so that the drum 1 rotates in turn on the inner wall of the water tank 2 at the upper right part of the rotation center of the drum 1. At this time, due to the rotation of the drum 1, the clothes are lifted up to a predetermined height of the drum 1 and the movement of dropping is repeated. When the drying air is blown from the nozzle 30, the drying air is blown from the direction opposite to the movement of the clothes so that the drying air collides with the movement of the clothes in the drum 1 lifting from the nozzle 30. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, from the nozzle 30, high-pressure and high-speed drying air falls on the lower inner wall B (rotation of the drum 1) where clothes lifted with the right rotation of the drum 1 fall and hit the lower inner wall of the drum 1. It blows out toward the inner wall of the drum 1 in a substantially vertical downward direction at the center. Note that the drying air is blown out from the nozzle 30 toward the inner wall of the drum 1 that is lower left than the lower inner wall B from the rotation center of the drum 1 (toward a position substantially diagonal to the nozzle 30 at the upper right portion of the casing 100). May be.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the drying air guide member 80 guides the drying air into the drum 1 so that the guided drying air is struck against the lower inner wall B of the drum 1 and is blown up. Is formed.

  As a result, the drying air guided by the drying air guide member 80 is not directly blown onto the clothing, but is once struck against the lower inner wall B of the drum 1 and comes into contact with the clothing while rolling up. Is supposed to dry. Thereby, clothes can be dried, extending the wrinkle of clothes efficiently. That is, the clothes housed in the drum 1 are stirred while being lifted as the drum 1 rotates, and when the lifted clothes fall, the drying air that is struck against the lower inner wall B of the drum 1 Contact. At this time, the relative speed between the falling speed of the clothes and the speed of the drying air rising from the lower inner wall of the drum 1 increases, and physical force necessary and sufficient to stretch the wrinkles of the clothes acts on the clothes. Thus, the clothes can be dried while effectively stretching the wrinkles of the clothes.

  The nozzle 30 is provided at the upper left portion of the casing 100 when viewed from the front of the casing 100, and the same effect as described above can be obtained by continuing to rotate the drum 1 counterclockwise when viewed from the front of the casing 100.

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

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

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

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

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

  In the drum type washing and drying machine of the present embodiment, the amount of air passing through the first air passage 9 is larger than the amount of air passing through the second air passage 11, and passes through the second air outlet 10 of the second air passage 11. The wind speed is higher than the wind speed passing through the first air outlet 8, and the air path switching unit 12 is operated during the drying process to switch between the first air path 9 and the second air path 11.

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

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

  Below the aquarium 2 is a damper 14 that supports the aquarium 2 and attenuates the vibration of the aquarium 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 provided. The damper 14 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 14 up and down due to the weight change caused by the clothing in the water tank 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. This heat pump device is decompressed by a compressor 16 that compresses the refrigerant, a radiator 17 that radiates heat of the refrigerant that has been compressed to a high temperature and a high pressure, and 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 connects these four members and circulates the refrigerant are provided. And the heat absorber 19 in this heat pump apparatus is said dehumidification part 6, and the heat radiator 17 is said heating part 7. FIG.

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

  As shown in FIG. 5, the drum type washing and drying machine has a control unit 70. The control unit 70 controls a series of operation operations including washing, rinsing, dehydration, and drying based on setting information input from the user via the input setting unit 32 and operation state monitoring of each unit. For example, in the drying process, the control unit 70 controls the rotation of the drum drive motor 3 via the motor drive circuit 22, controls the operations of the blower unit 4 and the heat pump device 50, and further controls the air path switching unit 12. The first air path 9 and the second air path 11 are switched by control. 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 that measures a first predetermined time and a second predetermined time, which will be described later. 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 from the control unit 70 can be used.

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

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

  First, the generation of wrinkles during clothing drying will be considered. When clothes are dried in a narrow drum, wrinkles are generated and remain in the clothes, which is unsatisfactory for the user. This is because, in a narrow drum, the clothes cannot be dried with the neatly stretched state. In particular, a lot of wrinkles are generated in clothing using a lot of cotton, and the finish after drying tends to be poor.

  In the case of cotton fibers, the fibers can move freely when moisture is present in the fibers, so even if the clothes are stirred and bent by mechanical force by the rotation of the drum, the direction in which they are stretched next When force is applied, the bent part will not stretch and remain as wrinkles. However, when drying progresses and the moisture in the fibers decreases, the bonding strength between the cotton fibers becomes stronger and the movement of the fibers becomes worse. At this time, when the fiber is bent by a mechanical force, the state is easily maintained. If the drying further proceeds and the moisture in the fiber is further reduced, the fiber remains bent and does not stretch even if a force is applied in the next stretching direction. This state is called wrinkle fixation. In order to dry clothes, moisture must be evaporated, but when moisture decreases, a conflicting phenomenon occurs in which wrinkles stick. The more wrinkles stick, the less dry the finish.

  In a narrow drum, it is inevitable that the fibers are bent. Therefore, in order to reduce wrinkles, it is important to reduce the number of wrinkles and to avoid that the fiber bends sharply and is strongly fixed. Accordingly, it is desirable that drying progresses while the position of the bending is frequently changed and the fiber is stretched or bent, such that a portion where the fiber is bent is extended and another portion is bent. On the other hand, in the state where the drying has progressed with the fibers stretched and the moisture has almost disappeared, even if a mechanical force is applied in the next bending direction, the fibers are strongly bonded to each other. It ’s hard to be.

  From the above, in the drying process, there are areas where wrinkles are likely to adhere depending on the dry state of the clothing, and areas where it is not. In terms of the drying rate based on the clothing made of cotton fibers that are most prone to wrinkles, the area from about 85% (around 85%) to about 100% (around 100%) is an area where wrinkles are likely to adhere to the clothes. It is. In particular, wrinkles are most likely to adhere to the garment in the region where the drying rate based on the garment made of cotton fibers is approximately 90% (around 90%) to approximately 100% (around 100%). Here, the drying rate (%) is expressed by the following equation.

Drying rate = (weight of standard clothes / weight of clothes including moisture) × 100
Here, the mass of the standard garment is the mass of the garment that is balanced under the conditions of an air temperature of 20 ° C. and a humidity of 65%.

  In addition, even if it sees the dry state of one piece of clothing, it does not dry uniformly and a drying nonuniformity generate | occur | produces partially. For example, in the case of a long-sleeved shirt, the armpit is the slowest to dry. For this reason, the drying process is normally not completed with a drying rate at the end of drying of 100%, but the drying process is completed with a drying rate exceeding 100% (for example, a drying rate of 102% to 105%). Designed to do. Therefore, when the drying process is divided into regions based on the drying rate, wrinkles from the beginning of the drying in which the wrinkles from the immediately after dehydration to the drying rate of about 90% are difficult to be fixed, and wrinkles from the drying rate of about 90% to about 100% are generated and fixed. In the middle part of the drying, where the amount of water is likely to increase, and in the final stage of the drying, where the drying rate exceeds 100% and wrinkles are unlikely to occur.

  In the present embodiment, in the region of the middle drying stage, high-speed and high-speed wind that is effective in reducing wrinkles by increasing the stretch of clothing is supplied from the second outlet 10 of the nozzle 30 provided in the second air passage 11 to the drum 1. The clothing lifted with the rotation of the drum falls and blows out toward the lower inner wall B (FIG. 1) that hits the inner wall of the drum 1 from the direction opposite to the movement of the clothing in the drum 1.

  The middle drying period in which the drying rate of the clothes is about 90% to about 100% is a period in which wrinkles are easily generated and fixed, but the weight of the clothes is smaller than the drying early period, and the clothes 1 It can be said that the movement is a large period. By adopting a configuration in which high-pressure and high-speed drying air is blown out from the second air outlet 10 during the drying middle period, the mechanical force for stretching the wrinkles of the clothes can be more efficiently applied to the clothes.

  In the present embodiment, a large amount of wind is blown from the first air outlet 8 of the first air passage 9 in at least one region of the early drying stage and the final drying stage. In this way, by switching between the first air path 9 and the second air path 11 in the drying process, the generation of wrinkles is reduced and power saving is also achieved.

  The timing of the beginning of drying, the middle of drying, and the end of drying in the drying process can be estimated from the time from the start of the drying process. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the control unit 70 determines the timing of the beginning of drying, the middle of drying, and the end of drying in the drying process based on the time from the start of the drying process, and controls the air path switching unit 12 to The first air passage 9 and the second air passage 11 are switched with good timing. More specifically, the control unit 70 determines that the period from the start of the drying process until the first predetermined time elapses is the early stage of drying. Further, the control unit 70 determines that the period from the start of the first predetermined time until the second predetermined time, which is longer than the first predetermined time, elapses from the start of the drying process is the middle drying stage. In addition, the control unit 70 determines that the period until the drying process ends after the elapse of the second predetermined time is the end of drying.

  As described above, by switching the first air passage 9 and the second air passage 11 in the middle of the drying process with good timing, the generation of wrinkles can be effectively reduced with one air blowing unit 4. Furthermore, in the middle of the drying process, an area for drying with a large air volume that consumes less power than the high air speed is provided, so high pressure and high speed drying air is always blown into the drum as in the conventional example, and the air volume is further increased. The total power consumption can be reduced rather than always driving the two blower fan motors in order to increase. As described above, the drum type washing and drying machine of the present embodiment can achieve a good dry finish with less generation of wrinkles of clothes while saving power.

  Further, the discharge port 5 is disposed at a position close to the second air outlet 10 in front of the drum 1 and far from the first air outlet 8. Thus, since the exhaust port 5 is disposed on the front side of the drum 1, the distance between the first air outlet 8 and the exhaust port 5 becomes long, and air is being blown from the first air outlet 8 behind the drum 1. The drying air blown out from the first air outlet 8 spreads widely in the drum 1. Accordingly, the clothes and the drying air are efficiently in contact with each other in the drum 1, and the clothes can be dried with a small amount of power consumption.

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

  FIG. 6 is a time chart showing an example of air path switching timing. The operation of the drum type washer / dryer when the first air path switching timing shown in the figure is applied will be described below.

  In the drying process, the first air passage 9 having a large air passage cross-sectional area and a small pressure loss is used in the initial drying period from the start of the drying operation until the first predetermined time elapses, and a large amount of air for drying is used. Is blown out from the first air outlet 8 at the rear of the drum 1 and applied to the clothing. That is, the control unit 70 controls the air path switching unit 12 to open the first air path 9 side, and starts the drying operation. Moreover, the control part 70 starts time measurement by the timer 71 simultaneously with the start of drying operation, and continues the open state of the 1st air path 9 until 1st predetermined time passes. In this case, since the pressure loss of the first air passage 9 is small, even if the rotational speed of the blower fan motor 4b is relatively low and the blower unit 4 is driven with low power consumption, a large amount of wind can be obtained. it can. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the drying time in the early stage of drying and reduce the power consumption during this period.

  Then, in the middle drying period after the first predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the drying operation and the final drying period after the second predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the drying operation, the air path switching unit 12 performs the second operation. It switches to the air path 11, and the rotation speed of the motor 4b for ventilation fans is raised. The moisture content of clothing after dehydration varies greatly depending on the type of fiber, how the fabric is woven, and the like. In the case of clothing containing a lot of synthetic fibers, the water content after dehydration, that is, the initial drying rate, is considerably high and close to 90%. In the case of such garments, the drying early and middle drying periods include a period during which wrinkles are likely to occur and stick, but the garments are removed by the high-pressure and high-speed drying air blown from the second air outlet of the second air passage. Wrinkles are reduced because it is always spread. As a result, in the middle drying period and the final drying period, the high speed and high speed obtained by rotating the blower fan motor 4b at a large rotational speed from the second blower outlet 10 having an air passage cross-sectional area smaller than that of the first blower outlet 8. Drying air is blown. That is, when the first predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the drying operation, the control unit 70 controls the air path switching unit 12 to open the second air path 11 side and controls the air blowing unit 4 to blow air. The rotational speed of the fan motor 4b is increased. Then, the control part 70 continues the open state of the 2nd air path 11 until the completion | finish of a drying process. In this case, wrinkles are reduced because the clothes are always spread by the high-pressure and high-speed wind.

  Thus, as in the conventional example, high-pressure and high-speed drying air is always blown out, and in order to further increase the air volume, two blowing fan motors are always used rather than in a direction opposite to the movement of clothing. High-pressure and high-speed drying air can efficiently achieve a good dry finish with less total power consumption and fewer wrinkles on clothes.

  FIG. 7 is a time chart showing another example of the airway switching timing. The operation of the drum type washer / dryer when the second air path switching timing shown in the figure is applied will be described below.

  In the drying process, the second air passage 11 is used and the air passage near the outlet is cut off during the initial drying period and the intermediate drying period from the start of the drying operation until the first predetermined time and the second predetermined time elapse. High pressure and high speed drying air obtained by rotating the blower fan motor 4b at a large rotational speed is blown and applied to the clothes from the second blower outlet 10 having a small area. That is, the control unit 70 controls the air path switching unit 12 to open the second air path 11 side, and starts the drying operation. Moreover, the control part 70 starts the time measurement by the timer 71 simultaneously with the start of drying operation, and continues the open state of the 2nd air path 11 until 2nd predetermined time passes. In this case, the mechanical force for stretching the wrinkles of the clothes can be efficiently applied to the clothes by the high-pressure and high-speed drying air blown from the direction opposite to the movement of the clothes.

  Thereafter, the air path switching unit 12 switches to the first air path 9 at the end of drying after the elapse of the second predetermined time. In the final stage of drying, the amount of moisture contained in the clothes is small, and it takes time for this little moisture to come into contact with the drying air and evaporate. In such a state, it is necessary to increase the chance that moisture and the drying air come into contact with each other by blowing a large amount of drying air into the drum 1, and a large amount of air can be obtained with low power consumption. desirable. Therefore, the first air passage 9 having a large air passage sectional area and a small pressure loss is used, and a large amount of drying air is blown out from the first air outlet 8 at the rear of the drum 1 and applied to the clothes. That is, when the second predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the drying operation, the control unit 70 controls the air path switching unit 12 to open the first air path 9 side and controls the air blowing unit 4 to blow air. The rotational speed of the fan motor 4b is reduced. Then, the control part 70 continues the open state of the 1st air path 9 until completion | finish of a drying process. In this case, since the pressure loss of the first air passage 9 is small, even if the rotational speed of the blower fan motor 4b is relatively low and the blower unit 4 is driven with low power consumption, a large amount of wind can be obtained. it can. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the drying time in the final stage of drying and reduce the power consumption during this time.

  As a result, as in the conventional example, the high-speed and high-speed drying air is always blown out, and the total power consumption is smaller than in the case where the two blower fan motors are always used to further increase the air volume. It is possible to efficiently achieve a good dry finish with less.

  FIG. 8 is a time chart showing another example of the airway switching timing. The operation of the drum type washer / dryer when the third air path switching timing shown in FIG.

  In the drying process, the first air passage 9 having a large air passage cross-sectional area and a small pressure loss is used in the initial drying period from the start of the drying operation until the first predetermined time elapses, and a large amount of air for drying is used. Is blown out from the first air outlet 8 at the rear of the drum 1 and applied to the clothing. That is, the control unit 70 controls the air path switching unit 12 to open the first air path 9 side, and starts the drying operation. Moreover, the control part 70 starts time measurement by the timer 71 simultaneously with the start of drying operation, and continues the open state of the 1st air path 9 until 1st predetermined time passes. In this case, since the pressure loss of the first air passage 9 is small, even if the rotational speed of the blower fan motor 4b is relatively low and the blower unit 4 is driven with low power consumption, a large amount of wind can be obtained. it can. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the drying time in the early stage of drying and reduce the power consumption during this period.

  In the middle drying period after the first predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the drying operation, the air path switching unit 12 switches to the second air path 11 to increase the rotational speed of the blower fan motor 4b. As a result, during the middle drying period, high-pressure and high-speed drying air obtained by rotating the blower fan motor 4b at a large number of revolutions from the second outlet 10 having a smaller air passage cross-sectional area than the first outlet 8 is obtained. Be blown. That is, when the first predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the drying operation, the control unit 70 controls the air path switching unit 12 to open the second air path 9 side and controls the air blowing unit 4 to blow air. The rotational speed of the fan motor 4b is increased. Thereafter, the control unit 70 continues the open state of the second air passage 11 until the second predetermined time has elapsed. In this case, the mechanical force for stretching the wrinkles of the clothes can be efficiently applied to the clothes by the high-pressure and high-speed drying air blown from the direction opposite to the movement of the clothes.

  Further, at the end of drying after the elapse of the second predetermined time, the air path switching unit 12 switches to the first air path 9. In the final stage of drying, the amount of moisture contained in the clothes is small, and it takes time for this little moisture to come into contact with the drying air and evaporate. In such a state, it is necessary to increase the chance that moisture and the drying air come into contact with each other by blowing a large amount of drying air into the drum 1, and a large amount of air can be obtained with low power consumption. desirable. Therefore, the first air passage 9 having a large air passage sectional area and a small pressure loss is used, and a large amount of drying air is blown out from the first air outlet 8 at the rear of the drum 1 and applied to the clothes. That is, when the second predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the drying operation, the control unit 70 controls the air path switching unit 12 to open the first air path 9 side and controls the air blowing unit 4 to blow air. The rotational speed of the fan motor 4b is reduced. Then, the control part 70 continues the open state of the 1st air path 9 until completion | finish of a drying process. In this case, since the pressure loss of the first air passage 9 is small, even if the rotational speed of the blower fan motor 4b is relatively low and the blower unit 4 is driven with low power consumption, a large amount of wind can be obtained. it can. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the drying time in the final stage of drying and reduce the power consumption during this time.

  As a result, as in the conventional example, the total amount of power consumption is less than the case where the high-speed and high-speed drying air is always blown out and the two blower fan motors are always used to further increase the air volume. A good dry finish with less wrinkles can be realized efficiently.

  9 and 10 are time charts showing other examples of the airway switching timing. The operation of the drum type washer / dryer when the fourth air path switching timing shown in these drawings is applied will be described below.

  As described above, the control unit 70 determines the timing of each period of the beginning of drying, the middle of drying, and the end of drying based on the time from the start of the drying process (first predetermined time and second predetermined time). However, the time of the entire drying process and the length of each period differ depending on the amount of clothes to be dried. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the amount of clothing to be dried is detected by the cloth amount detection unit 15, and the first predetermined time and the second predetermined time, which are judgment criteria for each period, are changed according to the detection result. It is like that.

  The cloth amount detection unit 15 detects the amount (mass) of clothes put on the drum 1 before the start of washing. Specifically, the cloth amount detection unit 15 determines the position of the shaft of the damper 14 in a state where the water tank 2 is empty (no water is present in the water tank 2 and no clothes are put in the drum 1), Depending on the difference from the position of the shaft of the damper 14 in the state before the start and before the water is poured into the water tank 2 (the water is not present in the water tank 2 but the clothes are present in the drum 1), Detect the amount of clothing put in 1.

  Then, the control unit 70 sets the first predetermined time and the second predetermined time based on the detection result of the cloth amount detection unit 15. FIG. 9 shows a case where the amount of clothes to be dried is smaller than that in FIG. In FIG. 9 where the amount of clothing is small, the control unit 70 sets the first predetermined time to A1 and the second predetermined time to A2. On the other hand, in FIG. 10 where the amount of clothing is large, the control unit 70 sets the first predetermined time to B1 and the second predetermined time to B2. In the case of FIG. 10, the time of the whole drying process is longer than in the case of FIG. 9, and the timing at which the drying rate reaches 90% or 100% is also later than in the case of FIG. Therefore, the control unit 70 sets the first predetermined time and the second predetermined time so that A1 <B1 and A2 <B2. That is, the control unit 70 sets the first predetermined time and the second predetermined time to be longer as the amount of clothes to be dried increases.

  Thus, by optimizing the time of the beginning of drying, the middle of drying, and the end of drying according to the amount of clothes to be dried, the first air passage 9 and the second air outlet 10 can be effectively connected in the drying process. Can be switched. As a result, as in the conventional example, the total amount of power consumption is less than the case where the high-speed and high-speed drying air is always blown out and the two blower fan motors are always used to further increase the air volume. A good dry finish with less wrinkles can be realized.

  In addition, the structure which changes 1st predetermined time and 2nd predetermined time according to the detection result of the quantity of clothing is applicable to any of the 1st thru | or 3rd air path switching timing shown to FIG. 6 thru | or FIG. .

  In the present embodiment, the cloth amount detection unit 15 is exemplified by a method for detecting the vertical displacement amount of the shaft of the damper 14, but is not limited thereto. For example, the amount of cloth is detected by detecting the amount of change in the rotational speed, drive current, torque, etc. of the drum drive motor 3 that rotates the drum 1 and detecting the amount of clothing in the drum 1 from the load change of the drum drive motor 3. Part may be applied.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 70 automatically changes the first predetermined time and the second predetermined time according to the detection result of the cloth amount detection unit 15. Even when the user does not exist, the user may input the amount of clothes from the input setting unit 32, and the control unit 70 may change the first predetermined time and the second predetermined time according to the input of the user. it can.

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

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a drum-type washing / drying machine has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the drum-type. That is, the clothes dryer and the washing dryer according to the present invention reduce the total power consumption of the blower fan motor and shorten the drying time to enable drying with low power consumption and less wrinkles. Therefore, it can also be applied to applications such as hanging-drying other than drum type and vertical washing drying of pulsator type.

  The clothes dryer and the washing dryer according to the present invention can be suitably used for various clothes dryers and washing dryers such as a drum type, a hanging drying type, and a pulsator type.

1 drum 2 water tank 3 drum drive motor (drum drive unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 4 Air blower 5 Outlet 6 Dehumidification part 7 Heating part 8 1st blower outlet 9 1st air path 10 2nd air outlet 11 2nd air path 12 Air path switch part 13 Circulation air path 15 Cloth amount detection part 30 Nozzle 50 Heat pump Device 70 Control unit 80 Air guide member for drying

Claims (5)

A drum that is rotatably supported in the housing and contains the clothes to be dried and stirred;
A blower for blowing air for drying;
A nozzle that is provided outside the drum and blows out the drying air blown by the blower;
A drying air guide member which is provided at a position where the drying air blown out from the nozzle directly hits and which guides the drying air into the drum by changing the air direction of the drying air. Clothes dryer.   The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the drying air guide member guides the drying air into the drum so that the guided drying air is directed toward a lower inner wall of the drum. A first air passage having a first outlet opening at the rear of the drum;
A second air passage having a second air outlet opening in front of the drum and having a smaller air passage cross-sectional area than the first air outlet;
An air path switching unit that selectively switches between the first air path and the second air path;
A controller that controls the air path switching unit so that the first air path and the second air path can be selectively switched during the drying step;
While the air blower blows a larger amount of drying air into the drum from the first air outlet when the first air passage is selected than when the second air passage is selected, When the second air path is selected, the drying air is blown so that high-pressure and high-speed drying air is blown into the drum from the second air outlet than when the first air path is selected. And
The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle is provided at a second air outlet of the second air passage.   The said air guide member for drying is formed in circular arc shape along the periphery of the circular opening part formed in the said housing | casing in order to put clothes in and out of a drum. Any one of the clothes dryers. A clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A washing / drying machine comprising: a water tub containing the drum and storing washing water.

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