JP2012115297A - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat pump clothes dryer of type that can shorten the time from the end of drying operation until laundry is allowed to be taken out.SOLUTION: On a ventilation flue 19 of an air circulation device 20 for circulating air in an outer tub 2 (drying chamber) through the ventilation flue 19 provided outside of the outer tub 2 to bring it back to the outer tub 2, a heat exchanger 33, which cools down air passing through the ventilation flue 19 with cooling water supplied, is provided. The supply of cooling water to the heat exchanger 33 is carried out concurrently with the air circulation by the air circulation device 20 after a drying operation or during the drying operation, so as to shorten the time from the end of the drying operation until laundry is allowed to be taken out.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a clothes dryer.

  Conventionally, a clothes dryer has a heater method and a heat pump method. Among them, the heater method supplies air heated by an electric heater to a drying room containing clothes to evaporate moisture from the clothes, thereby exhausting high-temperature and high-humidity air from the drying room and dehumidifying it with a dehumidifier. The clothes are dried by repeatedly heating the dehumidified air with an electric heater and supplying it to the drying chamber. Since the dehumidifying capacity is not sufficient, the heating temperature is increased to about 90 ° C. It is necessary to do so, and the clothes are likely to shrink and be damaged, and the amount of power consumption is not small.

  On the other hand, in the heat pump system, the air in the drying room containing the clothing is passed through the ventilation path of the heat pump in which the compressor and the throttle are cycle-connected to the evaporator and the condenser. The air is cooled and dehumidified, the air is heated by a condenser, and the clothes are dried by repeating the sequential feeding into the washing tub. The heating temperature is 60 [° C. compared to the heater system. ] The degree is low, and it is difficult to cause shrinkage and damage of clothing, and power consumption is small.

However, in recent heat pump systems, along with the miniaturization of evaporators and condensers, the evaporators do not sufficiently evaporate the refrigerant, and the condensers do not sufficiently dissipate the refrigerant, and the temperature on the high temperature side tends to increase. It is in. Moreover, when performing sterilization drying, it is necessary to raise the heating temperature of clothing to about 70 [degreeC]. Furthermore, when the room temperature is high or repeated operation is performed, the temperature of the clothes may be as high as about 70 [° C.]. Under such circumstances, it is not preferable to open the door of the drying chamber and take out the clothes immediately after the drying operation is finished because it touches hot clothes.
Therefore, a cooling process for lowering the temperature of the clothes is provided after the drying operation is completed. In the case of the heat pump system, this cooling process is performed only by circulating air through the ventilation path.

JP 2007-135832 A

  As described above, in a heat pump type clothes dryer, the cooling process for lowering the temperature of the clothes after the drying operation is performed only by the circulation of air through the ventilation path, and even after the drying operation is completed. Since it passes through the condenser which becomes high temperature, it has a problem that it takes several tens of minutes to lower the temperature of the clothing to an appropriate temperature.

  Therefore, a clothes dryer capable of shortening the time until it is allowed to take out clothes after completion of the drying operation is provided.

  In the clothes dryer of the present embodiment, a drying chamber, an air circulation device that circulates the air in the drying chamber back to the drying chamber through a ventilation path provided outside the drying chamber, and the ventilation path of the air circulation device A heat pump that constitutes a refrigeration cycle in which an evaporator and a condenser are disposed in the refrigerant and the refrigerant and the condenser are connected to circulate the refrigerant through the compressor, the condenser, the condenser, and the evaporator. A heat exchanger that cools the air passing through the ventilation path by supplying cooling water to the ventilation path in the case of drying clothes by operating the air circulation device and the heat pump. It is characterized by that.

Schematic longitudinal rear view showing the first embodiment Schematic longitudinal side view with part broken Schematic configuration diagram of air circulation device and heat pump Illustration of normal drying operation Explanatory drawing during sterilization drying operation FIG. 4 equivalent view showing the second embodiment Explanatory drawing (b) which shows 3rd Embodiment in comparison with a prior art example (a) FIG. 1 equivalent view showing the fourth embodiment Explanatory drawing (b) which shows 5th Embodiment by comparison with a prior art example (a)

Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 when applied to a washing and drying machine.
First, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show the overall structure of a washing / drying machine, especially a drum type (horizontal axis) washing / drying machine. An outer tub 2 is arranged inside the outer box 1 and the outer tub 2 A rotating tub (drum) 3 is disposed inside. In the present embodiment, the outer tub 2 and the rotating tub 3 constitute a drying room that also serves as a washing room, and the rotating tub 3 has a porous shape having holes 4 in the entire peripheral side wall. .

  Both the outer tub 2 and the rotating tub 3 form a horizontal-axis cylindrical shape in which the axial direction is front and rear (left and right in FIG. 2), and is elastically supported by a suspension (not shown) so as to rise upward. The outer tub 2 and the rotating tub 3 are both open at the front, whereas the front of the outer box 1 and the upper inclined portion of the outer box 1 are opened and closed by a door 5 (illustrated). The clothing doorway and the opening on the front surface of the outer tub 2 are connected by a bellows (not shown).

A motor 6 is attached to the back surface of the outer tub 2. The motor 6 is, for example, an outer rotor type brushless motor, and is configured to directly rotate the rotating tub 3. Therefore, the motor 6 functions as a drive device that rotationally drives the rotating tub 3.
In addition, a drainage pipe 8 having an electric drain valve 7 is connected to the bottom of the bottom, which is the lowermost part of the outer tub 2, and the water in the outer tub 2 is removed from the machine by this drainage pipe 8. To be discharged.

  A ventilation duct 9 is disposed below the outer tub 2 (the bottom of the outer box 1). This ventilation duct 9 is a box that is long on the left and right, and one end of an intake duct 11 is connected to the upper part of one end (left side in FIG. 1) via a flexible bellows-like flexible duct joint 10. The intake duct 11 has one end (the left side in FIG. 1) inside the outer box 1 piped from the lower part to the upper part and to the front part as shown in FIG. 2, and the other end part (upper front end part). Is connected to the filter device 12. The filter device 12 captures lint exclusively and can be removed and cleaned from the front portion of the upper surface of the outer box 1. The filter device 12 is connected to a flexible connection hose 13 such as a bellows, It is connected to a hot air outlet 14 formed in the upper part of the front part of the outer tub 2. That is, the hot air outlet 14 of the outer tub 2 is connected to the upper part of one end of the ventilation duct 9 via the flexible connection hose 13, the filter device 12, the intake duct 11, and the flexible duct joint 10. .

  On the other hand, a blower 15 is provided at the other end (right side in FIG. 1) of the ventilation duct 9. More specifically, the blower 15 houses a blower impeller 15b inside a casing 15a, and the blower impeller 15b is rotationally driven by a motor 15c attached to the outside of the casing 15a. The other end portion is communicated with the inlet portion of the casing 15a.

  And the exit part of the casing 15a of the air blower 15 connects the one end part of the air supply duct 17 via the flexible duct coupling 16, such as a bellows shape. The air supply duct 17 is piped so that the other side (right side in FIG. 1) in the outer box 1 bypasses the motor 6 part from the lower part to the upper part, and the other end part (upper end part) is It is connected to a hot air inlet 18 (see FIG. 2) formed in the upper part of the rear part of the outer tub 2.

  As a result, the flexible connecting hose 13, the filter device 12, the intake duct 11, the flexible duct joint 10, the ventilation duct 9, the casing 15 a of the blower 15, the flexible duct joint 16, and the air supply duct 17, An air passage 19 is provided by connecting the hot air outlet 14 and the hot air inlet 18 of the tank 2, and the air passage 19 is located outside the outer tank 2.

  The blower 15 takes the air in the rotating tub 3 out of the outer tub 2 from the outer tub 2 through the ventilation path 19 as shown by an arrow in FIG. 1, and then into the outer tub 2 and the rotating tub 3. The air circulation device 20 is configured to circulate the air in the rotating tub 3 by the ventilation path 19 and the blower 15.

  Therefore, in the ventilation path 19, the evaporator 21 is disposed on the upstream side (left side in FIG. 1) and the condenser 22 is disposed on the downstream side (right side in FIG. 1). is doing. These evaporator 21 and condenser 22 constitute a heat pump 25 with a compressor 23 and a throttle (particularly an electronic throttle valve, pulse motor valve [PMV]) 24 shown in FIG. In this heat pump 25, the compressor 23, the condenser 22, the throttle 24, the evaporator 21, and the compressor 23 are cycle-connected in this order by the connection pipe 26 (refrigeration cycle), and the compressor 23 operates. By doing so, the refrigerant sealed in the cycle is circulated.

  Although not shown in detail, the compressor 23 is, for example, a rotary type, and further includes a compression mechanism portion and a motor portion (none of which are shown), and the motor portion includes an inverter power source ( The driving power of the set frequency is supplied by a compressor driving means). As a result, the motor unit rotates at a rotation speed corresponding to the supplied frequency, and drives the compressor 23 with a variable setting output.

  3 also schematically shows the outer tub 2 and the air circulation device 20 (the intake duct 11, the ventilation duct 9, the blower 15, and the air supply duct 17) together with the heat pump 25. In addition, the heat pump 25, a temperature sensor 27 that detects the temperature (refrigerant temperature) of the outlet portion of the compressor 23, a temperature sensor 28 that detects the temperature of the condenser 22, and the temperature of the inlet portion of the evaporator 21 (refrigerant). Temperature sensor 29 for detecting the temperature), temperature sensor 30 for detecting the temperature of the outlet portion of the evaporator 21 (refrigerant temperature), and the inlet portion of the outer tub 2 (drying chamber) (in the air supply duct 17). Temperature sensor 31 which is an air temperature detecting means for detecting the air temperature in the air and air temperature for detecting the air temperature at the outlet portion of the outer tub 2 (drying chamber) (upstream side from the evaporator 21 of the ventilation duct 9). The temperature sensor 32 which is a detection means is shown.

  Here, although the evaporator 21 and the condenser 22 are not shown in detail, both pipes through which the refrigerant passes are passed in a meandering manner in the vertical direction (vertical direction) through a plurality of heat transfer fins arranged in the horizontal direction. Further, the meandering pipes are arranged side by side in a plurality of rows in the horizontal direction, and the evaporator 21 and the condenser 22 of this structure are arranged inside the ventilation duct 9 and the heat transfer fins are arranged. Are arranged so as to be orthogonal to the flow of the circulating air, and the circulating air passes between the heat transfer fins.

  The condenser 22 is provided with a heat exchanger 33 shown in FIG. In this case, the heat exchanger 33 also has a configuration in which pipes for passing cooling water are passed in a meandering manner in a vertical direction (vertical direction) through a plurality of heat transfer fins arranged in the lateral direction, and the heat exchanger 33 is passed in the meandering manner. The rows of pipes are, for example, one row, and the heat transfer fins are used in common with the heat transfer fins of the condenser 22, that is, the heat transfer fins are integrated with the heat transfer fins ( Is indicated by a one-dot chain line). By providing the heat exchanger 33 in this way, the heat exchanger 33 is disposed in the ventilation path 19, particularly in the ventilation duct 9, so that the circulating air passes between the heat transfer fins.

A water supply valve 34 is disposed in the inner upper portion of the outer box 1. The water supply valve 34 is composed of, for example, a three-way valve. Although not shown in detail, the water supply valve 34 is connected to a water faucet via a connection hose (not shown) at one of the two outlets. The other outlet portion is connected to the inlet portion of the pipe of the heat exchanger 33 via the connection hose 35. Therefore, tap water is supplied to the heat exchanger 33 as cooling water.
The outlet of the pipe of the heat exchanger 33 is connected to the downstream side of the drain valve 7 of the drain pipe 8 via a connection hose 36.

Next, the operation of the washing / drying machine having the above configuration will be described.
First, when an operation panel (not shown) is operated by a user to set a course of operation and start of operation is instructed, the washing / drying machine performs a washing operation, a drying operation, or an operation according to the set operation course. A washing / drying operation is performed in which both operations are continued. As one of them, when the execution of the washing and drying operation is started, the washing process, the dehydrating process, and the drying process are executed in order.

  In the washing process, one outlet portion side of the water supply valve 34 is opened to supply water into the outer tub 2, and thereafter, the operation of rotating the rotating tub 3 alternately in both forward and reverse directions at a low speed is performed. In the dehydration process, after the drain valve 7 is opened and the water in the outer tub 2 is discharged through the drain pipe 8, the rotation tank 3 is rotated in one direction at a high speed. In the drying process, an operation of supplying hot air into the rotating tank 3 is performed while the rotating tank 3 is alternately rotated in both forward and reverse directions at a low speed.

  Specifically, the operation of supplying the warm air into the rotary tank 3 is performed by driving the blower 15 and driving the compressor 23 of the heat pump 25. By driving the blower 15, the air in the rotary tub 3 flows into the ventilation duct 9 from the outer tub 2 through the intake duct 11 of the ventilation path 19. On the other hand, when the compressor 23 of the heat pump 25 is driven, the refrigerant sealed in the heat pump 25 is compressed by the compressor 23 to become a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant, and the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant flows through the pipe of the condenser 22 and Heat is exchanged with the air in the ventilation duct 9 through the heat transfer fins. As a result, the air in the ventilation duct 9 is heated, and conversely, the refrigerant in the pipe of the condenser 22 is liquefied at a reduced temperature. The liquefied refrigerant is then depressurized through the restrictor 24 and then flows through the pipe of the evaporator 21 to be vaporized. Thereby, the evaporator 21 cools the air in the ventilation duct 9 through a pipe and a heat-transfer fin. The refrigerant that has passed through the pipe of the evaporator 21 returns to the compressor 23.

As a result, the air that has flowed into the ventilation duct 9 from the outer tub 2 is cooled by the evaporator 21 and dehumidified, and then heated by the condenser 22 and warmed. Then, the warm air is supplied into the outer tank 2 through the air supply duct 17 and further supplied into the rotary tank 3.
The hot air supplied into the rotating tub 3 takes away moisture from the clothes in the rotating tub 3 and then flows into the ventilation duct 9 from the outer tub 2 through the intake duct 11. Thus, the air in the rotating tub 3 circulates between the ventilation duct 9 having the evaporator 21 and the condenser 22 and the rotating tub 3, whereby the clothes in the rotating tub 3 are dried. Accordingly, at this time, the outer tub 2 and the rotating tub 3 function as a drying chamber.

  FIG. 4 shows changes in the temperature of the condenser 22 (detected by the temperature sensor 28) when the drying operation (drive of the blower 15 and drive of the compressor 23 of the heat pump 25) is performed in this drying process, and the outer tank. 2 shows a change in the air temperature at the inlet portion 2 (detected by the temperature sensor 31) and a change in the air temperature at the outlet portion of the outer tub 2 (detected by the temperature sensor 32). As apparent from FIG. 4, when the drying operation is started, as the temperature of the condenser 22 rises, the air temperature at the inlet portion of the outer tub 2 and the air temperature at the outlet portion of the outer tub 2 are: Both rise. The temperature of the condenser 22 is controlled to be equal to or lower than the set temperature by controlling the driving of the compressor 23 based on the detection result of the temperature sensor 28, but the air temperature at the inlet portion of the outer tub 2 and the outer tub 2. The air temperature at the outlet portion of the water rises with the progress of the drying operation (drying of clothes), and the drying operation ends. This drying operation is terminated when the difference between the detection result of the temperature sensor 31 and the detection result of the temperature sensor 32 reaches a predetermined value or less. In normal cases, the air temperature at the outlet of the outer tub 2 at the end of the drying operation is about 60 [° C.], and the door 5 can be opened immediately to take out the clothes.

  On the other hand, the temperature change of each said part at the time of performing disinfection drying (dedicated course) is shown in FIG. In this case, it is necessary to raise the temperature of the clothing to about 70 [° C.] for sterilization, and the temperature of the outlet portion of the outer tub 2 at the end of the drying operation is about 70 [° C.]. Both the inside of the tank 2 and the inner surface temperature of the door 5 are as high as about 70 [° C.]. Here, it is not preferable to immediately open the door 5 and take out the clothing because it touches hot clothing.

  Therefore, in this case, after the drying operation (the sterilization drying process) is completed, the rotation tank 3 and the blower 15 are continuously driven and connected to the pipe of the heat exchanger 33 from the other outlet of the water supply valve 34. A “cooling stroke” is performed in which cooling water is allowed to flow through the hose 35. That is, the cooling water is supplied to the heat exchanger 33 together with the air circulation by the air circulation device after the drying operation is completed. The heat exchanger 33 is provided in the ventilation duct 9 of the ventilation path 19 along with the condenser 22, and the cooling water is allowed to flow therethrough to circulate even after the drying operation ends ( The air in the rotary tank 3 is cooled through the pipes and the heat transfer fins at the temperature of the cooling water (lower than the circulating air). In this case, if the allowable temperature for taking out the clothes is about 60 [° C.], the time required for this is short as shown by the broken line in FIG.

  The conventional “cooling process” is performed only by the rotation of the rotating tub 3 and the circulation of air through the ventilation path 19. As shown by the broken line in FIG. 5, the temperature of the clothing is about 60 ° C. It took a long time to lower the temperature to an appropriate temperature. On the other hand, in the above configuration, as shown in “Cooling shortening time”, the time required for the “cooling process” can be shortened, that is, the time until the clothes are allowed to be taken out after the drying operation is completed. Can be shortened.

  This can be achieved by using a heat pump 25 that tends to increase the temperature on the high temperature side by reducing the size of the evaporator 21 or the condenser 22 in recent years, or when the room temperature is high, or when repeated operation is performed. Similarly, in all cases, the temperature of the clothes may be as high as about 70 [° C.]. On the other hand, after the drying operation is completed as described above, cooling water is supplied to the heat exchanger 33 to circulate the air. By cooling the temperature of the clothes, the temperature of the clothes in the rotary tank 3 can be quickly lowered, and the time until the clothes are allowed to be taken out after the drying operation is completed can be shortened.

In this case, the fan 15 continues to be driven during the “cooling stroke”, but the rotational speed of the blower impeller 15 b is increased so far to increase the amount of air circulation in the air circulation device 20. Thereby, the cooling of the circulating air by the cooling water flowing through the heat exchanger 33 is promoted, the temperature of the clothes in the rotary tub 3 can be lowered more quickly, and the clothes can be taken out after the drying operation is completed. Time can be further shortened.
The cooling water that has flowed through the heat exchanger 33 is discharged outside the machine through the drain pipe 8.

6 to 10 show the second to fifth embodiments. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. Only the part is described.
[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the detection temperature of the temperature sensor 32 that detects the air temperature at the outlet portion of the outer tub 2 during the drying operation for supplying the cooling water to the heat exchanger 33 is a predetermined value. It starts when the above is reached.

  As described above, the operation time in the drying process is detected by the temperature sensor 31 that detects the air temperature at the inlet portion of the outer tub 2 and the detection by the temperature sensor 32 that detects the air temperature at the outlet portion of the outer tub 2. Although it is determined by the difference with the result, if there is a temporary stop due to the introduction of new clothing during the drying process, etc., the determination in the temperature detection is not appropriate and the drying process may be performed until the longest set time. is there. Therefore, when such repeated continuous operation is performed, or when the ambient temperature is high, for example, higher than 40 [° C.], the clothing temperature (air temperature at the outlet of the outer tub 2) is also obtained during normal drying operation. May exceed 60 [° C.].

  In general, in a drying operation using a heat pump, under the above-described conditions, that is, a high load condition, the driving output of the compressor 23 is rapidly reduced due to the allowable operation limit of the heat pump, and as a result, the drying time becomes longer. Therefore, during the drying operation, control is performed to supply cooling water to the heat exchanger 33 according to the air temperature at the outlet portion of the outer tub 2. As shown in FIG. 6, for example, when the air temperature at the outlet of the outer tub 2 is 60 [° C.], supply of cooling water to the heat exchanger 33 is started, and at 57 [° C.] cooling water to the heat exchanger 33 is started. To stop supplying. As a result, even if the drying is progressed while the decrease in the clothing temperature is suppressed to 57 [° C.] or more and the door opening allowable temperature at the end of the drying operation is set to 60 [° C.], ] Since it is the following, clothing can be taken out immediately.

In addition, in this case, the condenser 22 is cooled with the cooling water during the drying operation, whereby the temperature drop of the evaporator 21 is promoted, and the dehumidifying performance by the evaporator 21 may be improved. The time can be shortened, and as a result, the time until the clothes are allowed to be taken out after completion of the drying operation can be shortened.
In this case, as a result, the cooling water is intermittently supplied to the heat exchanger 33 based on the detection result of the temperature sensor 32 that detects the air temperature at the outlet of the outer tub 2. . Thereby, since drying at the said appropriate temperature can be advanced without reducing the temperature of clothing too much, drying efficiency can be kept favorable.

[Third Embodiment]
In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 7, when the cooling water is supplied to the heat exchanger 33 during the drying operation, the opening degree of the expander 24 of the heat pump 25 is reduced.

  Factors affecting the drying performance include the degree of superheat in the evaporator 21 (difference between the evaporator outlet temperature and the evaporator inlet temperature). Normally, as shown in FIG. 7A, the opening degree of the restrictor 24 is gradually decreased from 150 P (pulses) to 130 P-120 P-110 P-100 P so that the degree of superheat is 3 ° C. However, when the equilibrium state of temperature is lost due to the supply of cooling water to the heat exchanger 33, it takes time to return to the stable state. In the meantime, the drying efficiency is lowered, and the reliability of the heat pump 25 is also impaired. In general, when the condenser 22 is cooled, the amount of refrigerant circulating in the heat pump 25 decreases, so that the throttle 24 can be stabilized by reducing the opening.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the opening degree of the restrictor 24 is 150 P (pulses) before the supply of cooling water to the heat exchanger 33, the restrictor 24 at the stable time after supply. Is assumed to be 100 P after the supply. By doing in this way, a transition fluctuation can be suppressed, reduction in drying efficiency can be reduced, and the reliability of the heat pump 25 can be improved.
The control for increasing the amount of air circulation in the air circulation device 20 when supplying the cooling water to the heat exchanger 33 performed in the first embodiment is the same as that in the third embodiment and the second embodiment. This may also be performed in the embodiment.

[Fourth Embodiment]
In the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the heat exchanger 33 is provided in the evaporator 21. The way of providing the heat exchanger 33 is the same as that of the condenser 22 in the first embodiment. Accordingly, in this case as well, the heat exchanger 33 is disposed in the ventilation path 19, particularly in the ventilation duct 9. The circulating air passes between the heat transfer fins. Further, after the drying operation is completed, cooling water is supplied to the heat exchanger 33 from the water supply valve 34 through the connection hose 35 together with the air circulation by the air circulation device 20 to execute the “cooling process”. .

  Thereby, the air in the outer tub 2 that is circulated even after the end of the drying operation is cooled through the pipe and the heat transfer fins at the temperature of the cooling water that has flowed to the heat exchanger 33, so that the first embodiment The same effect can be obtained.

[Fifth Embodiment]
In the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the evaporator temperature detection for detecting the temperature of the evaporator 21 during the drying operation by supplying the cooling water to the heat exchanger 33 in the fourth embodiment. This is started when the detection result of the temperature sensor 29 or 30 as a means reaches a predetermined value or less.

  When the compressor 23 is driven when the outside air temperature is low, the evaporator 21 becomes a minus temperature as shown in FIG. 9A, but normally the temperature of the evaporator 21 increases with the rise of the temperature on the condenser 22 side. As a result, the drying operation is not hindered. However, the evaporator 21 may freeze as it is without increasing from a minus temperature to a plus temperature. In such a case, generally, control for temporarily stopping and restarting the compressor 23 is performed, but there is a problem that the drying time becomes long.

  Therefore, if it is determined from the detection result of the temperature sensor 29 or 30 that the evaporator 21 has reached a minus temperature (for example, −10 [° C.]) as shown in FIG. The cooling water is allowed to flow through the heat exchanger 33. The cooling water that flows to the heat exchanger 33 has a positive temperature, and the temperature of the evaporator 21 that has become a negative temperature can be raised. If the evaporator 21 reaches the plus temperature, the temperature of the evaporator 21 also rises as the temperature of the condenser 22 increases even if the supply of cooling water to the heat exchanger 33 is stopped thereafter. For this reason, drying progresses without the evaporator 21 freezing, and it can avoid that drying time becomes long.

  The control for increasing the amount of air circulation in the air circulation device 20 when supplying the cooling water to the heat exchanger 33 performed in the first embodiment is the same as that in the fifth embodiment and the fourth embodiment. This may also be performed in the embodiment.

  The clothes dryer described above is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the user may arbitrarily select and execute the cooling water to be supplied to the heat exchanger 33. The present invention can be implemented with appropriate modifications within a range not departing from the gist.

  In addition, although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  In the drawings, 2 is an outer tub (drying chamber), 3 is a rotating tub (drying chamber), 19 is a ventilation path, 20 is an air circulation device, 21 is an evaporator, 22 is a condenser, 23 is a compressor, and 24 is a throttle. , 25 is a heat pump, 29 and 30 are temperature sensors (evaporator temperature detection means), 32 is a temperature sensor (air temperature detection means), 33 is a heat exchanger, and 34 is a water supply valve.

Claims (8)

A drying chamber;
An air circulation device that circulates the air in the drying chamber back to the drying chamber through a ventilation path provided outside the drying chamber;
By arranging an evaporator and a condenser in the ventilation path of this air circulation device and connecting them with a compressor and a throttle, the refrigerant is circulated through the compressor, the condenser, the throttle and the evaporator. Comprising a heat pump constituting a refrigeration cycle to be
In what dry clothes by operation of the air circulation device and the heat pump,
A clothes dryer comprising a heat exchanger for cooling the air passing through the ventilation path by supplying cooling water to the ventilation path.   The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein a heat exchanger is provided in the condenser, and the cooling water is supplied to the heat exchanger together with air circulation by an air circulation device after the drying operation is completed. Machine.   A heat exchanger is attached to the condenser, and air temperature detection means for detecting the air temperature at the outlet of the drying chamber is provided, and the temperature detection is performed during the drying operation by supplying cooling water to the heat exchanger. 2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the clothes dryer starts when the temperature detected by the means reaches a predetermined value or more.   4. The clothes dryer according to claim 3, wherein the cooling water is intermittently supplied to the heat exchanger based on the detection result of the air temperature detecting means.   The clothes dryer according to claim 3 or 4, wherein when the cooling water is supplied to the heat exchanger, the opening of the throttle is reduced.   The clothes drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a heat exchanger is provided in the evaporator, and cooling water is supplied to the heat exchanger together with air circulation by an air circulation device after completion of the drying operation. Machine.   A heat exchanger is provided in the condenser, and further includes an evaporator temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the evaporator, and the evaporator water temperature detecting means during the drying operation for supplying the cooling water to the heat exchanger. 2. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the clothes dryer starts when the detected temperature reaches a predetermined value or less.   8. The method according to claim 2, wherein when the cooling water is supplied to the heat exchanger, the amount of air circulation in the air circulation device is increased as compared with the case where the cooling water is not supplied to the heat exchanger. The clothes dryer in any one.

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