JP2012170626A - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clothes dryer in which a lint filter may be automatically cleaned for preventing degradation of drying performances, and in which an air pressure employed for removing lint captured with a lint capturing face of the lint filter may be increased so as to easily remove lint.SOLUTION: In capturing lint present in a circulation air passage by a lint filter, a lint capturing face of the lint filter is disposed on an upstream side to face a side of an exit of a drying chamber, air passage switching means is placed in a first state, and blowing means is driven so that lint flowing through the circulation air passage may be captured with the lint capturing face. In collecting the lint captured with the lint capturing face, the lint capturing face of the lint filter is disposed on a downstream side to face a side of a lint collecting air passage, the air passage switching means is placed in a second state, and the blowing means is driven so that the captured lint may be collected with a lint collecting tool.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a clothes dryer.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in a clothes dryer, especially a clothes dryer that can perform washing (drying) of clothes (laundry), the rotating tank in the water tank is a drum whose axial direction is horizontal, and the opening is the front of the housing. A so-called drum-type washing and drying machine, which is provided on the side and serves as a laundry inlet, is becoming popular. And as a drying system, the drying technique using the heat of condensation by a heat pump (refrigeration cycle) is proposed for the purpose of controlling the amount of power consumption with respect to the heater system which uses the drying unit which consists of a heater and a fan.

  In the case of the heater method, a heater is used to heat the clothes, the moisture in the clothes is evaporated, the moisture is taken away from the clothes and discharged as high-temperature and high-humidity air, and it is directly contacted with water by a water-cooled heat exchanger To be dehumidified. On the other hand, in the case of the heat pump system, a refrigeration cycle consisting of a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator and a decompression device is configured. It is said that you can do it.

  In this type of drum type washing and drying machine, a circulation air passage is connected to a water tank serving as a drying chamber, and an air blowing means is provided in the circulation air passage. The air is circulated through the circulation air passage. The circulation air passage is provided with a lint filter that captures lint generated from clothing during the drying operation, and the user periodically cleans the lint filter so that stable drying performance can be obtained. It is. However, if the user neglects to clean the lint filter, a part of the lint accumulated in the lint filter passes through the lint filter and adheres to the downstream evaporator (dehumidifying means) or condenser (heating means). There is. In particular, when lint adheres to an evaporator or a condenser, cleaning by the user is difficult, and as this progresses, the amount of circulating air decreases, leading to a decrease in drying performance.

  For example, the following has been proposed as a countermeasure for such a situation. A lint collection air passage connecting the upstream and downstream of the lint filter is provided as a branch air passage in the circulation air passage, and a lint collection tool is detachably provided in the lint collection air passage. In addition, air path switching means (shutter) is provided for switching between the case where the air discharged from the drying chamber is guided to the lint collection air path and the case where the air is guided as the circulation air path. Furthermore, the lint filter is provided so as to be switchable between a state in which the lint in the circulation air passage is captured and a state in which the lint capture surface that captures the lint faces the lint collection air passage and is downstream.

  Then, when collecting the lint captured by the lint filter, the lint filter is brought into a state where the lint capture surface capturing the lint faces the downstream of the lint recovery air path and is downstream, and air path switching means ( By setting the shutter to a state where the air discharged from the drying chamber is guided to the lint collection air passage side, the lint captured on the lint capture surface is peeled off by the wind pressure blown to the lint filter, and the lint is peeled off. The lint is collected in the lint collection tool. As a result, the lint filter can be automatically cleaned, and a decrease in drying performance can be prevented. The lint collecting tool needs to be removed and cleaned by the user as appropriate.

JP 2004-154321 A

However, the conventional configuration as described above has a problem that the wind pressure when peeling the lint captured on the lint capturing surface of the lint filter is weak and the lint is difficult to peel off.
Therefore, the lint filter can be automatically cleaned to prevent a decrease in drying performance. In addition, the wind pressure when peeling lint captured on the lint capture surface of the lint filter can be increased, and the lint can be removed. A clothes dryer that can be easily provided is provided.

  The clothes dryer of the present embodiment includes a drying chamber, a circulation air passage, a blowing means, a lint filter, a dehumidifying means, a heating means, a lint collection air path, an air path switching means, and a lint collection tool. Is provided. The drying chamber has an inlet and an outlet and accommodates clothing therein. The circulating air passage has one end connected to the outlet and the other end connected to the inlet. The blower means is provided in the circulation air passage and upstream of the inlet, and circulates the air in the drying chamber through the circulation air passage. The lint filter is provided on the downstream side of the outlet in the circulation air passage, and captures lint flowing in the circulation air passage. The dehumidifying means is provided on the downstream side of the lint filter in the circulation air passage, and dehumidifies the air flowing in the circulation air passage. The heating means is provided between the dehumidifying means and the air blowing means in the circulation air passage, and heats the air in the circulation air passage. The lint recovery air passage has one end connected to the circulation air passage in the vicinity of the lint filter and the other end connected to the circulation air passage between the heating means and the air blowing means and branched from the circulation air passage. Yes. The air path switching means is provided near one end of the lint recovery air path in the circulation air path, and dehumidifies the circulation air path in a state where air discharged to the lint filter side is prevented from flowing to the lint recovery air path side. It switches to the 1st state which flows to the means side, and the 2nd state which flows to the lint collection | recovery air path side in the state which prevents flowing to the dehumidification means side of a circulation air path. The lint collection tool is detachably provided on the lint collection air passage.

When the lint filter captures lint in the circulation air passage, the lint capture surface of the lint filter is on the upstream side and faces the outlet side of the drying chamber, and the air passage switching means is in the first state. The lint flowing in the circulation air passage is captured by the lint capturing surface based on the driving of the air blowing means.
When the lint captured on the lint capture surface is collected in the lint collection tool, the lint capture surface in the lint filter faces the lint collection air path side on the downstream side, and the air path switching means is in the second state. In the state, the lint captured by the lint capturing surface is recovered by the lint recovery tool based on the driving of the air blowing means.

Sectional drawing which shows typically the mode in the drying driving | running state of the washing dryer by 1st Embodiment. Sectional view schematically showing the state of lint recovery operation Longitudinal side view showing the schematic configuration of the entire washing and drying machine Longitudinal rear view showing the schematic configuration of the entire washing and drying machine FIG. 1 equivalent diagram according to the second embodiment 2 equivalent diagram (A)-(c) is sectional drawing of the principal part for demonstrating the motion of a lint filter Sectional drawing of the principal part in the dry operation state by 3rd Embodiment (A) And (b) is sectional drawing of the principal part for demonstrating the movement at the time of peeling a lint from a lint filter of a double structure

  Hereinafter, a washing dryer (clothing dryer) according to a plurality of embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the substantially same component, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

(First embodiment)
First, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the outer box 2 of the washing / drying machine 1 of the first embodiment has a substantially rectangular box shape. The front portion of the outer box 2 (left side in FIG. 3) has a downwardly inclined shape, and a door 3 for opening and closing a laundry doorway (not shown) is provided on the front portion. A water tank 4 that also functions as a drying chamber is disposed in the outer box 2. The water tank 4 has a substantially cylindrical shape with a horizontal axis whose axial direction is in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 3), and is disposed in an upwardly inclined state via a suspension (not shown).

  In the water tank 4, a drum 5 which is a rotating tank is rotatably accommodated. The drum 5 also has a horizontal-axis cylindrical shape whose axial direction is the front-rear direction, similar to the water tank 4, and is disposed in an upwardly inclined state. A number of holes 6 through which water and air can be passed are formed in the peripheral wall portion and the back surface portion of the drum 5. Although not shown, a baffle for lifting and stirring the laundry is provided on the inner surface of the peripheral wall portion of the drum 5. The front opening of the drum 5 communicates with the laundry entrance along with the front opening of the water tub 4, and the laundry (clothing) is accommodated in the drum 5 through the laundry entrance. A motor 7 as a driving means for rotating the drum 5 is disposed on the back surface of the water tank 4. The drum 5 functions as a washing tub during washing, as a dehydrating tub during dehydration, and as a drying tub during drying.

  A circulation air passage 10 is provided outside the water tank 4 so as to be positioned in the outer box 2. This circulation air passage 10 is for circulating the air in the water tank 4 constituting the drying chamber. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, the drying chamber inlet duct 11, the drying chamber outlet duct 12, the drying chamber It is comprised from the duct 13 for units, and the fan casing 15 of the air blower 14 which comprises a ventilation means. Among these, the blower 14 includes a fan casing 15, a fan 16 provided in the fan casing 15, and a fan motor 17 that rotationally drives the fan 16. The fan casing 15 has a suction port 15a and a discharge port 15b, of which the suction port 15a is connected to one end of the drying unit duct 13, and the discharge port 15b is connected to one end of the drying chamber inlet duct 11. ing. The other end of the drying chamber inlet duct 11 is connected to an inlet 18 (see FIG. 4) provided on the back surface of the water tank 4. The drying unit duct 13 is disposed below the water tank 4 in the outer box 2.

  One end of the drying chamber outlet duct 12 is connected to an outlet 19 (see FIG. 3) provided in the upper part of the water tank 4, and the other end is connected to the other end of the drying unit duct 13. In the drying unit duct 13, an evaporator 20 constituting dehumidifying means and a condenser 21 constituting heating means are arranged. Among these, the condenser 21 is disposed between the evaporator 20 and the blower 14. The evaporator 20 and the condenser 21 constitute a part of the heat pump unit 22.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the heat pump unit 22 includes a compressor 23 that compresses and discharges the refrigerant, the condenser 21 that radiates and condenses the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor 23, and a high-pressure refrigerant. The decompression device 24 such as an expansion valve or capillary tube for decompressing the pressure and the evaporator 20 that absorbs heat by evaporating the decompressed refrigerant are connected in a ring shape by a pipe 25. The piping 25 includes a temperature sensor 26 a for detecting the discharge temperature of the compressor 23, a temperature sensor 26 b for detecting the temperature of the condenser 21, and a temperature sensor 26 c for detecting the temperature of the evaporator 20. A temperature sensor 26d for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant entering the compressor 23 is provided. These temperature sensors 26a to 26d are composed of thermistors.

  In the drying chamber outlet duct 12 in the circulation air passage 10, a lint filter 28 is provided in the vicinity of the downstream side (left side in FIG. 1) of the outlet 19. In this case, the lint filter 28 has a rectangular flat plate shape because the cross-sectional shape of the drying chamber outlet duct 12 is a quadrangle. The lint filter 28 is in a range of about 180 degrees around a shaft 29a provided at the center of one side. It is provided so that reverse rotation is possible. The lint filter 28 is rotated forward and backward about a shaft 29a by a filter motor 29 (see a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1). In the drying chamber outlet duct 12, a restriction convex part 30 that restricts the rotation of the lint filter 28 is provided. In the state of FIG. 1, the lint capture surface 28a of the lint filter 28 is directed to the outlet 19 side on the upstream side.

  In the drying chamber outlet duct 12, an inlet 31 a serving as one end portion of the lint collection air passage 31 is connected to the vicinity of the downstream side of the lint filter 28. An outlet 31 b serving as the other end of the lint collection air passage 31 is connected between the condenser 21 and the blower 14 in the drying unit duct 13. Therefore, the lint collection air passage 31 is formed to branch from the circulation air passage 10.

  A switching damper 32 constituting an air path switching unit is provided at a connection portion with the drying chamber outlet duct 12 serving as the inlet 31 a of the lint recovery air path 31. The switching damper 32 is provided so as to be able to rotate forward and backward within a range of about 90 degrees around a shaft 33a provided at one end serving as a base end. This switching damper 32 is moved between a first state shown in FIG. 1 and a second state shown in FIG. 2 around a shaft 33a by a damper motor 33 (see the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1). Rotation is possible. A restricting convex portion 34a for restricting the clockwise rotation of the switching damper 32 in FIG. 1 is provided in the inlet 31a portion of the lint collecting air passage 31, and the switching in the drying chamber outlet duct 12 is switched in FIG. A restricting convex portion 34b for restricting the rotation of the damper 32 in the counterclockwise direction is provided.

  When the switching damper 32 is in the first state shown in FIG. 1, the inlet 31a of the lint collection air passage 31 is closed, and the air (wind) that has passed through the lint filter 28 flows to the lint collection air passage 31 side. In the state which prevents this, it will be in the state which flows into the said evaporator 20 side from the drying chamber exit duct 12 (refer the arrow of FIG. 1). When the switching damper 32 is in the second state shown in FIG. 2, the inlet 31a of the lint collection air passage 31 is opened and the end of the drying chamber outlet duct 12 on the lint collection air passage 31 side is closed. The air (wind) that has passed through the lint filter 28 is prevented from flowing from the drying chamber outlet duct 12 to the evaporator 20 side and flows to the lint collection air passage 31 side (see the arrow in FIG. 2). ).

  A lint collection tool 35 is detachably attached to an intermediate portion of the lint collection air passage 31. The lint collection tool 35 includes a frame portion 37 having a handle portion 36 and a lint collection net 38 provided on the frame portion 37, and is detachable from the outside of the outer box 2. In addition, in the drying unit duct 13 in the circulation air passage 10, openings 39 and 40 that are opened in the outer box 2 are provided at the upper portions of the upstream side and the downstream side of the evaporator 20.

  Although not shown, the washing / drying machine 1 is provided with an operation panel including an operation unit and a display unit, and a control device including a microcomputer. This control device is based on an input signal from the operation unit and a control program prepared in advance, and a water supply valve and a drain valve (not shown), the motor 7, the fan motor 17 of the blower 14, the compressor 23, the filter motor 29, and the damper The washing operation, the drying operation, and the lint collection operation are executed by controlling the motor 33 and the like.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. Here, the description of the washing operation is omitted, and the drying operation and the lint collection operation are described.
First, a drying operation for drying the laundry (clothing) accommodated in the drum 5 will be described. When performing the drying operation, the lint filter 28 is in a state of facing the outlet 19 with the lint capturing surface 28a on the upstream side, as shown in FIG. Further, the switching damper 32 is in the first state shown in FIG. 1 and closes the inlet 31 a of the lint collection air passage 31. And the laundry in the drum 5 is stirred by rotating the drum 5 forward / reversely at a low speed by the motor 7. Moreover, while driving the compressor 23 of the heat pump unit 22, the fan 14 is driven.

  Among these, the fan 16 is rotationally driven by driving the blower 14. Then, the air in the drying unit duct 13 is sucked into the fan casing 15 from the suction port 15a and the air in the fan casing 15 is discharged by the blowing action of the fan 16 as shown by the arrow in FIG. It is discharged from the outlet 15b to the drying chamber inlet duct 11 side. The air discharged to the drying chamber inlet duct 11 side is supplied from the inlet 18 of the water tank 4 into the water tank 4 (drying chamber). The air supplied into the water tub 4 is also supplied into the drum 5 through the holes 6 of the drum 5, and takes moisture from the laundry in the drum 5 and contains moisture. The moisture-containing air is discharged from the outlet 19 of the water tank 4 to the drying chamber outlet duct 12 side. The air discharged from the outlet 19 to the drying chamber outlet duct 12 side passes through the lint filter 28.

  The air that has passed through the lint filter 28 passes through the drying chamber outlet duct 12 and is supplied to the drying unit duct 13 side. The air supplied to the drying unit duct 13 side passes through the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21 in order, and is circulated in such a manner that the air is again sucked into the fan casing 15 from the suction port 15a. At this time, the air passing through the evaporator 20 is cooled by the evaporator 20, and moisture contained in the air is condensed and removed. The dehumidified air is heated and warmed in the process of passing through the condenser 21. The warmed air is supplied again into the water tank 4 and eventually into the drum 5 through the drying chamber inlet duct 11. In this way, the air in the water tank 4 is circulated through the circulation air passage 10 so that the clothes in the drum 5 are dried. In this drying operation, the lint 41 generated from the laundry is captured by the lint capturing surface 28a of the lint filter 28.

  Next, a lint collection operation when collecting the lint 41 captured by the lint filter 28 will be described. The lint recovery operation is preferably performed after the laundry in the drum 5 is taken out so that no new lint is generated during the lint recovery operation. However, the lint recovery operation may be performed with the laundry remaining in the drum 5. It is. In the lint recovery operation, as shown in FIG. 2, the switching damper 32 is brought into the second state by the damper motor 33, thereby closing one end of the drying chamber outlet duct 12 and entering the lint recovery air passage 31. 31a is opened. Further, the lint filter 28 is rotated about 180 degrees clockwise in FIG. 1 by the filter motor 29 so that the lint capturing surface 28a is on the downstream side and faces the inlet 31a of the lint collecting air passage 31. In this state, the blower 14 is driven. At this time, the compressor 23 of the heat pump unit 22 is not driven, and the motor 7 for rotating the drum 5 may or may not be driven.

  When the fan 16 is rotated by driving the blower 14, the air in the fan casing 15 is discharged from the discharge port 15b to the drying chamber inlet duct 11 side by the blowing action of the fan 16 as shown by the arrow in FIG. The air is supplied from the inlet 18 of the water tank 4 into the water tank 4 (drying chamber) and then discharged from the outlet 19 to the drying chamber outlet duct 12 side. The air discharged to the drying chamber outlet duct 12 side is blown to the lint filter 28, passes through the lint filter 28, and then changes the direction to the lint collection air path 31 side. Thereafter, the lint collection air passage 31 passes through the lint collection air passage 31 through the lint collection air passage 31, passes through the lint collection tool 35, passes through the outlet 31b through a part of the drying unit duct 13, and passes through the suction casing 15 through the fan casing 15. It becomes inhaled in.

  At this time, the lint 41 captured on the lint capturing surface 28 a of the lint filter 28 is peeled off by the wind pressure blown against the lint filter 28. The peeled lint 41 is recovered by the lint recovery net 38 of the lint recovery tool 35 provided in the lint recovery air passage 31.

  In this lint recovery operation, as the air flow circulated by the blower 14, as shown by the arrows in FIG. 2, the air exiting the outlet 19 is mainly the lint recovery air passage 31 branched from the circulation air passage 10. Therefore, the flow does not pass through the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21 in the drying unit duct 13. Therefore, during the lint recovery operation, the flow does not pass through the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21 that have a large resistance to the flow of wind, and the lint filter 28 can be blown with high wind pressure. The wind pressure at the time of peeling the lint 41 captured on the lint capturing surface 28a can be increased, and the lint 41 can be easily peeled off. Thereby, since this lint collection | recovery operation can be performed efficiently, it becomes possible to complete | finish a lint collection | recovery operation in a short time.

  When the lint collection operation is finished, the driving of the blower 14 is stopped, and the switching damper 32 is returned to the first state of FIG. 1 and the lint filter 28 is also inverted and returned to the state of FIG.

  By performing the lint recovery operation described above, the lint filter 28 can be automatically cleaned, and a reduction in drying performance during the next drying operation can be prevented. It is not necessary to clean the lint collection tool 35 every time the lint collection operation is performed. When the amount of the lint 41 in the lint collection tool 35 is increased by performing the lint collection operation several times, the lint collection tool 35 is removed. Clean it up.

By performing the lint recovery operation in a state where there is no laundry in the drum 5, there is an advantage that the wind resistance when passing through the drum 5 can be further reduced and the wind pressure with respect to the lint filter 28 can be further increased.
Further, since the lint filter 28 is disposed in the circulating air passage 10 in the vicinity of the downstream of the outlet 19 of the water tank 4 and upstream of the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21, the lint 41 generated in the drum 5 is removed. Further, it can be captured immediately before reaching the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21, and the lint 41 can be more effectively prevented from adhering to the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a state during a drying operation (when lint is captured), FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a state during a lint recovery operation, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a lint filter 28 portion.
First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the lint filter 45 has a circular arc shape in which the lint capturing surface 45a side is convex, and the drying chamber outlet duct 12 in the circulation air passage 10 has a square cross-sectional shape. Therefore, it forms a semi-cylindrical shape as a whole, and is rotated forward and backward by the filter motor 29. At the center of rotation of the lint filter 45, an air nozzle 46 having an air outlet 46a for ejecting air is provided in a fixed state. The air ejection direction (direction of the opening) of the air ejection port 46 a of the air nozzle 46 is a direction facing the inlet 31 a of the lint collection air passage 31. The air outlet 46 a has a slit shape along the extending direction of the axis that is the rotation center of the lint filter 45. A switching damper 32 similar to that of the first embodiment is provided at the inlet 31 a of the lint collection air passage 31.

  And as shown in FIG. 5, the air guide path 47 is provided in the state branched from the circulation air path 10 in the outer side of the water tank 4. As shown in FIG. The air guide path 47 has an inlet 47 a at one end connected to the drying chamber inlet duct 11 in the vicinity of the inlet 18 of the water tank 4, and an outlet at the other end connected to the air nozzle 46. A second switching damper 48 is provided at a connection portion between the inlet 47 a of the air guide passage 47 and the drying chamber inlet duct 11. The second switching damper 48 is provided so as to be able to rotate forward and backward within a range of about 90 degrees around the shaft 49a at one end. This switching damper 48 is also rotationally driven by a damper motor 49.

  In the above configuration, when performing a drying operation, the lint filter 45 is in a state of facing the outlet 19 with the lint capturing surface 45a upstream as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7A. Further, the switching damper 32 is in the first state shown in FIGS. 5 and 7A and closes the inlet 31 a of the lint collection air passage 31. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the second switching damper 48 closes the inlet 47 a of the air guide passage 47 and opens the inlet 18 of the water tank 4. And the laundry in the drum 5 is stirred by rotating the drum 5 forward / reversely at a low speed by the motor 7. Moreover, while driving the compressor 23 of the heat pump unit 22, the fan 14 is driven.

  When the blower 14 is driven, the air in the drying unit duct 13 is sucked into the fan casing 15 from the suction port 15a as shown by the arrow in FIG. Air is discharged from the discharge port 15b to the drying chamber inlet duct 11 side. The air discharged to the drying chamber inlet duct 11 side is supplied from the inlet 18 of the water tank 4 into the water tank 4 (drying chamber). The air supplied into the water tank 4 is also supplied into the drum 5 through the hole 6 of the drum 5 and contains moisture taken from the laundry in the drum 5. The moisture-containing air is discharged from the outlet 19 of the water tank 4 to the drying chamber outlet duct 12 side. The air discharged from the outlet 19 to the drying chamber outlet duct 12 side passes through the lint filter 45.

  The air that has passed through the lint filter 45 passes through the drying chamber outlet duct 12 and is supplied to the drying unit duct 13 side. The air supplied to the drying unit duct 13 side passes through the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21 in order, and is circulated in such a manner that the air is again sucked into the fan casing 15 from the suction port 15a. At this time, the air passing through the evaporator 20 is cooled by the evaporator 20, and moisture contained in the air is condensed and removed. The dehumidified air is heated and warmed in the process of passing through the condenser 21. The warmed air is supplied again into the water tank 4 and eventually into the drum 5 through the drying chamber inlet duct 11. In this way, the air in the water tank 4 is circulated through the circulation air passage 10 so that the clothes in the drum 5 are dried. In this drying operation, the lint 41 generated from the laundry is captured by the lint capturing surface 45a of the lint filter 45.

  Next, a lint collection operation when collecting the lint 41 captured by the lint filter 45 will be described. The lint collection operation in this case can be performed even when the laundry is left in the drum 5. In the lint recovery operation, as shown in FIG. 6, the switching damper 32 is set to the second state by the damper motor 33, thereby closing one end of the drying chamber outlet duct 12 and the inlet of the lint recovery air passage 31. 31a is opened. Further, the second switching damper 48 is rotated clockwise by the damper motor 49 so that the inlet 47a of the air guide path 47 is opened and the inlet 18 of the water tank 4 is closed. In this state, the blower 14 is driven. At this time, the compressor 23 of the heat pump unit 22 is not driven, and the motor 7 for rotating the drum 5 is not driven.

  When the fan 16 is rotated by driving the blower 14, the air in the fan casing 15 is discharged from the discharge port 15 b to the drying chamber inlet duct 11 side as shown by the arrow in FIG. The air passes through the air guide passage 47 and is ejected in a state where the air is squeezed from the air ejection port 46a of the air nozzle 46 and has increased momentum (see arrow A in FIG. 7B). At this time, the lint filter 45 is rotated at a low speed in the arrow B direction (clockwise direction) in FIG. The lint 41 that has passed from the inner surface to the outer surface (the lint capturing surface 45a) and has been captured by the lint capturing surface 45a by the wind pressure is finally changed over the entire surface while sequentially changing the position with the rotation of the lint filter 45. It is peeled across. The peeled lint 41 is flowed into the lint collection air passage 31 from the inlet 31a of the lint collection air passage 31 together with the air ejected from the air outlet 46a. The air that has flowed into the lint collecting air passage 31 passes through the lint collecting tool 35, passes through a part of the drying unit duct 13 from the outlet 31b, and is sucked into the fan casing 15 from the suction port 15a. Become. At this time, the lint 41 passing through the lint collection air passage 31 is collected in the lint collection net 38 of the lint collection tool 35.

  Even when the lint filter 45 is rotated in the clockwise direction and then in the counterclockwise direction, the air blown from the air outlet 46a is continuously supplied to the lint filter 45 during the rotation. By spraying, the lint 41 captured by the lint filter 45 can be more reliably peeled across the entire surface. The lint filter 45 may be rotated forward and backward a plurality of times.

  During the lint recovery operation, as the air flow circulated by the blower 14, the air discharged from the fan 16 does not pass through the water tank 4 and branches from the circulation air passage 10 as indicated by arrows in FIG. 6. The air nozzle 46 is ejected from the air outlet 46 a of the air nozzle 46 toward the lint recovery air passage 31, and then passes through the lint recovery air passage 31 to flow back to the suction port 15 a of the fan casing 15. Therefore, the flow does not pass through the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21 in the drying unit duct 13 and does not pass through the water tank 4. Therefore, during the lint recovery operation, the flow becomes a flow that does not pass through the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21 and the drum 5, which have a large resistance to the wind flow, and the lint filter 45 can be blown with wind having a higher wind pressure. Therefore, the wind pressure when peeling the lint 41 captured on the lint capture surface 45a of the lint filter 45 can be increased, and the lint 41 can be easily peeled off. Thereby, since this lint collection | recovery operation can be performed efficiently, it becomes possible to complete | finish a lint collection | recovery operation in a short time.

  When the lint collection operation is completed, the drive of the blower 14 is stopped, and the switching damper 32 returns to the first state of FIG. 5 and the second switching damper 48 also returns to the state of FIG. 45 is also returned to the state of FIG. By performing the lint recovery operation described above, the lint filter 45 can be automatically cleaned, and a decrease in the drying performance during the next drying operation can be prevented.

  According to the above-described embodiment, particularly, the lint filter 45 can ensure a larger area of the lint capture surface 45a than the flat plate because the lint capture surface 45a has an arc shape. Even if 41 is accumulated to some extent, it is possible to suppress an increase in air path resistance.

  Further, during the lint collection operation, air is vigorously ejected toward the lint filter 45 from the air outlet 46a in which the air nozzle 46 provided in the rotation center portion of the lint filter 45 is throttled and captured on the lint capture surface 45a. By adopting a configuration in which the lint 41 is peeled off, the wind pressure for peeling the lint 41 can be further increased, and the efficiency of peeling the lint 41 can be improved.

  The air ejected from the air outlet 46a is ejected in the direction of the lint collection air passage 31, so that the lint 41 peeled off by the wind pressure flows more reliably to the lint collection air passage 31 side without scattering around. It becomes possible to collect.

  Since the supply source of the air ejected from the air ejection port 46a to the lint filter 45 is the blower 14 used in the drying operation, the blower 14 can be shared, and the supply source of the air ejected from the air ejection port 46a is used. Unlike the case where it is provided separately, there is an advantage that a dedicated blower is not required.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The third embodiment differs from the second embodiment in the following points.
The lint filter 50 has a double structure of an outer first lint filter 51 and an inner second lint filter 52. These first and second lint filters 51 and 52 have arc shapes in which the respective lint capturing surfaces 51a and 52a are convex, and have a semi-cylindrical shape like the lint filter 45 of the second embodiment. The filter motor 53 is provided so as to be able to rotate forward and backward one by one around the air nozzle 46 serving as the center of rotation. In this case, the mesh size of the mesh of the outer first lint filter 51 is larger (coarse) than the mesh size of the mesh of the inner second lint filter 52. Therefore, the first lint filter 51 is coarse, and the second lint filter 52 is dense, and the roughness of the eyes is different.

  In the above configuration, when the drying operation is performed, the first and second lint filters 51 and 52 have the respective lint capturing surfaces 51a and 52a on the upstream side, as shown in FIG. 5)). Further, the switching damper 32 is in the first state shown in FIG. 8 and closes the inlet 31 a of the lint collection air passage 31. As in the second embodiment, the second switching damper 48 closes the inlet 47a of the air guide path 47 and opens the inlet 18 of the water tank 4 as shown in FIG. And the laundry in the drum 5 is stirred by rotating the drum 5 forward / reversely at a low speed by the motor 7. Moreover, while driving the compressor 23 of the heat pump unit 22, the fan 14 is driven.

  When the blower 14 is driven, the air discharged from the discharge port 15b of the fan casing 15 to the drying chamber inlet duct 11 side is supplied from the inlet 18 of the water tank 4 into the water tank 4 (drying chamber) due to the air blowing action of the fan 16. The The air supplied into the water tub 4 is also supplied into the drum 5 through the holes 6 of the drum 5, and takes moisture from the laundry in the drum 5 and contains moisture. The moisture-containing air is discharged from the outlet 19 of the water tank 4 to the drying chamber outlet duct 12 side. The air discharged from the outlet 19 to the drying chamber outlet duct 12 side passes through the first and second lint filters 51 and 52. The air that has passed through the first and second lint filters 51 and 52 passes through the drying chamber outlet duct 12 and is supplied to the drying unit duct 13 side. The air supplied to the drying unit duct 13 side passes through the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21 in order, and is circulated in such a manner that the air is again sucked into the fan casing 15 from the suction port 15a. In this way, the air in the water tank 4 is circulated through the circulation air passage 10 so that the clothes in the drum 5 are dried.

  In this drying operation, the lint 41 generated from the laundry is mainly captured by the lint capturing surface 51a of the first lint filter 51, and even if the lint 41 passes through the first lint filter 51, the lint 41 is The second lint filter 52 is captured by the lint capturing surface 52a. For this reason, the capture efficiency of the lint 41 is improved.

  Next, a lint collection operation when collecting the lint 41 captured by the lint filter 45 will be described. In the lint recovery operation, as shown in FIG. 9 (a), by setting the switching damper 32 to the second state, one end of the drying chamber outlet duct 12 is closed, and the inlet 31a of the lint recovery air passage 31 is opened. Leave it open. Further, the second switching damper 48 is rotated as shown in FIG. 6 to open the inlet 47 a of the air guide passage 47 and close the inlet 18 of the water tank 4. In this state, the blower 14 is driven. Also at this time, the compressor 23 of the heat pump unit 22 is not driven, and the motor 7 for rotating the drum 5 is not driven.

  When the fan 16 is rotated by driving the blower 14, the air in the fan casing 15 is discharged from the discharge port 15 b to the drying chamber inlet duct 11 side as shown by the arrow in FIG. The air passes through the air guide passage 47 and is ejected from the air ejection port 46a of the air nozzle 46 (see arrow A in FIG. 9B).

  At this time, the first and second lint filters 51 and 52 are rotated one by one by the filter motor 53. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9B, first, the inner second lint filter 52 is rotated in the clockwise direction at a low speed, whereby the air ejected from the air ejection port 46a is The lint 41 that passes from the inner surface of the lint filter 52 toward the outer surface (the lint capturing surface 52a) and is captured by the lint capturing surface 52a by the wind pressure is sequentially peeled off as the second lint filter 52 rotates. . The peeled lint 41 is flowed into the lint collection air passage 31 from the inlet 31a of the lint collection air passage 31 together with the air ejected from the air outlet 46a. When the lint removal of the second lint filter 52 is completed, the second lint filter 52 is returned to the original position (position during the drying operation). Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, by rotating the first outer lint filter 51 in the clockwise direction at a low speed, the air ejected from the air ejection port 46a is changed to the first lint filter. The lint 41 passing through the inner surface 51 toward the outer surface (the lint capturing surface 51 a) and captured by the lint capturing surface 51 a with the wind pressure is sequentially peeled off as the first lint filter 51 rotates. The peeled lint 41 is flowed into the lint collection air passage 31 from the inlet 31a of the lint collection air passage 31 together with the air ejected from the air outlet 46a. When the lint removal of the first lint filter 51 is completed, the first lint filter 51 is also returned to the original position (position during the drying operation).

The lint 41 peeled off from the first and second lint filters 51 and 52 is collected by the lint collection net 38 in the lint collection air passage 31.
Also in the third embodiment configured as described above, basically the same operational effects as those of the second embodiment can be obtained. In addition, since the lint filter 50 has a double structure of the first and second lint filters 51 and 52, the capture rate of the lint 41 can be improved. Specifically, since the outer first lint filter 51 is coarse and the inner second lint filter 52 is denser than that, the fine lint 41 passing through the first lint filter 51 is also the first. The two lint filters 52 can be used for capturing, and the accumulated amount of the lint 41 can be divided by the two lint filters 51 and 52 to reduce the frequency of the lint collection operation.

  Further, although the lint filter 50 has a double structure, when the lint 41 is peeled off, the first and second lint filters 51 and 52 are performed one by one. The lint can be removed reliably.

(Other embodiments)
The dehumidifying means and the heating means for the drying operation are not limited to the evaporator 20 and the condenser 21 of the heat pump unit 22, and a water-cooled heat exchanger is used as the dehumidifying means, and an electric heater is used as the heating means. Good.

  As described above, according to the clothes dryer of the present embodiment, the lint filter can be automatically cleaned by performing the lint collection operation, and the deterioration of the drying performance during the drying operation can be prevented. It is not necessary to clean the lint collection tool every time the lint collection operation is performed. If the amount of lint in the lint collection tool increases after several lint collection operations, the lint collection tool can be removed and cleaned. Good. In the lint recovery operation, the air flow circulated by the air blowing means mainly flows toward the lint recovery air path branched from the circulation air path, so that it does not pass through the dehumidifying means and the heating means. be able to. Therefore, during the lint recovery operation, the air flow does not pass through the dehumidifying means or heating means, which causes a large resistance to the wind flow, and the lint filter can be blown with high wind pressure. The wind pressure at the time of peeling the lint captured in can be increased, and the lint can be easily peeled off. Thereby, this lint collection | recovery driving | operation can be performed efficiently.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example 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, 1 is a washing dryer (clothes dryer), 2 is an outer box, 4 is a water tank (drying chamber), 5 is a drum, 7 is a motor, 10 is a circulation air passage, 11 is a drying chamber inlet duct, 12 is Drying chamber outlet duct, 13 drying unit duct, 14 blower (air blowing means), 18 inlet, 19 outlet, 20 evaporator (dehumidifying means), 21 condenser (heating means), 22 heat pump unit, 28 is a lint filter, 28a is a lint capture surface, 31 is a lint collection air path, 32 is a switching damper (air path switching means), 35 is a lint collection tool, 38 is a lint collection net, 41 is a lint, 45 is a lint filter, 45a is a lint capturing surface, 46 is an air nozzle, 46a is an air outlet, 47 is an air guide, 48 is a second switching damper, 50 is a lint filter, 51 is a first lint filter (outer lint filter) Filter), 51a lint capture surface, 52 second lint filter (inside the lint filter), 52a denotes a lint capturing surface.

Claims (7)

A drying chamber having an inlet and an outlet and containing clothing therein;
A circulating air passage having one end connected to the outlet and the other end connected to the inlet;
An air blowing means provided on the upstream side of the inlet in the circulation air passage, for circulating the air in the drying chamber through the circulation air passage;
A lint filter that is provided in the circulating air path downstream of the outlet and captures lint flowing in the circulating air path;
A dehumidifying means that is provided on the downstream side of the lint filter in the circulating air path and dehumidifies air flowing in the circulating air path;
A heating unit that is provided between the dehumidifying unit and the blowing unit in the circulation air passage, and heats the air in the circulation air passage;
One end is connected to the circulation air passage in the vicinity of the lint filter, and the other end is connected to the circulation air passage between the heating means and the air blowing means, and the lint recovery branched from the circulation air passage. The airway,
The dehumidification of the circulation air passage is provided in the circulation air passage in the vicinity of one end portion of the lint collection air passage, and prevents the air discharged to the lint filter side from flowing to the lint collection air passage side. Air path switching means that switches between a first state that flows to the means side and a second state that flows to the lint recovery air path side in a state that prevents the circulation air path from flowing to the dehumidifying means side;
A lint collection tool detachably provided on the lint collection air passage,
When the lint filter captures lint in the circulation air path, the lint capture surface of the lint filter faces the upstream side and faces the outlet side of the drying chamber, and the air path switching means is the first air path switching means. In the state set to 1 state, the lint flowing in the circulating air passage is captured on the lint capturing surface based on driving the air blowing means,
When the lint captured by the lint capture surface is collected by the lint collection tool, the lint capture surface of the lint filter faces the lint collection air path side with the lint capture surface downstream, and the air path switching means is A clothes dryer, wherein the lint captured by the lint capturing surface is collected by the lint collecting tool based on driving the air blowing means in the second state.   The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the lint filter has a lint capturing surface having an arc shape.   The lint capture surface has an arc shape and includes an air outlet at the center of rotation of the lint filter. When collecting the lint captured by the lint filter, air is ejected from the air outlet toward the lint filter. 3. The clothes dryer according to claim 2, wherein the lint captured on the lint capturing surface is peeled off.   The clothes dryer according to claim 3, wherein the air ejected from the air ejection port is ejected in the direction of the lint collection air path.   An air guide path is provided for guiding the air sent out from the air blowing means to the air outlet, and the air supply source to be ejected from the air outlet when peeling the lint from the lint capturing surface is the air blowing means. The clothes dryer according to claim 3 or 4, characterized by the above.   The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the lint filter has a double structure centering on the air outlet at the center of rotation.   The clothes dryer according to claim 6, wherein the double-structured lint filter has a larger mesh size of the mesh of the outer lint filter than the mesh of the inner lint filter.

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