JP2012196393A - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clothes dryer capable of detecting optimal dryness of clothes in accordance with the volume and dampness of the clothes and setting values therefor, setting an optimal delay time in accordance with the weight of the clothes, and efficiently drying the clothes, thereby allowing contribution to energy saving.SOLUTION: After starting the drying operation, an initial temperature rising change of hot air is measured by a thermistor (S2), to determine the volume of clothes in the undried state (S3). Then, it is determined whether or not the temperature changes in a certain pattern (S4), and determined using an electrode whether or not the resistivity of the surface of the clothes is greater than a certain value (S5). If the resistivity is greater than the certain value, it is determined that the clothes are almost dried (S6), and the time required for drying the clothes is calculated (S7). By doing this, the volume of water evaporated from the clothes in the drying process is calculated to some extent (S8). Based on the volume of the clothes and the volume of water calculated in this way, the weight of the clothes in the dried state is calculated (S9). Then, the delay time passed after the determination that the clothes are dried based on this volume of the clothes is set as a function of the weight of the clothes (S10).

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothes dryer having resistance detecting means for detecting the dry state of clothes and the like, and temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of blown air, for drying clothes and the like in a non-dry state after washing. is there.

  In recent years, clothes dryers equipped with a control device that automatically stops operation have become the mainstream in order to improve usability.

  Conventionally, this type of clothes dryer has a structure as shown in FIG. The configuration will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in the figure, a motor 62 is suspended above the main body 51, and the fan 65 and the rotary drum 53 provided on the back side of the main body 51 are driven by the motor 62 via belts 63 and 64. A clothing outlet 54 formed on the front surface of the rotating drum 53 has a hot air outlet 60 on the front side of the air blowing chamber 58 and opens on the front surface of the main body 51 and is opened and closed by a door 55. A fan 65 is disposed in the blower chamber 58, an evaporator 67 is disposed on the upstream side, and a condenser 66 is disposed on the downstream side inside the heat exchange chamber 59, and a heat pump is provided together with an expansion mechanism 69 such as a compressor 68 and a capillary tube. It is composed.

  First, the high-humidity air from the drying chamber 56 in the rotating drum 53 is cooled and dehumidified by the evaporator 67, and then becomes dry air to reach the condenser 66, where it is heated to become high-temperature and low-humidity air. And this high temperature, low humidity air is supplied to the drying chamber 56 from the hot air blower outlet 60, and is used for drying of the clothing A in it (for example, refer patent document 1).

  In addition, there is a clothes dryer that is provided with a resistance detection means for measuring the surface resistance value of the clothes as described above to detect the dry state of the clothes and automatically stops the drying operation based on this information. It was. Reference numeral 61 in FIG. 8 denotes an electrode which is a resistance detecting means, which is attached in the rotary drum 53 so as to come into contact with the clothing A which is an object to be dried. The electrode 61 is composed of two conductive members and an insulating member, and detects the dry state of the clothing A by detecting a resistance value r between the conductive members. Reference numeral 70 denotes a thermistor as a temperature detecting means, which detects the temperature of the high-humidity air blown from the rotating drum 53. In this clothes dryer, as shown in FIG. 9, the operation is performed at a time t4 when a certain delay time T3 has elapsed from a time t2 when the resistance value r between the conductive members becomes larger than the set value b continuously for a predetermined time T1. Is supposed to end. Moreover, FIG. 10 has shown the temperature change of the blowing air obtained from the several thermistor at that time (for example, refer patent document 2).

JP 7-178289 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-25397

  However, since the delay time T3 is constant in the above-described conventional configuration, there is a problem that it becomes overdried or undried depending on the amount of the object to be dried or the wetness.

Further, by utilizing the fact that the temperature difference Td between a plurality of thermistors varies depending on the amount of the object to be dried, the amount of the object to be dried is known by comparing the temperature difference Td with a plurality of set values. However, it is necessary to use multiple thermistors, and the amount of dry matter that can be detected is the amount of non-dry state that contains water, and the weight of the dry state of the dry matter is accurately detected. There was a problem that it was not possible.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional clothes dryer, and can detect the optimum drying according to the weight, wetness, and set value of the clothes to obtain various dry states. An object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer that can set an optimum delay time according to the weight of clothes after drying, can efficiently dry clothes, and can contribute to energy saving.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a clothes dryer according to the present invention includes resistance detection means for detecting a resistance value of clothes by contacting the clothes in the rotating drum, and hot air blown from the rotating drum during drying. A clothes dryer having temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the paper and control means for taking in information from the resistance detection means and the temperature detection means and controlling the drying operation, wherein the control means includes the temperature detection means The volume of the non-dried garment put into the rotating drum is detected from the information obtained from the above, the drying is detected from the information obtained from the resistance detecting means and the temperature detecting means, and drying is performed from the time required for drying. This is a clothes dryer that detects the weight of clothes in a state and sets a delay time after drying according to the weight of clothes.

  By doing in this way, the control means can detect the weight of the clothes and the dry state by taking in the information of the temperature detection means and the resistance detection means, and recognizing and judging these fluctuations. Optimizes dryness detection according to the wetness and set value, can obtain various dry conditions, sets the optimal delay time according to the clothing weight after drying, and efficiently drys clothing It is possible to improve energy saving, accuracy and reliability against clothes drying.

  According to the clothes dryer of the present invention, the capacity of the clothes is detected from the temperature rise change at the initial stage of operation from the temperature detection means, the final drying detection is performed from the temperature detection means and the resistance detection means, and this drying is required. By detecting the weight of clothing from the time and setting the delay time after drying based on this clothing weight, it is possible to perform optimal drying detection according to the weight, wetness, and setting value of the clothing. A dry state can be obtained, and an optimal delay time can be set according to the weight of the clothes after drying, so that the clothes can be efficiently dried and the detection accuracy of the dry state can be improved. In the operation control of the machine, it is possible to achieve an optimal dry state, and it is possible to reliably improve energy saving, accuracy, and reliability for clothes drying.

Sectional drawing of the clothes dryer of the 1st Embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows the processing procedure of the clothes dryer The graph which shows the time change of the temperature which the temperature detection means of the clothes dryer detects The graph which shows the time change of the temperature detected by the temperature detection means of the clothes dryer and the resistance value detected by the resistance detection means The graph which shows the time change of the temperature detected by the temperature detection means of the clothes dryer and the resistance value detected by the resistance detection means The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the clothes dryer of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The graph which shows the time change of the temperature detected by the temperature detection means of the clothes dryer and the resistance value detected by the resistance detection means Cross section of conventional clothes dryer The graph which shows the time change of the resistance value which the resistance detection means of the clothes dryer detects The graph which shows the time change of the temperature which the temperature detection means of the clothes dryer detects

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided resistance detection means for detecting a resistance value of a garment in contact with clothes in a rotary drum, temperature detection means for detecting a temperature of hot air blown from the rotary drum during drying, and the resistance A clothes dryer having control means for taking in the information from the detection means and the temperature detection means and controlling the drying operation, the control means being put into the rotating drum from the information obtained from the temperature detection means The capacity of the non-dry clothes is detected, the dryness is detected from the information obtained from the resistance detection means and the temperature detection means, the dry clothes weight is detected from the time required for drying, and the clothes weight is detected. The clothes dryer which sets the delay time after drying according to is provided.

  Thus, the present invention can detect the weight and dry state of the garment by taking in the information of the temperature detecting means and the resistance detecting means into the control means, and recognizing and judging these fluctuations. Optimizes dryness detection according to the wetness and set value, can obtain various dry conditions, sets the optimal delay time according to the clothing weight after drying, and efficiently drys clothing It is possible to improve the energy saving, accuracy, and reliability for drying clothes.

  The second invention provides a clothes dryer in which the control means compares the information obtained from the resistance detection means with two or more threshold values, and divides the information into three or more dry states. is there.

  Thus, the present invention captures the information of the resistance detection means in the control means, detects the optimal dry state in more detail according to the weight, wetness, and set value of the clothing, and obtains various dry states. Thus, the clothes can be efficiently dried, and the energy saving, accuracy, and reliability with respect to the clothes drying can be surely improved.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the control means detects the capacity of the non-dry clothes put in the rotating drum based on the information on the temperature rise change in the initial operation obtained from the temperature detection means. A clothes dryer is provided.

  Thereby, the present invention can detect the capacity of the clothes, the dry state by taking in the information of the temperature rise change at the initial stage of operation from the temperature detecting means to the control means, and recognizing and determining these fluctuations, The clothes can be efficiently dried, and energy saving, accuracy, and reliability with respect to clothes drying can be reliably improved.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the control means performs final drying when the temperature change information obtained from the temperature detection means exhibits a predetermined behavior, and the information obtained from the resistance detection means exceeds a predetermined threshold. The present invention provides a clothes dryer that can be determined.

  Thus, the present invention incorporates the information of the temperature detection means and the resistance detection means into the control means, and recognizes and determines these fluctuations, thereby detecting the optimum dryness detection according to the weight, wetness, and set value of the clothing. Various drying states can be obtained, final drying can be determined, clothes can be efficiently dried, and energy saving, accuracy and reliability for clothes drying are reliably improved. It is something that can be done.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clothes dryer wherein the control means varies the threshold value to be compared with the information obtained from the resistance detection means in accordance with a change in a set value such as a drying level or a drying rotation speed. Is.

  Thus, the present invention incorporates the information of the resistance detection means into the control means, recognizes and determines these fluctuations, and performs optimal dryness detection according to the weight, wetness, and set value of the clothing. It is possible to obtain a dry state, and to reliably improve energy saving, accuracy and reliability for clothes drying.

  According to a sixth aspect of the invention, the control means determines the amount of water taken out from the clothing from the time required for drying, and determines the weight of the clothing in the dry state from the amount of water and the capacity of the non-dry clothing. A clothes dryer is provided.

  Thus, the present invention takes in the information of the temperature detection means and the resistance detection means to the control means, recognizes these fluctuations, and determines the weight of the clothes in the dry state, thereby determining the weight of the clothes, the wetness, the set value. Accordingly, it is possible to detect the optimum drying according to the condition, efficiently dry the clothes, and reliably improve the energy saving, accuracy, and reliability with respect to the clothes drying.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clothes dryer, wherein the control means sets a delay time after drying as a function of the weight of the clothes based on the weight of the clothes in the dry state.

  As a result, the present invention incorporates the information of the temperature detection means and the resistance detection means into the control means, can set the optimum delay time according to the weight of the clothes after drying, can efficiently dry the clothes, Energy saving, accuracy, and reliability for drying can be reliably improved.

  Further, in the operation method of the clothes dryer, a detection step of detecting the capacity of the clothing, a determination step of determining the dry state and the weight of the clothing after the detection step, and feeding back the determination result, the clothes dryer A program for causing a computer to execute at least a part of a drying process for controlling a delay time after drying is provided.

  Since these control methods are programs, at least a part of the operation method of the clothes dryer of the present invention can be easily realized by cooperating hardware resources such as electrical / information equipment, a computer, and a server. In addition, the program can be distributed / updated and installed easily by recording on a recording medium or distributing the program using a communication line.

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

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a clothes dryer according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a motor 12 is suspended from an upper part of a main body 1, and a fan 15 and a rotary drum 3 provided on the back side of the main body 1 are rotationally driven around a shaft 2 by a motor 12 via belts 13 and 14. . A clothing blower opening 4 formed on the front surface of the rotating drum 3 has a hot air outlet 10 on the front side of the air blowing chamber 8, and is opened and closed by the door 5. A fan 15 is disposed in the blower chamber 8, an evaporator 17 is disposed on the upstream side, and a condenser 16 is disposed on the downstream side inside the heat exchange chamber 9, and a heat pump 21 together with an expansion mechanism 19 such as a compressor 18 and a capillary tube. Is configured.

  The high-humidity air exhausted from the drying chamber 6 in the rotating drum 3 through the exhaust port 22 is cooled by the evaporator 17 and dehumidified, and then becomes dry air to reach the condenser 16 where it is heated and heated to high-temperature and low-humidity air. Become. The high-temperature and low-humidity air is supplied again from the hot air outlet 10 into the drying chamber 6 through the circulation path 7 and is used for drying the clothes A therein.

  The electrode 11 is resistance detection means, and is attached to the lower part in the vicinity of the door 5 in the rotary drum 3 so as to come into contact with the clothing A that is an object to be dried. The electrode 11 is constituted by two conductive members and an insulating member, and the clothing 11 is dried by detecting the surface resistance of the clothing when the clothing A comes into contact with the rotating drum 3 as a resistance value r between the conductive members. Detect state. The resistance detecting means using the electrode 11 has a small resistance value r when the humidity of the clothes is high, and a high resistance value r when the humidity is low.

  The thermistor 20 is a temperature detection means, is installed in the vicinity of the exhaust port 22 of the rotary drum 3, and detects the temperature of the high-humidity air blown out from the rotary drum 3.

  Further, the control means 23 includes a processing procedure stored in advance as a program, a dry level selected by the user, a drying mode, a drying course, etc., and from the electrode 11 (resistance detection means) and the thermistor 20 (temperature detection means). Based on the information, the motor 12, the heat pump 21 and the like are controlled to perform the drying operation.

  In the clothes dryer configured as described above, the operation and action of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the clothes dryer according to the embodiment. The flow in the present embodiment will be described below.

  First, non-dried clothes to be dried are put into the rotary drum 3 of the clothes dryer (step S0). The dry level and various settings of the clothes dryer are set, and the drying operation is started by pressing the operation button (step S1). Thereafter, the drying operation is automatically executed under the control of the control means 23. When the drying operation is started, hot air warmed by the heat pump 21 is introduced into the drying chamber 6 in the rotary drum 3, and this hot air is heated from the rotary drum 3 through the exhaust port 22 after warming the clothes. The temperature rise change of the first 5 minutes of the hot air blown out is measured by the thermistor 20 (step S2). This change in temperature rise is small when the volume of clothing is large, and large when the volume of clothing is small. Due to this relationship, the temperature of the temperature rise in the rotating drum 3 is detected by the thermistor 20 installed in the vicinity of the exhaust port 22 of the rotating drum 3 so that the water of the clothing put into the rotating drum 3 is removed. All the capacities included are determined (step S3).

  Next, after the temperature of the hot air blown from the rotating drum 3 becomes constant and the drying progresses, it is determined whether or not a pattern of a temperature change that once rises and becomes constant again is determined. (Step S4). After detecting the presence or absence of such behavior, the resistance value of the surface of the garment is larger than a predetermined value, for example, 100 MΩ, using the electrode 11 that contacts the garment in the rotary drum 3 and measures the resistance value of the surface. Whether or not (step S5). If it is larger, it is determined that the clothes are almost dried and the final drying is determined (step S6).

  From this, the time required for drying is obtained (step S7). If the drying time is known, the amount of water evaporated from the clothing in the drying process is detected to some extent from the drying temperature and the clothing capacity at this time (step S8). The weight of the clothing excluding moisture is obtained from the thus obtained clothing capacity and the amount of water (step S9).

  A delay time until the operation is stopped after determining the final drying based on the weight of the clothing is set as a function of the weight of the clothing (step S10).

For example, when 6 kg of non-dried clothes such as towels and sheets are dried on a cotton course, the capacity of these clothes is detected as about 6 kg from the temperature rise change of the thermistor 20 in the first 5 minutes. Thereafter, the drying is determined from the temperature rise change of the thermistor 20 and the resistance value of the surface of the clothing from the electrode 11, and when it is determined that the drying is performed at 70 ° C. for about 120 minutes, it is determined that about 1 kg of water has been removed. The weight of the dry clothes is determined to be about 5 kg. From the above, the delay time after drying is set to about 10 minutes, which is the time matched to the weight of clothing 5 kg.

  Thus, the capacity of the non-dried clothing is detected from the temperature rise change at the initial stage of operation from the temperature detection means (thermistor 20), and the final dryness detection is performed from the temperature detection means and resistance detection means (electrode 11). , Estimate the amount of water taken from the time required for this drying, detect the weight of the clothing in the dry state from these, set the final delay time after drying based on this clothing weight, Optimum dryness detection can be performed according to the wetness and setting value, various dry states can be obtained, and the optimal delay time according to the clothing weight can be set after drying, so that the clothing can be efficiently dried It is possible to improve the detection accuracy of the dry state, it is possible to achieve an optimal dry state in the operation control of the clothes dryer, energy saving, accuracy, -Reliability can be reliably improved.

  Changes in the outputs of the temperature detection means (thermistor 20) and resistance detection means (electrode 11) of the clothes dryer during the series of drying steps will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS.

  First, FIG. 3 shows the time change of the temperature detected by the initial temperature detection means (thermistor 20) when the operation is started and the temperature rise is started. From the temperature rise change in the time until the first t0, it is possible to detect the capacity of the clothes before drying in which the water thrown into the rotary drum 3 has permeated. It can be said that the change in temperature rise is small when the capacity of the clothes is large, and the change in temperature rise is large when the capacity of the clothes is small (steps S0 to S3 described above).

  Next, when the drying proceeds, the behavior shown in FIG. 4 is exhibited. 4, (a) shows the time change of the temperature detected by the temperature detection means (thermistor 20), and (b) shows the time change of the resistance value detected by the resistance detection means (electrode 11). When the end of drying is approached, the same amount of heat is applied even though there is no moisture, so the temperature of the temperature detection means (thermistor 20) rises slightly and again shows a constant temperature. When this series of temperature fluctuation patterns is obtained and the resistance value, which is the output from the resistance detection means (electrode 11), is also greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value a, the final drying is determined at time ta (steps S4 to S6 described above). .

  The time from t0 to ta obtained in this way is the time required for drying, and the amount of water evaporated by drying can be obtained from this time and the volume of clothing first obtained in step S3. The weight of the clothes after final drying is obtained from the amount of water and the capacity of the clothes first obtained (steps S7 to S9 described above).

  From the weight of the garment thus obtained, the control device automatically sets a delay time after drying suitable for the weight of the garment. The behavior at this time is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, (a) shows the time change of the temperature detected by the temperature detection means (thermistor 20), and (b) shows the time change of the resistance value detected by the resistance detection means (electrode 11). The delay time Tb until the operation stop tc after determining the drying is changed according to the weight of the clothes (step S10 described above).

  Thus, if the initial temperature change is small by the temperature detection means, it is determined that the volume of the clothing is large, and if the drying time is long with respect to this clothing capacity, it is determined that the amount of water contained in the clothing is large. The weight of the dried clothes is determined to be less than the initial assumption, the final delay time after drying is slightly increased, and the clothes are dried to an optimum state.

That is, when non-dry clothes are put in the rotating drum and the drying operation is started, the initial temperature rise rate of change is detected by the temperature detecting means, and if the temperature rise rate of change is small or large, The capacity of the clothes put in is judged, the temperature becomes constant to some extent, the drying starts, the temperature rises a little, becomes constant again, and shows a predetermined pattern, the output from the resistance detection means at this time is If it is detected and the surface resistance value of the clothing obtained from this output is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the drying is almost finished. Since the drying time is known from this, the amount of water taken out is detected from this drying time and the temperature at the time of drying, and the weight after drying is determined by removing the water of clothing from this amount of water. Thus, the optimum post-drying delay time is automatically set and executed according to the weight of the garment.

  In the present embodiment, the electrode 11 that is the resistance detecting means can be realized by one if it is of a type that can output a resistance value in an analog manner. Moreover, although the installation position of the electrode 11 is the lower part in the vicinity of the door 5 in the rotary drum 3, it may be a lateral part in the vicinity of the door 5.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the capacity of the non-dried garment is detected from the temperature rise change at the initial stage of operation from the temperature detection means, and the final dryness detection is performed from the temperature detection means and the resistance detection means, By detecting the weight of clothes from the time required for drying and setting the final delay time after drying based on the weight of clothes, optimal drying detection is performed according to the weight of the clothes, the wetness, and the set value. It can be performed, various dry states can be obtained, and an optimum delay time can be set according to the weight of the clothes after drying, so that the clothes can be efficiently dried and the detection accuracy of the dry state is improved. Therefore, it is possible to achieve an optimal drying state in the operation control of the clothes dryer, and to reliably improve energy saving, accuracy, and reliability with respect to the automatic operation of clothes drying.

  In particular, in a clothes dryer, heat is applied to the clothes to dry it, so that the amount of energy consumption is very large, and it is necessary to reduce this energy consumption as much as possible. Also, if the temperature is too high, clothing will be damaged, so the temperature should be as low as possible. Therefore, optimizing the delay time after drying by detecting the volume of clothing, determining the amount of water contained in the clothing, and detecting the weight of the clothing is very efficient against drying, It is possible to dry clothes with excellent energy saving and reliability.

  The present invention is particularly useful for household clothes dryers having a relatively small volume of clothes, but may be a commercial clothes dryer or a laundry dryer equipped with a drying means. .

(Embodiment 2)
Next, the operation and action of the present invention in the clothes dryer according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the whole structure as a clothes dryer is the same as that of the said Embodiment 1, and FIG. 1 is used and detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the clothes dryer according to the embodiment. The flow in the present embodiment will be described below.

  First, non-dried clothes to be dried are put into the rotary drum 3 of the clothes dryer (step S20). Various setting changes such as the dry level, drying speed, and low temperature mode of the clothes dryer are performed (step S21). When the setting value of the clothes dryer is changed, the threshold value for the resistance value of the resistance detecting means (electrode 11) is changed according to the changed setting value (step S22).

After changing the setting value of the clothes dryer, when the operation button is pressed, the drying operation is started (step S23). Thereafter, the drying operation is automatically executed under the control of the control means 23. When the drying operation is started, hot air warmed by the heat pump 21 is introduced into the drying chamber 6 in the rotary drum 3, and this hot air is heated from the rotary drum 3 through the exhaust port 22 after warming the clothes. The thermistor 2 changes the temperature rise of the hot air blown out for the first 5 minutes.
Measure at zero. This change in temperature increase is small when the volume of clothing is large, and is large when the volume of clothing is small (step S24). Due to this relationship, the temperature of the temperature rise in the rotating drum 3 is detected by the thermistor 20 installed in the vicinity of the exhaust port 22 of the rotating drum 3 so that the water of the clothing put into the rotating drum 3 is removed. All the capacities included are determined (step S25).

  Next, after the temperature of the hot air blown from the rotating drum 3 becomes constant and the drying progresses, it is determined whether or not a pattern of a temperature change that once rises and becomes constant again is determined. (Step S26). After detecting the presence or absence of such behavior, the electrode 11 is used to contact the clothing in the rotating drum 3 and measure the resistance value of the surface. It is determined whether or not the resistance value of the surface of the clothes is greater than a predetermined value, for example, 10 MΩ (step S27). If it is larger, the dry state is changed and the process proceeds to the next step (step S28). When the drying further proceeds and the resistance value on the surface of the clothes exceeds a plurality of threshold values, for example, 10, 50, and 100 MΩ (step S29), it is determined that the clothes have almost been dried (step S30).

  From this, the time required for drying is obtained (step S31). If the drying time is known, the amount of water evaporated from the clothing by the drying process is detected to some extent from the drying temperature and the clothing capacity at this time (step S32). The weight of the clothing excluding moisture is obtained from the thus obtained clothing capacity and the amount of water (step S33).

  A delay time until the operation is stopped after determining the final drying based on the weight of the clothing is set as a function of the weight of the clothing (step S34).

  For example, when 8 kg of non-dry clothes such as towels and sheets are dried on a cotton course, the capacity of these clothes is detected as about 8 kg from the temperature rise change of the thermistor 20 in the first 5 minutes. After that, when drying is determined from the temperature rise change of the thermistor 20 and the resistance value of the surface of the clothing from the electrode 11, when it is determined that drying is performed at 70 ° C. for about 150 minutes, it is determined that about 1.5 kg of water has been removed. Thus, it is determined that the weight of the dry clothes is about 6.5 kg. From the above, the delay time after drying is set to about 15 minutes, which is the time adjusted to the weight of clothing of 6.5 kg.

  Thus, the capacity of the non-dried clothing is detected from the temperature rise change at the initial stage of operation from the temperature detection means (thermistor 20), and the final dryness detection is performed from the temperature detection means and resistance detection means (electrode 11). By estimating the amount of water taken from the time required for drying, detecting the weight of the dried clothes from these, and setting the final delay time until shutdown after drying based on the weight of the clothes, Optimal drying detection can be performed according to the weight, wetness, and setting value of clothing, and various dry states can be obtained by setting multiple thresholds, and optimal delay time according to clothing weight after drying Therefore, it is possible to efficiently dry the clothes, improve the detection accuracy of the dry state, and achieve an optimal dry state in the operation control of the clothes dryer. Energy saving for automatic operation of the kind drying, accuracy, it is possible to reliably improve the reliability.

  Changes in the outputs of the temperature detector (thermistor 20) and resistance detector (electrode 11) of the clothes dryer during the drying process will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7, (a) shows the time change of the temperature detected by the temperature detection means (thermistor 20) until the operation starts and the temperature rise starts and the drying is detected, and (b) shows the resistance detection means (electrode 11). This shows the time change of the resistance value detected by.

As described above, various setting values such as the dry level, the rotation speed, and the low-temperature mode are changed according to the non-dry clothes that have been put in, and the resistance detection means (electrodes) according to the changed setting values. 11) The threshold value is changed for the resistance value, and the drying operation is started. From the temperature rise change in the first about 5 minutes, it is possible to detect the capacity of the clothes before drying in which the water charged in the rotary drum 3 has soaked. It can be said that the change in temperature rise is small when the volume of clothes is large, and the change in temperature rise is large when the volume of clothes is small (steps S20 to S25 described above).

  As the drying progresses and the end of drying is approached, the same amount of heat is applied even though there is no moisture, so the temperature of the temperature detection means (thermistor 20) slightly rises and again reaches a constant temperature. When this series of temperature fluctuation patterns is obtained and the resistance value output from the resistance detection means (electrode 11) exceeds a threshold value a3 (for example, 10 MΩ) in the time of te, the next step of drying, for example, an ironing process Migrate to As the drying further proceeds, the resistance value further increases. When the threshold value a2 (for example, 50 MΩ) is exceeded at the time td, the process proceeds to the next step of drying, for example, a cabinet process. In this way, after each step, when the output from the electrode 11 is equal to or higher than the final threshold a1 (for example, 100 MΩ), it is determined that the final drying is performed at the time ta (steps S26 to S30 described above).

  The plurality of threshold values a1, a2, and a3 are associated with various setting changes such as the dry level, the drying rotation speed, and the low temperature mode that are executed in step S21 prior to the start of the drying operation in step S23. I am going to change it as one set. Further, although the plurality of threshold values are ternary in the present embodiment, similar operations and actions can be realized as long as they are two or more.

  In this way, the resistance value obtained from the resistance detection means is determined by a plurality of threshold values, and the optimum drying process is performed by changing these threshold values according to the change of the setting value of the clothes dryer. It is possible to accurately detect the dry state and the completion of drying. For example, when the drying level, which is the setting value of the clothes dryer, is set to a high value, the threshold value for the resistance value obtained from the resistance detection means is set high, and the time required for drying is also longer than usual, and is detected as dry. Time is ta + α.

  That is, when non-dry clothes are put in the rotating drum and the drying operation is started, the initial temperature rise rate of change is detected by the temperature detecting means, and if the temperature rise rate of change is small or large, The capacity of the clothes put in is judged, the temperature becomes constant to some extent, the drying starts, the temperature rises a little, becomes constant again, and shows a predetermined pattern, the output from the resistance detection means at this time is If it is detected and the surface resistance value of the clothing obtained from the output is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the drying is almost finished. Since the drying time is known from this, the amount of water taken out is detected from this drying time and the temperature at the time of drying, and the weight after drying is determined by removing the water of clothing from this amount of water. Thus, the optimum post-drying delay time is automatically set and executed according to the weight of the garment.

  In the present embodiment, the electrode 11 that is the resistance detection unit needs to correspond to the plurality of threshold values a1, a2, and a3. However, if the control unit 23 has information on the plurality of threshold values and determination logic, the electrode 11 11 can be realized by a single type that can output a resistance value in an analog manner. Further, the electrode 11 is of a type that is digitally turned on / off having threshold information in itself, and includes a plurality of electrodes 11 corresponding to the number of thresholds, and the control unit 23 processes only the difference in threshold change. The configuration may be simplified.

As described above, according to the present invention, the information of the temperature detection means and the resistance detection means is taken into the control means, these fluctuations are recognized and determined, and a plurality of thresholds for the output from the resistance detection means are set, By changing these threshold values according to the setting value of the clothes dryer, the weight and dry state of the clothes can be detected, and the optimum drying detection is performed according to the weight, wetness and setting value of the clothes, and various drying The condition can be obtained, the optimal delay time can be set according to the weight of the clothes after drying, the clothes can be efficiently dried, and the energy saving, accuracy and reliability for drying the clothes are surely improved. Can do. Further, since the threshold value for the resistance value obtained from the resistance detection means is changed with respect to the change in the set value of the clothes dryer, an optimum dry state for the drying operation can be obtained.

  In addition, in order to perform the drying operation of the above processing procedure by the control means of these clothes dryers, a unique computer-readable program characterized by recording a program to be executed by the CPU computer is required. . The means described in the above embodiments is a program for cooperating hardware resources such as a CPU (or microcomputer), a RAM, a ROM, a storage / recording device, an electrical / information device including an I / O, a computer, a server, etc. You may implement with the form. In the form of a program, it is possible to easily distribute / update new functions and install them by recording them on a recording medium such as magnetic media or optical media, or by using a communication line such as the Internet.

  As described above, the present invention can detect the weight and dry state of clothing by incorporating the information of the temperature detection means and the resistance detection means into the control means, and recognizing and determining these fluctuations. Depending on the weight, wetness, and set value of the product, it is possible to detect the most suitable drying and obtain various dry conditions. After drying, the optimal delay time can be set according to the weight of the clothing, and the clothing can be efficiently dried. It is possible to reliably improve energy saving, accuracy and reliability for clothes drying, and is useful for household clothes dryers. Further, the present invention can be used not only for home use but also for a clothes dryer for business use such as an office or a factory, and also a washing and drying machine provided with a drying means.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 3 Rotating drum 4 Clothing inlet 5 Door 6 Drying chamber 8 Blower chamber 10 Hot-air outlet 11 Electrode (resistance detection means)
12 motor 15 fan 20 thermistor (temperature detection means)
22 Exhaust port 23 Control means

Claims (7)

Resistance detection means for detecting the resistance value of the clothes in contact with the clothes in the rotary drum, temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of hot air blown from the rotary drum during drying, the resistance detection means and the temperature detection means A clothes dryer having control means for taking in the information from and controlling the drying operation,
The control means detects the volume of the non-dried clothes put into the rotating drum from the information obtained from the temperature detection means, and detects the drying from the information obtained from the resistance detection means and the temperature detection means. A clothes dryer which detects the weight of clothes in a dry state from the time required for drying and sets a delay time after drying according to the weight of the clothes. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the control means compares the information obtained from the resistance detection means with two or more threshold values, and divides the information into three or more dry states. 3. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit detects the volume of the non-dry clothes put in the rotary drum based on the information on the temperature rise change in the initial operation obtained from the temperature detection unit. The clothes dryer described. The control means determines that the final drying is performed when the temperature change information obtained from the temperature detection means exhibits a predetermined behavior and the information obtained from the resistance detection means exceeds a predetermined threshold. Item 4. The clothes dryer according to any one of Items 1 to 3. 5. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit varies a threshold value to be compared with information obtained from the resistance detection unit in accordance with a change in a set value such as a drying level or a drying rotation number. Clothes dryer. The control means determines the amount of water taken out from the clothes from the time required for drying, and determines the weight of the clothes in the dry state from the amount of water and the capacity of the non-dry clothes. The clothes dryer of any one of Claims. The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control means sets a delay time after drying as a function of the clothes weight based on the weight of the clothes in the dry state.