JP2016165368A - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clothes dryer that can finish a drying operation at an excellent timing without being affected by an outside air temperature and suppress a cloth damage and a cloth shrinkage due to over-drying and can improve energy saving performance by grasping a generation degree of dehumidification water to grasp a dry state of clothes.SOLUTION: The clothes dryer comprises in a housing 2: an outer tub 1 having an air inlet 20 and an air outlet 15 for drying air; an air circulation path 14 communicatively connecting the air inlet and the air outlet; a blower 19 for blowing drying air into the outer tub through the air circulation path; a heat pump device 23 having an evaporator 17 and a condenser 18 disposed in the air circulation path; a water collection and drain passage 26 through which dehumidification water generated in the heat pump device is collected and drained; a dehumidification water sensor 28 for detecting that water passes through the water collection and drain passage; and a control apparatus 27 for controlling a drying operation. The control apparatus changes an output of the heat pump device in accordance with a generation degree of dehumidification water grasped by a detection with the dehumidification water sensor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

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

  In recent years, for example, in a domestic drier, a drier that performs a drying operation using a heat pump device has been provided in place of a conventional drier using a heater for heating. The heat pump device is configured by connecting a compressor, a condenser, a capillary tube, and an evaporator in a closed loop by a refrigerant pipe. The dryer includes a circulation ventilation path for returning the air in the drying chamber containing the clothing to the drying chamber through the evaporator and the condenser in order. An air blower is provided in the circulation passage, and the air is dried by driving the air blower. The drying air is heated by the condenser and supplied to the drying chamber. After the moisture of the laundry such as clothes is taken away, it is cooled by the evaporator, dehumidified, and heated again by the condenser. Is called. The drying method using this heat pump device has advantages such as excellent energy efficiency and a low heating temperature and less wrinkles and shrinkage compared to a drying method using a heater.

  A conventional dryer includes temperature detection means in the air circulation path, and determines the end of drying based on the temperature difference of the temperature detection means (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This type of dryer will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7. FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a conventional dryer. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a conventional air circulation mechanism and a heat pump device. FIG. 7 is a graph showing changes in the temperature at the entrance and exit of the drying chamber during a drying operation in a conventional dryer.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the dryer 102 includes an outer tub 103 and a rotating drum 104 as a drying chamber 101 in which clothes are stored, and a blower 119. The blower 119 circulates the air in the drying chamber 101 so as to return to the drying chamber 101 (the outer tub 103 and the rotating drum 104) through the circulation vent 114 when the drying step is executed. Further, the dryer 102 detects the heat pump device 123 in which the evaporator 117 and the condenser 118 are arranged in the circulation ventilation path 114, and the inlet air temperature supplied to the drying chamber 101 and the outlet air temperature discharged. An inlet temperature sensor 125 and an outlet temperature sensor 124 are provided. Furthermore, the control apparatus 127 which controls the whole driving | operation of the dryer 102 and judges completion | finish of drying based on the temperature difference of inlet air temperature and outlet air temperature is provided. The evaporator 117 and the condenser 118 constitute a heat pump cycle in which the refrigerant circulates by the operation of the compressor 121 and the like. That is, the high-humidity air discharged from the drying chamber 101 is cooled by the evaporator 117 and dehumidified. Here, the drying air whose absolute humidity has decreased reaches the condenser 118 through the circulation ventilation path 114. The drying air that has passed through the condenser 118 is heated to become high-temperature and low-humidity air, and is blown into the drying chamber 101 from the air supply port 120 through the circulation ventilation path 114 to dry the clothes.

  The operation of each mechanism of the dryer 102 is controlled by the control device 127. The control device 127 determines the end of the drying step as follows. That is, the inlet temperature sensor 125 that detects the temperature of the drying air at the inlet portion of the drying chamber 101 and the outlet that detects the temperature of the drying air at the outlet portion of the drying chamber 101 provided in the circulation ventilation path 114. A signal from the temperature sensor 124 is input to the control device 127. After the start of the drying step, the control device 127 constantly monitors the temperature difference between the inlet air temperature and the outlet air temperature detected by the temperature sensors.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the drying operation is started and the body of the dryer is warmed, and the clothing is fully dried, the temperature detected by the inlet temperature sensor 125 of the drying chamber 101 becomes constant. On the other hand, the wet clothing in the drying chamber 101 takes away the amount of heat of the heated drying air flowing from the drying chamber inlet. For this reason, the temperature detected by the outlet temperature sensor 124 is considerably lower than the temperature detected by the inlet temperature sensor 125. That is, the difference between the temperatures detected by the two temperature sensors is considerably different at the start of drying, but gradually decreases as the drying of the clothing proceeds. When the temperature difference falls below a predetermined value (for example, 10 deg), the control device 127 determines that the drying is finished.

JP 2012-254207 A

  However, since the conventional dryer determines the end of drying using the temperature difference detected by the two temperature sensors, it is necessary to keep the temperature value detected by the inlet temperature sensor of the reference drying chamber constant. There is. In other words, in all sections during the drying operation, the output of the heat pump device, which is a heating means, must always be a constant output. Therefore, especially in the latter half of the drying operation, the heat pump device despite the fact that the drying chamber is in a heat saturation state. The output of was always constant. For this reason, when hot air is continuously applied to the clothing in an environment of heat saturation, the clothing is overdried, causing fabric damage and shrinkage, and energy consumption is wasted.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and can finish the drying operation at a good timing without being affected by the temperature difference between the inlet and the outlet of the drying chamber, and suppresses fabric damage and shrinkage. An object of the present invention is to provide a clothes dryer with improved energy savings.

  In order to solve the above problems, a clothes dryer of the present invention communicates and connects a drying chamber having an air supply port and an exhaust port for drying air, and the air supply port and the exhaust port inside a housing. An air passage, a blower for blowing drying air through the air passage into the drying chamber, a heat pump device having an evaporator and a condenser disposed in the air passage, and dehumidified water generated in the heat pump device. A collecting and draining path that is collected and drained, a dehumidifying water sensor that detects that water has passed through the collecting and draining path, and a control device that controls a drying operation, wherein the control device includes: According to the generation | occurrence | production degree of dehumidification water grasped | ascertained by detection, it is comprised so that the output of the said heat pump apparatus may be changed.

  According to the above configuration, the control device detects the dehumidified water generated in the heat pump device and flowing in the collection and drainage path by the dehumidifying water sensor, so that it is not affected by the temperature difference between the air supply port and the exhaust port of the drying chamber. In addition, the degree of generation of dehumidified water can be grasped, and the dry state of the clothes can be grasped. Thus, the drying operation can be terminated with good timing, for example, the drying operation can be stopped after the generation of dehumidified water is eliminated, and the cloth damage or shrinkage of the clothes can be suppressed. Furthermore, the control device grasps the state of the drying chamber by grasping the degree of generation of dehumidified water.For example, when the drying chamber is in a heat saturation state in the latter half of the drying operation, the control device reduces the output of the heat pump device. Energy saving can be improved.

  The clothes dryer of the present invention detects the degree of generation of dehumidified water by detecting the passage of the dehumidified water in the collection and drainage path by the dehumidifying water sensor, and by grasping the dry state of the clothes, the drying operation can be performed at a good timing. The clothes dryer which can complete | finish and can suppress the cloth damage and cloth shrinkage by overdrying of clothing, and can improve energy-saving property can be provided.

Side surface sectional drawing of the clothes dryer in Embodiment 1 of this invention Configuration diagram of an electrode sensor which is an example of a dehumidifying water sensor of a clothes dryer in the present embodiment The block diagram of the electrostatic sensor which is an example of the dehumidification water sensor of the clothes dryer in this Embodiment Transition graph of heat pump dehumidified water during drying operation in clothes dryer in the present embodiment Cross section of a conventional dryer The figure which shows schematic structure of the air circulation mechanism and heat pump apparatus in the conventional dryer. Graph showing the temperature transition of the drying chamber at the time of drying operation in a conventional dryer

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a clothes dryer including a drying chamber having an air supply port and an exhaust port for drying air, an air passage that connects the air supply port and the exhaust port, and A blower for blowing drying air into the drying chamber through an air passage, a heat pump device having an evaporator and a condenser disposed in the air passage, and dehumidified water generated in the heat pump device are collected and drained. And a dehumidification water sensor that detects that water has passed through the collection and drainage path, and a control device that controls the drying operation. The control device detects the dehumidification detected by the detection of the dehumidification water sensor. According to the generation | occurrence | production degree of water, it is comprised so that the output of the said heat pump apparatus may be changed.

  With this configuration, the control device detects the dehumidified water generated in the heat pump device and flowing through the collection and drainage path by the dehumidifying water sensor, thereby dehumidifying without being affected by the temperature difference between the air supply port and the exhaust port of the drying chamber. It is possible to grasp the degree of water generation and grasp the dry state of clothing. Thus, the drying operation can be terminated with good timing, for example, the drying operation can be stopped after the generation of dehumidified water is eliminated, and the cloth damage or shrinkage of the clothes can be suppressed. Furthermore, the control device grasps the state of the drying chamber by grasping the degree of generation of dehumidified water.For example, when the drying chamber is in a heat saturation state in the latter half of the drying operation, the control device reduces the output of the heat pump device. Energy saving can be improved.

  In a second aspect based on the first aspect, the control device is configured to reduce the output of the heat pump device when the degree of generation of dehumidified water detected by the dehumidifying water sensor is low. . A state in which the degree of generation of dehumidified water is detected by detecting the passage of dehumidified water in the collection and drainage path indicates that a thermal saturation state in which the drying chamber is filled with sufficient heat to dehumidify has been reached. Therefore, when it is determined that the degree of generation of dehumidified water has become low, the control device can perform sufficient dehumidification with low energy consumption by reducing the output of the heat pump device, thereby improving the energy saving performance.

  According to a third invention, in the first or second invention, the control device changes the output of the heat pump device in accordance with the degree of generation of dehumidified water after a predetermined time has elapsed after starting the drying operation. It is comprised as follows. Accordingly, the control device can avoid detection of a state where the generation of dehumidified water is small at the beginning of the drying operation, and can prevent the output of the heat pump device from being lowered or the drying operation being ended by mistake.

According to a fourth invention, in any one of the first to third inventions, a temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the drying air is provided, and the control device performs dehumidification after the temperature detection unit reaches a predetermined value or more. The output of the heat pump device is changed according to the degree of water generation.
As a result, when the ambient temperature of the environment in which the clothes dryer is installed is low, the temperature of the drying air by the condenser is slow, and even when the temperature of the clothes in the drying chamber is slow, the temperature in the drying chamber is sufficiently high. After reaching a temperature that allows the clothes to dry, the drying operation can be terminated with good timing.

  According to a fifth invention, in any one of the first to fourth inventions, the dehumidified water sensor is configured by an electrode sensor whose conductivity changes as water passes through the drainage path. Thereby, the control apparatus can detect the presence or absence of dehumidified water passing through the collection and drainage path with a relatively simple configuration, and can grasp the degree of generation of dehumidified water from the frequency.

  In a sixth aspect of the present invention based on any one of the first to fourth aspects, the dehumidifying water sensor comprises an electrostatic sensor whose capacitance changes as water passes through the collection and drainage path. is there. Thereby, in addition to the presence or absence of dehumidified water that passes through the collection / drainage path, the control device can detect the amount of dehumidified water by detecting the amount of dehumidified water according to the change in capacitance.

  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 side cross-sectional view of a clothes dryer according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an outer tub 1 constitutes a drying chamber. The outer tub 1 is elastically supported by a plurality of vibration isolation mechanisms 3 inside a housing 2 of the clothes dryer. The drum 4 is provided in the outer tub 1 and accommodates laundry clothes 5. The drum 4 has an insertion port 6 through which a garment 5 is inserted and removed on the front side, is configured in a bottomed cylindrical shape, and is rotatably supported by a rotary shaft 11. The drum 4 has a plurality of inlet holes 8a through which drying air flows into the bottom wall 7a, and a plurality of outlet holes 8b through which the drying air is discharged into the peripheral wall 7b. A stirring baffle 9 for efficiently lifting the garment 5 is provided on the inner surface of the peripheral wall 7b. The outer tub 1, the drum 4, and the rotating shaft 11 are disposed so as to be inclined upward by an angle θ (for example, 10 ° to 20 °) with respect to the horizontal. In addition, these are not limited to being inclined and may be arranged horizontally.

  A driving device 10 such as a motor is provided outside the outer tub 1 and rotates the drum 4 in the forward direction or the reverse direction via the rotating shaft 11. On the front surface of the housing 2, there is provided a substantially circular slot 6 for taking in and out the garment 5 and a door 12 for opening and closing it. The opening of the outer tub 1 facing the charging port 6 is connected to the housing 2 by a packing 13 while ensuring airtightness. The driving method of the driving device 10 is not limited to the direct driving method that is provided outside the back surface of the outer tub 1 and directly drives the drum 4, and may be a belt driving method or a gear driving method.

  Above the outer tub 1, an air circulation path 14 is configured as an air path including the outer tub 1 and the drum 4. In the present embodiment, the air circulating in the air circulation path 14 is referred to as drying air. The air circulation path 14 passes through the lint filter 16, the evaporator 17, the condenser 18, and the blower 19 in this order, and the drying air that has exited from the exhaust port 15, which is the outlet of the outer tub 1, passes through the inlet of the outer tub 1. It is configured to circulate again into the outer tub 1 and the drum 4 through a certain air supply port 20.

  The lint filter 16 captures lint such as hair and cotton waste generated from the clothing 5 and contained in the drying air. Thereby, clogging due to lint accumulation in the evaporator 17, the condenser 18, and the blower 19 is prevented, and problems such as a decrease in the air volume are suppressed. The lint filter 16 is detachable from the clothes dryer main body, and the lint captured by the user can be discarded. The blower 19 includes a fan motor 19 a that drives a fan, and blows and circulates drying air through the air circulation path 14 to the outer tub 1.

  The evaporator 17 and the condenser 18 are heat exchangers configured by piping through which the refrigerant flows and fins that promote heat exchange between the refrigerant and air. The heat pump device 23 includes a compressor 21 that compresses and discharges the sucked refrigerant, a condenser 18 that exchanges heat between the compressed high-pressure and high-temperature refrigerant and air, a throttle unit 22 that depressurizes the high-pressure refrigerant, and a reduced pressure. It has an evaporator 17 for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the air that has become low in temperature, and these are connected so that the refrigerant can circulate through a pipe. The heat pump device 23 is configured above the outer tub 1 or inside the housing 2 in accordance with the arrangement of the air circulation path 14.

  The drainage / drainage path 26 is a drainage flow path disposed below the evaporator 17, collects dehumidified water generated by condensation of moisture in the drying air by the evaporator 17, and discharges it to the outside of the housing 2. . A dehumidified water sensor 28 that detects water is attached to a position not far from the evaporator 17 in the middle of the collection and drainage path 26 and detects that the dehumidified water has passed through the collection and drainage path 26. The dehumidified water sensor 28 is provided on the bottom surface of the inclined portion 26 a of the drainage path 26. Thereby, it can be reliably detected that the dehumidified water has passed through the drainage path 26. The form and method of the dehumidified water sensor 28 are not particularly limited as long as the dehumidified water can detect that the dehumidified water has passed through the collection and drainage path 26, but the present invention specifically lists two methods.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an electrode sensor which is an example of a dehumidifying water sensor of the clothes dryer in the present embodiment. The electrode sensor of the dehumidified water sensor 28 is configured by inserting a pair of electrodes 28a and 28b into the bottom surface of the inclined portion 26a of the drainage path 26, and measures the electrical conductivity between the pair of electrodes. The control device 27 detects the passage of dehumidified water generated in the evaporator 17 of the heat pump device 23 based on the measured change in conductivity. For the measurement of the conductivity, for example, an RC oscillation circuit is constituted by the impedance between the electrode 28a and the electrode 28b and a capacitor on a control circuit (not shown), and the change in impedance is output as a frequency change, and this is further output. If converted to a voltage value, the control device 27 can easily detect it. Thereby, the control apparatus 27 can detect the presence or absence of dehumidified water that passes through the collection and drainage path 26 with a relatively simple configuration, and can grasp the degree of generation of dehumidified water from the frequency.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an electrostatic sensor which is another example of the dehumidifying water sensor of the clothes dryer in the present embodiment. The electrostatic sensor of the dehumidified water sensor 28 is configured by attaching a pair of electrodes 28c and 28d to the back side of the bottom surface of the inclined portion 26a of the drainage path 26, and measures the capacitance between the pair of electrodes. . The control device 27 detects the passage of dehumidified water generated in the evaporator 17 of the heat pump device 23 based on a change in the measured capacitance. Specifically, the oscillation circuit is configured such that the electrostatic capacitance of a terminal (in this case, between the electrode 28c and the electrode 28d) of the oscillation circuit becomes an element of the oscillation condition. As a result, when the dehumidified water comes close to the electrostatic sensor, the oscillation starts, so that the control device 27 can easily detect it.

  Thus, the control device 27 can detect the amount of dehumidified water according to the change in capacitance in addition to the presence / absence of dehumidified water passing through the collection / drainage path 26 to grasp the degree of generation of dehumidified water. it can. In addition, the method using an electrostatic sensor does not have a protrusion in the collection / drainage path 26 compared with the method using an electrode sensor. For this reason, there is an advantage that lint such as lint and hair mixed in the dehumidified water is not caught on the sensor unit.

  Further, the control device 27 is provided in the upper part of the front surface in the housing 2. The control device 27 controls the drive device 10 and the blower 19 while monitoring inputs from various detection devices based on the operation setting performed by the user from the operation unit 27a, and executes the operation of the clothes dryer.

  About the clothes dryer comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below.

When the control device 27 starts the drying operation, the drum 4 rotates while the wet clothing 5 is accommodated therein. The drying air circulates through the air circulation path 14 by the blower 19. First, the drying air heated by the condenser 18 flows into the drum 4 from the air supply port 20 through the outer tub 1. The drying air that has flowed into the drum 4 comes into contact with the wet clothing 5. The clothes 5 are heated by the drying air, and the moisture evaporates and dries. On the other hand, the drying air is deprived of heat by the clothing and decreases in temperature, resulting in a high humidity state containing a large amount of moisture. The high-humidity drying air in the drum 4 flows out from the exhaust port 15 through the outer tub 1. The drying air that has flowed out of the outer tub 1 absorbs heat, that is, is cooled and dehumidified by the evaporator 17. Thereafter, the drying air reaches the condenser 18 and is heated again to become high-temperature and low-humidity air. Thus, the drying air circulates in the air circulation path 14 to dry the clothes 5 in the drum 4.

  At this time, the thermal energy released from the condenser 18 to the drying air is approximately equal to the sum of the amount of heat corresponding to the power consumption of the compressor 21 and the amount of heat absorbed by the evaporator 17. For this reason, the output more than the electric power input into the compressor 21 is obtained from the condenser 18, and the garment 5 can be dried with less power consumption compared with an electric heater.

  Next, detection of dehumidified water by the control device 27 in the drying operation will be described. The control device 27 controls the compressor 21, the drive device 10, the blower 19, and the like, and performs a drying operation. Then, the clothing 5 is uniformly dried by circulating the drying air through the air circulation path 14 while rotating the drum 4.

  During the drying operation using the heat pump device 23, the temperature of the evaporator 17 is always in a cold state of 5 ° C to 15 ° C. The high-humidity drying air that has flowed out of the drum 4 is rapidly cooled by the evaporator 17. As a result, water is condensed on the surface of the evaporator 17 to generate water droplets. When the water droplets generated here are combined to form water droplets of a certain size, they are dropped as dehumidified water below the evaporator 17. The dehumidified water that has been dropped is collected in the collection and drainage path 26, and flows intermittently on the bottom surface of the collection and drainage path 26 instead of a continuous flow like a river flow. At this time, the dehumidified water sensor 28 detects that the dehumidified water has passed through the drainage path 26 and outputs a signal.

  During the drying operation, the control device 27 always grasps the detection state of the dehumidified water sensor 28. The control device 27 is provided with a timer unit, and starts timing when an output signal of the dehumidified water sensor 28 is input. The timer unit is reset when the next output signal is input before a predetermined time T1 (for example, 5 minutes) set in advance elapses, and starts measuring time again. The control device 27 repeats the above operation in a state where the dehumidified water condensed by the evaporator 17 as the clothes 5 are dried and is flowing through the collection / drainage path 26 as water droplets.

  FIG. 4 is a graph showing the transition of detection by the dehumidifying water sensor during the drying operation of the clothes dryer in the present embodiment. In addition, regardless of the dry state of the clothes, the drying time is 100 minutes, and the transition of the temperature at the inlet and outlet of the outer tub 1 is also shown for reference. The dehumidified water sensor 28 outputs a signal at the timing when the dehumidified water passes through the collection / drainage path 26. When the output signal of the dehumidified water sensor 28 is input, the control device 27 determines that “water has passed”. The graph of FIG. 4 shows the degree of occurrence by plotting the frequency of occurrence of the output signal of the dehumidified water sensor 28.

During the drying operation, dehumidified water condensed by the evaporator 17 of the heat pump device 23 is generated along with the drying of the clothes 5, and the dehumidified water flows through the collection / drainage path 26. As shown in FIG. 4, the dehumidified water detection signal from the dehumidified water sensor 28 disappears when about 70 minutes have elapsed since the start of operation. This means that even if the drying air heated by the condenser 18 is supplied to the garment 5, no dehumidified water is generated. That is, in this embodiment, about 70 minutes have elapsed from the start of operation, and the timing when the dehumidified water detection signal from the dehumidified water sensor 28 disappears is the time when the clothes are sufficiently dried and the end of the drying operation is determined. It is timing. In this Embodiment, the control apparatus 27 stops the compressor 21 and complete | finishes drying operation, when not detecting a signal again for predetermined time T1 after the detection signal from the dehumidification water sensor 28 is lost.

  In addition, the frequency of generation of dehumidified water detected by the dehumidified water sensor 28 decreases from about 60 minutes after the start of operation. At this time, most of the clothes in the outer tub 1 serving as a drying chamber are dry, and the outer tub 1 is in a heat saturation state in which heat is sufficiently filled. Even if the output of the heat pump device 23 is reduced by, for example, about 30% at the timing when the frequency of generation of the dehumidified water decreases (for example, when 60 minutes have elapsed from the start of operation), the remaining wet clothing is sufficiently dried. be able to. Thereafter, when about 70 minutes have elapsed from the start of operation, the dehumidified water detection signal from the dehumidified water sensor 28 disappears, so that the control device 27 ends the drying operation after a predetermined time T1 from this timing as described above. . Thereby, the energy consumption of the heat pump device 23 can be suppressed and the energy saving performance of the clothes dryer can be improved.

  In addition, the temperature of the inlet and outlet of the outer tub 1 when the output of the heat pump device 23 is reduced by 30% when about 60 minutes have elapsed from the start of the drying operation is shown by the wavy lines in FIG. When the output of the heat pump device 23 decreases, the temperatures at the inlet and outlet of the outer tub 1 are reduced without relevance. For this reason, in the case of the conventional drying end detection method using temperature, it is difficult to determine the end detection timing because there is no correlation between the temperature of the inlet and the outlet of the outer tub 1.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the drying air heated by the condenser 18 of the heat pump device 23 heats the clothes 5 in the outer tub 1 and becomes high humidity. The high-humidity drying air is dehumidified by the evaporator 17 to generate dehumidified water, and the dehumidified water flows through the collection / drainage path 26. The control device 27 does not detect the temperature of the drying air by detecting the dehumidified water flowing through the drainage path 26 by the dehumidified water sensor 28, that is, without being affected by the temperature difference between the inlet and the outlet of the outer tub 1. Thus, the drying operation can be completed at a good timing, the hot air stress on the garment 5 can be reduced, and the fabric damage and shrinkage due to overdrying of the garment 5 can be suppressed. Further, the control device 27 grasps the degree of generation of dehumidified water. For example, when the inside of the outer tub 1 is in a heat saturation state in the latter half of the drying operation, the energy is saved by reducing the output of the heat pump device 23. It can be improved further.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the output signal of the dehumidified water sensor 28 is not input until nearly 10 minutes after the start of the drying operation. This is because the drying operation is started and the drying air heated by the condenser 18 is supplied into the drum 4 by the blower 19. However, if the clothes are heated and the drying air does not become a high humidity state, the evaporator 17. This is because no dehumidified water is generated due to condensation. For this reason, in the present embodiment, for 10 minutes after the start of the drying operation, even if no dehumidified water is detected, the control device 27 determines that the drying operation is finished, or the heat pump The output of the device 23 is not lowered. As a result, the control device 27 avoids detection of a state in which the generation of dehumidified water is low at the beginning of the drying operation so that the output of the heat pump device is not accidentally lowered or the drying operation is not terminated. it can.

  The control device 27 described so far makes it possible to determine the end of the drying operation by using the dehumidified water sensor 28 without detecting the temperature of the inlet / outlet using the temperature detector at the inlet / outlet of the outer tub 1. . However, by providing the temperature detection unit 24 somewhere in the air circulation path 14 and measuring the temperature of the drying air, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the determination of the end of the drying operation. Specifically, for example, after the temperature detection unit 24 provided between the exhaust port 15 of the outer tub 1 and the evaporator 17 exceeds 40 ° C., the control device 27 removes the dehumidified water from the dehumidified water sensor 28. By detecting the thermal saturation state by detection, the output of the heat pump device 23 is changed, or the end of the drying operation is determined.

Thereby, since the atmospheric temperature of the environment where the clothes dryer is installed is lower than expected and the output of the heat pump device 23 is difficult to increase, the temperature rise of the drying air by the condenser 18 is slow, and the clothes in the drum 4 Even when the temperature rise is slow, the control device 27 changes the output of the heat pump device 23 according to the degree of generation of dehumidified water after the temperature in the outer tub 1 reaches a temperature at which the clothes 5 can be sufficiently dried. The drying operation can be completed with good timing.

  As described above, the clothes dryer according to the present invention accurately grasps the drying state of the clothes by detecting the water dehumidified from the clothes without using the temperature detection unit in the drying operation using the heat pump device. In addition, since the output of the heat pump device is controlled according to the degree of generation of dehumidified water, it can be applied not only to a clothes dryer but also to a laundry dryer having a drying function.

1 Outer tank (drying room)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Case 3 Anti-vibration mechanism 4 Drum 5 Clothing 6 Input port 7a Bottom wall 7b Perimeter wall 8a Inflow hole 8b Outlet hole 9 Stirring baffle 10 Drive apparatus 11 Rotating shaft 12 Door 13 Packing 14 Air circulation path (air path)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Exhaust port 16 Lint filter 17 Evaporator 18 Condenser 19 Blower 19a Fan motor 20 Air supply port 21 Compressor 22 Constriction part 23 Heat pump apparatus 24 Temperature detection part 26 Collection / drainage path 26a Inclination part 27 Control apparatus 27a Operation part 28 Dehumidification water Sensor 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d Electrode

Claims (6)

A drying chamber having an air supply port and an exhaust port for drying air inside the housing, an air passage communicating with the air supply port and the exhaust port, and an air for drying into the drying chamber through the air passage A heat pump device having an evaporator and a condenser disposed in the air passage, a collection / drainage route for collecting and draining dehumidified water generated in the heat pump device, and the collection / drainage route A dehumidifying water sensor that detects the passage of water and a control device that controls the drying operation,
The said control apparatus is a clothes dryer comprised so that the output of the said heat pump apparatus may be changed according to the generation | occurrence | production degree of the dehumidification water grasped | ascertained by the detection of the said dehumidification water sensor. The clothes dryer according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to reduce the output of the heat pump device when the degree of generation of the dehumidified water detected by the dehumidifying water sensor is low. The clothes drying device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control device is configured to change an output of the heat pump device in accordance with a degree of generation of dehumidified water after a predetermined time has elapsed after starting the drying operation. Machine. A temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the drying air is provided, and the control device is configured to change the output of the heat pump device in accordance with the degree of generation of dehumidified water after the temperature detection unit reaches a predetermined value or more. The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the dehumidified water sensor is configured by an electrode sensor that changes conductivity when water passes through the drainage path. The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the dehumidifying water sensor is an electrostatic sensor whose capacitance changes as water passes through the collection and drainage path.

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