JP2515890B2 - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Description

Description: [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to operation control of a clothes dryer, and more particularly to a device that can reserve a dry finish time.

[Conventional technology]

In the clothes dryer, the dry finish time can be reserved as disclosed in JP-A-62-197100 and JP-A-62-122700.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H10-264, pp. 157-334 is known.

In the former, the user inputs the finishing time and the time required for drying in advance, so that the operation will automatically start at the time when the time required for drying from the finishing time has elapsed and only the entered time There is disclosed a dryer that automatically ends its operation when it is operated.

In this publicly known dryer, if the time required for drying input by the user is appropriate, the operation ends in the desired dry state at the finish time, but the time required for drying is It is difficult for the user to set an appropriate drying time because the amount and the dehydration rate (moisture content) greatly vary. Therefore, since the user sets the drying time in anticipation of a sufficient margin, the useless operation can be continued despite the sufficient drying. On the contrary, if the drying time is set to be short, the operation is stopped while the drying is insufficient, and the clothes taken out from the dryer at the finish time are wet.

In the latter publication, the dryer is provided with a means for detecting the amount of material to be dried, and when the user inputs a desired drying operation end time, the dryer predicts the drying operation time from the detected value of the amount of material to be dried, There is described a dryer that starts a drying operation at a time after a predicted time from a desired time and stops the drying operation at a predetermined dryness.

In this known dryer, since the amount of material to be dried is detected and the drying operation time is predicted, the difference between the actually required drying time and the predicted time is reduced, but the material to be dried having different dehydration rates is reduced. When drying is done, the dryness does not reach the predetermined dryness even at the desired operation end time, or reaches the predetermined dryness in a time shorter than the estimated time, and at the desired end time, the object to be dried is in a cold state. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not possible to meet the needs of wearing warm clothes immediately after the completion of the dry operation.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

The present invention, in a clothes dryer having a function of setting a dry finish time in advance, can take out an object to be dried at a reserved finish time in a desired dry state and in a warm state, and waste heat quantity. To provide less clothes dryer.

[Means for solving the problem]

An outer frame is provided with a drying chamber for drying an object to be dried, a blower fan for sending air into the drying chamber, a heat source for heating the air, and a drying detecting means for detecting drying of the object to be dried. In a clothes dryer that reserves a dry finish time and starts a drying operation at a time set a predetermined time after the reserved time, the preset time is set to be equal to or longer than the time required for drying, and the time is set. The drying operation inside is defined as a prospective drying operation, and this prospective drying operation is composed of a first-stage drying operation process, a standby process and a second-stage drying operation process. The operation in the latter stage is started at a time that is later than the finish time for a time predicted according to the amount of the material to be dried, and is ended when a predetermined dryness is reached. It is a feature.

[Action]

Taking the expected drying operation time longer than the time required for drying, the first-stage drying operation process ends the process by leaving a predetermined moistness on the material to be dried, and the latter-stage drying operation time is predicted, so the accuracy of prediction improves, The difference from the finish reservation time is reduced.

Further, in both the latter-stage drying operation process and the first-stage drying operation process, the degree of dryness of the material to be dried is detected and the process is terminated, so that useless drying operation is not continued.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 is an outer frame, 2 is rotatably supported in the outer frame 1,
A rotary drum for forming a clothes drying chamber, 3 is a heat source for obtaining warm air for drying, and 4 is a drum driving belt for transmitting the rotational force of the electric motor 5 to the rotary drum 2.

A drum air outlet 6 for discharging the circulating air for drying shown by a solid arrow in FIG. 1 is provided at the rear portion of the rotary drum 2, and the drum air outlet 6 is provided behind the drum air outlet 6. Is provided with an inlet 7 and has a role of a blower for generating the circulating air flow and a cooling air flow (shown by a broken line in FIG. 1) for cooling the circulating air flow, and through the blade wall surface thereof. A fan casing 9 accommodating a double-blade fan 8 for exchanging heat between the circulating air and the cooling air is provided. The fan casing 9 is divided into a circulating air side and a cooling air side by a partition plate 10 provided on the entire inner circumference of the fan casing 9 and a felt 11 provided on the outer circumference of the double-blade fan 8.

Reference numeral 12 is an airtight felt for keeping the fan casing and the rotary drum 2 airtight. The circulation side outlet of the fan casing 9 is communicated with the dry air inlet on the front side of the drum 2 via the duct 13, the duct 14 and the heat source device 3 provided with a drainage port in the middle. In addition, the cooling air is sucked in through the intake port provided in the center of Urasaka 15,
Exhausted from the top of 15.

16 is a fan belt, 17 is a fan pulley, 18
Is a drum support member, 19 is a door for opening and closing an opening for loading and unloading an article to be dried (clothes) provided in front of the outer frame 1, F is a filter, and 20 is a rotatable drum 2 as a whole. It is a drum front fixed wall for supporting.

FIG. 2 shows a control circuit of the clothes dryer of the present invention. 21 is
A power plug connected to a 100V commercial power source, 22 is a power switch, and 23 is a power circuit. The power supply circuit 23 is for supplying a DC voltage to the microcomputer 24 and an electronic circuit. 25 is a reset circuit for resetting the microcomputer 24 when the power is turned on, 33 is a clock circuit for generating a system clock necessary for the microcomputer, 27 is a microcomputer 24 for setting a drying course, setting time and starting operation, etc. A switch input section for transmitting the switch input selected by the user, 28 is a display circuit for informing the user of the operating condition of the clothes dryer, a drying course, time, etc. 29 is a microcomputer which receives the operation of the switch input section 27. A buzzer circuit that informs the user at the time of the operation or at the end of the operation, 30 is a drying device that transmits the information of the dryness detection means 31 for detecting the dryness of the clothes to the microcomputer 24 by detecting the change of the temperature and the humidity of the circulating air. Detection circuit, 32 is a door switch that turns on and off when the door 19 is opened and closed, and 33 is a microphone that indicates the on / off state of the door switch 32. Door switch input capture circuit to be transmitted to the computer 24, 34
Is a drive circuit for driving the heat source device 3 and the electric motor 5 in response to an instruction from the microcomputer 24, and 35 is a frequency signal fetch circuit for fetching the frequency signal of the commercial power source used for counting time into the microcomputer 24.

Next, a method for controlling the clothes dryer will be described.

In the microcomputer 24, (a) of FIG.
Three operation control methods shown in (b) and (c) are programmed, and can be arbitrarily selected by the user by inputting from the switch input unit 27.

(A) is a method that is generally performed. After the power switch 22 is closed, the program (a) is selected from the switch input section 27, and the drying operation is started when the operation start switch is operated. When the predetermined dryness is reached based on the output information from the dryness detection circuit 30, the operation ends. Alternatively, the operation is finished for a preset time.

The method shown in FIG. 3 (b) is a method of operating by inputting the drying end time (finish reservation time) from the switch input unit 27. After the user operates the switch input unit 27 to start the reservation, the machine waits until the time T ₀ hours later than the finish reservation time in the operation stop state (previous period standby process), and the finish reservation time T ₀ hours Only when the time has come, start the dry operation. Further, in this operation control method, the operation process is divided into three processes, that is, the first-stage drying operation process, the later-expecting machine process, and the latter-stage drying operation process from the time when the drying operation is started. This operation process is collectively called a prospective drying operation.

In the early-stage drying operation step, the operation is terminated by leaving a predetermined humidity on the material to be dried according to the information from the drying detection circuit 30, and during the step, information required from the drying detection circuit 30 is necessary for the later-stage drying operation step. Programmed to predict driving time.

The post-expecting machine process is a process that stands by in a stopped state from the end time of the first-stage drying operation process to the start time of the second-stage drying operation process.

The late drying operation process is a process to dry the moisture left on the material to be dried in the previous drying operation process, and the operation is started from the preset reserved finish time from the time when the time predicted for the previous drying operation process has elapsed. The operation is started when it is determined that the material to be dried has dried based on the information from the dryness detection circuit.

The above T ₀ is set to the time required for drying when the drying time becomes the longest in consideration of variations in the drying time depending on the type, amount, dehydration state and ambient temperature of the material to be dried. .

The method shown in FIG. 3 (c) is a method of previously setting the operation start time of the first-stage drying operation step in the method shown in FIG. 3 (b). (Only the method of setting the operation start time of the first-stage drying operation process is the same as the method shown in FIG. 3B, except for this.) In this case, the user inputs both the operation start time and the finish reservation time. However, the start time is selected so that the time between both times is equal to or greater than T ₀ described above. The operation start time may be set to the start time of the midnight power so that the first-stage drying operation process is performed at night when the power consumption is small.

 Next, the operation of the clothes dryer will be described.

When the power plug 21 is inserted into the outlet and the power switch 22 is turned on, a DC voltage is generated by the power circuit 23 and the system clock is transmitted to the microcomputer 24 by the clock generation circuit 33. At the same time, the reset circuit 26 resets the microcomputer and puts it into an operating state, and the clothes dryer waits for a switch operation instruction from the user. Next, the door by the user
When the door 19 is opened, clothes to be dried are put in the rotary drum 2, and the door 19 is closed, the door switch 32 is turned on, and the door switch input capturing circuit 33 is used to open the door.
Information that 19 is closed is input to the microcomputer 24.

Some pre-programmed drying courses,
When the user's favorite one of the operation control methods shown in FIGS. 3 (a), (b), and (c) is selected, and further predetermined information is input from the switch input section 27, the display circuit 28 is displayed. Information such as the set dry course, operation control method, time, etc. and display elements such as light emitting diodes are displayed, and operation start (in the case of operation control of FIG. 3 (a)) or reservation start (FIG. 3 (b)) , (C) operation control).

When the drying operation is started, power is supplied to the heat source 3 and the electric motor 5 according to an instruction from the microcomputer 24, and the rotating drum
2, Double-wing fan 8 rotates. As a result, the circulating air heated by the heat source 3 flows into the rotary drum 2 to remove moisture from the material to be dried, and then is discharged from the rotary drum 2 and sucked by the double-blade fan 8. When passing through the double-blade fan 8, the heat exchange action of the double-blade fan 8 cools it with the cooling air, and the moisture taken from the material to be dried is condensed into water droplets and discharged outside the machine. The circulating air that has passed through the double-blade fan 8 reaches the heat source 3 again via the ducts 13 and 14, and is heated there and flows into the rotary drum 2. This is continuously repeated to carry out drying.

In the case of the operation control method shown in FIG. 3 (a), the previous period dry operation is continuously performed, and the operation is terminated when the predetermined dryness is reached according to the information from the dryness detection circuit 30, Alternatively, the operation is completed after operating for a preset time.

In the case of the method shown in FIGS. 3 (b) and 3 (c), the above-mentioned drying operation operation is waited in the operation stop state until the operation start time of the first-stage drying operation process for which reservation is started, and at the operation start time. Done. Then, according to the information from the dryness detection circuit 30, the operation is terminated in a state where a predetermined amount of moisture is left on the object to be dried, and the information from the dryness detection circuit 30 or the like during this process, the operation time required for the late drying operation process. Is predicted.

The latter-stage drying operation process performs the above-described drying operation operation from the time when the predicted time is reached during the first-stage drying operation process from the finish reservation time, and when it is determined that the object to be dried has been dried from the information from the drying detection circuit 30. The driving ends.

In addition, from the end of the first-stage drying process to the start of the second-stage drying operation, the operation is stopped and stands by.

In the operation control method shown in FIGS. 3 (b) and 3 (c), the first-stage drying operation step is configured to end this step when the material to be dried reaches a predetermined degree of wetness. Since the operation time can be predicted solely by the amount of the material to be dried, it can be accurately predicted, and the end of the late-stage drying operation process has less deviation from the reserved finish time.

In this method, if the amount of dried material and the water content are different, the time of the first drying operation process will vary significantly, but even if this time varies, it will only change the time of the later expected machine process, which will affect the finish reservation time. Never give. Furthermore,
In the drying operation process in both the first half and the second half, since the dryness of the material to be dried is detected and the operation is terminated, the waste of energy is reduced.

In the case where the clothes dryer of the embodiment of the present invention is operated with the finishing time (drying end time) set as described above,
In the first-half drying process, the product to be dried is operated with a certain amount of moisture left,
Since the remaining moisture is dried in the latter drying process, there is no waste of heat and it is possible to predict the drying time required for the latter drying operation process during the former drying operation process. The error between the drying end time and the actual drying end time can be reduced.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, the actual dry finish time can be adjusted to the reserved time by adjusting the time in the post-expectation machine process, so that the accuracy of the actual finish time can be improved. In addition, there is no waste of heat for drying.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control circuit device, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an operation control method. 1 ... Outer frame, 2 ... Rotating drum (drying room), 3 ... Heat source, 5 ... Electric motor, 8 ... Both fan, 27 ... Switch input section, 28 ... Display circuit, 30 ... Drying detection Circuit, 31 ……
Dryness detection means.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Yagi 3-3-22 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. (56) Reference JP-A-62-122700 (JP, A) JP Sho 62-197100 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A drying chamber for drying an object to be dried in an outer frame,
A drying fan for sending air into the drying chamber, a heat source for heating the air, and a drying detection means for detecting the degree of dryness of the material to be dried are reserved, and the drying finish time is reserved. In the clothes dryer having a control means for controlling the drying operation to start at a time after the estimated drying operation time set to a time longer than the time required for The latter-stage drying operation process is performed in order, the first-stage drying operation process terminates the first-stage drying operation process by leaving a predetermined amount of moisture on the material to be dried, and the operating time of the latter-stage drying operation process is predicted, and from the reserved time, Controlling by the control means to start the latter-stage drying operation process at a time after a predicted time and end it when the material to be dried reaches a predetermined dryness A clothes dryer characterized by.