JP2635615B2 - Tableware dryer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention forcibly blows warm air or the like into a tableware storage basket by operating a fan motor to force the tableware in the tableware storage basket. Tableware dryer for drying to dry.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a heater and a fan motor are built in a dryer body in which a tableware storage basket is detachably mounted,
A dish dryer in which blast air from a fan motor flows into the inside of the dish storage basket through a heater through a heater to forcibly dry dishes in the dish storage basket is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-207635. Etc. are known. And this kind of dish dryer has a mechanical time switch, and by manually operating this to set the energizing time, simultaneously energizing the heater and the fan motor to energize, The power supply to the heater and the fan motor is stopped at the same time as the time set in the time switch elapses.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

According to the conventional configuration as described above, depending on the season,
In consideration of fine weather, rainy weather, etc., the user needs to set the time of the time switch depending on his / her experience and intuition, which is troublesome. Moreover, despite such considerations, the power supply to the heater and the fan motor is stopped prematurely, resulting in an undried state, or the power supply to the heater and the fan motor is stopped too late, resulting in waste. However, there is a problem that power may be consumed.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dishwasher having a simple structure in which a heater and a fan motor can be properly energized by simple operation without relying on experience and intuition, thereby preventing poor drying and waste of power consumption. Is to provide.

[Constitution of the Invention] [Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention relates to a dryer main body in which a heater and a fan motor are incorporated, and the dryer provided in the dryer main body and sucked from a lower portion of the dryer main body. A tableware storage basket into which the blast air blown from the fan motor flows, and a water receiver provided in the dryer body positioned below the storage basket, and the blast air is supplied to the tableware storage basket. On the other hand, it is assumed that the tableware dryer is configured to pass through the tableware storage basket from below and discharge it from an exhaust unit located above the tableware storage basket.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a drying detecting device that includes a detecting unit having a pair of electrodes and detects the degree of dryness of the tableware in the tableware storage basket based on the presence or absence of water between the electrodes is a minimum of the water receiver. An electronic control unit attached to the drying unit and attached to the drying unit body for controlling the operation of the heater and the fan motor based on the detection output of the detection unit.

[Action]

The electronic control unit opens and closes a switch connected in series to the heater and the fan motor, and starts operation of the dish dryer by closing the switch. Then, the blast air sent from the fan motor passes through the dish storage basket from the lower side to the upper side to dry the dishes in the basket, and the blast air supplied for drying passes through the exhaust portion located above the dish storage basket. Is discharged outside. Therefore, the air flow does not meander in a large meander and is discharged to the side, and the air flows smoothly from the lower side to the upper side and is exhausted, so that the drying efficiency is good. In addition, the water receiver receives water drops from tableware dripping through the bottom of the tableware storage basket, and the dryness detection device attached to the lowest part of the water receiver is provided between the pair of electrodes of the detection unit. The presence or absence of moisture is used to detect whether or not the inside of the water receiver in the drying detection device mounting portion is dried. The tableware is generally dried from the upper side by the flow of the blast air as described above, and the lowest part of the water receiver is a position where the drying is the slowest, so that the lowest part of the water receiver is in a dried state. Assuming that the tableware in the tableware storage basket has been dried, the drying detection device performs a detection operation and inputs the detection output to the electronic control device. Of course, it goes without saying that the drying detection device and the structure are designed so that the detection operation is performed when the dishes are not dried, and the operation is quickly performed without spending time unnecessarily regardless of the completion of the drying of the dishes. Accordingly, since the electronic control circuit opens the switch based on the detection output of the drying detection device, the power supply to the heater and the fan motor is stopped at that time, that is, at the time when the dishes are completely dried. That is, as described above, the time at which the drying of the tableware is completed can be automatically detected by the drying detection device, and accordingly, appropriate drying without excess or deficiency can be realized.

In addition, since the dryness detection device is attached to the lowest part of the water receiver, water is always stored in the lowest part of the water receiver that receives water dripped from the washed tableware stored in the tableware basket at the start of use, Thereby, the pair of electrodes of the detection unit is short-circuited via moisture, and the drying detection device can be automatically turned on. Therefore, there is no particular need for a means for turning on the drying detecting device when the dryer is used.

〔Example〕

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

The dryer body indicated by reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 and FIG.
The base 2 has an open upper surface, and an upper cover 3 provided so as to close an upper surface opening of the base 2. The upper cover 3 includes a plurality of bosses 4 projecting from the inner surface of the base 2.
With a screw 5.

A water receiver 6 is formed integrally with the upper cover 3.
The bottom surface of the water receiver 6 is inclined so as to be lowered toward the front side of the dryer main body 1. At a substantially central portion of the bottom surface of the water receiver 6, a cylindrical portion 7 penetrating this bottom surface is provided, and a concave portion 8 is provided at a front end portion, which is the lowest portion of the water receiver 6. A drainage port 9 is formed in the recess 8 so as to protrude downward, and a dryness detecting device 10 described later is attached thereto.

The dryer body 1 houses a drain cup 11 that can be inserted and removed from the front surface thereof, and also has a built-in drying unit 12 shown in detail in FIG. The drying unit 12 attaches an umbrella-shaped hot air diffusion plate 15 to an upper end of a heater storage tube 14 that penetrates the cylindrical portion 7 and houses a heater 13 therein, and horizontally extends at a lower end of the heater storage tube 14. It is formed by connecting the front side of an air supply duct 16 to be arranged and attaching a fan motor 17 to the rear side of the duct 16.

As the heater 13, for example, a heater in which a nichrome wire is wound around a heater support having a cross shape in a plan view is used. A sirocco fan or the like is used for the fan 17a of the fan motor 17 built in the air supply duct 16, and the lower surface of the air supply duct 16 is provided outside the dryer body 1 so as to face the suction end of the fan 17a. A number of communicating vents 18 are provided.

Inside the drying unit 12, a temperature detector 19 is mounted inside the heater accommodating cylinder 14, and a fan 17 is provided.
A wind pressure switch 20 is mounted on the air blowing side of a. The wind pressure switch 20 is a normally open switch, and is configured to be closed by receiving the wind power of the fan motor 17.

As shown in FIG. 1, a tableware storage basket 21 is removably mounted on the main body 1 of the drier so as to be fitted to the fitting edge 3a of the upper cover 3 thereof. A plurality of pins 22 and ribs 23 are provided integrally on the bottom surface of the basket 21 to support the tableware, and a part of the basket 22 is used to store a towel, a spoon, etc. through some of the pins 22. 24 are detachably supported. The upper opening of the tableware storage basket 21 is closed by a lid 25. The lid 25 includes, for example, a rear fixed lid 26 and a front movable lid 27. The movable lid 27 is rotatably connected to the fixed lid 26 via a pivot 28. In FIG. 1, reference numerals 26a and 27a denote exhaust portions formed above the respective lids 26 and 27, and reference numeral 27b denotes a movable lid 27.
This is a knob for opening and closing operation.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the drying detecting device 10 attached to the water receiver 6 for receiving the water dripping from the bottom of the tableware storage basket 21 detects the completion of the drying of the tableware as shown in FIG.
And a second detection unit 30 that operates before the detection operation of the first detection unit 29 and detects a dry and dry state.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the first detecting section 29 has a pair of comb-shaped electrodes 32, 33 mounted on the surface of an insulating substrate 31 by printing or the like. A pair of comb-shaped electrodes 35 and 36 are mounted on the surface of an insulating substrate 34 by printing or the like. However, compared to the interdigital spacing A between the interdigitated electrodes 32 and 33 of the first detecting section 20, the interdigital spacing B between the interdigitated electrodes 35 and 36 of the second detecting section 30 is made larger. It is. As a result, the amount of water adhering between the comb teeth intervals B of the second detecting unit 30 becomes larger than the amount of water adhering between the comb tooth intervals A of the first detecting unit 29, and as a result, the time until the amount of adhering water becomes dry. Are different from each other in that the second detecting section 30 performs the detecting operation earlier than the first detecting section 29.

FIG. 9 shows the change characteristics of the resistance value and the degree of dryness of the two detection units 29 and 30 over time. In FIG. 9, a solid line indicates a change in the resistance value and a dotted line indicates a change in the dryness. As shown in FIG. 8, a pair of nuts 38 are attached to the conductive screws 37 passing through the electrodes 32, 33 and the bottom of the recess 8 as shown in FIG.
And a pair of nuts 38
A terminal plate 39 is sandwiched between them.

Further, the drying detecting device 10 having the above-mentioned configuration is provided in the drying machine
Heater 13 and fan motor
An electronic control unit 40 for controlling the operation of 17 and executing a predetermined operation mode is mounted. This device 40 and heater 13
The fan motor 17 and the like are connected as shown in FIG. That is, the electronic control unit 40 is connected between the two output terminals 41a and 41b of the power supply via the power switch 42, and between the connection point of the power switch 42 and the electronic control unit 40 and one output terminal 41b. Is connected to the fan motor 17 and a fan motor switch 43 connected in series to the fan motor 17. The opening and closing of the switch 43 is controlled by the electronic control unit 40. And the fan motor
The heater 17 and the circuit of the heater switch 44 in series with the heater 15 are connected in parallel to the heater 17. The opening and closing of the heater switch 44 is also controlled by the electronic control unit 40. Output terminals of the temperature detector 19, the wind pressure switch 20, and the drying detection device 10 are connected to the electronic control device 40, respectively.

An operation panel 45 as shown in FIG. 3 is mounted on, for example, a front surface of the main body 1 of the dryer. This panel 45 has an operation mode selection unit 45a and a time limit setting unit 45b. The operation mode selection section 45a includes four mode switches 46 to 49 and one manual operation switch 50 in addition to the power switch 42.
Are mounted, and each of these switches 42, 46
Pilot lamps 51 corresponding to .about.50 are attached. For example, a liquid crystal display 5
2 are attached, and function buttons 53 and 54 for selecting either a clock function or a timer function, and a setting button 55 for time setting are attached.

The electronic control unit 40 includes a microcomputer or the like, and includes a process control circuit 56 and a comparison circuit 5 as shown in FIG.
7, control circuit 58, time limit circuit 59, display circuit 60, security circuit 6
1, a first dryness detection circuit 62, a second dryness detection circuit 63, and a DC power supply circuit 64.

The process selection circuit 56 receives outputs from the selection units 45a and 45b of the operation panel 45, and performs a proper operation mode, a power saving operation mode,
This is a circuit for selecting any one of the cool air operation mode, the reservation operation mode, and the manual operation mode. In the comparison circuit 57 connected to the output terminal of the process selection circuit 56, a comparison reference value is set in consideration of the correlation between the drying state of the tableware and the electrical resistance of each of the detection units 29 and 30 of the drying detection device 10. I have. This comparison circuit 57
Receives the output from each of the dryness detection circuits 62 and 63, compares the output with the reference value, and outputs
This is a circuit configured to output a signal to the control circuit 58 when the electric resistance value of each of 29 and 30 becomes larger than the comparison reference value. The control circuit 58 receives the signal from the comparison circuit 57 and opens the fan motor switch 43 or the heater switch 44. The time limit circuit 59 is provided by connecting the process selection circuit 56 and the comparison circuit 57, and in the reserved operation mode, after the time set by the operation of the time limit setting unit 45b has elapsed, the comparison circuit 5
7 is a circuit configured to operate. The display circuit 60 is a circuit that receives the output from the process selection circuit 56 and operates the pilot lamp 51 and the display 52. The output terminals of the temperature detector 19 and the wind pressure switch 20 are connected to the security circuit 61, and the output of the circuit 61 is input to the control circuit 58. The security circuit 61 receives a signal indicating that the wind pressure switch 20 has been closed by the operation of the fan motor 17, outputs a signal for closing the heater switch 44 to the control signal 58, and detects the temperature due to a decrease in the air volume for some reason. Unit 19 is closed (that is, set temperature is detected)
This circuit is configured to output a signal for opening the heater switch 44 to the control circuit 58 when receiving the received signal. The first dryness detection circuit 62 is a circuit for detecting the electrical resistance of the first detection unit 29, and the second dryness detection circuit 63 is a second detection unit.
A detection circuit has 30 electric resistances, and these outputs are input to a comparison circuit 57. The DC power supply circuit 62 supplies DC power to each of the circuits 56 to 63 and the drying detection device 10.

When tableware and the like are stored in the tableware storage basket 21 of the tableware dryer having the above configuration, a part of the moisture attached to the tableware and the like drops into the water receiver 6 through the bottom surface of the tableware storage basket 21. Then, the water on the water receiver 6 is collected in the recess 8 according to the inclination of the water receiver 6 and received by the drain cup 11 through the drain port 9, but a part of the water remains in the recess 8. The residual water causes water to collect between the electrodes 32 and 33 of the first detection unit 29 in the drying detection device 10, and water also collects between the electrodes 35 and 36 of the second detection unit 30.

As a result, both of the detection units 29 and 30 of the drying detection device 10 can be short-circuited and automatically turned on.
As described above, since there is no particular need to turn on the drying detection device 10 when the dryer is used, the number of parts is reduced, and the entire configuration of the dryer can be simplified.

In this state, the user closes the power switch 42 and operates in an arbitrary mode.

For example, when the mode switch 46 is pressed, the process selection circuit 56 of the electronic control device 40 selects a proper operation mode. By this selection, the output of the second dryness detection circuit 63 is canceled. When this operation mode is selected, the control device 40 closes the fan motor switch 43 and the heater switch 44, respectively, so that the rotation of the fan 17a of the fan motor 17 causes air to be blown from the heater 13 to pass through the heater 13. Heated and warm air, tableware storage basket
It flows in from the bottom of 21 and dries the dishes in this basket 21. Then, in this drying, the blown air sent by the operation of the fan motor 17 passes through the tableware storage basket 21 from the lower side to the upper side, and then passes through the exhaust portions 26a and 27a at the upper position of the tableware storage basket 21 as it is. It is discharged to the outside of the lid 25.
Therefore, the air flow does not meander in a large meander and is discharged to the side, and the air flows smoothly from the lower side to the upper side and is discharged. Moreover, the inflow of air into the main body 1 of the dryer is controlled by the air supply duct 16 arranged below the main body 1.
The suction port 18 is sucked in from the ventilation port 18 on the lower surface of the device, and the space between the suction port 18 and the exhaust sections 26a and 27a is largely separated, so that the circulating phenomenon that the exhausted air is sucked into the intake port 18 again does not occur. Therefore, the tableware can be efficiently dried for these reasons.

In such a dish drying process, when the degree of drying is low, the residual water described above causes the electrode of the first detection unit 29 to be dried.
Since the electric resistance between 32 and 33 is much smaller than the comparison reference value set in the comparison circuit 57, the comparison circuit 21
Do not output the signal to Then, the degree of drying of the tableware increases, and at the time when the drying is at least substantially completed (time t2 in FIG. 10), the residual water between the electrodes 32 and 33 of the first detection unit 29 is dried. Then, the electric resistance between these electrodes 32 and 33 sharply increases, and the electric resistance exceeds the comparison reference value set in comparison circuit 57. Therefore, since a signal is output from the comparison circuit 21 to the control circuit 58, the fan motor switch 43 is opened by the control circuit 58 at the time point t2, and the power supply to the fan motor 17 and the heater 13 is cut off.

In this case, the tableware generally dries from the upper side due to the flow of the blast air described above, and the lowest part of the water receiver 6 is the position where the drying is the slowest. By the above-described detection operation of the drying detection device 10, when the drying of the dishes is completely completed without uneven drying, the fan motor
The power supply to 17 and heater 13 can be cut off.

In other words, as described above, the first
Based on the detection of the degree of dryness of the detection unit 29, the drying operation can be automatically stopped simultaneously with the completion of the drying of the tableware,
Electricity can be supplied without being influenced by the season, the weather, etc., and without excess or shortage.

Then, when the mode switch 47 is pressed, the process selection circuit 56 of the electronic control device 40 selects the power saving operation mode. By this selection, both the outputs of the first and second dryness detection circuits 62 and 63 are taken into the comparator 57. When this mode is selected, the control device 40 closes the fan motor switch 43 and the heater switch 44, respectively.
The dishes in the dish storage basket 21 are dried by the warm air. In such a tableware drying process, the residual water between the electrodes 35 and 35 of the second detection unit 30 is dried at the time of thirst (at time t1 in FIG. 10) where the tableware has dried to some extent. Then, the electric resistance between the electrodes 35 and 36 sharply increases, and the electric resistance exceeds the comparison reference value set in the comparison circuit 57.
Therefore, since the comparison circuit 21 outputs a signal to the control circuit 58, at the time point t2, the heater switch 44 is opened and the power supply to the heater 13 is cut off. In this case, since water still remains between the electrodes 32 and 33 of the first detection unit 29 having a narrow electrode interval, the fan motor 17 still operates. Thereafter, the degree of drying of the dishes is increased by the blowing of the cool air by the fan motor 17, and the drying is at least substantially completed (at the tenth time).
When the residual water between the electrodes 32 and 33 of the first detection unit 29 becomes dry at (t4 in the figure), the electric resistance between these electrodes 32 and 33 rapidly increases, and the electric resistance is set in the comparison circuit 57. Exceeds the reference value. Therefore, the comparison circuit 21 is controlled by the control circuit 58
Signal is output to the fan motor switch 43
It is opened at t4, and the power supply to the fan motor 17 is cut off.

In this way, based on the detection of the degree of dryness of the two detection units 29 and 30 of the drying detection device 10, the power supply to the heater 13 is stopped during the drying to obtain a power saving effect, and the drying is performed simultaneously with the completion of the drying of the tableware. Operation can be stopped automatically.

Further, when the mode switch 48 is pressed, the process selection circuit 56 of the electronic control device 40 selects the cool air operation mode. This selection is the same as when the second dryness detection circuit 63 outputs a detection output having a value larger than the comparison reference value of the comparator 57 regardless of the state of the second detection unit 30. In this operation mode, since the control device 40 opens the heater switch 44 and closes only the fan motor switch 43, the rotation of the fan 17a of the fan motor 17 causes cool air to be blown in from the bottom of the dish storage basket 21. Then, the dishes are dried in the basket 21. The degree of drying of the tableware is increased by the blowing of the cold air, and the electrodes 32 and 33 of the first detection unit 29 are at least substantially completed when the drying is completed (time t5 in FIG. 10).
When the residual water between the electrodes 32 and 33 becomes dry, the electrical resistance between the electrodes 32 and 33 increases rapidly, and the electrical resistance exceeds the comparison reference value set in the comparison circuit 57. Therefore, since the comparison circuit 21 outputs a signal to the control circuit 58, the fan motor switch 43
Is opened at time t5, and the power supply to the fan motor 17 is cut off.

When the mode switch 49 is pressed, the process selection circuit 56 of the electronic control unit 40 selects the reserved operation mode.
By this selection, the output of the second dryness detection circuit 63 is canceled. In this operation mode, the time setting section 45 of the operation panel 45 is also operated, and the start time (time t3 in FIG. 10) is stored in the time limit circuit 59 of the control device 40 by the operation. Then, the timed circuit 59 starts counting down, and at time t3 when the set time has elapsed, the same operation as the above-described proper operation mode is performed, and at time t6 when the dishes are dried, the heater 13 and the fan motor 17 The energization is stopped and the drying operation is automatically stopped.

Therefore, by adopting such a reserved operation mode, it is possible to shift to the drying operation in a state where the water is sufficiently drained from the tableware stored in the tableware storage basket 21, and the drying efficiency can be improved. . not only that,
By setting the reserved drying at the time of the meal, the dishes can be used in a warm state, and the cooling of the dishes with the dishes can be reduced.

Although the above-described embodiment is configured as described above, it is a matter of course that the dryness detection device may be attached to the drain of the water receiver in the present invention.

[Effect of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, drying is performed by forced blast forming an air blast path that passes upward from the lower side of the tableware storage basket and is exhausted to the outside from an exhaust portion located above the tableware storage basket. The drying completion time of the tableware to be performed is automatically detected by a drying detection device attached to the lowest part of the water receiver, and the power supply to the heater and the fan motor is controlled by the electronic control device based on the detection output. Therefore, the troublesome work of setting the energizing time depending on experience and intuition can be omitted, operation can be simplified, drying failure can be prevented, and power consumption is improved in conjunction with improvement of drying efficiency. Waste can be prevented, proper drying can be realized, and a special configuration for turning on the drying detection device is unnecessary, so that the configuration can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 10 show one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a vertical side view, FIG. 2 is a vertical side view with a dish basket removed, FIG. 3 is a front view of an operation panel, 4 is a plan view of an upper cover, FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram, FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an electronic control unit, FIG. 7 is a plan view of a dryness detection device, and FIG. 8 is VIII-VIII in FIG. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line, FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram of the drying detection device, and FIG. 10 is a time chart showing various operation modes. 1 ... dryer body, 6 ... water receiver, 10 ... drying detector, 13 ... heater, 17 ... fan motor, 21 ... tableware storage basket, 26a, 27a ... exhaust unit, 29 ... 1 detector, 30 ...
... Second detection unit, 32, 33, 35, 36... Electrodes, 40... Electronic control unit, 59.

Continued on the front page (56) References JP-A-61-106124 (JP, A) JP-A-60-9468 (JP, U) JP-A-56-45500 (JP, U) JP-A-60-67768 (JP, A) , U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 56-26056 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 59-61766 (JP, U) Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-19787 (JP, B1) Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-8555 (JP, B1) Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-6388 (JP, B1)

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A dryer main body in which a heater and a fan motor are incorporated, and a tableware storage provided in the dryer main body, into which air blown from a lower portion of the dryer main body and blown from the fan motor flows. A basket and a water receiver provided in the dryer body positioned below the storage basket, and the blown air is passed through the table storage basket from below and the upper side of the table storage basket A dish dryer that discharges from an exhaust portion at a position, further comprising a detection unit having a pair of electrodes, wherein the water detection device detects a degree of dryness of the dishes in the dish storage basket based on the presence or absence of moisture between the electrodes. And an electronic control unit for controlling the operation of the heater and the fan motor based on the detection output of the detection device is attached to the dryer body. Tableware dryer. 2. The drying device according to claim 1, wherein the drying detecting device detects the completion of drying of the tableware, and operates before the detecting operation of the first detecting portion to dry and dry. A dish dryer comprising: a second detection unit that detects a state. 3. The tableware according to claim 2, wherein the electronic control unit has a function of receiving a detection output of the second detection unit and stopping energization of the heater. Dryer. 4. The electronic control device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit has a time-limit circuit, and the heater is controlled after a lapse of time set in the time-limit circuit. A dish dryer having a function of operating a fan motor.