JP3040181B2 - Dryer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dryer capable of automatically controlling the time of hot air for drying futons and clothes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a dryer using hot air automatically determines the amount of water absorption, the shape, and the cloth quality of the material to be dried, and automatically adjusts the hot air ventilation time to an optimum size. Attempts have been made to implement the setting function.

[0003] A conventional dryer of this type has a configuration as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the warm air blower warms the room air sucked from the suction port 1 by the heater 2 and the fan motor 3
Thus, hot air is blown out from the outlet 4 through the duct 5 to the object 6 to be dried. At the end of the duct 5, a mat 7 which is a bag of porous fibrous material is held to form a gas flow space to improve the drying property.
The warm air blown out from passes through the fiber gap of the material 6 to be dried, and evaporates the water content. In this specification, a futon is adopted as an example of the material 6 to be dried.

The temperature of the hot air blown out from the outlet 4 depends on the room temperature, and the optimum temperature differs depending on the material of the material 6 to be dried (such as cotton and wool in the case of futon). A temperature sensor 8 is provided near the outlet 5 to detect and control the temperature. That is, the control unit 10 controls the output of the heater 2 while monitoring the blow-out temperature detected by the temperature sensor 8 so as to be in an optimum range for the material of the material 6 to be dried while responding to the level of room temperature.

FIG. 10B shows a specific configuration of the control unit 10,
The control circuit 101 serving as the center is the heater 2a having the largest heat generation.
And the energization ratio of the heater 2b which generates the least heat to the triac 102
The output of the heater 2 is controlled by switching between a and the triac 102b.

The control circuit 101 uses a microcomputer in many cases, and performs not only output control of the heater 2 but also on / off of the fan motor 3 via the triac 103 and detection of the blowout temperature by the temperature sensor 8. Further, in order to suppress generation of electromagnetic noise, a process of switching the heaters 2a and 2b at the zero-cross point of the power supply detected by the zero-cross detection circuit 104 is also performed. The power of each unit of the control unit 10 is supplied from the power supply circuit 105.

The dryer configured as described above has a function of blowing out hot air having a constant and optimum blowing temperature in accordance with the level of room temperature and the difference in the material of the material 6 to be dried.
The ventilation time of the warm air required for drying depends on the amount of water absorbed, the shape, the cloth, and the like of the material 6 to be dried, and is left to the user's judgment. The timer circuit 106 for setting the ventilation time is controlled by the control unit 10. It has one function.

[0008] Regarding the hot air blower configured as described above,
The operation will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 11A shows the change of the room temperature Ta with respect to the time t. The controller 10 compensates for this change in room temperature, and the blowing temperature To is determined by the material of the material 6 to be dried.
The constant value control is performed to maintain
11c and the energization of the heater 2b shown in FIG. 11c are temporally switched, and both figures show the change of the current value with respect to time t. The energizing time of the heater 2 by switching between the heater 2a and the heater 2b, that is, the warm air ventilation time for drying, is left to the user's selection via the timer circuit 106 as described above.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, even if the blowing temperature is constant and optimal value according to the room temperature and the material of the material 6 to be dried, the warm air ventilation time required for the end of drying is limited. It is influenced by many factors such as the amount of water absorption, the shape, and the cloth of the dried material 6, and the initial temperature of the material 6 to be dried.
There is a problem that it is difficult for the user to judge the time.

It is a first object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a dryer which automatically sets an optimal ventilation time for drying from two factors, that is, room temperature and the amount of air blow at the start of operation. I do.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a dryer which automatically sets an optimum ventilation time for drying from room temperature and a contact temperature of an object to be dried.

A third object is to determine the room temperature and the humidity of the material to be dried.
A third object is to provide a dryer that automatically sets an optimal ventilation time for drying.

[0013]

A first means for achieving the first object of the present invention is a heater serving as a heat source, a fan motor for sending out the heat of the heater as hot air, and An object to be dried, a room temperature sensor for detecting a room temperature, an air volume sensor for detecting a hot air volume, and a control unit to which data of the room temperature sensor and the air volume sensor are input are provided. The ventilation time to the object to be dried is determined by a combination of the room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor and the air volume detected by the air volume sensor.

[0014] The second means is a heater serving as a heat source,
A fan motor that sends out the heat of the heater as hot air,
An object to be dried by the hot air, a room temperature sensor for detecting a room temperature, a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the object to be dried, and a control unit to which data of the room temperature sensor and the data of the temperature sensor are inputted. The controller determines the ventilation time to the object to be dried based on a combination of the room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor and the amount of temperature change detected by the temperature sensor.

The third means is a heater serving as a heat source,
A fan motor that sends out the heat of the heater as hot air,
An object to be dried by the hot air, a room temperature sensor for detecting a room temperature, a humidity sensor for detecting the humidity of the object to be dried, and a control unit to which data of the room temperature sensor and the humidity sensor are inputted. The control unit is configured to determine the ventilation time to the object to be dried based on a combination of the room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor and the amount of change in humidity detected by the humidity sensor.

[0016]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the room temperature sensor can detect the initial temperature of the object to be dried,
The amount of warm air flow detected by the air flow sensor reflects the ventilation volume of the material to be dried, and has a strong correlation with the amount of water absorption, the shape such as thickness, and the difficulty of drying depending on the fabric. It is possible to infer and predict the optimal value of the warm air ventilation time until the end.

Further, according to the configuration of the second means, the room temperature sensor can detect the initial temperature of the object to be dried, and the rate of change in temperature rise of the object to be dried detected by the temperature sensor can be determined by the shape of the water absorption amount, thickness, etc. Because there is a strong correlation with quality-dependent drying resistance,
It is possible to infer and predict the optimum value of the hot air ventilation time until the end of drying by combining the two detection amounts.

Further, according to the configuration of the third means, the room temperature sensor can detect the initial temperature of the object to be dried. Because there is a strong correlation with quality-dependent drying resistance,
It is possible to infer and predict the optimal value of the warm air ventilation time until the end of drying by combining the two detection amounts.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the same components as those of the conventional technique are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1A, a room temperature sensor 11 formed of a thermistor or the like is arranged near the suction port 1 or near the air outlet 4. The room temperature sensor 11 detects the room temperature by the sensor output when the output of the heater 2 is stopped or fixed. Air volume sensor 12 for detecting the volume of hot air
Detects the wind speed from the degree of cooling by the wind of the thermistor that has generated heat, and calculates an air volume by multiplying this by the area of the suction port 1 in the control circuit 101. Room temperature sensor 11
As shown in FIG.
0 based on the room temperature Tai detected by the room temperature sensor 11 and the hot air volume Vai detected by the air volume sensor based on the combination of the hot air and the hot air until the drying is completed, based on the room temperature Tai detected by the room temperature sensor 11. Ventilation time tij (i = 1,
2, 3, j = 1, 2, 3), and the heater 2 and the fan motor 3 are operated for that time.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below with reference to FIG. The control unit 10 performs a constant and optimal blow-off temperature adjustment according to the level of the room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor 11 and the difference in the material of the material 6 to be dried, in the manner described in the related art. When the temperature-adjusted warm air is sent to the object 6 to be dried, the amount of hot air Vai detected by the air volume sensor 12 decreases as the airflow resistance depending on the amount of water absorbed, the thickness, and the cloth of the object 6 increases. Show. The object to be dried 6 having a large ventilation resistance depending on the water absorption, the thickness, and the fabric does not dry unless the warm air ventilation time tij is increased, and thus the warm air volume Vai is one factor that governs the warm air ventilation time tij. . Therefore, by inferring and predicting the remaining time te until the end of drying from the warm air volume Vai detected by the air volume sensor 12 and the initial temperature of the object 6 detected by the room temperature sensor 11 in the initial section tj of hot air blowing, The hot air ventilation time tij (tj + te) can be automatically determined. Using fuzzy inference for this inference prediction is systematic and effective.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the room temperature sensor 11 for detecting the room temperature Tai which governs the difficulty of drying depending on the initial temperature of the material 6 to be dried and the amount of heat exchange, the water absorption and the thickness , An air flow sensor 1 for detecting a hot air flow Vai that reflects the difficulty of drying due to the magnitude of the ventilation resistance depending on the cloth material
2, the warm air ventilation time ti is determined based on the magnitude of both detection amounts.
Since j can be automatically inferred and predicted, parts such as a timer can be omitted, and a user's time setting operation can be omitted.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the embodiments,
The same parts as those of the prior art and the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

In FIG. 4A, a temperature sensor 13 is a thermistor that comes into contact with the object 6 to be dried and detects the temperature at that point. As shown in FIG. 4B, the room temperature sensor 11 and the temperature sensor 13 are connected to the control circuit 101 of the control unit 10, and the control circuit 101 detects the room temperature Tai detected by the room temperature sensor.
And the temperature change ΔTz detected by the temperature sensor,
Warm air ventilation time t until the drying is completed by the combination shown in FIG.
ij (i = 1, 2, 3, j = 1, 2, 3) is determined, and the heater 2 and the fan motor 3 are operated for that time.

The operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. When warm air whose temperature is adjusted in accordance with the room temperature and the material of the material 6 to be dried is blown to the material 6 to be dried, the rise rate ΔTz of the temperature Tz of the material to be dried detected by the temperature sensor 13 is determined by the amount of water absorption, thickness, The value becomes smaller as the thermal resistance of the object 6 to be dried, which is determined from the airflow resistance depending on the fabric, is larger. If the water absorption, the thickness, and the ventilation resistance are large, the thermal resistance also becomes large. Since the dried object 6 does not dry unless the hot air ventilation time tij is increased, the temperature increase rate ΔTz of the dried object is determined by the warm air ventilation time. It is one factor that governs tij. Thus, the remaining time te until the end of drying is inferred from the initial temperature of the object 6 to be dried detected by the temperature sensor 13 and the initial temperature of the object 6 to be dried detected by the temperature sensor 13 in the initial section tj of hot air blowing. Thereby, the hot air ventilation time tij (tj + te) can be automatically determined. The use of fuzzy inference for this inference prediction is systematic and effective.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the room temperature sensor 11 for detecting the room temperature Tai that governs the difficulty of drying depending on the initial temperature and the amount of heat exchange of the object 6 to be dried, the amount of water absorption and the thickness If the temperature sensor 13 for detecting the temperature increase rate ΔTz of the object to be dried reflecting the difficulty of drying depending on the magnitude of the ventilation resistance depending on the cloth material is provided, the hot air ventilation time tij is automatically determined based on the magnitude of both detection amounts. Since inference can be predicted, a mechanism for the user to set the time can be omitted.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the embodiments,
Components having the same configuration as the prior art and the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

In FIG. 7A, a temperature sensor 14 is brought into contact with or near the object 6 to be dried and detects the humidity at that point. The room temperature sensor 11 and the humidity sensor 14 are connected to a control circuit 101 of the control unit 10 as shown in FIG. 7B, and the control circuit 101 detects the room temperature T detected by the room temperature sensor.
Based on ai and the humidity change amount ΔHz detected by the humidity sensor, the hot air ventilation time tij (i = 1, 2, 3, j = 1, 2, 3) until the end of drying is determined by the combination shown in FIG. Then, the heater 2 and the fan motor 3 are operated for that time.

With respect to the dryer configured as described above,
The operation will be described with reference to FIG. When warm air whose temperature is adjusted in accordance with the room temperature and the material of the material 6 to be dried is blown to the material 6 to be dried, the rise rate ΔHz of the humidity Hz of the material to be dried, which is detected by the humidity sensor 14, is represented by the amount of water absorption, thickness, The value becomes smaller as the thermal resistance determined from the airflow resistance depending on the fabric is larger. The greater the water absorption, thickness, and ventilation resistance, the greater the thermal resistance,
Such an object to be dried 6 does not dry unless the warm air ventilation time tij is increased, and thus the humidity of the object to be dried ΔHz is one factor that governs the warm air ventilation time tij. Thus, in the initial section tj of hot air blowing, the humidity increase rate ΔHz of the dried object detected by the humidity sensor 14 and the dried object 6 detected by the room temperature sensor 11 are determined.
The warm air ventilation time tij (tj + te) can be automatically determined by inferring and predicting the remaining time te up to the end of drying from the initial temperature of. The use of fuzzy inference for this inference prediction is systematic and effective.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the room temperature sensor 11 for detecting the room temperature Tai which controls the initial temperature of the material to be dried 6 and the difficulty of drying depending on the amount of heat exchange, the water absorption amount and the thickness If the humidity sensor 14 for detecting the humidity increase rate ΔHz of the material to be dried reflecting the difficulty of drying due to the magnitude of the ventilation resistance depending on the cloth material is provided, the hot air ventilation time tij is automatically determined based on the magnitude of both detection amounts. Since inference can be predicted, a mechanism for the user to set the time can be omitted.

[0031]

As is clear from the above embodiment, according to the present invention, by providing the air volume sensor 12, the temperature sensor 13, and the humidity sensor 14 in addition to the room temperature sensor 11, the automatic setting of the hot air ventilation time is performed. In order to make it possible, it is possible to provide a drier that has an effect that a time limit setting mechanism such as a timer circuit is not required, and that the convenience in operation of a user can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is an overall configuration diagram of a dryer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. (B) is a block diagram of the control unit.

FIG. 2 is a setting diagram of warm air ventilation time showing the control contents.

FIG. 3 is an air volume change diagram for explaining the operation of the dryer.

FIG. 4A is an overall configuration diagram of a dryer in the second embodiment. (B) is a block diagram of the control unit.

FIG. 5 is a hot air ventilation time setting diagram showing the control contents.

FIG. 6 is a temperature change diagram for explaining the operation of the dryer.

FIG. 7A is an overall structural view of a dryer in the third embodiment. (B) is a block diagram of the control unit.

FIG. 8 is a hot air ventilation time setting diagram showing the control contents.

FIG. 9 is a humidity change diagram for explaining the operation of the dryer.

FIG. 10A is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional dryer. (B) is a block diagram of the control unit.

FIG. 11A is a diagram illustrating a change in room temperature for explaining the operation of the dryer. (B) is an energization diagram of heater a for explaining the operation of the dryer. (C) is an energization diagram of heater 2b for explaining operation of the dryer. (D) is a blowing temperature change diagram for explaining the operation of the dryer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Heater 3 Fan motor 6 Material to be dried 10 Control unit 11 Room temperature sensor 12 Air flow sensor 13 Temperature sensor 14 Humidity sensor

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-126194 (JP, A) JP-A-4-132597 (JP, A) JP-A-4-114698 (JP, A) JP-A-4-251153 (JP) JP-A-4-303500 (JP, A) JP-A-4-193298 (JP, A) JP-A-3-16600 (JP, A) JP-A-2-142295 (JP, U) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) D06F 58/00 D06F 58/28

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] And 1. A as a heat source heating motor, a fan motor for feeding the heat of the heater as hot air, and material to be dried is dried by the hot air, a room temperature sensor for detecting a room temperature, hot air flow rate detection Air flow sensor, and a control unit to which data of the room temperature sensor and the air flow sensor are input, and the control unit is configured to control the drying object by a combination of the room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor and the air flow detected by the air flow sensor. A dryer that determines the ventilation time. 2. A heater as a heat source, a fan motor for sending out the heat of the heater as hot air, an object to be dried by the hot air, a room temperature sensor for detecting room temperature, and a temperature of the object to be dried. Temperature sensor, and a control unit to which data of the room temperature sensor and the temperature sensor are input, and the control unit uses a combination of a room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor and a temperature change amount detected by the temperature sensor. A dryer that determines a ventilation time to the object to be dried. 3. A heater serving as a heat source, a fan motor for sending out the heat of the heater as hot air, an object to be dried by the hot air, a room temperature sensor for detecting a room temperature, and a humidity of the object to be dried. And a control unit to which data of the room temperature sensor and the humidity sensor are input, and the control unit is configured to combine a room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor and a humidity change amount detected by the humidity sensor. A dryer that determines a ventilation time to the object to be dried.