JP3048802B2 - Clothes 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 clothes dryer for drying clothes while stirring the clothes by driving the drum forward or backward.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional clothes dryer, the area of contact between the clothes and the drying wind is obtained by repeatedly rotating the drum forward and backward at predetermined time intervals while introducing drying air into a drum containing wet clothes. There is a configuration in which the size of the garment is increased and the clothes are dried quickly. Here, such a clothes dryer as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-319394 discloses a clothes dryer in which, when the start key is pressed after the power is turned on, the drying is started and at the same time the drive motor is driven. The energization causes the drum to rotate forward, and 15 seconds after the start of the forward rotation of the drum, the energization of the drive motor is stopped for 1 second, and after the stop for 1 second, the drive motor is reversely rotated for 15 seconds. After that, in the same cycle, the drum rotates forward,
It is configured to repeatedly perform reverse rotation.

[0003]

Generally, in such a conventional clothes dryer, when the drum is switched from forward rotation to reverse rotation and from reverse rotation to forward rotation, the power supply to the drive motor is cut off. At the same time, the drum does not completely stop, but is accompanied by a coasting rotation in which the drum continues to rotate due to inertia. The time of the coasting rotation varies depending on the weight of clothes stored in the drum. For example, when the amount of clothing is large, or when the weight of clothing stored in the drum is relatively heavy, such as when the clothing immediately after starting drying is still undried, etc. Since the stored clothing acts as an eccentric load and acts to stop the rotation of the drum, the inertial rotation time is shortened. Conversely, when the amount of clothes is small, or when the clothes in the drum are relatively light, such as when the clothes are almost dry, the effect of stopping the drum becomes small, and the inertial rotation time becomes long. As described above, the coasting rotation time of the drum varies greatly depending on the amount of clothing and the degree of drying.

However, if the stop time of the motor for driving the drum is set to a fixed value as in a conventional clothes dryer, it is very difficult to cope with a change in the inertia rotation time due to the amount of clothes and the degree of drying. Becomes If the coasting time of the drum is longer than the set stop time, the motor will rotate in reverse before the drum stops completely,
Since the reverse rotation impact load is applied to the driving portion of the drum, the reverse rotation operation of the drum is not only roughened, but also there is a fear that an excessive load is imposed on the driving portion.

[0005] When the inertial rotation time of the drum is shorter than the set motor stop time, the drum completely stops unnecessarily, and the baluns of the clothes collapse, resulting in a long drying time. Had the disadvantage of becoming

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and has as its object the inertial rotation of the drum when switching from forward rotation to reverse rotation and from reverse rotation to forward rotation. By changing the timing of switching the motor from normal rotation to reverse rotation and from reverse rotation to normal rotation according to the motor inertia rotation speed, drum rotation can be performed smoothly and drying time can be reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a clothes dryer.

[0007]

A clothes dryer main body, a drum which is horizontally supported in the body and stirs the clothes by forward and reverse rotation, a heating device, and a drying air heated by the heating device are supplied to the clothes dryer. A blower that is introduced into the drum, a motor that rotationally drives the drum, the motor, the heating device,
Load driving means for controlling a load such as the air blowing means, rotation number detecting means for detecting the rotation number of the motor, and rotation number detecting means for detecting the rotation of the drum after the rotation of the motor has been stopped; Control for detecting the presence or absence of rotation due to swing-back after inertial rotation, and instructing the load drive circuit to drive the motor from normal rotation (reverse rotation) to reverse rotation (normal rotation) based on a detection signal that has detected swing-back rotation. With means.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the drum stops after inertia rotation during the power-off period of the motor when the drum is switched from normal rotation to reverse rotation or from reverse rotation to normal rotation, and swings back in the opposite direction. Is detected by the control means based on a signal from the motor rotation number detection means, and the load driving circuit is instructed to switch the motor to reverse rotation or forward rotation, so that smooth drum rotation is achieved. It is possible to obtain.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a coin-type clothes dryer as one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of the clothes dryer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a rear view of the clothes dryer. FIG.
Wherein 1 is a clothes dryer main body which is divided into an upper stage and a lower stage, and 2 and 3 are provided in the upper stage and the lower stage, respectively, and a drying chamber comprising a horizontal axis type drum for storing clothes and an outer tub. , 4 and 5 are filters for catching lint such as lint generated in the drying chambers 2 and 3. 6 is the drying chamber 2,
3 is a control unit which is also used for the drying chambers 2 and 3 and has a display unit 7 for displaying a remaining time and a coin insertion amount, a start switch 8 and a coin insertion slot on the front surface. 9 are arranged. Clothes inlets to the drum are formed on the front surfaces of the drying chambers 2 and 3, respectively, and are opened and closed by doors 10 and 11, respectively.

Next, in FIG. 2, 12 and 13 are large pulleys mounted on the rear shaft of the drum, 14 and 15 are drive motors, and 16 and 17 are mounted on the drive motors 14 and 15 and are attached to the drum. The small pulleys are connected to the large pulleys 12 and 13 provided via belts 18 and 19, and the drum drives the driving force of drive motors 14 and 15 from the small pulleys 16 and 17 by the belts 18 and 19. It is driven to rotate by transmitting to the large pulleys 12 and 13,
The drum is configured to rotate forward and backward by the forward and reverse rotations of the drive motors 14 and 15, respectively. 2
Reference numerals 0 and 21 denote gas burners as heating devices, 22 and 23 denote fans, not shown, and blowers including fan motors 24 and 25, and 26 and 27 denote exhaust ports. The air heated by the gas burners 20 and 21 is supplied to the fan motor 2
The clothes introduced into the drum by the fans driven by the clothes 4, 25 are dried in the drum, and are simultaneously discharged backward from the exhaust ports 26, 27 together with the water vapor generated from the clothes. ing.

FIG. 3 is a view of the drive motor 14 as viewed from the front. The drive motor 15 has the same configuration, and a description thereof will be omitted. In the figure, reference numeral 28 denotes a disk fixed to an output shaft 29 of the drive motor 14, and a disk provided on the side opposite to the small pulley 16, and 30 denotes a pair of magnets arranged on the disk 28 with the output shaft 29 as a center. , 31 are Hall elements provided so as to face the magnet 30 and provided on a fixed plate 32 fixed to the drive motor 14, and the magnet 30 and the Hall element 31 constitute a rotation speed detecting means 39. The number of rotations is detected by a pulse input when the magnet 30 crosses the Hall element 31.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the clothes dryer according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 32 denotes a microcomputer corresponding to control means of the present invention. The microcomputer 32 receives coin insertion information from a coin switch circuit 33, door opening / closing information from door switches 34 provided on the doors 10 and 11, a reset switch 35 for reset or reset release, and a dip switch 36. , The temperature information from the thermistor 37 provided at the air inlet to the drum and the temperature information from the thermistor 38 provided at the air outlet from the drum according to the rotation speed from the Hall element 31 which is the rotation speed detecting means 39. Each pulse information is taken. In addition, each information is taken in from a backup detection circuit 40, a power failure detection circuit 41, and a power supply circuit 43 connected to a commercial power supply 42, and a clock is taken in from a clock oscillation circuit 44.

On the basis of the information thus obtained, the microcomputer 32 issues a forward rotation command and a reverse rotation command to the load drive circuit 45, and a drive / stop command to the fan motors 24 and 25, and an igniter 46. , And outputs a command to the gas valve 47 and the safety valve 48, and displays a display of the amount of money and a display of the remaining time on the display unit 7.

Next, the rotation operation of the drum of the clothes dryer of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The microcomputer 32 instructs the load drive circuit 45 to drive the motor 14 to rotate forward for 15 seconds based on the signal of the clock oscillation circuit 44. The load drive circuit 45 rotates the drum in the forward direction (step 1), and stops the power supply to the motor 14 after the forward drive of the motor 14 for 15 seconds (step 2). The microcomputer 32 detects the number of rotations of the motor based on a pulse input from the number-of-rotations detection means 39. The rotation speed detecting means 39 detects the rotation of the magnet 30 provided in the motor 14 as the number of pulses output by the Hall element 31 and counts the pulse signals (detection signals) in the microcomputer 32 to determine the rotation speed of the motor. I do. The pulse signal of the rotation speed detecting means 39 has a correlation with the rotation speed of the drum, and after the power supply to the motor 14 is stopped, the pulse signal similarly decreases in accordance with the reduction in the rotation speed of the drum.

Here, in step 2, the motor 14
When the power supply to the drum is stopped, the drum is not completely stopped, and performs a coasting rotation. As described above, the time and operation of the inertial rotation vary depending on the weight of the clothes stored in the drum, and when the amount of clothes is large or the degree of drying of the clothes is low, the drum is turned on by the motor 14. It stops almost immediately after stopping, and then performs a swing-back operation in the opposite direction.
At this time, the pulse signal from the rotation number detecting means accompanying the rotation of the drum is as shown in FIG. 6A.

6A and 6B, in a, the vertical axis indicates the number of pulse signals, the horizontal axis indicates time, and in b, the vertical axis indicates whether or not the motor is energized, and the horizontal axis indicates time. 6A and 6B, when the motor is energized, the number of pulse signals increases with an increase in the rotation of the drum, and thereafter, the rotation of the drum becomes constant, and at the same time, the pulse signal also becomes stable at a constant value. When the power supply to the motor is stopped, the pulse signal rapidly decreases in accordance with the inertial rotation of the drum, and further increases when the drum swings back in the opposite direction.

On the other hand, in a state close to no load, such as when the amount of clothes stored in the drum is small, the drum completely stops after coasting for about 1 to 5 seconds after the motor power is stopped. The pulse signal at this time is as shown in FIG. FIG. 7a,
At b, at the same time when the power supply to the motor is stopped, the pulse signal gradually decreases in accordance with the inertial rotation of the drum, and thereafter becomes zero. After stopping the energization of the motor in step 2, the microcomputer 32
It is determined whether the pulse signal from is zero (step 3). Here, when it is detected that the pulse signal has become 0, the microcomputer 32 determines that the drum has completely stopped, and sends the 15
The reverse drive for the second is instructed, and the load driving means is driven by the motor 14.
Is inverted for 15 seconds (steps 5 and 6).

On the other hand, when the pulse signal from the rotation speed detecting means 39 after the motor power supply is stopped does not become 0,
The microcomputer 32 determines whether or not the pulse signal increases (step 4). If it is determined that the detection pulse has increased, the drum 32 performs a swing-back operation in the opposite direction after the inertial rotation. And instruct the load driving means to rotate the motor 14 in the reverse direction for 15 seconds, and the motor 14 is driven in the reverse direction for 15 seconds (steps 4, 5,
6).

On the other hand, if the microcomputer 32 determines in step 4 that the pulse signal has not increased, it is determined that the drum is rotating by inertia and step 3
Go back. After performing the reverse rotation of the drum for 15 seconds in Steps 5, 6, and 7, the pulse signal from the rotation speed detecting means 39 is 0 by the microcomputer 32 as in Steps 3 and 4, or increases if not. It is determined whether or not to perform the rotation (steps 7, 8, and 9), and if it is determined that the drum has stopped or returned, the load driving means is instructed to drive the motor 14 forward for 15 seconds (step 10). ). Then, it is determined whether or not the operation is completed (step 11). If the operation is completed, the operation is completed (step 1).
2) If the operation has not been completed, the process returns to step 1 and similarly returns to step S1 based on the pulse signal from the rotation speed detecting means.
The normal rotation and the reverse rotation are repeatedly performed.

With the above-described structure, the rotation speed detecting means detects the coasting rotation of the drive motor accompanying the coasting rotation of the drum during the motor power supply stop period when the drum is switched from normal rotation to reverse rotation and from reverse rotation to normal rotation. , The motor is rotated in the reverse direction (forward rotation) when the pulse signal is increased to 0 and increased, so that the optimal drum reverse rotation (forward rotation) timing according to the weight of the load in the drum is obtained. Will be able to

[0021]

According to the present invention, the presence / absence of rotation of the drum due to the swing back after the coasting rotation is detected when the power supply to the motor is stopped when the rotation of the drum is switched from normal rotation to reverse rotation and from reverse rotation to normal rotation. By configuring the motor to rotate in the reverse direction (forward rotation) when swing-back is detected,
It is possible to prevent the drum from rotating in the opposite direction during the coasting rotation of the drum, eliminating the burden on the drum drive unit and enabling smooth drum rotation control according to fluctuations in the weight of the load inside the drum Become. Further, by eliminating unnecessary motor stop time when switching the rotation of the drum, the overall drying efficiency can be improved and the drying time can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a clothes dryer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the clothes dryer.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part showing a rotation speed detector.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system of the clothes dryer of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing drum reversal control in the clothes dryer of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a change in inertial rotation when the load in the drum is heavy.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a change in inertial rotation when the load in the drum is light.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20, 21 Heating device 22, 23 Blowing means 14, 15 Motor 39 Revolution detecting means 32 Control means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) D06F 58/28

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A clothes dryer main body, a drum which is horizontally supported in the main body and stirs the clothes by forward and reverse rotations, a heating device, and a drying air heated by the heating device is introduced into the drum. A blower, a motor that rotationally drives the drum, a load driving unit that controls loads of the motor, the heating device, the blower, and the like, a rotational speed detector that detects a rotational speed of the motor, The rotation number detecting means detects the presence or absence of rotation due to the swing back of the drum after the inertial rotation of the motor after the forward rotation (reverse rotation) of the motor is stopped, and forward rotation (reverse rotation) of the motor based on a detection signal that detects the swing back rotation. rotation)
And a control means for instructing the load drive circuit to drive the load drive circuit in a reverse rotation (forward rotation) from the first direction.