JP3197840B2 - 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, and more particularly to a seal member for sealing between a rotary drum and a fan casing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a clothes dryer which dries clothes in a rotating drum by storing wet clothes in the rotating drum, rotating the rotating drum and blowing dry hot air into the rotating drum. This is known (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-631).

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a part of the structure of a conventional clothes dryer. Referring to FIG. 3, a heat exchange type double-sided fan 71 is provided behind rotating drum 70 (right side in FIG. 3). When the double-sided fan 71 is rotated, the air in the casing 72 is guided to a heater (not shown) through a circulation duct 73 connected to the rotating drum 70,
After being heated by this heater, it is supplied into the rotating drum 70. In the rotating drum 70, heat exchange is performed between the high-temperature air and the clothing, and moisture contained in the clothing evaporates. The air (steam) containing the moisture is supplied to the rotating drum 7
The air flows into the casing 72 through an opening 74 formed in the rear surface of the casing 0 and an opening 75 formed in the casing 72, and is cooled by the double-sided fan 71. This allows
Water in the steam flowing into the casing 72 condenses on the surface of the double-sided fan 71 as water droplets. The water droplets are guided to the circulation duct 73 by the rotation of the double-sided fan 71, and are drained out of the machine from a drain port 76 formed in the circulation duct 73.

[0004] Further, the casing 7 is
2 flows into the rotating drum 70 and the casing 72.
A seal member 77 is provided between the rotating drum 70 and the casing 72 so as not to leak out from the space.
The seal member 77 is made of, for example, felt, and the frictional resistance when the rotary drum 70 slides on the seal member 77 is made as small as possible.

[0005]

When the temperature of the casing 72 is lower than the temperature of the steam exhausted from the rotary drum 70, for example, at the time of starting the operation of the clothes dryer, the moisture in the steam is removed from the outside of the casing 72. It may condense on surface 78. Water droplets adhering to the outer surface 78 of the casing 72 are not guided into the casing 72,
2 and flows onto the sealing member 77 through the outer surface 78,
It penetrates into the seal member 77. Thereby, the casing 7
Water droplets condensed on the outer surface 78 of the second member are prevented from leaking onto the bottom plate of the dryer body.

However, when a large amount of moisture permeates into the seal member 77, there is a possibility that the permeated moisture leaks out of the seal member 77. Also, the sealing member 77
When a large amount of moisture permeates into the seal member 77, the seal member 77 becomes heavy, and a gap is formed between the seal member 77 and the rotary drum 70 or the casing 72, which may deteriorate the sealing performance.

Further, if a large amount of moisture permeates the seal member 77, the frictional resistance between the seal member 77 and the rotary drum 70 increases, and there is a problem that vibration and noise of the rotary drum 70 during operation increase. . Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems and to provide a seal member and a clothes dryer capable of reliably preventing water leakage from between a rotary drum and a fan casing.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a seal member and a clothes dryer capable of reducing vibration and noise during operation as compared with the related art.

[0009]

Clothes dryer according to claim 1 for achieving the above object SUMMARY In order to achieve the above, a rotary drum for accommodating clothes to be dried, to form an air flow through the rotating drum a fan for, including a fan casing for accommodating the fan, and a sealing member for sealing between the rotary drum and the fan casing
Only, the sealing member is made of an elastic material
Layer and a felt layer laminated on the elastic layer.
The contact surface of the felt layer with the rotating drum
And the felt drum
And a water-repellent treatment for reducing frictional resistance between them.

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the contact surface of the seal member with the rotating drum is water-repellent.
Even if the air containing moisture from the rotating drum is cooled by the fan casing and the moisture in the air condenses on the surface of the fan casing, the condensed moisture does not permeate the seal member. therefore,
There is no possibility that water that has permeated the seal member leaks out of the seal member and causes water leakage. Also, Fel
A water-repellent finish is achieved by impregnating the layer with a water-repellent agent
May be done. In this case, the sliding of the rotating drum
Water repellency can be maintained even if the gel layer wears out.
The life of the tool member can be extended.

Further, since a large amount of moisture permeates into the seal member, the seal member becomes heavy and the sealing performance deteriorates, and the frictional resistance between the seal member and the rotary drum increases, and the vibration of the rotary drum during operation increases. There is no increase in noise or noise. Further, when the contact surface of the sealing member with the rotating drum is coated with a water repellent such as silicone resin or fluororesin, the frictional resistance generated between the rotating drum and the sealing member is reduced, and the vibration of the rotating drum is reduced. And noise can be reduced.

[0015]

[0016]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a clothes dryer according to one embodiment of the present invention. This clothes dryer includes a box-shaped housing 1 having an opening 1a on the front surface, a rotating drum 2 provided in the housing 1, and an openable / closable door 3 attached to the front opening 1a of the housing 1. ing. Clothes to be dried are thrown into the rotating drum 2 through the front opening 1a of the housing 1 with the opening / closing door 3 opened.

The rotary drum 2 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and is provided with its end faces back and forth. The rotary drum 2 is rotatably supported by an annular drum support plate 4 attached so as to surround the front opening 1 a of the housing 1, and is rotatable by a support shaft 5 inserted in the center of the rear surface of the rotary drum 2. It is supported by. A lint filter 7 and a filter cover 8 are attached to the opening 6 formed on the rear surface of the rotating drum 2 so as to close the opening 6 from the inside of the rotating drum 2.

A blower 9 for circulating air is provided behind the rotary drum 2. The blower 9 includes a double-sided fan 10 fixed to the support shaft 5 and a fan casing 11 that houses the double-sided fan 10. Inside the fan casing 11, the fan casing 1
1 is partitioned by the double-sided fan 10,
A drying air passage 12 and a cooling air passage 13 are defined. The cooling air passage 13 is communicated with the outside of the housing 1 through a cooling air intake port 14 formed in the rear face plate 1b of the housing 1. Thereby, when the double-sided fan 10 rotates,
Outside air is taken in from the cooling air inlet 14 and the two-sided fan 10 is cooled by the outside air. The taken outside air is supplied to an outside air outlet 3 formed in the bottom plate 1c of the housing 1.
3 to the outside.

The peripheral edge of the double-sided fan 10 and the fan casing 11 are connected by a labyrinth so that air cannot flow between the drying air passage 12 and the cooling air passage 13. Rotary drum 2 of fan casing 11
For example, a rectangular opening is formed in the surface facing the partition wall, and a partition plate 15 is fitted into the rectangular opening. In the center of the partition plate 15, for example, a circular fitting recess 16 is formed, and a reinforcing plate 17 is fitted in the fitting recess 16. The partition plate 15 and the reinforcing plate 17 have openings 18 to allow air to flow therethrough,
19 are formed. Thus, the inside of the rotating drum 2 and the drying air passage 12 partitioned in the fan casing 11 are connected to the opening 6 formed on the rear surface of the rotating drum 2 and the reinforcing plate 1.
7 and an opening 18 of the partition plate 15.

A seal member 20 according to this embodiment is provided between the rear surface of the rotary drum 2 and the partition plate 15. The sealing member 20 is sandwiched between the peripheral wall of the fitting concave portion 16 of the partition plate 15 and the reinforcing plate 17, and the tip end thereof comes into contact with the rear surface of the rotary drum 2 from behind, and the sealing member 20 is connected to the fan casing 11. The space between them is sealed. Thereby, the hot air in the rotary drum 2 is guided into the fan casing 11 (dry air path 12), and the hot air does not leak from the connection portion between the rotary drum 2 and the fan casing 11.

A circulation duct 21 is provided below the rotating drum 2.
Are arranged. One end of the circulation duct 21 is connected to a drying air passage 12 defined in the fan casing 11, and the other end of the circulation duct 21 is connected to a hot air inlet 22 formed at a lower portion of the drum support plate 4. ing. Thereby, the rotating drum 2 and the drying air path 1
2 and the circulation duct 21 form an air circulation path. A heater 23 for heating the air flowing through the circulation duct 21 is disposed near the hot air inlet 22 in the circulation duct 21.

A motor 26 having front and rear output shafts 24 and 25 is provided at a lower part in the housing 1. A drum pulley 27 is fixed to an output shaft 24 extending forward of the motor 26. A drum belt 28 is wound around the outer periphery of the drum pulley 27 and the rotary drum 2, and the drum belt 28 is given an appropriate tension by an idle pulley 29. On the other hand, a fan pulley 30 is attached to the output shaft 25 extending behind the motor 26. A fan belt 32 is wound around the fan pulley 30 and a pulley 31 attached to the center of the double-sided fan 10. Therefore, when the motor 26 is rotationally driven, the driving force of the motor 26 is transmitted to the rotary drum 2 and the double-sided fan 10 via the drum belt 28 and the fan belt 32, and the rotary drum 2 and the double-sided fan 10 are rotated. .

When the double-sided fan 10 is rotated, the air in the drying air passage 12 is sent to the circulation duct 21. The air sent to the circulation duct 21 is heated by the heater 23 to become high-temperature hot air, and flows into the rotary drum 2 through the hot air inlet 22. In the rotating drum 2, the hot air and the clothing are stirred by the rotation of the rotating drum 2, and heat exchange is performed between the hot air and the clothing. As a result, the moisture contained in the clothes is evaporated. Air containing moisture evaporated from the clothes is sucked into the drying air passage 12 by the rotation of the double-sided fan 10.

The double-sided fan 10 is cooled by outside air taken in from a cooling air inlet 14 formed in the rear plate 1 b of the housing 1, and the air containing moisture flowing into the drying air passage 12 is cooled. It is cooled by the double-sided fan 10. As a result, moisture contained in the air in the drying air passage 12 condenses on the surface of the double-sided fan 10 to form water droplets. The water droplets are blown from the inside of the fan casing 11 to the circulation duct 21 by the rotation of the double-sided fan 10, and are drained to the outside from a drain port 34 formed at a lower portion of the circulation duct 21. The air with reduced moisture is sent again to the circulation duct 21 by the rotation of the double-sided fan 10, and the rotating drum 2, the drying air passage 12 and the circulation duct 21
Circulates repeatedly in the air circulation path formed by Thereby, the clothes in the rotating drum 2 are dried.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the partition plate 15, the reinforcing plate 17, and the seal member 20. Partition plate 15
Is integrally formed of, for example, a metal such as stainless steel, and a circular fitting recess 16 is formed in the center thereof toward the rear (toward the double-sided fan 10 shown in FIG. 1). A circular opening 18 is formed at the center of the fitting recess 16. In the fitting recess 16, for example, a rectangular drainage hole 35 is formed below the circular opening 18.

The reinforcing plate 17 is formed in a disc shape with a metal such as stainless steel, for example.
5 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the fitting recess 16. A bearing hole 36 through which the support shaft 5 is inserted is formed in the center of the reinforcing plate 17, and the reinforcing plate 17 has a function as a bearing of the support shaft 5. A plurality of substantially triangular openings 19 are formed in the reinforcing plate 17 radially around the bearing hole 36. Therefore, the rotating drum 2
The air from (see FIG. 1) flows into the fan casing 11 (see FIG. 1) through the opening 19 formed in the reinforcing plate 17 and the opening 18 formed in the partition plate 15. Further, a rectangular drainage hole 37 is formed in the reinforcing plate 17 below the opening 19 at a position facing the drainage hole 35 formed in the partition plate 15.

The seal member 20 is an annular member formed by bonding both ends of a strip-shaped base material 38 to each other. The outer diameter of the seal member 20 is substantially equal to the diameter of the fitting recess 16 formed in the partition plate 15, and the inner diameter of the seal member 20 is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the reinforcing plate 17. Thereby, when the seal member 20 is fitted into the fitting recess 16 of the partition plate 15 and the reinforcing plate 17 is further fitted inside the seal member 20, the seal member 20 reinforces with the peripheral wall portion 39 of the fitting recess 16. It is in a state of being sandwiched by the periphery of the plate 17.

The substrate 38 is a laminate of an elastic layer 40 made of, for example, a natural rubber foam (foam NR) and a felt layer 41 made of, for example, polyester. The seal member 20 is formed by making the base material 38 annular so that the elastic layer 40 is on the outside.
Therefore, the seal member 20 is sandwiched between the partition plate 15 and the reinforcing plate 17, and the partition plate 15 is
, The felt layer 41 contacts the rear surface of the rotary drum 2. At this time, the felt layer 41 of the seal member 20 is elastically urged toward the rear surface of the rotary drum 2 by the elastic force of the elastic layer 40, and the sealing state between the seal member 20 and the rear surface of the rotary drum 2 is good. become.

One of the features of this embodiment is that the surface of the felt layer 41 is coated with a water repellent such as a silicone resin or a fluorine resin. Thereby, even if the air containing moisture from the rotary drum 2 is cooled by the reinforcing plate 17, the moisture in the air is reduced by the reinforcing plate 1.
Even when the condensation has condensed on the surface of 7, the condensed moisture does not permeate the felt layer 41 (seal member 20). Therefore, there is no possibility that the water that has permeated the seal member 20 leaks out of the seal member 20 to cause water leakage.

Further, since a large amount of moisture permeates into the seal member 20, the seal member 20 becomes heavy and the sealing performance deteriorates, or the frictional resistance between the seal member 20 and the rotary drum 2 increases, and the operation time during operation is increased. Vibration and noise of the rotating drum 2 do not increase. Further, since the surface of the felt layer 41 is coated with a silicone resin or a fluorine resin, the frictional resistance generated between the rotating drum 2 and the felt layer 41 is reduced, and the vibration and noise of the rotating drum 2 can be reduced. it can.

Another feature of this embodiment is that drain holes 35 and 37 are formed in the partition plate 15 and the reinforcing plate 17, respectively. Thereby, even if the moisture in the air exhausted from the rotary drum 2 condenses on the surface of the reinforcing plate 17, the condensed moisture is dried through the drain holes 35 and 37 by the rotation of the double-sided fan 10. Road 12
It is drawn inside. Further, even if water condensed on the surface of the reinforcing plate 17 accumulates on the seal member 20, the water on the seal member 20 can escape into the drying air passage 12.
Therefore, from between the rear surface of the rotary drum 2 and the partition plate 15,
The possibility that water droplets leak out can be further reduced.

The clothes dryer according to this embodiment is provided with a water receiving tray 42 below the seal member 20, as shown in FIG. 1, so that even if water droplets leak from the seal member 20, The leaked water droplets are received by the water receiving tray 42. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the water drops from falling on the bottom plate of the housing 1 and causing water leakage to the outside.

In the above description, the felt layer 4
Although the surface of 1 is coated with a silicone resin or a fluorine resin, the felt layer 41 may be impregnated with the silicon resin or the fluorine resin. In this case, even if the felt layer 41 is worn by sliding of the rotating drum 2, the water repellency by the silicone resin or the fluororesin can be maintained, and the life of the seal member 20 can be extended.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the elastic layer of the seal member can be made of, for example, CR, NBR, EPDM, or the like, in addition to the foamed NR. The felt layer can be made of, for example, wool, rayon, or a mixture of wool and rayon in addition to the polyester.

In the above-described embodiment, the partition plate and the reinforcing plate are attached to the surface of the fan casing facing the rotary drum. However, the fan casing has sufficient strength as a bearing for a support shaft supporting the rotary drum. In the case where the fan casing is provided, the partition plate and the reinforcing plate may be omitted, and the seal member may be bonded and fixed to the front surface of the fan casing with, for example, an adhesive. In this case, the drainage hole can be formed by cutting the fan casing into a rectangular shape.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a circulation type clothes dryer in which air in an air circulation path formed in the housing is circulated by rotation of a two-sided fan has been described as an example. Such a sealing member is not limited to a circulating-type clothes dryer, and is a non-circulating-type garment that evaporates moisture from clothing by hot air generated by heating air taken in from the outside and exhausts air containing the moisture to the outside. It is applicable to dryers and the like.

In addition, various changes can be made within the scope described in the claims.

[0038]

According to the present invention, the contact surface between the rotary drum of the seal member, since the water-repellent processing is given, if
Air containing moisture from the rotating drum enters the fan casing
Therefore, it is cooled and the moisture in the air is
This condensed water, even if condensed on the surface of the
No part permeates the seal member. Hence the seal
Water that has soaked into the member leaks out of the seal member,
There will be no leakage.

[0039]

Further, since a large amount of moisture permeates into the seal member, the seal member becomes heavy and the sealing performance deteriorates, or the frictional resistance between the seal member and the rotary drum increases, resulting in vibration of the rotary drum during operation. There is no increase in noise or noise .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of a clothes dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a partition plate, a reinforcing plate, and a seal member.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the configuration of a conventional clothes dryer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 rotating drum 10 double-sided fan 11 fan casing 15 partition plate 17 reinforcing plate 20 sealing member 35, 37 drainage hole 40 elastic layer 41 felt layer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-8-117490 (JP, A) JP-A-58-84000 (JP, A) JP-A-2-206499 (JP, A) 59998 (JP, U) Actually open 55-60895 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) D06F 58/00-58/24

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A a rotary drum for accommodating clothes to be dried, a fan for forming an air stream flowing through the rotary drum
When the fan casing for accommodating the fan, wherein the seal member for sealing between the rotary drum and the fan casing, the sealing member is an elastic layer made of a material having elasticity
And a felt layer laminated on the elastic layer.
Condensed water is present on the contact surface of the gel layer with the rotating drum.
Suppress soaking, and rotating drum and felt layer
A clothes dryer characterized by being subjected to a water-repellent treatment to reduce frictional resistance generated between the clothes.