JP3734698B2 - Laundry drying method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a drying method and apparatus for pre-drying, for example, a laundry to be dried such as a hand towel, and more particularly, from a pre-dryer for pre-drying to a main dryer for main drying. the material to be dried regarding the dry 燥装 location so as to efficiently transfer the.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As this type of dry 燥装 location, for example, there is proposed by Japanese Patent No. 3044218. In other words, this drying method and device is designed to efficiently dry a large amount of objects to be dried that have been dehydrated after washing and are in an undried state. Energy saving and overall drying time can be shortened.
[0003]
In this case, the preliminary drying of the material to be dried is performed by the preliminary dryer, and the main drying is performed by the main dryer, and the main dryer and the preliminary dryer are arranged next to each other, An object to be dried preliminarily dried by the predryer is transferred to the main dryer via a belt conveyor.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a conventional drying method and apparatus, since mechanical transfer means such as a belt conveyor is used for transferring the material to be dried from the preliminary dryer to the main dryer, the structure becomes complicated and the drying is performed. There has been a problem that the overall cost of the apparatus is inevitably increased.
[0005]
Moreover, in the said patent 3424218, hot air (about 160 degreeC) is introduce | transduced into this drier, the to-be-dried material is main-dried, and exhaust air (about 100 degreeC) in this drier after this main drying is performed. Is supplied to a pre-drying machine, and the pre-drying of the object to be dried is performed to effectively use the exhaust heat of the present drying machine. In this case, by utilizing the air flow of exhaust heat air introduced from the main dryer to the pre-dryer, that is, exhaust heat air, this exhaust heat air is blown onto the pre-dried object in the pre-dryer. It has been proposed to blow and transport the material to be dried to the dryer.
[0006]
However, in the case where the material to be dried in the preliminary drying stage is blown away only with the exhaust hot air, it is difficult to sufficiently blow off the material to be dried because it is in a pre-dried state, that is, undried and contains moisture. In some cases, the material to be dried may be left in the preliminary dryer.
[0007]
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and it is possible to preliminarily prepare an object to be dried containing moisture in a pre-dried state with a simple structure without using a mechanical transfer means such as a belt conveyor. be reliably transferred from the dryer to the dryer and to provide a dry 燥装 location capable.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been made in view of the conventional problems as described above, and the present invention relates to drying of laundry that is to be dried by transferring the object to be dried, which is laundry preliminarily dried by a preliminary dryer, to the dryer. As a device, the communication between the pre-dryer and the drier provided adjacent to each other in series in the transfer direction of the object to be dried is cut off, the openable shutter and the outside air sucked into the drier are heated. Outside air sucked into the heat exchanger in order to bring the inside of the main dryer into a negative pressure state, and comprising a heat exchanger and exhaust means for sucking air in the main dryer and exhausting it to the preliminary dryer It is the structure provided with the opening-closing means for heat exchangers which can interrupt | block and open | release freely.
[0011]
Further, the present invention provides a laundry drying apparatus for transferring a drying object, which is laundry preliminarily dried by a preliminary dryer, to the drying machine, and is adjacent in series in the transfer direction of the drying object. The pre-dryer provided and the pre-dryer can be disconnected from each other, the heat exchanger that heats the outside air sucked into the main dryer, and the pre-dryer by sucking the air in the main dryer. An exhaust means for exhausting to the dryer, so that when the block by the shutter is released, the object to be dried in the preliminary dryer can be transferred into the dryer by a suction action caused by the negative pressure in the dryer. In contrast to the exhaust capacity of the exhaust means, the flow resistance of the heat exchanger is increased.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of a drying apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the drying apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a rotating drum used in the drying apparatus of FIG.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 1, a drying apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main dryer 14 that performs main drying on an object to be dried 12 such as a laundry such as a wet towel, and a preliminary drying of the object to be dried 12. The to-be-dried material 12 pre-dried by the pre-dryer 16 is transferred to the main dryer 14 for main drying.
[0014]
That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the main dryer 14 feeds hot air into the casing 20, the casing 20 constituting the dryer main body, the rotating drum 22 rotatably mounted in the casing 20, and the casing 20. A steam heater 24 as a heat exchanger and an exhaust fan 26 as exhaust means for exhausting the inside of the housing 20 are schematically configured. The preliminary dryer 16 is generally configured to include a housing 28 constituting a dryer main body and a rotating drum 30 that is rotatably mounted in the housing 28.
[0015]
Then, the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 are moved in the transfer direction of the respective objects to be dried 12, that is, the transfer direction is the axial direction of the rotary drums 22 and 30, and these axial directions are adjacent to each other in series. , Each is arranged in a butted state. A shutter 32 that can be freely opened and closed is provided between the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 arranged in abutment so as to block and open the communication state between the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16. By opening the shutter 32, the inside of the main dryer 14 and the inside of the preliminary dryer 16 are communicated, and by closing the shutter 32, both the dryers 14, 16 are shut off with airtightness.
[0016]
Further, when the main dryer 14 and the pre-dryer 16 are arranged to face each other in this way, the outlet (not shown) for the object to be dried 12 opens and closes on the side opposite to the respective abutting side. In addition to being provided freely, the preliminary dryer 16 is provided with an input port 34 (see FIG. 1) for the object to be dried 12 so as to be freely opened and closed. These outlets and inlets 34 are closed in a sealed state during the drying operation of the drying apparatus 10.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 2, the rotating drums 22 and 30 are formed as drums each having a cylindrical body whose ends are meshed and open at both ends, and the material to be dried 12 is taken into the rotating drums 22 and 30. It is. The rotary drums 22 and 30 are disposed in a state of being axially abutted with each other as the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 are disposed adjacent to each other, and the shutter is disposed between them. 32 is arranged to be freely opened and closed. Each of the rotating drums 22 and 30 is rotated around a central axis by a servo motor that is driven and controlled by a control unit (not shown), and the object to be dried 12 taken into the interior by this rotation is agitated and uneven. It can be dried without any problems.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 1, the steam heater 24 is configured as a heat exchanger using high-temperature steam introduced from the outside as a heat source, and outside air is introduced into the housing 20 through the steam heater 24 by the operation of the exhaust fan 26. During this time, heat is exchanged with the steam circulating in the steam heater 24 to generate hot hot air. This hot air becomes a high temperature of about 160 ° C., for example, and is introduced into the main dryer 14, whereby the object to be dried 12 is actually dried.
[0019]
The steam heater 24 as a heat exchanger is provided with heat exchanger opening / closing means such as a suitable shutter mechanism (not shown) that can block the inflow of outside air. Therefore, when the opening / closing means is closed, the inflow of outside air is prevented, and when it is opened, the inflow of outside air is allowed. In addition, by adjusting the opening degree of the opening / closing means, a throttling effect can be achieved and the inflow amount of outside air can be adjusted.
[0020]
The exhaust fan 26 as an exhaust means serves to exhaust the inside of the housing 20 and is provided on the upper surface of the housing 20 provided with the steam heater 24 as shown in FIG. is there. Hot air (exhaust heat) exhausted from the dryer 4 by the exhaust fan 26 is introduced into the preliminary dryer 16 via the exhaust pipe 36. The exhaust pipe 36 communicates the outlet of the steam exhaust fan 26 and the upper surface of the housing 28 of the preliminary dryer 16.
[0021]
The exhaust heat is reduced to a temperature of, for example, about 100 ° C. by the heat of vaporization while the hot air (160 ° C.) supplied from the steam heater 24 performs the main drying of the article 12 to be dried. The air is fed to the preliminary dryer 16 through the exhaust pipe 36. Accordingly, although the exhaust heat is maintained at a sufficiently high temperature even though the temperature is lowered, the exhaust heat is fed into the pre-dryer 16 to sufficiently reserve the object to be dried 12 dehydrated after washing. Can be dried.
[0022]
In order to dry the object 12 to be dried by the drying apparatus 10 configured in this way, first, the communication between the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 is blocked by the shutter 32, and the dryer 14 is removed. A predetermined amount of to-be-dried material 12 that has been dehydrated after washing is put into the rotary drums 22 and 30 from the outlet and the inlet 34 of the preliminary dryer 16, and the outlet and the inlet 34 are closed. In this state, the rotary drums 22 and 30 are rotated while operating the steam heater 24 and the exhaust fan 26, and the exhaust fan is heated while the drying object 12 in the dryer 14 is fully dried by the hot air introduced from the steam heater 24. The exhaust heat is supplied from the exhaust pipe 26 through the exhaust pipe 36 to pre-dry the article 12 to be dried in the pre-dryer 16.
[0023]
Then, when the main drying of the main dryer 14 is completed, the drying apparatus 10 is stopped, and the object to be dried 12 is taken out from the outlet of the main dryer 14, and the shutter 32 is opened to perform preliminary drying in the preliminary dryer 16. The object to be dried 12 is taken into the main dryer 14, and then the shutter 32 is closed, and the new object to be dried 12 dehydrated after washing is put into the preliminary dryer 16. Then, by operating the drying apparatus 10 again, the main drying and the preliminary drying as described above are repeatedly performed.
[0024]
Here, in the present embodiment, when the pre-dried material 12 in the pre-dryer 16 is taken into the main dryer 14, after the air dryer 14 and the pre-dryer 16 are hermetically shut off, The inside of the main dryer 14 is vacuumed to a large negative pressure state, and then the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 are communicated, and the negative pressure in the main dryer 14 acting on the preliminary dryer 16 by this communication. Thus, the material to be dried 12 preliminarily dried by the predryer 16 is transferred to the main dryer 14.
[0025]
In this case, an airtight shutoff between the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 is performed by closing the shutter 32, and the communication between the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 is performed by the shutter 32. Further, the vacuum in the dryer 14 is performed by the operation of the exhaust fan 26.
[0026]
That is, the main drying of the main dryer 14 is completed and the drying apparatus 10 is stopped. At this stage, after the main drying object 12 in the main dryer 14 is taken out from the outlet, the shutter 32 is shut off. The outlet is closed while the heat exchanger is maintained, and the heat exchanger opening / closing means is closed to prevent the outside air from flowing into the dryer 14. At this time, the pre-dried object 12 remains in the pre-dryer 16, and when the exhaust fan 26 is operated in this state, the air in the main dryer 14 is passed through the exhaust pipe 36. Therefore, the inside of the main dryer 14 is vacuumed to a large negative pressure state. Then, when a sufficiently large negative pressure is obtained in the main dryer 14, the shutter 32 is vigorously opened and the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 are communicated. The to-be-dried object 12 in the preliminary dryer 16 is sucked and transferred into the main dryer 14 by the suction action caused by the large negative pressure.
[0027]
At this time, since the exhaust door 26 is in a driven state, the air in the main dryer 14 is sucked and supplied to the preliminary dryer 16, so that the air circulates and the preliminary dryer 16 to the main dryer 14. Thus, the air to be dried can be effectively transferred from the preliminary dryer 16 to the main dryer 14.
[0028]
Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the pre-dried object 12 in the pre-dryer 16 is taken into the main dryer 14, the main dryer 14 and the pre-dryer are preliminarily dried after the inside of the main dryer 14 is brought into a large negative pressure state. Since the communication with the dryer 16 is established, the air in the preliminary dryer 16 is vigorously sucked into the dryer 14 due to a large differential pressure between the dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 at the time of communication. It will be. For this reason, the to-be-dried object 12 in the preliminary dryer 16 will be taken in into this dryer 14 with the attraction | suction force of the air at this time, and mechanical transfer means, such as a belt conveyor, are used conventionally. In addition, the object to be dried 12 can be transferred easily and reliably. Further, since the mechanical transfer means is not used in this way, the configuration of the drying apparatus 10 can be simplified and manufactured at a low cost.
[0029]
By the way, in this embodiment, when the inside of this dryer 14 was made into a big negative pressure state, the case where it was made to carry out using the exhaust fan 26 as an exhaust means was shown, but it is not restricted to this but apart from this exhaust fan A vacuum pump or the like, which is not shown in the figure, is provided so that the inside of the dryer 14 can be brought into a large negative pressure state. Of course, by using the existing exhaust fan 26 as in the present embodiment, the structure can be simplified and the drying apparatus 10 can be manufactured at low cost.
[0030]
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the preliminary dryer 16 is provided with an exhaust pipe 38 for releasing the exhaust heat at a lower temperature in the preliminary dryer 16 to the atmosphere, and the preliminary dryer. The 16 loading ports 34 are provided with a conveyance table 40 for conveying and loading the material to be dried 12 dehydrated after washing.
[0031]
By the way, the case where the heat exchanger opening / closing means provided in the steam heater 24 is closed when the inside of the dryer 14 is set to a negative pressure has been described. However, the heat exchanger opening / closing means is narrowed to reduce the flow rate of the outside air. Thus, the inside of the dryer 14 can be set to a negative pressure. Further, the flow resistance of the steam heater 24 can be increased in comparison with the exhaust capability of the exhaust door 26 as an exhaust means, and the steam heater 24 can restrict the inflow of outside air in advance. It is. As described above, when the flow resistance of the steam heater is increased, a large negative pressure is always generated in the dryer 14 when the exhaust door 26 is driven, and the above-described opening / closing means is omitted. It is also possible.
[0032]
As described above, when the flow passage resistance of the steam heater 24 is increased and the inside of the main dryer 14 is set to a negative pressure by driving the exhaust door 26, the shutoff by the shutter 32 is released and the main dryer 14 and the preliminary door 14 are spared. When the dryer 16 is in communication, the object to be dried 12 in the preliminary dryer 16 can be transferred to the dryer 14 by the suction action caused by the negative pressure in the dryer 14. In consideration of the exhaust capacity, the flow resistance of the steam heater 24 is increased.
[0033]
FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description is omitted. That is, FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the drying apparatus 10a corresponding to FIG. 1. This embodiment is mainly different from the first embodiment in that the pre-dried object 12 to be dried in the pre-dryer 16 is shown. When the air is taken into the main dryer 14, exhaust hot air blown into the preliminary dryer 16 from the main dryer 14 is used in addition to using a large negative pressure in the main dryer 14.
[0034]
That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a branch pipe 42 is provided in the exhaust pipe 36 that communicates the exhaust fan 26 of the main dryer 14 and the inside of the preliminary dryer 16, and this branch pipe 42 is connected to the front surface of the housing 28. It communicates with the upper part, and its front end opening is directed to blow away the material 12 to be dried at the lower part of the rotary drum 30 toward the drier 14. Further, a passage switching damper (not shown) is provided at a branch portion between the exhaust pipe 36 and the branch pipe 42.
[0035]
In the drying apparatus 10a configured as described above, in the present embodiment, after the air dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 are hermetically shut off, the exhaust heat air in the air dryer 14 is the same as described above. Is discharged into the preliminary dryer 16 to bring the main dryer 14 into a large negative pressure state as described above, and the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer in a state where the exhaust heat air is blown into the preliminary dryer 16. 16, and the pre-drying of the pre-dryer 16 is performed in cooperation with the large negative pressure in the main dryer 14 acting in the pre-dryer 16 by this communication and the exhaust hot air blown into the pre-dryer 16. The dried object 12 is transferred to the dryer 14.
[0036]
In this case, the airtight shutoff between the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 is performed by closing the shutter 32 as in the first embodiment, and the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 The communication is performed by opening the shutter 32. Further, when exhausted hot air in the main dryer 14 is discharged into the preliminary dryer 16, the passage switching damper at the branch portion between the exhaust pipe 36 and the branch pipe 42 is switched so that the branch pipe 42 is communicated and the exhaust pipe. The outlet side of 36 is shut off, and the exhaust hot air fed from the exhaust fan 26 is blown into the preliminary dryer 16 only from the branch pipe 42.
[0037]
Therefore, in the second embodiment, the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 are communicated with each other in a state where the main dryer 14 is brought into a large negative pressure state by discharging exhaust heat air. In the same manner as in the embodiment, the object to be dried 12 in the preliminary dryer 16 is taken into the main dryer 14 by the suction force of air due to a large pressure difference generated between the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16. Become. At the same time, exhaust hot air can be blown into the preliminary dryer 16 from the front end opening of the branch pipe 42 from the main dryer 14 through the exhaust pipe 32 and the branch pipe 42, The dried product 12 can be boosted. Therefore, the to-be-dried object 12 in the preliminary dryer 16 is more reliably transferred into the dryer 14 by the cooperation of the air suction force by the large negative pressure and the blowing of the exhaust hot air.
[0038]
FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in which the same components as those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description is omitted. 4 is a perspective view of the drying apparatus 10b corresponding to FIG. 1. The main difference between this embodiment and the first and second embodiments is that the preliminary dryer 16 is higher than the main dryer 14. FIG. In the position.
[0039]
That is, in the first and second embodiments, the main dryer 14 and the preliminary dryer 16 are at the same level, and the material to be dried 12 is transferred from the rotary drum 30 of the preliminary dryer 16 to the rotary drum 22 of the main dryer 14. In this third embodiment, the preliminary dryer 16 is provided at a higher position than the main dryer 14, and the material to be dried 12 is transferred from the rotary drum 30 of the preliminary dryer 16 to the main dryer 14. It is made to fall on the rotating drum 22 of the above.
[0040]
Therefore, in this embodiment, a large negative pressure in the dryer 14 is used as shown in the first embodiment, or a large negative pressure in the dryer 14 is shown in the second embodiment. And the exhaust hot air blown from the branch pipe 42, when the material 12 is transferred from the preliminary dryer 16 to the main dryer 14, the rotation of the main dryer 14 from the rotary drum 30 of the preliminary dryer 16 is performed. The drum 22 can be transferred more smoothly. Note that FIG. 4 omits the branch pipe 42 shown in the second embodiment because of the modification shown in the first embodiment, but this branch pipe 42 is used when used as a modification of the second embodiment. And the passage switching damper of the branching portion is provided.
[0041]
By the way, in each of the above-described embodiments, when the object to be dried 12 is transferred from the preliminary dryer 16 to the main dryer 14 by the suction action caused by the large negative pressure in the main dryer 14, the rotation of the preliminary dryer 14 is rotated. The drum 22 is in a rotated state, and the frictional relationship between the rotating drum 22 and the material to be dried 12 is a dynamic frictional relationship, and the frictional force is reduced.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
As understood from the above description, according to the present invention, after the inside of the dryer is brought into a large negative pressure state, the disconnected state between the main dryer and the preliminary dryer is released and connected, and the negative pressure state is Since the material to be dried in the pre-dryer is transferred into the main dryer by the suction action caused by this, no mechanical transfer means is required, the overall configuration is simplified, and the conventional problems as described above are eliminated. To get.
[0043]
In addition, the present invention does not blow the material to be dried in the preliminary dryer into the dryer, but transfers the material to be dried from the preliminary dryer to the dryer by a suction action caused by a large negative pressure in the dryer. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the material to be dried from being scattered in the dryer, and to effectively transfer the object to the center of the rotating drum in the dryer, effectively performing the drying in the dryer. It can be done easily without any problems.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a drying apparatus using a drying method according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a rotating drum used in the drying apparatus of the first embodiment using the drying method according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of a drying apparatus using the drying method according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of a drying apparatus using the drying method according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10, 10a, 10b Drying device 12 Dried object 14 Main dryer 16 Pre-dryer 24 Steam heater 26 Exhaust fan 32 Shutter 36 Exhaust pipe 42 Branch pipe

Claims (2)

A pre-dryer provided in series in the transfer direction of the object to be dried by transferring the object to be dried, which is the laundry pre-dried by the pre-dryer, to the present dryer and drying it. The communication state between the main dryer and the dryer is cut off and freely opened, the heat exchanger that heats the outside air sucked into the dryer, and the air in the dryer is sucked and exhausted to the preliminary dryer. And a heat exchanger opening / closing means for opening and closing the outside air sucked into the heat exchanger to bring the inside of the main dryer into a negative pressure state . Drying equipment.   A pre-dryer provided in series in the transfer direction of the object to be dried by transferring the object to be dried, which is the laundry pre-dried by the pre-dryer, to the present dryer and drying it. A shutter that can cut off the communication state between the main dryer and the main dryer, a heat exchanger that heats the outside air sucked into the main dryer, and an exhaust that sucks the air in the main dryer and exhausts it to the preliminary dryer And an exhaust capability of the exhaust means so that the object to be dried in the preliminary dryer can be transferred into the dryer by a suction action caused by a negative pressure in the dryer when the shutter is released. The laundry drying apparatus characterized in that the flow resistance of the heat exchanger is larger than that of the laundry.

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