JP5489912B2 - Clothes dryer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a clothes dryer, and more particularly to a clothes dryer having a function of eliminating static electricity charged on an object to be dried such as clothes and towels.

  In a conventional clothes dryer, there is known one that removes static electricity charged in an object to be dried by introducing air ionized by an ion generator provided on a door into the drum (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the clothes dryer 9 has an ion generator 97 incorporated inside a door 91 that covers the clothes outlet 901 and is ionized by the ion generator 97 after the drying operation is completed. It is configured such that a static elimination operation is performed in which air is supplied into the drum 92 and static electricity charged on the material to be dried is eliminated. When the door 91 is opened after the charge removal operation is completed, air ionized by the ion generator 97 is supplied to the vicinity of the user's body, and the static electricity charged on the body is discharged.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-25495

  By the way, depending on the amount and type of the object to be dried, static electricity may remain in the overlapped parts of the objects to be dried even after the static elimination operation is completed. In addition, a discharge may occur at the user's hand, which may cause unpleasant pain.

  However, since the conventional clothes dryer 9 is configured to release ions from the ion generator 97 provided on the door 91, depending on the standing position of the user and the opening angle of the door 91, the ions may be It was not supplied to the hand, and the discharge at hand could not be prevented sufficiently.

  This invention is made in view of the above-mentioned situation, and makes it a subject to prevent appropriately the unpleasant pain to the user by the static electricity at the time of taking out to-be-dried objects, such as clothing and a towel, from the inside of a drum. .

A clothes dryer according to the present invention comprises:
A drum for storing a material to be dried, such as clothes, an exhaust fan for taking air outside the main body into the main body, guiding it into the drum, and discharging it to the outside of the main body, an ion generator for releasing ions into the main body, and an exhaust fan a clothes dryer having a function of sending air outside the body into the drum together to release ions from the ion generator by,
A blower duct at one end is opened to the periphery of the clothing outlet, and the other end is arranged near the ion generator in the main body. And a blower fan that radiates in a plane from the outlet to the clothing outlet through the hand air duct, and when the door of the clothing outlet is opened, the exhaust fan and drum are stopped and the ion generator is The blower fan is actuated in the actuated state, and the air in the main body is radiated from the blower outlet toward the clothing outlet together with the ions discharged from the ion generator .

According to the above configuration, when the clothing outlet door is opened, the exhaust fan and the drum are stopped and the blower fan is operated in a state where the ion generator is operated , and the air in the main body containing the ions is removed from the clothing. By radiating in a plane toward the take-out port, ions are directly blown to the user's hand when taking out the material to be dried from the drum. It is possible to quickly remove static electricity charged on a person's body or an object to be dried.

  In addition, by adopting the above configuration, the supply of ions into the drum and the supply of ions to the clothing outlet can be realized with a single ion generator.

In the clothes dryer,
It is desirable that heating means for heating the air supplied into the drum is disposed on one side of the lower part in the main body, and the ion generator is disposed on the other side of the lower part in the main body.

  If the ion generator is overheated, it may cause a decrease in the ion release capability or a failure, but in this case, the ion generator is not easily affected by the heat released from the heating means, and the desired ion release capability is not achieved. As a result, the static electricity charged on the user's body and the object to be dried can be reliably eliminated.

In the clothes dryer,
It is desirable that the ion generator is attached to a fan case of the blower fan and is disposed in a proximity position of an air supply port connecting the inside and outside of the main body.

  In this device, the ion generator is easily cooled by the outside air taken into the main body from the air supply port, and the desired ion release ability is exhibited, so that the static electricity charged on the user's body and the object to be dried can be effectively prevented. It is possible to remove static electricity.

In the clothes dryer,
It is desirable that the outlet of the hand air duct is provided at the lower peripheral edge of the clothing outlet and is open toward the center of the upper clothing outlet.

  In this case, when the material to be dried is taken out from the drum, ions are radiated from the lower side to the user's hand, and ions are focused on the overlapping portions of the materials to be dried that are relatively easy to generate discharge. Therefore, it is possible to reliably remove static electricity remaining in the overlapping portion.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the object to be dried is taken out from the drum, the static electricity charged on the user's body or the object to be dried can be quickly generated by the ions that are directly sprayed on the user's hand. Since the charge is eliminated, the discharge at the hand is prevented. Thereby, it becomes possible to prevent appropriately the unpleasant pain to the user by static electricity.

It is a side view outline longitudinal section showing the clothes dryer concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a perspective view of the ion generator periphery of the clothes dryer which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a front view schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the clothes dryer which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a side view outline longitudinal section showing the state where the door of the clothes dryer concerning an embodiment of the invention was opened. It is a side view schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the conventional clothes dryer.

Next, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, a clothes dryer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a substantially rectangular box-shaped main body case 10 and a door 11 that covers a clothes outlet 101 that is opened in front of the main body case 10. And the outline is composed.

  In the main body case 10, a drum 12 that houses an object to be dried (hereinafter referred to as “clothing etc.”) M such as clothes and towels is incorporated. The drum 12 is formed in a horizontal cylindrical shape that opens to the front side of the main body case 10, and is supported in a rotatable state by a ring plate 121 provided on the inner periphery of the front opening portion. The internal space of the drum 12 is connected to the clothing outlet 101 from the center of the ring plate 121. On the other hand, the back wall 122 of the drum 12 is supported and fixed to the drive shaft of the drum motor 123, and is configured to rotate the drum 12 by the drive force of the drum motor 123. The drum 12 and the ring plate 121 are grounded through a ground wire (not shown).

  A plurality of hot air outlets 124 are formed in the back wall 122 of the drum 12, and further, air is discharged from the air in the main body case 10 and a gas burner 140 described later on the back side of the back wall 122. A hot air duct 13 for guiding the combustion gas to the hot air outlet 124 is provided.

  The hot air duct 13 extends from the back side of the back wall 122 of the drum 12 to a space in the lower part of the main body case 10 below the drum 12, and inside the drum 12 through the hot air duct 13 below the lower end opening. A burner unit 14 for heating the air led to is disposed.

  In addition, an air intake 131 for taking in the air in the main body case 10 into the hot air duct 13 together with ions emitted from an ion generator 17 described later is opened in the middle part of the hot air duct 13. .

  The burner unit 14 includes a gas burner 140, a gas injection nozzle 141, a gas supply valve (not shown), and the like. The gas injected from the gas injection nozzle 141 toward the gas inlet 142 of the gas burner 140 is around the gas inlet 142. It is sent into the gas burner 140 together with air, and ignites above the flame hole 143 of the gas burner 140. And while heating the air in the main body case 10 which is discharged into the warm air duct 13 as combustion gas and led to the lower end opening of the warm air duct 13 by the draft effect, the warm air outlet is heated together with the heated air. 124 is fed into the drum 12.

  An exhaust duct 15 is provided in the space above the drum 12 and in the upper part of the main body case 10 to guide the air in the drum 12 guided from a communication passage 110 described later to the outside of the main body case 10.

  The exhaust duct 15 extends from the exhaust inlet 102 opened in front of the main body case 10 and above the clothing outlet 101 toward the inside of the main body case 10, and further rises upward from the inner portion of the main body case 10. It is connected to the exhaust outlet 103. Further, an exhaust fan 16 that is rotated by a driving force of the fan motor 161 is incorporated in an intermediate portion of the exhaust duct 15.

  On the other hand, the back surface side of the door 11 is provided with an exhaust introduction hole 111 connected to the clothing outlet 101 and an exhaust outlet hole 112 connected to the exhaust inlet 102 when the door 11 is closed. An air passage 110 (hereinafter referred to as a “communication passage”) 110 that connects the exhaust introduction hole 111 and the exhaust lead-out hole 112 is formed.

  Accordingly, when the exhaust fan 16 is rotated while the door 11 is closed, the air in the drum 12 passes through the communication passage 110 inside the door 11 formed upward from the exhaust introduction hole 111 and passes through the exhaust duct 15. Sent in.

  An air supply port 104 that connects the inside and outside of the main body case 10 is provided in the lower part of the right side surface of the main body case 10, and as the air in the drum 12 is sent into the exhaust duct 15, Air is taken into the main body case 10 from the air supply port 104.

  The communication passage 110 side of the exhaust introduction hole 111 is covered with a removable network air filter 113, and when the air in the drum 12 is sent into the exhaust duct 15 through the communication passage 110, the air filter The dust, dust, etc. floating in the drum 12 are removed by 113.

In the main body case 10, an ion generator 17 that releases positive and negative ions into the air in the main body case 10 by discharge is incorporated. The ion generator 17 is a plasma cluster device that simultaneously generates positive ions and negative ions from an ion generation electrode (not shown) by applying a predetermined voltage. For example, H ⁺ (H ₂ O) m as positive ions. O ^2- (H ₂ O) n (n is an arbitrary natural number) is released into the air as negative ions (m is an arbitrary natural number).

  Further, a hand blow duct 18 that guides air in the main body case 10 to the clothing outlet 101 is formed in the main body case 10. The hand air duct 18 extends from the portion where the ion generator 17 is disposed to the front outer side of the main body case 10, and the ion blower outlet 181 at the tip of the hand blow duct 18 extends from the lower part of the outer peripheral edge of the clothing outlet 101. Open towards Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the ion outlet 181 is formed in a rectangular shape having a wide width and a small gap, and is disposed at the lower right portion of the periphery of the clothing outlet 101 so that the upper left clothing outlet can be removed. It opens toward the center of the outlet 101.

  On the other hand, a blower fan 19 that is rotated by the driving force of the fan motor 191 and sends the air in the main body case 10 together with the ions to the clothing outlet 101 through the hand blower duct 18 is assembled at the rear end of the hand blower duct 18. (See FIG. 1). The blower fan 19 has a flat circular box-shaped fan case 190 that has an outer shell, and is arranged in a space in the main body case 10 below the drum 12 so as to rotate horizontally. A discharge port 192 is formed on the peripheral surface of the fan case 190, and the rear end of the hand air duct 18 is connected to the discharge port 192. In addition, a circular suction port 193 is formed at the center of the upper surface of the fan case 190, and an ion generation electrode (not shown) of the ion generator 17 is disposed above the opening surface of the suction port 193.

  Accordingly, when the blower fan 18 is rotated with the door 11 opened, the air in the main body case 10 is guided to the hand blow duct 18 through the suction port 193 together with the ions released from the ion generator 17, and The ion blower outlet 181 radiates in a planar shape along the opening surface of the clothing outlet 101 above it.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the ion generator 17 is disposed in the space below the right side of the drum 12, that is, in the space below the right side in the main body case 10, and is supplied to the adjacent position on the side of the ion generator 17. The mouth 104 is established. On the other hand, the burner unit 14 is disposed in the space below the left side of the drum 12, that is, the space below the left side in the main body case 10. Therefore, the air outside the main body case 10 taken from the air supply port 104 when the exhaust fan 16 is rotated passes around the portion where the ion generator 17 is disposed, and the portion where the hot air duct 13 and the burner unit 14 are disposed. Led to.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a control circuit 20 for controlling the overall operation of the clothes dryer 1 such as rotation of the drum 12 and point extinguishing of the burner unit 14 is incorporated in the main body case 10. In addition to the drum motor 123, the burner unit 14, the fan motors 161 and 191, and the ion generator 17, a door sensor 21 that is provided in the vicinity of the boundary between the main body case 10 and the door 11 and that is turned on and off in accordance with the opening and closing of the door 11 is The control circuit 20 is connected through electric wiring.

  Although not shown, the control circuit 20 includes a drum operation circuit that rotates and stops the drum 12, a fan operation circuit that rotates and stops the exhaust fan 16, a point fire extinguishing circuit that ignites and extinguishes the gas burner 140, and an ion generator 17. An ion generation circuit that turns on / off, a drying determination circuit that determines the end timing of the drying operation based on the drying state of the clothing M, etc., and a start and end timing of the hand neutralization operation described later based on the on / off state of the door sensor 21 A hand-eliminating determination circuit or the like that performs the drying operation of the clothing or the like M is executed by these circuits.

  Specifically, when a drying operation start operation is performed, the exhaust fan 16 is rotated, the drum motor 123 is driven to rotate the drum 12, and a drying operation for igniting the gas burner 140 is started. Then, while the air in the main body case 10 is heated by the combustion gas released from the gas burner 140, it is guided into the warm air duct 13 together with the combustion gas, and is supplied as hot air from the warm air outlet 124 into the drum 12. . The combustion gas and high-temperature air supplied into the drum 12 are guided to the exhaust duct 15 through the communication passage 110 inside the door 11 while evaporating the moisture of the clothes and the like M, and from the exhaust outlet 103 to the outside of the main body case 10. Discharged. As a result, the clothing M is gradually dried while being stirred in the rotating drum 12.

  Next, when the clothing M is in a predetermined dry state, the gas burner 140 is extinguished, and a cooling operation for turning on the ion generator 17 is started while the exhaust fan 16 and the drum 12 are rotated. Then, as indicated by arrows in FIG. 1, instead of the combustion gas and the high temperature air, the low temperature air outside the main body case 10 is guided into the hot air duct 13 together with the ions released from the ion generator 17, Is supplied from the hot air outlet 124 into the drum 12. The low-temperature air supplied into the drum 12 and containing positive and negative ions is led to the exhaust duct 15 through the communication passage 110 inside the door 11 while taking heat of the clothing M or the like, and from the exhaust outlet 103. It is discharged out of the main body case 10. As a result, the clothing M and the like are gradually removed from heat while being stirred in the rotating drum 12. At the same time, the static electricity charged on the clothing M and the like is gradually removed by positive and negative ions diffused into the drum 12.

  Thereafter, if a predetermined time elapses from the time when the cooling operation is started, it is assumed that the clothing M or the like M has been appropriately cooled and the static electricity has been sufficiently removed, and the rotation of the exhaust fan 16 and the drum 12 is stopped. The generator 17 is turned off and the operation is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the door 11 is opened and the door sensor 21 is turned off while the cooling operation is being performed or after the cooling operation is finished, the exhaust fan 16 and the drum 12 are stopped and the ion generator 17 is turned on. The hand static elimination operation for rotating the blower fan 19 is executed. Then, as seen in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4, the air outside the main body case 10 is guided into the hand blow duct 18 together with the ions released from the ion generator 17, and the surface is directed from the ion outlet 181 toward the clothing outlet 101. Radiated in a shape. As a result, an ion curtain of positive ions and negative ions is formed on the opening surface of the clothing outlet 101. Therefore, when taking clothes M out of the drum 12, positive ions and negative ions are directly sprayed from the lower side to the user's hand or clothes M, and these ions cause the body, clothes M, etc. Static electricity is removed from the static electricity.

  When the door 11 is closed and the door sensor 21 is turned on again, the ion generator 17 is turned off, the rotation of the blower fan 19 is stopped, and the operation is finished.

  As described above, according to the above embodiment, when the door 11 is opened, the ion curtain is formed on the opening surface of the clothing take-out port 101 so that the user can take out the clothing M from the drum 12. Since ions are directly sprayed on the hand, static electricity remaining on the user's body, clothing, etc. M is quickly removed, and discharge at the user's hand is prevented. Thereby, the unpleasant pain to the user by static electricity can be prevented appropriately.

  At this time, since both positive ions and negative ions are sprayed on the user's hand, even if positive or negative static electricity is charged on the user or clothing M, these positive and negative ions are charged. The ion is surely removed by the ions, and discharge at the user's hand is prevented. Thereby, the unpleasant pain to the user due to static electricity can be effectively prevented.

  Further, when the clothes M are taken out from the drum 12, the structure is such that ions are emitted from the lower side to the user's hand, so that the clothes M that are relatively easily discharged are overlapped with each other. Since ions are preferentially sprayed, static electricity remaining in the overlapping portion is quickly eliminated, and discharge at the user's hand is prevented. Thereby, the unpleasant pain to the user due to static electricity can be more effectively prevented.

  Further, the burner unit 14 is disposed in the lower left space in the main body case 10, while the ion generator 17 is disposed in the lower right space in the main body case 10, whereby the ion generator 17 is disposed in the burner unit 14. The ion generator 17 is less susceptible to the heat emitted from the burner unit 14 than the above-mentioned or disposed in the hot air duct 13, and a desired ion emission capability is exhibited. As a result, the static electricity charged on the user's body, clothing, etc. M is surely removed, and discharge at the user's hand is prevented. Thereby, the unpleasant pain to the user due to static electricity can be more effectively prevented.

  Further, by providing the ion generator 17 at a position close to the side of the air supply port 104, the ion generator 17 can be easily cooled by the outside air taken into the main body case 10 from the air supply port 104, and desired ion emission can be performed. Ability is demonstrated. As a result, the static electricity charged on the user's body, clothing, etc. M is surely removed, and discharge at the user's hand is prevented. Thereby, the unpleasant pain to the user due to static electricity can be more effectively prevented.

  Further, by providing a path for supplying the ions released from the ion generator 17 into the main body case 10 into the drum 12 and a path for directly discharging the ions toward the clothing outlet 101, one ion is provided. Since it is possible to perform static elimination during the cooling operation by the generator 17 and static elimination at the time of taking out the clothes, the configuration of the clothes dryer 1 as a whole can be simplified.

  The drying state of the clothing M or the like in the drying operation can be determined based on the humidity sensor provided in the drum 12 and the humidity detected by the humidity sensor. You may determine based on the detection temperature of a clothing temperature sensor. In addition, it is possible to adopt a control configuration in which the drying time is automatically set according to the drying mode selected in advance without determining the drying state of the clothing M from the humidity and temperature, or it is arbitrarily dried by a drying setting switch (not shown). It is good also as a control structure which sets time.

  In the above embodiment, the positive ion and the negative ion are generated from the ion generator 17 at the same time, and the static electricity charged on the body, clothing, etc. M is neutralized by these ions. One of positive ions and negative ions may be generated from the body, and static electricity charged on the body, clothing, etc. M may be neutralized only by this one ion.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Clothes dryer 10 ... Main body case 101 ... Clothing outlet 104 ... Air supply port 11 ... Door 110 ... Communication passage 12 ... Drum 13 ... Hot air duct 131 ... Air intake 14 ... Burner unit (heating means)
15 ... Exhaust duct 16 ... Exhaust fan 17 ... Ion generator 18 ... Hand air duct 181 ... Ion outlet (outlet)
19 ... Blower fan 20 ... Control circuit (operation executing means)
M ... Clothes, etc. (to be dried)

Claims (4)

A drum for storing a material to be dried, such as clothes, an exhaust fan for taking air outside the main body into the main body, guiding it into the drum, and discharging it to the outside of the main body, an ion generator for releasing ions into the main body, and an exhaust fan a clothes dryer having a function of sending air outside the body into the drum together to release ions from the ion generator by,
A blower duct at one end is opened to the periphery of the clothing outlet, and the other end is arranged near the ion generator in the main body. And a blower fan that radiates in a plane from the outlet to the clothing outlet through the hand air duct, and when the door of the clothing outlet is opened, the exhaust fan and drum are stopped and the ion generator is A clothes dryer having a function of operating a blower fan in an activated state and radiating air in the main body from the blower outlet toward the clothes outlet together with ions discharged from the ion generator . The clothes dryer according to claim 1,
A clothes dryer, wherein heating means for heating the air supplied into the drum is disposed on one side of the lower part of the main body, and the ion generator is disposed on the other side of the lower part of the main body. The clothes dryer according to claim 1 or 2,
A clothes dryer, wherein the ion generator is attached to a fan case of the blower fan, and is disposed in a proximity position of an air supply port connecting the inside and outside of the main body. The clothes dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A clothes dryer in which a blower outlet of the hand air duct is provided at a lower peripheral edge of a clothes outlet and is opened toward the center of the upper clothes outlet.

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